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T H E PA P E R S O F
THOMAS JEFFERSON BARBARA B. OBERG
general editor
T H E PA P E R S O F
Thomas Jefferson Volume 31 1 February 1799 to 31 May 1800 BARBARA B. OBERG, EDITOR
james p. mc clure and elaine weber pascu, senior associate editors martha j. king, associate editor linda monaco, editorial assistant john e. little, research associate
princeton and oxford princeton university press 2004
Copyright © 2004 by Princeton University Press Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 3 Market Place, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1SY All Rights Reserved ISBN 0-691-11895-7 Library of Congress Control Number: 50-7486 This book has been composed in Monticello Princeton University Press books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources
Printed in the United States of America
dedicated to the memory of ADOLPH S. OCHS publisher of the new york times 1896 - 1935
who by the example of a responsible press enlarged and fortified the jeffersonian concept of a free press
ADVISORY COMMITTEE JOYCE APPLEBY
JAMES M. McPHERSON
WILLIAM G. BOWEN
JOHN M. MURRIN
THOMAS JEFFERSON COOLIDGE, JR.
MERRILL D. PETERSON
NOBLE E. CUNNINGHAM, JR.
ROBERT C. RITCHIE
ROBERT C. DARNTON
DANIEL T. RODGERS
ROBERT F. GOHEEN
JACK ROSENTHAL
ANNETTE GORDON-REED
ARTHUR M. SCHLESINGER, JR.
RONALD HOFFMAN
HAROLD T. SHAPIRO
DANIEL P. JORDAN
HERBERT SLOAN
STANLEY N. KATZ
ROBERT L. TIGNOR
THOMAS H. KEAN
SHIRLEY M. TILGHMAN
WALTER LIPPINCOTT
SEAN WILENTZ
J. JEFFERSON LOONEY
GORDON S. WOOD
DREW R. McCOY
C O N S U LTA N T S ROBERT W. HARTLE, FRANÇOIS P. RIGOLOT, and CAROL RIGOLOT, Consultants in French
As indicated in the Arst volume, this edition was made possible by a grant of $200,000 from The New York Times Company to Princeton University. Since this initial subvention, its continuance has been assured by additional contributions from The New York Times Company and The New York Times Company Foundation; by grants of the Ford Foundation, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, and the National Endowment for the Humanities; by grants of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Packard Humanities Institute, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the John Ben Snow Memorial Trust, and the L. J. Skaggs and Mary C. Skaggs Foundation to Founding Fathers Papers, Inc.; by benefactions from the Barkley Fund and the Lyn and Norman Lear Foundation through the National Trust for the Humanities, the Florence Gould Foundation, the Charlotte Palmer Phillips Foundation, Time Inc., the Dyson Foundation, and the Lucius N. Littauer Foundation; and by gifts from Robert C. Baron, James Russell Wiggins, David K. E. Bruce, and B. Batmanghelidj. In common with other editions of historical documents, The Papers of Thomas Jefferson is a beneAciary of the good ofAces of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, tendered in many useful forms through its ofAcers and dedicated staC. For these and other indispensable aids generously given by librarians, archivists, scholars, and collectors of manuscripts, the Editors record their sincere gratitude.
FOR EWOR D he elections to be held in the fall of 1800 form the backdrop for the sixteen months of Thomas JeCerson’s life chronicled in this volume. The real possibility of replacing the Federalist administration of John Adams with Republicans at the local, state, and national levels Ands expression throughout JeCerson’s correspondence. Whether he was in Philadelphia for the Anal weeks of the third session of the Fifth Congress, home at Monticello, or back in the nation’s capital for the Arst session of the Sixth Congress, JeCerson noted the steady transformation in the political sentiments of the nation following the “XYZ paroxysms” of 1798. He exulted that Republicanism was gaining and the public was “rapidly turning against” the Federalists and their expansion of the army, which was to be sustained by increases in the public debt and the Direct Tax. Correspondents from diCerent regions of the country echoed his observations. “The people are more moderate, and susceptible of proper impressions,” John Ogden of Connecticut, for example, informed him. If the temper of the country had shifted since the elections of 1796 and the successes of the Federalists in 1798, JeCerson’s own sense of his responsibility to the Republican Party and to the nation had also changed signiAcantly. He was still cautious, suspecting that the Federalists scrutinized his actions and were privy to private communications he exchanged with correspondents. He swore oC sending political letters through the mail. And JeCerson decided, on James Monroe’s advice, against visiting Madison at Montpelier on his way to Philadelphia in December 1799. In a letter of 12 January 1800 to Monroe he even resorted to code for reporting a conversation with “113,” New York Republican Aaron Burr. On the other hand, while often still working behind the scenes, the vice president let go of his reluctance to lead the Republicans and moved toward a more open and central role. Through Philip Norborne Nicholas he had political pamphlets distributed in Virginia, where a network of committees had been organized to advance Republican interests. He transmitted copies of James Madison’s defense of the resolutions against the Alien and Sedition Acts adopted by the Virginia legislature in January 1800 and he criticized the proceedings against Republican journalists and printers under the Sedition Act. He exchanged information with key people on the party’s prospects in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and awaited in particular the results of the critical New York City elections. JeCerson, a shrewd politician, sat for his portrait
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four times in the months leading up to them. Gilbert Stuart executed a life portrait, and a young Rembrandt Peale captured a likeness of the vice president and soon-to-be president that to the nation in the nineteenth century became Thomas JeCerson. On 14 December 1799 George Washington died at Mount Vernon, a week before JeCerson was setting out for the nation’s capital. Possibly because relations between Washington and JeCerson had signiAcantly cooled after the episode of the Mazzei letter in 1797 or because the vice president saw the public day of mourning decreed by Congress for 26 December as tainted by partisanship, he participated in none of the ceremonies. When he assumed his duties as presiding ofAcer of the Senate several days later, however, he sat on a chair draped in black in a room similarly bedecked. JeCerson chafed at the inactivity of his Senate post, especially in the early weeks of each session. The senators had insufAcient business to occupy them, he claimed, even “for half an hour a day.” Among the important pieces of legislation that came before the Congress, however, was Pennsylvania Federalist Senator James Ross’s election bill, which would have been disastrous for Republicans in the event of disputed contests for electors. The minimal level of business in the Senate and JeCerson’s longtime interest in parliamentary rules aCorded him the opportunity to gather information for his Manual of Parliamentary Practice. He solicited help from two trusted old friends and experts in the law, Edmund Pendleton and George Wythe. Published in 1801, this work on congressional procedure is still published with the rules of the House of Representatives. In Philadelphia and at Monticello JeCerson’s curiosity took him in many directions. He solicited information on several Indian languages, hoping (in vain) to complete his research on comparative vocabularies, and, almost as if he were a clearinghouse for information on Indian culture, western travelers sent their Andings to him— two marble Indian busts discovered on a bluC above the Cumberland River and “a small stone image” that had been part of an Indian pipe. As president of the American Philosophical Society he signed a memorial to the Congress on the nation’s second census, scheduled for 1800. ReBecting JeCerson’s appreciation for the importance of quantifying and analyzing, the document suggested the categorization of inhabitants by such factors as age and vocation as well as the gathering of other “Sundry facts highly interesting and important.” In response to a request for advice on a course of reading from William G. Munford—a scoundrel as it turned out—JeCerson composed an eloquent and enduring defense of a liberal education. The
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decline of his alma mater, the College of William and Mary, which had failed to meet his ideal, may have set him to considering alternatives, a diCerent kind of university and one in his own region of Virginia. For suggestions, JeCerson turned to knowledgeable European writers, Joseph Priestley and Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours. JeCerson had returned to the cultivation of tobacco in 1798, expecting that prices would maintain their high level. But he misjudged, held onto his tobacco too long, and watched prices fall steadily. This heavy blow to JeCerson’s personal Anances also reverberated among Virginia Republicans, who blamed their economic distress on the Adams administration’s suspension of trade with France and saw it as a deliberate eCort by the Federalists “to reduce the tobacco states to passive obedience by poverty.” In a lengthy letter to William Short, JeCerson set forth in great detail the unconventional way in which he had been managing the young man’s funds and properties, using Short’s liquid assets in Philadelphia to meet his own needs. Thomas Mann Randolph fell behind on payments for his Varina plantation, and JeCerson, prepared to “borrow” temporarily the proceeds of a neighbor’s tobacco crop if needed, covered as much as he could for his son-in-law. Tending to the administrative and Anancial matters of Monticello was worrisome, but the real losses JeCerson suCered in the early months of 1800 were human. Jupiter, his slave since student days, became critically ill while accompanying JeCerson to the stage at Fredericksburg; he died shortly after returning to Monticello with the horses. JeCerson’s younger daughter Mary and her husband John Wayles Eppes lost their Arst child, an infant daughter born on 31 December 1799, after a few days of life, and Mary continued for some time in precarious health. JeCerson learned of both deaths on the same day, 4 February 1800.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS any individuals have given the Editors the beneAt of their aid in the preparation of this volume, and to them we oCer our gratitude. Assistant Editors Shane Blackman and F. Andrew McMichael provided assistance in the early stages of this volume, and we extend our thanks. Those who helped us use manuscript collections or answered research queries are Robert Darnton, Charles C. Gillispie, and William C. Jordan, Princeton University; in the libraries at Princeton, Karin A. Trainer, University Librarian, and Alfred L. Bush, Mary George, and Sooni K. Johnson; the late Rosemary A. Little and Lara Moore; Timothy Connelly, Dane Hartgrove, and Michael Meier of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission; James H. Hutson and his staC at the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress, especially Fred Bauman, JeCrey Flannery, Gerard W. Gawalt, and Mary Wolfskill; Oona E. Beauchard, Peter Drummey, Nicholas Graham, Nancy Heywood, Brenda M. Lawson, and Virginia H. Smith at the Massachusetts Historical Society; Robert C. Ritchie, John Rhodehamel, and others at the Huntington Library; Lucia C. Stanton and Susan Stein of the Thomas JeCerson Foundation at Monticello; Michael Plunkett and the staC of the Special Collections Department, the University of Virginia Library; the staC of the Missouri Historical Society; at the Library of Virginia, Marianne E. Julienne, Brent Tarter, and Minor T. Weisiger; WhitAeld J. Bell, Jr., Robert S. Cox, Roy Goodman, and Martin Levitt at the American Philosophical Society; Richard A. Ryerson of the David Library of the American Revolution; Rachel Onuf at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Leslie Fields at the Morgan Library; the staC of the New York Public Library; Ruth Blair at the Connecticut Historical Society; Thaddeus V. Gromada of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America; Joseph E. Gore of The Kosciuszko Foundation, Inc.; and our fellow editors at the Adams Papers at the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Papers of George Washington and the Papers of James Madison at the University of Virginia, the Thomas JeCerson Retirement Series at Monticello, and the Papers of Benjamin Franklin at Yale University. Eleanor Gillers, Candace C. Grant, Harmony Haskins, Kerry McLaughlin, and Joël Sartorius assisted in obtaining illustrations. And we give special thanks to Walter Lippincott, director of Princeton University Press, and those at the Press who have given their meticulous attention to this and other volumes: Chuck Creesy, Dimitri Karetnikov,
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Neil Litt, Elizabeth Litz, Linny Schenck, and Brigitta van Rheinberg. Alice Calaprice, Betsy A. McClure, and Gretchen Oberfranc have improved the volume through their attention to its details. We thank Stephen Perkins of dataformat.com and we are especially indebted to Jan Lilly, whose dedication to the design of the JeCerson volumes is crucial and unequalled.
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EDITORIAL METHOD AND A P PA R AT U S 1. R E N D E R I N G T H E T E X T
Julian P. Boyd eloquently set forth a comprehensive editorial policy in Volume 1 of The Papers of Thomas JeCerson. Adopting what he described as a “middle course” for rendering eighteenth-century handwritten materials into print, Boyd set the standards for modern historical editing. His successors, Charles T. Cullen and John Catanzariti, reafArmed Boyd’s high standards. At the same time, they made changes in textual policy and editorial apparatus as they deemed appropriate. For discussions of these modiAcations, readers are encouraged to consult Vol. 1: xxix-xxxviii; Vol. 22: vii-xi; and Vol. 24: vii-viii. The revised, more literal textual method, which appears for the Arst time in Volume 30, will adhere to the following guidelines: Abbreviations will be retained as written. Where the meaning is sufAciently unclear to require editorial intervention, the expansion will be given in the explanatory annotation. Capitalization will follow the usage of the writer. Most dramatically, perhaps, readers will notice that JeCerson rarely begins his sentences with an uppercase letter, and we now conform to his usage. Because the line between uppercase and lowercase can be a very Ane and Buctuating one, when it is impossible to make an absolute determination of the author’s intention, we adopt modern usage. Punctuation will be retained as written, and double marks of punctuation, such as a period followed by a dash, will be allowed to stand. Misspellings or so-called slips of the pen will not be silently corrected but will be allowed to stand or recorded in a subjoined textual note. English translations or translation summaries will be supplied for foreign-language documents, which in JeCerson’s papers are primarily French or Spanish. As in the past, in some instances, when documents are lengthy and not especially pertinent to JeCerson’s concerns or if our edition’s typography cannot adequately represent the script of a language, we will provide only a summary in English. In most cases, however, we shall print in full the text in its original language and also provide a full English translation. If a contemporary translation that JeCerson made or would have used is extant, we will likely choose to print it along with the most authoritative text < xiii>
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in the original language. Otherwise, the Editors will supplement the text with a modern translation designed to provide a basic readable English text for the modern user rather than preserving all aspects of the original diction and language. 2. TEXTUAL DEVICES
The following devices are employed throughout the work to clarify the presentation of the text. [. . .] [ ] [roman]
[italic]
Text missing and not conjecturable. Number or part of a number missing or illegible. Conjectural reading for missing or illegible matter. A question mark follows when the reading is doubtful. Editorial comment inserted in the text. Matter deleted in the MS but restored in our text. 3. D E S C R I P T I V E S Y M B O L S
The following symbols are employed throughout the work to describe the various kinds of manuscript originals. When a series of versions is recorded, the Arst to be recorded is the version used for the printed text. Dft
Dupl MS N PoC PrC RC SC Tripl
draft (usually a composition or rough draft; later drafts, when identiAable as such, are designated “2d Dft,” &c.) duplicate manuscript (arbitrarily applied to most documents other than letters) note, notes (memoranda, fragments, &c.) polygraph copy press copy recipient’s copy stylograph copy triplicate
All manuscripts of the above types are assumed to be in the hand of the author of the document to which the descriptive symbol pertains. If not, that fact is stated. On the other hand, the following types of manuscripts are assumed not to be in the hand of the author, and exceptions will be noted: < xiv>
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FC Lb Tr
Ale copy (applied to all contemporary copies retained by the author or his agents) letterbook (ordinarily used with FC and Tr to denote texts copied into bound volumes) transcript (applied to all contemporary and later copies except Ale copies; period of transcription, unless clear by implication, will be given when known) 4. L O C A T I O N S Y M B O L S
The locations of documents printed in this edition from originals in private hands and from printed sources are recorded in selfexplanatory form in the descriptive note following each document. The locations of documents printed from originals held by public and private institutions in the United States are recorded by means of the symbols used in the National Union Catalog in the Library of Congress; an explanation of how these symbols are formed is given in Vol. 1: xl. The symbols DLC and MHi by themselves stand for the collections of JeCerson Papers proper in these repositories; when texts are drawn from other collections held by these two institutions, the names of those collections will be added. Location symbols for documents held by institutions outside the United States are given in a subjoined list. The lists of symbols are limited to the institutions represented by documents printed or referred to in this volume. CLU-C CLjC CSmH CtHi CtY DeGH DLC DNA
ICHi IGK
University of California, Los Angeles, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library James S. Copley Library, La Jolla, California The Huntington Library, San Marino, California Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford Yale University, New Haven Hagley Museum and Library, Greenville, Delaware Library of Congress The National Archives, with identiAcations of series (preceded by record group number) as follows: DL Domestic Letters LAR Letters of Application and Recommendation LPG Letters to Postmaster General Chicago Historical Society Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois < xv>
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MH MHi MB MWA
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston Boston Public Library American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts MdAN United States Naval Academy Library, Annapolis, Maryland MeHi Maine Historical Society, Portland MoSHi Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis MoSW Washington University Library, St. Louis NHi New-York Historical Society, New York City NN New York Public Library NNC-T Columbia University, Teachers College NNFoM Forbes Magazine Collection, New York City NNMus Museum of the City of New York NNPM Pierpont Morgan Library, New York City NNebgWM Washington’s Headquarters Museum, Newburgh, New York NbO Omaha Public Library NcD Duke University, Durham, North Carolina NhD Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire NjMoHP Morristown National Historical Park, New Jersey NjP Princeton University OT Toledo-Lucas County Public Library, Toledo, Ohio OkTG Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma PHC Haverford College Library, Pennsylvania PHi Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PP Free Library of Philadelphia PPAmP American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia PPIn Independence Hall National Historical Park, Philadelphia PPRF Rosenbach Foundation, Philadelphia PWacD David Library of the American Revolution, Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania Vi Library of Virginia, Richmond, with identiAcation of series as follows: Ar State Archives ViHi Virginia Historical Society, Richmond ViU University of Virginia, Charlottesville ViW College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia < xvi>
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ViWC WHi
Colonial Williamsburg, Inc., Williamsburg State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison
5. OTHER SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS
The following symbols and abbreviations are commonly employed in the annotation throughout the work. Second Series The topical series to be published as part of this edition, comprising those materials which are best suited to a topical rather than a chronological arrangement (see Vol. 1: xvxvi) TJ Thomas JeCerson TJ Editorial Files Photoduplicates and other editorial materials in the ofAce of The Papers of Thomas JeCerson, Princeton University Library TJ Papers JeCerson Papers (applied to a collection of manuscripts when the precise location of an undated, misdated, or otherwise problematic document must be furnished, and always preceded by the symbol for the institutional repository; thus “DLC: TJ Papers, 4:628-9” represents a document in the Library of Congress, JeCerson Papers, volume 4, pages 628 and 629. Citations to volumes and folio numbers of the JeCerson Papers at the Library of Congress refer to the collection as it was arranged at the time the Arst microAlm edition was made in 1944-45. Access to the microAlm edition of the collection as it was rearranged under the Library’s Presidential Papers Program is provided by the Index to the Thomas JeCerson Papers [Washington, D.C., 1976]) RG Record Group (used in designating the location of documents in the National Archives) SJL JeCerson’s “Summary Journal of Letters” written and received for the period 11 Nov. 1783 to 25 June 1826 (in DLC: TJ Papers). This register, kept in JeCerson’s hand, has been checked against the TJ Editorial Files. It is to be assumed that all outgoing letters are recorded in SJL unless there is a note to the contrary. When the date of receipt of an incoming letter is recorded in SJL, it is incorporated in the notes. Information and discrepancies revealed in SJL but not found in the letter itself are also noted. Missing letters recorded in SJL are, where possible, accounted for in the notes to documents mentioning them or in related documents. A more detailed discussion of this register and its use in this edition appears in Vol. 6: vii-x < xvii>
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SJPL “Summary Journal of Public Letters,” an incomplete list of letters and documents written by TJ from 16 Apr. 1784 to 31 Dec. 1793, with brief summaries, in an amanuensis’s hand. This is supplemented by six pages in TJ’s hand, compiled at a later date, listing private and conAdential memorandums and notes as well as ofAcial reports and communications by and to him as Secretary of State, 11 Oct. 1789 to 31 Dec. 1793 (in DLC: TJ Papers, Epistolary Record, 514-59 and 209-11, respectively; see Vol. 22: ix-x). Since nearly all documents in the amanuensis’s list are registered in SJL, while few in TJ’s list are so recorded, it is to be assumed that all references to SJPL are to the list in TJ’s hand unless there is a statement to the contrary V Ecu ƒ Florin £ Pound sterling or livre, depending upon context (in doubtful cases, a clarifying note will be given) s Shilling or sou (also expressed as /) d Penny or denier f Livre Tournois e Per (occasionally used for pro, pre) 6. S H O R T T I T L E S
The following list includes short titles of works cited frequently in this edition. Since it is impossible to anticipate all the works to be cited in abbreviated form, the list is revised from volume to volume. Adams, Diary L. H. ButterAeld and others, eds., Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, Cambridge, Mass., 1961, 4 vols. Adams, Works Charles Francis Adams, ed., The Works of John Adams, Boston, 1850-56, 10 vols. ahr American Historical Review, 1895Allmendinger, RufAn David F. Allmendinger, Jr., RufAn: Family and Reform in the Old South, New York, 1990 Ammon, Monroe Harry Ammon, James Monroe: The Quest for National Identity, New York, 1971 anb John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes, eds., American National Biography, New York and Oxford, 1999, 24 vols. Annals Annals of the Congress of the United States: The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States . . . Compiled from Authentic Materials, Washington, D.C., Gales & Seaton, < xviii>
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1834-56, 42 vols. All editions are undependable and pagination varies from one printing to another. The Arst two volumes of the set cited here have “Compiled . . . by Joseph Gales, Senior” on the title page and bear the caption “Gales & Seatons History” on verso and “of Debates in Congress” on recto pages. The remaining volumes bear the caption “History of Congress” on both recto and verso pages. Those using the Arst two volumes with the latter caption will need to employ the date of the debate or the indexes of debates and speakers. aps American Philosophical Society asp American State Papers: Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States, Washington, D.C., 1832-61, 38 vols. Bear, Family Letters Edwin M. Betts and James A. Bear, Jr., eds., Family Letters of Thomas JeCerson, Columbia, Mo., 1966 Betts, Farm Book Edwin M. Betts, ed., Thomas JeCerson’s Farm Book, Princeton, 1953 Betts, Garden Book Edwin M. Betts, ed., Thomas JeCerson’s Garden Book, 1766-1824, Philadelphia, 1944 Biog. Dir. Cong. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-1989, Washington, D.C., 1989 Bowman, Neutrality Albert H. Bowman, The Struggle for Neutrality: Franco-American Diplomacy during the Federalist Era, Knoxville, 1974 Brant, Madison Irving Brant, James Madison, Indianapolis, 194161, 6 vols. Brigham, American Newspapers Clarence S. Brigham, History and Bibliography of American Newspapers, 1690-1820, Worcester, Mass., 1947, 2 vols. Bush, Life Portraits Alfred L. Bush, The Life Portraits of Thomas JeCerson, rev. ed., Charlottesville, 1987 Chandler, Dictionary David G. Chandler, Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars, [London, 1979] Cooke, Coxe Jacob E. Cooke, Tench Coxe and the Early Republic, Chapel Hill, 1978 Cunningham, JeCersonian Republicans Noble E. Cunningham, Jr., The JeCersonian Republicans: The Formation of Party Organization, 1789-1801, Chapel Hill, 1957 cvsp William P. Palmer and others, eds., Calendar of Virginia State Papers . . . Preserved in the Capitol at Richmond, Richmond, 1875-93, 11 vols. < xix>
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Allen Johnson and Dumas Malone, eds., Dictionary of American Biography, New York, 1928-36, 20 vols. Dauer, Adams Federalists Manning J. Dauer, The Adams Federalists, Baltimore, 1953 DeConde, Quasi-War Alexander DeConde, The Quasi-War: The Politics and Diplomacy of the Undeclared War with France, 17971801, New York, 1966 dhsc Maeva Marcus and others, eds., The Documentary History of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1789-1800, New York, 1985- , 6 vols. Dictionnaire Dictionnaire de biographie française, Paris, 1933- , 18 vols. dnb Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee, eds., Dictionary of National Biography, 2d ed., New York, 1908-09, 22 vols. dsb Charles C. Gillispie, ed., Dictionary of ScientiAc Biography, New York, 1970-80, 16 vols. Durey, Callender Michael Durey, “With the Hammer of Truth”: James Thomson Callender and America’s Early National Heroes, Charlottesville, 1990 Duvergier, Lois Jean B. Duvergier and others, eds., Collection Complète des Lois, Décrets, Ordonnances, Réglemens, avis du Conseil-d’État, Paris, 1834-1908, 108 vols. eg Dickinson W. Adams and Ruth W. Lester, eds., JeCerson’s Extracts from the Gospels, Princeton, 1983, The Papers of Thomas JeCerson, Second Series Ehrman, Pitt John Ehrman, The Younger Pitt: The Consuming Struggle, London, 1996 Elkins and McKitrick, Age of Federalism Stanley Elkins and Eric McKitrick, The Age of Federalism, New York, 1993 Evans Charles Evans, CliCord K. Shipton, and Roger P. Bristol, comps., American Bibliography: A Chronological Dictionary of all Books, Pamphlets and Periodical Publications Printed in the United States of America from . . . 1639 . . . to . . . 1820, Chicago and Worcester, Mass., 1903-59, 14 vols. Fitzpatrick, Writings John C. Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington, Washington, D.C., 1931-44, 39 vols. Ford Paul Leicester Ford, ed., The Writings of Thomas JeCerson, Letterpress Edition, New York, 1892-99, 10 vols. Freeman, Washington Douglas Southall Freeman, George Washington, New York, 1948-57, 7 vols.; 7th volume by J. A. Carroll and M. W. Ashworth dab
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Gaines, Randolph William H. Gaines, Jr., Thomas Mann Randolph: JeCerson’s Son-in-Law, Baton Rouge, 1966 Gibbs, Memoirs George Gibbs, ed., Memoirs of the Administrations of Washington and John Adams, edited from the Papers of Oliver Wolcott, Secretary of the Treasury, New York, 1846, 2 vols. Greene, American Science John C. Greene, American Science in the Age of JeCerson, Ames, Iowa, 1984 haw Henry A. Washington, ed., The Writings of Thomas JeCerson, New York, 1853-54, 9 vols. Heitman, Dictionary Francis B. Heitman, comp., Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army . . . , Washington, D.C., 1903, 2 vols. Heitman, Register Francis B. Heitman, Historical Register of OfAcers of the Continental Army during the War of the Revolution, April, 1775, to December, 1793, new ed., Washington, D.C., 1914 Hening William Waller Hening, ed., The Statutes at Large; Being a Collection of All the Laws of Virginia, Richmond, 1809-23, 13 vols. Hoefer, Nouv. biog. générale J. C. F. Hoefer, Nouvelle biographie générale depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu’a nos jours, Paris, 1855-66, 46 vols. jah Journal of American History, 1964JeCerson Correspondence, Bixby Worthington C. Ford, ed.,Thomas JeCerson Correspondence Printed from the Originals in the Collections of William K. Bixby, Boston, 1916 jep Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States . . . to the Termination of the Nineteenth Congress, Washington, D.C., 1828, 3 vols. jhd Journal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia (cited by session and date of publication) jhr Journal of the House of Representatives of the United States, Washington, D.C., 1826, 9 vols. js Journal of the Senate of the United States, Washington, D.C., 1820-21, 5 vols. Kimball, JeCerson, Architect Fiske Kimball, Thomas JeCerson, Architect, Boston, 1916 King, Life Charles R. King, ed. The Life and Correspondence of Rufus King: Comprising His Letters, Private and OfAcial, His Public Documents and His Speeches, New York, 1894-1900, 6 vols. < xxi>
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Kline, Burr Mary-Jo Kline, ed., Political Correspondence and Public Papers of Aaron Burr, Princeton, 1983, 2 vols. Kohn, Eagle and Sword Richard H. Kohn, Eagle and Sword: The Federalists and the Creation of the Military Establishment in America 1783-1802, New York, 1975 Kurtz, Presidency of John Adams Stephen G. Kurtz, The Presidency of John Adams: The Collapse of Federalism, 1795-1800, Philadelphia, 1957 l & b Andrew A. Lipscomb and Albert E. Bergh, eds., The Writings of Thomas JeCerson, Washington, D.C., 1903-04, 20 vols. Latrobe, Virginia Journals Edward C. Carter II and others, eds., The Virginia Journals of Benjamin Henry Latrobe, 1795-1798, New Haven, 1977, 2 vols. lcb Douglas L. Wilson, ed., JeCerson’s Literary Commonplace Book, Princeton, 1989, The Papers of Thomas JeCerson, Second Series Leonard, General Assembly Cynthia Miller Leonard, comp., The General Assembly of Virginia, July 30, 1619-January 11, 1978: A Bicentennial Register of Members, Richmond, 1978 List of Alumni A Provisional List of Alumni, Grammar School Students, Members of the Faculty, and Members of the Board of Visitors of the College of William and Mary in Virginia, from 1693 to 1888, Richmond, 1941 List of Patents A List of Patents granted by the United States from April 10, 1792, to December 31, 1836, Washington, D.C., 1872 Madison, Letters William C. Rives and Philip R. Fendall, eds., Letters and Other Writings of James Madison . . . Published by Order of Congress, Philadelphia, 1865, 4 vols. Madison, Papers William T. Hutchinson, Robert A. Rutland, J. C. A. Stagg, and others, eds., The Papers of James Madison, Chicago and Charlottesville, 1962- , 27 vols. Sec. of State Ser., 1986- , 6 vols. Malone, JeCerson Dumas Malone, JeCerson and His Time, Boston, 1948-81, 6 vols. Marshall, Papers Herbert A. Johnson, Charles T. Cullen, Charles F. Hobson, and others, eds., The Papers of John Marshall, Chapel Hill, 1974- , 11 vols. Mason, Papers Robert A. Rutland, ed., The Papers of George Mason 1725-1792, Chapel Hill, 1970, 3 vols. mb James A. Bear, Jr., and Lucia C. Stanton, eds., JeCerson’s < xxii>
E D I T O R I A L M ET H O D A N D A P PA R AT US
Memorandum Books: Accounts, with Legal Records and Miscellany, 1767-1826, Princeton, 1997, The Papers of Thomas JeCerson, Second Series Merrill, JeCerson’s Nephews Boynton Merrill, Jr., JeCerson’s Nephews: A Frontier Tragedy, Princeton, 1976 Monroe, Writings Stanislaus Murray Hamilton, ed., The Writings of James Monroe, New York, 1898-1903, 7 vols. mvhr Mississippi Valley Historical Review, 1914-64 National State Papers: Adams Martin P. Claussen, ed., National State Papers of the United States, 1789-1817. Part II: Texts of Documents. Administration of John Adams, 1797-1801, Wilmington, 1980, 24 vols. ndqw Dudley W. Knox, ed., Naval Documents Related to the Quasi-War between the United States and France, Washington, D.C., 1935-38, 7 vols. Naval Operations from January 1800 to May 1800 Nichols, Architectural Drawings Frederick Doveton Nichols, Thomas JeCerson’s Architectural Drawings, Compiled and with Commentary and a Check List, Charlottesville, 1978 Niemcewicz, Under their Vine Julian Ursin Niemcewicz, Under Their Vine and Fig Tree: Travels through America in 1797-1799, 1805, with Some Further Account of Life in New Jersey, Elizabeth, N.J., 1965 Notes, ed. Peden Thomas JeCerson, Notes on the State of Virginia, ed. William Peden, Chapel Hill, 1955 oed Sir James Murray and others, eds., A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles, Oxford, 1888-1933 Palmer, Democratic Revolution R. R. Palmer, The Age of the Democratic Revolution: A Political History of Europe and America, 1760-1800, Princeton, 1959-64, 2 vols. Palmer, Stoddert’s War Michael A. Palmer, Stoddert’s War, Naval Operations during the Quasi-War with France, 1798-1801, Columbia, S.C., 1987 Pasley, Tyranny of Printers JeCrey L. Pasley, “The Tyranny of Printers”: Newspaper Politics in the Early American Republic, Charlottesville, 2001 Peale, Papers Lillian B. Miller and others, eds., The Selected Papers of Charles Willson Peale and His Family, New Haven, 1983-2000, 5 vols. in 6 Perkins, First Rapprochement Bradford Perkins, The First Rapprochement: England and the United States, 1795-1805, Philadelphia, 1955; Berkeley, 1967 < xxiii>
E D I T O R I A L M ET H O D A N D A P PA R AT US
Peterson, JeCerson Merrill D. Peterson, Thomas JeCerson and the New Nation, New York, 1970 pmhb Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 1877Preston, Catalogue Daniel Preston, A Comprehensive Catalogue of the Correspondence and Papers of James Monroe, Westport, Conn., 2001, 2 vols. Prince, Federalists Carl E. Prince, The Federalists and the Origins of the U.S. Civil Service, New York, 1977 pw Wilbur S. Howell, ed., JeCerson’s Parliamentary Writings, Princeton, 1988, The Papers of Thomas JeCerson, Second Series Randall, Life Henry S. Randall, The Life of Thomas JeCerson, New York, 1858, 3 vols. Randolph, Domestic Life Sarah N. Randolph, The Domestic Life of Thomas JeCerson, Compiled from Family Letters and Reminiscences by His Great-Granddaughter, 3d ed., Cambridge, Mass., 1939 Saricks, Du Pont Ambrose Saricks, Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours, Lawrence, Kans., 1965 Scott and Rothaus, Historical Dictionary Samuel F. Scott and Barry Rothaus, eds., Historical Dictionary of the French Revolution, 1789-1799, Westport, Conn., 1985, 2 vols. Shackelford, JeCerson’s Adoptive Son George Green Shackelford, JeCerson’s Adoptive Son: The Life of William Short, 1759-1848, Lexington, Ky., 1993 Shaw-Shoemaker Ralph R. Shaw and Richard H. Shoemaker, comps., American Bibliography: A Preliminary Checklist for 1801-1819, New York, 1958-63, 22 vols. Shepherd, Statutes Samuel Shepherd, ed., The Statutes at Large of Virginia, from October Session 1792, to December Session 1806 . . . , Richmond, 1835-36, 3 vols. Smith, Freedom’s Fetters James Morton Smith, Freedom’s Fetters: The Alien and Sedition Laws and American Civil Liberties, Ithaca, N.Y., 1956 Sowerby E. Millicent Sowerby, comp., Catalogue of the Library of Thomas JeCerson, Washington, D.C., 1952-59, 5 vols. StaCord, Philadelphia Directory, for 1800 Cornelius William StaCord, The Philadelphia Directory, for 1800, Philadelphia, 1800 Stanton, Free Some Day Lucia Stanton, Free Some Day, Thomas JeCerson Foundation, Inc., 2000 Stewart, French Revolution John H. Stewart, A Documentary Survey of the French Revolution, New York, 1951 < xxiv>
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Stewart, Opposition Press Donald H. Stewart, The Opposition Press of the Federalist Period, Albany, 1969 Syrett, Hamilton Harold C. Syrett and others, eds., The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, New York, 1961-87, 27 vols. Terr. Papers Clarence E. Carter and John Porter Bloom, eds., The Territorial Papers of the United States, Washington, D.C., 193475, 28 vols. tjr Thomas JeCerson Randolph, ed., Memoir, Correspondence, and Miscellanies, from the Papers of Thomas JeCerson, Charlottesville, 1829, 4 vols. tqhgm L. G. Tyler, ed., Tyler’s Quarterly Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Richmond, 1919-52, 34 vols. in 33 Tucker, Life George Tucker, The Life of Thomas JeCerson, Philadelphia, 1837, 2 vols. U.S. Statutes at Large Richard Peters, ed., The Public Statutes at Large of the United States . . . 1789 to March 3, 1845, Boston, 1855-56, 8 vols. Van Horne, Latrobe John C. Van Horne, ed., The Correspondence and Miscellaneous Papers of Benjamin Henry Latrobe, New Haven, 1984-88, 3 vols. vmhb Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, 1893Washington, Diaries Donald Jackson and Dorothy Twohig, eds., The Diaries of George Washington, Charlottesville, 1976-79, 6 vols. Washington, Papers W. W. Abbot, Dorothy Twohig, Philander D. Chase, and others, eds., The Papers of George Washington, Charlottesville, 1983- , 43 vols. Pres. Ser., 1987- , 11 vols. Ret. Ser., 1998-99, 4 vols. Wharton, State Trials Francis Wharton, State Trials of the United States during the Administrations of Washington and Adams, Philadelphia, 1849 White, Middle Ground Richard White, The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 16501815, Cambridge, 1991 wmq William and Mary Quarterly, 1892Woods, Albemarle Edgar Woods, Albemarle County in Virginia, Charlottesville, 1901
< xxv>
CONTENTS Fo r e w o r d E d i t o r i a l M e t h o d a n d A p pa r at u s I l lu s t r at i o n s Je f f e r s o n C h r o n o l o g y kl
l
1799
nB n
To Elisha Boudinot, 1 February From Aaron Burr, 3 February From John Cleves Symmes, 3 February From James Wood, 4 February To James Madison, 5 February To Martha JeCerson Randolph, 5 February To John Wayles Eppes, 7 February To Mary JeCerson Eppes, 7 February To George JeCerson, enclosing Tobacco Statement, 7 February From John C. Ogden, 7 February From James Madison, 8 February From Martha JeCerson Randolph, 8 February From Bishop James Madison, 10 February To Aaron Burr, 11 February To James Monroe, 11 February Notes on the Connecticut Cession, 11 February From Daniel Clark, 12 February To James Madison, 12 February To Thomas Mann Randolph, 12 February From John Page, 13 February To Archibald Stuart, 13 February To Tench Coxe, 14 February To Edmund Pendleton, 14 February From James Monroe, 15 February From John Taylor, 15 February From George JeCerson, 16 February From George JeCerson, 19 February To James Madison, enclosing Extracts on Relations Between United States and France, 19 February To James Monroe, 19 February
< xxvii>
vii xiii xli 2
3 4 5 8 9 11 12 13 14 16 18 20 21 22 23 25 27 29 31 32 33 36 36 40 40 42 43 44 47
CONTENTS To Edmund Pendleton, 19 February To Thomas Mann Randolph, 19 February To Tadeusz Kosciuszko, 21 February From Cipriano Ribeiro Freire, 22 February From Martha JeCerson Randolph, 22 February To Van Staphorst & Hubbard, 22 February To Robert R. Livingston, 23 February To George JeCerson, 24 February From Edmund Pendleton, 24 February To Elisha Boudinot, 25 February To Tadeusz Kosciuszko, 25 February To Louis of Parma, 25 February From Timothy Pickering, 25 February To George JeCerson, 26 February To James Madison, 26 February To Thomas Mann Randolph, 26 February From Thomas Lomax, [before 27] February To Bishop James Madison, 27 February To William G. Munford, 27 February Statement of Account from John Francis, [1 March] From Harry Innes, 2 March From John C. Ogden, 5 March To Mary JeCerson Eppes, 8 March From John Barnes, 10 March To Thomas Lomax, 12 March From Mary JeCerson Eppes, 13 March Notes on Postal Service between Philadelphia and Charlottesville, [on or after 13 March] To George JeCerson, 16 March From John Barnes, 17 March To George JeCerson & Company, 18 March From George JeCerson, 18 March To Samuel Clarke, 21 March To John McDowell, 21 March From John McDowell, 21 March From John Carr, 22 March From George JeCerson & Company, 26 March From Carlo Bellini, 1 April From George JeCerson, 1 April From John Barnes, 2 April To George JeCerson, 5 April From John Barnes, 6 April
< xxviii>
48 50 51 54 54 55 56 57 58 60 60 61 62 63 63 65 66 67 68 69 69 72 75 75 77 78 79 80 81 82 82 83 83 84 84 85 85 86 87 88 89
CONTENTS From John Barnes, 6 April From George JeCerson, 8 April From Sir John Sinclair, 8 April To Mary JeCerson Eppes, 13 April From John McDowell, 13 April To George JeCerson, 18 April From Lafayette, 19 April From George JeCerson, 22 April To Edmund Pendleton, 22 April To Carlo Bellini, 24 April From Tench Coxe, 29 April From John Barnes, 1 May To Wilson Cary Nicholas, 2 May From La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, 4 May From George JeCerson & Company, 6 May To James Lyle, 6 May To Henry Remsen, [6 May] To John Wickham, 6 May From Stephen Cathalan, Jr., 12 May To James Monroe, 13 May To John McDowell, 14 May To Archibald Stuart, 14 May From John McDowell, 16 May To George JeCerson, 18 May To Tench Coxe, 21 May To John Barnes, 26 May From John Barnes, 26 May From George JeCerson, 27 May To George JeCerson, 29 May To George Wythe, 29 May From George JeCerson, 3 June To John Wayles Eppes, 7 June To George JeCerson, 8 June To Henry Remsen, 8 June From George JeCerson, 10 June To John Barnes, 15 June To George JeCerson, 15 June From George JeCerson & Company, 17 June From George JeCerson, 17 June To William G. Munford, 18 June From John Barnes, 20 June To Harry Innes, 20 June
< xxix>
90 90 91 91 92 93 94 96 96 98 100 102 102 104 104 105 105 107 107 108 109 109 111 111 112 114 115 116 117 118 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 126 130 130
CONTENTS From Tench Coxe, 21 June To George JeCerson, 21 June To Daniel Clark, 23 June From George JeCerson, 23 June To Tench Coxe, 24 June To William Dunbar, 24 June From Mary JeCerson Eppes, 26 June Indenture for Land Exchange with Nicholas Meriwether Lewis and Mildred Hornsby Lewis, 1 July From William Short, 2 July To George JeCerson, 3 June [i.e., July] To Thomas Mann Randolph, 3 July To John Wayles Eppes, 4 July From George JeCerson, 8 July To George JeCerson, 12 July From George JeCerson, 14 July To George JeCerson, 25 July From George JeCerson & Company, 29 July From Benjamin Rush, 29 July To John McDowell, 31 July From Elijah GrifAths, 4 August From William Cobbett, 5 August Indenture for the Sale of Elk Hill, 5 August From James Thomson Callender, 10 August To Daniel Call, 15 August To John Barnes, 16 August To George JeCerson, 16 August To William G. Munford, 16 August To Edmund Randolph, 18 August To George JeCerson, 19 August From Wilson Cary Nicholas, 20 August To James Madison, 23 August From Joseph Mathias Gérard de Rayneval, 24 August From Daniel Call, 26 August From George JeCerson, 26 August To Wilson Cary Nicholas, 26 August From George JeCerson, 27 August To Wilson Cary Nicholas, 5 September To James Thomson Callender, 6 September To George JeCerson, 6 September To Benjamin Rush, 12 September From Tadeusz Kosciuszko, 15 September
< xxx>
132 135 135 136 137 137 139 140 144 145 146 146 147 148 149 149 150 150 151 151 153 162 163 165 166 167 168 168 172 172 172 175 176 177 177 178 178 179 182 182 184
CONTENTS To John Barnes, enclosing Statement of Account with John Barnes, 16 September To William Frederick Ast, [17] September To William Bache, 20 September From Daniel Call, 23 September To Archibald Stuart, 24 September To John Coalter, 25 September To Daniel Call, 28 September From James Thomson Callender, 29 September From Morgan Brown, 1 October To John McDowell, 1 October Indenture with Craven Peyton for the Lease of Fields at Shadwell, 1 October From John McDowell, 3 October To James Thomson Callender, 6 October From William Dunbar, 4 [i.e., 6] October From James Thomson Callender, 7 October From George JeCerson, 7 October From Philip Norborne Nicholas, 8 October From Daniel Call, 13 October, enclosing Virginia High Court of Chancery Decree, 1 October To Charles Clay, 14 October To George JeCerson, 14 October To George JeCerson, 14 October To Henry Remsen, 14 October To John Barnes, 15 October To James Brown, 16 October To Carter Bassett Harrison, 16 October To Peyton Short, 16 October To George JeCerson, 17 October To Thomas Newton, 17 October To Daniel Call, 23 October From Thomas Newton, [23 October] From Joseph Barnes, 25 October From James Brown, 27 October To Stevens Thomson Mason, 27 October From George JeCerson, 28 October To George RufAn, 28 October To Charles Pinckney, 29 October From Dugald Stewart, 29 October Memorandum to Thomas Mann Randolph, 30 October To Littleton W. Tazewell, 30 October
< xxxi>
185 186 188 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 200 200 203 203 204 204 205 208 209 210 211 212 213 213 214 215 216 217 218 218 221 222 224 225 226 228 229 229
CONTENTS Notes on Sir William Scott, 1 November From James Madison, 2 November To Philip Norborne Nicholas, 2 November From James Madison, 3 November From George JeCerson, 4 November To George JeCerson, 8 November To George JeCerson, 8 November From George JeCerson, 11 November From Daniel Clark, 12 November From James Thomson Callender, 16 November From George JeCerson, 18 November To John Coalter, 19 November To James Madison, 22 November From George JeCerson, 25 November To James Madison, 26 November To John Taylor, 26 November To William Bache, 27 November To George JeCerson, 28 November Safe Conduct for Three Chickasaw Indians, 28 November To James Wood, 28 November From John Coalter, 29 November From George RufAn, 30 November From George JeCerson, 2 December From Thomas Mann Randolph, 3 December To George JeCerson, 4 December To John Harvie, enclosing Statement for Arbitrators in Land Dispute with John Harvie, 5 December From Peyton Short, 5 December From Harry Innes, 6 December From Jean Xavier Bureaux de Pusy, 9 December From Samuel Adams, 11 December From John Breckinridge, 13 December From James Thomson Callender, 18 December To John Coalter, 19 December To George JeCerson, 19 December Memorandum to Richard Richardson, [ca. 21 December] To John Wayles Eppes, 21 December From Charles Brockden Brown, 25 December From George JeCerson, 26 December Notes on Treasury Statement, [after 28 December] From James Madison, 29 December
< xxxii>
231 231 232 233 233 234 234 235 236 238 239 240 240 242 243 244 245 246 246 247 248 249 250 250 251 252 259 260 264 265 266 268 268 269 270 274 275 276 277 278
CONTENTS Memorandum on Attendance of the Vice President, [after 29 December] From George JeCerson, 31 December Notes on the Doctrine of Epicurus, [ca. 1799?] kl
l
280 284 284
1 8 0 0 nB
n
To Tench Coxe, 1 January From John Wayles Eppes, 1 January To George JeCerson, 1 January Notes on a Conversation with Tench Coxe, 2 January From James Madison, 4 January From James Monroe, 4 January To Bishop James Madison, 6 January To Jean Xavier Bureaux de Pusy, [7 January] American Philosophical Society Memorial to U. S. Congress, [7-10 January] From James Madison, 9 January To Thomas McKean, 9 January Notes on a Conversation with Benjamin Rush, 10 January To George JeCerson, 12 January From James Madison, 12 January To James Monroe, 12 January Notes on a Conversation with Samuel Smith, 12 January To George JeCerson & Company, 13 January Notes on a Conversation with John Nicholas, 13 January From Josiah Parker, 13 January To Josiah Parker, 13 January To Thomas Mann Randolph, 13 January To Henry Remsen, 14 January To Charles Brockden Brown, 15 January To Jonathan Williams, 15 January To Morgan Brown, 16 January To Daniel Clark, 16 January To William Dunbar, 16 January To James Wilkinson, 16 January To Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours, [17 January] To Mary JeCerson Eppes, 17 January From Bishop James Madison, 17 January From George JeCerson, 18 January
< xxxiii>
285 286 286 287 288 289 291 292 293 295 296 296 297 299 300 301 302 303 303 304 304 307 308 308 309 309 311 312 313 314 316 318
CONTENTS From James Madison, 18 January To Joseph Priestley, 18 January From Thomas Mann Randolph, 18 January Notes on a Conversation with Wilson Cary Nicholas, 19 January From James Barbour, 20 January From Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours, 20 January From George JeCerson, 20 January To Angelica Schuyler Church, 21 January To Martha JeCerson Randolph, 21 January To Catherine Church, 22 January To John Wayles Eppes, 22 January From Benjamin Hawkins, 23 January To Harry Innes, 23 January Notes on a Conversation with Mr. Smith of Hamburg, 24 January From Henry Remsen, 25 January To Joseph Priestley, 27 January To Thomas Mann Randolph, 28 January To William Wardlaw, 28 January To John Breckinridge, 29 January From Joseph Priestley, 30 January From Martha JeCerson Randolph, 30 January To Richard Symonds, 30 January From Samuel Adams, 31 January To Bishop James Madison, 31 January To John McDowell, 1 February Notes on a Conversation with Benjamin Rush, 1 February To William Bache, 2 February To Elisha Boudinot, 2 February From Philip Norborne Nicholas, 2 February To Thomas Mann Randolph, 2 February To Thomas Mann Randolph, 4 February From George JeCerson, 5 February To George JeCerson, 6 February To James Monroe, 6 February From John Wayles Eppes, 7 February To Richard Richardson, 10 February From Bishop James Madison, 11 February To Martha JeCerson Randolph, 11 February To Aaron Burr, 12 February To Mary JeCerson Eppes, 12 February To George JeCerson, [12] February To Uzal Ogden, 12 February
< xxxiv>
319 319 323 324 325 326 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 337 338 339 341 342 344 346 347 348 349 349 352 352 353 355 356 357 359 361 361 362 362 363 364 365 367 367 369 369
CONTENTS From Samuel Miller, 13 February Statement of John Sappington, 13 February From James Madison, 14 February From John McDowell, 14 February From Littleton W. Tazewell, 14 February From James Thomson Callender, 15 February From John Wayles Eppes, 16 February From Baron von Geismar, 16 February To James Monroe, 16 February To Thomas Mann Randolph, 17 February To Richard Richardson, 17 February From George JeCerson, 19 February From Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours, 20 February From John Wayles Eppes, 20 February To John Beale Bordley, 21 February To George JeCerson, 21 February From Thomas Mann Randolph, 22 February From George Wythe, 22 February To John Barnes, 24 February From John Heckewelder, 24 February From George JeCerson, 24 February To Samuel Miller, 25 February To Samuel Adams, 26 February To Auguste Belin, 27 February From Robert R. Livingston, 28 February Statement of William Robinson, 28 February To George Wythe, 28 February To Benjamin Smith Barton, 1 March To William Jackson, 1 March From Thomas Mann Randolph, 1 March From Joseph Barnes, 4 March To George JeCerson, 4 March To James Madison, 4 March From Samuel Miller, 4 March From James Monroe, 4 March To Thomas Mann Randolph, 4 March To Henry Remsen, 4 March Notes on Senate Debates, [after 5 March] To Auguste Belin, 6 March To John Dickinson, 7 March To George JeCerson, 7 March From Thomas McKean, 7 March
< xxxv>
370 370 374 375 375 376 377 378 381 382 383 385 385 386 387 388 389 391 392 393 393 394 395 396 397 397 400 402 402 403 403 406 407 411 413 413 415 416 417 417 418 418
CONTENTS To Thomas Mann Randolph, 7 March Notes on John Marshall’s Speech, [after 7 March] To John Wayles Eppes, 8 March To George JeCerson, 9 March From Henry Knox, 9 March To Thomas Mann Randolph, 9 March To Henry Remsen, 9 March From Joseph Barnes, 10 March From James Thomson Callender, 10 March To George JeCerson, 11 March From George JeCerson, 11 March Notes on Conversations with Abigail Adams and Edward Dowse, 11 March To Thomas Mann Randolph, 11 March Notes on Senate Debates, [11-12 March] To George JeCerson, 13 March To George Meade, 13 March From James Thomson Callender, 14 March To David Campbell, 14 March From John Gibson, 14 March To Benjamin Hawkins, 14 March From George JeCerson, 14 March Notes on Charleston Printers, 14 March From William Floyd, 15 March From James Madison, 15 March From John Wayles Eppes, 16 March To James Lyle, 17 March From Edmund Pendleton, 17 March To Littleton W. Tazewell, 17 March From B. D. Armistead, 18 March From John Dickinson, [18 March] From James Monroe, 18 March From George Isham Parkyns, 18 March Notes on Senate Debates, 19 March To B. D. Armistead, 20 March To George JeCerson, 20 March To John Gibson, 21 March Notes on John Marshall, 21 March From Thomas Cooper, [23 March] From William Duane, 24 March Notes on a Conversation with Perez Morton, 24 March To James Madison, 25 March
< xxxvi>
420 421 421 423 423 425 425 426 427 428 428 429 430 430 431 432 432 433 435 435 437 438 438 439 440 441 442 442 443 445 446 446 447 448 448 449 451 451 453 454 455
CONTENTS From Robert Patterson, 25 March Statement for the Aurora, 25 March To James Monroe, 26 March From James Monroe, 26 March To William Short, 26 March From William Duane, 27 March From George JeCerson, 27 March Notes on a Conversation with Hugh Henry Brackenridge, 27 March Notes on a Conversation with Benjamn Rush, [27 March or after] From Littleton W. Tazewell, 29 March From Bishop James Madison, 30 March To Thomas Mann Randolph, 31 March To Richard Richardson, 31 March From David Campbell, 2 April To Peter Carr, 4 April Deposition of John Gibson, 4 April To James Madison, 4 April From James Madison, 4 April To Thomas Mann Randolph, 4 April To Mary JeCerson Eppes, 6 April To Philip Norborne Nicholas, 7 April To George Wythe, enclosing Queries on Parliamentary Procedure, 7 April To Henry Knox, 8 April To Everard Meade, 8 April From James Monroe, 8 April To Littleton W. Tazewell, 10 April From George Wythe, 10 April From Edward Livingston, 11 April To Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours, 12 April From Thomas Mann Randolph, 12 April To Oliver Wolcott, Jr., 12 April To James Monroe, 13 April JeCerson’s Letter to William Short I. To William Short, 13 April II. Partial Copy from Memory, 9 May III. Statement of Account with William Short, [ca. 13 April-May] IV. Statement of John Barnes’s Account with William Short, [ca. 13 April-May] V. Form of Lease, [ca. 13 April-May] To George JeCerson, 15 April
< xxxvii>
456 457 461 463 463 466 467 467 469 470 472 472 474 475 475 477 480 481 482 484 485 486 487 488 489 491 494 494 495 497 497 499 500 501 511 513 516 518 519
CONTENTS From George JeCerson, 15 April To George JeCerson, 19 April To Edmund Pendleton, 19 April From Thomas Mann Randolph, [ca. 19 April] From James Madison, 20 April From James Thomson Callender, 21 April To Martha JeCerson Carr, 21 April From Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours, 21 April To John Wayles Eppes, 21 April From George JeCerson, 21 April From John Wayles Eppes, 22 April To William Hamilton, 22 April To Martha JeCerson Randolph, 22 April To Richard Richardson, 22 April From James Monroe, 23 April From James Monroe, 23 April To William Thornton, 23 April From George Wythe, 23 April From George JeCerson, 24 April From James Monroe, 26 April From James Madison, 27 April From Aaron Burr, 28 April From James Thomson Callender, 28 April To Philip Mazzei, 29 April Notes on Senate Debates, 29 April To Richard Richardson, 29 April To Edward Livingston, 30 April To Robert R. Livingston, 30 April Recipients of Appendix to the Notes on the State of Virginia, [ca. April] From Edward Livingston, [before 3 May] To Edmund Pendleton, 3 May From Tench Coxe, 4 May From Aaron Burr, [before 5 May] To Joseph Anthony, 6 May From Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours, 6 May To Dugnani, 7 May To Tadeusz Kosciuszko, 7 May To Thomas Mann Randolph, 7 May From William Thornton, 7 May From John Dickinson, 8 May
< xxxviii>
520 520 520 522 524 525 525 527 531 532 533 533 535 536 537 538 538 539 540 540 542 543 543 543 545 546 546 549 551 554 555 555 556 556 558 559 560 561 563 567
CONTENTS From Joseph Priestley, enclosing Thoughts on Education, 8 May To Van Staphorst & Hubbard, 8 May From William Frederick Ast, 10 May To Samuel Brown, 10 May From Oliver Wolcott, Jr., 10 May Statement of Account from John Barnes, 10 May To Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours, 12 May To James Madison, 12 May To Samuel A. Otis, 14 May To Thomas Mann Randolph, 14 May Statement of Account from John Francis, 15 May From Martha JeCerson Randolph, 15 May Mortgage of Slaves and Goods from Edmund Randolph, 19 May From James Wilkinson, 22 May From John Barnes, enclosing Statement of Account, 24 May From James Monroe, 25 May To James Monroe, 26 May From Gibson & JeCerson, 27 May From Andrew Ellicott, 28 May From Daniel Clark, 29 May
567 570 571 573 574 575 578 579 580 581 582 582 583 585 586 588 590 591 592 593
A p p e n d i x : Notations by JeCerson on Senate Documents
597
Index
613
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I LLUSTRAT I ONS Following page 368 THOMAS JEFFERSON BY REMBRANDT PEALE
This likeness, which became widely known through popular engravings, was the image by which JeCerson’s face became familiar to Americans and others at the beginning of the nineteenth century. It is thought to be “unrivalled in having played a more signiAcant iconographic role during JeCerson’s lifetime than any other portrait” (Bush, Life Portraits, 40). Stipple engravings by David Edwin in 1800 and by Cornelius Tiebout the following year were sources of at least Afty versions of the image. This painting in oils is by far the best known of four life portraits by diCerent artists for which JeCerson sat in the period from November 1799 to May 1800. It apparently dates from its subject’s last residence in Philadelphia as vice president—sometime between the closing days of December 1799 and the middle of May 1800. Rembrandt Peale, who turned twenty-two in February 1800, was already an artist of some experience. One of Charles Willson Peale’s talented oCspring, he had painted George Washington from life in 1795. He apparently executed this unsigned portrait of JeCerson, a little over 23 inches by 19 inches in size, to hang with portraits of other notable Americans in one of his family’s museums. Exactly when the vice president sat for the picture is not known; in a letter to JeCerson of 24 Mch. 1801 Peale indicated only that he had painted the original “last Winter.” He also lamented that the room in which he had made the portrait was too small and did not have the best light. By the time he wrote that letter the painter had Anished a copy of the portrait, commissioned by JeCerson a month earlier “for a friend” at the artist’s usual rate, $30. In 1805 Rembrandt Peale painted another famous portrait of JeCerson, in a fur-collared coat (Bush, Life Portraits, 37-41; anb; Vol. 30:331n; TJ to Charles Willson Peale, 21 Feb. 1801; Rembrandt Peale to TJ, 1 Mch. 1801; TJ to John Barnes, 5 May, and Barnes to TJ, 6 May 1801). Courtesy of the White House Historical Association (White House Collection). JOSEPH PRIESTLEY
Apparently Rembrandt Peale also made this oil portrait of Joseph Priestley, 210 by 180 inches, for a Peale museum. He painted it in 1801 and duplicated it for two important members of the American Philosophical Society: Caspar Wistar, whose copy became part of the society’s collections, and John Vaughan, whose replica of the painting shows its subject as a fulllength seated Agure and is now at Dickinson College (Carol Eaton Hevner, “The Paintings of Rembrandt Peale: Character and Conventions,” in Lillian B. Miller, In Pursuit of Fame: Rembrandt Peale: 1778-1860 [Washington, D.C., 1992], 254-5, 307). Courtesy of the Collection of the New-York Historical Society.
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I LLUSTRAT IONS CONGRESS HALL AND THE NEW THEATRE
Philadelphia Dissected or the Metropolis of America was one title that William Russell Birch considered, but discarded, for the remarkable group of scenes in which he depicted the city at the close of the eighteenth century. Born in England, after an apprenticeship as a jeweler and goldsmith Birch took up the art of painting enamel miniatures. He also learned stipple engraving and exhibited at the Royal Academy. In 1794, at the age of thirty-nine, he moved to the United States, where he had credentials to put him on a good footing with inBuential people: his sister was Samuel Chase’s stepmother, and Benjamin West wrote him a letter of introduction to William Bingham. The set of engraved views of Philadelphia that he undertook during the Adams presidency did not depict every street or signiAcant building in the city, but the pictures, some of which have been widely reproduced, provide glimpses of what the capital city was like just before the national government moved to Washington. In England Birch had produced a set of engraved landscape views that included some of his own work but primarily reproduced other artists’ images. The detailed Philadelphia scenes were all original work, done by Birch with the assistance of his son Thomas, who was still in his teens when the family immigrated to America, and Samuel Seymour, an engraver. They began work in 1798, and the completed set of more than two dozen engraved plates bore a publication date of 31 Dec. 1800. JeCerson was one of the subscribers to the work, The City of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania North America; as it appeared in the Year 1800. Each of the images was a line engraving approximately 11 by 13 inches in size printed on a page of 150 by 180 inches. The work cost $28 to $44.50, depending on the type of binding selected and whether or not the plates were hand-colored after printing (Sowerby, No. 4161; anb; Martin P. Snyder, “William Birch: His Philadelphia Views,” pmhb, 73 [1949], 271-315). On the left side of Birch’s Plate 20, illustrated here, stands Congress Hall, which is just west of Independence Hall (then called the State House, and not shown in this picture). Birch gave the scene the caption “Congress Hall and New Theatre, in Chesnut Street.” The House of Representatives met on the lower Boor of Congress Hall, while the Senate, over which JeCerson ofAciated as vice president, convened on the upper Boor. John Adams was inaugurated in the building, which had been built in the late 1780s as a courthouse. Toward the right in his scene the artist depicted a crowd gathering at the New Theatre, which was diagonally opposite Congress Hall at the intersection of Chestnut and Sixth Streets. Built in 1791-94 and also known as the Chestnut Street Theatre, the building could hold an audience of well over a thousand people. As the grand performance venue of the national capital, it was a natural setting for incidents of political as well as theatrical signiAcance. The actor James Fennell, whose recitation of the speech of the Mingo Indian Logan prompted Luther Martin’s attack on JeCerson in the newspapers, performed on its stage, and Joseph Hopkinson’s Federalist pep song, “Hail Columbia,” had its debut there in 1798. And as noted at JeCerson’s letter to Thomas Mann Randolph of 13 Jan. 1800, it was while attending a performance at the New Theatre that John Randolph of Roanoke was confronted by ofAcers who took issue with his use of the word “ragamufAns” to describe some members of the military (Birch’s Views of
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I LLUSTRAT IONS Philadelphia: A Reduced Facsimile of The City of Philadelphia . . . as it appeared in the year 1800, commentaries by S. Robert Teitelman [Philadelphia, 2000], commentary, Plate 20; Vol. 30:325n, 392n). Courtesy of Rare Book Department, The Free Library of Philadelphia. JEFFERSON BY CHARLES PEALE POLK
Taught by his uncle, Charles Willson Peale, to paint rapidly to capture the vitality of a face before the subject of a portrait grew listless from repeated sittings, Charles Peale Polk arrived at Monticello with a brief letter of introduction from James Madison on 3 Nov. 1799, Anished taking JeCerson’s likeness two days later, and by 18 Nov. advertised copies of the portrait for sale in Richmond. Although at least three other versions of the painting are extant, including one owned by the University of Virginia, experts on Polk’s work consider the one illustrated in this volume to be the original painted from life. According to family tradition recorded late in the nineteenth century, Isaac Hite, Madison’s brother-in-law, commissioned the original and it was owned by members of the Hite family until after the Civil War. None of the four known versions of the painting is signed. This oil portrait is on canvas, about 27 by 28 inches. It depicts JeCerson at the age of Afty-six, during his residence at Monticello from spring to late autumn 1799, between the close of the Fifth Congress and the opening of the Sixth (Linda Crocker Simmons, Charles Peale Polk, 1776-1822: A Limner and His Likenesses [Washington, D.C., 1981], 8, 9-10, 66-7; Bush, Life Portraits, 35-6; Madison to TJ, 2 Nov. 1799). Courtesy of the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Jack W. Warner. PROCESSION TO COMMEMORATE WASHINGTON’S DEATH
Arriving in Philadelphia on 28 Dec. 1799, almost three weeks after the start of the First Session of the Sixth Congress, JeCerson did not witness the memorial procession of the 26th that honored the deceased George Washington. As shown in this plate from William Birch’s views of the city, a riderless horse and an empty bier represented the mourned icon, who had died and been interred at Mount Vernon. The procession, which began at the State House (Independence Hall), moved north along Fourth Street to the New Lutheran Church, where Henry Lee delivered his famous eulogy of Washington. Birch and his assistants had already made the copperplate for a view of “High Street, From the Country Market-place.” The scene carried the viewer’s eye out High Street (now Market) from the end of one of the long market sheds that ran westward down the middle of High from Front Street, near the Delaware River, to Fourth. But after the ceremonies for Washington the artists deftly altered the plate, adding the funeral cortege as it crossed High Street (and the viewer’s plane of vision) at Fourth. They also appended to their original caption a subtitle, “with the procession in commemoration of the Death of General George Washington, December 26th. 1799,” and made the scene Plate 11 of their published series. Their conversion of the plate was made easier by the fact that in this case, as in other scenes looking into or out of the city’s long market buildings on High Street and South Second Street, they had depicted the market devoid of vendors
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I LLUSTRAT IONS and wares—eschewing the difAculty of engraving a detailed crowd scene and allowing the long, converging lines of the building to convey a sense of depth. In the original edition of Birch’s work his view of the empty “Jersey Market” on High Street near Second included a woman and a boy similar to the pair in the foreground of the funeral scene, who were probably in that picture as it was Arst engraved and were converted from strolling pedestrians into onlookers of the memorial procession (Birch’s Views, “Plan of 2000,” Plates 10, 16, and commentary, Plate 11; Snyder, “Birch,” 276, 281, 300; mb, 2:1012). Courtesy of Rare Book Department, The Free Library of Philadelphia. PHILADELPHIA WATERFRONT
In his Plate 4, captioned “Arch Street Ferry,” Birch illustrated activity along Philadelphia’s Delaware River waterfront. Ferry service extended the city’s hinterland to the farms of New Jersey, and seagoing vessels connected Philadelphia to coastal and overseas commerce (Birch’s Views, commentary, Plate 4). JeCerson sent a portion of his tobacco crop to the city in 1799 and continued to purchase items there that required transport to Virginia by water—nailrod, books, groceries, furniture, even a portable upright piano. Philadelphia merchant John Barnes, who handled many of JeCerson’s business transactions in the city, shipped the items down the coast and up the James River to Richmond, where George JeCerson sent everything by boat up the James and the Rivanna to Milton, the landing closest to Monticello, or in some cases arranged for transport by wagon. Many years after the Arst issue of his City of Philadelphia, Birch said of JeCerson’s interest in the work: “during the whole of his presidency it layed on the sophia in his visiting Room at Washington till it became ragged and dirty, but was not suCered to be taken away.” After his retirement from the presidency JeCerson kept his bound set of prints outside his library at Monticello. It was among the books he sold to the Library of Congress in 1815 and was probably destroyed by Are in 1851 (Snyder, “Birch,” 281; Susan R. Stein, The Worlds of Thomas JeCerson at Monticello [New York, 1993], 186). Courtesy of Rare Book Department, The Free Library of Philadelphia. JEFFERSON BY GILBERT STUART
Gilbert Stuart’s Arst life portrait of JeCerson is known only through copies, such as this 1801 engraving by Vernor and Hood of London. JeCerson recalled, years later, that the artist was “not satisAed” with the portrait and insisted that he pose again in Washington in 1805. Stuart wanted to supersede his Arst attempt with another likeness, and it is not known what became of the oil painting he executed in 1800, even though JeCerson expressed some preference for it over the 1805 version. JeCerson’s recollection that he sat for Stuart in May 1800 is conArmed by the record of his payment of $100 on the 12th of that month “for my portrait.” When the vice president left Philadelphia three days later, however, the painter “was yet to put the last hand” to the picture, “so it was left with him.” In a letter of 24 May, John Barnes reported that Stuart claimed to have “3 or 4 Copies bespoke” and wanted to keep the canvas a while longer. The artist advertised
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I LLUSTRAT IONS engravings of his recent renderings of Adams and JeCerson, although the earliest known reproductions of the JeCerson portrait appeared later in London: a print published by Edward Orme in August 1801 and this engraving from Vernor and Hood in October of that year. Orme’s print imposed JeCerson’s head on another subject’s shoulders, giving the Vernor and Hood image the better claim to represent the original portrait. Other printmakers in England and Europe issued pictures derived from the Vernor-Hood and Orme images, but reproductions of Rembrandt Peale’s portrait came to displace this one by Stuart. In the United States, the frontispiece of an 1802 Boston edition of Notes on the State of Virginia was based on the Vernor and Hood engraving. That frontispiece was in turn copied for the 1803 publication of the Notes in Trenton (Bush, Life Portraits, 45-7, 57; Philadelphia Gazette, 9 June 1800; mb, 2:1018-19; TJ to Henry Dearborn, 5 July 1819, 26 Mch. 1820). Courtesy of Alderman Library, University of Virginia. JEFFERSON BY EDWARD SAVAGE
Documentary evidence that JeCerson sat for this portrait by Edward Savage is ambiguous. On 12 May 1800, the same day he paid Gilbert Stuart, JeCerson gave John Barnes an order for $23.50 “in favr. Savage.” Barnes, however, recorded it as a payment to “J” Savage. In the same document in which he listed that payment Barnes noted some other names and initials inaccurately, and he could have been mistaken in Savage’s case. Yet even if Edward Savage received that payment in May 1800 it was not necessarily for a portrait, since the artist made picture frames for JeCerson sometime before January 1802 (mb, 2:1018; Statement of Account from John Barnes, at 12 May 1800; TJ to Savage, 10 Jan. 1802). Whether or not JeCerson paid for a portrait by Savage, the chances are good that he posed for this picture, which does not copy any earlier depiction. The artist and his subject were clearly acquainted before 1802, and the mezzotint print illustrated here was issued in Philadelphia in June 1800, not long after JeCerson had sat for other portraits. Savage, a self-taught artist from Massachusetts, was thirty-eight years old in the spring of 1800. Like Charles Willson Peale, he not only painted but also had a museum gallery, stocked in part with his own work. The original painting duplicated by this mezzotint may have burned in a Are that destroyed much of Savage’s collection in Boston in 1803. Although Savage identiAed himself as the engraver of the mezzotint as well as the artist of the work upon which it was based, David Edwin, an English engraver who worked with Savage in the United States beginning in 1797, may have had a role in creating this print. Two prints by Savage, both dated 1796, hung at Monticello: a mezzotint of David Rittenhouse from a portrait by the senior Peale, and a stipple engraving of the Goddess of Liberty with an American eagle. For other works by Savage used as illustrations in this edition, see Vol. 1:415 (Congress voting on independence); Vol. 20:xxxi, 384 (Joshua Johnson); and Vol. 23:xxxiii, 346 (Anthony Wayne). His best-known work was a group portrait of George Washington and his family (anb; Bush, Life Portraits, 43-4; Stein, Worlds, 74-5, 174-5). Courtesy of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
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Volume 31 1 February 1799 to 31 May 1800
JEFFERSON CHRONOLOGY 1743 1743 1760 1762 1762-1767 1769-1774 1772 1775-1776 1776 1776-1779 1779 1779-1781 1782 1783-1784 1784-1789 1790-1793 1797-1801 1801-1809 1814-1826 1826
•
1826
Born at Shadwell, 13 Apr. (New Style). Entered the College of William and Mary. “quitted college.” Self-education and preparation for law. Albemarle delegate to House of Burgesses. Married Martha Wayles Skelton, 1 Jan. In Continental Congress. Drafted Declaration of Independence. In Virginia House of Delegates. Submitted Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom. Governor of Virginia. His wife died, 6 Sep. In Continental Congress. In France as Minister Plenipotentiary to negotiate commercial treaties and as Minister Plenipotentiary resident at Versailles. Secretary of State of the United States. Vice President of the United States. President of the United States. Established the University of Virginia. Died at Monticello, 4 July.
VOLUME 31 1 February 1799 to 31 May 1800 27 Feb. 1799 1 Mch. 3 Mch. 24 Apr. Aug. 1 Oct. 5 Nov. 9 Nov. 2 Dec. 6 Dec. 14 Dec. 21 Dec. 31 Dec. 7 Jan. 1800 18 Jan. 4 Feb. 28 Feb. Mch. Apr. 7 Apr. 1 May 14 May
Senate conArms new envoys to France. Leaves Philadelphia for Monticello, arriving on 8 Mch. Third Session of Fifth Congress closes. Madison elected to Virginia General Assembly. Dolley Madison calls at Monticello. Leases Aelds at Shadwell to Craven Peyton. Charles Peale Polk Anishes TJ’s life portrait, the Arst of four likenesses taken of TJ by various artists over the next seven months. French government reconstituted with Napoleon as First Consul. First Session of Sixth Congress opens. James Monroe chosen by Virginia legislature for governor. Death of George Washington at Mount Vernon. Leaves Monticello for Philadelphia, arriving on 28 Dec. Daughter Mary gives birth to a daughter. Appointed to help draft American Philosophical Society memorial to Congress on taking a census. Invites Joseph Priestley to oCer his views on education. Learns of deaths of newborn granddaughter and of his slave Jupiter. Seeks Wythe’s aid in compiling parliamentary manual. Distributes Madison’s report on Virginia Resolutions of 1799. Publication of Appendix to the Notes on Virginia. Sends political pamphlets by Thomas Cooper to Philip Norborne Nicholas for distribution to Virginia Republican county chairmen. City elections held in New York. First Session of Sixth Congress closes; TJ departs for Virginia the following day.
T H E PA P E R S O F
THOMAS JEFFERSON k
B
To Elisha Boudinot Sir Philadelphia Feb. 1. 99. A friend of mine at Hanau in Germany, Baron Geismar, owning some shares (I believe three) in a copper mine in your neighborhood, has desired and authorised me to have them sold. having applied to the honourable mr Stockdon to recommend me to some person whom I might address for this purpose he was kind enough to permit me to use his name in addressing you. under that sanction I presume to write this letter. I am anxious to know for how much they can be sold, per share? and whether the sale could be made with a reservation to me, till I shall return home & be able to consult a former letter of Baron Geismer’s which I left there, to declare the sale then to be oC or on? my reason for the latter proposition is that till I can see that letter again, I do not recollect how much these shares cost baron Geismar, & I should be unwilling to sell them to a loss. I have moreover left at home a blank power of attorney sent me to insert in it the name of the person whom I shall authorize to convey the shares & recieve the money. the paiment of the purchase money should be made quite easy, provided the principal were secured, and a recurrence to the delays of the law rendered unnecessary. I shall return home in March and could send a decision on the sale in all April. the circumstances of this case and my situation must be my apology for presuming to give you this trouble, and for asking information from you. accept assurances of the respect with which I am Sir Your most obedt. servt Th: Jefferson RC (NNPM); addressed: “Elisha Boudinot esq. Newark”; franked and postmarked; endorsed. Elisha Boudinot (1749-1819), younger brother of Elias Boudinot, practiced law in Newark, New Jersey, and was elected
to the state supreme court in 1798 (A History of the City of Newark, New Jersey: Embracing Practically Two and a Half Centuries, 1666-1913, 3 vols. [New York, 1913], 2:603-10; General Catalogue of Princeton University, 1746-1906 [Princeton, 1908], 18).
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1 F E B RUA R Y 1799 The letter from baron geismar that prompted the inquiry above was likely one of 11 July 1798, now missing but recorded in SJL as received on 22 Jan. 1799. Much of Geismar’s correspondence with TJ has not been located (see note to TJ to Van Staphorst & Hubbard, 30 Apr. 1798). The copper mine had been opened in northern New Jersey earlier in the century by Arent Schuyler. In the 1750s Schuyler’s son installed a steam-driven pumping system, using machinery and
expertise from England, to keep the mine from Booding. The operation fell into disuse until a group of investors formed the New Jersey Copper Mine Association in the mid-1790s to rehabilitate and develop the mine, oCering 640 shares to raise capital (Thomas Oliver Perry, “The Eagle’s Nest: The History of the Schuyler Copper Mine, North Arlington, New Jersey” [M.A. thesis, University of Delaware, 1966], 69-71, 98-101; Collamer M. Abbott, “Colonial Copper Mines,” wmq, 3d ser., 27 [1970], 299-301).
From Aaron Burr Dear sir, Albany 3. Feby. 99 Being last fall in Ontario County, I spent a day in examining the records to discover the Situation of R.M.’s property. I And that every acre of his land hath been conveyed between the Months of January & July 98 &, as far as I can learn, for good considerations. An attachment, for the beneAt of all the Creditors, issued in March 98 & if prosecuted must exclude any creditor from a partial beneAt. In August last, I obtained a Judgt. agt. R.M. at the Suit of a Creditor in N. York for about 50,000 Dolls. which Judgment I have no doubt the Creditor would sell for 2/ in the pound. When I commenced the suit of Mr. Currie I did not suspect the Conveyances which I have since discovered. The hope of any recovery now appears to me so very remote as not to be worth the expense of the attempt,—For the present therefore I have suspended the pursuit. The Controversy between the attachment & my Judt. will be decided on the 14 March: if in favor of the Judt., I shall sell by execution, the Conveyances notwithstanding, & if the product should exceed the demand, of which I have no hope, shall endeavor to seize the residue for the beneAt of Messs. Currie & Burwell—You shall be advised of the result. The Virginia and Kentucky resolutions have been laid before our legislature, but have not as yet been acted on, in either house. In our Senate they would be rejected about 32 to 8—& probably with marks of indignation: In the H. of assembly they would also be rejected by a Majority of 4 or 5—Under circumstances so inauspicious, I have not thought it discreet to urge a determination in either house. We have now under Consideration two or three laws which are very important even politically considered & are in a good Way; but all < 4>
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hope of success in these would Vanish on the revival of a party discussion— Our Vehement federalists, many of them at least, begin to halt & to doubt & even to enquire—25 million of british debts—6 Million per ann. for a Beet & as much more for an Army, begin to exite examination to which the land tax gives impulse. Considerable changes will probably take place in this State within two Years—Some Symptoms are already obvious even to you at a distance— Always respectfully & sincerely Your friend and Ob st A Burr. I thank you particularly for those parts of your letters which are not on business RC (DLC); at foot of text: “Hon. Th JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ as received 9 Feb. and so recorded in SJL. r.m.: Robert Morris. On 12 Jan. 1799 Governor John Jay sent the virginia and kentucky resolutions to the New York Senate with a one-sentence message noting simply that the resolutions had been sent to him for transmittal to the legislature. That same day the senate referred the resolutions to a committee of the whole but took no further immediate action. The assembly, of which Burr was a member, did not receive Jay’s message and the resolves from the senate until 30 Jan. When the legislature did turn its attention to the resolutions in mid-February, Burr attempted to prevent any consideration of
them. That eCort and an attempt to delay consideration beyond the end of the legislative session both failed, and when Federalists condemned the Virginia and Kentucky measures Burr and others tried without success to include a statement aDrming the right of citizens and their representatives to protest acts of the federal government (Kline, Burr, 1:393-5; Journal of the Senate of the State of NewYork; At their Twenty-Second Session, Second Meeting, Began and Held at the City of Albany, the Second Day of January, 1799 [Albany, 1799], 15). The two or three laws that Burr hoped to see passed were probably a large measure for a uniform system of taxation, an abolition act, and a bill for relief of insolvent debtors (Kline, Burr, 1:382-4).
From John Cleves Symmes Sir/ Cincinnati the 3rd. of February 1799 It becomes my duty, and I hope it may also tend to my Interest, to renew my prayer to the Senate of the United States for their countenance to my claims, and permission for me to proceed with my payments into the treasury of the Nation, in discharge of that balance which I owe the United States on the Miami purchase. Greatly as I have been embarrassed on that subject, and disappointed in the receipts of Money owing to special causes which I need not here ennumerate, I conceive it fully in my power, notwith< 5>
3 F E B RUA R Y 1799
standing, to pay the last shilling due on my contract.—This I humbly beg leave to do: The assent of Congress to this Measure will put it immediately in my power to fulAl all the Obligations laid on me by the contract: The means are within my reach: And would Congress be pleased to authorise the secretary of the treasury to receive the Money, I Batter myself that it will soon be paid. To attempt here an Illustration of the merits of my claim would seem superBuous: If it yet remains incumbent on me to develope that subject, I humbly ask for an opportunity of doing it before a tribunal of law or equity where I may enjoy those privileges which a defendant in a cause of the smallest moment, cannot by the laws of the land be refused. It is a painful reBection to me sir, to discover in the Senate the smallest hessitation on the question of allowing to me and my fellow settlers the enjoyment of that Country we have so dearly earned, and fertilized with our blood; were it possible that the Honble. Members of the Senate could place themselves in our late situation and recall to their view the once dreary wilds of this Country; the yelling savages that haunted every corner of that wilderness; the bleeding father or husband that lay gasping his last breath beneath the barbarous foot, and ruthless knife of the Indignant Indian; the screaches and moans of the widow’d wife and orphan children; I am certain, not a voice would be heard in your honorable house that would not exclaim “let them keep the land on payment of the contract price.” Your Honble. house, sir, in 1792. as well as the house of Representatives did more than this, in favor of the early settlers at Muskingum—they, with a generous humanity decreed one hundred thousand acres gratis to the Ohio company as a bounty or reward to those men at Marietta who had hazarded their lives in the settlement of that part of the Territory. Sir, we do not ask for a bounty like this, yet cannot see why we have not equal Merit. but we hope to be successful in importuning that favor which we conceive to be a right, ie. the privilege of paying our debts. but if our money must be still refused, then we pray the privilege of attempting the establishment of our claim before a tribunal of law or equity—arbitration or commissioners, if a compromise cannot be eCected between agents appointed for the purpose, by Congress on one part, and myself and associates on the other, with whom I may plead or confer on an equal Boor, and maintain my pretensions, or make concessions as my claim may appear on investigation, more or less worthy. Surely sir, it will be admitted, that I had some agency in the origin of the contract: may I not then, with propriety plead my right to be < 6>
3 F E B RUA R Y 1799
heard on the question of its dissolution?—to Urge that contracts made in good faith shall not be arbitrarily annulled,—that the right of trial by jury is inalianable and cannot be denied—that a defendant has a right to be heard by counsel when his property is impleaded— that no intendment can be set up of my having relinquished the contract, unless a deed by which I have abandoned it can be shewn equally solemn and valid with that by which it was created—that a third party, when rights are severed, cannot be committed by the act of the other two.—how much less then shall two of the parties to a deed tripartite be concluded by the act of the third. It is with reluctance sir, I can be persuaded that my prayer for the establishment of my claim, will not be attended to by your honorable house, and that I shall not be yet allowed to pay for the residue of the Miami purchase at the contract price. It is a mortifying truth sir, that at the time when I entered into contract with the United States in 1788. the price then stipulated to be paid per acre for the land was considered by the sellers as well as the buyers, as a very high price. and several years afterwards a price much below was proposed by the secretary of the treasury as adequate to the value of the unappropriated land in this country; nor did he err in his report—neither was the house of representatives precipate in their approbation of his report, and passing a bill for the purpose of carrying it into eCect. The propriety of Mr. Hamiltons report and consequent bill in the house of Representatives, appears from many incontestable facts,— was not the whole country of Genesee about the same time sold at a much smaller price. and have not uninhabitted lands been ever at Market from 1788 to the present time at a price much below that which I am willing to pay the United States? are not Military lands now selling in the Metropolis at one half that price? May not new lands be had much cheaper at this moment at the Wabash; Illinois; Natchez, Georgia; Tenessee and Cumberland as well as in the Military district? Why then sir, should two thirds of a dollar be thought a price too small for the lands bordering on the great Miami River; surely sir, it can be for no other reason, than, because purchasers under the contract, have rendered it a cultivated country— have by their hazard and toil given to it an increased value—but, for our enterprize and industry, these very lands might be at this Moment an unnoticed article in the Markets of the United States, at half the Contract price I have the honor to be most respectfully Sir Yours &c. John C Symmes < 7>
3 F E B RUA R Y 1799 RC (DNA: RG 46, Senate Records, 5th Cong., 3d sess.); at foot of text: “Mr. JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ; on separate page, on verso of an unrelated cover addressed to Samuel Livermore, is Senate clerk’s endorsement that on 30 Dec. 1799 the letter was “Read & to lie.” Recorded in SJL as received 30 Mch. 1799. The subject of Symmes’s 15 Oct. 1788 contract with Congress was a tract of one million acres of land north of the Ohio River and east of the Great Miami River. A statute of 12 Apr. 1792 made the Little Miami River the eastern limit of the tract, which was to run as far north as necessary to encompass the one million acres. However, surveys completed the next year found that the land, if bounded according to that law, would include only about half of the expected one million acres. In 1794 the president signed a patent giving Symmes and his associates claim to less than 250,000 acres. Symmes subsequently ceased making payments, denied that he had agreed to the reduction of the grant’s size, and insisted that the tract be surveyed according to the provisions of the original contract. The situation was further complicated by his sales of land outside the patent. In 1797 the House of Representatives, after soliciting a report on the contract from the attorney general and receiving a memorial from Symmes, passed a bill to grant him lands that were included within the bounds of the 1793 survey but not in the grant of 1794. In March 1797 that bill failed in the Senate, which had received
memorials on the subject from Symmes and others. By an act that became law on 2 Mch. 1799, before TJ received the letter above, some people who had contracted with Symmes to buy land outside the limits of his patent received a preemption right to purchase title from the government (asp, Public Lands, 67-8, 757, 104-6, 127-31; U.S. Statutes at Large, 1:728-9; jhr, 2:467, 521, 581, 627, 629, 702, 704, 715; js, 2:333, 334, 342; Vol. 22:8-9, 282). An act of Congress of 21 Apr. 1792 conArming the 1787 land contract of the ohio company of Associates granted that company an additional 100,000 acres with the provision that it be distributed as a free bounty in 100-acre lots to settlers (U.S. Statutes at Large, 1:257-8). The price stipulated to be paid by Symmes’s original contract with Congress was two thirds of a dollar per acre. In his July 1790 report on vacant lands, Alexander Hamilton recommended thirty cents an acre. The House of Representatives retained that price in a bill passed in Febuary 1791 to provide for a general land oDce. The Senate postponed the measure to the next session (asp, Public Lands, 75; Syrett, Hamilton, 6:504; jhr, 1:348, 354, 381, 399). The Fifth Congress ended on 3 Mch. 1799 and TJ was in Monticello when the above letter came to his hands. On 30 Dec., his Arst day back in the presiding chair and four weeks after the convening of the Sixth Congress, he transmitted the letter to the Senate (js, 2:611; 3:3, 15; mb, 2:1000, 1012).
From James Wood Sir. Richmond 4th. February 1799. I have had the honor of your Letter of the 24th. Ultimo with the inclosure, [no]tifying [the] death [of] Mr. Tazewell. I delayed answering your letter until this time, in expectation that a temporary Appointment wou’d be made by the Executive—I am now inclined to think that none will take place, before a permanent One is made by the Legislature; the Board were equally divided as to two Gentlemen < 8>
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who were Nominated, and my Own Opinion being that I had no power to give a Credential to either, under the Law prescribing the form to be Observed where a temporary Appointment shou’d be made by the Executive. I have the honor to be with due Consideration. Sir Yr. Mo. Obt. Servt. James Wood. RC (DNA: RG 46, Senate Records, 5th Cong., 3d sess.); damaged along fold; addressed: “The Honble. Thomas JeCerson Esqr. Vice President of the United States Philadelphia”; franked; postmarked 5 Feb. 1799; endorsed by Senate clerk.
To James Madison Feb. 5. 99.
I wrote you last on the 30th. Jan. since which yours of the 25th. is recieved. at the date of my letter I had only heard the bill for the eventual army read once. I concieved it additional to the Provisional army &c. I must correct the error. the bill for the Provisional army (about 10,000. men)q expires this session without having been carried into execution. the eventual army (about 30,000) is a substitute. I say about 30,000 because some calculate the new establishment of a regiment we are now passing to a little over, & some a little under 1000. oDcers & privates. the whole land army contemplated is the existing army 5000. the additional army 9000. the eventual army 30000. and the volunteer army, the amount of which is not known. but besides that it is 44,000. men, and nobody pretends to say that there is from any quarter the least real danger of invasion. these may surely be set down at 500. dollars per annum a man, though they pretend that the existing army costs but 300. the reason of that is that there are not actually above 3000. of them, the 5000 being merely on paper. the bill for continuing the suspension of intercourse with France & her dependencies is still before the Senate, but will pass by a very great vote. an attack is made on what is called Toussaint’s clause, the object of which, as is charged by the one party and admitted by the other, is to facilitate the separation of the island from France. the clause will pass however by about 19. to 8. or perhaps 18. to 9. Rigaud at the head of the people of colour maintains his allegiance. but they are only 25,000 souls, against 500,000. the number of the blacks. the treaty made with them by Maitland is (if they are to be separated from France) the best thing for us. they must get their provisions from us. it will indeed be in English bottoms, so that we shall lose the carriage. but the English will probably forbid them < 9>
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the ocean, conAne them to their island, & thus prevent their becoming an American Algiers. it must be admitted too that they may play them oC on us when they please. against this there is no remedy but timely measures on our part to clear ourselves by degrees of the matter on which that leven can work.—the opposition to Livermore was not republican. I have however seen letters from New Hampshire from which it appears that the public sentiment there is no longer progressive in any direction, but that at present it is dead water. that during the whole of their late session not a word has been heard of Jacobinism, disorganization &c no reproach of any kind cast on the republicans. that there has been a general complaint among the members that they could hear but one side of the question, and a great anxiety to obtain a paper or papers which would put them in possession of both sides. from Massachusets & R.I. I have no information. Connecticut remains rivetted in her political & religious bigotry.— Baldwin is elected by the legislature of Georgia a Senator for 6. years in the room of Tatnal, whose want of Armness had produced the eCect of a change of sides.—we have had no report of Yard’s being dead. he is certainly living.—a piece published in Bache’s paper on foreign inBuence, has had the greatest currency & eCect. to an extraordinary Arst impression, they have been obliged to make a second, & of an extraordinary number. it is such things as these the public want. they say so from all quarters, and that they wish to hear reason instead of disgusting blackguardism. the public sentiment being now on the creen and manyr heavy circumstances about to fall into the republican scale, we are sensible that this summer is the season for systematic energies & sacriAces. the engine is the press. every man must lay his purse & his pen under contribution. as to the former it is possible I may be obliged to assume something for you. as to the latter, let me pray & beseech you to set apart a certain portion of every post-day to write what may be proper for the public. send it to me while here, & when I go away I will let you know to whom you may send so that your name shall be sacredly secret. you can render such incalculable services in this way as to lessen the eCect of our loss of your presence here. I shall see you on the 5th. or 6th. of March. aCectionate salutations to mrs Madison & yourself. Adieu. RC (DLC: Madison Papers); addressed: “James Madison junr. near Orange court house”; franked and postmarked. PrC (DLC). For passage of the legislation continuing the suspension of intercourse
with france, see TJ to Monroe, 23 Jan. On 5 Feb. the Senate defeated, by a 10 to 17 vote, a motion to expunge toussaint’s clause. The next day the bill was approved, 18 to 10 (js, 2:578, 580). André rigaud controlled the southern part of Saint-Domingue until he was
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5 F E B RUA R Y 1799 defeated by Toussaint in July 1800. On 31 Aug. 1798 Thomas maitland, British commanding oDcer at SaintDomingue, entered into a secret convention with Toussaint agreeing to withdraw British forces from the island in exchange for Toussaint’s promise not to attack Jamaica and to open the ports under his control to English vessels. In early December Rufus King sent a copy of the convention to Pickering (King, Life,
2:475-7; Washington, Papers, Ret. Ser., 3:413-14; Madison, Papers, 17:227n; Palmer, Stoddert’s War, 153-4; DeConde, Quasi-War, 132-3). piece published in bache’s paper: see Madison to TJ, 12 Jan. 1799. q Words in parentheses interlined by TJ. Closing parenthesis supplied. r TJ here canceled “favorable.”
To Martha Jefferson Randolph My dear Martha Philadelphia Feb. 5. 99. I wrote to mr Randolph on the 30th. of Jan. having just then recieved his of the 19th. it was not till yesterday that I learned from the Post oDce that our post now departs on Wednesday morning from this place. my letters hitherto have been written for Thursday morning, so that you will have recieved them a week later. tell mr Randolph that the day on which I wrote to him, but after I had sealed my letter, a bill was brought in to raise 30. regiments of infantry cavalry & artillery, on the event of an invasion or in case of imminent danger of invasion in the opinion of the President. regiments are now proposed to be about 1000. our land army will then be the existing army 5000. the additional army 9000, this eventual army 30,000. (instead of the Provisional one of 10,000 the act for which is expired) and the volunteer army, which is now to be formed into brigades & divisions & to be exercised. we have no particular information as to the price of tobo. but generally that that as well as all other produce is higher in England than ever known. the immense quantities of paper which their circumstances have forced them to create are now sensibly felt in the enlivening eCect which always takes place in the Arst moment in the delusive shape of prosperity. they are accordingly now singing Hosannas for the unparalleled rise of their Anances, & manufactures. we shall catch a little of the beneAt in the beginning as their paper money price for tobo. will be hard money to us. but it will soon be fetched up as their paper money price for manufactures will be a hard money price to us. we ought to prepare against being involved in their embarassments by setting in by times to domestic manufacture.—Jupiter with my horses must be at Fredericksburg on Tuesday evening the 5th. of March. I shall leave this place on the 1st. or 2d. you will recieve this < 11>
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the 14th. inst. I am already lighthearted at the approach of my departure. kiss my dear children for me. inexpressible love to yourself & the sincerest aCection to mr Randolph. Adieu. RC (NNPM); at foot of text: “Mrs. Randolph.” PrC (MHi); endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. i learned from the post office: Joseph Habersham, postmaster general,
sent TJ a copy of his letter to Alexander Garrett dated 4 Feb. For the contents, see Notes on Postal Service between Philadelphia and Charlottesville, printed at 13 Mch. 1799.
To John Wayles Eppes Dear Sir Philadelphia Feb. 7. 99. Yours of Jan. 20. & 24. are duly recieved. in the former you mention the reciept of £40. for me, and Maria’s of the next day says that mr Eppes expected to recieve £30. more for me at the ensuing Cumberland court. not having heard from mr Randolph on the subject of the hire of your negroes, I was in the moment of recieving your letter, just about to inclose you a draught on George JeCerson for £100. on account. instead of this I have now written to him to answer your draught for one or two hundred dollars which with the £40. you have, & either with or without the £30. as the case may be, will make you up the hundred pounds. whatever this may be less thanq the valuation shall be paid up on my return. I shall oCer your lands to my correspondent at £6000. they ought not to sell for less, and I have hopes you will get it. a bill is passing the Senate for an eventual army of 30,000 men (instead of the provisional one of 10,000 which had not been raised) and in addition to the existing army of 5000, the additional one of 9000. & the volunteer one, of we do not know how many. 2. millions of dollars more are to be borrowed to carry the act into execution. a bill is also brought into the Senate to retaliate on any French citizens who are or may fall into our hands, if the French should put to death or imprison any of ours impressed on board the vessels of their enemies & which may be taken by them. no trial of any kind is provided. the President alone is to judge & execute. though the measures of the government are still measures of provocation, yet a depression of spirits in that party is evident. they are much less insolent & abusive than at the last session. the public mind is evidently & rapidly turning against them, & they are sensible of it.—I inclose you a copy of mr Nicholas’s pamphlet. let mr Eppes have the reading of it. Adieu. Yours aCectionately Th: Jefferson < 12>
7 F E B RUA R Y 1799 RC (ViU); at foot of text: “J. W. Eppes.” PrC (MHi); endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosure: Letter from George Nicholas, of Kentucky, to His Friend, in Virginia. Justifying the Conduct of the Citizens of Kentucky, as to Some of the Late Measures of the General Government; and Correcting Certain False Statements, Which Have Been Made in the DiCerent States, of the Views and Actions of the People of Kentucky, Arst published in Lexington, Kentucky in 1798 and reprinted by James Carey in Philadelphia in early 1799 (see Evans, Nos. 34235, 35973; see also John C. Ogden to TJ, 7 Feb. 1799). i have now written to him: TJ to George JeCerson, 7 Feb. 1799. my correspondent: William Short (Short to TJ, 6 Aug. 1798). The bill giving the president power to retaliate against french citizens was brought in by Benjamin Goodhue on 5 Feb. in response to Adams’s message of 28 Jan., enclosing the 29 Oct. 1798 edict of the French Directory which declared that France would treat citizens of neutral countries as pirates if they served on enemy vessels, speciAcally those of England and Russia. “An act vesting the power of retaliation, in certain cases, in the President of the United States” was
passed by a 22 to 2 margin a week later, although the debate revealed that France had rescinded the edict against which the bill was aimed. In response to a 14 Feb. request by the House for any information he had received on a suspension of the arrêté, Adams sent the House an extract of a letter from Rufus King to Pickering of 28 Nov. 1798, which reported that a second arrêté had postponed the execution of the Arst. In his message, however, Adams reminded the House that even if the edict of 29 Oct. were rescinded, the arrêté of 2 Mch. 1797, which directed that American seamen be treated as pirates if found on board ships of the enemies of France, was still in eCect (Message from the President of the United States, Communicating to the House Such Information as He Has Received Touching a Suspension of the Arrete of the French Republic [Philadelphia, 1799]; see Evans, No. 36554). On 2 Mch. 1799, the day before adjournment, the House passed the bill by a 56 to 30 vote. The president signed it the next day (js, 2:574, 578, 583; jhr, 3:476, 478-9, 515; asp, Foreign Relations, 2:238-9; Duvergier, Lois, 11:10-11, 47; U.S. Statutes at Large, 1:743; TJ to Madison, 12 Feb.). q Preceding three words interlined in place of “diCer from.”
To Mary Jefferson Eppes Philadelphia Feb. 7. 99.
Your letter, my dear Maria, of Jan. 21. was recieved two days ago. it was, as Ossian says, or would say, like the bright beams of the moon on the desolate heath. environed here in scenes of constant torment, malice & obloquy, worn down in a station where no eCort to render service can avail any thing, I feel not that existence is a blessing but when something recalls my mind to my family or farm. this was the eCect of your letter, and it’s aCectionate expressions kindled up all those feelings of love for you and our dear connections which now constitute the only real happiness of my life. I am now feeding on the idea ofq my departure for Monticello which is but three weeks distant. the roads will then be so dreadful, that, as to visit you even by the direct route of Fredsbg & Richmond, would add 100. miles to < 13>
7 F E B RUA R Y 1799
the length of my journey, I must defer it in the hope that about the last of March or Arst of April, I may be able to take a trip express to see you. the roads will then be Ane. perhaps your sister may join in a Bying trip, as it can only be for a few days. in the mean time let me hear from you. letters which leave Richmond after the 21st. inst. should be directed to me at Monticello. I suppose you to be now at Montblanco and therefore do not charge you with the delivery of those sentiments of esteem which I always feel for the family at Eppington. I write to mr Eppes. continue always to love me, & to be assured that there is no object on earth so dear to my heart as your health & happiness, and that my tenderest aCections always hang on you. Adieu my ever dear Maria. Th: Jefferson RC (Florence P. ington, D.C., 1962); supplied from PrC; Maria Eppes.” PrC Randolph Papers).
Kennedy, Washsignature clipped, addressed: “Mrs. (ViU: Edgehill-
q TJ here canceled “returning home.”
To George Jefferson Dear Sir Philadelphia Feb. 7. 99. I wrote you last on the 31st. ult. since which yours of the 29th. is come to hand, as also a letter from mr B. Clarke my manager at Poplar Forest giving me a statement of the weights of my tobacco there, of which I inclose you a copy. there are 20. hhds. averaging 15090 L making in the whole 30,190. I rely on Clarke’s diligence that it will be down with you by the Arst opportunity.—I shall desire mr Eppes, my son in law, to draw on you for from one to two hundred dollars, which be pleased to honour. having occasion for 5. bushels of clover seed, half white & half red, I have enquired the price here, & And that red is at 11. D. the bushel & white 16. be so good as to enquire if they are to be had at Richmond & on better terms, and if they are, send up that quantity for me. I shall be here till the last day of this month, therefore have time to hear from you on the last subject, which, if I am to send the seed from hence, should be known to me immediately. be so good as to send me a copy of the pamphlet Curtius, printed at Richmond. I am with great esteem Dear Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson P.S. from Albemarle there will be about 20,000 L tobo. and pretty certainly of a better quality than the Bedford. < 14>
7 F E B RUA R Y 1799 PrC (MHi); at foot of text: “Mr. George JeCerson”; with enclosure letterpressed on same sheet (see below); endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. The letter from Bowling clarke of 20 Jan., recorded in SJL as received by TJ on 6 Feb., has not been found. pamphlet curtius: on 30 Nov. 1798 the Virginia Argus published the Arst of Ave essays addressed to congressional candidate John Marshall by John Thomson, a young Republican lawyer from Petersburg, using the pen name “Curtius.” In late 1798 Richmond newspaper editor Samuel Pleasants published the essays as The Letters of Curtius,
Addressed to General Marshall. In the missives, Thomson described Marshall as the leader of the Federalist Party in Virginia, a party which was attempting “to erect a monarchy or aristocracy upon the ruins of our free constitution” through pro-British, anti-French policies. For the role of this pamphlet in Marshall’s congressional campaign, see Marshall, Papers, 3:497-8. Thomson died in early 1799 at the age of 21. In 1804 Pleasants reprinted the pamphlet and added a biographical sketch of Thomson (Virginia Argus, 18 Jan. 1799). For the 1804 pamphlet, see Sowerby, No. 3526.
e n c l o s u r e
Tobacco Statement No. 95. 96. 100. 101. 177 186. 217 218 121. 122 138. 131. 329. 328. 219. 356. 490 401 402 403
131. 131. 131. 131. 131. 131. 131. 131. 131. 131. 131. 131. 131. 131. 131. 131. 131 131 131 131
1527. 1546. 1569. 1607 1425 1615 1507 1633. 1496. 1395 1536 1624. 1474. 1443 1609 1419 1294 1610 1384 1477 30190
20. hhds. average 15090 PrC (MHi); letterpressed perpendicularly below postscript and signature of covering letter above.
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From John C. Ogden Sir. LitchAeld Connecticut Feby 7th 1799 I knew that you would pardon a liberty I take in sending this, with its Contents—Since my arrival in this Town I have found the Superior Court in session, and a large number of my old acquaintance. I am a lodger in an inn, which is the home also of Gideon Granger Esqr. of SuDeld in this State, who is attending the court as a lawyer. My acquaintances all agree that the rancor of party against those called republicans has cooled, since the eight per-cent. premium for the loan. The people are more moderate, and susceptible of proper impressions. Many publications in the Aurora have reached Connecticut, within four weeks, which have opened the eyes of the dispassionate. My friends in Philadelphia furnished me with many publications upon our aCairs as a nation, in particular with Mr Gallatins book upon foreign intercourse. These have been already put into such hands by me, as will circulate them into various parts of the State. It is to be lamented that Mr Nicholas’s pamphlet was not Anished by Mr James Carey before I left the city, as I should have brought a number for my countrymen here. If the gentlemen of my acquaintance accord with me in opinion, they will pass immediately to me whatever they think to be useful. They may depend that nothing shall be lost. My residence will be here until the rising of Congress in March. It will confer a favor, if they will honor me with their communications without hesitation or reserve. The register is sent, that as large catalogues, of our citizens as possible may be appealed to, in order to And such persons as may be proper from their oDces or principles to receive information, by letters or otherwise—As the press is shackled, there can be no immorality, in puting the party who are thus unjust and arbitrary, to the expence of receiving information, by letters for which they must pay postage—A repetition of such addresses, will lead to the opening of the presses sooner than argumentation, upon the liberty, & privilege, of a free press. The dot in the list of representatives is for Arm republicans and the -m, for moderate men. Communications to such ought to be franked—When my acquaintance arrives from the cell he would gladly devote a large part of his time to enlightening the people of Connecticut. Mr Granger is possessed of a large estate, but owes the State for < 16>
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some lands purchased not long since—After he began his numbers, he saw that the party would seek to destroy his family and property if he persisted. and as there was not so immediate a demand for his strictures, he postponed the design, but it is not abandoned.— My request is, that you would not answer this letter. If any thing worthy our attention as a family has oCered itself, and you would condescend to send it by your letter in such form as I might shew to my mother in law and her friends, we shall be honored indeed. My interview aCorded the clue to our wishes and we have no doubt of your readiness to communicate whatever will convince this State or nation of your readiness to serve so venerable a Lady as Mrs Wooster, or do honor to so distinguished a soldier & patriot as General Wooster. The honor of this is reserved for you, and the good disposition already exhibited, or any future services shall never be forgotten. I am Dr Sir Your devoted servant John C. Ogden— RC (DLC). Recorded in SJL as received 15 Feb. Enclosure: see below. After graduating from the College of New Jersey, John Cosens Ogden (17511800) removed to New Haven, Connecticut. A convert from Presbyterianism, in 1788 he was ordained a priest of the Protestant Episcopal church. Unable to And permanent employment as an Episcopal minister, in the 1790s he traveled and preached through much of Vermont and in the adjacent states and Canada. Never shirking confrontation, he criticized the religious, political, and educational establishment of his former state of residence in a tract, An Appeal to the Candid upon the Present State of Religion and Politics in Connecticut (New Haven, 1797). Following the arrest of Matthew Lyon, Ogden took petitions from Lyon’s Vermont supporters to Philadelphia for presentation to John Adams. Beginning in January 1799 Ogden wrote anonymously for the Aurora. He turned one of the catchwords of his opponents, who likened Republicans to secretive and dangerous “illuminati,” against the Federalists by writing A View of the NewEngland Illuminati; Who are Indefatigably Engaged in Destroying the Religion and Government of the United States (Philadelphia, 1799). Ogden died
in Maryland in September 1800 (anb; Smith, Freedom’s Fetters, 242-3). mr gallatins book upon foreign intercourse: The Speech of Albert Gallatin, Delivered in the House of Representatives of the United States, on the First of March 1798, Upon the Foreign Intercourse Bill (Philadelphia, 1798). mr nicholas’s pamphlet: Letter from George Nicholas. The enclosed register was likely a marked copy of Green’s Almanack and Register, for the State of Connecticut; for the Year of Our Lord, 1799 (New London, n.d.), which contained a list of representatives in the state legislature (pp. 38-40) as well as rosters of attorneys, ministers, militia oDcers, bank directors, town clerks, and others. when my acquaintance arrives from the cell: Matthew Lyon was released from imprisonment on 9 Feb. (Smith, Freedom’s Fetters, 244). began his numbers: in the spring of 1798 Gideon Granger wrote a numbered series of articles that Arst appeared in the Impartial Herald, a relatively short-lived newspaper in SuDeld, Connecticut, Granger’s hometown. The articles related to his own involvement in politics but dealt primarily with broader themes, including relations with Great Britain and a critical view of the Jay
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7 F E B RUA R Y 1799 Treaty (Hartford American Mercury, 26 Apr., 3, 10, 17 May 1798; Brigham, American Newspapers, 1:73). Ogden may have called on TJ at Monticello in November 1798, but they may also have had an interview in Philadelphia sometime between TJ’s arrival on Christmas Day and the Arst couple of days of January, since TJ knew by 3 Jan., perhaps directly from Ogden, that Adams had rejected the petitions on Lyons’s behalf with the comment that “penitence must precede pardon” (note to Stevens Thomson Mason to TJ, 23 Nov. 1798; TJ to Madison, 3 Jan. 1799). Ogden’s mother-in-law was Mary Clap wooster, the widow of David Wooster, who was widely criticized for his command of American forces in Quebec in 1775-76 and died in battle at Danbury,
Connecticut, in 1777. Before the Revolution David Wooster had been a merchant and the collector of customs at New Haven. Ogden had worked for Wooster and married the Woosters’ daughter. At least a portion of Ogden’s resentment of entrenched political power in Connecticut originated in his failure to attain the collectorship previously held by his father-in-law. Ogden used the pages of the Aurora in 1799 to argue that by giving the collector’s oDce to their cronies, the Trumbull and Wolcott families had deprived General Wooster’s family of an important and rightful source of income (Alan V. Briceland, “The Philadelphia Aurora, the New England Illuminati, and the Election of 1800,” pmhb, 100 [1976], 9-11, 16-17; anb, 16:634; 23:868).
From James Madison Dear Sir Feby. 8. 1799 I did not receive your last favor of the 16th. Ulto. till the Mail after it was due, with the further delay of its coming by the way of Charlottesville. The last Mail brought me not a single Newspaper, tho’ it was before in arrears. That there is foul play with them I have no doubt. When it really happens that the entire mass cannot be conveyed, I suspect that the favorite papers are selected, and the others laid by; and that when there is no real diDculty the pretext makes room for the same partiality. The idea of publishing the Debates of the Convention ought to be well weighed before the expediency of it, in a public as well as personal view be decided on. Besides the intimate connection between them, the whole volume ought to be examined with an eye to the use of which every part is susceptible. In the Despotism at present exercised over the rules of construction, and the Counter reports of the proceedings that would perhaps be made out & mustered for the occasion, it is a problem what turn might be given to the impression on the public mind. But I shall be better able to form & explain my opinion by the time, which now approaches when I shall have the pleasure of seeing you. And you will And the advantage of looking into the Sheets attentively before you Anally make up your own. I have had a glance at Gerry’s comunications & P’s Report on it. It is impossible for any man of candor not to see in the former, < 18>
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an anxious desire on the part of France for accomodation, mixed with the feelings which Gerry satisfactorily explains. The latter displays a narrow understanding and a most malignant heart. Taken however in combination with preceding transactions it is a link that Ats the chain. The P. could not do less in his Speech than allow France an option of peace, nor his Minister do more than to insult & exasperate her if possible into a refusal of it. Inclosed is a letter to Barnes with two orders which I hope will suDce both for you & him. Should there be any deAcit I can now make it up here on your return where possibly it may be more convenient for you to receive it. I inclose also a few more observations which are submitted to your discretion, under the usual reservation. They were sketched prior to the arrival of P.’s Report, to which they may appear to have reference; or they might have assumed still more of that aspect. The impression of your Seals have not been very distinct, but there has been no other suspicious circumstance attending them. I put into the letter to Barnes, the last of them that you may judge yourself of the appearance—If you And it not inconvenient in your Strolls to buy me a cheap diamondX & bring it with you, I shall be obliged to you to take that trouble. An indiCerent one which I borrowed was lost, and I wish to replace it. for Cutting Glass.
X
RC (DLC: Madison Papers); endorsed by TJ as received 19 Feb. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosed letter to John Barnes with orders not found; for other enclosure, see note below. For the publication of Elbridge gerry’s communications with Talleyrand, written after the departure of envoys John Marshall and Charles C. Pinckney, and Timothy Pickering’s report, delivered as a critical response to it, see TJ to Monroe, 23 Jan. 1799. The observations enclosed by Madison were printed in the Philadelphia Aurora as “Political ReBections” under the signature “A Citizen of the United States” on 23 Feb. In the essay Madison
cautioned that it was diDcult to obtain authentic news from France because it usually came through England or Germany and was “consequently adulterated with all the exaggerations & perversions which the most raging hostility can infuse.” He warned of dangers that war, or the threat of war, posed to all representative governments, the United States as well as France, and observed “that there never was a people whose liberties long survived a standing army.” Madison noted that the division of power between the federal and state governments in the United States was one safeguard to liberty which the consolidated French government did not possess (Madison, Papers, 17:237-43).
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From Martha Jefferson Randolph Bellmont February 8, 1799
I am ashamed indeed my Dearest Father to have so justly incurred the reproach contained in your last. allthough the trip down the country was soon relinquished, yet my time has been more varied than is usual with me; after your departure we spent ten days with Mrs Divers, Carr, Trist, &c &c &c during which time I went to a ball in Charlottesville, danced at it and returned home fatigued and unwell to prepare for our return to Bellmont; where for the consideration of 20£ Allen consented to let us remain till the Afteenth of March. this will give Mr Randolph time, at least to empty a barn for the reception of our furniture. the visit from Mrs JeCerson with preparations for a second ball where I accompanied her and the girls, added to theq cares of the household some what encreased by so long an absence from them, will account in some measure for the neglect of so sacred and agreable a duty—John has been once only to recieve orders about the garden; his excuse was the negligence of Phil in furnishing but one load of manure, the want of which he seemed to think rendered his attentions useless. Mr Randolph will give you the details of the farm which he has visited twice during your absence, and the newspapers have informed you of the loss the friends of Liberty have [met with?] in the death of young Thomson of Petersburg; which is the only event of any consequence that has taken place since you left us—for the rest, every thing stands as you left it, even your house. Davenport has I am afraid sold the plank he engaged to furnish for it, at least McGehee told Mr Randolphr so, and he has certainly agreed to furnish some one in Milton with plank immediately. Mr Randolph has some thoughts of employing a young man who has engaged to work for him (an acquaintance and reccommended by McGehee) to do it if Davenport delays any longer. the children all join in tender love to you, from Virginia to Annin Yoon who speaks much of you, and as a constant resource against ill treatment from her Papa and my self; whom she frequently threatens with going to Phil delphy she sends her love to you and begs you will bring her a cake—I must beg the favour of you to bring for JeCerson the newest edition of Sandford and Merton the old editions consisting of two volumes are to be had in Richmond but as we have heard there is a third & perhaps fourth volume come out which are not to be met with there, I must apply to you to acquit my word with him. since I began to write we have been informed that Davenport has this very day set about your work < 20>
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Mr Randolph Ands it impossible to write by this post but bids me tell you the tobacco is just prized (13 hogsheads in all) and by the next post he will give you the details of the other operations of the farm. adieu Dearest Father I write in the midst of the noise of the children and particularly your little seet heart who has interrupted me so often that I have scarcely been able to connect one sentence with another. believe me with tenderest reverence and aCection yours unchangeably M. Randolph RC (MHi); addressed: “Thomas JeCerson Vice president Philadelphia”; postmarked Milton, 15 Feb.; endorsed by TJ as received 23 Feb. and so recorded in SJL. newest edition of sandford and merton: in 1798 Philadelphia bookseller William Young printed the seventh edition of Thomas Day’s The History of
Sandford and Merton in three volumes. The third and Anal volume of the children’s book was Arst published in London in 1789 and by Young in Philadelphia in 1791 (Pierpont Morgan Library, Early Children’s Books and Their Illustration [New York, 1975], 130). q MS: “the the.” r MS: “Randolp.”
From Bishop James Madison Dear Sir Williamsburg Febry. 10th. 1799— I return you many Thanks for your Goodness in forwarding the interesting Papers, lately communicated to Congress. Whether the Public will coincide with the Secretary in the Conclusions he has drawn from them, must be very doubtful.—If, as Mr Gerry says, the Minister of France appeared sincere & anxious to obtain a Reconciliation; if his Views too, were liberal in Regard to a Treaty; if this also was, most probably the Disposition of the Exec: Directory itself;—it surely becomes a Matter of very interesting Inquiry—Why then is America in the Situation in which [she] is now placed?—To answer this Question satisfactorily to the People of America will be an arduous Task indeed.— I am persuaded Republicanism can never acquire the Ascendency it ought in this Country, untill a Plan of Education, somewhat similar to yours, is carried into ECect with Sincerity & Ardour. The Death of our Friend, Mr Tazewell is sincerely regretted. Could no one be found to deliver a funeral Oration, which might have done Justice both to his private & public Merits?— With the highest Respect & Regard, I am Dr Sir—Yr Friend & Sert J Madison < 21>
10 F E B RUA R Y 1799 RC (DLC); torn; endorsed by TJ as received 21 Feb. and so recorded in SJL.
interesting papers: Elbridge Gerry’s correspondence with Talleyrand and Timothy Pickering’s report on it.
To Aaron Burr Dear Sir Philadelphia Feb. 11. 99. Your favor of Feb. 3. came to hand two days ago. I am sorry to observe my friend Currie’s claim to be so unpromising, however I shall still hope for something under the wing of your judgment, which you say will be decided Mar. 14. and if that shall fail, that he may come in for his share under the general attachment. I have no conception how Morris’s immense conveyances to his [four] sons & family can be good against the statutes on fraudulent conveyances, if those statutes be in force with you as in their British form. every body must know that his sons could have no means of making such purchases on valuable considerations. however of all this you are a much better judge. I pray you to let no chance escape of eCectuating Dr. Currie’s claim. The public papers inform you of every thing passing here. of the proposed navy of 12. 74s. 12. frigates & 20. or 30. smaller vessels, of which 6. 74s. & 6. [18]s. are now to be begun; of our existing army of 5000. men, additional army of 9000. & eventual army of 30,000. (now under manufacture) & volunteer army of we know not how many. as it is acknoleged at the same time that it is impossible the French should invade us since the annihilation of their power on the sea, our constituents will see in these preparations the utmost anxiety to guard them against even impossibilities. the Southern states do not discover the same care however in the bill authorising the President to admit Toussaint’s subjects to a free commerce with them, & free ingress & intercourse with their black brethren in these states. however if they are guarded against the Cannibals of the terrible republic, they ought not to object to being eaten by a more civilized enemy. shall we see you here this session? it would give me great pleasure. I am with sincere esteem Dear Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson P.S. the system of alarm manifestly Bags; and the supplementary event of Ambassador Logan has not had the expected eCect. the public opinion in this state is rapidly coming round. even the German counties of York and Lancaster are changing sides. < 22>
11 F E B RUA R Y 1799 PrC (DLC); smudged; at foot of text: “Colo. Burr.” valuable considerations: for a case in which TJ challenged the “consideration” for which a parent had conveyed property to his sons, and which also involved the shielding of assets from creditors, see Bill in Chancery of Wayles’s Executors against the Heirs of
Richard Randolph, [on or before 2 Mch. 1795], in Vol. 28:285-91. TJ discussed the bill to admit toussaint’s subjects to a free commerce in his letter to Monroe, 23 Jan. 1799. For petitions from Pennsylvania counties and elsewhere protesting the Alien and Sedition Acts, see TJ to Madison, 30 Jan. 1799.
To James Monroe Philadelphia Feb. 11. 99.
I wrote you last on the 23d. of Jan. since which yours of Jan. 26. is recieved. a bill will pass the Senate to-day for enabling the President to retaliate rigorously on any French citizens who now are or hereafter may be in our power, should they put to death any sailors of ours forced on board British vessels & taken by the French. this is founded expressly on their arret of Oct. 29. 98. communicated by the President by message. it is known (from the Secretary of state himself) that he recieved, immediately after, a letter from Rufus King informing him the arret was suspended, and tho it has been known a week that we were passing a retaliating act founded expressly on that arret yet the President has not communicated it, and the supporters of the bill who themselves told the secret of the suspension in debate (for it was otherwise unknown), will yet pass the bill. we have already an existing army of 5000. men, & the additional army of 9000. now going into execution. we have a bill on it’s progress through Senate for authorising the presidt. to raise 30. regiments (30,000 men) called an eventual army, in case of war with any European power or of imminent danger of invasion from them in his opinion: and also to call out & exercise at times the volunteer army, the number of which we know not. 6. 74s. & 6. 18s. making up 550. guns (in part of the Beet of 12. 74s. 12 frigates and 20. or 30. smaller vessels proposed to be built or bought as soon as we can) are now to be begun. one million of dollars is voted. the government estimate of their cost is about 4500. D. (£1000. sterl.) a gun. but there cannot be a doubt they will cost 10,000. D. a gun, & consequently the 550. guns will be 50 millions. a loan is now opened for 5. millions at 8. percent & the eventual army bill authorises another of 2. millions.— King is appointed to negociate a treaty of commerce with Russia, in < 23>
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London. Phocionq Smith is proposed to go to Constantinople to make a treaty with the Turks. under two other covers you will recieve a copy of the French originals of Gerry’s communicns for yourself, and a doz. of G.N’s pamphlets on the laws of the last session. I wish you to give these to the most inBuential characters among our countymen, who are only misled, are candid enough to be open to conviction; & who may have most eCect on their neighbors. it would be useless to give them to persons already sound. do not let my name be connected with the business.—it is agreed on all hands that the British depredations have greatly exceeded the French during the last 6. months. the insurance companies at Boston, this place & Baltimore prove this from their books. I have not heard how it is at N.Y.—the Senate struck out of the bill continuing the suspension of intercourse with France the clauses which authorised the P. to do it with certain other countries (say Spanish & Dutch) which clauses had passed the H. of R. by a majority of, I believe, 20. they agreed however to the amendment of the Senate. but Toussaint’s clause was retained by both houses. Adieu aCectionately. Feb 12. The vessel called the Retaliation, formerly French property, taken by us, armed & sent to cruize on them, retaken by them & carried into Guadaloupe, arrived here this morning with her own capt. crew &c. they say that new commissioners from France arrived at Guadaloupe, sent Victor Hughes home in irons, liberated this crew, said to the capt that they found him to be an oDcer bearing a regular commission from the US. possessed of a vessel called the Retaliation then in their port; that they should enquire into no preceding fact, and that he was free with his vessel & crew to depart: that as to diCerences with the US. commrs. were coming out from France to settle them; in the mean time no injury should be done to us or our citizens. this was known to every Senator when we met. the Retaliation bill came on, on it’s passage, & was passed with only 2. dissenting voices; 2 or 3. who would have dissented happening to be absent. RC (DLC: Monroe Papers); addressed: “Colo. Monroe near Charlottesville”; franked and postmarked; endorsed by Monroe. PrC (DLC). On 6 Feb. John Adams nominated Rufus King to be a minister plenipotentiary for negotiation of a treaty of amity and commerce between the United States and russia. The Russian government had requested that King handle the nego-
tiation in London, where he was minister plenipotentiary to Great Britain. For the nickname phocion that TJ and his friends attached to William Loughton smith from his use of that pseudonym in 1796, see James Thomson Callender to TJ, 26 Oct. 1798. On 8 Feb. Adams nominated Smith, who was U.S. minister to Portugal, to be envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the Sublime Ottoman Porte and to prepare a
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11 F E B RUA R Y 1799 treaty of amity and commerce. The Senate agreed to his nomination on 11 Feb. and approved King’s on 7 Feb. (jep, 1:310-12). g.n: George Nicholas. For the recapture by France of the vessel called the retaliation, a French schooner pressed into U.S. service under the command of William
Bainbridge, see TJ to Madison, 3 Jan. 1799, and for the inBammatory activities of Victor Hugues as French commissioner in the West Indies, see TJ to John Wayles Eppes, 6 May 1798. q Name written over a partially erased, illegible word.
Notes on the Connecticut Cession the bill for accepting the Connecticut cession Feb. 11. 99. in Senate the claim of Connecticut is barred 1. by the prior charter to Virginia. 2. parties to every charter. king & people. accordg. to legal principles the charter cannt be infringd but with consent of both parties consent of people may be given 1. by express decln 2. by acquiescence the Quo. War. never decided, and if it had been decided, could only aCect the company, not the people. all the sbsqt proceedgs of crown & governors admitted the existence & oblign of the charter.q the grants of Pensva & Maryland acquiesced in in the long run, conArmed by constn of Virga. the proclmn of 1763. did not purport an abridgment, nor was there ever an acquiesce.r the will of the king to abridge a charter may be by express decln or by doing some act which manifests it, ass limiting it by another grant. 2. therefore the Pensva charter abridged that to Connect. cutting it quite across, it shewed the meang of the king to limit Con. by Pensva. the king could never intend the parts of Con. E. & W. of Pensva shd be undr 1. govmt 3. the reservn in the original Plymouth grant saves the charter of Virga the charter to Connect. was meant to be carved out of the original Plymouth grant.t < 25>
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4. the settlemt of the Western boundary of Con. by Nichols & other commrs. valid this settlemt notifd. to Connect. at the time of their patent.u the Government of Con. subscribe to that settlemt. the agents of Conn. acknolege that boundary before the board of trade in Engld the Governor in his correspdce with Penn on the invasion of Wyoming admits it the legislature of Conn. acknoleged it see Smith’s pamphlet MS (DLC); entirely in TJ’s hand; endorsed by TJ: “Connecticut reserve.” feb. 11. 99: by a motion approved on Friday, 8 Feb. 1799, the Senate made the order of the day for the following Monday a “bill authorizing the acceptance, from the state of Connecticut, of a cession of the jurisdiction of the territory west of Pennsylvania, commonly called the Western Reserve of Connecticut.” However, the Senate journal gives no indication that the bill was debated on Monday the 11th, although it was considered on 12-14 Feb. and given to a committee for the second time. The bill, introduced by Uriah Tracy late in December 1798, passed the Senate on 25 Feb. 1799, but the House of Representatives immediately postponed it to the next session. When it became law on 28 Apr. 1800 the measure provided for the formal cession of jurisdiction over the Western Reserve and conArmed land titles there that derived from Connecticut (js, 2:567-8, 571, 581, 584, 586, 590-2, 594-5, 597; U.S. Statutes at Large, 2:567). For TJ’s involvement with the issue of Connecticut’s western claims, see Editorial Note and group of documents on the Connecticut-Pennsylvania territorial dispute, Vol. 6:474-507, and the undated notes printed in Vol. 1:248. quo. war.: quo warranto. Title to much of the land in the Western Reserve, which fell within the limits of the Northwest Territory, came by way of the Connecticut Land company formed in the 1790s (Shaw Livermore, Early American Land Companies: Their InBuence on Cor-
porate Development [New York, 1939; repr. 1968], 177-87). nichols & other commrs.: in 1664 Richard Nicholls, lieutenant governor of New York, and other royal commissioners agreed on “the western Bounds” of Connecticut with the governor of that colony and commissioners appointed by the Connecticut assembly (William Smith, Jr., The History of the Province of New-York, ed. Michael Kammen, 2 vols. [Cambridge, Mass., 1972], 1:36). John penn was lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania and the elder Jonathan Trumbull the governor of Connecticut during the early 1770s when the wyoming region of the Susquehannah Valley became the scene of conBict among settlers claiming authority from the two colonies. During Penn’s absence in England, 1771-73, his brother Richard served as lieutenant governor (Colonial Records, 16 vols. [Harrisburg, 1851-53], 10:11819, 151-2, 163-4; Samuel Hazard and others, eds., Pennsylvania Archives. Selected and Arranged from Original Documents in the ODce of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, 119 vols. [Harrisburg, 1852-1935], 1st ser., 4:408-9; Robert J. Taylor, Colonial Connecticut: A History [Millwood, N.Y., 1979], 60, 235-6, 250; dab). smith’s pamphlet: [William Smith], An Examination of the Connecticut Claim to Lands in Pennsylvania. With an Appendix, Containing Extracts and Copies Taken from Original Papers (Philadelphia, 1774). See Sowerby, No. 3143.
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12 F E B RUA R Y 1799 q Preceding two sentences (beginning “the Quo. War.”) interlined. r Sentence interlined. s TJ here canceled “grant.”
t Sentence interlined. u TJ here canceled “the agents of Conn.”
From Daniel Clark Sir New Orleans 12 february 1799 You will pardon the Liberty I take in addressing you when I inform you that your Letter of the 24th. June of last Year directed to Mr Philip Nolan (with whom for many Years I have been connected in the strictest Friendship) has in his absence come into my possession. That extraordinary and enterprising Man is now and has been for some Years past employed in the Countries bordering on the Kingdom of New Mexico either in catching or purchasing Horses, and is looked for on the Banks of the Mississippi at the fall of the Waters with a thousand Head which he will in all probability drive into the U.S. Having directions from him to peruse all Letters addressed to him previous to their being forwarded that in case of accident, no expression contained in them should awaken the Jealousy of the suspicious [peo]ple among whom he has by a coincidence of fortunate Circumstances introduced himself, I have by this Means acquired a knowledge of the object of your researches, & shall feel particular pleasure in aCording my mete of assistance to forward your Letter in safety to him. You judge right in supposing him to be the only person capable of fulAlling your Views as no Person possessed of his talents has ever visited that Country to unite information with projects of utility. Shortly after his return, but not before on acct. of the impossibility of applying himself during his travels with that attention he could wish to the subject, I will be responsible for his giving you every information he has collected, and it will require all the good Opinion you may have been led to entertain of his veracity not to have your Belief staggered with the accounts you will receive of the numbers, & habits, of the Horses of that Country and the people who live in that Neighborhood whose Customs & ideas are as diCerent from ours as those of the Hordes of Grand Tartary. Did it not interfere too much with your other occupations I would presume to request you would point out particular subjects on which my Friend should enlarge, as some which would be probably very interesting to you, might be overlooked or seem too trivial to him to notice < 27>
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from having come so often under his observation. In this case your Letters addressed to the care of Mr Tench Coxe of Philadelphia to be forwarded to me will shortly get to Nolan’s hands, and I take the Liberty of referring you to Mr Coxe for a knowledge of my Character, that you may not be under any apprehension concerning the Person to whom you write. Mr. Ellicott the Commissioner on the part of the U.S. for running the Line of demarcation with Spain being now Visitor in my House and having at his arrival in this Country been acquainted with Nolan who gave him considerable information on the subject in Question, I have hinted to him your Wish of acquiring the same Knowledge, and he will doubtless think himself happy in contributing as far as lies in his power to this End until Nolan himself can have an Opportunity of giving you perfect Satisfaction. In the mean time I must suggest to you the necessity of keeping to yourself for the present all the information that may be forwarded to you as the slightest Hint would point out the Channel from whence it Bowed and might probably be attended with the most fatal consequences to a man, who will at all times have it in his Power to render important Services to the U.S., and whom Nature seems to have formed for Enterprizes of which the rest of Mankind are incapable. Should any accident happen which would deprive the World of this extraordinary Character, his Papers which are conAded to me & a mutual Friend now in the Spanish Service, shall be carefully examined, and every thing relating to that Country shall be forwarded to you with [such] other remarks as both of us from our own Knowledge & information have acquired. The desire I have that you should be possessed of every information and the certainty that the Philosopher & Politician will excuse the freedom of the Persons interesting themselves in procuring such as may be useful embolden me to mention Mr William Dunbar a Citizen of Natchez in the Mississippi territory as a person worthy of being consulted by you on subjects relating to this Country its productions, or any philosophical Question connected with them. He was for some time employed by the Spanish Government as their Astronomer on the Line of demarcation, but has retired to his Estate, and for Science, Probity & general information is the Arst Character in this part of the World. His long residence in this Country still but little known to Men of letters, its Situation with respect to many Savage tribes, some of which lately inhabited the very Place where he resides & where their Vestiges are still perceptible, the extensive Communication with remote parts presented by the Mississippi and < 28>
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concourse of Indians & traders, have given him many Opportunities of making Observations which may not have presented themselves to others & may not probably occur in future, to these may be added those he has made on the Country itself, its population, manners Customs of the Inhabitants, the diCerent Changes in their Government for the last 40 Years, the Climate, soil & Trade which are but little known abroad and they will I hope appear so important to a person whose reputation is so great as yours as to procure me your Indulgence for the Liberty I have taken. I have the Honor to remain with Sentiments of the greatest respect & Esteem Sir Your most obedient & most humble Servant Daniel Clark Junr RC (DLC); damaged; at foot of text: “[. . .] JeCerson Esqr.”; endorsed by TJ as received 4 Apr. and so recorded in SJL. Daniel Clark (1766-1813), born in Ireland but educated at Eton and other English schools, emigrated to America as a young man and went to work in the New Orleans counting house of an uncle who had the same name (hence the “Junr” of his signature above). He became a partner in the Arm and engaged in other commercial and Anancial activities, accruing both property and inBuence in the French community of Louisiana. For a time he held a secretarial oDce under Governor Esteban Miró, which gave him access to valuable information about the
province. With Andrew Ellicott’s inBuence Clark became, in 1798, the acting U.S. vice consul at New Orleans, TJ appointing him formally to that oDce three years later. He supplied TJ with important data about Louisiana, yet he became an implacable opponent of Governor W. C. C. Claiborne and Anally fell irretrievably out of favor with TJ by denouncing James Wilkinson as the Burr imbroglio unfolded. In 1806 Clark won election as territorial delegate to Congress, a seat he held for one term (anb). For TJ’s hope that philip nolan might be able to satisfy his curiosity about mustang horses of the trans-Mississippi west, see his letter to Nolan of 24 June 1798.
To James Madison Feb. 12. 99.
I wrote you last on the 5th. which acknoleged yours of Jan. 25. the last at hand. yesterday the bill for 6. 74s. & 6. 18s. passed the H. of R. by 54. against 42. and the bill for a new organisation of the army (into regiments of about 1000.) passed the Senate. the bill continuing the suspension of intercourse with France and her dependancies has passed both houses. but the Senate struck out the clauses permitting the President to extend it to other powers. Toussaint’s clause however was retained. even South Carolinians in the H. of R. voted for it. we may expect therefore black crews, supercargoes & mission< 29>
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aries thence into the Southern states; and when that leven begins to work, I would gladly compound with a great part of our Northern country, if they would honestly stand neuter. if this combustion can be introduced among us under any veil whatever, we have to fear it. we shall this day pass the retaliation bill. it recites & is expressly founded on the French arret of Oct. 29. 98. communicated to us by the President. it came out from Sedgwick & Stockton in debate that they had had it from the Secy. of state that he had recieved a letter from mr King informing him of the suspension of that arret. yet tho’ they knew we were legislating on it, the P. has not communicated it; and the retaliators insist on passing the bill. it is now acknoleged on all hand, denied on none, & declared by the insurance companies that during the last 6. months the British depradns have far exceeded the French. King has been appointed to enter into a treaty with Russia at London; & Phocion Smith was yesterday conArmed by the Senate as Envoy extray. & M.P. to Constantinople to make a like treaty with the Turks. to chuse the moment of a coalition between the Turks, Russians & English against France, to unite us by treaty with that body as openly as they dare to propose, cannot be misconstrued. I send you under a separate cover the French originals of Gerry’s communcns, one of G.N’s pamphlets, and the Treasury statements of exports & imports of the last year. Adieu aCectionately P.S. no letter you could write after your reciept of this would And me here. P.M. the vessel called the Retaliation, formerly French property taken by us, armed & sent to cruise on them, retaken by them & carried into Guadaloupe, arrived here this morning with her own capt. crew &c. they say that new commrs. from France arrived at Guadaloupe, sent Victor Hughes home in irons, liberated this crew, said to the capt that they found him to be an oDcer of the US. bearing their commission, possessed of a vessel called the Retaliation then in their port; that they should not enquire into any preceding fact, but that he was free with his vessel & crew to depart: that as to diCerences with the US. commrs. were coming out from France to settle them; in the mean time no injury should be done to us or our citizens. this was known to every Senator when we met; the Retaliation bill came on, on it’s passage, and was passed with only 2. dissenting voices, 2 or 3. who would have dissented happening to be absent. RC (DLC: Madison Papers, Rives Collection); second postscript written on verso and so indicated by TJ’s “V.” in
bottom right corner of recto; addressed: “James Madison junr. near Orange courthouse”; franked and postmarked. PrC
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12 F E B RUA R Y 1799 (DLC); torn; lacks second postscript, but includes note in TJ’s hand in ink at foot of text: “added same P.S as to Colo. Monroe about the vessel [Retaliation].” g.n: George Nicholas. The House of Representatives had the treasury statements of exports & imports published as Letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, Transmitting a Statement of Goods, Wares and Merchandize Exported from the United States, During One Year, Prior to the First Day
of October, 1798 [Philadelphia, 1799] and Letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, Transmitting Two Statements; One Exhibiting the Value or Quantities of the Goods, Wares and Merchandize, Imported into the United States, in Ships or Vessels of the Said United States, for One Year Prior to the First of October 1797—and the Other Exhibiting, in Like Manner, the Importations in Ships or Vessels of Foreign Nations, During the Same Period [Philadelphia, 1799]. See Evans, Nos. 36537, 36540.
To Thomas Mann Randolph Th:J. to TMR. Philadelphia Feb. 12. 99. I wrote to Martha on the 5th. inst. and desired my horses might be at Fredericksburg on Tuesday evening the 5th. of March. I shall arrive there the next morning, & proceed part of my way home. I mention this again lest any accident should befal that letter. we have just conArmed the President’s appointments of Rufus King to enter into a treaty of commerce with the Russians at London; & of Phocion Smith to be Envoy extraordinary & M.Py. to go to Constantinople & conclude one with the Turks. to seize the moment of a coalition of the English, Turks and Russians against France, to join them as far as we dare, cannot be misconstrued. it is now a conceded point that the British spoliations have far exceeded the French during the last 6. months.—this morning the vessel Retaliation, formerly French property taken by us, armed & sent to cruise on them, retaken by them & carried into Guadaloupe, arrived here with her own capt & crew. the capt says that new commissioners arrived there from France, sent Victor Hughes home in irons, liberated this crew, said to the capt. we And you bearing a regular commission as an oDcer of the US. and that you have a vessel called the Retaliation in our port: we shall enquire into no preceding fact; you are free to depart with your vessel & crew: as to diCerences with the US. commrs. are coming from France to settle them. in the mean time we shall do no injury to them or their citizens. within one hour after this was known to the Senate, the bill for retaliating on them any suCerings of any of our citizens under their arret of Oct. 29. (which we knew to be suspended) came on, on it’s passage, & passed with only 2. dissenting voices, 2. or 3. being absent who would have dissented. the bill for 6. 74s. & 6. 18s. < 31>
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passed the H. of R. yesterday 54. to 42. my tenderest love to my dear Martha & the children & aCectionate Adieus to yourself. P.S. is my tobo. gone down? RC (DLC); endorsed by Randolph as received 21 Feb. 1799. PrC (MHi); endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
From John Page Rosewell Feby. 13th. 1799
I thank you my dear Friend for your Letter & the Pamphlets inclosed. I see clearly through the Dark Windings, & turnings, dark as they are— War with France has long been the favorite Object of our Govt. Porcupine Arst prepared me for this Event, by his declaration in Novr. 1796, that the Ud. S.s would be “obliged to go to War with France, & with Spain too; & that the sooner you drive them (every frenchman & Spaniard) said he into the Gulph of Mexico the better”—I have no doubt that a conditional Alliance oCensive & defensive has been formed by R.K. & the british Minister—& that Britain is urging our Govt. on to its RatiAcation. Hence Congress is to be provoked into a Declaration of War; or at least into Measures which must force France to declare War—One of which, & the most compleatly calculated to eCect this, is that which you mention respecting opening Commerce with Toussaint—The Statement of Expences you mention I think is far short of what they will be. The inclosed Address will shew you that I have taken some Steps towards going to the next Congress, a shorter I published to my Gloucester & Mathews Friends. being afraid of losing a Conveyance by the Stage for this, I can only add that I am aCectily. yrs. John Page RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ as received 23 Feb. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: see below. For TJ’s letter to Page, see 24 Jan. 1799. Writing as Peter porcupine in Porcupine’s Political Censor, For November 1796 (Philadelphia, 1796), William Cobbett asserted that Spain had probably given control over Louisiana, and thus over the Mississippi River commerce of
the United States, to France, and in response the U.S., through an alliance with Great Britain, could deprive the French of their possessions in the West Indies and “might forbid them to set a foot in Louisiana, or might drive them and their ‘natural allies,’ the Spaniards,” into the Gulf (p. 76). r.k. & the british minister: Rufus King and, presumably, William Pitt. Page’s address of 16 Nov. 1798 was To the Citizens of Accomack, Northamp-
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13 F E B RUA R Y 1799 ton, Elizabeth-City, Warwick and York (Richmond, 1798; Evans, No. 34291), counties that had been added to gloucester and mathews to compose the congressional district Page had represented
for four terms until he lost the seat for the Fifth Congress to Thomas Evans. Despite Page’s challenge, Evans retained the seat for the Sixth Congress (Biog. Dir. Cong., 976, 1605).
To Archibald Stuart Dear Sir Philadelphia Feb. 13. 99 I avoid writing to my friends because the Adelity of the post oDce is very much doubted. I will give you brieBy a statement of what we have done and are doing. the following is a view of our Anances in round numbers. the impost brings in the last year 70 millions of dollars, the Excise, carriages, auctions & licences 0 million, the residuary small articles 5 of a million. it is expected that the stamp act may pay the expence of the direct tax, so that the two may be counted at 2. millions, making in the whole 105 millions. our expences are for the Civil list 4 of a million, foreign intercourse 0 million (this includes Indian & Algerine expences, the Spanish & British treaties) interest of the public debt 4. millions, the existing navy 20 millions, the existing army (5000. men) 10 million making 93 millions, so that we have a surplus of near a million. but the additional army (9000. men) now raising will add 20 millions annually, the additional navy proposed 3. millions, and the interest of the new loans 0 a million making 6. millions more, so that as soon as the army and navy shall be ready our whole expences will be 15. millions; consequently there will be 5. millions annually more to be raised by taxes. our present taxes of 10. Â. are 2. dollars a head on our present population, and the future 5. Â. will make it 3. D.—our whole exports (native) this year are 28. Â. so that our taxes are now 1 & will soon be 0 of our whole exports, & when you add the expences of the state governments we shall be found to have got to the plenum of taxation in 10. short years of peace. Great Britain after centuries of wars & revolutions, had at the commencement of the present war taxed only to the amount of 2 of her exports. we have opened a loan for 5. Â. @ 8. per cent interest, & another is proposed of 2 Â. these are to build 6. 74s. & 6. 18s. in part of the additional navy, for which a bill past the House of R. 2. days ago by 54. against 42. besides the existing army of 5000. & additional army of 9000. an eventual army of 30,000 is proposedq to be raised by the President in case of invasion by any European power, or danger of invasion in his opinion, and the volunteer army, the amount of which we know not, is to be immediately called out & < 33>
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exercised at the public expence. for these purposes a bill has been twice read and committed in the Senate. you have seen by Gerry’s communications that France is sincerely anxious for reconciliation,r willing to give us a liberal treaty, and does not wish us to break the British treaty but only to put her on an equal footing. a further proof of her sincerity turned up yesterday. we had taken an armed vessel from her, had reAtted & sent her to cruise against them, under the name of the Retaliation, and they recaptured & sent her into Guadaloupe. the new commissioners arriving there from France, sent Victor Hughes oC in irons, said to our captain that they found him bearing a regular commission as an oDcer of the US. with his vessel in their port, & his crew; they would enquire into no fact respecting the vessel preceding their arrival, but that he, his vessel & crew were free to depart. they arrived here yesterday. the federal papers call her a cartel. it is whispered that the Executive mean to return an equal number of the French prisoners, and this may give a colour to call her a cartel, but she was liberated freely & without condition. the commissioners further said to the captain that as to diCerences with the US. new commissioners were coming out from France to settle them, & in the mean time they should do us no injury. the President has appointed Rufus King to make a commercial treaty with the Russians in London, and Wm. Smith (of S.C.) to go to Constantinople to make one with the Turks. both appointments are conArmed by the Senate. a little dissatisfaction was expressed by some that we should never have treated with them till the moment when they had formed a coalition with the English against the French. you have seen that the Directory had published an Arret declaring they would treat as pirates any neutrals they should take in the ships of their enemies. the President communicated this to Congress as soon as he recieved it. a bill was brought into Senate reciting that arret, and authorising retaliation. tho the P. recieved information almost in the same instant that the Directory had suspended the arret (which fact was privately declared by the Secretary of state to two of the Senate) and tho’ it was known we were passing an act founded on that arret, yet the P. has never communicated the suspension. however the Senate, informed indirectly of the fact, still passed the act yesterday, an hour after we had heard of the return of our vessel & crew beforementioned. it is acknoleged on all hands, & declared by the insurance companies that the British depredations during the last 6. months have greatly exceeded the French. yet not a word is said about it oDcially. however all these things are working on the public mind. they are getting back to the point where they were when the XYZ story was played oC on < 34>
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them. a wonderful & rapid change is taking place in Pennsylvania, Jersey & N. York. Congress is daily plyed with petitions against the alien & sedition laws & standing armies. several parts of this state are so violent that we fear an insurrection. this will be brought about by some if they can. it is the only thing we have to fear. the appearance of an attack of force against the government would check the present current of the middle states & rally them round the government; whereas if suCered to go on it will press on to a reformation of abuses. the materials now bearing on the public mind will infallibly restore it to it’s republican soundness in the course of the present summer, if the knolege of facts can only be disseminated among the people. under separate cover, you will recieve some pamphlets written by George Nicholas on the acts of the last session. these I would wish you to distribute, not to sound men who have no occasion for them, but to such as have been misled, are candid & will be open to the conviction of the truth, and are of inBuence among their neighbors. it is the sick who need medecine & not the well. do not let my name appear in the matter. perhaps I shall forward you some other things to be distributed in the same way. Let me now trouble you with a small private matter of my own. Mr. Clarke was tolerably punctual in his remittances as long as he continued in business. but when he quitted he had near £100. of mine for nails actually sold, in his hands. for so I had a right to consider it as I charged only ready money prices, and such was the condition settled between us. this money has now been a twelvemonth in his hands, and the intermediate applications ineCectual. in truth I am not able to carry on my manufactory but on ready money sales. I have no money capital to enable me to make great advances & long winded debts. if you could mention the matter to mr Clarke in any way that would best suit the footing on which you stand with him, and be the means of my recieving it immediately on my return home (about the 10th. of March) it would be a very sensible relief to me. and indeed if he does not pay it soon I must use eCectual means to obtain it, such delays being incompatible with the course or the necessities of my manufactory. present me respectfully to mrs Stuart and accept assurances of the sincere esteem of Dr Sir Your aCectionate friend & servt Th: Jefferson RC (ViHi); at foot of Arst page: “Mr. Stuart.” PrC (DLC). view of our finances: see TJ to John Wayles Eppes, 21 Jan. 1799.
federal papers call her a cartel: see Philadelphia Gazette, 12 Feb. On the same day the Gazette of the United States reported that William Bainbridge and the crew of Retaliation had “refused
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13 F E B RUA R Y 1799 their liberty” until they could be “regularly exchanged” but were “forced away” due to scarcity of provisions. For the debt owed by Samuel clarke, see Clarke to TJ, 10 July 1798. A letter from TJ to Stuart of 29 Aug.
1798 and Stuart’s response of 24 Sep., recorded in SJL as received 1 Oct. 1798, have not been found. q Word interlined. r Word interlined in place of “peace.”
To Tench Coxe Thursday Feb. 14. 99.
Th: JeCerson with his compliments to mr Coxe asks the favor of an interview with him this evening. he would call on mr Coxe but thinks the chance of being alone & unobserved would be better if mr Coxe could make it convenient to come to his lodgings between 8. & 9. this evening. RC (DLC); addressed: “Mr. Coxe”; endorsed by Coxe. Not recorded in SJL.
The interview with Coxe probably concerned the establishment of a newspaper in Philadelphia by Republicans (see TJ to Monroe, 23 Jan. 1799).
To Edmund Pendleton Dear Sir Philadelphia Feb. 14. 99. I wrote you a petition on the 29th. of Jan. I know the extent of this trespass on your tranquility, and how indiscreet it would have been under any other circumstances. but the fate of this country, whether it shall be irretrievably plunged into a form of government rejected by the makers of the constitution or shall get back to the true principles of that instrument, depends on the turn which things may take within a short period of time ensuing the present moment. the violations of the constitution, propensities to war, to expence, & to a particular foreign connection which we have lately seen, are becoming evident to the people, and are dispelling that mist which XYZ. had spread before their eyes. this state is coming forward with a boldness not yet seen. even the German counties of York & Lancaster, hitherto the most devoted have come about and by petitions with 4000. signers remonstrated against the Alien & Sedition laws, standing armies, & discretionary powers in the President. New York & Jersey are also getting into great agitation. in this state we fear that the ill-designing may produce insurrection. nothing could be so fatal. any thing like force would check the progress of the public opinion & rally them < 36>
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round the errors ofq the government. this is not the kind of opposition the American people will admit. but keep away all shew of force and they will bear down the evil propensities of the government by the constitutional means of election & petition. if we can keep quiet therefore, the tide now turning will take a steady & proper direction. even in N. Hampshire there are strong symptoms of a rising inquietude. in this state of things, my dear Sir, it is more in your power than any other man’s in the US. to give the coup-de-grace to the ruinous principles and practices we have seen. in hopes you have consented to it, I shall furnish you some additional matter which has arisen since my last. I inclose you a part of a speech of mr Gallatin on the naval bill. the views he takes of our Anances & of the policy of our undertaking to establish a great navy may furnish some hints. I am told some thing on the same subject from mr J. Nicholas will appear in the Richmond & Fredsbg papers. I mention the real author, that you may respect it duly. for I presume it will be anonymous. the residue of Gallatin’s speech shall follow when published. a recent fact proving the anxiety of France for a reconciliation with us is the following. you know that one of the armed vessels which we took from her was reAtted by us, sent to cruize on them, recaptured & carried into Guadaloupe under the name of the Retaliation. on the arrival there of Desfourneaux the new commissioner, he sent Victor Hughes home in irons, called up our Captn. told him that he found he had a regular commission as an oDcer of the US. that his vessel was then lying in harbour, that he should enquire into no fact preceding his own arrival (by this he avoided noticing that the vessel was really French property) and that therefore himself & crew were free to depart with their vessel; that as to the diCerences between France & the US. Commissioners were coming out to settle them & in the mean time no injury should be done on their part. the captain insisted on being a prisoner; the other disclaimed, & so he arrived here with vessel & crew the day before yesterday. within an hour after this was known to the Senate, they passed the Retaliation bill of which I inclose you a copy. this was the more remarkeable as the bill was founded expressly on the Arret of Oct. 29. which had been communicated by the President as soon as recieved, and he remarked ‘that it could not be too soon communicated to the two houses & the public.’ yet he almost in the same instant recieved through the same channel, mr King, information that that arret was suspended, & tho’ he knew we were making it the foundation of a retaliation bill, he has never yet communicated it. but the Senate knew the fact informally from the Secy. of state, & knowing it passed the bill. the President has < 37>
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appointed & the Senate approved Rufus King to enter into a treaty of commerce with the Russians, at London, & Wm. Smith (Phocion) Envoy Extray. & M.P. to go to Constantinople to make one with the Turks. so that as soon as there is a coalition of Turks, Russians, & English against France, we sieze that moment to countenance it as openly as we dare by treaties which we never had with them before. all this helps to All up the measure of provocation towards France & to get from them a decln of war which we are afraid to be the Arst in making. it is certain that the French have behaved atrociously towards neutral nations, & us particularly; and tho’ we might be disposed not to charge them with all the enormities committed in their name in the West Indies, yet they are to be blamed for not doing more to prevent them. a just and rational censure ought to be expressed on them, while we disapprove the constant Billingsgate poured on them oDcially. it is at the same time true that their enemies set the Arst example of violating Neutral rights, and continue them to this day: insomuch that it is declared on all hands, & particularly by the Insurance companies, & denied by none, that the British spoliations have considerably exceeded the French during the last 6. months. yet not a word of these things is said oDcially to the legislature. still further to give the Devil his due (the French) it should be observed that it has been said without contradiction, & the people made to believe, that their refusal to recieve our Envoys was contrary to the L. of Nations, and a suDcient cause of war. whereas every one who ever read a book on the L. of Nations knows that it is an unquestionable right in every power to refuse to recieve anyr minister who is personally disagreeable. Martens, the latest & a very respected writer, has laid this down so clearly & shortly in his ‘Summary of the Law of Nations. B. 7. Ch. 2. sect. 9. that I will transcribe the passage verbatim. ‘Sect. 9. Of choice in the person of the Minister. The choice of the person to be sent as minister depends of right on the sovereign who sends him; leaving the right however of him to whom he is sent, of refusing to acknolege any one, to whom he has a personal dislike, or who is inadmissible by the laws & usages of the country.’ and he adds notes proving by instances &c. this is the whole section.— notwithstanding all these appearances of peace from France we are, besides our existing army of 5000, men, & additional army of 9000 (now oDcered and levying) passing a bill for an eventual army of 30. regiments (30,000 men) and for regimenting, brigading, oDcering & exercising at the public expence our volunteer army, the amount of which we know not. I inclose you a copy of the bill which has been twice read & committed in Senate. to meet this expence & that of the < 38>
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6. 74s. & 6. 18s. part of the proposed Beet, we have opened a loan of 5. millions at 8. per cent, & authorise another of 2. millions: and at the same time every man voting for these measures acknoleges there is no probability of an invasion by France. while speaking of the restoration of our vessel I omitted to add that it is said that our government contemplate restoring the Frenchmen taken originally in the same vessel and kept at Lancaster as prisoners. this has furnished the idea of calling her a cartel vessel, and pretending that she came as such for an exchange of prisoners, which is false. She was delivered free & without condition. but it does not suit to let any new evidences appear of the desire of conciliation in France.—I believe it is now certain that the Commissioners on the British debts can proceed together no longer. I am told that our two have prepared a long report, which will perhaps be made public. the result will be that we must recur again to negociation, to settle the principles of the British claims.—you know that Congress rises on the 3d. of March, and that if you have acceded to my prayers I should hear from you at least a week before our rising. accept my aCectionate salutations & assurances of the sincere esteem with which I am Dear Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson RC (MHi: Washburn Collection); at foot of Arst page: “E. Pendleton”; endorsed by Pendleton. PrC (DLC). Enclosures: (1) The Arst portion of The Substance of Two Speeches of Mr. Gallatin, on the Bill for Augmenting the Navy Establishment of the United States, in the House of Representatives, on the 7th and 11th of February, 1799 (Philadelphia, 1799). See below and Sowerby, No. 3214. (2) Act “vesting the power of retaliation” (see TJ to John Wayles Eppes, 7 Feb. 1799). (3) Bill to grant “eventual authority” to augment the army (see TJ to Madison, 30 Jan. 1799). (4) Bill for the augmentation of the navy (see TJ to Aaron Burr, 7 Jan. 1799). What TJ characterized as two parts of one speech of mr gallatin was printed by Joseph Gales as the Substance
of Two Speeches, in which a break between the two addresses occurs between pp. 12 and 13. martens: Georg Friedrich von Martens, Summary of the Law of Nations, Founded on the Treaties and Customs of the Modern Nations of Europe (Philadelphia, 1795), translated by William Cobbett from the original work in French. See Sowerby, No. 1429; Evans, No. 29025. For the bilateral commission established under Article 6 of the Jay Treaty to arbitrate british debts owed by Americans, see TJ to Madison, 16 Jan. 1799. q Three words interlined; emendation lacking in PrC. r Word interlined in place of “person.”
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From James Monroe Dear Sir alb: Feby 15. 1799. Yours of the 27 ulto. & that with the communications of Mr. Gerry I have recd.—I suspect also the inAdelity of the post tho’ yr. letters give no cause for it apparently. But the game on foot, puts too much at stake with the principal gamblers, for them to lose any opportunity they possess, to forward their views. I am much deceived if the Virga. resolutions &ca are not the chief cause of the measures (of Govn.) now depending with you. But as this may get into the hands of the greatest villains among us, it is well to say no more on this head. I thank you for becoming responsible for the 50. or 100 dolrs. you mentioned you wod. pay for me. Our accts. generally we will settle when we meet. In addition to the books there is a small sum paid for you to Mr. La Motte at Havre of wh. I have a note. aCecy. dear Sir I am yours. RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ as received 28 Feb. and so recorded in SJL.
out any covering letter, at least none that merited recording in SJL; see also TJ to Monroe, 11 Feb.
TJ evidently sent Monroe the printed correspondence of Elbridge gerry with-
From John Taylor J. T to the Vice Prest. Caroline Feb: 15. 1799. Your letter concerning a successor to Mr. Tazewell, took the rout to Richmond, and found me at home a few days past, for the assembly had risen before its arrival. It was my wish to have tried Colo. M. against Wood at the last session, of which I informed Colo. Nicholas previous to its meeting, but it was prevented by a doubt of success. This however would have been a pledge for my exertions on his behalf, whenever an opportunity occured. A decided character at the head of our government is of immense importance, by the inBuence it will have upon public opinion. Even Wood has done great service to one side, and inBicted a correspondent injury on the other. To this inBuence is also attached many essential powers, which occasion will bring into view, besides the important one of commanding the militia. I have therefore always thought, that the republicans have been too inattentive to the consequences of having a tory Arst majestrate, & military commander of the state. The interregnum in the oDce of senator is a little event < 40>
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which illustrates this truth. At the next session of assembly Wood himself will certainly be brought forward as a candidate. The Buctuation, apparently, in the Assembly respecting appointments, is for want of some of those characters capable of Axing it to a permanent system, which our country could furnish, but unfortunately they will stay at home. I allude particularly to Mr: Madison, as being able to condense our politicks with a view to some great object. These eCorts which could be made, are not made, and as I really believe, that none which can be made will be successful, the omission of any so important, renders our cause in my eyes absolutely desperate. Upon this consideration, and upon that of our nation[al] character, I have made up my mind to get rid of that political strait waistcoat, which accident threw on, and which has ever sat uneasily. I hope I have mistaken our national character, but it appears to unfold itself by an insensibility to the eCects both of tyranny and despotism, exhibiting in the back ground, sordid avarice and sculking fear.—A tax gatherer you think is the doctor, which will cure this disease, but as this doctor is now under the protection of an army and navy, he may safely administer what doses he pleases. To take time by the forelock is therefore the only chance, for time will otherwise beneAt those most, who play the whole game, nor is the use they have made of it already, a proof that in future they will mismanage the advantage.—An eCort, upon some political promontory, to be made immediately in the Virginia legislature, is the forlorn hope remaining. Yes, I have another. Philosophy teaches us to endure evil, as well as to enjoy good. Mr: Pendleton will not I fear, be induced to comply with the recommendation of your letter, which I have seconded with all my might. He has often amused himself by essays upon public measures, which would have been very useful, but I have seldom prevailed on him to suCer them to be used. At this moment, he has by him, an admirable satire upon these measures, in the shape of presentments which the last grand jury ought to have made, and which embrace all the popular topicks, altho’ they are strictly responsive to Judge Cushing’s charge. The business of juries propounded by the albemarle petition, was unavoidably postponed, to the questions concerning the unconstitutional laws— the aspect of war—and the arming of the militia, which absorbed our whole attention nearly to the close of the session, and left the members in such a state of impatience to get home, that no important subject would have been taken up. The arms had been < 41>
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nearly defeated upon the score of expence, and as the same argument would have been used against the reformation of our jury system, its success, in the then temper of the house, was inevitable. Hence it would have been impolicy to hazard so probable a defeat, upon a question clearly refering to the unconstitutional laws, which would have fatally counterpoised the preceding victories gained by the republicans. It was their policy not to lose a question of importance. Hereafter I mean to till a soil, which promises to crown my labour with some success. Mother earth oCers to her children subsistence & repose, of which it seems to be their great business to rob each other. It was foolish to leave the bosom which nourished me, for the sake of exposing my own, to the unfraternal shafts of all the wicked passions. If upon returning to the pap, I And it yet sweet, in spite of the sherbet of taxation so copiously squeezed into it, you will probably long hence be troubled with another agricultural letter; ’til then, I pray God to keep you happy! RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ. Recorded in SJL as received 26 Feb. 1799. For the letter on a successor to Henry tazewell, see TJ to Taylor, 24 Jan. 1799. colo. m: James Monroe. The General Assembly reelected James Wood as governor of Virginia on 7 Dec. 1798 (jhd, Dec. 1798-Jan. 1799, 11-12). recommendation of your letter: see TJ to Edmund Pendleton, 29 Jan. 1799. On 23 Nov. 1798, Associate Supreme Court Justice William Cushing’s lengthy charge to the grand jury of the circuit court in Richmond described the internal horrors of the
French Revolution and the foreign aggression carried out by the French republic and warned that if the United States were not careful, the same “vengeance” could befall America. Cushing defended the Alien and Sedition Acts and urged the grand jury to take action against “combinations or conspiracies to raise insurrections against government, or to obstruct the operation of the laws made by proper authority” (dhsc, 3:305-16). For the postponement of the albemarle petition, see Petition to the General Assembly of Virginia, [2 or 3 Nov. 1798].
From George Jefferson Dear Sir, Richmond 16th February 1799 Your favors of the 31st. ultimo & 7th. instant came duly to hand. The little Sam with the nail-rod &c. has not yet arrived. I And that clover seed here is very scarce; there is none except in the hands of one person—the price is $:12.– for red & 15 for white. as this (in the whole) is the same as at Philada., I should have taken it, but it is not of the last years growth—and I am told cannot therefore be so good; but even admitting it is, or that you are willing to trust it, you had < 42>
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better supply yourself in Philada., as this may probably be gone before I could hear from you. None of your Tobacco has yet come down—I have notwithstanding, been endeavouring to dispose of it on the terms you mention—as there could not be a loss, but might possibly be a gain, by an early sale—but as yet I have not been able to meet with any one who is disposed to take it—You direct me to sell at the highest price which may be given &c—some suppose, that as you are to have the advantage of the highest price, you mean the highest Cash price; but that, I cannot think—as it would be placing your crop on a footing with the straggling Hhds: that are picked up—few good crops having within this year or two been sold for Cash—if this was your meaning there is scarcely a shipper but who would gladly take it—I conclude however that you certainly meant the highest credit-price—in which case it is necessary that some stipulated time should be mentioned—it would be wrong for instance if a high price should be given on a credit of one or two years, that we should claim such price, for a credit of 4 or 6 months— I have therefore proposed the highest price at which it may be sold on the same credit—counting from the time of the delivery until the 1st. of October. I fear though I shall not be able to make a sale in this way—& particularly if it is to be the highest price given on James river—instead of being conAned to this place. perhaps however when the large adventurers commence their shipments, they may be anxious to secure such a crop as yours on almost any terms. I am Dear Sir Your Very Obt. humble servt. Geo. Jefferson RC (MHi); at foot of text: “Thos. JeCerson esqr.”; endorsed by TJ as received 23 Feb. and so recorded in SJL.
From George Jefferson Dear Sir, Richmond 19th. Febr. 1799. The nail rod, hoop iron, & molasses arrived yesterday—& are forwarded to Milton. The chimney-piece has never yet come down. Your very humble servt. Geo. Jefferson RC (MHi); at foot of text: “Thos. JeCerson esqr. Philada.”; endorsed by TJ. Recorded in SJL as received 26 Feb. 1799.
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To James Madison Feb. 19. 99.
I wrote you last on the 11th. yesterday the bill for the eventual army of 30. regiments (30,000) & 75,000. volunteers passed the Senate. by an amendment, the P. was authorised to use the volunteers for every purpose for which he can use militia, so that the militia are rendered compleatly useless. the friends of the bill acknoleged that the volunteers are a militia, & agreed that they might properly be called the ‘Presidential militia.’ they are not to go out of their state without their own consent. consequently all service out of the state is thrown on the constitutional militia, the Presidential militia being exempted from doing duty with them. Leblanc an agent from Desfourneaux of Guadaloupe came in the Retaliation. you will see in the papers Desfourneaux’ letter to the President which will correct some immaterial circumstances of the statement in my last. you will see the truth of the main fact that the vessel & crew were liberated without condition. notwithstanding this, they have obliged Leblanc to recieve the French prisoners & to admit in the paper the terms ‘in exchange for prisoners taken from us,’ he denying at the same time that they considered them as prisoners, or had any idea of exchange. the object of his mission was not at all relative to that; but they chuse to keep up the idea of a cartel, to prevent the transaction from being used as evidence of the sincerity of the French govmt towards a reconciliation. he came to assure us of a discontinuance of all irregularities in French privateers from Guadaloupe. he has been recieved very cavalierly. in the mean time a Consul general is named to St. Domingo: who may be considered as our minister to Toussaint.—but the event of events was announced to the Senate yesterday. it is this. it seems that soon after Gerry’s departure overtures must have been made by Pichon, French chargé d’aCaires at the Hague, to Murray. they were so soon matured that on the 28th. of Sep. 98. Taleyrand writes to Pichon approving what had been done, & particularly of his having assured Murray that whatever Plenipotentiary the govmt of the US. should send to France to end our diCerences would undoubtedly be recieved with the respect due to the representative of a free, independt & powerful nation. declaring that the President’s instructions to his envoys, at Paris, if they contain the whole of the American government’s intentions,q announce dispositions which have been always entertained by the Directory, & desiring him to communicate these expressions to Murray in order to convince him of the sincerity of the French government & to prevail on him to transmit them to his < 44>
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government. this is dated Sep. 28. & may have been recieved by Pichon Oct. 1. and near 5. months elapse before it is communicated. yesterday the P. nominated to the Senate W. V. Murray M.P. to the French republic & adds that he shall be instructed not to go to France without direct & unequivocal assurances from the Fr. government that he shall be recieved in character, enjoy the due privileges and a minister of equal rank title & power be appointed to discuss & conclude our controversies by a new treaty. this had evidently been kept secret from the Feds of both houses, as appeared by their dismay. the Senate have passed over this day without taking it up. it is said they are gravelled & divided; some are for opposing, others do not know what to do. but in the mean time they have been permitted to go on with all the measures of war & patronage, & when the close of the session is at hand it is made known. however it silences all arguments against the sincerity of France, and renders desperate every further eCort towards war. I inclose you a paper with more particulars. be so good as to keep it till you see me & then return it, as it is the copy of one I sent to another person & is the only copy I have.—since I begun my letter I have recieved yours of Feb. 7. 8. with it’s inclosures. that referred to my discretion is precious and shall be used accordingly. aCectionate salutations to mrs M. & yourself & Adieu. P.S. I have committed you & your friends for 100. D. I will justify it when I see you. RC (DLC: Madison Papers); addressed: “James Madison junr. near Orange court house”; franked and postmarked. PrC (DLC); postscript canceled in ink. TJ’s last letter to Madison was dated 12 Feb. not the 11th. In his conciliatory letter to the president of 15 Dec. 1798, Edme Étienne Borne Desfourneaux promised to treat the United States as an ally, encouraged Americans to trade at Guadeloupe, and recounted his release of the Retaliation and American seamen held prisoner on the island. The letter was published in the Philadelphia Gazette on 16 Feb. and in other Philadelphia newspapers two days later (Philadelphia Aurora, Gazette of the United States, and Porcupine’s Gazette, 18 Feb. 1799). On 16 Feb. Adams nominated Edward Stevens, a physician and close friend of
Alexander Hamilton since their early years in St. Croix, to serve as consul general at Saint-Domingue. The Senate approved the appointment Ave days later by an 18 to 7 vote (jep, 1:312, 316; Syrett, Hamilton, 1:4-5, 22:491). event of events: on 18 Feb. Adams nominated William Vans Murray to serve as minister to France. Along with his message to the Senate, Adams transmitted Talleyrand’s communication to Louis André Pichon of 28 Sep. 1798 (see enclosure to this letter). On 20 Feb., by a 21 to 7 vote, the Senate referred the nomination to a committee chaired by Theodore Sedgwick. On 23 Feb. the committee met with the president and shortly afterwards a caucus of Federalist senators decided to reject the nomination. Two days later, before Sedgwick could present his report, Adams informed the Senate that he had modiAed the appointment to include Supreme Court Chief Justice
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19 F E B RUA R Y 1799 Oliver Ellsworth and Patrick Henry to serve with Murray, in order to “give more general satisfaction to the legislature, and to the nation.” The appointments were conArmed on 27 Feb., and after Henry declined to serve, William R. Davie, governor of North Carolina, became the third envoy (jep, 1:313-19, 326-7; Syrett, Hamilton, 22:503-5; Adams, Works, 9:248-50; Washington, Papers, Ret. Ser., 3:389). Adams kept Murray’s appointment secret from his administration. Sedgwick conAded to Hamilton the day after the nomination that whether they ap-
proved it or not, “evils only, certain, great, but in extent incalculable” would occur; Murray was “feeble and guarded, credulous & unimpressive,” and the nomination “must be postponed” (Syrett, Hamilton, 22:487-90). i have committed you & your friends: see TJ to Monroe, 23 Jan., for TJ’s eCorts to collect subscriptions and establish a Philadelphia newspaper in early 1799. q TJ here canceled: “are exactly those which the.”
e n c l o s u r e
Extracts on Relations Between United States and France Extract of a letter from Taleyrand to Pichon, chargé d’aCaires of France at the Hague, dated [Paris] Sep. 28. 98. _____________ ‘I am thoroughly convinced that should explanations take place with conAdence between the two cabinets, irritation would cease, a crowd of misunderstandings would disappear & the ties of friendship would be more strongly united as each party would discover the hand which sought to disunite them. —according to these bases, (a reference to former correspondence) you were right to assert that whatever Plenipotentiary the government of the US. might send to France to put an end to the existing diCerences between the two countries wo[uld] be undoubtedly recieved with the respect due to the representative of a free, independent & powerful nation. I cannot persuade myself, citizen, that the American govmt need any further declarations from us to induce them, in order to renew the negociation, to adopt such measures as would be suggested to them by their desire to bring the diCerences to a peaceable end. if misunderstandings on both sides have prevented some explanations from reaching that end, it is presumeable that, those misunderstandings being done away, nothing henceforth will bring obstacles to the reciprocal dispositions. the President’s instructions to his envoys at Paris, which I have only known by the copy given you by mr Murray and recieved by me July 9. announce, if they contain the whole of the American government’s intentions, dispositions which could only have added to those which the directory have always entertained, & notwithstanding the posterior acts of that government notwithstanding the irritating & almost hostile measures they have adopted, the Directory has manifested it’s perseverance in the sentiments deposited both in my correspondence with mr Gerry and in my letter to
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19 F E B RUA R Y 1799 you of the 11th. Fructidor, & which I have herein before repeated in the most explicit manner. carry therefore, citizen, to mr Murray those positive expressions, in order to convince him of our sincerity, & prevail upon him to transmit them to his government.’ _____________ Extract from the President’s message to Senate of Feb. 18. nominating W. Vans Murray M.P. of the US. to the French republic.—‘he will be instructed that he sh[all] not go to France without direct & unequivocal assurances from the French government signiAed by their minister of foreign relations that he shall be recieved in character, shall enjoy the privileges attached to his character by the Law of nations & that a minister of equal rank, title & power shall be appointed to treat with him, to discuss & conclude all controversies between the two republics by a new treaty’ Observe the date of Taleyrand’s letter. Sep. 28 Pichon would recieve it Oct. 1. a matter of such importance could not be near 5. months coming here. the P. then has probably been possessed of it before Congress [met] and has kept it back that the measures of war & inBuence might not be prevented. do not let this paper get into the press, or go out of your hand: but avail yourself of it’s substance as you please. PrC (DLC: TJ Papers, 105:17989); entirely in TJ’s hand; frayed at margin; with Arst opening quotation mark supplied. Also enclosed in TJ to Pendleton,
19 Feb. Complete text of Talleyrand’s letter and Adams’s message to the Senate printed in jep, 1:313-14.
To James Monroe Philadelphia Feb. 19. 99.
I am so hard pressed for time that I can only announce to you a single event: but that is a great one. it seems that soon after Gerry’s departure from France, overtures must have been made by Pichon, French chargé d’aCaires at the Hague to Murray. these were so soon matured that on the 28th. of Sep. 98. Taleyrand writes to Pichon approving what had been done & particularly of his having assured Murray that whatever Plenipoty. the govmt of the US. should send to France to end our diCerences, would undoubtedly be recieved with the respect due to the representative of a free, independant & powerful nation: declaring that the President’s instructions to his envoys at Paris, if they contain the whole of the American govmt’s intentions, announce dispositions which have been always entertained by the Directory, & desiring him to communicate these expressions to Murray in order to convince him of the sincerity of the French government, & to prevail on him to transmit them to his govmt. this is dated Sep. 28. & may have been recieved by Pichon < 47>
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Oct. 1. and near 5. months are elapsed before it is communicated. yesterday the President nominated to the Senate W. V. Murray M.P. to the French republic, & adds that he shall be instructed not to go to France without direct & unequivocal assurances from the French govmt that he shall be recieved in character, enjoy the due privileges, & a minister of equal rank, title, & powers be appointed to discuss & conclude our controversies by a new treaty. you will percieve that this measure has been taken as grudgingly as tardily, just as the close of the session is approaching: and the French are to go through the ceremony of a second submission. this had evidently been kept secret from the Feds of both houses, as appeared by their dismay. the Senate have passed over this day without taking it up. it is said they are gravelled & divided. some are for opposing; others do not know what to do. but in the mean time they have been permitted to go on with all the measures of war & patronage. this silences all arguments against the sincerity of France, & renders desperate every further eCort towards war. communicate the general fact of this appointment & of it’s being the consequence of overtures from France to whom you please; but the particulars of my statement only to our most discreet friends.—I have been obliged to lay you & your friends under contribution for a loan of 100. D. which I will justify when I see you.q my most friendly salutations to mrs Monroe & yourself. Adieu. RC (DLC: Monroe Papers); addressed: “Colo. James Munroe near Charlottesville”; franked and postmarked; endorsed by Monroe. PrC (DLC).
contribution for a loan: see TJ to Monroe, 23 Jan. 1799. q This sentence heavily canceled in ink on PrC.
To Edmund Pendleton Dear Sir Philadelphia Feb. 19. 99. Since my last which was of the 14th. a Monsr. Leblanc, agent from Desfourneaux has come to town. he came in the Retaliation, and a letter from Desfourneaux, of which he was the bearer, now inclosed, will correct some circumstances in my statement relative to that vessel which were not very material. it shews at the same time that she was liberated without condition. still it is said, but I have no particular authority for it that he has been obliged to recieve French prisoners here, and to admit in the paper that the terms ‘in exchange for prisoners taken from us’ should be used, he declaring at the same time that < 48>
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they had never considered ours as prisoners, nor had an idea of exchange. the object of his mission was to assure the government against any future irregularities by privateers from Guadaloupe, and to open a friendly intercourse. he has been treated very cavalierly. I inclose you the President’s message to the H. of R. relative to the suspension of the arret on which our retaliation bill is founded. A great event was presented yesterday. the P. communicated a letter from Taleyrand to Pichon French chargé des aCaires at the Hague approving of some overtures which had passed between him & mr Murray, and particularly of his having undertaken to assure Murray that whatever Plenipotentiary we might send to France to negotiate diCerences should be recieved with the respect due to the representative of a free, independt. & powerful nation’ and directing him to prevail on Murray to transmit these assurances to his government. in consequence of this a nomination of mr Murray M.P. to the French republic was yesterday sent to the Senate. this renders their eCorts for war desperate, & silences all further denials of the sincerity of the French government.q I send you extracts from these proceedings for your more special information. I shall leave this the 2d. day of March. accept my aCectionate salutations. Adieu. Th: Jefferson P.S. I should have mentioned that a nomination is before the Senate of a Consul-general to St. Domingo. it is understood that he will present himself to Toussaint and is in fact our minister to him. the face they will put on this business is that they have frightened France into a respectful treatment. Whereas in truth France has been sensible that her measures to prevent the scandalous spectacle of a war between the two republics, from the known impossibility of our injuring her, could not be imputed to her as a humiliation. RC (MHi: Washburn Collection); at foot of text: “E. Pendleton”; endorsed by Pendleton as received 28 Feb. PrC (DLC). Enclosures: (1) Message from the President of the United States . . . Touching a Suspension of the Arrete of the French Republic (see TJ to John Wayles
Eppes, 7 Feb. 1799). (2) Extract of Talleyrand to Louis André Pichon, 28 Sep. 1798 (see enclosure to TJ to Madison, 19 Feb.).
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q Sentence interlined.
To Thomas Mann Randolph Th:J. to TMR. Philadelphia Feb. 19. 99. I am so hard pushed for time that I can only announce to you a single event but that is a great one. it seems that soon after Gerry’s departure from France, overtures must have been made by Pichon, French chargé d’aCaires at the Hague, to Murray. they were so soon matured that on the 28th. of Sep. 98. Taleyrand writes to Pichon approving what had been done, & particularly of his having assured Murray that whatever Plenipoty. the govmt of the US. should send to France to end our diCerences, would undoubtedly be recieved with the respect due to the representative of a free, independent & powerful nation; declaring that the President’s instructions to his envoys at Paris, if they contain the whole of the American govmt’s intentions announce dispositions which have been always entertained by the Directory, & desiring him to communicate these expressions to Murray in order to convince him of the sincerity of the French govmt, & to prevail on him to transmit them to his government. this is dated Sep. 28. & may have been recieved by Pichon Oct. 1. and near 5. months are elapsed before it is communicated. yesterday the P. nominated to the Senate W. V. Murray M.P. to the French republic, & adds that he shall be instructed not to go to France without direct & unequivocal assurances from the French govmt that he shall be recieved in character, enjoy the due privileges, & a minister of equal rank, title & power be appointed to discuss & conclude our controversies by a new treaty. you will percieve that this measure has been taken as grudgingly as tardily, just as the close of the session approaches: and the French are to go through the ceremony of a second submission. this had evidently been kept secret from the Feds of both houses, as appeared by their dismay. the Senate have passed over this day without taking it up. it is said they are gravelled & divided. some are for opposing; others do not know what to do. but in the mean time they have been permitted to go on with all the measures of war & patronage. this silences all arguments against the sincerity of France, & renders desperate every further eCort towards war. communicate the general fact of this appointment & of it’s being the consequence of overtures from France to whom you please: but the particulars of my statement only to P. Carr & our most discreet friends.—I have been obliged to lay you under contribution here 50. D. I will justify it when I see you.q I shall leave this Mar. 1st. as before mentioned, & expect the arrival of my horses at Fredsbg the 5th. in the evening. my warm & never ceasing love to my dear Martha & kisses to the little ones. Adieu. < 50>
21 F E B RUA R Y 1799 RC (DLC); endorsed by Randolph. PrC (DLC).
q Preceding two sentences canceled in ink in PrC.
To Tadeusz Kosciuszko My dear friend Philadelphia Feb. 21. 99. Your two letters by mr Gerry came to my hands not till Dec. 25. mr Gerry, who arrived in September, delivered them to a person to bring to this place and here they were kept till I should arrive here which was expected to be the 1st. of December at the meeting of Congress; but I did not come till the 25th. of December. about 10. days after, I recieved a third letter from you, without a date, & not knowing by what conveyance it came. we were then within a month of having your 2d. dividend drawn, to wit February. since that this river being frozen up, no vessel has sailed. this must account for the very long interval between your Arst letters and this answer. and even now we do not know of any vessel bound for Amsterdam; but as I leave this place in a few days, I write this letter and leave it with mr Barnes to be forwarded by the Arst conveyance. Mr. Barnes, into whose hands all the details of your aCairs are conAded, has drawn your two dividends of 480. Dollars each. he will therefore with this letter remit to messrs. Van Staphorst & Hubbard 1000. Dollars, including the proceeds of sales. we attempted to sell at auction some of the articles you left, such as kitchen furniture &c. and they sold for next to nothing. I therefore directed that such other articles as were of greater value should be estimated by some person of skill and sold at private sale. in this way your fur was valued by an honest furrier here at 25. Doll. according to the price of Martins here, it would not have fetched 10. D. at vendue. some silver spoons were sold at their weight. the table linen & some other articles will be attempted to be sold on valuation. but as your clothes could not be sold in any way, worth attention, and may be useful to yourself I have directed them to be sent to Amsterdam. the freight will be triBing. as I had never seen mr Niemcewicz from the time I left this, last summer, I knew nothing respecting your box of plate. I supposed he had accepted of it according to your desire. but the night before last he arrived here, and in conversation mentioned that he had left it in the care of Dr. Ross for you. I pressed him to take it. but he declined, and yesterday delivered it to mr Barnes. I immediately examined it. it consisted of 4. candlesticks and a pr of snuCers, 4 bottle slides, 2 goblets, 3 waiters & a bread basket; with inscriptions on every article < 51>
21 F E B RUA R Y 1799
which could suit only yourself, and consequently that they could be sold only for the value of the metal, sacriAcing the workmanship. I had them weighed, and found they weighed 216. ounces, which are worth here exactly so many French crowns of 6. livres. as therefore it was nearly as convenient to remit them in this form as in that of money, I determined they should go, with the clothes, to Amsterdam. there you can either take them as they are, or sell to as great if not greater advantage. at the same time shall go the sword sent for you by the whig club of England. the whole will be shipped as your baggage to Van Staphorst & Hubbard. I have obtained from the Secretary of the treasury a positive authority to Willinks, Van Staphorsts & Hubbard as bankers of the US. to pay you that part of your demand which has from misunderstandings been so long unrecieved. it is for 7162. Borins banco. I did very much wish to have recieved the money here and invested it in bank shares as it would have added near a fourth to your annual income from hence. but this could not be obtained. you will therefore consider this sum as an additional remittance now made, over & above the thousand dollars beforementioned. if you chuse to have it invested here, messrs. V. Staphorsts & Hubbard can easily transmit it here, where it can be placed so as to bring in 8. per cent interest. I desire them to send you a copy of mr Wolcot’s letter. I am now, I think, through the whole of your aCairs to this time, and mr Barnes will write you more in detail. he will also hereafter remit your dividend half yearly as it is recieved, to wit, in August & February. On politics I must write sparingly, lest it should fall into the hands of persons who do not love either you or me. the wonderful irritation produced in the minds of our citizens by the X.Y.Z. story has in a great measure subsided. they begin to suspect and to see it coolly and in it’s true light. mr Gerry’s communications, with other information, prove to them that France is sincere in her wishes for reconciliation; and a recent proposition from that country through mr Murray puts the matter out of doubt. what course the government will pursue I know not. but if we are left in peaceq I have no doubt that the wonderful turn in the public opinion now manifestly taking place & rapidly increasing, will, in the course of this summer, become so universal, & so weighty that friendship abroad and freedom at home, will be Armly established by the inBuence and constitutional powers of the people at large. if we are forced into a war, we must give up political diCerences of opinion & unite as one man to defend our country. but whether at the close of such a war, we should be as free as we are now, god knows. in Ane, if war takes place, republicanism < 52>
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has every thing to fear; if peace, be assured that your forebodings and my alarms will prove vain, and that the spirit of our citizens now rising as rapidly, as it was then running crazy, and rising with a strength and majesty which shews the loveliness of freedom, will make this government in practice, what it is in principle, a model for the protection of man in a state of freedom and order. may heaven have in store for your country a restoration of these blessings, and you be destined as the instrument it will use for that purpose. but if this be forbidden by fate, I hope we shall be able to preserve here an asylum where your love of liberty & disinterested patriotism will be for ever protected and honoured and where you will And in the hearts of the American people a good portion of that esteem and aCection which glows in the bosom of the friend who writes this, and who with sincere prayers for your health happiness & success & cordial salutations, bids you, for this time, Adieu. PrC (DLC); at foot of Arst page: “Genl. Kosciuzko.” The two letters from Kosciuszko that TJ received on 25 Dec. 1798 are printed above in this series under an inferred date, [15 July-5 Aug. 1798]. The third letter, received 2 Jan. 1799, is printed under [24-29 Aug. 1798]. John Barnes’s handling of Kosciuszko’s dividends from the Bank of Pennsylvania is discussed in the note to Van Staphorst & Hubbard to TJ, 28 Aug. 1798. For the kitchen furniture Kosciuszko left behind on his departure from the United States, see TJ’s letter to him of 30 May 1798, and see that letter and Kosciuszko’s note to TJ, [before 5 May 1798], concerning the fur. box of plate: Barnes made a list of the presentation silver “contained in an Elegant, Mahogany Case,” noting the weight of each item. The “high Candlesticks” stood on mahogany bases, the “wrought snuCers” had their own stand, the four bottle stands were “Open worked,” and the goblets were “wrought & gilt all Over.” The largest of the waiters, or trays, was 16 by 12 inches in size
and stood on four feet. Each piece bore an engraved emblem: “The Friends of Liberty / In Bristol to / The Gallant Kosiusko 1797” (MS in MHi; in Barnes’s hand; undated; endorsed by TJ: “Kosciuzko’s plate”). The sword commissioned by the whig club was another English tribute to Kosciuszko (see Julian Ursin Niemcewicz to TJ, 9 June 1798). In a letter to Willink, Van Staphorst & Hubbard on 15 Oct. 1798 the secretary of the treasury had asked for detailed statements to distinguish the 7162. florins banco that had been deposited with the Dutch bankers for Kosciuszko’s credit in 1794 from another transaction that occurred at approximately the same time and had a balance of almost the same amount of money (FC in CtHi: Oliver Wolcott, Jr., Papers). For that deposit in Europe to pay the interest owed Kosciuszko through 1792, see his second letter printed under the inferred date [15 July-5 Aug. 1798], and for the interest due after 1792, see Kosciuszko to TJ, [on or before 23 Mch. 1798]. q Here TJ heavily canceled a passage, which is not recoverable.
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From Cipriano Ribeiro Freire Franklin Court the 22d. February 1799.
The Chevr. de Freire presents his respects to Mr. JeCerson, and supposing that the favour of his Account of the Culture, or method of raising & curing of Tobacco in Virginia, may arrive here after the Chevr.’s departure for Europe, probably in the beginning of May next; takes the liberty of requesting of Mr. JeCerson, to send the honour of his Communication, to the care of Mr. David Callaghan, Mercht., No. 169. South Water Street, Philadelphia. The Chevr. has the Honour of assuring Mr. JeCerson of his profound respect & perfect Consideration. RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ as received on the day it was written, and so recorded in SJL. Portuguese diplomat Cipriano Ribeiro Freire (1749-1824) entered his government’s service in 1774 as secretary of the legation in London. He served as resident minister to the United States from
October 1794 until April 1799 (José Calvet de Magalhães, História das relações diplomáticas entre Portugal e os Estados Unidos da América (1776-1911) [Lisbon, 1991], 333, 347-8n). For TJ’s promise to furnish an account of the cultivation of tobacco, see TJ to Thomas Mann Randolph, 10 Jan. 1801.
From Martha Jefferson Randolph Bellmont February 22, 1799
Uncertain whether this will still And you at Philadelphia or no, I shall write but a few lines; happy in the thought of it’s being the last Time I shall have it in my power to do so, before we embrace you. I have heard from Maria since the letter I recieved from you containing an account of her indisposition and recovery, and Mr Eppes mentioned that she had been again unwell, too much so to go to Mnt Blanc the appointed day. I have not heard from her since by which I hope it has not proved serious. your tobacco is not gone down yet, George (smith) continues ill conAned in Milton and some of the others are unwell, I do not recollect who but Mr Randolph has been over several times lately so I suppose they have not suCered. adieu Dearest Father your return is the favorite theme of us all, even little Ellen talks incessantly of you & I am certain she will know you, for she speaks with great tenderness of you, more, than she would of a person she did not remember, and Love. her constant message is to come home and bring her a cake. adieu once more believe me with tenderness unspeakable your aCectionate child M. Randolph < 54>
22 F E B RUA R Y 1799 RC (MHi); endorsed by TJ as received 16 Mch. and so recorded in SJL.
In a letter to Thomas Mann Randolph of 30 Jan., TJ noted the indisposition and recovery of his daughter Mary.
To Van Staphorst & Hubbard Gentlemen Philadelphia Feb. 22. 99. Your favor of the 28th. of August came to hand not till the 22d. of January. immediately on the reciept of it I remitted to Messrs. Daniel Ludlow and co. for you 186. D 12 c for which they transmitted me their reciept. by the same conveyance which carries this letter you will recieve for General Kosciuzko a bill for one thousand dollars payable to yourselves for his use. this remittance will be made by mr John Barnes mercht. of this place who is charged with the reciept and remittance of the General’s funds here. he will also send the General’s baggage, consisting of wearing apparel, a box of plate presented him by the city of Bristol, and an elegant gold handled sword presented him by the whig-club of England. I now inclose you a letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, addressed to Messrs. Willincks & yourselves for the payment of the 7162. Borins banco to General Kosciuzko, which still remain due to him. all these several matters you will hold subject to his order, and I am happy to have placed him in so friendly hands. We are much rejoiced here at overtures of reconciliation made to us by the government of France through mr Pichon, & mr Murray, their & our representatives with the Batavian republic. some here have been so exasperated by the conduct of France as to be indisposed to meet this advance. but this will not be the sentiment of our nation. we consider peace as essentially necessary to our prosperity, to the order of our Anances, speedy discharge of our public debt, and the preservation of our constitution in purity. it is a subject of regret to many that any circumstances should have occasioned an example of taking up money at such an interest as is now oCered. Accept assurances of the great & constant esteem of Gentlemen Your most obedt. servt. Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); at foot of text: “Messrs. Van Staphorsts & Hubbard”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosure not found. TJ remitted the speciAed sum to
messrs. daniel ludlow and co. in the form of “a Branch bank bill” enclosed in a brief note of 7 Feb. 1799, to be placed to the credit of Van Staphorst & Hubbard (PrC in DLC; at foot of text: “Messrs. Daniel Ludlow & co.”; endorsed by TJ in
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22 F E B RUA R Y 1799 ink on verso). The Ludlow Arm, writing from New York on the 9th, acknowledged receipt of the “order on the Cashier of the oDce of discount & deposit” (RC in
DLC; at foot of text: “Ths JeCerson Esqr”; endorsed by TJ as received 11 Feb. 1799 and so recorded in SJL).
To Robert R. Livingston Dear Sir Philadelphia Feb. 23. 1799 I have recieved with great pleasure your favor on the subject of the Steam engine. tho’ deterred by the complexity of that hitherto known from making myself minutely acquainted with it, yet I am suDciently acquainted with it to be sensible of the superior simplicity of yours, and it’s superior economy. I particularly thank you for the permission to communicate it to the Philosophical society; and though there will not be another session before I leave town, yet I have taken care, by putting it into the hands of one of the Vicepresidents to-day, to have it presented at the next meeting. I lament the not recieving it a fortnight sooner that it might have been inserted in a volume now closed, and to be published in a few days, before it would be possible for this engraving to be ready. there is one object to which I have often wished a steam-engine could be adapted. you know how desireable it is both in town & country to be able to have large reservoirs of water on the tops of our houses, not only for use (by pipes) in the apartments, but as a resource against Are. this last is most especially a desideratum in the country. we might indeed, have water carried from time to time in buckets to cisterns on the top of the house. but this is troublesome & therefore we never do it. consequently are without resource when a Are happens. could any agent be employed which would be little or no additional expence or trouble except the Arst purchase,q it would be done. every family has such an agent, it’s kitchen Are. it is small indeed, but if it’s small but constant action could be accumulated so as to give a stroke from time to time which might throw even so small a quantity of water from the bottom of a well to the top of the house (say 100. feet) it wouldr furnish more than would waste by evaporation or be used by the family. I know nobody who must better know the value of such a machine than yourself, nor more equal to the invention of it, and especially with your familiarity with the subject. I have imagined that the iron back of the chimney might be a cistern for holding the water which should supply steam, & would be constantly kept in a boiling state by the ordinary Are. I wish the subject may appear as interesting to you as it < 56>
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does to me. it would then engage your attention, and we might hope this desideratum would be supplied. A want of conAdence in the post oDce deters me from writing to my friends on subjects of politics. indeed I am tired of writing Jeremiades on that subject. what person who remembers the times & tempers we have seen, could have believed that within so short a period, not only the jealous spirit of liberty which shaped every operation of our revolution, but even the common principles of English whiggism would be scouted, and the tory principles of passive obedience under the new fangled names of conAdence & responsebility, become entirely triumphant? that the tories, whom in mercy we did not ‘crumble to dust & ashes’ could so have entwined us in their scorpion tails that we cannot now move hand or foot? but the spell is dissolving. the public mind is recovering from the delirium into which it had been thrown, and we may still believe with security that the great body of the American people must for ages yet be substantially republican. you have heard of the nomination of mr Murray. not being in the secret of this juggle, I am not yet able to say how it is to be played oC. respectful & aCectionate salutations from Dear Sir Your sincere friend & servt Th: Jefferson RC (NHi: Robert R. Livingston Collection); addressed: “Robert R. Livingston Chancellor of New York”; franked and postmarked. PrC (DLC). favor on the subject of the steam engine: Livingston to TJ, 26 Jan. 1799. TJ likely gave that letter to Robert Patterson, who was one of the vice presidents of the American Philo-
sophical Society, presided over its meeting on 1 Mch. 1799, and was a member of the committee to which Livingston’s paper was referred at that time (aps, Proceedings, 22, pt. 3 [1884], 277, 280). volume now closed: Volume 4 of the society’s Transactions, published in 1799. q Preceding four words interlined. r TJ here canceled “either.”
To George Jefferson Dear Sir Philadelphia Feb. 24. 99 I recieved yesterday your favor of the 16th. my proposition was meant exactly as you supposed, to sell my tobo. for the highest price which shall be given before Oct. 1. on a credit not longer than the purchaser will have for mine. as to it’s being the highest price given on James river or at Richmond, I did not suppose it made a diCerence. I presume so high a price is given at Richmond as anywhere, yet I do not know that I would lose a sale by adhering to James river. I have just recieved information from mr Randolph that my Albemarle < 57>
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tobacco (13. hogsheads) is all at the Milton warehouse, & he will get it sent oC as soon as possible. there is an old lady (mrs Key) whose lands adjoin mine, are exactly of the same quality, & her tobacco nicely managed; equal I believe in every respect to mine. I promised her that when I should sell mine, I would endeavor to get a right to add hers if she should take the sale. I suppose she may have 9. or 10 hogsheads, and am sure she would approve of the terms proposed for mine. I should be glad if you can obtain a [condition?] for her’s to go with mine if she chuses it. the moment I get home I will inform her of what I propose and send her determination.—I yesterday drew on you in favor of John Barnes for mr Higby for 900. D. I inadvertently omitted the days of sight, but mr Higby will consider it as drawn at 3 or 4. days sight. I shall tomorrow draw on you for 150. Dollars more, probably, tho not certainly, in favor of the same person. I leave this place on Saturday next, Mar. 1. & expect to be at Monticello Mar. 8. mr Randolph writes [me] he would send oC the chimney piece immediately; which I pray you to forward to mr Barnes here without delay. my groceries &c for the year will go from hence in a few days & will be much needed before they can get to Monticello. I am with great esteem Dr. Sir Your aCectionate friend Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); faint; at foot of text: “Mr. George JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. information from mr randolph: see TJ to Thomas Mann Randolph, 26 Feb. 1799. On 22 Feb. TJ noted in his Anancial records that he gave john barnes an
order on George JeCerson & Co. for $900 with the further instructions to “Debit myself to Mr. Short with the reciept of this & take credit for it as paid to Barnes for his use.” Three days later TJ drew on George JeCerson in favor of Barnes for $150 to be applied for Short and entered into the account accordingly (mb, 2:998).
From Edmund Pendleton Dear Sir Virga. Feb. 24th. 1799. My blessings for my Countrey, such as they are, are not, like the old Patriarchs, conAned to one, but as numerous as the Stars in the Armament—their ineDcacy, and the diDculty of their diCusion, is not so easy to overcome—I set about a 2d. Essay, but a train of interruptions, added to the feeble state of my mental powers, & more feeble motion of my Pen, having no Clerk, delayed my Progress through it ’til yesterday—It is crude & will require much correction—it is too long, Narrative & heavy, It ought to be drawn closer & viviAed, & < 58>
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some late occurrences noticed—when this is done, perhaps, like the Seasoned Cucumber, it may be only At to throw away. In this situation I found it impracticable to get it to Philada. in time for any Operation there; and when completed, if I judge it to promise public Utility, (to literary fame I am perfectly indiCerent) I shall send it to one of our Richmond Presses to be ushered into the world & take it’s fate—hand Bills may be added here or at Phila., if judged useful, & circulated. the crisis is alarming, & calls for every exertion of the people in their various elections, wch. must, if properly directed, produce reform without convulsions; & in this consists the Superior Merit of a Representative Republican Form. the people, if truly informed, will sooner or later make these exertions—it is the work of Patriotism to give them that information, & dispel the clouds of Error in wch. a state of our public aCairs is inveloped—If I possessed the powers for it, & the facility of expressing them with Precision & perspicuity equal to a certain Gent of my acquaintance, I would long since have prosecuted a periodical work to that end. to Elections, remonstrances & Petitions I hope their eCorts will be conAned; & shall be concerned to hear of any Act of Violence or intemperance, wch. would produce certain mischief & no good—I am happy in not having heard a thing of the sort in Virga., so unjustly abused, but who I am perswaded will not be easily driven from her Station of real Federalism, early taken, & uniformly pursued. My view of Public measures is unnecessary to be mentioned to you, who are better acquainted with them, & cannot but see their glaring tendency. so cordially praying that the great disposer of human events may work a change in them, & wishing you every felicity, I conclude My Dr. Sir, Yr. ACe. friend Edmd Pendleton I have just reced yrs. of the 14th. RC (ViU); at foot of Arst page: “Hon. Th. JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ as received on 16 Mch. 1799 and so recorded in SJL. Pendleton’s essay, “An Address of the Honorable Edmund Pendleton, of Virginia, to the American Citizens, on the Present State of Our Country,” which he dated 20 Feb. 1799, was published both as a pamphlet and in newspapers (David
John Mays, ed., The Letters and Papers of Edmund Pendleton: 1734-1803, 2 vols. [Charlottesville, 1967], 2:657-66; TJ to Pendleton, 22 Apr. 1799). See Evans, No. 36055. Pendleton referred to it as his “2d.” essay because an earlier address, to the freeholders of Caroline County, had prompted TJ to ask him to write one for broad distribution that would give a Republican overview of national issues (see TJ to Pendleton, 29 Jan. 1799).
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To Elisha Boudinot Sir Philadelphia Feb. 25. 99. I have duly recieved your favor of the 19th. and am very sensible of your kind attention to the subject on which I had taken the liberty of troubling you. as soon as you recieve mr Roosevelt’s answer I shall be further thankful for the communication of it. I should with great pleasure have made a visit to Newark in order to see these mines, & have accepted the polite oCer of your company to the place, in a milder season, & less busy scene, but the business of the Senate conAnes us every day but Sunday; and by the close of the session the desire of getting home becomes too strong to admit of any delay which is not unavoidable. I am with sentiments of great respect Sir Your most obedt. servt Th: Jefferson RC (MB); at foot of text: “Elisha Boudinot esq. Newark.” According to SJL TJ received Boudinot’s favor of the 19th, now missing,
from Newark on 20 Feb. Nicholas J. roosevelt, a founder of the New Jersey Copper Mine Association, directed much of the company’s activity (wmq, 3d ser., 27 [1970], 301).
To Tadeusz Kosciuszko My dear friend Philadelphia Feb. 25. 99 Since writing my letter of the 21st. mr Niemcewicz has put into my hands the inclosed memorandum, reminding you of a sum of 400. Dollars in the hands of Wannerquist banker of Stockholm, intended for your aid de camp Fischer, but never delivered him, & therefore subject to your order. it also mentions a turning machine in the hands of mr Munford at New York partner of Gahn, worth as he supposes 1000. D. but subject to freight & duties 200. D. you must give us your orders on this subject. I very much question whether it could be sold for the amount of the freight & duties. for a workman you know does not work with such expensive tools; and our gentlemen are not in the habit of amusing themselves in that way. however give your orders. health, happiness, & friendly salutations to you. PrC (MHi); endorsed by TJ in ink on verso: “Kosciuzko.” Enclosure not found. turning machine: for the wood-
turning tools that Kosciuszko had entrusted to New York merchant Henry gahn, see note to Kosciuszko to TJ, [before 5 May 1798].
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To Louis of Parma Philadelphia Feb. 25. 99
The letter with which your Serene Highness honored me, bearing date the 30th. of March 1798. did not get to my hands till the 18th. of August. I was then at my residence in Virginia, and the inhabitants of this place were disposed in all directions to avoid the malignant fever which had visited the city. nothing therefore could be done for you till my annual visit to this place, which took place in December. I immediately communicated your letter to mr Peale, who readily & willingly concurs in the commerce of mutual exchange proposed by your S.H. Mr. Peale has no other property but his Museum. by his own great personal exertions he has made it indeed a very considerable one. he supports that & his family by the concourse of those who visit it for curiosity or information, and who pay a Axed price of admittance, and the more he can increase his collection, the greater and more proAtable will be that concourse. you percieve then in what manner the subjects he recieves from your S.H. in exchange for those he sends will become an equivalent to him. mr Peale is moreover very disinterested, & a man of the purest integrity. you will be perfectly safe in his hands against every thing unfair or dishonourable; and I do not believe it possible you could have fallen on a person more perfectly suiting your views. you may therefore safely give him all your conAdence. I put your list into his hands, and desired him to take the liberty of writing to your S.H. he will at the same time make up some cases of the articles contained in your list, & will deliver them to the Chevalr. d’Yrujo M.P. of his catholic majesty here, addressed to yourself. they will be better taken care of under his patronage. Cadiz will be the most convenient port of communication. The delays of our printer still puts it out of my power to forward to you the volume of our transactions which has been in the press now more than a year. his engravings are not ready, and particularly of the bones discovered about 3. years ago in the upper country of Virginia of an animal, which I denominated the Megalonyx, from the extraordinary size of the claws, which were 70 Inches long. we found only the bones of the thigh, leg & foot. these were not suDcient to decide it’s class, but they led to the supposition that it was of the family of the lion, but many times larger. tradition too declares him to have been carnivorous. since that I have heard that there is in the cabinet of Madrid the skeleton of an animal found near the river Plata, which your naturalists have called the Megatherium, and ascribe to the genus of Bradypus, and of which it is said that Monsr. Cuvier pub< 61>
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lished a plate and description. our literary correspondence has not been suDcient to bring us a copy of this to this country. perhaps this may be the same animal with our Megalonyx. we have very credible evidence that it now exists in the neighborhood of the Missisipi, to which object our enquiries are now directed. the enormous mass of two such animals as the Megalonyx and Mammoth, with a thousand other facts, will surely suDce to dissipate the dreams of BuCon, Robertson & De Paw who have imagined that the soil & climate of America did not admit of animals on so large a scale as the other parts of the earth. I wish I could have greeted your S.H. under the blessings of peace & safety. but it seems as if the Bames of war were spreading to other parts of the earth. what a pity that some tyger could not write the history of man. how curious would it be to see all the horrors he would feel & express against this Arst of all the races of cannibals & carnivorous animals, destroying his own species & ravaging the earth without measure or object. with many prayers that your philosophic tranquility may not be disturbed by these convulsions which seem to be shaking the fabric of society to it’s basis, accept the homage of those sentiments of respect and esteem with which I have the honour to be your S.H.’s most humble & most obedt. servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); at foot of Arst page in ink: “Parma. Louis Prince of & Infanta of Spain.” On this day Charles Willson peale drafted a letter to Louis about the proposed exchange of natural history specimens and the list of desired items enclosed in the prince’s 30 Mch. 1798 letter to TJ. With his draft letter Peale retained TJ’s shipping instructions: “to be well packed, shipped on board a vessel bound directly to some port of Spain, and addressed A son altesse Serenissime or A.S.A.S. El Señor Infante Principe de Parma
with a letter to the same address the master of the vessel to deliver the box & letter to the Director of the Exchequer in the port, who will transmit them to the Prince” (MS in PPAmP: Peale-Sellers Papers, entirely in TJ’s hand, attached to Dft of Peale to Louis, 25 Feb. 1799; Peale, Papers, 2:238). When he presented his paper on the megalonyx to the American Philosophical Society in March 1797 TJ had not seen the original plate and description of the megatherium, but only an abstract in an English publication; see Vol. 29:298-9, 301n.
From Timothy Pickering Sir, Department of State Feby. 25. 1799. Since I had the honor of seeing you, I have conversed with the Secretary of the Treasury, from whom I learn that the suit against < 62>
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Mr. Randolph is still pending—that he claims a credit for the nine thousand dollars which Mr. Short desired him to lay out in the purchase of public Stock, saying it was a private transaction; and that as the issue depends on the judgement of the court, it will be improper and unsafe for the United States to make an immediate payment—or until the judgement of the court shall be rendered. If any mode can be devised in which Mr. Short’s interest may be promoted, consistently with that of the public, it will give me pleasure to adopt it; & the more because from the view I took of his claim, the public appeared to me to be eventually responsible. I have the honor to be respectfully sir your obt. servt. Timothy Pickering. RC (DLC: Short Papers); at foot of Arst page: “Honble. Thos. JeCerson Esqr.”; endorsed by TJ and recorded in SJL as received on the same day as written. PrC (MHi: Pickering Papers). FC in Lb (DNA: RG 59, DL). Using a new statute, in 1797 the U.S. government Aled suit against Edmund
Randolph in federal circuit court in Virginia over expenditures from Randolph’s tenure as secretary of state that he could not verify to the satisfaction of the comptroller of the treasury, John Steele. The matter was Anally settled by arbitration in 1804 (John J. Reardon, Edmund Randolph: A Biography [New York, 1974], 355-6).
To George Jefferson Dear Sir Philadelphia Feb. 26. 99. Since the date of my last letter I have entered into an engagement which will render it necessary that I should recieve the proceeds of my tobo. on the 1st. of September. the sale must therefore be made on a credit not exceeding that time. I set out from hence in three days. I am Dear Sir Your aCectionate friend Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); at foot of text: “Mr. George JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
my last letter: TJ to George JeCerson, 24 Feb. 1799.
To James Madison Philadelphia Feb. 26. 99.
My last to you was of the 19th. it acknoleged yours of the 8th. in mine I informed you of the nomination of Murray. there is evidence that the letter of Taleyrand was known to one of the Secretaries, < 63>
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therefore probably to all: the nomination however is declared by one of them to have been kept secret from them all. he added that he was glad of it, as, had they been consulted, the advice would have been against making the nomination. to the rest of the party however the whole was a secret till the nomination was announced. never did a party shew a stronger mortiAcation, & consequently that war had been their object. Dana declared in debate (as I have from those who were present) that we had done every thing which might provoke France to war; that we had given her insults which no nation ought to have borne; & yet she would not declare war. the conjecture as to the Executive is that they recieved Taleyrand’s letter before or about the meeting of Congress; that not meaning to meet the overture eCectually, they kept it a secret & let all the war measures go on, but that just before the separation of the Senate, the P. not thinking he could justify the concealing such an overture, nor indeed that it could be concealed, made a nomination hoping that his friends in the Senate would take on their own shoulders the odium of rejecting it. but they did not chuse it. the Hamiltonians would not, & the others could not, alone. the whole artillery of the phalanx therefore was plaid secretly on the P. and he was obliged himself to take a step which should parry the overture while it wears the face of acceding to it. (mark that I state this as conjecture; but founded on workings & indications which have been under our eyes.) yesterday therefore he sent in a nomination of Oliver Elsworth, Patrick Henry & W. Vans Murray Envoys Ext. & M.P. to the French Republic, but declaring the two former should not leave this country till they should recieve from the French Directory assurances that they should be recieved with the respect due by the law of Nations to their character &c this, if not impossible, must at least keep oC the day, so hateful & so fatal to them, of reconciliation, & leave more time for new projects of provocation. yesterday witnessed a scandalous scene in the H. of R. it was the day for taking up the report of their commee against the Alien & Sedition laws &c they held a Caucus and determined that not a word should be spoken on their side in answer to any thing which should be said on the other. Gallatin took up the Alien & Nicholas the Sedition laws; but after a little while of common silence, they began to enter into loud conversations, laugh, cough &c so that for the last hour of these gentlemen’s speaking they must have had the lungs of a vendue master to have been heard. Livingston however attempted to speak. but after a few sentences the Speaker called him to order & told him what he was saying was not to the question. it was impossible to proceed. the < 64>
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question was taken & carried in favor of the report 52 to 48. the real strength of the two parties is 56. to 50. but two of the latter have not attended this session. I send you the report of their committee.—I still expect to leave this on the 1st. & be with you on the 7th. of March. but it is possible I may not set out till the 4th. and then shall not be with you till the 10th. aCectionately Adieu. RC (DLC: Madison Papers); addressed: “James Madison junr.” PrC (DLC). On 20 Feb. Connecticut congressman Samuel W. dana reportedly declared in debate his support of a bill for encouraging the capture of French privateers “because he believed the nearer our measures of hostility approached war, without producing war, the nearer would be our prospect of peace.” He thought France met overtures for peace with “insult and abuse” but exhibited “a spirit of supplication and compliance” when the United States “took measures which were calculated to establish a mortal hatred between the two countries” (Annals, 9:2934-5, 2943-4). For the petitions against the alien & sedition laws, see TJ to Madison, 30 Jan. 1799. On 12 Feb. the House, by a 51 to 48 vote, sent the petitions to a select committee, which nine days later defended the constitutionality of the
laws. Three resolutions that declared repeal of the Alien or Sedition Acts or any of the laws relating to the military buildup and naval establishment inexpedient concluded the report (jhr, 3:4734, 485, 493-5; Annals, 9:2955, 2985-94). the report of the committee was printed on 21 Feb. as Report of the Committee To whom were referred, on the 12th instant, Certain Memorials & Petitions Complaining of the Act, Intituled “An Act Concerning Aliens,” and of Other Late Acts of the Congress of the United States [Philadelphia, 1799]; see Evans, No. 36581. The report was republished after the passage of the resolutions, this time with the addresses by Gallatin and John Nicholas (The Proceedings of the House of Representatives of the United States with Respect to the Petitions Praying for a Repeal of the Alien and Sedition Laws: Including the Report of a Select Committee, and the Speeches of Messrs. Gallatin and Nicholas, Thereon [Philadelphia, 1799]; see Evans, No. 36560).
To Thomas Mann Randolph Th:J. to TMR. Philadelphia Feb. 26. 99 Yours of the 16th. and Martha’s of the 8th. came to hand on the 23d. inst. in mine to you of the 19th. I informed you that the President had nominated W. Vans Murray M.P. to settle our diCerences with France. yesterday however he superseded that by a nomination of Chief Justice Elsworth, P. Henry and W. V. Murray to be envoys extray. & M.P. to the French republic; but the two former are not to embark for Europe, till they recieve from the French govmt assurances that they shall be recieved with the respect due to their character. this you will perceive compleatly parries the overtures of France under the guise of a digniAed acceptance of them. this will require explanations which will be better given vivâ voce. it is become a little < 65>
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uncertain on what day from the 1st. to the 4th. of March I shall set out, and consequently on what day from the 8th. to the 11th. I shall be with you, consequently whether I shall be with you the day after you recieve this or 2. or 3. later. tho’ some articles in your letter are interesting it will be unnecessary here to answer them as I shall be so soon with you. my tenderest love therefore to my dear Martha and kisses to the little ones. to yourself aCectionate salutations & Adieu. RC (DLC). PrC (MHi); endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
Randolph’s letter to TJ of the 16th, recorded in SJL as received from Belmont on 23 Feb., has not been found.
From Thomas Lomax Dear Sir: Port-Tobago [before 27] Feby. 1799. You will no doubt, be surprised at receiving a Letter from one, whose Name you will scarcely be able to recollect; but who frequently thinks of you, with great Esteem, & Pleasure. I have always thought it wrong to intrude upon the Time of a Person importantly engaged in public-ACairs, by a triBeing private Correspondence; and should not trouble you now, was it not at the paticuler Request of a very worthy Gentn. a Neighbour of mine, Mr. Robt. Baylor, who has some dispute respecting the renting of your Place Elk-Hill, for payments made a Mr. Mullins, and for which he has not been credited. He is a Man of fair Reputation, and Respected by his Acquaintances, and says, he wishes the ACair to be adjusted with as little Expence & trouble to both Parties, as possible; but as he is a Stranger to you, is apprehensive, that you may have some Suspicions of his Sincerity—What has become of the Principles of 1776? Is it possible, that we have degenerated so rapidly, as to have forgotten them? I fear, and apprehend much for our Political Existence, and now think, tho’ once I could not have beleived it, that France has inBicted a deep Wound [. . .] [. . .]m, and aided the Friends of Monarchy. I wish my [. . .] unconnected with all Foreign Politicks, and for her Citiz[. . .] [. . .] in defending & supporting her Constitution; which at [. . .] would have lasted her, with Vigour, through a Virtuous [. . .] [res]pectable old Age. Poor Tazewell, we have [met] with a Rep[. . .] Loss in him. If you can And leisure, or Inclination to write me any Thing, that you think will be comforting, I shall feel myself under an Obligation—I am with Sincere Esteem & Respect Dear Sir Yor. Mot. Obdt. Hmbl. Servt. Tho. Lomax < 66>
27 F E B RUA R Y 1799 RC (MoSHi: JeCerson Papers); mutilated; dated only as “Feby. 1799”; endorsed by TJ as received 27 Feb. 1799 and so recorded in SJL. Thomas Lomax (1746-1811), a planter and attorney, lived on the property he called Port Tobago, in Caroline County near the town of Port Royal and the Rappahannock River. He sat on the county committee of safety and other committees before and during the American Revolution and was a county magistrate. A member of the Virginia Senate in 1776, he also served for three terms in the General Assembly, 1778-79 and 1781, two of them with John Taylor as the other representative from Caroline County. In the latter year Lomax was
elected to the state council (Thomas Elliott Campbell, Colonial Caroline: A History of Caroline County, Virginia [Richmond, 1954], 234, 236, 239, 244, 246-7, 260, 266, 344-5, 348-9, 467; Leonard, General Assembly, 124, 129, 133, 141; Ralph Emmett Fall, People, PostoDces and Communities in Caroline County, Virginia 1727-1969 [Roswell, Ga., 1989], 267; cvsp, 2:659; vmhb, 23 [1915], 408n). A letter from Robert baylor to TJ, written on 17 Feb. 1799 and received from Essex on 27 Feb., is recorded in SJL but has not been found. For the collection by Henry mullins of rents for TJ’s Elk Hill plantation, see TJ to Mullins, 25 Sep. 1792.
To Bishop James Madison Dear Sir Philadelphia Feb. 27. 99. Your favor of Feb. 10. came safely to hand. we were for a moment Battered with the hope of a friendly accomodation of our diCerences with France by the President’s nomination of mr Murray our minister at the Hague to proceed to Paris for that purpose. but our hopes have been entirely dashed by his revoking that and naming mr Elsworth, mr Patrick Henry & Murray. the two former not to embark from America till they shall recieve assurances from the French government that they will be recieved with the respect due to their character by the Law of nations: and this too after the French government had already given assurances that whatever minister the President should send should be recieved with the respect due to the representative of a great free & independant nation. the eCect of the new nomination is compleatly to parry the advances made by France towards a reconciliation. a great change is taking place in the public mind in these middle states, and they are rapidly resuming the Republican ground which they had for a moment relinquished. the tables of Congress are loaded with petitions proving this. 13. of the 22. counties of this state have already petitioned against the proceedings of the late Congress. many also from New York & New Jersey, and before the summer is over these three states will be in unison with the Southern & Western. I take the liberty of putting under your cover a letter for a young gentleman known to you, & to < 67>
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whom I know not how otherwise to direct it. I am with great esteem Dr. Sir Your friend & servt. Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); at foot of text: “Bishop Madison.” Enclosure: probably the following letter.
To William G. Munford Dear Sir Philadelphia Feb. 27. 99. Your favor of Nov. 20. never came to my hands till the 14th. of Dec. just as I was setting oC for this place. I had a little before addressed you a letter on the general subject of a course of reading. it was directed to New Kent court house as you had desired. I have been to most of the bookstores here and collected such of the books mentioned in the catalogue [you sent me]q as could be found here. these are Stewart’s philosophy of the human mind. Vattel’s law of nations. Smith’s wealth of nations. Nicholson’s philosophy to these I have added Chipman’s sketches on government Condorcet’s progress of the human mind. the little book of Chipman’s is a very excellent elementary book indeed. the author is now one of the Senators from Vermont. of Condorcet’s I need say nothing. every thing of his is of established reputation. I leave these books in the hands of mr John Barnes to be forwarded to mr Greenhow of Williamsburg with whom he is in the habit of corresponding, and I hope they will get safely to hand. I shall be very happy at all times to hear from you. being just now preparing for my departure for Virginia I must here conclude with assurances of the sincere regard of Dear Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson RC (DLC); addressed: “Mr. William Green [. . .] College Wm. & Mary,” an “e” having been added to “Green,” probably not by TJ, and the recipient’s surname being torn away both in the address and at foot of text; year in dateline and endorsement altered to read “98”; endorsed in two unknown hands,
including date of receipt 10 Mch. 1799, altered to 1798. Probably enclosed in the preceding letter. For Munford’s favor of nov. 20, which has not been found, TJ’s missing letter on the general subject of a course of reading, probably written
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2 M A R C H 1799 on 5 Dec., and the evident return of the above letter to TJ after Munford’s death, see note to Course of Reading for William G. Munford, [5 Dec. 1798].
q Words in brackets have been obliterated, probably not by TJ.
Statement of Account from John Francis [1 Mch. 1799]
The Honble. Thomas JeCerson Esqr. To John Francis To boarding from the 25th: Day of Decr. 1798. to the 1st. of March 1799 is 9. Weeks and 2. dayes—at 26. Dolls. To Wood at 4. $. pr. Week To. 16. L Candles To Wine
ç
Dr: $ 241. o
37. m 4 19 $301:55 Cr: By Cash recd on Acct. 150 To Ballance 151:55 Recd: the above one Hundred and Fifty one Dolls. & p—Inful John Francis MS (MHi); in unknown hand, signed by Francis; endorsed by TJ. For cash recd on acct., see note to
TJ to Henry Remsen, 25 Jan. 1799. On 1 Mch., the day he left Philadelphia, TJ gave Francis an order on John Barnes for $151.55, the ballance (mb, 2:999).
From Harry Innes Dear sir, Kentucky (near Frankfort) March 2d. 1799 The other day being in the county of Shelby I was shewn a letter from Doctor Saml. Brown of Lexington to Doctor Knight, requesting information respecting the murder of some Indians at Yellow Creek on the Ohio in the Spring of 1774, supposed to have been committed by Colo. Cresap which caused the Indian War of that year. Doctor Brown in his letter stated that [he] wished to collect facts respecting the Murder & the Speech of Logan as written in your Notes of Virginia, to transmit them to you in order to justify your charge against Cresap, as you had been caled upon so to do by Luther Martin Esqr. of Maryland. < 69>
2 M A R C H 1799 on 5 Dec., and the evident return of the above letter to TJ after Munford’s death, see note to Course of Reading for William G. Munford, [5 Dec. 1798].
q Words in brackets have been obliterated, probably not by TJ.
Statement of Account from John Francis [1 Mch. 1799]
The Honble. Thomas JeCerson Esqr. To John Francis To boarding from the 25th: Day of Decr. 1798. to the 1st. of March 1799 is 9. Weeks and 2. dayes—at 26. Dolls. To Wood at 4. $. pr. Week To. 16. L Candles To Wine
ç
Dr: $ 241. o
37. m 4 19 $301:55 Cr: By Cash recd on Acct. 150 To Ballance 151:55 Recd: the above one Hundred and Fifty one Dolls. & p—Inful John Francis MS (MHi); in unknown hand, signed by Francis; endorsed by TJ. For cash recd on acct., see note to
TJ to Henry Remsen, 25 Jan. 1799. On 1 Mch., the day he left Philadelphia, TJ gave Francis an order on John Barnes for $151.55, the ballance (mb, 2:999).
From Harry Innes Dear sir, Kentucky (near Frankfort) March 2d. 1799 The other day being in the county of Shelby I was shewn a letter from Doctor Saml. Brown of Lexington to Doctor Knight, requesting information respecting the murder of some Indians at Yellow Creek on the Ohio in the Spring of 1774, supposed to have been committed by Colo. Cresap which caused the Indian War of that year. Doctor Brown in his letter stated that [he] wished to collect facts respecting the Murder & the Speech of Logan as written in your Notes of Virginia, to transmit them to you in order to justify your charge against Cresap, as you had been caled upon so to do by Luther Martin Esqr. of Maryland. < 69>
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My respect for both your public & private character induced me to make some enquiry into the circumstances (of the person in whose hands I saw the letter) relative to the above facts, the result of which appears to be this; That about the month of April 1774 from eight to twelve Indians, Men, Women & Children were kiled at the mouth of Yellow creek at the house of one Joshua Baker who kept a Tavern at that place; the Women & children were in the, house, their shreiks & cries reached the ears of some Indian men on the opposite shore of the Ohio who came over in canoes, the men were kiled as soon as they had landed; this murder was committed by a certain Daniel Greathouse & others, in the perpetration of which Cresap had no part, neither was he present. About the sametime Colo. Cresap with fourteen or Afteen men were asscending the Ohio & fell in with three Indian men between Wheeling & BuCaloe creeks who he murdered. I received this information from Jacob Newland of Shelby county who lived at the time on the Bank of the Ohio below the mouth of BuCaloe, a man of integrety who was informed of the fact by Cresap & his party, but he cannot recollect the reason (if any) assigned in justiAcation of the murder. If you still wish to pursue the enquiry farther, Capt. Newland recommends it to you to apply to, Charles Polke & Isaac Greathouse of Shelby, Herman Greathouse & Thomas Polke of Nelson, John Sappington of Madison of this state & Joshua Baker before named on Cumberland River of the state of Tenessee. If sir you will state to me particular facts of which you wish to be informed respecting the said Murders & the causes which produced them, I will chearfully unite with Doctor Brown my endeavours to collect every information which these men can now recollect respecting the transactions. It can be done without much trouble, & if it will render you any essential beneAt I will make a personal application to each of the persons resident within this state & apply by letter to Baker. With respect to the authenticity of Logan’s Speech, they probably know nothing about it—application made to ODcers near Dunmore’s person, or the Feild ODcers of his division, would be able to give more particular information on the subject.q I recollect to have seen it in ’75 in one of the public prints. That Logan conceived Cresap to be the author of the Murder at Yellow creek, it is in my power to give, perhaps a more particular information, than any other person you can apply to. In 1774 I lived < 70>
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in Fincastle county, now divided into Washington, Montgomery & part of Wythe, being intimate in Colo. Preston’s family I happened in July to be at his house, when an express was sent to him as the Cy. Leuit. requesting a Guard of the Militia to be ordered out for the protection of the inhabitants residing low down on the North fork of Holstein river, the Express brought with him a War club & a note which was left tied to it at the house of one Robertson whose family were cut oC by the Indians & gave rise for the application to Colo. Preston, of which the following is a Copy then taken by me in my Memo. Book. “Captain Cresap, What did you kill my people on Yellow creek for, the white people kill’d my kin at Conustoga a great while ago, and I thought nothing of that, but you kill’d my kin again on Yellow creek and took my cousin prisoner, then I thought I must kill too and I have been three times to war since, but the Indians are not angry only myself Captain John Logan July 21st. 1774”r The foregoing statement of Facts has made my letter so long that I shall forbear any observations respecting our political situation & opinions of the Western country—if they shall conduce any thing to your satisfaction I shall feel myself compensated for the trouble I have had in writing them. Your last letter was by Mr. Volney to whom I shewed every civility as a stranger & traveller deserving the attention of all mankind & to shew my respect for your recommendation With great respect I am Dr sir your mo. ob. servt. Harry Innes RC (DLC); addressed: “The Honble Thomas JeCerson near Charlottsville Virginia”; franked; extraneous quotation marks have been omitted and closing quotation mark supplied; endorsed by TJ as received 1 Apr. and so recorded in SJL. Portion printed with minor variations in the Appendix to the Notes on Virginia (Notes, ed. Peden, 231-2; see notes below).
25 Mch. 1798, and Brown’s reply of 4 Sep. your last letter: TJ to Innes, 21 June 1796. q Passage beginning with the following sentence and running through the statement copied from Innes’s memorandum book (see note 2) appears in Appendix to the Notes on Virginia. r Extract in Appendix ends here.
For TJ’s request for information from doctor saml. brown, see TJ to Brown,
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From John C. Ogden Dr. Sir LitchAeld Prison March 5th 1799 You are so easy of access, and so condescending, that I must be indulged, while under bounds and imprisonments, when I assume the address of familiarity. It is said, that Envoys are about to be sent to France. When Mr Gerry went many months since, I solicited the place of Secretary with him, and addressed him and President Adams accordingly. Mr Gerry treated my application with due respect, but as Mr Pinckney had a Secretary abroad with him, Mr G. concluded that gentleman would be suDcient for the mission.— I have addressed Judge Elsworth for the place provided he goes. He was acquainted with my application to Mr Gerry. Judge Elsworth, has been my acquaintance from my youth up. I have appealed to him, to say whether I was not faithful to Colol. Lyon, & have engaged to be faithful & defend him, after his return, provided he permits me to accompany him. A proposal of this kind, is only to be made to you—If any thing is in store for my good in this way, by your inBuence, I am sure of your services, which will ever be acknowledged with gratitude.—Your answer is not needful unless my wishes should be indulged, & this proposal be favorable. In this place, I have written the report of my embassy in behalf of Colol. Lyon. It is calculated more immediately for Connecticut. It contains those statements & observations which are needful, to inform this uninformed people upon those points in which Colol. Lyon has had some share. In writing it was needful to pay great attention to the thoughts which recured from late conversations in Vermont, Philadelphia and Connecticut, in order to apply the address, as far as possible, to the present state of opinions and aCairs. The letter under cover opens a conferrence with the printer concerning printing this production in Philadelphia. To-morrow my design is to open the aristocracy and spiritual tyranny to view, in another pamphlet. They are well assured, that I shall industriously endeavor to make a revolution in opinions in this state, which violate the constitution & laws, & disturb the public tranquility— I am Sir With great respect Your devoted servant John C. Ogden < 72>
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My friends and family expect that I will not resign their or my rights, to seek favors, because President Adams, so suddenly decided concerning my “interference” President Adams has Mrs Ogden’s letters and the letters of my self & my son. I have requested Mrs Ogden from time to time, to detail to President Adams the injuries done her father’s family.—This is a time for, and my situation requires exertion. This prison and want of money only, will prevent my visiting France in the same ship with the envoys, in a private station, if a public one cannot be obtained. Mr Duane has nothing in his letter which will authorize him to determine, to whom I am indebted for the honor of having it passed silently to him. If Doctr Hurt, the friend I met—so unexpectedly in Philadelphia, should call at your quarters, may I ask that he may receive the salutations of aCection and gratitude, which transmit by this epistle. RC (DLC); addressed: “Thomas JeCerson Esqr. Vice President of The United States ,” with Ogden’s name written below address in an unknown hand; franked and postmarked; endorsed by TJ as received 30 Mch. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: letter from Ogden to William Duane, not found. Ogden was under bounds and imprisonments because during February, while stopping over in LitchAeld, Connecticut, he was jailed for nonpayment of an old debt to Oliver Wolcott, Jr. Through Wolcott’s brother Frederick, a LitchAeld attorney, the Wolcotts paid the fees necessary to maintain the minister’s conAnement, while Odgen for his part made no move to raise funds to retire the debt, which then amounted to $180. After four months Frederick Wolcott relented and Ogden went free, but only after signing a new note of indebtedness that was payable on demand and could be used to take him up again anytime he lingered in Connecticut (Alan V. Briceland, “John C. Ogden: Messenger and Propagandist for Matthew Lyon, 1798-1799,” Vermont History, 43 [1975], 113-20). Ogden evidently intended the report of his embassy to the president in
Matthew Lyon’s behalf to take the form of a pamphlet. An anonymous letter published in the New London, Connecticut, Bee on 20 Mch., almost certainly written by Ogden, gave an account of his meeting with Adams on 31 Dec. 1798. another pamphlet: in 1799 Ogden published in Philadelphia his View of the New-England Illuminati and in Richmond A Short History of Late Ecclesiastical Oppressions in New-England and Vermont: In Which is Exhibited a Statement of the Violation of Religious Liberties, Which are RatiAed by the Constitution of the United States. Two anonymous pamphlets of that year, their places of publication not indicated, have also been attributed to him: Friendly Remarks to the People of Connecticut Upon their College and Schools and A View of the Calvinistic Clubs in the United States (Franklin Bowditch Dexter, Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College with Annals of the College History, 6 vols. [New York, 1885-1912], 5:385; Sowerby, Nos. 3209, 3219; Evans, No. 36008; note to Ogden to TJ, 7 Feb. 1799). The Bee’s account of the presentation of the Lyons petition to Adams included the president’s reference to interference on Ogden’s part, quoting the president as saying to the minister that “as to
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5 M A R C H 1799 yourself, your interference on the part of col. Lyon will prevent your receiving any favors from me.” On 3 Apr. the newspaper carried another anonymous letter, again in all likelihood written by Ogden, which interpreted the comment to mean that Ogden’s activity on Lyons’s behalf had cost him any chance of obtaining the collectorship at New Haven (see note at 7 Feb.). “Ministers of religion,” warned the second letter to the Bee, “beware how you interfere in behalf of prisoners and the condemned. . . . You who are under obligations of gratitude—take heed how you interfere in the concerns of your benefactors.” letters of my self & my son: Ogden had sent TJ a copy of a letter to Adams, dated “LitchAeld Goal,” 20 Feb., in which he declared that he had sent out to be printed two statements, one in support of the claims of his mother-in-law, Mary Clap Wooster, and another about the clergy in Vermont. Printers had “passed by” both items “to give places for scurrility, upon virtuous republicans, & upon me.” Ogden sarcastically labeled the incident “another proof of the liberty we enjoy, under our excellent constitution” (Tr in DLC; in Ogden’s hand; at head of text: “Copy of a letter to President Adams”; endorsed by TJ as received 26 Feb. and so recorded in SJL). Ogden succeeded in having the pieces printed by Charles Holt in the Bee. His observations on the situation of the Vermont clergy also appeared as his Short History of Late Ecclesiastical Oppressions pamphlet, and the Aurora reprinted his appeal in behalf of Mary Wooster (pmhb, 100 [1976], 10, 16). Ogden also sent TJ a copy of a letter he addressed to his son from jail on 18 Feb. that disparaged John Adams’s “dinners, courtly smiles, insolent threats and answers,” and “evasive promises.” “If John Quincy Adams, should set himself up, to be a monarch in these States after an education, at public expence, in foreign courts, after the inconveniences to
which you and your brother, have been subjected in your educations,” Ogden enjoined his son, “I charge you both, as you love religion, liberty, your country, and the memories of your deceased grandfather and uncles to pull him down.” Ogden sent copies to TJ, George Washington, and John Adams (Tr in same; in Ogden’s hand; addressed in an unidentiAed hand at New Milford, 19 Feb. 1799: “Mr JeCerson Vice President of the United States”; franked; endorsed by TJ as received 22 Feb. and so recorded in SJL). doctr hurt may have been the Reverend John Hurt of Virginia (see Notes on Comments by John Adams, [114 Jan. 1799]). None of the subsequent correspondence between Ogden and TJ has been located. According to SJL Ogden wrote TJ on 4 Apr., received from LitchAeld on the 17th; 20 Aug., received on 12 Sep.; 5 Dec., received from Richmond on the 30th; and 11 Mch. 1800, which was received that same day. On 23 May 1799 TJ wrote Ogden, listing that communication in his epistolary record as a “note.” At some unknown time Ogden wrote and transmitted to TJ “A list of respectable republicans in Connecticut,” which included Dr. Jared Potter of Wallingford; John Throop of New Haven and Frederick Phelps of Harwinton, each with the title “Captn.”; and the following individuals, each called “Esqr.”: William Heron of Redding, Hezekiah Holcomb of Granby, William Judd of Farmington, Jonathan Bull of Hartford, Andrew Hull of Cheshire, Evan Malbone of Pomfret, and Andrew Campbell of Middleton. TJ endorsed the list “Connecticut. republicans from mr Ogden” and added to it “ Granger” and “Pierpont Edwards. originally whig. a little turned by XYZ” (MS in DLC: TJ Papers, 232:42209; in Ogden’s hand, undated, with additions and endorsement by TJ).
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To Mary Jefferson Eppes My dear Maria Monticello Mar. 8. 99. I am this moment arrived here, and the post being about to depart, I set down to inform you of it. your sister came over with me from Belmont where we left all well. the family will move over the day after tomorrow. they give up the house there about a week hence. we want nothing now to All up our happiness but to have you & mr Eppes here. scarcely a stroke has been done towards covering the house since I went away, so that it has remained open at the North end another winter. it seems as if I should never get it inhabitable. I have proposed to your sister a Bying trip when the roads get Ane to see you. she comes into it with pleasure; but whether I shall be able to leave this for a few days is a question which I have not yet seen enough of the state of things to determine. I think it very doubtful. it is to your return therefore that I look with impatience & shall expect as soon as mr Eppes’s aCairs will permit. we are not without hopes he will take a trip up soon to see about his aCairs here, of which I yet know nothing. I hope you are enjoying good health, and that it will not be long before we shall be again united in some way or other. continue to love me, my dear, as I do you most tenderly. present me aCectionately to mr Eppes and be assured of my constant and warmest love. Adieu my ever dear Maria. RC (ViU: Edgehill-Randolph Papers); signature clipped; addressed: “Mrs. Maria Eppes at Mont-blanco ChesterAeld near Petersburg”; franked; postmarked Milton, 9 Mch.
From John Barnes sir. Philadelphia 10th March 1799 The fate of Our subscriptions to the Loan of Ave Millions—is already made known,—for every 4,000—14 CertiAcates—and Nearly in that proportion thro out,—the subscription Money on the 26—to be withdrawn—will be repaid—I expect, in a few days— If the 42—can be consolidated in the Name of William Short, I shall have it done—or—wait the indorsemts. The sloop Little Jim—is almost loaded, & the Ice wasting— daily—that, I, presume—in the Course of the insuing Week, say 16th. she will have left this port for Norfolk, & Richmond. Your Linseed Oil—Sweet Oil, Figs & Raisins—Sash Doors— Clover seed, Groceries in general—Books & loose papers—are < 75>
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already packed, & for the most part on Board, but cannot as yet, meet with—either Tongues & sounds—New Rice—or the right Old & White Bourbon CoCee—–when these are dispatched—I shall Attend, to Shipping the good Generals, Boxes, and transmit, His Bill of exchange for $1000— e very Arst good Opportunity— I hope this will And you safe Arrived and well—with the good families, at Monticello— I am most respectfully sir Your Obedt: servant John Barnes RC (ViU: Edgehill-Randolph Papers); at foot of text: “Thomas JeCerson Esquire Monticello”; endorsed by TJ as received 30 Mch. and so recorded in SJL. Legislation of the previous July authorized the president to initiate a loan of five millions on “such terms and conditions as he shall judge most advantageous for the United States.” Wolcott objected to the discounting of bonds, but found that his insistence on sales at par required the government to oCer an interest rate of 8 percent to attract investors. Subscriptions opened on 28 Feb. 1799 at the Bank of the United States. Barnes put in for a $4,000 subscription for Short—40 shares—and identical amounts for Thomas Mann Randolph and John Wayles Eppes, all on Short’s account. Barnes deposited $1,500 as the initial payment for the 120 shares. The loan was vastly oversubscribed, garnering well over $14 million the day it opened. Under the announced terms, which had anticipated the possibility of oversubscription, the three subscriptions entered by Barnes shrank proportionately from 40 shares each to 14. The deposit required for the new total on Short’s account was $525, which amount would also need to be paid monthly, beginning in April and running to October 1799, to complete the subscriptions. For the assignment of certificates for the 42 shares, see Barnes’s letter of 17 Mch. Despite entering two-thirds of the subscription in Randolph’s and Eppes’s names, Barnes and TJ treated the entire $4,200 as Short’s investment (Philadelphia Gazette, 14 Feb., 1, 2 Mch. 1799; U.S. Statutes at Large, 1:607-8; Edwin
J. Perkins, American Public Finance and Financial Services, 1700-1815 [Columbus, Ohio, 1994], 239-40, 328, 395n, 401n; Barnes to George Simpson, 25 Feb. 1799 [FC in DLC: Short Papers; endorsed by TJ]; Barnes statement of account with Short, 7 Oct. 1799 [MS in same]; Barnes to Short, 21 Jan. 1801, in same; TJ to Madison, 14 June 1798, 16 Jan. 1799; TJ to Short, 13 Apr. 1800). At some time, probably early in 1799, Barnes made notes of the value of the U.S. securities already held by Short, noting the worth at the close of 1798 of his shares in the six percent and three percent loans and some additional payments of interest and principal, and projecting also what the six percent certiAcates might bring if sold at various rates (MS in DLC: Short Papers; in Barnes’s hand; endorsed by TJ: “Short Wm mr Barnes’s note of his stock & it’s value”). For Tadeusz Kosciuszko’s boxes and bill of exchange, see TJ to Kosciuszko, 21 Feb. 1799. Under his power of attorney from Short, TJ on 28 Feb. 1799 wrote two orders to John Steele authorizing Barnes to receive payments of interest or principal from Short’s government stocks. One order was for payments available as of 1 Apr., while the other covered those due the Arst of July (RC in NN, at foot of text: “John Steel esq. Comptroller of the US.,” endorsed by Steele on 2 Apr. 1799; RC in CtY, at foot of text: “John Steel Comptroller of the US.,” endorsed by Steele 1 July 1799). A letter from Steele to TJ, written on 18 Mch. and received 7 Apr. 1799, is recorded in SJL but has not been found. Also recorded in SJL, but missing, are letters from TJ to Steele of 25 Mch., 2 and 27 May 1796 and from
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12 M A R C H 1799 Steele to TJ of 18 Mch. 1796, received the 25th of April, and 18 Jan. 1797, received two days after it was written. On 2 Feb. 1799 TJ wrote an order on Barnes for payment of $10 to Philadelphia shoe manufacturer John Minchin (MS in MHi, written and signed by TJ,
endorsed by Barnes and Minchin; mb, 2:984, 997). Five days later TJ ordered payment of $23.75 to Samuel Salter for prints (MS in MHi, written and signed by TJ, endorsed by Barnes as received by Samuel Sprage; mb, 2:998).
To Thomas Lomax Dear Sir Monticello Mar. 12. 1799. Your welcome favor of the last month came to my hands in Philadelphia. so long a time has elapsed since we have been separated by events that it was like a letter from the dead, and recalled to my memory very dear recollections. my subsequent journey through life has oCered nothing which in comparison with those is not [cheerless?] & dreary. it is a rich comfort sometimes to look back on them. I take the liberty of inclosing a letter to mr Baylor, open, because I sollicit your perusal of it. it will at the same time furnish the apology for my not answering you from Philadelphia. you ask for any communication I may be able to make which may administer comfort to you. I can give that which is solid. the spirit of 1776. is not dead. it has only been slumbering. the body of the American people is substantially republican. but their virtuous feelings have been played on by some fact with more Action. they have been the dupes of artful maneuvres, & made for a moment to be willing instruments in forging chains for themselves. but time & truth has dissipated the delusion, & opened their eyes. they see now that France has sincerely wished peace, & their seducers have wished war, as well for the loaves & Ashes which arise out of war expences, as for the chance of changing the constitution while the people shouldq have time to contemplate nothing but the levies of men & money. Pennsylva, Jersey & N. York are coming majesticallyr round to [republican?] principles. in Pennsva 13. out of 22. counties had already petitioned agt. the Alien & Sedition laws; Jersey & N.Y. had begun the same movement, and tho the rising of Congress stops that channel for the expression of their sentiment, the sentiment is going on rapidly, & before their next meeting those three states will be solidly embodied in sentiment with the six Southern & Western ones. the atrocious proceedings of France towards this country, had well nigh destroyed it’s liberties. the Anglomen and monocrats had so artfully confounded the cause of < 77>
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France with that of freedom, that both went down in the same scale. I sincerely join you in abjuring all political connection with every foreign power: and tho’ I cordially wish well to the progress of liberty in all nations, and would forever give it the weight of our countenance, yet they are not to be touched without contamination from their other bad principles. commerce with all nations, alliance with none should be our motto. accept assurances of the constant & unaltered aCections of Dr. Sir Your sincere friend & servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); faint; at foot of Arst page: “T. Lomax esq.” Enclosure: TJ to Robert Baylor of this date, recorded in SJL but not found.
According to SJL, Robert baylor replied to TJ on the 15th and TJ received that letter, which has not been found, on 4 Apr.
your welcome favor: Lomax’s letter at [before 27] Feb. 1799 above.
q Word interlined. r Word interlined in place of “solidly.”
From Mary Jefferson Eppes Mont Blanco March 13th. 99
My Dear Papa must think it strange & I fear very ungrateful in me, not to have answer’d so kind a letter as his last & one to me so soothing, but much as appearances are against me, my dear Papa could never for a moment I trust, doubt the aCection of my heart, a heart which for him feels all that love & tenderness which it is capable of feeling & which has been increas’d if possible from the uneasiness which your silence has given me, for mine indeed has not been voluntary lately, the precarious state of my health added to my preparations for housekeeping when well enough, induced me to defer writing tho unintentionally till now, excuse this apology my dear Papa which such frequent repetitions of must make tedious, my anxiety has dictated it I cannot be happy while I fear that you could for a moment suppose me capable of forgetting the tender love & dutyq whichr it is so pleasing to me to owe to you. we have been here for a fortnight past, & I am very much pleas’d with the situation, which is said to be very healthy my health is now entirely establish’d & I think with pleasure that it will not be long before I shall have the happiness of seeing you & my dear Sister here, as you will I hope And your presence at home not necessary enough to prevent your performing your promise, tell my dear Sister I shall take a visit from her as a proof of her forgiveness which I have implor’d in my letter to her & from my brother it will prove that he did not designedly come within a mile of < 78>
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his sister without going to see her, Adieu my dear Papa write to me soon I intreat you & let me know how you are & whether your eyes are well I have but time to assure that I am with the tenderest aCection yours unchangeably ME give my love to all around you RC (ViU: Coolidge Deposit); endorsed by TJ as received 28 Mch. and so recorded in SJL.
q Preceding two words and ampersand interlined in place of “aCection.” r Remainder of sentence interlined in place of three illegible words.
The last letter Mary JeCerson Eppes received from TJ was that of 7 Feb.
Notes on Postal Service between Philadelphia and Charlottesville [on or after 13 Mch. 1799]
the mail leaves Philadelphia on Wednesday reaches Fredsbg Tuesday 10. A.M.q the mail from Richmd. to Charlotte should arrive Thursday 11. A.M. returns there from Staunton Sat. 11. A.M the Fredsbg rider should arrive at Charlottesville Thursday 11. A.M leaves it Sat. 1. P.M. returns to Fredericksburg Tuesday 6. A.M.r Lynchbg mail should leave Charlvlle Thursday 2. P.M. and returns the next Thursday at 10. A.M. the above from ltrs from Habersham to Garrett of Feb. 4. &s Mar. 13. 99. & a note from Burrell MS (DLC: TJ Papers, 105:18014); entirely in TJ’s hand, with interlineations being information taken from Habersham’s letter to Garrett, 4 Feb. 1799 (see notes below); undated. The letter from Joseph habersham to Alexander garrett of 4 Feb. was addressed in the postmaster general’s hand: “Letter to Mr. Garrett for the Vice President” and remains in TJ’s papers. In it Habersham refers to a letter which the Charlottesville postmaster had written to
the vice president on 25 Jan. 1799 (not recorded in SJL and not found) in response to TJ’s missive of the third concerning the delays in mail delivery (see TJ to Thomas Mann Randolph, 17 Jan. 1799). Perhaps TJ showed Habersham the letter in which Garrett admitted that it took from 18 to 26 days for delivery of mail between Philadelphia and Charlottesville and noted that he had not received TJ’s letter of 3 Jan. until the 24th. Habersham argued that the letter was delayed a week because it had not
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13 M A R C H 1799 arrived at the Philadelphia post oDce on Friday, 4 Jan., in time for the weekly departure. But in an eCort to improve service, the postmaster general directed that the mail for Charlottesville leave Philadelphia on Wednesdays. It would then arrive at its destination the “next Thursday week in 8 days and a half ” (RC in DLC, in clerk’s hand, signed by Habersham, with closing and “Alexr. Garret. esq” at foot of text in his hand, endorsed by TJ: “Posts. arrival & departure”; FC in Lb in DNA: RG 28, LPG). On 4 Feb. the postmaster general informed Fredericksburg postmaster William Wiatt: “By a mistake in making of the mails at Philadelphia on an improper day they have been delayed nearly a week at your oDce, which has given cause for much dissatisfaction and it was not understood here until lately.” Habersham noted the change in service for mail from Philadelphia (Lb in DNA: RG 28, LPG). But problems still existed with the mail delivery in Albemarle County. On 13 Feb. Habersham received a letter of 31 Jan.
directed to TJ from John Watson (not recorded in SJL and not found), in which the Milton postmaster explained that the rider from Fredericksburg had never delivered the mail to his oDce (Habersham to Timothy Green, 13 Feb. 1799, in same). In his letter to Garrett of mar. 13. 99., Habersham declared that a recent failure of the post rider to stop at Milton gave the appearance of “a very extraordinary interferance with the arangment I made to accomodate the Vice President.” He reported that severe penalties would be imposed to insure that the rider called at both Milton and Charlottesville. Habersham also recorded the arrival and departure times for the mail between Charlottesville and Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Lynchburg (same). A note from Assistant Postmaster General Charles Burrall is not recorded in SJL and has not been found. q TJ interlined text to this point. r Preceding line of text interlined. s “Feb. 4. &” interlined.
To George Jefferson Dear Sir Monticello Mar. 16. 99. I found on my return home an extraordinary failure in my stock of corn & that article so scarce & dear that [it has] been with the greatest diDculty I could And a supply. [it will] call for a sum of 500. D. without giving me time to call in my nail[ery?] [. . .] I believe I can still [value?] on you [for] about 150. D. and if you should have recieved any [more] money from mr Pendleton, the other 350. D. may be [furnished] from that [and?] I will replace it, by an order, on Philadelphia. should you not have recieved that, I inclose [you] a draught for 350. D. on Philadelphia to be disposed [of.] in consequence of these arrangements I shall draw [on] you in a day or two for 500. D. it is possible this draught may be on you as early as the 20th. instant. perhaps [not?] till a week later. perhaps I may divide it into two equal [draughts] [. . .] might be with you by [. . .] & the other about the 27th.q I am aware of the impropr[iety] of [calling] on you on such [short] date [when] perhaps you [will] not have been able to [dispose] of the draught. but I [can obtain?] [. . .] only for the ready money. should [your receipt of money?] from mr Pendleton < 80>
17 M A R C H 1799
render it unnecessary to use the draught [you will] of course cancel it.—[will] you be so good as to send me by the Arst boat [. . .] of [. . .] corks.—my tobo. here [. . .] ready to go down. [it should?] be [near 20,000]. I hope that from Bedford is down or on its [way]. I am with great esteem Dear Sir Your friend & servt. Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); faint; in ink at foot of text: “George JeCerson.” Enclosure not found, but see note below. i inclose you a draught: on 16 Mch. TJ drew on John Barnes for
$350 in favor of George JeCerson (mb, 2:1000). q TJ here interlined a sentence, illegible except for “R. Richardson.”
From John Barnes Sir Philadelphia. 17th March 1799 The within six CertiAcates for 42 shares of the Loan for Ave Millions (just now recd) are handed you, for the proper Assignmts— and to be Returned me, in Order to be Alled up—as eer installments, (the 2d:) on, or before the 10th Next Mth, yet should they not reach me in time, I shall nevertheless—pay the Amt $525.— the price of Scrip is 30 eCt and should it rise even to 100—is only 120 eCt on the principal is than 70 eCt under US. or penna. Bank Stock, I am sir your mst Obedt servt: John Barnes RC (DLC: Short Papers); addressed: “Thomas JeCerson, Esquire Monticello—Virginia”; franked; notation in TJ’s hand: “see on the back hereof a speciAcation of the certiAcates”; list of certiAcates by TJ on verso (see below); endorsed by TJ as received 30 Mch. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosures not found. On the verso of the letter TJ listed the six U.S. loan subscription certificates, each signed 1 Mch. 1799 by George Simpson for the Bank of the United
States: No. 1949, four shares for William Short; No. 1611, ten shares for Short; No. 2314, four shares for Thomas Mann Randolph; No. 1607, ten shares for Randolph; No. 1645, four shares for John Wayles Eppes; and No. 1245, ten shares for Eppes. Each share represented $100. See Barnes’s letter of 10 Mch. for the loan subscription. A letter of this date from Barnes to TJ, also received on 30 Mch., and letters from TJ to Barnes of 15 and 16 Mch. 1799 are recorded in SJL but have not been found.
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To George Jefferson & Company Dear Sir Monticello Mar. 18. 99 The bearer hereof mr Richardson now sets out for the corn found for me [. . .] I gave him an order on you for Ave hundred dollars as [indicated?] in my letter to you of the 16th. he is instructed to [Arst call?] on mr Fleming to take the [. . .] in which case this application to you would not be [. . .] days. but if [. . .] cash itself [be insisted] on on delivery of the corn, mr Richardson will then [have] to go on with the boats to Richmond to recieve the money of you & as he must return with the boats his necessity to recieve it will be [immediate?]. I [shall] be sorry if he [is] forced to this but it will be because the case un[avoidably compels] us to it [. . .] [he] will bring up the the corks [for] which I wrote you [. . .] PrC (MHi); faint; at foot of text: “Messrs George JeCerson & co.”; letterpressed at bottom of same sheet is an order on George JeCerson & Co. to pay Richard Richardson $500, dated 18 Mar. 1799 and signed by TJ.
From George Jefferson Dear Sir, Richmond 18th March 1799 Your favor of the 16th. inclosing your draught on Mr. John Barnes for $:350 I have received. Mr. Pendleton not having made any further payment, I shall endeavour to dispose of the dft: agreeably to your direction—I calculate though on meeting with some diDculty in doing it, owing to there being so many more persons who wish to draw money from Philada., than who wish to remit there; this however will make no diCerence, as the dft: can be turned into money as soon as it will be wanted by us. Only nine hogsheads of your Tobacco have yet come down; I hope the balance will be here shortly, being of opinion the sooner a sale is made the better; as I am very apprehensive that the unfavorable accounts lately received of the European markets may cause the article to fall here. It may however be observed that a very considerable fall might take place there, & their prices would still at least justify those now given here. Your Very Obt. servt. Geo. Jefferson RC (MHi); at foot of text: “Thos. JeCerson esqr.”; endorsed by TJ as received on 21 Mch. and so recorded in SJL.
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To Samuel Clarke Sir Monticello Mar. 21. 99 Being obliged on my return home to advance a considerable sum of money for the purchase of corn for my family I take the liberty of solliciting [payment] of the balance due me in your hands. if you [can send] it to me by mr Coalter or any other person coming to our district court it will be suDcient, or should no opportunity then oCer I will send a person for it: in the mean time a line from you letting me know whether I may count upon it would be acceptable to Sir Your very humble servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); faint; at foot of text: “Mr. Samuel Clarke”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
Regarding Clarke’s sale of nails at Staunton and the balance owed TJ from those transactions, see Clarke to TJ, 10 July, TJ to Clarke, 25 Sep., 22 Oct., and TJ to John McDowell, 25 Sep. 1798.
To John McDowell Dear Sir Monticello Mar. 21. 1799. On my return home I take the liberty of troubling you on the subject of any monies proceeding from the sale of nails for me, which I will pray you to remit by mr Coalter or any other person who may be coming to our District courts. should no conveyance oCer then, I will send a person [ex]press. in the mean time it will be satisfactory to receive a line from you informing me what sum I may expect. I mentioned in some of my letters to you last [Oct.] the illness of the foreman of my nailery, which I then [hop]ed he was getting the better of. however, after my departure he got so much worse that his attendance ceased altogether, and the works have been as good as suspended. whether he will recover or not is still doubtful, but within a week or ten days I shall have all the hands at work again under some other direction, and after a [while] shall [be] able to supply you again with nails. I am De[ar Sir] Your most obedt. servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); faint; at foot of text: “Mr John Mc.Dowell”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
In a letter to McDowell of 22 Oct. 1798, TJ noted the illness of his nailery foreman.
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From John McDowell Sir Staunton March 21. 1799 I have sent you inclosed an a statement of the nails Acct with you and the balance due you shall have the Arst opputunity or If you any safer hand you may send An order I have trusted a small part but I exspect shall be able to collect It in a few weeks or assoon as you will have an opputunity to send And I wish you to apply to some other person for take the balance and dispose of them As I shall decline the business of Selling on commission as It is impossible to make Sales worth relating without giving Credit to my Customarys as I stoc Other goods and the assortment not kept up as they should be too many of one Kind therefore the balance of Nails will be subject to your Order On demand—as I have closed the Sale of any Sense the Settlement of the Acct—I cannot get bank Notes or I should Send the mony by post—from your humble Sevt John McDowell RC (MHi); endorsed by TJ as received 28 Mch. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure not found.
From John Carr Dr Sir, March 22d. 1799. I have long been desirous of consulting you on a subject wherein my interest and happiness are nearly concerned; I have Ave sons to whom I would wish to give the best education my Anances will admit of, but being in a great measure with out education myself, when ever I attempt to lay down a plan I am immediately bewildered, and can Ax on none by which they are to be governed. If you will take the trouble to lay down at some leisure moment, such a plan of education as in your opinion will be most useful, leaving out such parts as are only ornimental, you will confer a lasting obligation on Dr. Sir your friend and Humble Servant John Carr RC (MHi); addressed: “Mr. Thomas JeCerson”; incongruously endorsed by TJ as received 21 Mch. and so recorded in SJL.
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From George Jefferson & Company Dear Sir, Richmond 26th. March 1799– We received your letter of the 18th. by Mr Richardson, to whom we paid your draft of Ave hundred dollars—we send you by him 2 Gross of the best Corks which is all that we can procure of that quality and are doubtful if an inferior kind will answer of this you will please to inform us—Tobacco has fallen considerably of late the nominal Cash price is 48/ and few purchasers. a small demand however for foreign markets, which we have reason to expect in the course of a month or two, will undoubtedly raise the price and probably beyond what it has yet sold for— We are respectfully Dear Sir, Your obt Servts. Geo: Jefferson & Co. RC (MHi); in Patrick Gibson’s hand; at foot of text: “Thomas JeCerson Esqe.”; endorsed by TJ as received 2 Apr. and so recorded in SJL.
From Carlo Bellini Dear sir, Williamsburg April 1st. 1799 I have been waiting for some time with more than Christian patience to write you a letter; but the stiCness of my hands which has hitherto prevented me encreasing continually in obstinacy and my days drawing happily to a close I have been forced at length to make use of a younger and more obedient hand which has fortunately fallen in my way—The object of this letter is to make a request of you; it is this, that you would do me the honor to accept of the picture of my poor wife and your sincerely aCectionate friend who was last year kindly delivered from a miserable existence. I wish that it should be in your possession, not so much as a testimony of the grateful aCection I still bear you (for that needed no such testimony) as for the value of the workmanship which I know no one in this country, except yourself, that can justly appretiate. If you will be so kind as to confer so great a favor, you shall receive it by the Arst safe opportunity. Our poor village aCords nothing worthy the ear of a philosopher. William & Mary the most important object here has long been in a declining state, but I am happy to inform you (and I know that it will give you pleasure to hear.) that it is at present rising very rapidly. Several students who have lately quitted college, two brothers particularly, by the name of Lomax will reBect the highest lustre on their alma mater. But above all there is one here at present who is certainly < 85>
From George Jefferson & Company Dear Sir, Richmond 26th. March 1799– We received your letter of the 18th. by Mr Richardson, to whom we paid your draft of Ave hundred dollars—we send you by him 2 Gross of the best Corks which is all that we can procure of that quality and are doubtful if an inferior kind will answer of this you will please to inform us—Tobacco has fallen considerably of late the nominal Cash price is 48/ and few purchasers. a small demand however for foreign markets, which we have reason to expect in the course of a month or two, will undoubtedly raise the price and probably beyond what it has yet sold for— We are respectfully Dear Sir, Your obt Servts. Geo: Jefferson & Co. RC (MHi); in Patrick Gibson’s hand; at foot of text: “Thomas JeCerson Esqe.”; endorsed by TJ as received 2 Apr. and so recorded in SJL.
From Carlo Bellini Dear sir, Williamsburg April 1st. 1799 I have been waiting for some time with more than Christian patience to write you a letter; but the stiCness of my hands which has hitherto prevented me encreasing continually in obstinacy and my days drawing happily to a close I have been forced at length to make use of a younger and more obedient hand which has fortunately fallen in my way—The object of this letter is to make a request of you; it is this, that you would do me the honor to accept of the picture of my poor wife and your sincerely aCectionate friend who was last year kindly delivered from a miserable existence. I wish that it should be in your possession, not so much as a testimony of the grateful aCection I still bear you (for that needed no such testimony) as for the value of the workmanship which I know no one in this country, except yourself, that can justly appretiate. If you will be so kind as to confer so great a favor, you shall receive it by the Arst safe opportunity. Our poor village aCords nothing worthy the ear of a philosopher. William & Mary the most important object here has long been in a declining state, but I am happy to inform you (and I know that it will give you pleasure to hear.) that it is at present rising very rapidly. Several students who have lately quitted college, two brothers particularly, by the name of Lomax will reBect the highest lustre on their alma mater. But above all there is one here at present who is certainly < 85>
1 A P R I L 1799
an ornament to human nature. He landed here a few months ago from on board a ship. His name is Monford. Divest him but of one failing (selfsuDciency) and he would certainly be one of the most perfect creatures that ever came from the hands of the Creator. This failing has drawn on him a multitude of admiring enemies. Unhappily for the young man Mr. Madison is of the number—Before I take leave of you I must enquire of you if you have heard any tidings concerning the soul or body of Mezzei. Some years ago you informed me from Paris, that he had the four quarters of the Globe for eblowroom; I suspect very stronly that at this time he is conAned to two. I could wish to say a good deal more, but as my secretary is not as long winded as yours at Philadelphia, nor as well disposed to teaze you with nonsense I must here conclude with assurances of sincere aCection Your most obedient and humble servant Charles Bellini. RC (DLC); in an unidentiAed hand; at foot of all pages: “Thomas JeCerson esqr.”; endorsed by TJ as received 11 Apr. and so recorded in SJL. stiffness of my hands: without giving details, TJ in 1795 described both Bellini and his wife, who had suCered a stroke in the 1780s, as “paralytic.” Nominally still the professor of modern languages at the College of William and Mary, Bellini had few students, struggled with failing eyesight, and after his wife’s death was reputed to subsist solely on “wine and biscuit; his only amusement— snuCtaking” (Frank B. Evans, “Carlo Bellini and his Russian Friend Fedor Karzhavin,” vmhb, 88 [1980], 348-9, 352-3; TJ to Philip Mazzei on 30 May 1795). According to SJL the last previous correspondence between Bellini and TJ was TJ’s letter of 16 Dec. 1792. In accordance with the suggestion TJ made in his reply to this letter on 24 Apr.,
Bellini did not send the picture of his wife, Gaspara FarolA Bellini, but kept it until his own death in 1804. TJ then sought a home for it in Italy (anb; TJ to Mazzei, 10 Mch. 1805). The two brothers recently at the college were likely John Tayloe Lomax and Thomas Lunsford Lomax, sons of Thomas Lomax of Port Tobago. John Tayloe Lomax also studied at St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, and later became professor of law at the University of Virginia. Thomas Lunsford Lomax died in 1805 at the age of twentysix (A Catalogue of the College of William and Mary in Virginia, from its Foundation to the Present Time [Williamsburg, 1859], 48, 50; [Edward L. Lomax], Genealogy of the Virginia Family of Lomax [Chicago, 1913], 28-30, 43; dab, 11:369; wmq, 1st ser., 4 [1896], 203). mr. madison: Bishop James Madison.
From George Jefferson Dear Sir, Richmond 1st. April 1799. I intended to have written you by Mr. Richardson myself, but was out of the way. Since that 10 Hhds: more of your Tobacco have come down, from Bedford, making in all 19—so that there is now only one < 86>
2 A P R I L 1799
remaining— This article is now very dull at 48/. & 50/. Cash. a prime parcel of 40 Hogsheads I understand was sold a few days ago at 9$: on a credit of 90 days. I hope the next accounts from Europe may not prove more unfavorable—in which case I am inclined to think the panic which appears at present to prevail may in a little time subside, and the price again revive. I have received a bill of lading from Mr. Barnes of 18 Packages shipped for you the 12th. ultimo—yet they have not arrived. The chimney piece is forwarded. I am Dear Sir Your Very Humble servt. Geo. Jefferson RC (MHi); at foot of text: “Thos. JeCerson esqr.”; endorsed by TJ as received 4 Apr. and so recorded in SJL.
For the letter delivered by Richard richardson, written by George JeCerson’s partner Patrick Gibson, see George JeCerson & Co. to TJ, 26 Mch.
From John Barnes sir Philadelphia 2d April 1799 Your two favrs. 15th & 16th Ulto. were duly recd, and would have been Answered before this, but, in the hope, of succeeding—in procuring for you Myers Accot. of his travels in France 2 Volo: P.P. had not got it, or, any Other, Book store in Town. at least, I inquired of several, and left Order, with, Dobson, to procure them for me, if to be had. even at second hand—is now the Only chance left.—your draft for $350, is already paid—as Well Mr Shorts, 2d installments on his 42 shares $525, Scrip is down to 5 eCt. and the Necessitous Subscriber, must, perhaps, Content, himself—at par—rather than forfeit!—but I am still persuaded—they will rise again, Considerably— —I have within these few days, Shipped the good Genl: Ks. two Boxes—and my letter to him—Covered, his a/c. of Sales, and a/ of his Remaining Articles on hand, &c—Addressed under Cover to Messrs. Nichs. & Jacob Van Straphorst & Hubbard—Amsterdam to whom also, I have added, Bill Lading & Bill of Exge. for ƒ2631.11 Stivers .38 Cts. equal to $1000, e Ship Stadt, Hamburgh, Capt. Heer Sjoerds, for Hamburgh, (as well your three several packets Letters) to sail, the 7 Inst. Copies, e ship Juno—for do. in abt. 14 days —your planes, Saws, Box of plants, CoCee and Rice are all ready, for Sloop Sally, Ed: Potter, who I expect will sail, for Richmond 8th. or 10th— with much Esteem I am sir your Obedt. servt John Barnes < 87>
2 A P R I L 1799 RC (ViU: Edgehill-Randolph Papers); at foot of text: “Thomas JeCerson Esqr— Monticello”; endorsed by TJ as received 11 Apr. and so recorded in SJL. For TJ’s letters of the 15th & 16th of March, which have not been found, see note to Barnes’s letter of the 17th of that month. myers accot. of his travels in france: Friedrich Johann Lorenz Meyer, Fragments sur Paris, trans. Charles François Du Périer Dumouriez, 2 vols. (Hamburg, 1798). TJ was able to acquire the work the following year; see Sowerby, No. 3895. Very likely p.p. was Peter Parent, who had left SaintDomingue and established a French-language printing and publishing business in Philadelphia in 1793 (H. Glenn Brown and Maude O. Brown, “Philadelphia
Book Trade to 1820,” Bulletin of the New York Public Library, 54 [1950], 27; Frances Sergeant Childs, French Refugee Life in the United States, 1790-1800 [Baltimore, 1940], 138-9, 150, 179). See TJ’s letter to George JeCerson on 16 Mch. 1799 regarding the draft for $350, and see the letter from Barnes, 10 Mch., for the installments to pay for William Short’s 42 shares in the new U.S. loan. genl: ks. two boxes: for the shipment of items to Tadeusz Kosciuszko in Europe, see also Barnes’s second letter of 6 Apr. below. In the statement included with his Arst letter of that date, Barnes detailed the planes and other things shipped to TJ. A letter from Barnes of 1 Apr., recorded in SJL as received on 17 Apr., has not been found.
To George Jefferson Dear Sir Monticello Apr. 5. 99. I have to acknolege the receipt of your favors of Mar. 26. & Apr. 1. and to thank you for the speedy eCect given to my draught in favor of mr Richardson. 4. hhds of my tobo. left this yesterday. there are still 9. to go. they will make between 19 & 20,000. I am not in the least alarmed with the late [decline here?] on the price of tobo. this is not an article which is up one day & down the next at any market so large as to prevent partial combinations. it must continue to rise at the [early?] markets in America till September, & in Europe till December. but seeing that the Richmond price can be aCected by the combination of a few persons, I must add to the former conditions on which mine is to be oCered that it is at no rate to go at less than 12. Dollars. the market started at that at New York, has only sunk half a dollar by the present scarcity of vessels, & will doubtless rise there & in Philadelphia in the course of the summer & autumn to 14. or 15. D. when the crop of 98. goes to Europe, it will probably so far satisfy the present de[mand] as to prevent future rise, unless the crop of 99. should [be very] short.—I hope you will forward my groceries fr[om mr B]arnes as soon as they arrive. is the chimney piece dispatched for Philadelphia? I am with great esteem Dear Sir Your aCectionate friend & servt Th: Jefferson < 88>
6 A P R I L 1799 PrC (MHi); faint; at foot of text: “Mr. George JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
From John Barnes sir Philadelphia 6th: April 1799 I have now the pleasure to hand you, the Annexed Inv $61.88 as well, Mr Bartram & your particulars—am fearfull these plants, by their long delay, and close package, will receive injury. Had I known, they had not, been bespoke—ere you left Town, I should have, had them, on Board the Little Jim—12th Ulto— I have taken the liberty of inclosing my letter to Doct. Bache— under Cover to you—least—(being a stranger.) He might Miss of it— eer post. Mr Joseph Roberts—on his pressing a paymt: of $370—(tho without particular Order) I presume would be Acceptable—& therefore—paid to him, that sum, the 3d Inst— I am Respectfully—sir, your Obedt: Hble servant John Barnes Invoice of Merchandize shipped by John Barnes on Bd: the Sloop Sally. Edd: Potter Mastr: for Richmond. Consigned Messrs. Geo: JeCerson & Co: there for a/ & risque of Thos: JeCerson Esqr: ______________________________________________________ T.J. Barl: Cooperage & porterage 4. 20 100 Å. Bourbon CoCee 2/6. 12.10 – 56 [lb]: New Rice (& bag 5/6) .e Ä 26/3 .18. 70 pair groving plains of Mr Trump 1– # #
Box. (plants) Mr Bartram e Bill inclosed between two Boards Wired — 1 pitt Saw £2.12.6 (IronX handles 7/6 1 X cut do—2.15—(woodX do & packg) 11/3 extra hallage
Bills Lading & Commissns. Equal to $61.88 EE. Philada 3d April 1799 John Barnes
ç
14.12.10. 1.10 – 3.–. 3. 6. 3. 2. 6. 6. 8. 22.11. 12. £23. 4.
9 7. 6. 1.
NB. XIron & XWooden handles secured in WBs. Matted Bundle— < 89>
6 A P R I L 1799 RC (ViU: Edgehill-Randolph Papers); addressed: “Thomas JeCerson Esquire Monticello, Virginia”; franked; endorsed by TJ as received 17 Apr. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosed letter not found.
From John Barnes sir Philada: Also 6th April 99 since my letter of this date—I have to add, That in my letter to you of the 2d. I had given—Assurances of your three several letter packages being on Board the Ship Stadt, Hamburgh. (not in the least doubting, but they would be received) It was however with diDculty I got permission (thro the inBuence of a particular Mercht.) to Ship the Two Boxes—On delivering my single package which Covered, Bill Lading, & Bill of Ex:—Under Cover of which was my letter &ca. to G.K. the Ship Owners hesitated—and withal Questioned me— hoped there was—nothing—on Politics—for that they refused receiving Other letters—than the Shippers & those merely on Mercantile Business—I assured them mine was solely Relative to the Contents, of the two Boxes of Cloaths & few trinkets, Bill of ex. &ca. belongly— to a Gentleman & friend of Mr. Van Staphorst;—they Assented & recd said packet.— —I withheld your three packages—without mentioning them— and After three days inquiry I just now, luckily met—with Mr Adamson at the CoCee House,— to whom I presentd: (Card) and your Complimnts: informd him of my imbarrismt and requested, the favr. of his forwarding them—as well—my Seconds—, with, a Return of his best Respects, to you. He Assured me, of his particular Attention either to forward them from hence—or Baltimore to which place he was going in a few days— I am Sir, your Obedt: servt: John Barnes RC (ViU: Edgehill-Randolph Papers); at foot of text: “Thomas JeCerson Esqr: Monticello—Virginia—”; also at foot of text: “Scrip 5–70”; endorsed by TJ as received 17 Apr. and so recorded in SJL.
From George Jefferson Dear Sir, Richmond 8th. April 1799. I am favor’d with yours by to nights post—I think I wrote you by last post that the chimney piece was forwarded to Phila. I am how< 90>
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ever not certain—having written in haste, & which having been of but little consequence I did not copy. The little Jim with your groceries arrived to day—but the Capt. could not get to the wharf to deliver them—which is unfortunate as there are several Milton boats now down—but which I cannot prevail upon to wait. I am Dear Sir Your Very humble servt. Geo. Jefferson RC (MHi); at foot of text: “Thos. JeCerson esqr.”; endorsed by TJ as received 11 Apr. and so recorded in SJL.
From Sir John Sinclair 15 Parliament street 8 April 99.
Sir John Sinclairs best compliments to Mr. JeCerson,—Requests his acceptance of the plan of a new town, which he is now building, in which he has endeavoured to combine as many advantages as possible more especially those of ornament convenience and health.—Regrets much that he cannot write Mr. JeCerson more fully at present, being on the eve of setting out for Scotland, but he could not think of leaving London without sending him some mark of remembrance.— RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ, but without date of receipt. Not recorded in SJL. Enclosure: “Plan of the New Town of Thurso, in the County of Caithness, North Britain now Building on the Property of Sir John Sinclair of Ulbster, Bart.,” described by Sinclair as a town located on the Thurso River “about to be made Navigable & near a Harbour capable of great improvement” making it suitable for Asheries, foreign commerce, and domestic manufactures and with public walks along the harbor and convenient markets to “tend much to the accommodation of the inhabitants” (engraving in MHi, in TJ’s commonplace book labeled
“Law Treaties”; see Vol. 2:504n for a description of the volume and its contents). plan of a new town: although funds were not available to carry out many of the improvements envisioned by Sinclair for his site in northern Scotland, Thurso is noted as “one of the few planned towns of Britain” (Rosalind Mitchison, Agricultural Sir John: The Life of Sir John Sinclair of Ulbster, 1754-1835 [London, 1962], 190-1). For Sinclair’s engraving of Thurso, but without his short description at the foot, see same, following p. 186.
To Mary Jefferson Eppes Monticello Apr. 13. 99.
Your letter, my dear Maria, of Mar. 13. came safely to hand and gave us the information, always the subject of anxiety, & therefore always welcome, that yourself and mr Eppes were well. it would yet < 91>
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have been better that we could all have been well together, as the health we enjoy separately would be more enjoyed together. whether we can visit you is still uncertain, my presence here is so constantly called for when all our works are going on. however I have not altogether abandoned the idea. still let it not retard your movements towards us. let us all pray the Ash to get into motion soon that mr Eppes may be done with them. his aCairs here are going on well. Page has made a noble clearing of about 80. thousand of the richest tobo. land & is in good forwardness with it. I have provided the place with corn till harvest. our spring has been remarkeably backward. I presume we shall have asparagus tomorrow for the Arst time. the Peach trees blossomed about a week ago, the cherries are just now (this day) blossoming.—I suppose you have heard before that Peter Carr had a son & Sam a daughter. Sam & his wife are daily expected from Maryland. Dr. Bache is now with us at Monticello. his furniture is arrived at Richmond. he goes back to Philadelphia to bring on mrs Bache. I expect he will buy James Key’s land; but what he will do for a house this summer is uncertain. Champe Carter is endeavoring to move into our neighborhood, and we expect Dupont de Nemours (my old friend) every day to settle here also. Baynham is not quite decided. Ellen gives her love to you. she always counts you as the object of aCection after her mama & uckin Juba. all else join love to you & mr Eppes. add mine to the family at Eppington, and continue me your most tender aCections so necessary to my happiness, & be assured of mine for ever. Adieu my ever dear Maria. Th:J. RC (ViU). PrC (CSmH); endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. The clearing of tobo. land was probably taking place at Pantops where TJ hoped his daughter and son-in-law would settle (Marriage Settlement for Mary JeCerson, 12 Oct. 1797). Hester (Hettie) and peter carr had a daughter, Mary Jane, in 1798, and a son,
JeCerson, in 1799. JeCerson died on 28 Aug. 1800 and his sister shortly thereafter. The daughter born to Samuel and Eleanor (Nelly) Carr probably died in infancy as well (Edison I. Carr, The Carr Family Records [Rockton, Ill., 1894], 182; Ale of Peter Carr in the JeCerson Library at the Thomas JeCerson Foundation, Inc.; TJ to Madison, 29 Aug. and to Samuel Smith, 17 Oct. 1800).
From John McDowell Sir Staunton April 13th, 1799 I have an opputunity by the hands of Mr Jacob Kenney of Sending you forty pounds which is nearly the balance due you however the remainder may be had at any time I mention.d that I wished to < 92>
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decline the business as It will not Suit me any longer for the reasons I before mention.d which I exspect you have heard as I wrote several weeks ago but have recieved no answer Therefore I shall be glad you would inform me Who to deliver the balance of the Nails to—from Your Obdt Sevt John McDowell RC (MHi); endorsed by TJ as received 15 Apr. and so recorded in SJL.
i wrote several weeks McDowell to TJ, 21 Mch. 1799.
ago:
To George Jefferson Dear Sir Monticello Apr. 18. 99. I have to acknolege your several favors of Mar. 18 & 26. and Apr. 1. & 8. the contents of which have been attended to. the corks by mr Richardson are received, & the packages by the little Jim are said to have arrived at Milton last night with some of Dr. Bache’s goods. since my last 4. hhds of my tobo. from this place have gone down. we began to be under great apprehension (and there is certainly great reason for it) that the tobaccoes from this warehouse would a great part of them remain here. I have therefore with great diDculty got a William Johnson to oblige himself to carry the residue of mine at his next trip. to do this I was obliged to engage to give him a backload of from 4. to 6. Â weight. this I hope you will be able to make good out of Dr. Bache’s or mr Trist’s goods, letting him understand that it is by my procurement as my own things were come away. and if my nailrod (which I understand by Richardson is come from Carolina to Richmond) should come in time, I should wish him to have a preference for it as an encouragement to oblige me hereafter, on his agreeing to bring it @ 1 the faggot the price I pay to others.—be assured there is no reason to fear for the price of tobo. and that the stories on that subject have been fabrications, whether in England or America I know not. but it is just as possible for a stone to fall upwards as for the price of tobo. to have fallen in Europe before their actual reciept of the present crop. I believe the present crop will barely satisfy the market without lowering the price, and that the continuance or fall of price depends altogether on the crop now to be planted, whether that be plentiful or short. Brown & Burton gave J. Harris of this county 10. D. lately. I am with great esteem Dear Sir Your aCectionate friend Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); at foot of text: “Mr. George JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
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From Lafayette My dear Sir Vianen Near Utrecht 19th. April 1799 Amidst the diAculties Which Now Attend An American Correspondance, it is Necessary for friends Not to And fault With Each other, and in Spite of Naval Piracies and Various Accidents, (One of Your letters Was Near Six Years old,) Mutually to depend on Sentiments as UnAlterable as they are Ancient—I am Nevertheless in Hopes that Notwithstanding mr Pitt’s Contrivance to declare a Whole Commonwealth in a State of Blockade, these lines will Be presented to You By Bureaux puzy Whose Character is Long Ago known to You, and Whom You Will no doubt Consider as a Most Valuable Acquisition to the United States—He is one of those Who Being Born in a Privileged Class Came to the Etats Generaux With a disposition to Abandon Every Advantage Not Consistent With General Well fare, and after Having Compared Each Nobiliary feather, and Substantial Abuse With the Eternal Rights of Mankind, Very Readily SacriAced them Before the Altar of true liberty and Legal Equality—His Abilities Were in, the Assembly Conspicuous— Still More So His Sincerity—to Him We Have the obligation of the departemental division—He Was With Me in the Army, As an Eminent Engineer, When Being Called to the Bar of the Legislative Assembly on a foolish denonciation Against Me, He took the opportunity to Set the Blushing Calomniators under a true Point of View— So that after I Had Vainly Made Every Constitutional Exertions to Save the Representatives of the People, the Supreme Magistrate, and the Whole Nation from the foreseen and foretold Evils they Have Experienced, after it Had Become Necessary Either to Be faithless to National Sovereignty and My Civic oath, or to Retire to a Neutral foreign Ground, I thought Bureaux puzy too far Committed With the Jacobines Not take Him out With me—His life was preserved from the Murderers of la Rochefoucauld and So Many of our Best Patriots—But We Had the Misfortune to fall into the Hands of A More Ancient Set of Usurpators, Whose Morality is Just as Bad— The Moment I Was their prisoner, I Expected the Worst, and Had it Not Been for the Glorious display of our Military Institutions, and Uncommon Exertions of our Conquerors, We Never Should Have left Our prison But for the ScaCold—We, I May Say, for My two friends declared they Never Would SuCer their Cause Being Separated from that of the Most Hated of the three—Puzy, Next to My Wife and a Young Servant, SuCered the Most—Now He Has Recovered His Health, and is Going to America on a Grand En< 94>
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terprise, and with an Intention to Become a Citizen of the United States—His Amiable Wife, His daughter, Sister, and Mother in law, Whom You Have known By the Name of Mde Poivre, and Who is Now Married to our friend dupont are Going With Him—I Most Particularly Recommend them all to You, My dear Sir, and from the Knowledge I Have of Your General Sentiments and Personal friendship I depend Upon Your Enlightened Goodness to Patronise, to Advise, to forward them in Every thing that May Be Either Useful or Agreable. Bureaux puzy will Be able to Give You a Minuted Account of European Politics—that the Actual Measures Within the Republic of france, or With Respect to Her Allied Sisters are Not Consistent With My principles is SuDciently demonstrated By My absence— But that there is a Wicked Combination of the old Governments Against liberty, Humanity, and Good Sense is a fact, to Me, Not Less Evident—In Holland I And Myself, on Every Account, perfectly Well—The New-Elections in france are Generally Good—May they Again Popularize Liberty, and Establish it on a true Republican Basis, that of philanthropy, justice, and Legal, Moral order! The Appointment of Plenipotentiary Ministers to france Has Made me Very Happy—I Have Every Reason to think the french Government are Earnestly Wishing for a Reconciliation—it is So Much the interest of Both that one Cannot But Hope for a Good issue—I See that in Eight or ten Weeks I Will for the Arst time Be able to Go to America—it Were However My Wish that the plenipotentiaries Had Begun the Negociation Before I Leave Europe, as My Anxiety in this ACair is Inexpressible—far I am from Admitting the idea of Any thing derogatory Either to the Interest, or to the dignity of the United States—that to None they Ever Were dearer than to Me No Man of Memory Can Question—But it is My fond Expectation that, on a Ground Equally Advantageous and Honourable to Both Countries, that Unnatural, deplorable quarell Shall Be Soon and for Ever Compromised. With High Regard and Sincere ACection I am, My dear Sir Yours Lafayette RC (DLC); addressed: “Thomas JeCerson Esq. Vice president of the United States,” with “private” at head; endorsed by TJ as received 28 Dec. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosed in Jean Xavier Bureaux de Pusy to TJ, 9 Dec. 1799.
For the assassination of the Duc de La Roche-Guyon et de la rochefoucauld d’Enville, see Gouverneur Morris to TJ, 10 Sep. 1792, and Madame d’Enville to TJ, 30 Dec. 1792, Vol. 24:364-5, 798-9. Lafayette was captured by the Austrians in 1792 as he attempted to leave France after an unsuccessful eCort to get the
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19 A P R I L 1799 king to safety. He was held prisoner for Ave years. my two friends: Jean Xavier Bureaux de Pusy and Marie Charles César Fay, Comte de LatourMaubourg, were captured with the marquis. Lafayette’s wife, Marie Adrienne Françoise de Noailles, Marquise de Lafayette, sent their son to the United States, and then with their daughters joined her husband in jail (anb, 13:38; Hoefer, Nouv. biog. générale, 29:842; Dictionnaire, 7:689; Vol. 29:126-7). The grand enterprise was Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours’s plan to move his family to the United States. In 1795 Du Pont, whose Arst wife had died in 1784, married Françoise Robin poivre, the widow of a noted French voyager and colonial administrator. Her daughter Julienne was Bureaux de Pusy’s wife (Ambrose Saricks, Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours [Lawrence,
Kans., 1965], 85, 232-3; Hoefer, Nouv. biog. générale, 40:583-5; Du Pont to TJ, [27 Aug. 1798]; Bureaux de Pusy to TJ, 9 Dec. 1799). The recent French legislative elections of the Year 7 had brought a number of new deputies into oDce, and many candidates favored by the Directory were defeated. This result was in contrast to that of the previous year’s election, when Merlin de Douai had managed provincial voting to beneAt the Directory and elections for a number of legislative seats were invalidated under a law of 22 Floréal Year 6, 11 May 1798 (D. M. G. Sutherland, France 1789-1815: Revolution and Counterrevolution [New York, 1986], 308-13, 321; Jean Tulard and others, Histoire et dictionnaire de la Révolution française, 1789-1799 [Paris, 1987], 796).
From George Jefferson Dear Sir Richmond 22d April 1799. Your favor of the 18th. I have received, and am sorry to And that you have engaged to give Johnston a back load; as the last of Doctor Bache’s things were sent up to day—and Mr. Trist has not had any thing here for some time except a few articles which were forwarded up by a waggon Your nail-rod I hope will now shortly come round from North Carolina, as one of the owners of the rising sun has at length gone to attend to her, and he promised to send it round—when it arrives we will reserve it for Johnston, of which we will inform him. I am Dear Sir Your Very Humble servt. Geo. Jefferson RC (MHi); at foot of text: “Thomas JeCerson esqr.”; endorsed by TJ as received 25 Apr. and so recorded in SJL.
To Edmund Pendleton My respected friend Monticello Apr. 22. 99. Your letter of Feb. 24. which was intended to have reached me at Philadelphia, did not arrive there till I had left that place, and then had to follow me to this, which must apologize for the delay in < 96>
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acknoleging it. in the mean time I had seen in our papers the one with your signature, and seen it with great satisfaction. omitting one paragraph of it, I may be permitted to give to the residue unqualiAed praise. the simplicity & candor with which it is written will procure it a candid reading with all, and nothing more is necessary to give their full eCect to it’s statements & reasonings. I lament it had not got to Philadelphia a few days sooner that we might have sent it out in handbills by the members. I observe however that it is running through all the republican papers, and with very great eCect. the moment too is favourable, as the tide is evidently turning & the public mind awaking from Marshall’s X.Y.Z. romance. it is unfortunate that we have yet two years of madness to go through in the hands ofq a legislature chosen under the impressions of that romance. the dose seeming now to have been strong enough to bring the people to rational reBection, I wish it could stop there. for indeed it will be diDcult to rectify the wrong already done, were the next to be two years of wisdom instead of additional folly. we are told in a Boston paper that the President has determined to raise the 24. regiments eventually provided for: at least that he will name the oDcers immediately. should they really raise the whole army of 40,000 men, & a great body of volunteer militia, now called the Presidential army, or Presidential militia, it will leave me without a doubt that force on the constitution is intended. it is already plain enough from the Secretary of war’s letter that Hamilton is to be the real general, the other to be used only by his name. can such an army under Hamilton be disbanded? even if a H. of Repr. can be got willing & wishing to disband them? I doubt it, and therefore rest my principal hope on their inability to raise any thing but oDcers. I observe in the election of governor of Massachusets that the vote for Heath (out of Boston) is much strengthened. could the people of that state emerge from the deceptions under which they are kept by their clergy, lawyers, and English presses, our salvation would be sure & easy. without that, I believe it will be eCected; but it will be uphill work. nor can we expect ever their cordial co-operation, because they will not be satisAed longer than while we are sacriAcing every thing to navigation and a navy. what a glorious exchange would it be could we persuade our navigating fellow citizens to embark their capital in the internal commerce of our country, exclude foreigners from that, and let them take the carrying trade in exchange: abolish the diplomatic establishments & never suCer an armed vessel of any nation to enter our ports. but these things can be thought of only in times of wisdom, not of passion & folly. may heaven still spare you to us for years to come, and < 97>
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render them years of health, happiness, and the full enjoiment of your faculties. aCectionate salutations to yourself and mr Taylor. Adieu. Th: Jefferson RC (MHi: Washburn Collection); addressed: “Edmund Pendleton Chief Justice of Virginia near the Bowling green”; franked; endorsed by Pendleton. PrC (DLC); endorsed by TJ in ink. the one with your signature: for Pendleton’s “Address,” see his letter to TJ of 24 Feb. It appeared in republican papers, including the Aurora on 21 Mch., which reprinted it from the Richmond Examiner, and the Independent Chronicle of Boston, 1 Apr. By 10 Apr. the secretary of war was prepared to begin organizing the 24 regiments of the so-called “eventual” army by asking U.S. senators to help name the officers. The authorizing legislation of 2 Mch. only allowed the regiments to be Alled in the event of war or imminent invasion, but as McHenry told George Washington, the president considered it “highly expedient” to prepare by commissioning the oDcers. However, McHenry chose to delay asking for names of oDcer candidates until May, after the Virginia elections were over. Adams had left Philadelphia for Quincy, passing through Boston on 23 Mch., and news of the administration’s intention had evidently come from there (Washington, Papers, Ret. Ser., 4:39-40; Syrett, Hamilton, 22:387-8; 23:99-100, 134-5; Gazette of the United States, 1 Apr.; TJ to Madison, 30 Jan. 1799). By TJ’s reckoning, the 30,000 soldiers of the eventual
army, combined with the 10,000 previously authorized for the “provisional” force, would constitute the whole army of 40,000 men. The 2 Mch. act also empowered the president to call up as many as 75,000 volunteer soldiers who could be used to enforce federal law or quell insurrection in accordance with the terms of the 1795 militia act (U.S. Statutes at Large, 1:726; Kohn, Eagle and Sword, 229, 252; TJ to Madison, 5 Feb. 1799). The reference to the secretary of war’s letter may be to a communication that was printed in the Gazette of the United States on 6 Apr. over McHenry’s signature and was “understood” to have gone to oDcers of the provisional army. “Major-General Hamilton being charged with the recruiting service,” it stated, “you will hold yourself in readiness to obey such orders or instructions relative thereto as may be transmitted to you directly from him, or through your commanding oDcer.” the other to be used only by his name: George Washington. In the Massachusetts election for governor, Republicans were encouraged by the votes William heath received in such areas as Norfolk and Middlesex counties. Heath lost to the incumbent, Increase Sumner (Independent Chronicle, 4, 8, 11 Apr.; dab, 18:215-16). q Preceding four words interlined in place of “under.”
To Carlo Bellini Monticello Apr. 24. 99
I recieved, my dear friend, with great sensibility your favor of the 1st. instant. [it] recalled to my mind many very dear scenes which passed while we had the happiness of possessing you here. events have separated the actors & called them to other stages; but neither time, distance, nor events have weakened my aCections for them. the portrait of one of themq which you propose to gratify < 98>
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me with, would be placed with my most precious reliques. but why, my friend, separate yourself from the portraitr till you go to rejoins the original. then, if I am living, let it dwell with me till I also can join you all. let it come as a testamentary donation. it will at all times meet an aCectionate reception; but I should then feel as succeeding to it of right, when it’s functions could no longer be performed for you. I hope you will have better health, and still many years of life to enjoy it. I mean if you desire it; for I feel myself how possible it is that we may cease to desire to live. every course of life doubtless has it’s diDculties: but in the stormy ocean of public life the billows are more furious, the blasts more deadly,t than those which assail the bark moored in a retired port. the world judges diCerently, and misjudges as is frequent.u My last letter from Mazzei was of Dec. 97. he was then living at Pisa. the property remitted him from America has I hope been suDcient to keep him from want. you know that Giovanni Strobia has got rich as a grocer in Richmond. Vincent is in Bourishing circumstances. Anthony Gianniniv has raised a large family, married several of them, &, after thriving for a while, has become embarrassed, & little esteemed. Francis, his brother in law, & Anthony Molina have done tolerably well.w Giovannini da Prato has been constantly sickly & miserably poor. all these are still in this neighborhood.—I have some acquaintance withx the young gentleman mentioned in your letter. I consider himy as remarkeably clever & well read; and have no doubt that any little anomaliesqz in his character will soon rub oC in the world. I am sorry he has given the dissatisfaction you mention: but he is too well worth our care not to haveqq a claim to it. I sent him some books from Philadelphia, and will render him every service in my power. I have been obliged to decline universally to take young men to live with me,qr or I should have had no retirement, and without that I would rather not live. but if he could have found a position in this neighborhood, I should with great pleasure have advised and aided his course of studies, as I have done for the sons of some of my friends. May your days here be just as many as yourself would wish them; but Alled with health & the full enjoyment of those faculties which rendered your life a happiness to yourself, & precious to your friends; among whom continue to esteem one who is with unalterable sentiments of aCectionate attachment, my dear Sir, Your sincere friend & sevt Th: Jefferson RC (DLC); addressed: “Charles Bellini esq. one of the Professors of Wm. & Mary college Williamsburg”; portion
of page cut or torn away cleanly, missing text supplied from PrC (see notes 2 and 11 below); franked; endorsed as received
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24 A P R I L 1799 1 May 1799. PrC (same); faint. Dft (same); written on the address cover of an unidentiAed letter to TJ, possibly John Barnes’s second letter of 6 Apr. Concerning TJ’s last letter from mazzei, see TJ to Philip Mazzei, 29 Apr. 1800. giovanni strobia, originally a tailor, was among the artisans Mazzei recruited in Italy in 1773. He resided in TJ’s household in Williamsburg in 1780 and moved soon thereafter to Richmond, where at the time of his death in 1809 he was known as John Strobia (mb, 1:431; Richmond Enquirer, 17 Mch. 1809). vincent: Vincenzo Rossi, a Tuscan, had also joined the Mazzei-sponsored emigration to America. At the beginning of the American Revolution he served brieBy as an ad hoc military volunteer from Albemarle County along with Mazzei and Bellini, who had also Arst been drawn to Virginia through an association with Mazzei. Rossi, like Strobia and Bellini, remained in the United States. Presumably the individuals called here francis and anthony molina (or Molini, in TJ’s Dft) were part of the same group of Italian émigrés. Mazzei had ties to the town of Prato in northern Italy, where he had attended school, and in all likelihood giovannini da prato was not a formal name but a nickname given to someone from that place—perhaps in a deliberate allusion to Giovanni da Prato, a Afteenthcentury poet and intellectual (S. Eugene Scalia, trans., and Margherita Marchione, ed., Philip Mazzei: My Life and Wanderings [Morristown, N.J., 1980], 62-3, 135, 198, 216-17; anb, 2:528; Stan-
ley Sadie, ed., The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2d ed., 29 vols. [London, 2001], 9:895). young gentleman: William G. Munford. q Here in margin of Dft TJ wrote “mrs Bellini.” r Damaged RC begins here. Preceding text supplied from PrC. s Word interlined in Dft in place of “possess again.” t The word “stormy” is lacking in Dft, where TJ Arst wrote “the storms are more tempestuous the passions more deadly” before altering the passage to read as above. u In Dft TJ originally intended to close the letter following this sentence, and in Dft he here Arst wrote the paragraph beginning “May your days here.” v Surname interlined in Dft. w In Dft TJ Arst wrote “little Anthony has done tolerably well,” then altered the sentence to read “Anthony Molini and Francis have done tolerably well.” x Preceding four words interlined in Dft in place of “know.” y TJ Arst wrote “letter, and considered him” before altering the passage to read as above. qz In Dft TJ Arst wrote “any anomalies,” then substituted “the little” for “any,” and also in Dft he interlined “have no doubt” in place of “believed.” qq Remainder of paragraph lacking in RC, supplied from PrC. qr Here in Dft TJ canceled “to preserve myself from such a croud as would have.”
From Tench Coxe Sir Phila. April 29th. 1799— When I had the pleasure of my last interview with you, it was mentioned, that two gentlemen would see me upon the Business, which had been the subject of our previous conferences. But from that time to this I have never heard from or seen either them or any other person on that interesting business. I have no knowledge of what is proposed to be done, but every day convinces me not merely of the < 100>
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utility—or even of the importance of some such measure—I see it to be indispensable. Personally, I may say no expectation ever was more grounded upon Engagements but this I would not say were it not true, as I expected, that injuries that I sustain & forsee have never been greater to me from the situation I have been induced to place myself. I have been unable to cease to attend to the thing and expence has arisen and will arise—The thing ought certainly yet to be done, both from public & private considerations. It certainly can be done with the proper exertions. I trust it will by no means be omitted. It ought to be procrastinated as little as possible. Yet the necessary time must be given— I believe two feelings have taken deep root in the minds of two sets of persons in a certain party. One part of them is alarmed at the danger of a war, with no certainty of permanentq English support, and fear the loss of public esteem, places &ca. They see that free government has taken deep root in Europe, and actually consider revolution as certain within the British empire. These have given way in conversation with respectable men on our side. They are determined to do nothing to commit this country further. There is however another part of them, who are extremely excited by the great events last heard of. They seem to have desperate attachments to war, at all events, & with the admitted chance of possible ruin. If I were to give an opinion of these persons, I should say they were either transported out of their right minds by inveterate prejudices and the rage of disappointment, or that they were under the operation of an extreme personal ambition, or a foreign inBuence—It is certain that there is this division of desires & opinions, and I very sure it has made the deepest impressions upon personal politics. I think matters are in as good a train for peace, as we could expect—The successes of France do not seem to have enraged her with us more of late—Her impolitic & shocking captures, tho relaxed in some places, go on most seriously in others—She is very busy in Europe, and like to be kept so. We therefore are less and less an object—I think therefore no thought of acting against us will be taken up, and we shall be less oCensive and less unconciliating. I however rejoice to see Arms and other warlike Magazines steadily collecting by importation & manufacture. I wish we could have about 100,000 Militia in the three grand divisions of our country well armed and equipt—100,m South of Patowmac, 100,000 North of Hudson, & 100,000 between those two Rivers with grand parks of Aeld artillery of every kind. As much as possible should also be done to arm the rest of the Militia! < 101>
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I am, Sir, with respectful esteem & regard yr. mo. obedt. servant Tench Coxe RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ as received 16 May and so recorded in SJL. Enclosed in John Barnes to TJ, 1 May 1799. two gentlemen: probably Abraham Venable and Edward Livingston who
were part of the discussion concerning the establishment of a Republican newspaper in Philadelphia (TJ to Coxe, 21 May 1799). For previous conferences, see TJ to Coxe, 14 Feb. 1799. q Word interlined.
From John Barnes sir Philadelphia 1st. May 1799. since my last respects, of the 6th: Ulto. I am without any of your favrs:, or Ansr: to mine 17th March when I inclosed Six certiAcates (42 shares 8 eCt loan) on Mr Shorts a/c to be transferred & returned (Tho not, very Material)—as I can—without them— Continue to pay their monthly Installmts.— but I am, no less uneasy—least, Accident, or indisposition may have intervened. your ill fated, Chimney piece Mr Dorsey took charge oC—which on Bd: the Vessel from Richmond—and I excused myself, from paying frt: &ca on stateing to him—the very extry: trouble & expence you had already been at on said—a/c The inclosed letter to yr: address Mr: Coxe handed me Yesterday—requesting me to forward, it, e very Arst Opportunity— I still hope—Saturdays Mail—will not fail, to hand—me—your long expected favr. I am Sir, your Obedt. Hble servant John Barnes RC (ViU: Edgehill-Randolph Papers); at foot of text: “Thomas JeCerson Esqr: Monticello—Virginia”; endorsed by TJ as received 16 May and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: the preceding letter.
To Wilson Cary Nicholas Dear Sir Monticello May 2. 99. Mr. P. Carr informed me two days ago that you wished for the dimensions of the Rumford Areplaces. I therefore avail myself of the Arst post to send them. I state them as I have used them myself, with great satisfaction, the back one half of the opening. Count Rumford < 102>
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I am, Sir, with respectful esteem & regard yr. mo. obedt. servant Tench Coxe RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ as received 16 May and so recorded in SJL. Enclosed in John Barnes to TJ, 1 May 1799. two gentlemen: probably Abraham Venable and Edward Livingston who
were part of the discussion concerning the establishment of a Republican newspaper in Philadelphia (TJ to Coxe, 21 May 1799). For previous conferences, see TJ to Coxe, 14 Feb. 1799. q Word interlined.
From John Barnes sir Philadelphia 1st. May 1799. since my last respects, of the 6th: Ulto. I am without any of your favrs:, or Ansr: to mine 17th March when I inclosed Six certiAcates (42 shares 8 eCt loan) on Mr Shorts a/c to be transferred & returned (Tho not, very Material)—as I can—without them— Continue to pay their monthly Installmts.— but I am, no less uneasy—least, Accident, or indisposition may have intervened. your ill fated, Chimney piece Mr Dorsey took charge oC—which on Bd: the Vessel from Richmond—and I excused myself, from paying frt: &ca on stateing to him—the very extry: trouble & expence you had already been at on said—a/c The inclosed letter to yr: address Mr: Coxe handed me Yesterday—requesting me to forward, it, e very Arst Opportunity— I still hope—Saturdays Mail—will not fail, to hand—me—your long expected favr. I am Sir, your Obedt. Hble servant John Barnes RC (ViU: Edgehill-Randolph Papers); at foot of text: “Thomas JeCerson Esqr: Monticello—Virginia”; endorsed by TJ as received 16 May and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: the preceding letter.
To Wilson Cary Nicholas Dear Sir Monticello May 2. 99. Mr. P. Carr informed me two days ago that you wished for the dimensions of the Rumford Areplaces. I therefore avail myself of the Arst post to send them. I state them as I have used them myself, with great satisfaction, the back one half of the opening. Count Rumford < 102>
2 M AY 1799
makes the back but one third of the opening. this was to accomodate them to coal; but it renders them impracticable for wood. my larger Areplaces I make 2. f. in the back & 4. f. in front; those for bed-rooms 190 I. in back & 3 f. 3. I. in front. the opening of the former 3. f 3. I. or 3. f. 6. I. high the latter 3. f. high. the Agures below will shew every thing necessary. aCectionate salutations. Th: Jefferson
suppose an old Are place, to be newly arranged, that it’s depth is from a. to b. it’s breast c. d only 4 I. then the new back must be made of such thickness as to bring the depth to 13. I. from a. to g. it must run up perpendicular to about .e. the height of the old iron back, then gather forward to f. within 4. I. of the breast, then parallel to the inside of the breast 6. I. higher to h. and then go square oC to the back of the old Bue .i. as the plans & dimensions of old Areplaces vary, the new work must vary also to be adapted to them observing always, as Axed principles, that the Areplace must be 13. I. deep, the back worked up perpendicular some height (say 2) & then brought to within 4. I. of the breast, then to rise parallel with that 6. I. more, then to go oC square to the back of the old Bue.
this is the form where one has a new chimney to make and can arrange every thing to their will.
RC (John L. Balderston, Beverly Hills, California, 1949); endorsed by Nicholas. PrC (MHi); at foot of text in pencil: “W. C. Nicholas.”
For TJ’s use of rumford fireplaces at Monticello, see Design for Chimney and Flues, [1797].
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From La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt Amsterdam May 4 1799
Je ne veux pas laisser partir [Monsieur de] pusy, Monsieur Sans me rappeller une fois de plus [à votre] Souvenir. M de p— est gendre de M dupont que vous avés [rencontré à Pa]ris, et qui va tres promptement Se rendre luy meme en amerique. [Il] a ete Compagnon d?infortune de M de la fayette, et vous trouverés en luy tout ce qui peut Satisfaire le Coeur et lesprit. permettés moy de le recommander a vos bontés, et de vous oCrir lhomage de la Consideration de la reconnoissance, et du respect avec les quels Jay lhonneur d’etre Monsieur Votre trés humble et trés obeissant Serviteur Liancourt e d i t o r s’
t r a n s l a t i o n
Amsterdam May 4, 1799 I do not wish to allow M de Pusy to leave, Sir, without paying you my respects one more time. M de P— is the son-in-law of M Du Pont, whom you met in Paris, and who himself is leaving very soon for America. He was a companion in misfortune of M de Lafayette, and you will And in him all the qualities that can satisfy heart and mind. Permit me to recommend him to your kindness and to oCer you the tribute of the consideration, gratitude, and respect with which I have the honor to be, Sir, your very humble and very obedient servant Liancourt RC (MoSHi: JeCerson Papers); mutilated, with missing text conjectured in brackets; endorsed by TJ as received 28 Dec. 1799 and so recorded in SJL. Enclosed in Jean Xavier Bureaux de Pusy to TJ, 9 Dec. 1799.
From George Jefferson & Company Dear Sir, Richmond 6th. May 1799. I sent you a few days ago by Mr. Hendersons boat a barrel, a box, & a saw; I oCered them with a few things of Doctor B’s to Johnston, but he declined taking them; why, I know not, unless he supposed he would thereby bind himself to load down for you—he says he applied for your Tobo. but that the Inspectors informed him they had received no orders to ship it, which, however, I suppose cannot be true; there being but few indeed of the watermen in whom the smallest conAdence is to be placed. I am Dear Sir Your Very humble servt. Geo. Jefferson & Co. Tobo. 42/. Cash < 104>
6 M AY 1799 RC (MHi); in George JeCerson’s hand; at foot of text: “Thomas JeCerson esq.”; endorsed by TJ as received 16 May and so recorded in SJL.
doctor b’s: William Bache.
To James Lyle Dear Sir Monticello May 6. 99. I have hitherto been in expectation of selling my last year’s crop of tobo. at Richmond & of ordering out of it the same paiment to you as the last year. but the prices, instead of rising through the season as usual, have fallen, & far below what the state of the general market of Europe justiAes. I am therefore looking out for information whether to send my tobaccoes to Philadelphia, New York or Europe. this will probably retard my paiment to you. the object of the present letter is to assure you that, tho’ I am not able at this moment to Ax the time, yet you may count with certainty on recieving your paiment out of the proceeds the moment they can be commanded. it is so ruinous to sacriAce price to time, that I am persuaded of your indulgence in such a case as ours. I am with great esteem Dr. Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); at foot of text: “James Lyle esq.”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
paiment to you: see Lyle to TJ, 25 Oct. 1796, with enclosure, and TJ to Lyle, 12 Feb. 1797, 15 June 1798, for the bonds TJ owed the Arm of Henderson, McCaul & Co.
To Henry Remsen Dear Sir Monticello [6 May 1799] Your readiness to execute the little commissions I have had in New York has put me so much into the habit of troubling you with them that apologies would be tiresome to you. at this moment I have a great interest at stake, and I need for my government some information from your market. the act of Congress which cuts oC our intercourse with France (where is the greatest consumption of our tobaccoes) by forcing it to be piled up in the storehouses of London, has reduced the price here to one half of what it was, our merchants buying only for their London correspondents. I observe by your printed price currents that good James river tobo. is quoted at 11. Dollars, tho’ said to be dull. I have a crop of last year’s growth of < 105>
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about 90,000 L not yet sold, and which I should be tempted to send round to New York if I were sure of 11. Dollars there. it is made on the red mountain lands. my tobaccos have always been considered here, in Philadelphia, London & Glasgow as of the very Arst quality, & both here & in Philadelphia I have always been able to command for them from half a dollar to a dollar a hundred more than the market price of the best James river. in Philadelphia I have sold it several times for manufacture & have always had a dollar more than any body else: and the quality of the last crop is so extraordinary that I may safely say if there was a better hogshead of tobacco bought or sold in New York I may give it to the purchaser. I wish to know what price I can get for it at New York, and whether I may so far rely on the price as to send it round. I should not want paiment till October 1st. only of the charges.q I presume you have brokers who could enable you to give me this information. Messrs. Leroy & Bayard with whom I have acquaintance & a great esteem, formerly undertook to recieve & dispose of consignments. I do not know whether they are still in business & in the same way.—this state will lose this year 3. millions of dollars by the law suspending our intercourse. this single crop of mine will lose at least 3000. D. and the end to be obtained a very doubtful one. I trouble you with this enquiry for me, and ask as speedy information as possible, as it is time for me to decide what I shall do with it. I am with constant esteem Dear Sir Your aCectionate friend & servt Th: Jefferson RC (CtY); undated, but supplied from SJL; addressed: “Henry Remsen esq. New York”; franked; endorsed by Remsen as received 17 May 1799. printed price currents: in late March and early April, Oram’s New-York Price-Current listed the price of tobacco coming from Richmond at 11 cents a pound—equivalent to 11. dollars for a hundred pounds. That price was a cent to a cent and a half higher than what was quoted for Petersburg tobacco, which in turn was higher than that of Georgia (the crop from outside Virginia that com-
manded the highest price), Maryland, North Carolina, or South Carolina. In the second half of April the price for the Richmond crop weakened slightly, and by the time TJ wrote the letter above it was at 90 to 10. It stayed there into the summer, and the diCerence between it and the prices of Petersburg and Georgia tobacco had narrowed. Until mid-June the notation “Very Dull” appeared alongside the weekly report of the New York tobacco market (Oram’s New-York PriceCurrent, 30 Mch.-6 July 1799). q Preceding four words interlined.
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To John Wickham Dear Sir Monticello May 6. 99. I have hitherto been in expectation of selling my last year’s crop of tobo. at Richmond & of ordering out of it the same paiment to you as the last year. but the prices, instead of rising through the season as usual, have fallen, and far below what the state of the general market of Europe justiAes. I am now therefore looking out for information whether to send my tobaccoes to Philadelphia, New York, or Europe. this will probably retard my paiment to you. the object of the present letter is to assure you that, tho I am not able at this moment to Ax the time, yet you may count with certainty on recieving your paiment out of the proceeds the moment they can be commanded. it is so ruinous to sacriAce price to time, that I am persuaded of your indulgence in such a case as ours. I am with great esteem Dear Sir Your most obedt. servt Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); at foot of text: “Mr. Wickham”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. same paiment to you as the last year: for TJ’s 1798 payment of the bond
due to Wakelin Welch, see TJ to Wickham, 2 Aug. 1798. For the terms of the bonds given by TJ for the settlement of his portion of this Wayles estate debt, see TJ to Wickham, 20 Jan. 1797.
From Stephen Cathalan, Jr. Dear sir Marseilles the 12th. May 1799— I Take the Liberty by this Letter Whereof the Bearer is Mr. Julius Oliver, who will have the honour to be Presented to you, by Messrs. Jos. Anthony & Sons—my Worthy Friends & Correspondents & who have been So Good as to take Care of him, Since he is in Philadelphia, for the BeneAt of his education; to Introduce you this young man— When he arived there he was then a young Boy, & it was not the Case for me to trouble you and ask for him your Protection, while he was to Remain in Skools; But now as I hope he may have Improved enough, & he is at an Age to think of undertaking any way of line of Business, he may be found proper to be Att for, and to enter in the Common Carrear of the World, open by Fortune with Good & lawfull means to People who had none by them Selves, but who have received from their Friends or Relations Good Principles of Morals, & Probity;—he being an orphan, & having had no Body to take Care of him, but my Self till < 107>
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he was sent to Philada., where he is on my own expences; I Beg you then Sir to Protect him, & Jointly with Messrs. Anthony decide in what work he may be the Best employed to his own advantage for his future line, till I may according to Circumstances, or Call him back here or Leave him in the united States; if he Continues, as I hope, to deserve the attention, & Friendship of the Persons to whom he is Recommended, & mine also, he will not be abandonned by me; on the Contrary, I having no other Child, but a Daughter, I Can Spare Something for an establishment for him, but that will Depend only on his Good Conduct & behaviour, in Future; my Daughter is in an english Sckool at Paris, till next fall Since upwards Two years hence, when She will Return here, my old father is Still in Good health notwithstanding his 83 years. he my Mother & Misses Cathan. Present you their most Respectfull Compliments— I have the honour to be with Sentiments of Respect & Sincere Gratitude Dear Sir Your most obedient humble & Devoted Servant Stephen Cathalan Junr. RC (MHi); at foot of Arst page: “Thos. JeCerson Esqr. Vice President of the United States & President of the Senate Philadelphia.”
julius oliver later served as chancellor of the U.S. consulate at Marseilles. At the time of Cathalan’s death in 1819 Oliver was associated with a mercantile Arm in that port (Oliver to TJ, 27 Sep., 9 Oct. 1819).
To James Monroe Monday May 13. 99.
Th: JeCerson presents his compliments to Colo. Monroe, & his sincere congratulations to him & mrs Monroe on the interesting addition to their family. he wishes to know how mrs Monroe & the youngster do; and would be made very happy if he could oCer any thing grateful to [mrs] Monroe. rice, pearl barley &c sometimes useful to the sick, she probably has: if not, they are here at her service. he sends a paper which the neighbors around Charlottesville & Milton are desirous to join in, to try if they can prevent the depredns under which they suCer. if Colo. Monroe desires to sign it, he will do so, & then let it go on by the bearer to mr Divers. others are gone in other directions, & it is proposed to set them up in the two towns in 2. or 3. days. < 108>
14 M AY 1799 RC (DLC: Monroe Papers); damaged; addressed: “Colo. Monroe”; endorsed by Monroe. Not recorded in SJL. interesting addition: James and Elizabeth Kortright Monroe’s newborn son, James Spence Monroe. He became ill in the summer of 1800 following complications from teething and a bout with whooping cough, and died on 28 Sep. of that year (Ammon, Monroe, 185, 188,
611n; Madison, Papers, 17:399, 415; Monroe to TJ, 22 Sep. 1800). George divers lived at Farmington, four miles northwest of Charlottesville (mb, 1:299n). According to SJL Divers wrote TJ a letter of 26 Mch. 1794 received the same day and letters of unspeciAed date received on 11 Dec. 1798 and 12 Sep. 1800. TJ wrote Divers on 9 Oct. 1794, 19 Nov. 1797, 30 Apr. 1799, and 11 Sep. 1800, none of which has been found.
To John McDowell Sir Monticello May 14. 99. I have still to acknowlege the reciept of your favors of Mar. 21. and Apr. 13. as also the reciept of forty pounds by mr Kenny. I am sorry it has not suited you to continue the sale of my nails; but I cannot expect it, if it does not suit your convenience. the long & still doubtful illness of my foreman together with my absence, have greatly aCected my nailery, little having been done during the winter, and much less still than if he were well. so that for some time yet I shall be able to do little more than supply this part of the country. being unacquainted in Staunton I write to my friend mr Stuart to procure some person to sell the nails remaining on your hands, tho’ if you could have gone through with them, it would have been more agreeable. I apprehend some diDculty in Anding a person willing to sell merely these remains, as I cannot give them a prospect of making up an immediate assortment. I am Sir Your humble servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); at foot of text: “Mr. John Mc.Dowell”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
i write to my friend: see the letter printed immediately below.
To Archibald Stuart Dear Sir Monticello May 14. 99. I recieved by the hands of mr Coalter £13. from mr Alexander. he is mistaken in supposing I had recieved £3–10–3 on his account from Gamble & Grattan, his letter now inclosed by you being the Arst and only mention to me that such a paiment had been expected. however this balance is not worth troubling you further with. < 109>
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I am sorry still to be troublesome with my nailery. mr Mcdowel writes me he cannot continue the sale of my nails. if he would have disposed of those remaining on his hands it would have been desireable; because they are hardly worth oCering alone to another; and a long illness of my foreman, occasions our work to go on so poorly that I am able to do little more than supply this part of the country. he has for sometime past had symptoms of a dropsy supervening a decline of near a twelvemonth. he seems now to be getting better; but till he gets well, or till, that becoming desperate, I engage another manager, I hardly expect to be able to resume my supplies to Staunton. however if mr Mc.Dowell will not consent to sell oC what remains on his hands, I must ask the favor of you to engage some other to do it, as well as to dispose of future supplies as soon as I shall be able to furnish them. I am sensible of the diDculty of a person who sells other goods on credit, demanding ready money for nails; and therefore have found it necessary here to place them in the hands of grocers, or others dealing for ready money. The congressional elections, as far as I have heard them, are extremely to be regretted. I did expect Powel’s election; but that Lee should have been elected, & Nicholas hard run marks a taint in that part of the state which I had not expected. I have not yet heard the issue of the contest between Trigg & Hancock. our federal candidate here cut a very poor Agure. the state elections have generally gone well. mr Henry will have the mortiAcation of encountering such a mass of talents as he has never met before: for, from every thing I can learn, we never had an abler nor a sounder legislature. his apostacy must be unaccountable to those who do not know all the recesses of his heart. the cause of republicanism, triumphing in Europe, can never fail to do so here in the long run. our citizens may be decieved for a while, & have been decieved; but as long as the presses can be protected, we may trust to them for light: still more perhaps to the tax gatherer; for it is not worth the while of our antirepublicans to risk themselves on any change of government, but a very expensive one. reduce every department to economy, & there will be no temptation to them to betray their constituents. aCectionate salutations & Adieu. Th: Jefferson RC (ViHi); addressed: “Archibald Stuart esq Staunton”; franked. William Alexander’s letter to TJ now inclosed by Stuart is not recorded in SJL and has not been found. mcdowel writes me: see John
McDowell to TJ, 21 Mch. and 13 Apr. 1799. congressional elections: Leven Powell and Henry Lee won the seats formerly held by Republicans Richard Brent and Walter Jones in the seventeenth and nineteenth congressional dis-
< 110>
18 M AY 1799 tricts in northern and eastern Virginia. John Nicholas represented the eighteenth district, which included the counties of Culpeper, Fauquier, and StaCord. The incumbent John J. Trigg, of Bedford County, defeated former congressman George Hancock. Patrick henry won election to the Virginia House of Delegates but died on 6 June before the meeting of the assembly (Dauer, Adams Federalists, 274, 314, 320; Leonard, Gen-
eral Assembly, 215; Biog. Dir. Cong.; Washington, Papers, Ret. Ser., 4:36-8; Marshall, Papers, 4:12). See also Myron F. Wehtje, “The Congressional Elections of 1799 in Virginia,” West Virginia History, 29 (1968), 251-73. Letters from Stuart to TJ of 14 Feb. and 11 Apr., recorded in SJL as received on 21 Feb. and 15 Apr. 1799, have not been found.
From John McDowell Sir Staunton May 16, 1799 I Recieved your favour this morning by post respecting the balance of the Nails which is on hand wishing me to dispose of them To Oblige you as the assortment is not good I will still Keep them And Sell them assoon as possible and Send you the Amount when Sold— It will be some time before all the Eights is Sold as there is a large quantity of them left however I will doe the best I can with them— from your Obet Servt John McDowell RC (MHi); endorsed by TJ as received 20 May and so recorded in SJL.
your favour: TJ to McDowell, 14 May 1799.
To George Jefferson Dear Sir Monticello May 18. 99. Since mine of Apr. 18. your’s of Apr. 22. & May 6. have come to hand, as did safely the goods by the Sally, Potter. Johnston took down 7. hhds of my tobo. from Milton & the remaining 2. hhds were to go or will go immediately by another hand. I am entirely astonished at the stagnation of the price of tobo. in London, before the arrival of this year’s shipments; for in Feb. (the date of our accounts) little of the tobo. of 98. could be there. but our suspension law, & the British monopoly of our commerce tend to accumulate all our produce in London, & all the ports of Europe nearly being shut to them, it cannot be got to markets where it is in immense demand. I have written to N. York & Philadelphia, & if I And I can clear [10.] D. by sending to either of those ports I believe I shall send my tobo. there. if there < 111>
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were a vessel going to Amsterdam or Hamburg I would prefer trying those markets to England. I must trouble you to get for me from mr Darmstadt sixteen thousand herrings. I prefer dealing with him because I have done so some years and have always had good Ash from him. to these add a barrel of the best shad for our own table. paiment must not be stipulated till July 1. when I shall be able to make it with certainty.—there is a negro man named Jack whom I hired of a widow Mallory (I believe of [. . .]) who has run away, and has been seen at Richmond where he has a wife. he is well known there, having worked there with Whately, and the Constables (who know him) have been desired to catch & commit him to jail. would you be so good as to attend to this. I would wish him to lie in jail a month or so as a punishment, & then let any body have him for the residue of the year at the rate I pay, £20. a year. [his] mistress might have him at any time, releasing my hire from thence. I fear I shall be out of nailrod before mine comes from Carolina. I am with great esteem Dear Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson P.S. the Ash to be sent up as soon as possible. PrC (MHi); faint; at foot of text: “Mr. George JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. i have written to n. york & philadelphia: see TJ to Henry Remsen, [6 May], and John Barnes to TJ, 26 May,
the latter being a response to TJ’s inquiries about the sale of tobacco in Philadelphia made in his missing letter to Barnes of 17 May. In January 1800 TJ paid Lydia mallory £16.6 or $54.33 for the hire of Jack (mb, 2:1013).
To Tench Coxe Dear Sir Monticello May. 21. 99. Your favor of Apr. 29. came to hand by our last post. I have for some time been anxious to write to you on the subject mentioned therein, but a want of conAdence in the post oDce, and a certain prospect of conveyance by Dr. Bache who has been with us some time, & was to return to Philadelphia, induced me to await that occasion which now accordingly takes place. immediately on my parting with you the evening before I left Philadelphia I went to mr Venable’s lodgings. he was not at home. I waited for him & at length he returned. I explained the subject to him & we went together to mr Livingston’s. he was gone to the theatre; so no hope of an early return. on returning to my lodgings mr Nicholas joined us, and it was < 112>
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there settled that mr Venable should devote the next day to the reducing to a certainty (in black & white) what could be done; & as it was then a late hour & I had still much to prepare for my departure the next morning, instead of calling on you again mr Venable promised to do it & to communicate to you the eCect of his exertions: he promised moreover to write to me specially of his success. I had been at home a considerable time when I saw mr Foreman’s proposals in some newspaper for the publication of a new gazette. I immediately wrote to Venable to inform me if that was the paper we had expected in order that I might prepare for the fulAlment of my engagements. I inclose you his answer, which will explain to you why you heard nothing further after I parted with you. the sum there, with the addition of two others of 500. D each, of which you were apprised (I believe there was a third also) fell far short of expectations. I sincerely regret the failure, and am thorougly sensible of the importance of the undertaking, tho’ much has been lost by it’s not having taken place this summer. my situation exposes me to so much calumny that I am obliged to be cautious of appearing in any matter however justiAable & useful, if it be of a nature to admit readily of misconstruction. a very short text will for a long time furnish matter for newspaper torture. I am satisAed from what I have seen since my return that there would be scarcely any limits to the subscription for such a paper. I shall still hope that it will not be abandoned. The Virginia congressional elections have astonished every one. they have Ave certain federalists. three others however on whom also they count, Page, Gray, & are moderate men, and I am assured will not be with them on questions of importance. this result has proceeded from accidental combinations of circumstances, & not from an unfavorable change of sentiment. the change has unquestionably been the other way. the valley between the Blueridge & North Mountain, which had for some time been much tainted, (and which had given me more serious uneasiness than any other appearance in this state) has come solidly round. they were represented by Homes & the two Triggs, who the last summer would have been left out by great majorities, but have now been re-elected by great majorities. the progress of the republican cause here is proved by the state elections made on the same day with those for Congress. they are more republican than those of the last year; & particularly from all the upper country. how long we can hold our ground I do not know. we are not incorruptible; on the contrary, corruption is making a sensible tho’ silent progress. oDces are as acceptable here as elsewhere, and when once a man has cast a longing eye on them, a rottenness begins in his < 113>
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conduct. mr Henry has taken the Aeld openly: but our legislature is Alled with too great a mass of talents & principle to be now swayed by him. he will experience mortiAcations to which he has been hitherto a stranger. still I fear something from his intriguing & cajoleing talents, for which he is still more remarkeable than for his eloquence. as to the eCect of his name among the people, I have found it crumble like a dried leaf, the moment they become satisAed of his apostacy. with every wish for your health & happiness & sentiments of sincere esteem I am Dear Sir your friend & servt Th: Jefferson RC (NjP); addressed: “Tenche Coxe esq. Philadelphia”; endorsed by Coxe. PrC (DLC). Enclosure: Abraham Venable to TJ, 20 Apr. 1799 (recorded in SJL as received 25 Apr. but not found). Ezekiel Forman’s plan for the publication of a new gazette entitled the Constitutional Gazette; and Republican Courier began appearing in Claypoole’s American Daily Advertiser on 26 Mch. 1799. The proposal promised a newspaper with few advertisements and an “unusual quantity of intelligence and information” to be published in Philadelphia three times a week. Founded on the premise that the press was the “noblest instrument in the command of Freemen,” the publication would “rely on important literary and political contributions from various sources” and support the principles of the “Federal and State Constitutions” and adhere to “Republican codes.” Forman edited the Philadelphia Weekly Magazine of Original Essays,
Fugitive Pieces, and Interesting Intelligence from February to 1 June 1799, when he could no longer pay his debts and the publication ceased. Forman had served as a clerk in the revenue oDce during Coxe’s tenure as commissioner (Syrett, Hamilton, 13:448; Frank L. Mott, A History of American Magazines, 1741-1850 [New York, 1930], 122; Forman to Coxe, 10 and 28 May, 1799 in PHi: Coxe Family Papers). According to SJL TJ wrote to venable on 5 Apr. 1799, but the letter has not been found. The five certain federalists included Thomas Evans, Henry Lee, John Marshall, Josiah Parker, and Levin Powell. Samuel Goode was the third person considered a moderate. He and Edwin Gray voted with the Republicans a majority of the time during the Sixth Congress, but Robert Page usually voted with the Federalists (Dauer, Adams Federalists, 320, 325).
To John Barnes Dear Sir Monticello May. 26. 99. A neighbor of mine having a right to some military lands, I carried his papers to Philadelphia; but when presented at the War oDce they could not be passed for want of some formalities a Arst and second time. I think they now fulAll all the requisitions of the law; and I must ask the favor of you to present them at the war oDce to the proper clerk & to obtain from him the paper usually given, which I will thank you to transmit by the Arst post after it can be obtained, < 114>
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[as] the claimant’s son waits only for this paper to set out to the country where the lands lie. the several notes on the papers will shew what has been done before in this. I am with great esteem Dr Sr. Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson PrC (CSmH); faint; at foot of text: “Mr Barnes”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosures not found.
Regarding the claim of the neighbor for military lands, see Barnes’s letter of 20 June.
From John Barnes sir Philadelphia 26th May 1799. I have at length the pleasure of Acknowledging—recpt: of your esteemed favr: 17th: with Minute—of yr. Appt: a/c—inclosed; you have mine, up to the present. Appr.imate Balla: in my favr. $60.490—which on examining, I hope will be found nearly Correct, and by this you—will be inabled, to Correct the statemt. you had the trouble—to form—from yr. Memoms.— —Mr Roberts spoke to me, some time since and said he would call on me for abt, $400—I told him—I expected e every post, a Letter from you—on the subject, and desired him, to call in a day or two—, without ever recollecting your Memom: of directions left with me— Yesterday Morng he shewed to me, your letter—when I immediately paid him the Amot. $407.57 as e a/c a few hours Only—before the post Man—handed me yours— Tobos. have been on the fall—for some time passed, and supposing you had made a Conditional Sale, I had not inquired lately—the state of this Market, Untill now, And the Home Consumers here—are fully supplied, that the late & present, for Shipping to Europe have generally been eCected—by Barter—exchange for Merchandize— wholly—or in part, as well @ 4 @ 6 Mos. Crt. e Notes &ca.—is now, rather looking up.—Carolina—& Georgia by this Mode is now selling @ $9—& Richmond @ $10.—to advise—I dare not, but cannot forbear, to remark, that late in the fall—generally—is the best time for a Market here—either for Home Consumption or shipping The prices—at Richmond I am informed are very inferior,—pray; at what season—do you Usually purchase your Cloathing Articles— terms &ca. &ca—possibly you might—dispose of a part of your Tobo. here by such a Mode of Accomodation—as here discribed—and to Advantage—rather—than risque a still greater—uncertainty—in this Case—had I the prices—terms—quality (Samples.) & quantities wanted—such as you Usually purchase in Virga. to compare with, < 115>
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the imports here;—selling low, for the want of buyers and Bills of exchange (low Also—) from the very great—Scarsity of Cash—you could then judge—for yourself—with propriety, & determine your choice—at all events—avoid the European Markets—at this Crisis— let the—prospects be the most favorable—(which I presume theyre not) are Never the less, the most precarious, hazardous—and even desperate—very few indeed; except those—who are in a Manner forced into a Shipmt. will, at this time, risque the very uncertain fate of it—tho fully insured—the advance of Preum—Int & delay, Accidts. wastage—exps. upon exps. &ca. sweeps away—all extra suppose proAts—&ca.—that, for my Own part, I would—not hesitate to prefer a low—but safe Sale, at Richmond—or Philada. via, part Barter— or long Credit.— at present however there is no probable chance of Obtaining $10. clear of exps: still if any Tobo: will command that price—yrs: most certainly would— I am Sir—very Respectfully your Obedt: H servt: John Barnes PS. I could I presume, Obtain for the most part of—your Cloathing—on very reasonable terms—& at 6 Mos Credit—mean while your Tobo: will become Old, & of course of more Value—and should the patterns—or samples be too bulckey— for a Letter—they—might be sent to me e a vessel via Richmond and still give me time—to make a favourable choice;— RC (ViU: Edgehill-Randolph Papers); at foot of text: “Thomas JeCerson Esqr. Monticello—Virga.”; endorsed by TJ as received on 6 June and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure not found.
TJ’s esteemed favr: of 17 May 1799 is recorded in SJL but has not been found. A letter TJ wrote to Joseph roberts on that date is also recorded in SJL but has not been located.
From George Jefferson Dear Sir, Richmond 27th. May 1799. I sent you to day by Wm. Johnston 16 barrels Herrings & one of shad—I also sent with them one barrel Herrings for Mrs. Trist. Darmsdatt says they generally come about a thousand in a barrel. I am Dear Sir Your very humble servt. Geo. Jefferson RC (MHi); at foot of text: “Thomas JeCerson esqr. Monticello”; endorsed by TJ as received 31 May and so recorded in SJL.
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To George Jefferson Dear Sir Monticello May. 29. 99. I am now to ask your assistance in a matter not exactly in the line of ordinary business, and which I am afraid will give you some trouble. In the early part of my life, percieving that the laws of this state which were no longer in force were vanishing fast I set about making a collection of them, & with considerable success. it was fortunately before the revolution which would otherwise have swept oC these as it has done all other remaining copies. these are now in the hands of mr Wythe, arranged for binding into volumes, & each of them labelled. but after sending them to him I had occasion to change two of the labels. this is explained in the copy of a letter I wrote him which I now inclose you. I have to ask the favor of you to recieve them from mr Wythe & put them into the hands of a good book binder to be bound in neat law bindings according to the directions before prepared. I would wish the work to be pressed, as there is danger of loss or injury to them, & their loss would be irreparable, not to myself merely, but to the public, for whose use I preserve them, till they shall attend to their importance & take measures for securing them. I suppose it would be best not to put them into the hands of Bran, as his delays are without end, & I have already experienced the loss of some valuable books committed to him. when they are done I must be at the expence of a trunk to preserve them from wet while coming up the river, as in a waggon they would suCer from rubbing. I will pray you to send me the books below mentioned. I am with great esteem Dear Sir Your friend & servant Th: Jefferson Washington’s reports. Hening’s justice. at Pritchard’s. Gallatin’s & Nicholas’s speeches on the Alien & Sedition laws. Debates of the last Virginia assembly on the Alien & Sedition laws. Oliver Evans’s book on mills. at Pritchard’s I believe. [Va] Laws of the last assembly. PrC (MHi); faint; at foot of text: “Mr George JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosure: Tr of Arst letter from TJ to George Wythe, 16 Jan. 1796, except for Anal paragraph (PrC in MHi on same sheet as following letter).
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To George Wythe Th: Jefferson to G. Wythe. Monticello May 29. 99. In order to relieve you, my very dear & antient friend from the trouble of the volumes I sent you in 96. I have desired my friend & relation George JeCerson to call & recieve them, if you have no further use for them. he is to get them bound. I think I had arranged them into volumes, & labelled each, but that in a subsequent letter to you I wished a change of some of the labels. I inclose him a copy of that letter, so that I am in hopes he will be able to direct the binding without troubling you. Though the diCerent walks of life into which we have been led, do not bring us together, yet I enquire of your health, with anxious concern, from every one who comes from you. & with great pleasure I learn generally that you enjoy good health. I shall for ever cherish the remembrance of the many agreeable & useful days I have past with you, and the inAnite obligations I owe you for what good has fallen to me through life. may your remaining years be as many as you would wish them, and Alled with the enjoiment of all your faculties. a thousand friendly & respectful salutations to you. Adieu aCectionately. PrC (DLC); with enclosure to George JeCerson (see preceding letter) letterpressed perpendicularly at bottom of sheet.
A letter from Wythe to TJ of June 1799, recorded in SJL as received on the 20th of that month, has not been found.
From George Jefferson Dear Sir, Richmond 3d. June 1799. Your favor of the 29th. is duly received. I will with much pleasure attend to the books at Mr. Wythes— I have as yet heard nothing of your negro—I have spoken to the Constables but they neither know him, or recollect having been desired to And him. I was in hopes Bob Hemmings knew something about him, but he does not—I have desired him to And out Mr. Whaley & to make enquiry, but as yet he has not. I have but a poor account to give you of the nail rod—the person I mentioned to you has returned. 2 of the vessel & cargo were decreed for salvage—he oCered half the value for the nail rod but could not get it—& since he came away it has been sold for $:265—your third of which is $:881—there must be proof at July Court of the prop< 118>
To George Wythe Th: Jefferson to G. Wythe. Monticello May 29. 99. In order to relieve you, my very dear & antient friend from the trouble of the volumes I sent you in 96. I have desired my friend & relation George JeCerson to call & recieve them, if you have no further use for them. he is to get them bound. I think I had arranged them into volumes, & labelled each, but that in a subsequent letter to you I wished a change of some of the labels. I inclose him a copy of that letter, so that I am in hopes he will be able to direct the binding without troubling you. Though the diCerent walks of life into which we have been led, do not bring us together, yet I enquire of your health, with anxious concern, from every one who comes from you. & with great pleasure I learn generally that you enjoy good health. I shall for ever cherish the remembrance of the many agreeable & useful days I have past with you, and the inAnite obligations I owe you for what good has fallen to me through life. may your remaining years be as many as you would wish them, and Alled with the enjoiment of all your faculties. a thousand friendly & respectful salutations to you. Adieu aCectionately. PrC (DLC); with enclosure to George JeCerson (see preceding letter) letterpressed perpendicularly at bottom of sheet.
A letter from Wythe to TJ of June 1799, recorded in SJL as received on the 20th of that month, has not been found.
From George Jefferson Dear Sir, Richmond 3d. June 1799. Your favor of the 29th. is duly received. I will with much pleasure attend to the books at Mr. Wythes— I have as yet heard nothing of your negro—I have spoken to the Constables but they neither know him, or recollect having been desired to And him. I was in hopes Bob Hemmings knew something about him, but he does not—I have desired him to And out Mr. Whaley & to make enquiry, but as yet he has not. I have but a poor account to give you of the nail rod—the person I mentioned to you has returned. 2 of the vessel & cargo were decreed for salvage—he oCered half the value for the nail rod but could not get it—& since he came away it has been sold for $:265—your third of which is $:881—there must be proof at July Court of the prop< 118>
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erty—I will get the same person to send your claim. You had better therefore order some round. I am Dear Sir Your Very Obt. servt. Geo. Jefferson RC (MHi); at foot of text: “Thos JeCerson esqr.”; endorsed by TJ as received 7 June and so recorded in SJL.
To John Wayles Eppes Th:J. to J. W. Eppes Monticello June 7. 99. We have for some time past had as little communication almost as if we did not know how to write. mr Randolph’s journies have given us mutual information of the welfare of both families & of course has lessened the occasion for writing. your prospect of a crop here has been as good as could be, independant of the seasons. but there has been through the whole of this part of the country an extraordinary failure of plants. many have lost all; most the greater part. you are of the former number; mr Randolph & myself of the latter. of three patches, I did not get a single plant from two of them. the 3d turned out well, but, as is the case generally the plants are so backward, that tho we have had Ane seasons, we have been able to plant only 60. Â. out of 150. Â. as yet. we spared Page to-day 12. Â. for he had not a single one: and I hope we shall be able to furnish him a considerable quantity more; but they are yet to grow to the necessary size. he shall share with us as favorably as possible. I have furnished him with corn for his people & horses till harvest. in order to make him frugal of it (for it costs me 30/ a barrel) I have said nothing to him of the prospect after that. however I shall now let him know that I always destined for your plantation the Aeld of rye I sowed adjoining to it, so that he may prepare for harvesting it. I suppose it will yield a couple of hundred bushels. if corn is then to be had I will furnish him with enough to mix half & half with the rye for his people.—I am sorry to learn that you will not be up before harvest. both of you run great risks of sickness by waiting to so late a point of the summer, & the travelling must become daily more inconvenient & more perillous to Maria. we shall have a room ready for you within ten days & hope you will conclude to come sooner to it, even if you are yourself obliged to return to your harvest. kiss my dear Maria aCectionately for me, & tell her to use all her inBuence to bring you on. my tenderest love to her & aCectionate salutations to yourself. Adieu. RC (ViU); addressed: “John W. Eppes ChesterAeld by the Petersburg mail”; franked.
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To George Jefferson Dear Sir Monticello June 8. 99. Your favor of [June 3.] came to hand yesterday. I mentioned in a [recent letter] that I had [written to] Philadelphia & N. York to enquire the prospect of selling my tobo. from Philadelphia my advice is discouraging. but from N. York [I found] [. . .] [of a much] better price than is to be had at Richmond, but [. . .] to [send] 10. hogsheads at Arst as an experiment. we have therefore concluded that [6. of mine & 4] of mr Randolph’s shall be sent, which we will ask the favor of you to do by the Arst conveyance, consigning them to Henry Remsen esq. [notary publick?] in New York. I inclose you the manifests of 12. hogsheads, [. . .] (the only remaining one) along with the hogshead itself this day by William Johnson’s boat [. . .] with that of the tobo. now to be forwarded to N.Y. my [parcel should consist of 3.] hhds. of Poplar forest & 3. of Albemarle & mr Randolph’s of [. . .] should 10. Doll[ars] be [oCered] at Richmond for the residue before it is called for [. . .] before it is shipped oC, we are free & willing to sell at that price, giving any credit [short] of Christmas. be so good as to pay the freight & shipping charges, as [mr Johnson] has no funds of ours in his hands. I shall send you by the next post [a draught?] on Philadelphia for some sum under 1000. D. (I do not yet know exactly [the amount]) payable July 5. which I shall hope you will be able to dispose of. [. . .] place for sale, we do [yet] propose that it shall [. . .] [your commission?] on it. you have had as much trouble with it as if you had [sold it and are] therefore justly entitled to the same commission.—whatever [. . .] [nail rod] [carried?] into N.C. you will be so good [as to recieve] [. . .] [round] from Philadelphia which I hope you will [. . .] forward before the [waters] fall. I am with great esteem Dr Sir Yours aCectionately Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); faint, with several illegible phrases of three or more words; in ink at foot of text: “Mr. George JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosure not found, but see below.
recent letter: see TJ to George JeCerson, 18 May 1799. In his Anancial records TJ included a description of the manifests for the 12 hogsheads of tobacco enclosed to George JeCerson and that of another hogshead to be delivered to William Johnson (mb, 2:1002).
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To Henry Remsen Dear Sir Monticello June 8. 99. Your favor of May 23. did not get to hand till yesterday. the price of 11. cents per L. for tobo. is so much better than the Richmond price that we have no hesitation to order 10. hogsheads round immediately to your address. mr JeCerson of Richmond will do this, paying freight before it’s departure. for the expences of landing, storage &c be pleased to draw on John Barnes of Philadelphia on my account who will honour it, & will be advised by the next post. you may give any credit, short of Christmas, which may be necessary to encourage the purchaser either as to price or quantity. on such a credit we are entitled to have it considered as old tobo. because it will be old before it is paid for (it is not considered as old till September, & then commands a much higher price than while called new.) this was always allowed me in Philadelphia. I have several times sold my tobo. there to mr Lieper, who has declared to me that it is the very best he ever purchased except one crop once, made on lands adjoining mine, and a merchant who formerly shipped my tobo. to Glasgow has repeatedly assured me that it was considered there generally as the very best crop landed at their wharfs. I have always had at Philadelphia, where it’s quality is known, a dollar a hundred above the market price for the best James river. the purchaser will observe that these tobaccos are marked either T.I. or T.M.R. all of them, and that a part (one half we direct) has the additional mark of P.F. for Poplar Forest, the place where it is made. there is a shade of diCerence in the quality between the P.F. & the other. mr Lieper gives rather a preference to the other, tho’ no diCerence has ever been made in the price. the T.I. and the T.M.R. must be placed to separate accounts, the former to mine the latter to my son in lawq Thomas Mann Randolph, whose tobo. it is. our lands join both here & at Poplar Forest, so that our tobaccos are precisely of the same quality. his & mine will be in the whole about 83,000. weight, to which will be added about 10,000 L. made on the lands of an adjoining neighbor of the same quality. the red mountain or South-west mountain-landsr have been long distinguisheds in this state, Philadelphia, London and Glasgow as producing the very Arst quality of the tobaccoes made in this state. I believe it is used for snuC alone. I am persuaded your manufacturers will be glad to become acquainted with it, and possibly we may And a mutual accomodation in furnishing them hereafter.—you mention that by consigning it to you we may save brokerage. it is by no means with this view that I do it. on the contrary I ask you to take as little trou< 121>
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ble as possible with it, employing other hands to do whatever is requisite, so as to take to yourself only the trouble of a general superintendance. if this experiment succeeds we will on your advice ship the residue to N. York, only reserving a right to sell it here in the mean time should our prices become acceptable, as it would not do for us to lose a sale here while we are uncertain whether a good one can be made at New York. I am with great & sincere esteem Dear Sir Your aCectionate friend & servt Th: Jefferson RC (Gilder Lehrman Collection, on deposit NNPM). RC (Bruce E. Engstler, Charlottesville, 1965); consists of address cover only; addressed: “Henry Remsen esquire New York”; franked; endorsed by Remsen. Remsen’s favor of may 23, recorded in SJL as received on 7 June 1799, is missing. Before the Revolution TJ sold tobacco
to Kippen & Co. of glasgow and its successor Arm, Henderson, McCaul & Co. (mb, 1:7n). adjoining neighbor: Ann Key; see TJ to George JeCerson, 24 Feb. 1799. q Preceding four words interlined. r TJ interlined “or South-west mountain.” s Word interlined in place of “known.”
From George Jefferson Dear Sir, Richmond 10th. June 1799. Your favor of the 8th. inclosing Manifests for twelve hogsheads Tobo. was just handed me by the post rider—I will attend to the shipment of the ten Hhds: to N. York as you direct; it is getting something better with us, but must mend considerably before ten dollars can be obtained. I call’d on Mr. Wythe agreeably to your request—he informed me that some of the labels had got oC the books but that he thought he could put them right—that the Court was then sitting & he was much engaged, but would with much pleasure assist me this week— I shall call on him in a day or two— The books you wrote for I have got except Evans on Mills, which is not to be had in Town. The rest shall be sent by the Arst opportunity. I am Dear Sir Your Very humble servt. Geo. Jefferson RC (MHi); at foot of text: “Thos. JeCerson esqr.”; endorsed by TJ as received 14 June and so recorded in SJL.
books you wrote for: see TJ to George JeCerson, 29 May 1799.
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To John Barnes Dear Sir Monticello June 15. 99. I wrote you on the 26th. & 31st. of May; since which yours of May 26. is recieved. I observe what you say on the price of tobo. at the same time with your letter, I recieved one from mr Remsen of N. York, advising me on the same subject. the manufacturers there oCered me 11. Cents a pound if they should like the quality, & he advised me to try 10. hhds. I accordingly directed mr JeCerson to ship him 10. hhds, to pay freight &c here, and I authorised mr Remsen to drawn on you for the little port duties. since that I am informed tobo. is rising at Richmond; that on the 9th. inst. it sold for 9.33 cash. for mine a dollar more would be given. I therefore by this day’s post advise mr JeCerson to suspend the shipment to New York, if it be not already made, & to wait a little the progress of the Richmond market. but [Browns] paper of June 6. or 7. gives us a price curr. at Philadelphia quoting old James river tobo. @ 13. D. what does this mean?—your statement of our accounts has enabled me to correct mine, which has been done accordingly. I yesterday drew on you in favor of Dr. David Jackson for 205. D 58 c and this day in favor of George JeCerson & co. or order for 800. Dollars all payable the 5th. & 7th. July. not having any stamped paper, and there being no deposit within 20. or 30. miles of me, I wrote the draughts on common paper. as to that to Dr. Jackson (which was payable to himself only) it will make no odds. but as to the other, as it may occasion diDculty with the purchaser, I informed mr JeCerson I would try to get a stamp & send him a 2d. draught for the same sum. whichever is presented you will be pleased to consider as genuine. Dr. Bache left us the 13th inst. I suppose he will be with you by the time you recieve this. he has made an excellent purchase of a farm here. 60 acres for about 6. Dollars per acre. I am with great esteem Dr. Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson PrC (CSmH); faint; at foot of text: “Mr. John Barnes”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. TJ’s letter of the 31st. of may appears in SJL but has not been located. On both 6 and 7 June the listings of prices current in Andrew Brown’s Philadelphia Gazette quoted $13 per hundred pounds of old james river tobacco. The payment to dr. david jackson of Philadelphia was on behalf of
Dr. William Wardlaw of Charlottesville, who paid TJ $172.63 on 14 June and the remaining $32.95 on 6 Aug. (MS in ViU: Edgehill-Randolph Papers, written and signed by TJ on 14 June for payment on 5 July, endorsed by Barnes as accepted on 22 June, endorsed as paid 5 July, signed in receipt by David Jackson, Jr., and David Jackson, and canceled; mb, 2:1002, 1004; Vol. 28:593; Vol. 29:401). For the order for 800. dollars, see the following document.
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15 J U N E 1799 For another instance in which TJ needed stamped paper for a transaction in compliance with the federal stamp tax, see his letter to Barnes of 31 Aug. 1798.
The law, passed in 1797, went into eCect in July 1798 (Vol. 29:461, 583). See TJ to William Bache, 20 Sep. 1799, concerning Bache’s purchase of a farm.
To George Jefferson Dear Sir Monticello June 15. 99. Your favor of June 10. came to hand yesterday. at the same time a mr Goode called on me, a young man living in Richmond & in mr Ross’s employ, who told me that the day before he left Richmond tobo. was got up to 56/ cash, and that mr Gallego had given that on that day, say June 9. he was positive but whether quite exact or not if there be a prospect of it’s getting up to 10. D. we had better defer the shipment to New York (if it be not already made) nor, if it should rise so that 10. D. can be got, would I sell on a rising market. I think it always better to wait till it begins to fall. the small loss then sustained is generally less than is occasioned by a premature sale. we may wait the more safely as the quantity & quality of our tobo. even after common tobo. has fallen a little, will still command the price it has fallen from. I would wish you therefore to act on these ideas, with respect to mine. I expect you have by this time recd. the 13th. hogshead from hence with the manifest. I now inclose you a draught on mr Barnes for 800. Doll. which be pleased to convert into cash at convenience. I shall probably begin to draw on that fund about the 1st. of July. it should have been on stamped paper, but I have none, & the Distributor lives 20. or 30. miles from me in the mountains, & has no deposit near us. still I will endeavor to get a stamped paper &, if possible, will forward it, lest the purchaser of the bill should make a diDculty. mr Barnes will make none. I write to him by this post. In settling an old account with my merchant it is necessary for me to know the highest price given for Bour at Richmond [and Man]chester from Nov. 10. 97. to May 1. 98. I will thank you for this information.—I wish [to get] a light [. . .] or straw hat. mr Randolph [. . .] one at Braddick & Butler’s, a black one, which he says would At [me]. will you be so good as to send it to me, if still there? have [. . .] I am aCectionately Dr. Sir PrC (MHi); faint; with enclosure letterpressed at foot of text; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosure: Order dated 15 June 1799 on John Barnes to pay
George JeCerson & Co. $800 on 7 July for value received (MS in MHi, written and signed by TJ, endorsed by George JeCerson & Co. to remit to Bethune
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17 J U N E 1799 & Smith of New York, endorsed on 2 July by Barnes, in part: “remitted said Bethune & Smith G Simpson on BB–NY,” and canceled; PrC in MHi, pressed on same sheet as letter above, but cut oC at TJ’s signature). my merchant: John Fleming. TJ settled his account with Fleming by giving Joseph McGoDn of Philadelphia a note for $166.67 dated 17 June 1799 payable the Arst week in October (MS in MHi; written and signed by TJ; endorsed as paid 15 Oct. 1799 and signed by McGoDn as received in full; canceled).
On 17 June TJ recorded in his Anancial records that he had settled everything with Fleming “except the price of some Bour” and that he had probably overpaid the “balance a little.” On 18 Nov. Fleming gave TJ an order on Thomas Mann Randolph for “£3—0s—8d,” to settle the account (mb, 2:1003, 1008). See also TJ to Barnes, 16 Sep. 1799. Letters from Fleming to TJ of 15 Feb. 1798, 18 Jan. 1799, and 6 Jan. 1800, recorded in SJL as received 1 Mch. 1798, 25 Jan. 1799, and 23 Jan. 1800, have not been found. A letter from TJ to Fleming dated 27 Feb. 1799 is also missing.
From George Jefferson & Company Dear Sir, Richmond 17th. June 1799. Your favor of the 15th. inclosing an order on Mr. John Barnes for $:800—is receivd. We shipped on Saturday last six hogsheads of your Tobacco to New York with four of Mr. Randolphs agreeably to your direction. The current Cash price of Tobo. is now 45/—we sold a small crop a few days ago which we were advised was prime at 48/—this is the highest price of which we have heard, except a Hhd: or two every now & then in Manchester—where two or three merchants who are large holders have been giving high prices for a single Hhd: or so, evidently with the view of raising the price in order to sell out—of this I have had pretty good proof—having oCered the same person a very good parcel of 50 Hhds: at 8$: on a credit of 60 days, who had given 52/. Cash for a single Hhd:—& which oCer of mine he refused— I am entirely at a loss what to make of Mr. Goode’s story—I cannot account for it on any other principle than that some young men when they get at a distance from home are fond of dealing in the marvellous—I had the curiosity to call on Mr. Gallego—who says as I expected, that he has not bought a Hhd: of Tobo. for several months—and that so far from his having given 56/. he sold some on Friday last belonging to a friend of his at 45/.— I will send you the price of Bour at the time you mention—which by the bye I think you will And in one of my former letters. I am Dear Sir, Your Very Hbl: servt. Geo. Jefferson & Co. < 125>
17 J U N E 1799 RC (MHi); in George JeCerson’s hand; at foot of text: “Thomas JeCerson esqr.”; endorsed by TJ as received 20 June and so recorded in SJL.
one of my former letters: George JeCerson to TJ, 28 May 1798.
From George Jefferson Dear Sir, Richmond 17th. June 1799. I And since closing my letter that I have omitted to inform that Anderson Rowe has never yet brought down the Hhd: of Tobo. you mention—he called when he was last down & informed us that he would bring it the next trip—but we And there is no kind of conAdence to be placed in him—he brought us a manifest which we return to you—as you sent us one for the same Hhd:—W. Johnston did not bring a manifest. I must therefore get the favor of you to send one—it is for Hhd: No. 7–128–1316. Yours Geo. Jefferson RC (MHi); at foot of text: “Thos. JeCerson esqr.”; with notes by TJ in pencil on verso: “pay Darmsdat qu. if any draught Jno. Peyton 50/6 Moran 18–16–9 = 62.79 [. . .]”
and with Agures in ink below in TJ’s hand: “62.79” and “188.37” (see TJ to George JeCerson, 25 July 1799); endorsed by TJ as received 20 June and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure not found.
To William G. Munford Dear Sir Monticello June 18. 99. I have to acknolege the reciept of your favor of May 14. in which you mention that you have Anished the 6. Arst books of Euclid, plane trigonometry, surveying & algebra and ask whether I think a further pursuit of that branch of science would be useful to you. there are some propositions in the latter books of Euclid, & some of Archimedes, which are useful, & I have no doubt you have been made acquainted with them. trigonometry, so far as this, is most valuable to every man, there is scarcely a day in which he will not resort to it for some of the purposes of common life. the science of calculation also is indispensible as far as the extraction of the square & cube roots; Algebra as far as the quadratic equation & the use of logarithmsq are often of value in ordinary cases: but all beyond these is but a luxury; a delicious luxury indeed; but not to be indulged in by one who is to < 126>
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have a profession to follow for his subsistence. in this light I viewr the conic sections, curves of the higher orders, perhaps even spherical trigonometry, Algebraical operations beyond the 2d dimension, and Buxions. there are other branches of science however worth the attention of every man. astronomy, botany, chemistry natural philosophy, natural history, anatomy. not indeed to be a proAcient in them; but to possess their general principles & outlines, so as that we may be able to amuse and inform ourselves further in any of them as we proceed through life & have occasion for them. some knowlege of them is necessary for our character as well as comfort. the general elements of astronomy & of natural philosophy are best acquired at an academy where we can have the beneAt of the instruments & apparatus usually provided there: but the others may well be acquired from books alone as far as our purposes require. I have indulged myself in these observations to you, because the evidence cannot be unuseful to you of a person who has often had occasion to consider which of his acquisitions in science have been really useful to him in life, and which of them have been merely a matter of luxury. I am among those who think well of the human character generally. I consider man as formed for society, and endowed by nature with those dispositions which At him for society. I believe also, with Condorcet, as mentioned in your letter, that his mind is perfectible to a degree of which we cannot as yet form any conception. it is impossible for a man who takes a survey of what is already known, not to see what an immensity in every branch of science yet remains to be discovered, & that too of articles to which our faculties seem adequate. in geometry & calculation we know a great deal. yet there are some desiderata. in anatomy great progress has been made; but much is still to be acquired. in natural history we possess knowlege; but we want a great deal. in chemistry we are not yet sure of the Arst elements. our natural philosophy is in a very infantine state; perhaps for great advances in it, a further progress in chemistry is necessary. surgery is well-advanced; but prodigiously short of what may be. the state of medecine is worse than that of total ignorance. could we divest ourselves of every thing we suppose we know in it, we should start from a higher ground & with fairer prospects. from Hippocrates to Brown we have had nothing but a succession of hypothetical systems each having it’s day of vogue, like the fashions & fancies of caps & gowns, & yielding in turn to the next caprice. yet the human frame, which is to be the subject of suCering & torture under these learned modes, does not change. we have a few medecines, as the bark, opium, mercury, which in a few well deAned < 127>
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diseases are of unquestionable virtue: but the residuary list of the materia medica, long as it is, contains but the charlataneries of the art; and of the diseases of doubtful form, physicians have ever had a false knowlege, worse than ignorance. yet surely the list of unequivocal diseases & remedies is capable of enlargement; and it is still more certain that in the other branches of science, great Aelds are yet to be explored to which our faculties are equal, & that to an extent of which we cannot Ax the limits. I join you therefore in branding as cowardly the idea that the human mind is incapable of further advances. this is precisely the doctrine which the present despots of the earth are inculcating, & their friends here re-echoing; & applying especially to religion & politics; ‘that it is not probable that any thing better will be discovered than what was known to our fathers.’ we are to look backwards then & not forwards for the improvement of science, & to And it amidst feudal barbarisms and the Ares of Spital-Aelds. but thank heaven the American mind is already too much opened, to listen to these impostures; and while the art of printing is left to us science can never be retrograde; what is once acquired of real knowlege can never be lost. to preserve the freedom of the human mind then & freedom of the press, every spirit should be ready to devote itself to martyrdom; for as long as we may think as we will, & speak as we think, the condition of man will proceed in improvement. the generation which is going oC the stage has deserved well of mankind for the struggles it has made,s & for having arrested that course of despotism which had overwhelmed the world for thousands & thousands of years. if there seems to be danger that the ground they have gained will be lost again, that danger comes from the generation your cotemporary. but that the enthusiasm which characterises youth should lift it’s parracide hands against freedom & science, would be such a monstrous phaenomenon as I cannot place among possible things in this age & this country. your college at least has shewn itself incapable of it; and if the youth of any other place have seemed to rally under other banners it has been from delusions which they will soon dissipate. I shall be happy to hear from you from time to time, & of your progress in study, and to be useful to you in whatever is in my power; being with sincere esteem Dear Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson RC (NNC-T); at foot of Arst page: “Mr. Munford.” PrC (DLC); with emendations by TJ in ink (see notes 2-3 below).
Munford’s favor of may 14 has not been found but may have been a letter from Munford that is listed in SJL as received on 24 May 1799. TJ did not
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18 J U N E 1799 record the date on which that letter was written. In his Elementa Medicinae, Arst published in 1780, Scottish physician John brown (d. 1788) challenged prevailing medical thought, most notably in his opposition to bloodletting in many cases of fever. His “Brunonian” system was controversial into the nineteenth century, but mainstream medical practice eventually incorporated its key elements. Benjamin Rush was interested in Brown’s theories, and TJ owned a copy of the English translation of the Elementa Medicinae (dnb, 3:14-17; George W. Corner, ed., The Autobiography of Benjamin Rush: His “Travels Through Life” together with his Commonplace Book for 1789-1813 [Princeton, 1948], 44, 87-8, 364-5; Sowerby, No. 897). it is not probable that any thing better will be discovered than what was known to our fathers: an expression of this sentiment appeared in John Adams’s 7 May 1798 reply to an address from “the Young Men of the City of Philadelphia, the District of Southwark, and the Northern Liberties.” Adams declared that he had taken an active role in the American Revolution “not from a desire of innovation . . . but, to preserve the honor of our country, and vindicate the immemorial liberties of our ancestors.” He went on: “Without wishing to damp the ardor of curiosity, or inBuence the freedom of inquiry, I will hazard a prediction that after the most industrious and impartial researches, the longest liver of you all, will And no principles, institutions, or systems of education, more At, in general, to be transmitted to your posterity, than those you have received from your ancestors” (A Selection of the Patriotic Addresses, to the President of the United States. Together with the President’s Answers [Boston, 1798], 197-8; see Sowerby, No. 3525; TJ to Thomas Mann Randolph, 9 May 1798; Madison to TJ, 20 May 1798; TJ to Elbridge Gerry, 26 Jan. 1799). fires of spital-fields: a detailed survey of London by the chronicler John Stow, republished in several forms after its Arst appearance in 1598, reported that
in the sixteenth century workers digging clay for bricks in the SpitalAelds section of London had discovered the remains of numerous cremations from the Roman era (John Stow, A Survey of London: Reprinted from the Text of 1603, intro. and notes by Charles Lethbridge Kingsford, 2 vols. [Oxford, 1908; repr. 1971], 1:168-9; dnb, 19:4-5). Although Munford was known to the faculty of the college of William and Mary, any oDcial relationship he had with the institution in 1799 is unclear (see note to Course of Reading for William G. Munford, [5 Dec. 1798]). It was a diCerent William Munford, a native of Mecklenburg County who later achieved some repute as a poet, translator of Homer, and clerk of the House of Delegates, who attended the college from 1790 to 1794 and appears in the roster of alumni (List of Alumni, 29; dab, 13:326-7). Of this letter Julian P. Boyd, the founding editor of these volumes, declared: “If all other writings of JeCerson were destroyed, the essential quality of the man would remain fully and brilliantly portrayed in this single document.” Boyd brought the letter, which was printed in a work on mathematics in 1934 but did not appear in earlier editions of TJ’s writings, to the attention of historians, and found opportunity to publish it as a keepsake miniature volume and elsewhere (Boyd, ed., Thomas JeCerson on Science and Freedom: The Letter to the Student William Greene Munford, June 18, 1799 [Worcester, Mass., 1964], 22, 26-7; “Let every Sluice of knowledge be Open’d and set a Flowing”: A Tribute to Philip May Hamer on the Completion of Ten Years as Executive Director, The National Historical Publications Commission [New York, 1960], document IV; David Eugene Smith, The Poetry of Mathematics and Other Essays [New York, 1934], 67-70; Adrienne Koch and Harry Ammon, “The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions: An Episode in JeCerson’s and Madison’s Defense of Civil Liberties,” wmq, 3d ser., 5 [1948], 151-2; Malone, JeCerson, 3:418).
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18 J U N E 1799 q Preceding four words and ampersand interlined and next word reworked from “is.” r Sentence to this point interlined in place of “among these I reckon”; alteration made in ink on PrC.
s TJ Arst wrote “those who like myself are going oC the stage have deserved well of mankind for the struggles they have made,” then altered the passage to read as above and made the changes in ink on PrC.
From John Barnes sir Philadelphia 20th June 1799. Your favrs: 26th & 31st. passed—I recd 8th. Inst. and now inclose you, Mr Brands patent, for, 1000. Acres, (my Usual charge on these are 1 dollar)—Mr Trump—has your draft for doors—and promise, of compleating them—in 20 or 30 days. he is busily employed at Frankford. from whence he Returns to Town every saturday Evening— you have I presume recd letter of advice, and shipment of Rod Iron from Mr Roberts— —most Respectfully—I am sir your Obedt: H st., John Barnes RC (ViU: Edgehill-Randolph Papers); at foot of text: “Thomas JeCerson Esqr: Monticello—Virga.”; endorsed by TJ as received 11 July 1799 and so recorded in SJL. According to SJL TJ wrote to Joseph
roberts as well as to Barnes on 31 May. Neither that letter to Roberts nor communications from him of 6 June, recorded incongruously in SJL as received on the same day as written, have been found. One from Barnes dated 10 June, which TJ received on the 20th, is also missing.
To Harry Innes [Dear Sir] Monticello June 20. 99 I have to acknolege the reciept of your favor of March the 2d. and to return you many thanks for it. I am very desirous to collect all the information I can relative to the murder of Logan’s family, who were the perpetrators, & how far Cresapq had counselled or ordered it; for tho’ there exists a very general belief that he was present, yet the information I have recieved seems rather that he ordered Greathouse & his party on that business, & took another upon himself. of the authenticity of Logan’s speech I have the evidence of General Gibson who recieved it from Logan’s hand, delivered it to Lord Dunmore & translated it. the speech proves that Logan considered Colo. Cresap as the murderer; and nothing can prove it more authentically than the copy < 130>
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of the note you have been so kind as to send me. my statement therefore, which has been attacked, is nothing more than the universally recieved account of that transaction. if mankind have generally imputed that murder to Cresap, it was because his character led them to it, numerous murders of the Indians having drawn them to Ax this on him. his character becomes an object of enquiry on this account. after letting this matter remain uncontradicted for upwards of [20. years] it has now been raked up from party hatred, as furnishing some [ground on which] might [rest?] the design of writing me down. I have left [those] calumnies unanswered; but in the meantime have asked the favour of [gentle]men who have [it in] their power to procure me what information they can, as I mean to prepare a correct statement of the facts respecting the murder of Logan’s family, to be inserted by way of amendment into the text of the Notes on Virginia. this I hope to be able to publish next winter [while in] Philadelphia, so I have asked from my friends to furnish me whatever they shall have collected by the month of December next. [material proof of] the evidence will probably be published in support of the text as it [will be] amended. the information you mention of Jacob Newland of Shelby [will] be very acceptable as well as of the others you mention, in the [form of?] aDdavits where convenient, or of certiAcate or letter where not so. minute details will be most desirable. any assistance you can give me in procuring this or any other material information on the subject will be very thankfully recieved, my distance from the residence of persons acquainted with the transaction rendering it impracticable for me to obtain it otherwise than by the aid of my friends. I would also ask to recieve it by or before the month of December. I should not have taken the liberty of troubling you but as you have been so kind as to oCer your aid. Mr. Volney on his return spoke with great acknolegements of your kind civilities, for which accept my thanks also. I am sure you found him entirely worthy of them. I recieve with great sensibility the assurances of your esteem. these sentiments from men of worth, of reBection, & of pure attachment to republican government are my consolation against the calumnies of which it has suited certain views to make me the object. under these I hope I shall never bend; and that man may at length And favor with heaven and his present struggles issue in the recovery & establishment of his moral & political rights will be the prayer of my latest breath. accept assurances of the sincere esteem & respect of Dear Sir Your most obedt. & most humble servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); faint and torn; at foot of Arst page: “[Harry Innes] esq.”
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q Name interlined in place of “he.”
From Tench Coxe Dear Sir Philada. June 21. 1799. I have the pleasure of your letter by Dr. B. and feel great pleasure at the partial measures, which you inform me have been taken. As much is done here for the time in the other parts of the aCair as I expected, and no deAciency in any respect will take place on the part of the person here on that day that half of what you mention shall arrive. I wish Dr. B had brought Me three, or even one or two of the Aves. It waits only for them— I request that they may come directly, and that the necessary steps towards the end may be taken in other proper places. We know little more than that the French Beet has proceeded towards Cadiz & the Streights; tho I believe more is known here. The election of Mr. Mc.Kean is considered as promising— A new republican paper at Hamburg in English and a new antirepublican paper at Altona also in English are about to be established. The appearances of great excitement, preparation & designs among the Country powers of India are gathered from Hamburg papers of April 20 to 27. The expectations of American & French Negociation at Hamburg on the 1st. May were great & conAdent— The english severities against the Irish and the Irish retaliations on the friend[s] of the English in April were encreasing. I have a letter of the 26th. April from Hamburg, which says that many of our vessels had arrived there safe, after being boarded by Fr. privateers. Buonaparte seems to be in a course of steady & extensive establishment. He has discovered the ruins of an unknown City in the Desert— The Spanish ACairs appear to be surging to a Anancial crisis, as you may gather from the paper of the 21st.—It is impossible too that they should not feel a disposition to diminish their grievances civil & ecclesiastical. It is probable the power of republican Spain will be brought into action in the present year. There are to be two great republics in Italy: one of Rome & Naples. The other of Italy north of the old estates of the Church, except Piedmont, which joins France. Letters from Gore in London, and from M. La Fayettes friends say he is coming out; and in a public Character, as is supposed. The army of the US. it is said Alls pretty fast in most places. It is reported that the French been joined by the Spanish Beet at < 132>
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Cadiz, and it is said to be the accot. of the Agnes. This Movement of the French Beet is unexpected, and very hazardous. If they were to double back towards Ireland with the Spaniards it would be a serious aCair. That or Toulon or the aid of Buonaparte seems to form the extent of their possible Objects. It is singular that with accounts to the 1st. of May we have no account that the Russian German Army has been in any Action. It seems that the British & Irish Union will be hazarded let the latter take it as they may. It is a serious trial of Irish prejudices, and proves the fears of a republican revolutionary convention there. Property in Ireland will not sell in London at this time. There is something extraordinary in the aCairs of Jourdan, Massena & Scherer with the Archduke, Hotz & Kray. I confess I am inclined to beleive that the Armies were as much aCected by some unexplained political circumstances as by the military Events. It is very singular that we are informed that the King of Prussia guarrantees the neutrality of all Germany, which is paralyizing it, as to support of the British Turks & Russians. The British Stocks wonderfully maintain their prices. British Exch. here is at 110 e cent discount on £147.1[0].0 Cy for £100 Stg and steadily so. No other bills, scarcely, sell. This proves that the English are keeping their Money here, and bring-out more— Our 8 e Ct. loan is 7 e discot. & steadily from 6 to 8 e Ct.— The report of actions between Toussaint & Rigaud are not believed. We do not hear of any political slips of the P. since his departure for Braintree. I think his nominations for F. had a most seasonable eCect to discourage the hopes of our ultimately co-operating with the Enemies of the Fr. Republic—By subsequent accounts from Europe, it seems that it must have been critically important—The death of Mr. Henry is also a very important event: Since it has pleased God to dispense it. The Pope is taken to Briançon in France, where also Genl. Mack has arrived. These are the principal articles of current intelligence—I am dr. sir yr very respectf. & ob. st. T. Coxe RC (DLC); at foot of text: “June 22. 99,” indicating that Coxe wrote the text in two or more sittings; endorsed by TJ as received 11 July and so recorded in SJL. your letter by dr. b.: William Bache delivered TJ’s letter to Coxe of 21
May. person here: probably Ezekiel Foreman (see TJ to Coxe, 21 May). i have a letter: Coxe received news of the safe arrival of American vessels at Hamburg from Henry Kleinwort, a merchant of that city, who also noted that improving relations between the United
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21 J U N E 1799 States and France had caused insurance premiums to decline to 12 percent (Kleinwort to Coxe, 26 Apr. 1799, in PHi: Coxe Family Papers). On 16 Feb. Napoleon Bonaparte reported from Cairo that General Louis Charles Desaix was searching for the ruins of Thebes. Setting out from Giza in August 1798, Desaix, with a small army, had pursued Murad Bey and the Mameluke forces as far south as Aswan (Philadelphia Aurora, 18 June 1799; Scott and Rothaus, Historical Dictionary, 1:348; J. Christopher Herold, Bonaparte in Egypt [New York, 1962], 225-62; Chandler, Dictionary, 119, 291, 294). m. la fayettes friends say he is coming out: on 20 June the Philadelphia Aurora reported that the Revolutionary War hero was expected to arrive in the United States during the next month. Three days earlier the same newspaper noted that an American agent in London (perhaps Christopher Gore, who was serving on the commission to settle American claims against the British under Article 7 of the Jay Treaty) had reported to his friends in Boston that Lafayette was coming to the United States as a minister of France. Letters from Boston Federalists signed “American Independence” appeared in Russell’s Gazette to warn the community that the French could not have sent “a more dangerous man” (J. Russell’s Gazette. Commercial and Political, 30 May, 3, 6 June 1799; King, Life, 3:37-40; Helen R. Pinkney, Christopher Gore: Federalist of Massachusetts, 1758-1827 [Waltham, Mass., 1969], 65-6). For the arrival of the schooner agnes in Philadelphia from Lisbon, see the Philadelphia Gazette, 22 June 1799. In spite of anti-unionist sentiments expressed in resolutions passed in Dublin and debates in the Irish Parliament, George III signed the Act for the union of Great Britain and Ireland on 2 July 1800 (Ehrman, Pitt, 170-94). affairs of jourdan, massena & scherer with the archduke, hotz & kray: General Jean Baptiste Jourdan returned to Paris after being defeated at
Stockach on 25 Mch. by Archduke Charles of Austria. Immediately resuming his political career, on 13 Apr. Jourdan was elected deputy to the Council of Five Hundred. André Massena, commander of the Army of Helvetia, was reportedly defeated on 23 Mch. at Feldkirch, in western Austria, by General Friedrich Hotze. Massena had been generally successful, however, in thwarting the opposition and was building up French forces in Switzerland. In early 1799 General Barthelemy Schérer, former French minister of war, commanded the armies of Italy and Naples. On 5 Apr. he was defeated at Magnano by Austrian General Paul Kray. Schérer soon resigned his command and was charged with proAteering (Philadelphia Gazette, 26 June 1799; Scott and Rothaus, Historical Dictionary, 1:512-13, 2:882-4; Chandler, Dictionary, 227, 404; Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, 56 vols. [Berlin, 1967-71], 13:201-9). Reports in early April indicated that to preserve German neutrality King Frederick William III of Prussia, who did not join the Second Coalition, refused to allow the Russian army passage through Prussia (Philadelphia Gazette, 24 June 1799; Scott and Rothaus, Historical Dictionary, 2:882-4; Palmer, Democratic Revolution, 2:433-5). Accounts of the “bloody” engagements between toussaint-Louverture and André rigaud, each reportedly commanding forces of about 50,000 men on Saint-Domingue, reached New York on 20 June and were published in the Philadelphia Gazette on 22 and 24 June. News of the death of Patrick henry on 6 June appeared in the Aurora on 20 June. Following his eviction to Siena early in 1798, pope Pius VI was conAned at Florence. With the resumption of the war in Italy he was again moved, this time across the Alps into france, where he died at Valence in August 1799 (Edward E. Y. Hales, Revolution and Papacy, 1769-1846 [Garden City, N.Y., 1960], 114-15, 127-8; Philadelphia Gazette, 27 June 1799; Vol. 30:66-8).
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To George Jefferson Dear Sir Monticello June 21. 99. Your two favors of the 17th. came to hand yesterday. the duplicate manifest of No. 10. is recieved & the deAcient one of No. 7. shall be inquired for. I am glad the tobo. was shipped to N. York before my request to suspend it was recieved, as the information about the rise of the Richmond price seems more than dubious. at any rate by the time we know the success of this shipment we must determine Anally whether we will trust to a sale at Richmond or not. if I cannot get [10] D. there I am decided to try another market. I will be obliged to you to send me 0 a doz. L of lamp-black, or any quantity thereabouts according to the usual package. Robert Hemings promised to procure me a preparation of the lemon juice called in the W. Indies center but which he called by some other name. I should be glad of a dozen bottles of it if he thinks it will bear transportation at this warm season. you will be so good as to pay him for it. there are some boats now on their way down which will probably be the last this season. I wish the 3. ton of nail-rod lately shipped by Roberts may get to Richmond in time for them. I am with great esteem Dear Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); faint; at foot of text: “[Mr. Geo.] JeCerson.”
To Daniel Clark [Sir] Monticello in Virginia. June 23. 1799 I have to acknolege the reciept of your favor of Feb. 12. [as I] learn with great satisfaction that my letter to mr Nolan has got into so safe a channel for it’s conveyance. the opportunities of knowing any thing of the physical & moral history of the horse in a condition unconnected with man are so rare, that it would be truly unfortunate that what mr Nolan [has] acquired on that subject should be lost to the world. my idea [respecting] the information from him [was] to present it to the world through the medium of our Philosophical society in Philadelphia. in such a [communication] from him I imagine there could scarcely be any occasion to exercise the sanction you are pleased to give, that nothing should be published which might bring injury on him. [yet?] attention shall unquestionably [be] given to it. perhaps it might be better that he himself should [oversee?] such passages if any < 135>
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there should be; as he would best know those [facts] which it might be interesting for us to possess, and yet inj[urious to] him to publish. I thank you also for your information respecting mr Dunbar. it is [always pleasing] & may some times be useful to [know?] that a son of science is set down in a [. . .], as yet little [. . .] known to the rest of the world. I take leave [. . .] in the inclosed [letter] of introducing myself to a correspondence with him and of [inviting him to] consider the knowlege he has acquired of [. . .] [to its inhabitants] and [. . .] to it, as [. . .] & doubtless [of] the curious of every [. . .]. [. . .] by the use I have made of the [letter] [. . .]. [. . .] I shall set on [. . .] accept assurances of the [sentiments of respect] [. . .] I am [Sir] Your [most obedt & most humble servt] Th: Jefferson [. . .] New Orleans PrC (MHi); faint, with several illegible phrases of three or more words; at foot of text: “Daniel Clarke junr esq New Orleans.” Enclosure: TJ to William Dunbar, 24 June 1799. Enclosed in TJ to Tench Coxe, 24 June.
From George Jefferson Dear Sir, Richmond 23d. June 1799 I have made enquiry respecting the price of Bour at the time you mention & And that the highest current price was 6.0$: for Ane & 7$: for supr. Ane—Johnston sold a few barrels of S.F. to the bakers in Janr. 98 at 7.0$: but he does not conceive that to be the price by which you should be governed. we also sold a small quantity in the same way at the same price—10 barrels at a time was the most we sold. J. did not sell as much. I think when you before wrote me upon the subject I applied to Gallego—& am of opinion he informed me that he had sold at 7.0$:— if however you will refer to my letter, which I think was written in May or June last (for I have not always preserved copies) you can ascertain whether he did or not. he now says he did not sell higher than 7$:—I cannot conceive how the diCerence arises, unless he sold some which he considered as Cash, but entered it to the debit of some one for a few days—and it was then fresh in his memory, but has now forgotten it. I believe I have not informed you that I sent the books you wanted, except one, by Wm. Faris to the care of Mr. Watson the 10th— I will send you the hat by the Arst oppy and am, Dear Sir Your Very humble servt. Geo. Jefferson < 136>
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As you did not mention any time of credit, I conclude it is the Cash price of which you wish to be informed. G. J. Washingtons reports Hennings Justice Acts of Assembly G & N’s speeches debates of the assembly RC (MHi); books and prices recorded on verso of address sheet; addressed: “Thomas JeCerson esqr. Monticello”; franked and postmarked; endorsed by TJ as received 28 June and so recorded in SJL.
£1 –16 – 1– 4– – 6– – 1 –6 – 6– £3 –13 – 6 you before wrote me: TJ to George JeCerson, 20 May 1798. See 28 May of that year for JeCerson’s letter to TJ, touching on the price of tobacco. g & n’s speeches: addresses in the House of Representatives by Albert Gallatin and John Nicholas.
To Tench Coxe Monticello June 24. 99.
Th: JeCerson presents his friendly salutations to mr Coxe, and, authorized to do so by mr Daniel Clarke of N. Orleans, he puts under his cover a letter to that gentleman for which he says mr Coxe will know the best channel of conveyance. it relates to matters of literature solely, and therefore need excite no apprehensions in the persons to whom mr Coxe may conAde it. Health & respect. RC (CtY); addressed: “Tenche Coxe esq. Philadelphia”; franked; endorsed by Coxe. PrC (MHi). Not recorded in SJL. Enclosure: TJ to Daniel Clark, 23 June 1799, and enclosure.
To William Dunbar Sir Monticello in Virginia June 24. 99 Though I have not the pleasure of a personal acquaintance with you, yet the liberty I take of introducing myself to you will I hope And it’s excuse in the motives leading to it. much enquiry you know was excited on the discovery of America as to the origin of it’s inhabitants found here at the time of that discovery. many hypotheses have been hazarded but none of them satisfactory. I have long imagined that if there exists at this day, any evidence of their descent from any nation of the old world, it will be found in their languages. it must require < 137>
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an immense tract of time indeed for two languages, originally the same, to recede from each other till all appearances of their common origin shall be lost. it is therefore interesting to make as copious a collection as possible of the languages of the Indian tribes inhabiting America. I have for some time been availing myself of such opportunities of doing this as have occurred to me. some others in this quarter have done the same; so that we are likely to make a tolerable collection of those on this side the Missisipi. beyond that river our means fail. it is therefore with great pleasure I have learnt that so advanced a post as the Natchez possesses a gentleman so well qualiAed as yourself to extend enquiries into the regions beyond that. a lover of science cannot want the zeal requisite to engage his aid in it’s promotion. on this ground I have presumed to ask you to procure for us what, with convenience, you can procure in this way, from the country beyond your position. the Chickasaws & Choctaws are the most remote of those whom our enquiries have reached. and as it is material, for the purpose of comparison, that our enquiries should go to the same objects, I take the liberty of inclosing to you some blank copies of the vocabularies we have used & of asking the favor of you to procure them to be Alled from such tribes beyond the Missisipi as are within our reach. some explanation as to the orthography used will always be necessary in committing to writing sounds for the expression of which our alphabet is not adapted. We possess little which can be relied on relating to the part of the continent you inhabit, except it’s mere geography. it’s natural history is but little known. accounts too of the Indians of those regions would be very acceptable to the curious. any information you would be so good as to favor me with on these subjects would be thankfully recieved, & through the channel of the American Philosophical society might be communicated to the public. Letters addressed to me at this place (near Charlottesville) & lodged in any post oDce of the United States either in our Western country or the Atlantic ports will be safely forwarded to me. be pleased to accept assurances of the respect with which I am Sir Your most obedt & most humble servt Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); at foot of Arst page: “Mr. Dunbar.” Enclosed in TJ to Daniel Clark, 23 June 1799. William Dunbar (ca. 1750-1810) was born near Elgin, in Morayshire, Scotland. Private tutors prepared him for a university education in Scotland, where
he excelled in mathematics and science. After graduating from college, Dunbar emigrated to America in 1771, entering the proAtable trade around Fort Pitt before starting a plantation in Louisiana. For two decades business dealings along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers helped to establish him Anancially, but it was
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26 J U N E 1799 not until the 1790s, when he developed a cotton and indigo plantation (“The Forest”) near Natchez in Spanish West Florida, that Dunbar achieved Anancial success. In 1798 the Spanish government appointed him surveyor general of the Natchez District and commissioned him to survey the boundary between the United States and Spanish West Florida. As a surveyor in the Southwest, he was positioned to collect a wide range of information about the territory. Upon TJ’s recommendation, Dunbar was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1800. Between 1801 and 1810 he continued to pursue his scholarly interests, publishing several articles in the society’s Transactions, researching Indian vocabu-
laries and languages, recording observations in astronomy and meteorology, and coordinating scientiAc expeditions into the West (Arthur H. DeRosier, Jr., “William Dunbar: A Product of the Eighteenth Century Scottish Renaissance,” Journal of Mississippi History, 28 [1966], 185-227; anb; aps, Proceedings, 22, pt. 3 [1884], 290, 294). Although TJ did not have a personal acquaintance with Dunbar, a letter from Dunbar to TJ of 9 Nov. 1790 is recorded in SJL as received from Alexandria, Louisiana, 15 Dec. 1790. blank copies of the vocabularies: see note to TJ to William Linn, 5 Feb. 1798.
From Mary Jefferson Eppes Eppington June 26th 99.
I am sorry indeed my dear Papa that my silence has continued so long as to have given you displeasure, could you know my heart you could least of all suspect me of any thing like forgetfulness, & tho’ I must acknowledge that indolence has been in great measure the cause, yet from Mont Blano to Petersburg, opportunitys are so rare that it is seldom in our power to write. you can have but a slight idea of my aCection my dear papa could you suppose it possible for me a moment to forget you, could my letters be agreeable to any one it might induce me oftener to write; but as you excuse them such as they are, it shall not be the case again they will prove to youA whatever they are that tender love which I can never express which is interwoven with my existence. I should have gone up last month could Mr Eppes who has long wish’d it have staid but it would have been very inconvenient to him as his aCairs would have requir’d his presence down here till now. I am in hopes however that it will not be long before his interest will induce him to build up there & we shall then allways be one of the Arst to welcome your arrival, he will And it easy to sell the Hundred should your friend not take it, as he has had several applications from gentlemen well able to purchase it. I anticipate the time with real pleasure had I no other reasons regard for my health would make it desirable for the sallow complexion of my neighbours & their own complaints even at this season are suDcient proofs of the unhealthiness of the country, but I have been desir’d by < 139>
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Mr Eppes’s father to assure you that would you try the air of this place you would And it as healthy as any situation below the mountains, it is indeed uncommon for any one to be sick here. Adieu dear Papa this is the last letter I hope that I shall write to you this year. The 15th or 16th I shall again behold dear Monticello & with it all that is most dear to me in the world & in that idea I allready feel a degree of happiness which makes me more sensible of that which I shall experience when that moment arrives, that heartfelt happiness which I only feel with you & my dear Sister Adieu once more my dear Papa believe me your aCectionate daughter ME RC (MHi); endorsed by TJ as received 4 July and so recorded in SJL.
q Preceding two words interlined.
my silence: for Mary’s last letter to her father, see 13 Mch. 1799. your friend: William Short.
Indenture for Land Exchange with Nicholas Meriwether Lewis and Mildred Hornsby Lewis This indenture made on the Arstq day of July one thousand seven hundred & ninety niner between Nicholas Meriwether Lewis and Mildred his wifes on the one part & Thomas JeCerson on the other part, all of them of the county of Albemarle, witnesseth that the said Nicholas Meriwether, & Mildred his wife, for the considerations herein after expressed,t do hereby give grant bargain & sell unto the said Thomas a certain parcel of land lying on the North West side of the Monticello mountain in Albemarle, bounded as follows, to wit, Beginning at a black gum antient-marked fore & aft in the dividing line of the lands of the said Nicholas Meriwether & Thomas which leads S. 20.° W. according to patent, but now S. 13.° W. up the mountain from their corner on the river, (which said black gum is 86. poles & 20. links distant along the said line from the said corner on the river,) & running from the said black gum S. 63.° W. 720 poles a new line to one pole beyond the Western side of the road from the Secretary’s ford heretofore opened by the said Thomas, (which said road is distinguished by it’s ascendingu generally one foot perpendicular for nine or ten feet horizontal to a certain height & then running < 140>
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Mr Eppes’s father to assure you that would you try the air of this place you would And it as healthy as any situation below the mountains, it is indeed uncommon for any one to be sick here. Adieu dear Papa this is the last letter I hope that I shall write to you this year. The 15th or 16th I shall again behold dear Monticello & with it all that is most dear to me in the world & in that idea I allready feel a degree of happiness which makes me more sensible of that which I shall experience when that moment arrives, that heartfelt happiness which I only feel with you & my dear Sister Adieu once more my dear Papa believe me your aCectionate daughter ME RC (MHi); endorsed by TJ as received 4 July and so recorded in SJL.
q Preceding two words interlined.
my silence: for Mary’s last letter to her father, see 13 Mch. 1799. your friend: William Short.
Indenture for Land Exchange with Nicholas Meriwether Lewis and Mildred Hornsby Lewis This indenture made on the Arstq day of July one thousand seven hundred & ninety niner between Nicholas Meriwether Lewis and Mildred his wifes on the one part & Thomas JeCerson on the other part, all of them of the county of Albemarle, witnesseth that the said Nicholas Meriwether, & Mildred his wife, for the considerations herein after expressed,t do hereby give grant bargain & sell unto the said Thomas a certain parcel of land lying on the North West side of the Monticello mountain in Albemarle, bounded as follows, to wit, Beginning at a black gum antient-marked fore & aft in the dividing line of the lands of the said Nicholas Meriwether & Thomas which leads S. 20.° W. according to patent, but now S. 13.° W. up the mountain from their corner on the river, (which said black gum is 86. poles & 20. links distant along the said line from the said corner on the river,) & running from the said black gum S. 63.° W. 720 poles a new line to one pole beyond the Western side of the road from the Secretary’s ford heretofore opened by the said Thomas, (which said road is distinguished by it’s ascendingu generally one foot perpendicular for nine or ten feet horizontal to a certain height & then running < 140>
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horizontally) thence Southwardly parallel with the said road according to it’s windings and keeping at one pole Westward from it’s Western sidev to where it is intersected by the dividing line of the said Nicholas Meriwether & Thomas which comes up the West side of the said mountain in a direction of N. 45.° E. according to patent, but now N. 37. E. thence along the said dividing line N. 37.° E. 990 poles to the corner,w thence along the dividing line Arst mentioned which leads to the Secretary’s ford N. 13. E. 5 41. poles 11. links to the fore and aft black gum at the beginning: which said parcel of land contains twenty sevenx acres and an half, & is part of 1020. acres granted by patent bearing date the 19th. day of July 1735. to Nicholas Meriwether who by last will duly proved & recorded in the county court of Goochland devised the same to Nicholas Lewis father of the said Nicholas Meriwether Lewis in feesimple, who, by deed bearing date the 14th. day of April 1791. and duly proved and recorded in the county court of Albemarle, conveyed 684. acres part thereof & comprehending this parcel of 270 acres to the said Nicholas Meriwether Lewis in feesimple:y to have and to hold the said parcel of twenty seven and an half acres,qz with their appurtenances to the said Thomas & his heirs in exchange for one other parcel of land hereinafter described, and in consideration thereof qq and of the sum of sixteen pounds ten shillings paid by the said Thomas to the said Nicholas Meriwether Lewis. And this said indenture further witnesseth that the said Thomas doth hereby give grant bargain & sell to the said Nicholas Meriwether Lewis that parcel of land lying on the North side ofqr the High mountain in the said county of Albemarle bounded as follows, to wit, Beginning in the line of the said Thomas which leads due North down the said mountain, and at the point thereof intersected by the Northeastern side of theqs publick road leading from Milton to Charlottesville, & running on the said line as it divides the lands of the said Thomas & Nicholas Meriwether due North 42. poles 17. links to their corner, thence along another dividing line of the said lands, antient marked, as having been Carter’s patent line, S. 53. E. 102. poles to where the lands of the said Thomas & Nicholas Meriwether corner on the Western side of the old road in the valley between the two mountains (which corner is one pole Westward from the branch & from an antient marked fore & aft gum on the bank thereof) then from the said corner running S. 240 W. 18. poles a new line to the North Eastern side of the public road beforementioned, thence along the said North Eastern side of the said road, according to it’s windings to the beginning:qt which said parcel of < 141>
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land contains twelve & an half acres, & is part of 9350. acres granted to John Carter decd. by patent bearing date the 28th. day of September 1730., who by his will devised the same to his son Edward in feetail, who by virtue thereof, & of the act of general assembly declaring tenants of lands in feetail to hold the samequ in feesimple, becoming siesed thereof in feesimple, sold and conveyed 483. acres part thereof & comprehending the said 120 acres to the said Thomas in feesimple, by deed bearing date the 17th. day of October 1777. duly proved & recorded in the county court of Albemarle: to have & to hold the said parcel of twelve acres & an half of land with it’s appurtenances to the said Nicholas Meriwether Lewis and his heirs in exchange for the parcel of 270 acres before herein conveyedqv to the said Thomas and in consideration thereof. In witness whereof the said Nicholas Meriwether Lewis & Mildred his wifeqw and the said Thomas have hereto subscribed their names & aDxed their seals on the day & year Arst abovementioned.qx Signed sealed & Nicholas M Lewis delivered in presence of Mildred Lewis Wm. Wirt Th: Jefferson Geo Poindexter Christopher Hudson MS (NcD); entirely in TJ’s hand except for blanks for day and month Alled by an unknown hand (see note 1 below) and signatures of witnesses and other principals; indented; notation on verso: “At Albemarle July Court 1799 This Indenture was Produced unto Court and acknowledged by Thos. JeCerson & Nicholas M. Lewis & Mildred Lewis Wife to the Said Nicholas M Lewis being Arst Privaly examined as the law directs and ordered to be Recorded. Teste John Nicholas C.C.” PrC (MHi); entirely in TJ’s hand, with blanks for day and month; unsigned (see note 18). Dft (MHi); entirely in TJ’s hand; written in April 1794 (see note 2); heavily emended; an attached scrap of paper contains questions in TJ’s hand: “the original patentee to whom he conveyed of Meriwether’s will & where recorded date & quantity of mr Lewis’s deed to N.M.,” and responses by Lewis on verso: “Patanted to Nicholas Meriwether & Conveied by will from him to Nicholas Lewis which will is recorded in the
Goochland ODce I canot conveniantly get the date 624 acres convi’d to N.M.L. April 14th 1791 N.M.L.” Tr (Albemarle County Deed Book No. 13, Albemarle County Circuit Court Clerk’s ODce, Charlottesville); with copy of Nicholas’s attestation (see above) at foot of text. Nicholas Meriwether Lewis (17671818), the son of TJ’s friend Nicholas Lewis, served for a time as surveyor of Albemarle County, during which TJ developed a favorable opinion of his honesty and accuracy. He and his cousin, Mildred Hornsby (1774-1847), a granddaughter of Dr. Thomas Walker, married in 1792. Meeting the bride not long after the wedding, TJ’s daughter Martha, who chafed at the “airs” and the “impertinence” of the Lewis family, called Mildred Hornsby Lewis “a good little woman tho most intolerable weak.” Around 1800 the Lewises, along with Mildred’s widowed father, Joseph Hornsby, and her siblings, moved to Kentucky, a migration that Nicholas Meriwether Lewis and his father-in-law had been planning since at
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1 J U LY 1799 least the beginning of 1796 (John M. McAllister and Lura B. Tandy, Genealogies of the Lewis and Kindred Families [Columbia, Mo., 1906], 34-5; wmq, 1st ser., 17 [1909], 169; Vol. 23:343, 424, 475, 546-7; Vol. 24:111, 147; Vol. 28:580; Vol. 29:37; TJ to Jared MansAeld, 17 Dec. 1804). The plot of land that TJ traded in this transaction was a portion of his holdings southwest of Monticello on Carter’s Mountain, called by him Montalto or High Mountain. The inclusion of a cash payment in the indenture to balance the exchange of acreage, which TJ had not included when he drafted the document in 1794, was the result of a valuation of the two plots by Thomas Garth and James Kerr in December 1796 (mb, 1:219, 452; 2:950). For Lewis’s lands near TJ’s, see also Vol. 28:472. Sometime after he had the property surveyed on 31 Aug. 1802 TJ drew a plat of the tract he acquired from Lewis and an adjacent, slightly smaller piece of land (CSmH; see Nichols, Architectural Drawings, No. 517). SJL records letters from TJ to Lewis of 11 Jan. 1798, 8 Apr., and 30 Sep. 1800, and from Lewis to TJ of 29 Mch. and 30 Sep. 1800, received respectively on 5 Apr. and 30 Sep. 1800, none of which has been found. q This word and name of month are in an unknown hand in MS and are lacking in PrC. r Dft: “the day of April 1794.” s Preceding four words lacking in Dft. t Preceding six words interlined in Dft. u Word reworked in Dft from “descending.” v In Dft TJ Arst wrote “10. feet horizontal, thence along the said Western side of the sd road,” then interlined “according to it’s windings” after “road,” and Anally reworked the passage to read substantially as above.
w In Dft TJ Arst wrote the preceding passage as: “of N. 45. E. which Western side of the road coincides nearly with the following magnetic courses,” followed by a sequence of 13 bearing and distances and continuing “to the intersection of the dividing line last before mentioned.” x In Dft TJ Arst wrote “six” and replaced it with “seven,” and subsequently in Dft he replaced “260” with “270.” y Word lacking in Dft, where TJ Arst wrote and then canceled “by deed bearing date the 14th. day of April 1791 and recorded in the county court of Albemarle: to have & to hold the sd parcel of lands & it’s appurtenances to the sd Thomas & his heirs in Exchange for one other parcel of land herein after described, and in consideration thereof as also that the sd N. M. Lewis gives grants bargains & sells to the sd T. a right of free passage along the residue of the road before mentioned where the same passes through the lands retained by the sd N.M. to the said Secretary’s ford.” qz In Dft TJ here canceled “& the [ . . . ] right of free passage along the sd road.” qq Remainder of paragraph lacking in Dft. qr Preceding four words interlined in Dft. qs Preceding four words interlined in Dft. qt Originally in Dft TJ continued: “which windings of the sd North Eastern side of the sd road coincide nearly with the following magnetic courses,” then gave eight bearings and distances followed by “to the beginning as afores’d.” qu In Dft TJ Arst wrote “tenants in feetail to stand seised.” qv Preceding three words lacking in Dft, where TJ canceled “& of the sd right of free passage along the sd road before described.” qw Preceding four words lacking in Dft. qx PrC ends here.
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From William Short JeC. July. 2. 99—Send him the book by GriDth on rural architecture & speak of the art—speak of Fultons book on canal navigation—& his inventions in other useful arts—such men ought to conAne themselves to their own country—such useless persons as myself indiCerent where they live &c—sorry to appear a stranger to my country—Imperious circumstances have & do postpone the change in mode of life announced to him—Hope he will write by the commissnrs. expected here—they will settle diCerences—in the mean time write me by the packets to the care of M & S. at Ham. & Delt. here—mention Coll. S.—wish the aCair could be settled—suppose my brother too far oC—B.H. or Browne might perhaps be employed, if he think proper—Paskie—Indian camp to be tenanted out by way of experit.—beg him to appoint an agent for details & to keep accts.—hope the 9. m. dollars settled—wish to know how employed—to know also how many canal shares—their original & present price—the price they cost me—& the dividend I receive— beg him to excuse the trouble, & above all to write to me—Send him a Virgil stereotype—inclose a letter for my brother—desire to be recalled to & kept in the memory of my friends—hopes those of my countrymen who are not my friends have so completely forgotten me as not to know where I am— FC (DLC: Short Papers); entirely in Short’s hand; part of an epistolary record of his letters to TJ and others from 26 Apr. 1799 to 30 Aug. 1800. Recorded in SJL as received 3 Oct. 1799. For probable enclosures to this letter, see TJ to Peyton Short, 16 Oct. 1799. Thomas Waters griffith, born in Baltimore in 1767, learned French and bookkeeping before going to France in 1791 to establish himself in business. In and out of France during the Terror and under the Directory, he acted as U.S. consul at Le Havre and returned to the United States in August 1799. The previous year his book, L’indépendance absolue des Américains des États-Unis, had been published in Paris. He later wrote Sketches of the Early History of Maryland (1821) and Annals of Baltimore (1824). In February 1801 John Adams appointed him American commercial agent at Rouen (Elizabeth
Wormeley Latimer, ed., My Scrap-Book of the French Revolution [Chicago, 1898], 9-21, 40-50, 54-7, 67-9; jep, 1:166, 382, 385). GriDth’s only known correspondence with TJ was a letter of 2 Sep. 1799, now missing, that according to SJL was received from New York on 3 Oct., the same day that TJ got the letter above. A visit from GriDth, mentioned in TJ’s 26 Mch. 1800 letter to Short, evidently took place in Philadelphia on 9 Jan. of that year. According to SJL, on that day TJ received two letters “by mr GriDth,” one of 3 July 1799 from Short and another written on 1 May of that year by Hector St. John (that is, St. John de Crèvecoeur). Neither piece of correspondence has been located. In the same epistolary record that contains the letter of 2 July printed above, Short noted the communication of 3 July, summarizing it only as “a letter of introduction for GriDth” (FC in DLC: Short Papers; entirely in Short’s hand).
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3 J U LY 1799 The book on rural architecture was François Cointeraux’s work on packed-earth or pisé construction, École d’Architecture Rurale (see below). fultons book: Robert Fulton, A Treatise on the Improvement of Canal Navigation (London, 1796), which advocated an innovative canal system that would use railcars or hoists, rather than locks, to raise and lower boats. In 1799 a French translation was published in Paris, where Fulton, a native of Pennsylvania, had gone in 1797 after spending a decade in England, where he Arst turned his attention to engineering and invention. Later, after returning to the United States, Fulton did some experimentation with pisé building (anb; Sowerby, Nos. 1177, 1230; Fulton to TJ, 26 Oct. 1808). The postponed change in mode of life was Short’s anticipated marriage to the widowed Duchesse de La Rouchefoucauld (Short to TJ, 6, 24 Aug., 9 Oct. 1798). commissionrs. expected here: William Vans Murray and the other envoys to France; see TJ to Madison, 19 Feb. 1799. m & s. at ham. was the Hamburg Arm of Matthiessen & Sillem; see Short to TJ, 6 Aug. 1800. delt. here: F. C. A. Delamotte at Le Havre. Short desired an accounting from his uncle, Colonel Henry Skipwith, who had managed Short’s Anancial aCairs in the U.S. from 1786 to 1792. Benjamin Harrison, b.h., had also earlier acted for Short in business matters, and James Brown was the Virginia representative of the Arm Donald & Burton (Shackelford, JeCerson’s Adoptive
Son, 135-6; Short to TJ, 27 Dec. 1797, 24 Aug. 1798; TJ to Short, 1 May 1798; John Harvie to TJ, 15 May 1798). For Short’s purchase of land from Frederick paskie (Paschke), see his letter to TJ of 9 Oct. 1798, and for his wish to rent his Albemarle County property called indian camp to tenants rather than farm it with slave labor, see TJ’s letters of 12 Mch. 1797 and 1 May 1798 and Short’s of 30 Mch., 27 Dec. 1797, 27 Feb., 15 Apr., and 6 Aug. 1798. In his letter of 2 Sep. 1795 Short explained the dispute over Edmund Randolph’s handling of $9,000 of his diplomatic salary—the 9. m. dollars that appears throughout Short’s correspondence with TJ in this period. For the status of that issue, see Timothy Pickering to TJ, 25 Feb. 1799, and TJ to Short, 26 Mch. 1800. Short’s investment in canal shares of the James River Company is discussed in the correspondence between him and TJ of 27 Feb., 1 May, and 6 Aug. 1798. virgil stereotype: Publius Virgilius Maro. Bucolica, Georgica, et Aeneis (Paris, 1798), published in Latin by Pierre and Firmin Didot as an “editio stereotypa” using a new printing process (Short to TJ, 27 Feb., 15 Apr. 1798; see also Sowerby, No. 4465). In the previous volume in this series the Editors mistakenly surmised that Cointeraux’s book and the Virgil were the two unidentiAed books that Elbridge Gerry brought for TJ from Short and gave to Horace Binney for delivery (Vol. 30:578).
To George Jefferson Dear Sir Monticello June.q [i.e., July] 3. 99. Yours of the 23d. is duly recieved. the corks & a bottle of lemon juice [arrived yesterday?] I am sorry I gave you a second time the trouble of enquiring the price [of Bour]. the [settlement with] my merchant having been delayed a twelvemonth [. . .] failure & arrangement of [. . .] [it had escaped] me that I had [. . .] to you [the] last [June—] [. . .] I have [turned to your] letter—at th[at time] [. . .] your conjecture [that] [. . .] had then [. . .] 7. D. Ane and 70. for < 145>
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superAne as the [price given] at the period [. . .] [I found] my 2. ton of nail rod [were conveyed? from] Philadelphia on the [. . .] inst. I hope they are at hand and will come by the Arst boat. when I inclosed you the draught for [800] D. on Barnes on common paper I promised a duplicate on stamped paper to remove all diDculties. this I could [never] obtain till two days ago. I now inclose it. I am with great esteem Dr. Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); faint, with several illegible phrases of three or more words; at foot of text: “[George JeC]erson”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosure on stamped paper not found, but see draft on Barnes listed at TJ to George JeCerson, 15 June 1799.
my merchant: John Fleming. q TJ wrote above “June,” in ink, “for July” and entered the letter in SJL under 3 July.
To Thomas Mann Randolph Th:J. to TMR. July 3. 99. Mr. Mc.gehee is mistaken in supposing I had made mr Madison’s nails. not a single one is made, because he promised to give me notice suDcient for having them made before he should go away. your letter being delivered to me at Monticello at 2. aclock & my people all over at Shadwell, I can do nothing in it to-day; but they Anish at Shadwell tonight & will all come over here, and in the morning I will stop one of the boys to make the sprigs you desire. Your’s aCectionately Th:J. RC (DLC); addressed: “Randolph.” Not recorded in SJL.
your letter: the missive from Randolph to TJ is not recorded in SJL and has not been found.
To John Wayles Eppes Dear Sir Monticello July 4. 1799. I recieved yesterday a letter from Doctr. Taylor informing me he had paid very nearly the whole sum he owed me to mr Hanson, whose certiAcate was in the hands of French on it’s way to me. as soon as I recieve this certiAcate I shall not hesitate to redeliver to him the patents of the mortgaged lands in Greenbriar &c. be so good therefore as to leave them with mr Eppes, praying him barely to give them houseroom till a written order from me shall be delivered him for their < 146>
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being given up. I believe there is a list of the patents with them. if there is not, I will pray you to make out a list, barely stating by way of schedule in diCerent columns 1. the quantity. 2. the county. 3. the grantee’s name. 4. the date of every patent, with a receipt for them written at the foot; so that the reciever may give mr Eppes no other trouble than to take from him the patents & give him that receipt signed in exchange. without this formality Banks may trouble me by alledging that all the patents have not been redelivered. Your favor of June 16. came to hand on the 27th. and Maria’s of the 26th. was recieved yesterday. they have Alled us with longing wishes for the arrival of the 15th. inst. when we are promised the pleasure of seeing you both here. it will be to us all a most welcome hour whenever. we shall Anish our wheat harvest tomorrow. it is excellent in quality & midling in quantity through the neighborhood generally as well as in my particular case. mr Randolph’s was great in quantity also. our baise-mains to the family at Eppington & let them know we count on the pleasure of recieving them here this summer. I think Betsy promised to come up beforehand with you, & promises must not be forgotten. my constant and most tender aCections to my dear Maria, & to yourself aCectionate Salutations & Adieu. Th: Jefferson P.S. Page began to cut his rye yesterday. he has made out with his tobacco as well as the season would admit. plants were small, and seasons meagre, so that we shall need a late fall. RC (NHi); addressed: “John W. Eppes at Mont-blanco near Petersburg”; franked. The letter from Thomas A. taylor to TJ of 29 June, recorded in SJL as received on “4” not 3 July, has not been found. TJ received patents to lands located primarily in Greenbrier County, Virginia, as a guarantee of payment when he sold his Elk Hill estate to Henry Banks and Taylor in 1793 to pay oC part of his debt to Farell & Jones, the Arm rep-
resented by Richard Hanson of Petersburg (mb, 1:366, 751-2; TJ to Daniel L. Hylton, 3 June 1792; TJ to Hanson, 2 Apr. 1795; and TJ to Taylor, 2 Apr. 1795, 11 Dec. 1796; TJ to Banks, 15 Jan. 1795, 5 Dec. 1796; Indenture for the Sale of Elk Hill, 5 Aug. 1799). your favor: Eppes’s letter of 16 June, recorded in SJL as received from Petersburg on the 27th, has not been found. According to SJL TJ received maria’s letter on 4 July. baise-mains: compliments.
From George Jefferson Dear Sir, Richmond 8th. July 1799 Your favor of the 3d. inclosing a duplicate draught on Mr. Barnes for $:800.— is duly received; having had occasion to remit some < 147>
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money to N. York we inclosed your Arst dft: to Mr. Barnes, and requested him to forward the amot. to our correspondent there—you will therefore consider this money as being in our hands & will draw on us accordingly. We some days ago sent 20 bundles of your nail rod by R. Faris;—and on Saturday last, 60 bundles, being the balance, by Hendersons boats. The Center R. Hemmings says cannot be procured. Your Hat I sent by Mr. Conard. I am Dear Sir Your Very humble servt. Geo. Jefferson RC (MHi); at foot of text: “Thomas JeCerson esqr.”; endorsed by TJ as received 11 July and so recorded in SJL. our correspondent: Bethune & Smith of New York (see enclosure listed at TJ to George JeCerson, 15 June 1799).
In November TJ paid John Faris $16.125 for transporting over 3,000 pounds of goods, including groceries, glass doors, and other packages, in April 1799. On 20 June he paid George Faris over £4 for nailrod transported in 1797. There is no record of payment, however, to r. faris (mb, 2:1001, 1003, 1008).
To George Jefferson Dear Sir Monticello July 12. 99. This serves to advise you of the following draughts on you July 7. £5. payable to E. Randolph or order. at sight. 200. Doll payable to Wm. Davenport or order. at 10. days sight. 10. 19. D 620 c. payable to John Priddy or order. at sight. 12. £19.14.11. payable to Anderson Roe or order at sight. your favor of the 8th. is recieved; & the hat by mr Conard, & 20. bundles of nailrod by Faris are delivered. As the Center is not to be had which Robert Hemings was to have procured, you will oblige me by sending half a dozen bottles of lemon-juice by any good conveyance, or rather desiring Hemings to send them & apply to you for the cost. if there be a danger of it’s spoiling it might have a suDcient quantity of French brandy put in to keep it. the bottle you sent, pure, came in perfect order: but whether this could be counted on I am not a judge. I am with constant esteem Dr. Sir Your aCectionate friend & servt Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); at foot of text: “Mr. George JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
Edmund randolph served as TJ’s counsel in the suit brought by Richard Johnson contesting TJ’s ownership of a portion of the land called Pouncey’s tract
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25 J U LY 1799 (mb, 2:1003; TJ to Benjamin Hawkins, 22 Mch. 1796). A letter from TJ to William davenport of 7 July, recorded in SJL with the notation “draft on G.J.,” has not been found. TJ’s payment to john priddy settled
William Johnson’s charge for transporting about 4,000 pounds of herring from Richmond to Monticello. The payment to anderson roe (Row) settled TJ’s account with Johnson for carrying eight hogsheads of tobacco to Richmond (MB, 2:1003-4).
From George Jefferson Dear Sir, Richmond 14th. July 1799. Your favor of the 12th. is received. Bob having found some Center which arrived a few days ago I sent you a dozen bottles by a waggoner of the name of Smith who was to leave it at Mr. Higganbothams—I paid him for the carriage. I sent you yesterday by H. Faris 6 L. lamp-black with some Herrings of Mr. Eppes’s. The bottle of lemon juice which was sent you I found upon enquiry was a present from Mr. Hemmings—& was sent without my knowledge. Tobo. has become more dull than ever— scarcely any one appears inclined to purchase at any price; 40/. is the very highest Cash price; I fear it has fallen never to rise again. I am Dear Sir Your Very humble servt. Geo. Jefferson RC (MHi); at foot of text: “Thos. JeCerson esqr.”; endorsed by TJ as received 19 July and so recorded in SJL.
To George Jefferson Dear Sir Monticello July 25. 99. Your’s of the 14th. is at hand, as are also the 12. bottles of Center. Faris lost the lampblack, which however was not important as I got a supply from mr Higginbotham. on the 18th. inst. I drew on you for 50/6 in favor of John Peyton, & yesterday for £18.16.9 equal to 62. D 79 in favor of Moran or order at 3. days sight. it escaped me at the proper date (July 1) to desire you to pay Darmsdat’s bill of £31–4 = 104. D. for the Ash. be pleased to do it now. I now inclose you the manifest for the hhd. of tobo No. 7. which completes the whole. considering the present prices, I rather think I shall keep my tobo. on hand till Octob. that I may then get the price of old tobo for it at N.Y. < 149>
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or Philadelphia. this will make 2. or 3. dollars pr. x [. . .]. I am with great esteem Dear Sir Yours aCectionately Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); faint; at foot of text: “Mr. George JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosure not found. The payment to john peyton settled TJ’s account with the boatman William Johnson for carrying one hogshead of tobacco. The one to Joseph moran was made on 24 July at the request of John Steele, the stonemason who laid the
foundations for the renovation of Monticello, and more than satisAed the £15 balance which TJ owed Steele, including interest from November 1796. A letter from TJ to Moran, recorded in SJL at 24 July, has not been found. TJ recorded the payment of Joseph darmsdat’s bill for Ash on 25 July (mb, 2:941, 1004).
From George Jefferson & Company Dear Sir Richmond 29th July 1799. We take the opportunity of Mr. Isaac Miller’s Waggon to send you the Laws of Virga:—we did not think it necessary to purchase a Trunk, as the Case, they are now pack’d in is perfectly secure, and no danger to be apprehended from the conveyance—we have paid Mr. Fairlamb for binding &c 20/. per Volume—Tobacco is very dull, the Current cash price is 36/. We are respectfully Dear Sir Your obt Servts. Geo: Jefferson & Co: RC (MHi); in Patrick Gibson’s hand; at head of text: “Thomas JeCerson Esquire”; endorsed by TJ as received 6 Aug. and so recorded in SJL.
From Benjamin Rush Dear Sir/ Philadelphia July 29. 1799 Herewith you will receive two pamphBets, the one upon the causes of Animal life, the Other upon the Origin of the yellow fever in our city, & upon the means of preventing it. The latter has been generally read by our citizens, and has removed a small portion of their prejudices upon the Subject of our annual calamity. But time, and Another Visitation by the disease, I fear will Alone cure us of our Absurd, & destructive belief in its importation. Adieu. Continue to number me among your friends. While Science, and the principles & events of 1776, are congenial to my heart, your name will be dear to Benjn: Rush. < 150>
4 AU G U S T 1799 RC (MHi); endorsed by TJ as received on 8 Aug. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosures: (1) Benjamin Rush, Three Lectures upon Animal Life, Delivered in the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1799). (2) Benjamin Rush, Observations
upon the Origin of the Malignant Bilious, or Yellow Fever in Philadelphia, and upon the Means of Preventing It: Addressed to the Citizens of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, 1799). See Sowerby, Nos. 967, 976.
To John McDowell Dear Sir Monticello July 31. 99. Mrs. Bolling, my sister, is on her way to the Hot-spring: she thinks herself suDciently furnished with money for her expences. but being a stranger to the rates of expence there, and not certain how long she may stay, she wishes to be on a sure footing should she run short of cash. I have therefore taken the liberty, should she be in want, to desire her to apply to you, & I have to ask the favor of you in that case either to furnish money or answer for her to the tavern keeper whatever sum she may want, on my account. I am satisAed if she calls for anything, it will be far within the limits of the matters between us. your attention to her in this event will much oblige Dear Sir Your very humble servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); at foot of text: “Mr. Mc.Dowell”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Recorded in SJL as carried by Mary JeCerson Bolling.
From Elijah GrifAths Honor’d Sir; Philada Augt. 4—1799 I hope you will pardon the liberty I take in giving a few hints of the events which have taken place since last Session of Congress disolv’d, & the present State of the public mind in this State.–– If the Aurora Ands its way into your neighbourhood, the whiping business which follow’d the Nothampton expedition, Mr. Liston’s recent dispatches (found on the horse thief) together with many other things of the same stamp must be known to you, those things must have taken place through want of policy, as it has very Sensibly lessen’d the popularity of the party in Pennsylvania & New jersey, it may probably have that eCect elsewhare.—As to the present State of the public mind as far as we may Judge from appearances, I think there is no doubt of Mr. Mckean’s being Elected to the Governor’s chair by a very respectable majority; the people of York County who have been Unanimous in the opposite interest, appear now to be < 151>
4 AU G U S T 1799 RC (MHi); endorsed by TJ as received on 8 Aug. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosures: (1) Benjamin Rush, Three Lectures upon Animal Life, Delivered in the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1799). (2) Benjamin Rush, Observations
upon the Origin of the Malignant Bilious, or Yellow Fever in Philadelphia, and upon the Means of Preventing It: Addressed to the Citizens of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, 1799). See Sowerby, Nos. 967, 976.
To John McDowell Dear Sir Monticello July 31. 99. Mrs. Bolling, my sister, is on her way to the Hot-spring: she thinks herself suDciently furnished with money for her expences. but being a stranger to the rates of expence there, and not certain how long she may stay, she wishes to be on a sure footing should she run short of cash. I have therefore taken the liberty, should she be in want, to desire her to apply to you, & I have to ask the favor of you in that case either to furnish money or answer for her to the tavern keeper whatever sum she may want, on my account. I am satisAed if she calls for anything, it will be far within the limits of the matters between us. your attention to her in this event will much oblige Dear Sir Your very humble servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); at foot of text: “Mr. Mc.Dowell”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Recorded in SJL as carried by Mary JeCerson Bolling.
From Elijah GrifAths Honor’d Sir; Philada Augt. 4—1799 I hope you will pardon the liberty I take in giving a few hints of the events which have taken place since last Session of Congress disolv’d, & the present State of the public mind in this State.–– If the Aurora Ands its way into your neighbourhood, the whiping business which follow’d the Nothampton expedition, Mr. Liston’s recent dispatches (found on the horse thief) together with many other things of the same stamp must be known to you, those things must have taken place through want of policy, as it has very Sensibly lessen’d the popularity of the party in Pennsylvania & New jersey, it may probably have that eCect elsewhare.—As to the present State of the public mind as far as we may Judge from appearances, I think there is no doubt of Mr. Mckean’s being Elected to the Governor’s chair by a very respectable majority; the people of York County who have been Unanimous in the opposite interest, appear now to be < 151>
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almost as unanimous in favour of Mr. Mckeans election, the poll of that County is from 3. to 4000 votes—Lancaster has underwent a considerable chang & that favourable to the republican cause, Chester County is better, upon the whole the republican interest has gain’d rapidly the last 6 months in this state.— If the Southern States keep their ground we have nothing to fear at the next election for Presidents, I hope to see Pennsyla., Jersey, & New York States act pretty unanimously in placing a Arm friend of his country & rational Liberty, in the Presidential Chair I have the honor to be with Esteem your very Humble servant Elijah Griffiths P.S. If you And time to drop me a few lines at any time it will be taken as very particular favour.—E.G.— Direct to me at no 29 pine Street RC (DLC); addressed: “Thomas Jefferson Esquire Monticello—Virginia”; endorsed by TJ as received 16 Aug. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosed in John Barnes to TJ, 6 Aug. 1799, not found (see TJ to Barnes, 16 Aug., 15 Oct. 1799). Elijah GriDths (1769-1847), a native of Chester County, Pennsylvania, attended Benjamin Rush’s course of lectures at the University of Pennsylvania during the 1797-98 academic year. The dissertation for his medical degree, entitled An Essay on Ophthalmia, or InBammation of the Eyes, was published in Philadelphia in 1804 (see Sowerby, No. 982). GriDths practiced medicine there for the next thirty years, continuing on the medical staC at the Philadelphia almshouse— the address from which he wrote the letter above—until 1810. He served as a physician at the Philadelphia Hospital, as a member of the Philadelphia Board of Health, and in 1821 was elected a fellow of the College of Physicians. Upon the death of Rush in 1813, he unsuccessfully sought appointment as treasurer of the United States Mint. GriDths, a Baptist, served as vice president of the Pennsylvania Peace Society in 1823. He retired and moved to Salem, New Jersey, in 1834 (Rudolf Hirsch, ed., A Catalogue of the Manuscripts and Archives of the Library
of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia [Philadelphia, 1983], 188; Burton A. Konkle, Standard History of the Medical Profession of Philadelphia, ed. Frederick P. Henry, 2d ed. [New York, 1977], 304-5, 405-6; pmhb, 54 [1930], 83-4; D. Hayes Agnew and others, History and Reminiscences of the Philadelphia Almshouse and Philadelphia Hospital [Philadelphia, 1890], 10, 12; GriDths to TJ, 19 Apr., and TJ to GriDths, 22 May 1813). Upon their return from the expedition to Northampton County, Pennsylvania—designed to quell the protest against the direct tax and bring John Fries and others to Philadelphia for trial—the Philadelphia troops were angered to learn that the Aurora had printed several letters from “an oDcer of the Northern Army” criticizing the mission. The newspaper called it a “system of terror,” far beyond what the public good required, and gave extensive coverage to the whipping of Jacob Schneider, editor of the Readinger Adler, a German-language newspaper at Reading. He was beaten by the Lancaster cavalry troop on 20 Apr. for printing a report on the abuses of the militia there (Philadelphia Aurora, 11, 13, 16, 24, 27, 30 Apr. 1799; Brigham, American Newspapers, 2:969; Pasley, Tyranny of Printers, 152). On 15 May William Duane was subject to a
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5 AU G U S T 1799 similar attack by oDcers of the Philadelphia cavalry troops who demanded to know the identity of the correspondent from the expedition and the units being charged with misconduct. When Duane refused to identify his source, he was assaulted by about thirty men, identiAed by the editor as “a band of those friends of good order and regular government,” who threatened to “carry him to the market house, strip him and Bog him.” Republican Thomas Leiper was Duane’s correspondent on the Northampton expedition (Philadelphia Aurora, 16 May 1799; Kim Tousley Phillips, “William Duane, Revolutionary Editor” [Ph.D. diss., University of California, Berkeley, 1968], 71-5). liston’s recent dispatches: on 13 and 15 July and again on 3 Aug., the Philadelphia Aurora published two letters written by British minister Robert Liston on 6 and 23 May to Peter Russell, government administrator of the province of Upper Canada. They were intercepted and forwarded to Duane after Isaac Sweezy, the man with whom Liston had entrusted the correspondence, was arrested as a horse thief in Bucks County,
Pennsylvania. In one letter the British minister depicted the Pennsylvania tax protesters as “ignorant wretches” who were misled by the “declamations of the democratic faction on the constitutionality and nullity of certain acts of the Legislature.” He praised the volunteer troops who had quelled the “frivolous rebellion” and reported that some of the “gentlemen” had taken the law into their own hands by Bogging “one or two of the Printers” who had criticized the army’s conduct. In both letters Liston reported that the United States and France were close to formal war. In later correspondence with oDcials in London, Liston admitted that the letters exposed his friendly status with the Adams administration and tended to support the Republican contention that he was “employed” to produce a rupture between the United States and France (Philadelphia Aurora, 16 July 1799; Phillips, “William Duane,” 77-8; Dictionary of Canadian Biography, 14 vols. [Toronto, 1966- ], 5:729-32). For a third letter from Liston to the Canadian oDcial, see Notes on a Conversation with Tench Coxe, 2 Jan. 1800.
From William Cobbett Sir Bustleton, August 5th, 1799. In the Aurora of the 1st instant, there appeared two letters, which, if they are authentic, no one in the world but YOU could have enabled the editor of that, or any other paper, to publish.—The Arst purports to be a copy of a letter (dated at the Hague, August 6, 1792) from Mr. SHORT, the then American Embassador at the Hague, to yourself, recommending ME to your notice—The second purports to be a copy of a letter (dated at Wilmington, Delaware, Nov. 2nd, 1792) from myself to you, enclosing the letter of Mr. Short, and explaining to you, as to a patron, the nature of my situation and my prospects. That the publicity of these letters can give me no pain is very evident; because I stated the substance of them in a pamphlet published three years ago; and, every one, who recollects the situation in which I then stood, must be convinced, that, if I had possessed the copies, I < 153>
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should have been glad to publish them at length. Had these letters, therefore, come out unconnected with a subject of great importance to this country as well as to my own, their being published would never have called forth a comment from me; but, connected as they now stand with that important subject, it is my duty to expose the views of the publisher. It is stated in the infamous Aurora, that the copies which have been printed from were received from a person at Wilmington, who saw them, while I was waiting for an answer from you. Now, I am ready to take my oath, that I received Mr. Short’s letter sealed, that I never opened it, and that, ’till I saw the letter in Bache’s paper, I never knew its contents. I am also ready to make oath, that I never took a copy of the letter I sent you. It then, inevitably follows, that the story told by your friend Duane, respecting the channel through which he came by the letters, is a LIE. I shall not, I imagine, incur the charge of very great presumption in supposing, that my bare word will go full as far as that of the correspondent of Mazzei; but, as to the present fact, there is no occasion for a dependence on either my or your veracity; the publication contains in itself ample proof of its falshood. Your friend Duane (who formerly inhabited the jails of Calcutta) states, that the copies of the letters were received from a person who saw them at Wilmington, while I was waiting to see what eCect the originals would produce on you. Now, Sir, I arrived at Wilmington (for the Arst time in my life) on that very 2d of November on which I wrote to you; and, as I received your answer on the 6th,* it appears that I had but three clear days wherein to gain a conAdent amongst the Wilmingtonians, and such a conAdent, too, as I suCered not to only read, but to copy, my most important letters! You and Duane may endeavor to persuade people that this is truth; but the most stupid even your stupid partizans will never believe you. However, I will allow the brutish Democrats to swallow this; I will allow them to believe, that I actually did call in some precious caitiC of Wilmington to hear all my secrets and copy my letters, in three days after my arrival; yet I cannot allow even these swinish creatures to believe another fact advanced by Duane. This old jail-bird, in the ardour of his zeal, says, that the word gentleman was nearly obliterated in Mr. Short’s hand writing, and that, in another hand, the word man was inserted.—Now, mind, Sir: the Wilmingtonian saw the letters, while I was waiting for an answer from you, and, consequently, *See the copy of this answer in my Life and Adventures.
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after I had sent you Mr. Short’s letter; how, then, in the name of the Grand Mammoth, could the Wilmingtonian see Mr. Short’s hand writing!!!—So true, Sir, is the old maxim, that a liar ought to have a good memory.—What share you had in this falshood I cannot pretend to say; but, as it is certain, that you, and you alone, could furnish copies of the letters, and as they came forth accompanied with a lie, intended to persuade the public that you did not furnish them, it is by no means unfair to presume, that, if you were not the inventer of the falshood yourself, you gave your consent, either positive or tacit,q to the making use a falshood of some kind or other. I have been thus particular in Axing the publication on its real author, because this will appear to be a fact of the utmost importance, when we come examine his motives, and without such examination this letter would be of no use. Mr. Short’s Letter describes me as an Englishman of worth and merit about to go and settle in America. It states, that I am an acquaintance of a gentleman in the family of the English Embassador at the Hague, and that that gentleman, for whom Mr. Short has a particular esteem, has asked for me a letter of recommendation.—Did we not know the base propensities of the faction to whom Duane addresses himself, we should think that nothing but the sincerest friendship for me could have led to the publication of such a letter as this, which not only destroys all of the infamous falshoods respecting my deserting, my being Bogged for thieving, my Bying from the hands of justice, &c. &c. but completely establishes my character as a man of worth and respectable acquaintances. My God, Sir! what can, what will, what must be thought of the people, amongst whom, in order to sink the character of a foreigner, it is thought necessary to prove him to be a man of worth and merit! The promulgation of this truth, however, though it must have been expected to do me great discredit, had another object in view. The accidental circumstance of my being acquainted with a gentleman in the retinue of the British Embassador at the Hague, furnished an opportunity, too favourable to be neglected, for insinuating, that I was sent out by the British Government to carry on the business of corruption, and accordingly, we And your friend Duane calling my letter of recommendation W. X. Y. and Z. bait for Mr. JeCerson! But, Sir, was it not strange, that the British Government should choose such an instrument as I was? Their diplomatic corps must be very weak, if they were compelled to beat up for recruits amongst the non-commissioned oDcers of a regiment of foot. It was equally strange that I, their chosen agent, should go to Wilmington, and there raise my cabages < 155>
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and potatoes on an acre or two of rocky ground, which required more labour to clear and industry to till than had ever before been found in the parish. Had I been sent out by the “Gold of Pitt,” who but a stupidly suspicious Democrat will believe, that I should have passed four long years going from house to house teaching Frenchmen the English language, and occasionally bickering for a few dollars with a sharping bookseller? Besides, there is another consideration, in which you, my dear JeCerson, are deeply involved: if the British Government did really send me out to prosecute the work of corruption, how came they to send me to YOU in particular? Your reputation was, by them, as well known then as it is now. You had drawn the Declaration of Independence, you had written your Notes on Virginia and your epistle to the Negro Banneker; your history of the Bull Mammoth and of Logan the Savage were well known; your connection with the modern Logan and your letter to Mazzei had not, indeed, then added to your fame; but your proposition for transferring the French debt (along with the discontents that might arise FROM A FAILURE IN PAYING IT) to a company of Dutch merchants had already rendered your integrity suDciently notorious. How, then; why, then, I say, my dear JeCerson, came the court of Great Britain to Ax on your immaculate virtue as the object of their attack! They must have a very contemptible opinion of the fortress or a very exalted one of the besieger. In fact, my dear Thomas, this publication of your friend’s has made you appear a very little man, or me a very great one. Having entertained you for a reasonable space on Mr. Short’s letter, I shall now endeavour to amuse you with a few remarks on my own. I do not know, Sir, that this letter is mine, because I never took a copy of it, and because the man who could be induced to publish it, from motives such as have produced its publication, might also be induced to make some triBing alterations. This remark is not made, however, to invalidate its contents. I will admit every word to have been written by me; for, upon mature reBection, I think it just such a letter as it was likely I should write at the time. Well then, the letter being admitted to be mine, what are its contents? What do I say to you?—I tell you, that I enclose you Mr. Short’s letter, and that I take this method of paying my respects to you, because I wish to avoid the importunate part too often acted by the bearers of recommendatory letters. I tell you, that I have left my native country from a desire to become a CITIZEN of a FREE State; that, should you have an opportunity of serving me, you will not And me ungrateful, but that, if you should not, I shall feel but little disappointment, not doubting but I shall be able to get along by my own industry. < 156>
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The only object, intended to be answered by publishing this letter, appears, from a remark of your friend Duane, to be an exposure of what he terms my inconsistency. He accordingly points out how little reliance ought to be placed in a man, who at one time declares himself “ambitious of becoming a Citizen of a Free state,” and who, at another time, asserts that he “would not accept of the citizenship of the United States, but would rather be a subject of Russia.”—As to my saying, that I would rather be a subject of Russia than a Citizen of the United States, I am certain it is false; I am certain I never said it in this unqualiAed way; but, to avoid all dispute on that score, I will allow that I have said so, for I am sure I have thought as much a thousand times, and assuredly I have lately seen nothing to change my opinion. The charge then stands thus: that I have declared myself ambitious of becoming a citizen of the United States, and that I have also declared that I would rather be a subject of Russia than a citizen of the United States. All that is wanting to make out the charge of inconsistency, is, to prove, that these declarations were made at one and the same time; and, if you can produce proof of this, I shall confess myself to be one of the most trimming rascals in existence. When I wrote the letter (2nd Nov. 1792), I was brim full of republicanism, which will need no apology, when it is recollected, that I was a young man, whose whole life (all but about nine months) had been divided between the plough and the musket, and who, of course, was totally ignorant as to matters of government. But, is it not something strange, that you should bring forward this letter as making a discovery respecting my former principles or professions. I am afraid, Sir, you read but few good books; for if you had read my life and adventures, you would have known, that that publication left nothing to discover on the subject of my political opinions. I there say (page 32),—‘It would look a little like coaxing for me to say, that I had imbibed principles of Republicanism before I came to America, and that I was ambitious to become a CITIZEN of a FREE state, but this was really the case. I thought that men enjoyed here a greater degree of liberty than in England; and this, if not the principle reason, was at least one for my coming to this country.”—Now, Sir, this is what I wrote and published just three years ago; and, upon a comparison you will And it so nearly resembles what I wrote to you, that you will hardly believe, that I did not copy into the pamphlet the expressions from my letter. Not only did I, of my own accord, avow (three years ago) having, at the epocha of my emigration, entertained the opinions expressed in my letter; but, I have frequently, since that time, repeated this < 157>
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avowal, particularly in those publications, which I have thought calculated to spread and produce extensive eCect. Nor has this avowal been overlooked by those, who have thought well of my labours. The newspapers and other periodical publications in England, in which my writings have been mentioned with applause, have frequently produced my predilection for republicanism as a proof of my candour and sincerity, and as the strongest evidence against a system, which, in spite of a prepossession in its favour, would not, in an ingenious mind, stand the test of experience. A preface to an English edition of the Bloody Buoy has this remark:—“The British public will probably not be displeased to learn, that the ingenious author is by birth an Englishman; and that he had adopted sentiments favourable to DEMOCRACY. &c. &c.”—This was published in London in the year 1796: and thus, you see, that your wonderful discovery, intended to discredit what I shall publish, was actually promulgated in England three years ago, for the purpose of giving weight and respectability to my productions! As I said before, I believe you seldom read good books, or you could not have been so ignorant as to imagine, that your promulgation of my letter would have the eCect, which it is evident you intended it to produce. I have a hundred times declared, and with great sincerity, that no man ever landed in the United States with a greater partiality for republicanism than myself: no one was ever more grievously aEicted with the republican malady, and with the most unfeigned gratitude I add, that no one ever experienced a more radical cure. The precise means by which this cure was eCected, it is not, in this place, necessary to say, though the receipt might be very useful to discontented foreigners, particularly the reformists in Great Britain and Ireland. A friend of mine, who left England with a disorder somewhat similar to my own, has often diverted me with an account of the process by which he was recovered. He landed at Market street wharf, Philadelphia, and was, by a very extraordinary treatment, brought to a state of convalescence almost immediately; the operation was so very sudden and eDcacious, that, before he got up to Front Street (which is not more than one hundred yards), he felt himself so perfectly restored, that he went into a tavern, and drank a full pot of beer TO THE HEALTH OF KING GEORGE!—The remedies administered to my friend were of a nature diCerent from those, which operated on me. Indeed, the whole course that I underwent would be tedious to detail; suDce it to say, Sir, that, when I wrote to you in 1792, and told you that I was ‘ambitious of becoming a CITIZEN of a FREE state,’ I had been but about thirteen days in the country, and, of course, I did < 158>
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not then know, that ‘free states’ and ‘republican governments’ produced such Secretaries of State as JeCerson and Randolph, such Governors as MiEin and Jackson, such Embassadors as Gerry and Munro, such Senators as Blount and Mason, such Representatives as Lyon and McClelnathan such Judges as Redman and McKean. Now, Sir, for a word or two respecting the object you had in view in publishing the letters, and the motive by which you were situated; for, without a knowledge of these, it will be impossible for the public justly to estimate your conduct. The copies of the letters, in Bache’s paper, are immediately preceded by a long phillipic on that part of the British Treaty, which provides for the due payment of the Virginian and other debts, long due to British merchants. Mention is made of the famous SECESSION, which has taken place in the board of commissioners, and an attempt is made to alarm the people of America as to the amount of the debts—After the letters comes a publication copied from my paper, reprobating the conduct of all those, who have attempted, or shall attempt, to impede the execution of this part of the Treaty. Now, it is very evident, that Mr. Short’s and my letter have no connection whatever with the debts due to British merchants; and, therefore, their being interwoven, in such an unnatural way, with them, proves that they were intended, by exciting suspicions against me, to weaken and to render of no eCect any thing that I should publish on that very important subject. You clearly perceived that, from a combination of circumstances, mine was the only press to be dreaded in this particular business; it was, therefore, no triBing object to silence me, or, at least, to excite a prejudice against me that might have the same eCect. It was worth a sacriAce of no contemptible amount; and, it must be confessed, that, if you fail, as you certainly will, the attempt was not unworthy of the Correspondent of Mazzei. I am very far from imputing to you an over stock of regard for the opinions of the wise and good; but, even to you, the publishing of the letters must be looked upon as no small sacriAce; for, let their contents be what they might, you must be sensible, that, according to the rules of common morality, your publishing of them was a most scandalous breach of conAdence. What must the statesmen of other countries think of a Secretary of State, who could so far forget the dignity of his station, who could so completely overcome every sense of decency, as to promulgate letters of recommendation with a view to injure the person, in whose behalf they were written to him? What must they think of a VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED < 159>
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STATES entering into a literary warfare with a PRINTER, and taking, for his auxiliary, a man who confesses that he was driven from the British dominion, after having inhabited its jails? It is impossible, Sir, that you should not have foreseen, that your conduct would place you in this odious light; what then could have urged you to it, and at this time more than any other? Your object evidently is, as I said above, to destroy the eCect of my future publications; why, then, did you not make this exertion long ago? You have never been spared by me; no one was more zealous or more industrious than myself in preventing your being chosen President; and, I have, on all occasions, spoken of you, your principles and views, with becoming abhorrence. Why, then, I say, was your revenge; why was the little mischief you thought you had in your power, reserved for this time in particular? How came my supporting the cause of the British Creditors to rouse you? How came this part of my conduct to goad you on to open resentment, and to vanquish a sang-froid which had resisted provocations, seemingly a million times greater? In short, how came the discrediting of publications in favour of the BRITISH CLAIMS to be, with you, an object superior to all others? These questions, Sir, are asked by the people, and, therefore, you, who are “the man of the people,” ought to answer them. Nothing, you know, ought to be kept from their knowledge, and you should immediately explain the mystery, by informing them that one of the principal British claims is preferred AGAINST YOU! one of the principal British claims is preferred AGAINST YOU!—One of the principal British claims is, I say, preferred AGAINST YOU!!! This is a curious fact, but it is not more curious than true; and, considering that you are “the man of the people,” which people are so deeply interested in this fact, I am astonished that you never acquainted them with it before, because you must have been well assured, that it would suDciently account for a great part of your conduct, which, for want of such a clue, has frequently appeared unaccountable. It is possible, indeed, that, as you are got into the humour of divulging, you are about to divulge this fact; and there is further reason to suppose so from a proposition of your friend Duane. This worthy Calcuttian thinks, that, if the board of Commissioners should dare to so assemble and proceed to granting awards, ‘it would be expedient to publish the NAMES of all the CLAIMANTS’; and you must certainly think it as expedient to publish the names of all the DEBTORS. If the people are to be the tribunal, they most assuredly, ought to know the name of the defendant as well as that of the plaintiC. The expediency of this is so obvious, that I cannot entertain a doubt of your intention to < 160>
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acquaint the people of THE CLAIM AGAINST YOU; but if you should not do it before this day week, I shall, by publishing a copy of this letter, in Porcupine’s Gazette. With this, Sir, I leave you to calculate the gains which have already resulted from your enterprise, and to anticipate its eventual proceeds; and, in the mean time, I beg leave to assure, that, to render it as productive as possible, nothing shall be neglected on the part of, Sir, Your most humble & obed servt, Wm. Cobbett. Printed in Porcupine’s Gazette, 12 Aug. 1799; at head of text: “To Thomas JeCerson, The Historian of Logan and the Correspondent of Mazzei.” bustleton, or Bustletown, was a village in Lower Dublin Township, Pennsylvania, where Porcupine’s Gazette was published in the summer (Mary E. Clark, Peter Porcupine in America: The Career of William Cobbett, 1792-1800 [Philadelphia, 1939], 134, 140, 178). On 1 Aug. the Philadelphia Aurora published the two letters that Cobbett describes, which appear above in this series at Vol. 24:281-2, 554-5. For the background to the correspondence, see Vol. 24:555n. The pamphlet published three years ago was Cobbett’s autobiography, written when he was thirty-three and titled The Life and Adventures of Peter Porcupine, with a Full and Fair Account of all his Authoring Transactions [. . .] (Philadelphia, 1796). The subject of great importance to this country was the arbitration of outstanding claims of British merchants against Americans that were to be settled under Article 6 of the Jay Treaty. The two letters mentioned above appeared in the Aurora under the heading “British InBuence.” Material prefatory to the letters noted the “alarming award” that the debt commission recently had made, which opened an “endless avenue” for claims against the U.S. (Philadelphia Aurora, 1 Aug.). For the claims and the acrimonious dissolution of the commission, see Vol. 30:624-5n. William Duane spent almost ten years in the jails of calcutta, where he was imprisoned on a slander charge in 1791 and expelled from there four years later (anb, 6:935).
word gentleman was nearly obliterated: for the textual change in Short’s letter, see Vol. 24:282n. english embassador at the hague: William Eden (same). falshoods respecting my deserting: Cobbett refuted the charges levied at him by printing a certiAcation from the commander of his regiment that he had served “honestly and faithfully” and, in light of his good behavior, was being given the discharge he sought (Life and Adventures, 29). gold of pitt: the funds that opponents claimed had persuaded John Jay to sign and the Senate to ratify the Jay Treaty (same, 50). epistle to the negro banneker: TJ to Benjamin Banneker, 30 Aug. 1791. For the history of the bull mammoth, see TJ’s Memoir on the Megalonyx, [10 Feb. 1797]. Alexander Hamilton, in a series of pseudonymous newspaper articles in 1792, charged that JeCerson during his ministry to France had proposed transferring the french debt to a group of Dutch investors (Vol. 24:495n). SigniAcantly longer than Cobbett’s earlier pamphlets, the bloody buoy (Philadelphia, 1796) was an attack on the atrocities of the French Revolution. It went through several editions in England and America (Evans, No. 30205; George Spater, William Cobbett, The Poor Man’s Friend, 2 vols. [Cambridge, 1982], 1:63-4). mcclelnathan: Blair McClenachan. famous secession: with the counsel of Secretary of State Timothy Pickering, American commissioners Samuel Sitgreaves and Thomas FitzSimons threatened to secede from the Jay Treaty commission (Vol. 30:625n). publication copied from my
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5 AU G U S T 1799 paper: the Aurora of 1 Aug. included a piece from Porcupine’s Gazette of 22 June excoriating any “unprincipled or pretended friend” of America who would “evade or withhold” money owed to British creditors under the treaty. preferred against you: the British debts against the estate left by TJ’s
deceased father-in-law, John Wayles. The failure to pay these debts had been one of the Federalist charges against TJ’s competency for the presidency in 1796 (Vol. 29:196-7). q Porcupine’s Gazette: “ticit.”
Indenture for the Sale of Elk Hill This indenture made on the 5th day of August one thousand seven hundred & ninety nine, between Thomas JeCerson of Monticello in the county of Albemarle on the one part and Thomas Augustus Taylor of the county of ChesterAeld on the other part witnesseth that the sd Thomas JeCerson in consideration of the sum of Afteen hundred pounds current money of Virginia to him paid or secured to be paid, hath given granted, bargained & sold unto the said Thomas Augustus Taylor two tracts or parcels of land on the Byrd creek in Goochland county, whereof the one called Elk-hill contains [by] estimation & according to the title papers three hundred & seven acres be the same more or less, & is bounded on the one side by the said Byrd creek, on one other side by James river & on the other sides by the lands of David Ross, & is the same which the sd Thomas JeCerson purchased of Henry Skipwith & Anne his wife, & was formerly the property of James Skelt[on;] the other parcel contains by estimation three hundred & sixty two acres, beginning on the Byrd creek [afore]said, & bounded partly by the same lands beforementioned of David Ross, three hu[ndred] & twelve acres whereof were purchased by the said Thomas JeCerson of Edward [Smith] and the other Afty acres thereof were purchased by the said Thomas JeCerson [of Reuben] Smith, together with their appurtenances: To have & to hold the said several [parcels] of land with their appurtenances to the said Thomas Augustus Taylor & his [heirs:] and the said Thomas JeCerson his heirs, executors & administrators [the said] parcels of land & every of them to the said Thomas Augustus Taylor & his heirs will forever warrant and defend. In witness whereof he hath hereto set his hand & seal on the day and year above written. Th: Jefferson Signed sealed and delivered in presence of David Bullock Randolph Lewis < 162>
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Lilburne Lewis James Martin Elisha Leak MS (ViHi); entirely in TJ’s hand except for signatures; blanks for day and month Alled in by TJ; indented; mutilated, text in brackets supplied from Tr; two attestations on verso by W. Miller, clerk of Goochland County, the Arst stating that the indenture was presented in court on 16 Dec. 1799, proved by the oaths of Bullock and Leak, and “ordered to be certiAed,” and the second that it was further proved by the oath of Randolph Lewis on 20 Jan. 1800 and ordered to be recorded; endorsed. Tr (Goochland County Deed Book No. 17, Goochland County Courthouse, Goochland, Va.). For the mortgage by thomas augustus taylor securing the purchase made Anal by this document, see TJ to John Wayles Eppes, 4 July above. TJ’s fatherin-law, John Wayles, had purchased the elk-hill tract of 307 acres from Lunsford Lomax. TJ got the property in the 1770s through a land exchange with
his brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Henry and Anne Wayles skipwith, to whom it had been allotted in the distribution of Wayles’s estate. Lomax had acquired lands in the vicinity of Elk Hill and Elk Island from james skelton, the father of Martha Wayles Skelton JeCerson’s Arst husband. TJ bought the second tract speciAed above, of 312 acres, from edward smith and his wife Sally Smith in 1782 and the 50 acres from reuben smith and his mother Judith the following year, allowing Judith Smith occupancy of the land during her life (indentures of the Skipwiths, 21 Sep. 1778, of Edward and Sally Smith, 21 Jan. 1782, and of Judith Smith and Reuben Smith, 19 May 1783, in ViHi, all in TJ’s hand except for signatures and clerks’ attestations and endorsements; Goochland County Deed Books Nos. 12 and 13, Goochland County Courthouse; Vol. 16:94n; mb, 1:349, 366).
From James Thomson Callender Sir Richmond August 10th. 1799. I hope You will excuse my freedom in writing this letter. You have no doubt seen our Examiner. It has by no means been conducted as I Could exactly wish it to be, since I came down, for though Mr. Jones is a good writer, and a good man, yet as he is not himself a printer, and is only beginning his oDce, matters do not go on with all the rapidity that one could some times wish. We are daily expecting new types, new paper and ink; and I hope it will then cut a more brilliant Agure. I expected that Duane would copy from us more than he has done. I think some of our columns would have been more to the purpose than his endless trash about Arthur MacConnor, and Hindustan, of which I, for one, have never read a Single line. He began to copy from us, and Sickened I believe at hearing that the things were good. Thus the interest, or what I considered as the interest of the Cause, was betrayed from the meanest personal jealousy of me. I thank heaven that I feel none at him. I neither envy his abilities nor his situation. < 163>
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We have got 79 new Subscribers since I came here; and I have no doubt that If I got any thing like encouragement to stay at it, I would soon help Mr. Jones, who is himself really a good writer, to make the Subscription much more numerous. We exceed 800. The Genius of liberty Copies not a word for fear of advertising our paper. All this I look upon as pique and jealousy. You will no doubt hear, by this post, of the disturbance in this town.——Since I began to write the present letter, some time has elapsed; and the matter has grown to a magnitude I had not thought of. While I am in danger of being murthered with out doors, I do not And Within them any very particular encouragement to proceed. I shall therefore probably cease from writing untill Mr Lyon comes down. This will be soon. I shall then begin with him in the magazine, a work I like much better than newspapers, and he is also to publish my proposals for a volume, and undertake the mechanical part of that work. I have got very large oCers of Subscription, and I doubt not of having 1000 copies bespoke. One Gentleman has promised to take 100, at 1 dollar each, and to get his brother to take as many, I mean to be responsible for being able to sell them. I write in this paper merely for Victuals, at least I have never heard of any thing more, except having borrowed some triBes. This will never do. I believe that by this time we have as many as an hundred and Afty new Subscribers since I Came here. Large Recruits have been made in the Country by the late hubble, which has made me a gazing Stock to every body. What you see of mine in future will probably be, most of it, in Pleasants’s paper. That no circumstance might be wanting to make me uneasy, I had a very blunt letter concerning one of my boys. I had sent up all the money of which I was master, and which I did believe to be fully suDcient to pay for him. I understood that more was expected, and I promised some time ago to send it; for I Counted upon it that I would have been oCered some, and that has not happened. Now, as you are to be a Subscriber to my next Volume, and as it is the fashion in Virginia to pay such things in advance, my present suit is that whatever little matter of that sort may be designed, it would be particularly acceptable if Your relation here were ordered to pay it to me in course of post. The Conspiracy hindered the proposals from being printed some weeks ago; and the people say they are ready to pay in advance. I learn from Mr Lyon that he has got the utmost encouragement. He is to cast oC 1500 of his second Number. I think him an excellent Young man. And I dare say that we shall do very agreeably together < 164>
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Sir Excuse this long Scrawl. I have the honour to be Sir Your most obedt Servt. Jas. Thomson Callender RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ as received 30 Aug. and so recorded in SJL. The Arst issue of the Richmond Examiner, edited by Richmond attorney Meriwether jones in conjunction with printer John Dixon, appeared on 3 Dec. 1798. Dixon left the paper six months later (Brigham, American Newspapers, 2:1139; Pasley, Tyranny of Printers, 15960). arthur macconnor: Arthur O’Connor, the editor of the United Irishmen’s Press, was arrested Arst for seditious libel and then for treason in 1798. Duane printed O’Connor’s 1798 examination before the Irish House of Lords and extracts from his letter to Viscount Castlereagh, chief secretary to Ireland, written from prison in Dublin on 4 Jan. 1799, as well as other articles (Philadelphia Aurora, 9, 25 July 1799; Ehrman, Pitt, 172; dnb, 14:839-40). copies not a word: the Genius of Liberty was edited by Robert Mercer at Fredericksburg, Virginia (Brigham, American Newspapers, 2:1114-15; Pasley, Tyranny of Printers, 159). disturbance in this town: on 22 July, shortly after Callender published a piece criticizing supporters of the Adams administration for threatening the liberties of the country, “knocking down Republican printers,” and “publishing falsehoods, and ribaldry, against the VicePresident,” Jones learned that an attack was being organized on the oDce of the Examiner. While Callender left the premises, Jones notiAed the authorities and
brought in armed Republican sympathizers. No attack took place, and on 27 July the Virginia Federalist printed a declaration signed on behalf of the Richmond Association by three young Federalists, Conrad Webb, Thomas Wilson, and William Temple, advising that they wished only to inform Callender that he was no longer welcome in Richmond. In another document the Richmond Associators warned that a “contemptable ember like this” might yet “enkindle a dreadful conBagration; which shall lay our city in ashes, and perhaps ourselves, our wives, and our children in their tombs” (Virginia Gazette and General Advertiser, 30 July, 2, 9 Aug. 1799; Philadelphia Aurora, 3 Aug. 1799; Durey, Callender, 117-19). The Arst number of James Lyon’s National Magazine; or a Political, Historical, Biographical, and Literary Repository, dated 1 June 1799, contained several excerpts from Callender’s previous publications. The second number included Callender’s proposals for a volume, dated 3 Sep. 1799, as well as a lengthy extract from it. The Prospect Before Us, Callender noted, would go to the press as soon as he received subscriptions for a thousand copies. His proposal also appeared in the Examiner and subscriptions were received there, at Lyon’s oDce, and at the Virginia Argus, Samuel pleasants’s paper (National Magazine, 1 [1799], 91-4, 97-100, 111-12, 166-9, 171200; Richmond Examiner, 22 Oct. 1799).
To Daniel Call Sir Monticello Aug. 15. 99. Understanding that mr Washington has left under your care a suit of mineq in Chancery against Henderson & al. I take the liberty of troubling you on it. it’s object is to oblige the defs to lower their mill dam so much as to restore their water to it’s antient level, as it was when a mill of mine above theirs was standing. the bill & a deposition < 165>
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taken de bene esse state all the facts with accuracy, & I believe the defs are satisAed they must take down their dam, & only therefore aim at delay. and certainly delay has been unaccountably produced. I have been so long prevented by it from rebuilding my mill; but have determined to eCect it this fall. yet I am really at a loss how to do it, for on this decision depends the spot for placing the millhouse, as it would be very diCerent in the present state of Henderson’s mill pond from what it will be if I recover my antient water & position. I take the liberty of asking your particular attention to expedite this case & to obtain for me a decree. I had paid a fee to mr Washington and now inclose you an order for one, on mr JeCerson of Richmond. it will be of importance to me to be informed when a decision may be expected. I am Sir Your very humble servt Th: Jefferson RC (PWacD: Feinstone Collection, on deposit PPAmP); at foot of text: “Majr. Call.” PrC (MHi); lacks signature and Call’s name, which TJ added in ink; with enclosure pressed at bottom of sheet. Enclosure: order on George JeCerson & Co., 15 Aug. 1799, to pay Call £5 for value received (PrC in same; in TJ’s hand and signed by him; pressed on same sheet as letter). As indicated by this letter, attorney Daniel Call (ca. 1765-1840) took on some of Bushrod Washington’s law cases after John Adams oCered Washington a place on the Supreme Court in October 1798. Call, who was married to a sister-in-law of John Marshall, also succeeded Washing-
ton as the compiler of the published case reports of the Virginia Court of Appeals (Marshall, Papers, 2:111n; 5:454; Lucian Lamar Knight, comp., Biographical Dictionary of Authors, vol. 15 of Library of Southern Literature, [Atlanta, 1907], 68; dhsc, 1, pt. 1:133-5). For TJ’s initiation of his suit against the heirs of Bennet henderson, the bill in chancery Aled in the case, and the deposition of Thomas Morgan, see Vol. 28:471-4, 479-85, 520. TJ recorded the payment of the fee under this date in his Anancial memoranda (mb, 2:1005). q Two words interlined.
To John Barnes Dear Sir Monticello Aug. 16. 99. My last to you was of June 21. since which I recieved yours of June 20. & 23. and this moment that of Aug. 6. I now inclose a letter for mr Roberts for a new supply of iron to be sent oC by the 1st. of Sep. I observe you have paid mr Short’s instalment for Aug. 1. if my statement be right you have about enough in your hands of his money & mine to meet that of Sep. 1. & for that of Oct. 1. you will then recieve enough of his & mine to answer it. I have not yet heard from mr < 166>
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Remsen on the subject of the tobacco shipped him, nor taken any measures for the disposal of it. should old tobacco remain at 13 D. at Philadelphia till the month of Oct. when mine will be entitled to that appellation, I will ship it there. if it falls I will keep it for the opening of the French markets. the prospects for the growing crop are very poor indeed. it cannot but be a very short one. I have been peculiarly lucky with mine, which is remarkeably Ane. I am with constant esteem Dear Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); at foot of text: “Mr. John Barnes”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. TJ’s last letter to Barnes, of 21 June,
and Barnes’s of 23 June and 6 Aug., received on 11 July and 16 Aug., respectively, are recorded in SJL but have not been found.
To George Jefferson Dear Sir Monticello Aug. 16. 99. I wrote you last on the 25th. since which I have to acknolege the reciept of yours of July 29. mr Barnes informs me that on the 5th. inst. he shipped for me on board the Schooner Sophia from Philadelphia a box containing 3. pair of glass doors, which be pleased to forward by water, when the condition of the river shall admit the Milton boats to go down. in the mean time be so good as to send me by some waggon another dozen bottles of center, and about ten L. of yellow oker and a few pounds of patent yellow, neither of them mixed with oil, as in that state they would not answer my purpose. I say a few pounds of the latter because I know nothing of it’s price. half a dozen would be a plenty, but if it is as dear as some of the Ane paints that quantity would cost more than my object is worth.—I am much pleased with the center. I drew on you a day or two ago for £5. in favor of Major Call. I am Dear Sir with great esteem Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); at foot of text: “Mr. George JeCerson.”
i drew on you: for the draft in favor of Daniel Call, see enclosure listed at TJ to Call, 15 Aug. 1799.
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To William G. Munford Dear Sir Monticello Aug. 16. 99. I this moment recieve your favor of the 11th. be assured that I have never seen or heard a word of mr Thornton or the paper on the liberty of the press which you mention to have sent by him, or you would have had an acknolegement of the reciept of it. I should have been pleased to read what you had written on the subject, but probably should not have ventured to alter or suggest any thing relative to it, as I with great care avoid writing a word for the press, or meddling with any thing which is to be printed. it would furnish a hold upon me which I do not wish to oCer to my enemies; of whom there is a suDcient number, and with eager dispositions to turn molehills into mountains. they have such temptations held out to them for it, that I hardly blame them, especially the needy part of them. neither have I seen the address you mention of mr Madison to the convention. being desirous to answer your letter by the return of the same post, in order to remove all doubt on the subject of it, I have but barely time to add assurances of the esteem with which I am Dear Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson RC (DLC); addressed: “Mr. William Greene M[. . .]rt at the Coll. Wm. & Mary Williamsburg,” the recipient’s surname being partially eCaced both in the address and at foot of text (in the SJL entry for this letter TJ recorded the name as “Munford Wm. Greene”); franked; endorsed as received 20 Aug. 1799, altered to 1798, a similar change having been made to the year in TJ’s dateline; unrelated notation in unidentiAed hand on address cover, partially torn away: “a priv. [. . .] captain G[. . .] mounting [10]
guns 8 pounder & 90 men. Lat: 49” 30 Lon 10° W from London 16 landed at Belle.isle.” TJ on this day received Munford’s favor of the 11th. of August, which is recorded in SJL as received from “Munford Wm. Green” but has not been found. Also recorded in SJL, but missing, is a letter from Munford of 23 Oct. 1799, received by TJ on the 31st of that month.
To Edmund Randolph Dear Sir Monticello Aug. 18. 99. I recieved only two days ago your favor of the 12th. and as it was on the eve of the return of our post, it was not possible to make so prompt a dispatch of the answer. Of all the doctrines which have ever been broached by the federal government, the novel one of the common law being in force & cognisable as an existing law in their courts, is to me the most formidable. all their other assumptions of < 168>
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un-given powers have been in the details. the banklaw, the treaty doctrine, the sedition act, alien act, the undertaking to change the statelaws of evidence in the state courts by certain parts of the stamp act, &c. &c. have been solitary unconsequential timidq things in comparison of the audacious, barefaced and sweeping pretension to a system of law for the US. without the adoption of their legislature and so inAnitely beyond their power to adopt. if this assumption is yielded to, the state courts may be shut up, as there will then be nothing to hinder citizens of the same state suing each other in the federal courts in every case, as on a bond for instance, because the common law obliges paiment of it, & the common law they say is their law. I am happy you have taken up the subject; & I have carefully perused & considered the notes you inclosed, and And but a single paragraph which I do not approve. it is that wherein (page 2.) you say that laws being emanations from the legislative department, &, when once enacted, continuing in force from a presumption that their will so continues, that that presumption fails & the laws of course fall, on the destruction of that legislative department. I do not think this is the true bottom on which laws & the form [of] [. . .] [administering] them rest. the whole body of the nation is the sovereign [legislative,] judiciary & executive power for itself. the inconvenience of meeting to exercise these powers in person & their inaptitude to exercise them, induce them to appoint special organs to declare their legislative will, to judge, & to execute it. it is the will of the nation which makes the law obligatory, it is their will which creates or annihilates the organ which is to declare & announce it. they may do it by a single person, as an emperor of Russia (constituting his declarations evidence of their will) or by a few persons, as the Aristocracy of Venice, or by a complication of councils, as in our former regal government, or our present republican one. the law being law because it is the will of the nation, is not changed by their changing the organ through which they chuse to announce their future will; no more than the acts I have done by one attorney lose their obligation by my changing or discontinuing that attorney. this doctrine has been in a certain degree sanctioned by the federal executive. for it is precisely that on which the continuance of obligation from our treaty with France was established, and the doctrine was particularly developed in a letter to Gouverneur Morris written with the approbation of President Washington and his cabinet. Mercer once prevailed on the Virginia Assembly to declare a diCerent doctrine in some resolutions. these met universal disapprobation in this as well asr the other states, and, if I mistake not, a subsequent assembly did something to do away the < 169>
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authority of their former unguarded resolutions. In this case, as in all others, the true principle will be quite as eCectual to establish the just deductions, for before the revolution the nation of Virginia had by the organs they then thought proper to constitute, established a system of laws, which they divided into three dominations of 1. common law. 2. statute law. 3. Chancery. or if you please into two only of 1. Common law. 2. Chancery. when by the declaration of Independance they chose to abolish their former organs for declaring their will, the acts of will already formally & constitutionally declared, remained untouched. for the nation was not dissolved, was not annihilated; it’s will therefore remained in full vigour: and on the establishing the new organs, Arst of a convention, & afterwards a more complicated legislature, the old acts of national will continued in force, until the nation should by it’s new organs declare it’s will changed. the common law therefore, which was not in force when we landed here, nor till we had formed ourselves into a nation, and had manifested by the organs we constituted, that the common law was to be our law, continued to be our law, because the nation continued in being, & because tho’ it changed the organs for the future declarations of it’s will, yet it did not change it’s former declarations that the common law was it’s law. apply these principles to the present case. before the revolution there existed no such nation as the US. they then Arst associated as a nation but for special purposes only.s they had all their laws to make, as Virginia had on her Arst establishment as a nation. but they did not, as Virginia had done, proceedt to adopt a whole system of laws ready made to their hand. as their association as a nation was only for special purposes, to wit for the management of their concerns with one another & with foreign nations, and the states composing the association chose to give it powers for those purposes & no others, they could not adopt any general system, because it would have embraced objects on whichu this association had no right to form or declare a will. it was not the organ for declaring a national will in these cases. in the cases conAded to them, they were free to declare the will of the nation, the law, but till it was declared there could be no law. so that the common law did not become ipso facto law on the new association, it could only become so by a positive adoption. & so far only as they were authorized to adopt. I think it will be of great importance, when you come to the properv part to pourtray at full length the consequences of this new doctrine that thew common law is the law of the US. and that their courts have of course jurisdiction co-extensive with that law, that is to say general over all cases & persons. but good heavens! who could have < 170>
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conceived in 1789. that within ten years we should have to combat such windmills. Adieu. Yours aCectionately Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); faint; at foot of Arst page in ink: “Randolph Edmund.” Randolph’s favor of the 12th, recorded in SJL as received on 16 Aug., has not been located. The Sedition Act and prosecutions for libel made the common law a topic of debate between Federalists and Republicans. Then in the spring of 1799 charges to grand juries by James Iredell and Oliver Ellsworth spurred debate on the existence and desirability of a federal common law of crimes. The question was not Anally resolved until 1812, when the Supreme Court ruled that there was no such common law. notes you inclosed: Randolph’s “Notes on the Common law” ended up with James Madison, who drew upon them to write on the subject in 1800. St. George Tucker, who in that year wrote a pamphlet on the issue, and Edmund Pendleton also saw Randolph’s notes (Madison, Papers, 17:259-69, 304-5; dhsc, 3:235, 237, 318-19, 321-3, 330, 343-4, 348, 357-8, 376-80). In a 12 Mch. 1793 letter to gouverneur morris, which contained language and concepts drafted the previous December, TJ, as secretary of state, assured Morris, then U.S. minister to France, of the continuity of French constitutional authority even after the deposition of the king. A nation, according to the letter, “may govern itself according to whatever form it pleases, and change these forms at it’s own will. . . . The will of the nation is the only thing essential to be regarded” (see Vol. 24:800-2; Vol. 25:367-70). In December 1782 John Francis mercer wrote a set of resolutions to serve as an instruction from the General Assembly to the state’s congressional delegates. The resolutions upheld the conAscation of British property on
the basis that the owners were not parties to the “new social compact.” Writing to Randolph soon after, TJ called the resolutions “a declaration of a doctrine of the most mischeivous tendency.” He later said of their author, who had read law under his supervision: “Vanity and ambition seem to be the ruling passions of this young man and as his objects are impure, so also are his means.” The Virginia House of Delegates adopted the instructions on 17 Dec. 1782 and the Senate concurred on the 23d. Mercer, who had Arst come to the legislature in the autumn of 1782, won election as one of the delegates to Congress on 18 Dec. (Madison, Papers, 5:409-10, 425, 454; Leonard, General Assembly, 147; anb; TJ to Randolph, 15 Feb. 1783; TJ to Madison, 25 Apr. 1784, for the decoding of which see Vol. 7:119). Letters from Randolph to TJ of 10 Aug. 1798, received from Charlottesville the following day; 26 Dec. 1798, received on 3 Jan.; and 29 July 1799, received on 1 Aug., are recorded in SJL but have not been found. Also recorded in SJL but missing are letters from TJ to Randolph of 21 Jan. and 25 June 1799, the latter of which related, according to TJ’s notation, to two lawsuits, “Kennon’s” and “R. Johnston’s” (i.e., Johnson’s). q Word interlined. r Preceding four words interlined. s Preceding Ave words interlined. t Word interlined in place of “choose.” u TJ Arst wrote “because it [went] to objects on which they [were not] [. . .] [constit]” before revising the passage to read as above. v Preceding two words interlined in place of “that.” w TJ here canceled “[federal courts have].”
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To George Jefferson Dear Sir Monticello Aug. 19. 99. In my letter of the 16th. I omitted to desire you to send me 200. [z] of the best brown sugar. there is a white Havanna sugar, in powder, a little dearer than common brown which I should prefer; or one half of that, & half of good brown. this may be sent by a waggon either to mr Higginbotham at Milton or Colo. Bell at Charlottesville who will pay the transportation. we are in immediate want of it. I am Dr. Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); faint; at foot of text: “Mr. George JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
From Wilson Cary Nicholas Dear Sir Warren Augt. 20th. 1799 A most unfortunate and Melancholy event, makes it necessary that I shou’d go in a few days to Kentucky. I believe you think it properq that the legislature of these two States, shou’d defend the ground that they have taken. if that is still your opinion, and you will put upon paper what you think the Kentucky assembly ought to say, I will place it in safe hands. They now require aid more than ever. I Batter myself that assurances of proper caution, in the use of any paper that I may receive from you, are not necessary. I shall probably leave this place the last of the succeeding week. I am Dear Sir, with the greatest respect your humble Servant Wilson C Nicholas RC (DLC: Nicholas P. Trist Papers); endorsed by TJ as received 20 Aug. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosed in the following letter.
melancholy event: the death of George Nicholas, brother of the correspondent, in Kentucky on 25 July (anb). q Interlined in place of “necessary.”
To James Madison Th:J. to J.M. Monticello Aug. 23. 99. With this you will recieve the IVd. nails desired in your memorandum, that is to say 25. L weighing about 20 z to the Â. probably they yield something more than a thousand to that weight, not being < 172>
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so uniform as they ought to be. we are now working up some remnants of hoops of diCerent breadths till the arrival of a supply of proper size from Philadelphia. they are 1 pr. z. consequently come cheap. the error in the nails sent before was mr Mc.Gehee’s, as I entered the memorandum in my book from his dictation, and he saw them weighed out according to that. Mrs. Madison tells me that Lumsden, your plaisterer lives about 10. or 15. miles from you & that an opportunity may perhaps be found of conveying him a letter. I trouble you with one, open, which when read be so good as to seal & forward by any opportunity you approve. I inclose you a letter I recieved from W. C. Nicholas three days ago. it is so advantageous that Virginia & Kentuckey should pursue the same tract on this occasion, & a diCerence of plan would give such advantage to the Consolidationers that I would immediately see you at your own house, but that we have a stranger lying ill here, whose state has been very critical, & who would suCer in spirits at least if not substantially by my absence. I shall not answer mr. N’s letter till Thursday next. perhaps you could take a ride about that time, so as to have a meeting here with him on Sunday sennight, the day preceding our court. I dare say he will not go before court, and if you could drop him a line by post he would certainly meet you, and let us consider a little together what is to be done. not that I should prepare any thing, but the opportunity is certainly a valuable one of producing a concert of action. I will in the mean time give you my ideas to reBect on. that the principles already advanced by Virginia & Kentuckey are not to be yielded in silence, I presume we all agree. I should propose a declaration or Resolution by their legislatures on this plan. 1st. answer the reasonings of such of the states as have ventured into the Aeld of reason, & that of the Commee of Congress. here they have given us all the advantage we could wish. take some notice of those states who have either not answered at all, or answered without reasoning. 2. make a Arm protestation against the principle & the precedent; and a reservation of the rights resulting to us from these palpable violations of the constitutional compact by the Federal government, and the approbation or acquiescence of the several co-states; so that we may hereafter do, what we might now rightfully do, whenever repetitions of these and other violations shall make it evident that the Federal government, disregarding the limitations of the federal compact, mean to exercise powers over us to which we have never assented. 3. express in aCectionate & conciliatory language our warm attachment to union with our sister-states, and to the instrument & principles by which we are united; that we are willing to sacriAce to this every thing except < 173>
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those rights of self government the securing of which was the object of that compact; that not at all disposed to make every measure of error or wrong a cause of scission, we are willing to view with indulgenceq to wait with patience till those passions & delusions shall have passed over which the federal government have artfully & successfully excited to cover it’s own abuses & to conceal it’s designs; fully conAdent that the good sense of the American people and their attachment to those very rights which we are now vindicating will, before it shall be too late, rally with us round the true principles of our federal compact; but determined, were we to be disappointed in this, to sever ourselves from that union we so much value, rather than give up the rights of self government which we have reserved, & in which alone we see liberty, safety & happiness. These things I sketch hastily, only as topics to be enlarged on, and wishing you to consider on them or what else is best to be done. at any rate let me hear from you by the post or before it if you can. Adieu aCectionately. RC (DLC: Madison Papers, Rives Collection); addressed: “James Madison Orange.” PrC (DLC). Enclosures: (1) TJ to William Lumsden, 23 Aug. 1799 (recorded in SJL but not found). (2) Wilson Cary Nicholas to TJ, 20 Aug. 1799. Madison’s memorandum ordering nails is not recorded in SJL and has not been found. error in the nails: on 25 July TJ recorded an order for Madison in his nailery accounts which, although partially illegible, totaled £1.9.0 for fourpenny nails, 3/8 for sixes, £1.4.11 for tens, and £1.10.7 for 35 pounds of size sixteen Booring brads (Nailery Account Book, 1796-1800, at CLU-C). mrs. madison tells me: Dolley Payne Madison stopped at Monticello on her return to Montpelier after visiting relatives at the Enniscorthy estate in Albemarle County. TJ gave her this letter, with its enclosures, to deliver to her husband (Madison, Papers, 17:258n). A letter from William lumsden to TJ of 27 Aug., recorded in SJL as received three days later, has not been found. The reasonings oCered by the states in response to the Virginia and Kentucky
Resolutions of 1798 most frequently included the principle that the judicial courts of the United States, not state legislatures, had the authority to decide on the constitutionality of laws passed by Congress. Delaware, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont responded to the Virginia Resolutions of 1798 (Communications from Several States, on the Resolutions of the Legislature of Virginia, Respecting the Alien & Sedition Laws . . . [Richmond, 1800], 3-16). commee of congress: on 12 Feb. 1799 the House appointed a select committee to consider petitions against the Alien and Sedition Acts. For the report submitted on 21 Feb. defending the controversial legislation, see TJ to Madison, 26 Feb. 1799. On an extract of this letter sent to Nicholas P. Trist in 1834, Madison noted in pencil: “the visit invited took the place of an answer to the letter” (Adrienne Koch, JeCerson & Madison: The Great Collaboration [New York, 1950], 198; Madison, Papers, 17:258n). q TJ here canceled “& patience.”
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From Joseph Mathias Gérard de Rayneval Monsieur A Paris le 6. fructidor an 7. 24. aout 1799. Lorsque nous avons eu des raports ensemble, vous avez bien voulu m’accorder estime, conAance et amitié, et je conserve comme une chose bien précieuse pour moi la lettre dont vous m’honorates lors de votre départ. j’ose reclamer aujourd’hui l’eCet des sentiments que Vous y avez exprimés. La circonstance est on ne peut pas plus intéressante pour moi. Mr. Dupont, porteur de cette lettre, et qui a bien voulu se charger de mes intérêts, vous les expliquera, et mettra sous vos yeux les titres sur lesquels m’a demande est fondée. Je me Batte d’avance, Monsieur, que Vous la trouverez juste, et que Vous m’accorderez votre puissant appui pour la faire réussir; je me Batte également, que Vous serez bien convaincu de ma reconnoissance pour un service aussi signalé, ainsi que de l’attachement et de la parfaite considération avec lesquels j’ai l’honneur d’être, Monsieur, Votre trés-humble et trés-obeissant Serviteur Gerard-Rayneval e d i t o r s’
t r a n s l a t i o n
Sir Paris 6 Fructidor Year 7. 24 August 1799. At the time when we were in contact socially, you kindly extended to me esteem, conAdence, and friendship, and I preserve as something very precious to me the letter with which you honored me at the time of your departure. Today I make bold to lay claim to the result of the sentiments that you expressed therein. The situation is of the highest possible interest for me. Mr. Du Pont, the bearer of this letter, and who has kindly taken on my interests, will explain them to you and will show you the titles on which my request is based. I am convinced in advance, Sir, that you will And it just, and that you will grant me your powerful assistance to make it succeed; I am likewise convinced that you will be persuaded of my gratitude for such an outstanding service, as well as of the aCection and the perfect consideration with which I have the honor to be, Sir, Your very humble and very obedient Servant Gerard-Rayneval RC (ViW); at foot of Arst page: “Mr. JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ as received 21 Mch. 1800 and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: Memorandum, undated, stating that the Wabash Company gave Conrad Alexandre Gérard, while he was French minister to the United States, a parcel of the lands granted the company by act of Congress; stating further that
the king of France authorized Gérard to receive the gift, but no information has been received by the heirs of the deceased Gérard other than an intimation that the entire Wabash concession might be annulled; and inquiring about the status of this gift to Gérard made in recognition of his services during the American Revolution and in the negotiation of the
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24 AU G U S T 1799 treaties of 1778 (MS in same; entirely in Gérard de Rayneval’s hand).
TJ had written his parting lettre to Gérard de Rayneval in New York on 6 Apr. 1790.
From Daniel Call Sir, Richmond August 26th. 1799 On Saturday last I was informed at the post oDce that a letter was there from you addressed to “Major Richard Call at Richmond”; and as that gentleman has been dead for several years and never lived in Richmond at all, I was naturally lead to consider the address as a mistake, & that the letter was really intended for me. I therefore opened it and found my conjecture right; and that the letter was written to me though addressed to him. There was a nisi order for taking the Bill for confessed in the suit against Henderson at the September term of the Court of Chancery in the year 98; and during the last winter I delivered a copy of it to Mr JeCerson of this place, to be either forwarded to you or sent to some person who would see to having it served upon the dfts. He informs me to day that he sent it to Mr Randolph, but it has not been returned to the oDce. I therefore inclose you other copies in order that you may have them served and returned to the ensuing court, so as to enable you to move for a Anal decree during the term, in case the dft should still fail to answer. But if he should put in an answer I am really apprehensive from the great quantity of business depending in the Court, that the trial will be postponed longer than is convenient to the objects which you have in view. Messrs JeCerson & Co paid the fee you were good enough to enclose an order for, although it was perfectly unnecessary for you to have done so, as I should have attended to the cause with the same readiness without it. Indeed when I undertook the care of Mr Washingtons business it was not my wish or intention to extort additional fees from his clients. I am Sir very respectfully Yrs &c Daniel Call RC (MHi); addressed: “Thomas Jefferson Esquire Monticello”; endorsed by TJ as received 30 Aug. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosures: copies, not found, of
the order of the Virginia High Court of Chancery, 27 Sep. 1798 (see George Jefferson to TJ, 15 Jan. 1799).
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From George Jefferson Dear Sir, Richmond 26th. Augt. 1799 Your favor of the 19th is duly recd. If I do not meet with a waggon tomorrow I will send the sugar you want by a boat, as there are some now down. I sent you a few days ago by a Mr. Bings waggon to the care of Colo. Bell the articles at foot. The box from Mr. Barnes has not yet arrived. I am Dear Sir Yr. Very humble servt. Geo. Jefferson 1 dozn. bottles Center @ 7/. 6 z. patent yellow 3/6 10 z. Yellow oker @ 6 d. & keg 9 d.
£4 – 4 – 1– 1– – 5–9 £5 –10 – 9
RC (MHi); with list and price of goods written on verso; at foot of text: “Thomas JeCerson esqr.”; endorsed by TJ as received 30 Aug. and so recorded in SJL.
To Wilson Cary Nicholas Dear Sir Monticello Aug. 26. 99. I am deeply impressed with the importance of Virginia & Kentuckey pursuing the same tract at the ensuing sessions of their legislatures. your going thither furnishes a valuable opportunity of eCecting it, and as mr Madison will be at our assembly as well as yourself, I thought it important to procure a meeting between you. I therefore wrote to propose to him a ride to this place on Saturday or Sunday next, supposing that both he & yourself might perhaps have some matter of business at our court which might render it less inconvenient for you to be here together on Sunday. I took for granted that you would not set oC to Kentuckey pointedly at the time you Arst proposed: and hope and strongly urge your favoring us with a visit at the time proposed. mrs Madison, who was the bearer of my letter, assured me I might count on mr M’s being here. not that I mentioned to her the object of my request, or that I should propose the same to you; because I presume the less said of such a meeting the better. I shall take care that Monroe shall dine with us. in hopes of seeing you I bid you aCectionately Adieu. Th: Jefferson RC (MHi); addressed: “Wilson C. Nicholas Warren”; endorsed by Nicholas. PrC (DLC).
i therefore wrote to propose: TJ to Madison, 23 Aug. 1799.
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From George Jefferson Dear Sir, Richmond 27th. Augt. 1799 Not having been able to meet with any Havanna sugar I send you a barrel of brown, by Mr. Hendersons boat. Yr. Very humble servt. Geo. Jefferson 246 – 18 – 228 zs. @ 88/.
£10 – 7.
RC (MHi); at foot of text: “Thomas JeCerson esqr.”; endorsed by TJ as received 2 Sep. and so recorded in SJL.
To Wilson Cary Nicholas Dear Sir Monticello Sep. 5. 99. Your’s of Aug. 30. 99. came duly to hand. it was with great regret we gave up the hope of seeing you here, but could not but consider the obstacle as legitimate. I had written to mr M. as I had before informed you, and had stated to him some general ideas for consideration & consultation when we should meet. I thought something essentially necessary to be said in order to avoid the inference of acquiescence. that a resolution or declaration should be passed 1. answering the reasonings of such of the states as have ventured into the Aeld of reason, & that of the Committee of Congress, taking some notice too of those states who have either not answered at all, or answered without reasoning. 2. making Arm protestation against the precedent & principle, & reserving the right to make this palpable violation of the federal compact the ground of doing in future whatever we might now rightfully do, should repetitions of these and other violations of the compact render it expedient. 3. expressing in aCectionate & conciliatory language our warm attachment to union with our sister states & to the instrument & principles by which we are united, that we are willing to sacriAce to this every thing but the rights of self government in those important points which we have never yielded & in which alone we see liberty, safety & happiness; that not at all disposed to make every measure of error or of wrong a cause of scission we are willing to look onq with indulgence & to wait with patience till those passions & delusions shall have passed over which the federal government have artfully excited to cover it’s own abuses & conceal it’s designs, fully conAdent that the good sense of the American people, and their attachment to those very rights which we are now vindicating, will before it shall be too late rally with us < 178>
From George Jefferson Dear Sir, Richmond 27th. Augt. 1799 Not having been able to meet with any Havanna sugar I send you a barrel of brown, by Mr. Hendersons boat. Yr. Very humble servt. Geo. Jefferson 246 – 18 – 228 zs. @ 88/.
£10 – 7.
RC (MHi); at foot of text: “Thomas JeCerson esqr.”; endorsed by TJ as received 2 Sep. and so recorded in SJL.
To Wilson Cary Nicholas Dear Sir Monticello Sep. 5. 99. Your’s of Aug. 30. 99. came duly to hand. it was with great regret we gave up the hope of seeing you here, but could not but consider the obstacle as legitimate. I had written to mr M. as I had before informed you, and had stated to him some general ideas for consideration & consultation when we should meet. I thought something essentially necessary to be said in order to avoid the inference of acquiescence. that a resolution or declaration should be passed 1. answering the reasonings of such of the states as have ventured into the Aeld of reason, & that of the Committee of Congress, taking some notice too of those states who have either not answered at all, or answered without reasoning. 2. making Arm protestation against the precedent & principle, & reserving the right to make this palpable violation of the federal compact the ground of doing in future whatever we might now rightfully do, should repetitions of these and other violations of the compact render it expedient. 3. expressing in aCectionate & conciliatory language our warm attachment to union with our sister states & to the instrument & principles by which we are united, that we are willing to sacriAce to this every thing but the rights of self government in those important points which we have never yielded & in which alone we see liberty, safety & happiness; that not at all disposed to make every measure of error or of wrong a cause of scission we are willing to look onq with indulgence & to wait with patience till those passions & delusions shall have passed over which the federal government have artfully excited to cover it’s own abuses & conceal it’s designs, fully conAdent that the good sense of the American people, and their attachment to those very rights which we are now vindicating, will before it shall be too late rally with us < 178>
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round the true principles of our federal compact.—this was only meant to give a general idea of the complexion & topics of such an instrument. mr M. who came as had been proposed, does not concur in the reservation proposed above; and from this I recede readily, not only in deference to his judgment, but because, as we should never think of separation but for repeated and enormous violations so these, when they occur, will be cause enough of themselves. to these topics however should be added animadversions on the new pretensions to a common law of the US. I proposed to mr M. to write to you; but he observed that you knew his sentiments so perfectly from a former conference, that it was unnecessary. as to the preparing any thing, I must decline it, to avoid suspicions (which were pretty strong in some quarters on the last occasion) and because there remains still (after their late loss) a mass of talents in Kentucky suDcient for every purpose. the only object of the present communications is to procure a concert in the general plan of action. besides, how could you better while away the road from hence to Kentucky than in meditating this very subject and preparing something yourself, than whom nobody will do it better. the loss of your brother and the visit of the apostle Marshal to Kentucky excite anxiety. however we doubt not that his poisons will be eCectually counter-worked. wishing you a pleasant journey & happy return I am with great and sincere esteem Dear Sir Your aCectionate friend & servt Th: Jefferson RC (ViU: Edgehill-Randolph Papers); torn; addressed: “[. . . ] Cary Nicholas Warren.” PrC (DLC). Nicholas’s missive of 30 aug., recorded in SJL as received on 2 Sep., has not been found. i had written to mr m.: TJ to
Madison, 23 Aug. informed you: TJ to Nicholas, 26 Aug. apostle marshal: probably Kentucky Senator Humphrey Marshall. q Preceding two words interlined in place of “view.”
To James Thomson Callender Sir Monticello Sep. 6. 99 By a want of arrangement in a neighboring post oDce during the [absence] of the postmaster, my letters & papers for two posts back were detained. [I] suppose it was owing to this that your letter tho’ dated Aug. 10 did not get to my hand till the last day of the month, since which this is the Arst day I can through the post oDce acknolege the receipt of it. mr JeCerson happens to be here and directs his agent < 179>
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to call on you with this & pay you 50. Dollars on account of the book you are about to publish. when it shall be out be so good as to send me 2. or 3. copies & the rest only when I shall ask for them. The violence which was meditated against you lately has excited a very general indignation in this part of the country. our state from it’s Arst planting has been remarkeable for it’s order & submission to the laws. but three instances are recollected in it’s history of an organized opposition to the laws. the Arst was Bacon’s rebellion, the 2d. our revolution; the 3d. the Richmond association who, by their committee, have in the public papersq avowed their purpose of taking out of the hands of the law the function of declaring who may or may not have freer residence among us. but these gentlemen miscalculate the temper & force of this country extremely if they suppose there would have been a want of either to support the authority of the laws; and equally mistake their own interests in setting the example of clublaw. whether their self organization, election of a committee, and publication of their manifests be such overt acts as bring them within the pale of law, the law I presume is to decide. and there it is our duty to leave it.—the delivery of Robbins to the British excites much feeling & enquiry here. with every wish for your welfare I am with great regard Sir Your most obedt. servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); with several words overwritten by TJ in ink; frayed at margin, with words in brackets supplied from Arst Tr; at foot of text: “Callendar.” Tr (MHi: Timothy Pickering Papers); in Pickering’s hand; addressed: “Mr. John Thompson Callendar Richmond”; endorsement copied by Pickering from RC: “Given by Mr Callender to A Davis”; with statement signed by Pickering and in his hand, dated Washington, D.C., 3 Jan. 1804: “I have this day, with James Hillhouse Esq. compared the within copy with an original letter written by Thomas JeCerson, now president of the United States; and the copy is correct. Mr. JeCerson’s hand-writing is so remarkable, and so familiar to me, I can vouch that the original; of which the within is a copy, is his hand-writing, with the same conAdence and certainty that I can vouch for my own. The superscription is to Mr. John Thompson Callendar, instead of James Thompson Callender—the latter the true name. His subsequent letter of
Oct. 6. is superscribed to James Thompson Callendar. That Mr. JeCerson should err in writing proper names is not extraordinary: but it might be supposed that other words would be correctly spelt. This however is not the case. Either carelessly or purposely, he deviates from the English authorities. For instance, acknolege for acknowledge—remarkeable for remarkable; and he begins sentences, not with capital, but with small letters: and I believe invariably I for J, in proper names. “The endorsement on the back of the original ‘given by M Callender to A Davis’ appears to be the hand writing of Augustine Davis, a man of worth, formerly postmaster at Richmond, with whom I used to correspond when I was postmaster general.” Tr (same); at head of text: “From Mr. Mc.Henry”; subjoined to TJ to Callender, 6 Oct. 1799; enclosed in James McHenry to Pickering, 10 Apr. 1808 (same). Tr (MH). Tr (CtHi: Oliver Wolcott Papers); at head of text: “Copy.”
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6 S E P T E M B E R 1799 Tr (same). Tr (NjP). Tr (same). Tr (NbO). Tr (DLC: TJ Papers, Ser. 9); with notation on verso: “Copy of Mr JeCerson’s letter to J. T. Callender dated Septr 6. 99. (copied from the original in Mr JeCerson’s hand writing by WS.—) (verbatim et literatim).” Enclosed in TJ to George JeCerson, 6 Sep. 1799. Callender published this letter, along with TJ’s 6 Oct. communication to him, in the Richmond Recorder in the fall of 1802 to refute charges that TJ gave him money as charity rather than as an incentive to complete and publish The Prospect Before Us. To leave no doubt of the authenticity of the letters, Callender put the originals on view at the oDce of the Virginia Gazette and General Advertiser, a Federalist newspaper in Richmond, edited by Augustine Davis, and the two letters thus became materials for a Federalist campaign against TJ. Davis entrusted the letters to John Hopkins, a merchant and banker in Richmond, with the understanding they would be forwarded to Timothy Pickering, in 1804 a senator from Massachusetts. Pickering, Connecticut Senator James Hillhouse, and other New England congressmen who lodged together in Washington compared the letters with oCicial communications Pickering had earlier received from TJ. A printer at Georgetown also held the letters for public inspection. In February 1805 Pickering sent the correspondence to Timothy Williams, his nephew in Boston, to be viewed while the Massachusetts legislature was in session as “evidence of Mr. JeCerson’s paying Callender for his atrocious calumnies on Washington & Adams, in ‘The Prospect before us.’” (Among those who saw the letters was Daniel Webster, who recorded it in his diary on 5 Mch.) Pickering bolstered his claim that the letters were genuine by observing that TJ’s “fashion of writing, as well as the forms of his letters, is peculiar to himself: at least I have met with no American or Englishman who uses it. Such, for instance, is his beginning every period in a paragraph, except the Arst, with small letter. It is the French fashion, which I have often had opportunities of observing; and one for
which Mr. JeCerson seems long to have had an early predilection for it appears as long ago as 1776.” Three years later, when Pickering wanted to examine the original letters again, he learned that they were in Oliver Wolcott’s possession. Wolcott sent them to Pickering, who returned them to Hopkins on 30 Jan. 1809. Pickering also wrote former Secretary of War James McHenry inquiring whether he had kept copies of the letters, and McHenry immediately forwarded the transcripts from his Ales in Baltimore. Even after TJ left the presidency in 1809 the letters continued to be used for political purposes. In the Virginia congressional race between John Randolph and John Wayles Eppes in 1814, a friend of Randolph’s observed that if the letters were circulated in the district it would “almost ensure Mr Randolph a Majority.” Randolph won the election (New-York Evening Post, 11 Oct. 1802; Washington, Diaries, 6:278-9n; Alfred S. Konefsky and Andrew J. King, eds., The Papers of Daniel Webster: Legal Papers, 3 vols. in 4 [Hanover, N.H., 1982-89], 1:44-5; Gerard H. ClarAeld, Timothy Pickering and the American Republic [Pittsburgh, 1980], 157, 213; Brigham, American Newspapers, 2:1141, 1146; jep, 1:57; Biog. Dir. Cong.; Pickering to Timothy Williams, 21 Feb. 1805; John Hopkins to Pickering, 8 Apr. 1808, 30 Jan. 1809, 22 Apr. 1812; Davis to Pickering, 2 Dec. 1814, all in MHi: Pickering Papers). Jonathan robbins was arrested in Charleston, South Carolina, in February 1799 at the request of the British consul Benjamin Moodie. The consul identiAed him as British subject Thomas Nash, a participant in the mutiny on the British naval frigate Hermione in 1797, during which most of the ship’s oDcers were killed. The British demanded his extradition under Article 27 of the Jay Treaty, but Federal District Court Judge Thomas Bee refused to act without direction from the secretary of state. Pickering communicated with Adams on the matter and on 21 May the president granted the petition. On 1 July, Bee notiAed the British consul of the court’s readiness to have Robbins brought forward for extra-
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6 S E P T E M B E R 1799 dition. Moodie requested that he remain in prison until a vessel arrived for him. As the accused was about to be turned over to the British, several South Carolina Republicans learned that Robbins claimed to be an American citizen and at the time of his arrest carried an aDdavit indicating that he was born in Danbury, Connecticut. They demanded a hearing. In open court on 25 July Robbins’s statement reaDrmed that he was a native of Connecticut who had been impressed by the crew of the Hermione and detained on the ship. He added that he had not participated in the mutiny. Alexander Moultrie, former attorney general of South Carolina, and Samuel Ker, his assistant, argued that the question was whether an American citizen should be “tried by his country, or be delivered up to a foreign tribunal.” After listening to the case, Bee
ruled that Robbins’s claim of American citizenship did not exclude him from extradition under the treaty and that suCicient evidence of criminality was present to remand him to the British for trial. The British quickly sent Robbins to Jamaica, where his court-martial and execution were carried out by 19 Aug. (Ruth Wedgwood, “The Revolutionary Martyrdom of Jonathan Robbins,” Yale Law Journal, 100 [1990], 286-311; Larry D. Cress, “The Jonathan Robbins Incident: Extradition and the Separation of Powers in the Adams Administration,” Essex Institute Historical Collections, 111 [1975], 99-121; Wharton, State Trials, 395; Marshall, Papers, 4:23; dhsc, 3:428n). q Preceding four words interlined. r Word added by TJ in left margin.
To George Jefferson Dear Sir: Monticello Sep. 6. 99. I am to ask the favor of you to call on mr John Thompson Callender & pay him the sum of 50. Dollars on account of books of which he is advised in the within letter, and you will oblige Dear Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); at foot of text: “50. Doll.” and “[Mr]. George JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosure: TJ to Callender, 6 Sep. 1799.
To Benjamin Rush Dear Sir Monticello Sep. 12. 99. I recieved in due time your friendly letter inclosing two pamphlets. I have deferred acknoleging them till I could have time to read them. that time should be scarce here will seem odd to you. but mine, from an early breakfast to a late dinner is given to my farms, & from dinner to early bedtime to society or light reading. I have read that on animal life with very great delight. a great number of facts, which laid in piles in my mind, are now reduced into order, enlarged by many additional ones, and the whole beautifully arranged. to mention the particulars I approve, would be to copy the book. I shall therefore criticise the only < 182>
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fact I dispute. you think that the storm of stimuli, agitating the system from 15. to 35. ceasing at that age, is succeeded & supplied by that of ambition; and I know that that passion has been frequently considered as the vice of age. my observations on myself & those around me contradict this fact, and makeq ambition end where you suppose it to begin. I believe it to be a passion taking it’s root in the full tide of life, & withering with it’s ebb. till the age of 15. it’s circle is small & little more than domestic. at that age it begins to look at public men & public things, is in it’s akmé by 25. and at 35. we already sigh forr tranquility as the supreme good, & make this our principal object through declining life. men may & do continue in public life to very late periods,s from avarice, from the vicious passions of party, from virtuous wishes to promote the public good or public liberty, but not from a passion for pre-eminence in the eyes of their fellow citizens. the enthusiasm which renders that delicious, cools down with the enthusiasm of other pleasures. I well remember that at 38. I retired into port perfectly sated with public life, and determined no more to embark in it. that that purpose was yielded, is accounted for with perfect satisfaction to my own mind from circumstances entirely unconnected with ambition. I think I have remarked the same rise progress & decline in that passion among my acquaintances & companions in public life generally, & have therefore long ago disbelieved the observation that ambition is the passion of old age. Do we dream more in age than in infancy? I suspect not. dreams seem to be the consequence of some embarrasment in the animal system. a supper, or the undigested dregs of a dinner interrupt our sleep with dreams. but when all the functions of life are perfectly performed, sound sleep seems to be the consequence in every age. The origin of the yellow fever being a vexata questio among the medical gentlemen, it is not for the unlearned to form an opinion on it. I believe it will be found that the close & solid method of building up cities in the cloudy climates of Europet must not be pursued under our clear sky. the quantity of our sunshine imposes a diCerent law on us. all towns in America should be laid oC on the plan of the chequer board, the white squares remaining unbuilt & in trees. every house would then front a square of trees: and the accidents of Are as well as disease better guarded against. from the accounts in the newspapers we may hope the visitation of your city will be more light this year. but I expect that this calamity will prevent the growth of cities beyond a very moderate size. perhaps manners will not be the worse for that. were such a city as Philadelphia oCered to be planted in this state, I would accept it on no condition but that of breaking it up into < 183>
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squares & planting one in the center of each county. my best wishes attend yourself personally and your family, and that you may take a prudent care of yourself & them. Adieu aCectionately Th: Jefferson RC (PPIn); at foot of Arst page: “Dr. Rush.” friendly letter inclosing two pamphlets: Rush to TJ, 29 July 1799.
q Word interlined in place of “place.” r Preceding four words interlined in place of “we begin to look towards.” s TJ here canceled “sometimes.” t Word written over partially erased “[Ameri].”
From Tadeusz Kosciuszko Dear Sir 15th of September [1799] I had the honor of receiving a letter from you dated the 25th of March, with a bill from the Treasury of the United States for which I send you my best thanks. By your order came to my hands the Arst divident of the Pennsylvania Bank. Mr. Barnes has send me likwise two Cases loaded with my things, which are now upon the road to Paris. before I came from America Mr. Clay has been appointed by me to acte as my proxy at the meeting of Stok Holders upon Pensylvania Bank. the desir of Mr. Barnes to be apointed in his place I refere to you you may do as you please because you have suAcient Power from me. The Theatre of the World is of such kind that I cannot sai nothing in favor. Be so good howev to belive that my aCection Friendship and Esteem for you will be everlasting. T. Kosciuszko Printed in Miecislaus Haiman, Kosciuszko: Leader and Exile (New York, 1946; repr. 1977), 140. Recorded in SJL as received 12 Feb. 1800. No letter from TJ to Kosciuszko dated the 25th of march has been found or is recorded in SJL. For the bill of exchange, see TJ to Kosciuszko, 21 Feb., TJ to Van Staphorst & Hubbard, 22 Feb., and John Barnes to TJ, 10 Mch. 1799.
The mr. clay who held Kosciuszko’s proxy for his Bank of Pennsylvania shares was perhaps Matthew Clay, a Republican congressman from Virginia who, like TJ, stayed at Francis’s hotel when in Philadelphia, or Joseph Clay of Philadelphia, who later served in the House of Representatives, 1803-8, chaired the Committee on Ways and Means in the Ninth Congress, and became cashier of the Farmers & Mechanics’ Bank of his home city (Biog. Dir. Cong., 789; Vol. 29:422, 469n).
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To John Barnes Dear Sir Monticello Sep. 16. 99. Your favor of Aug. 25. is duly recieved & the glass doors arrived at Richmond. I am Alled with anxiety on the subject of the nail rod last ordered, as a failure to recieve it will stop my works. I hope therefore mr Roberts will have exerted himself to forward it. [. . .] I send a statement of our account as it will stand (as nearly as I can make out) about the 7th. of October. you will perceive that I suppose you to have paid for Wm. Short toward the 7th. instalmt. over & above his money then in your hands 179. D. & to have debited the same to me; & that on the 1st. of Oct. you will pay over & above the interest then to be received, aboutq 282. D. toward his 8th. instalment, to be also debited to me. there will then be to be paid to Joseph Roberts 243.67 and to mr Joseph McGoDn 166.67 (on my note to him which is to be taken in)r which be pleased to attend to. I wish you had found it convenient to come & pass the yellow fever season in this healthy situation. we should have been happy to have had you of our family. with every wish for your health & safety I am Dear Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson P.S. I shall draw after this date in favr. of George JeCerson for 500. D. paiable Oct. 7. of which be pleased to consider this as advice. PrC (CSmH); faint; at foot of text in ink: “Barnes John”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Barnes’s favor of 25 Aug., recorded in SJL as received on 8 Sep., has not been found. also debited to me: in his Anancial memoranda TJ later added a note that Barnes “answd. these two sums other-
wise, therefore I am not to charge them to W.S.” (mb, 2:1006). Letters of this date from TJ to joseph roberts and joseph mcgoffin are recorded in SJL but have not been found. For the payment to McGoDn, see TJ to George JeCerson, 15 June 1799. q Word interlined. r Passage in parentheses interlined.
e n c l o s u r e
Statement of Account with John Barnes 1799
J. Barnes in acct.
Dr.
with
[July] 4.
To quarter’s salary May 26. By [balance] due you from treasury 1242.50 pr. acct. rendd.
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Th:JeCerson
Cr. D [64.490]
16 S E P T E M B E R 1799 [Oct.] 4.
To do.
1242.50
July 4
Aug 1. 2[5] Oct. 1. Oct. 7.
PrC (CSmH); faint; letterpressed to same sheet as letter above.
By [. . .] in favr. Wardlaw By [. . .] G. JeCerson By [. . .] Short on acct. Th: JeCerson By paid for sash doors &c By paiment to be made for Wm Short [. . .] By paimt. to be made Jos. Roberts By [do.] to Mc.GoDn By draught to be in favr. G. JeCerson
205.58 800. 179. 260.29 212.q 243.67 166.67 500.
For several of the payments recorded in this statement, see mb, 2:1002, 1006. q Entry inserted.
To William Frederick Ast Dear Sir Monticello Sep. [17]. 99. According to your desire I will now state to you the reasons which have induced me to decline engaging Anally in the mutual insurance against Are. when I had the pleasure of meeting you at Dumfries in Jany. 1798. you were so good as to sit with me the evening & to go into considerable details on the subject of your plan of insurance. the calculations were of some length &q diDculty, I was fatigued with my journey, the hour was late, & the stage to depart early, so that I really did not undertake to investigate the calculations, & the rather as you assured me that a premium of 2. or 3. percent (I think it was thereabouts) once paid would ensure one’s house forever. when you afterwards did me the favor to call on me here, you repeated the same things, shewed me a certiAcate signed by Colo. Harvie & others declaring their satisfaction with the solidity of your scheme, and you particularly repeated the same assurance that the premium to be advanced would ensure for ever. I well remember saying to you that without entering into the calculations, I would give such a sum as that, to give a chance of establishment to so useful a scheme, even were I to lose the advance, for I well remember I could not be satisAed that so small a sum would produce so great an eCect. many others in this, and in other parts of the country, have declared they understood you in the same way that the premium once paid, they < 186>
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were never more to be called on. I was never undecieved till afterwards inviting those in the neighborhood who proposed to subscribe to meet at my house & [. . .] [value it] &c. mr Jouett then [presented] to us an act [of assembly?] subjecting us to be called on to the whole amount of the property ensured, making that liable to sale at short notice, & either that or some later act has permitted it to be done on motion without the ordinary [delays or] forms of a [suit]. we all declared oC from that moment. we considered our houses as in ten times greater danger from such an establishment than from Are. these are the grounds on which I conAde that no court of justice could compel me to complete the contract which I had proposed to enter into on a manifest misunderstanding of what it is now [said?] to have been. a limitation of the sum for which we are liable to be called on is essential to make the contract what I understood it to be: and as I understood it to be paid in advance, there could be no [idea?] of the property ensured being hypothecated at all. I see no reason, if future calls were to be agreed to, why they should be privileged more than other debts against either the person or property of the debtor. a privilege to one set of creditors is an injury to all others; but above all things to make a farmer’s house liable to be sold at short hand when his resources come in but once a year, is to lay it under much greater danger than that of Are. I should have supposed that the scheme would be considered much more acceptable were certain [terms] of time, say of 3, 5, or 7 years given at which subscribers might withdraw themselves, paying up arrearages. [however] I have no right to propose this as a sine qua non, because it was no [part] of the contract explained to me; but a limitation of the sums to be called for, & leaving them to bear on the person & property only as other debts do, would be sine qua nons to me because, without them, the contract would not [be] what I was made to concieve it. I consider the general idea of a mutual insurance against Are as a valuable one, and that it would be a good work to give it such modiAcations as might lend to it’s general establishment, and I sincerely wish it may be so modiAed & established. I am with great esteem Dear Sir Your most obedt. servt Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); faint; at foot of Arst page in ink: “Mr. Ast”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Earlier TJ had begun to All out a declaration for Ast’s company, the Mutual Assurance Society, to obtain insurance on the buildings at Monticello, but he did
not complete that application; see Declaration for the Mutual Assurance Society, [1796 or later]; Ast to TJ, 1 Feb. 1795, 10 Oct. 1796. never more to be called on: if the original premiums collected by the company proved insuDcient to cover payments for losses to insured property, the
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17 S E P T E M B E R 1799 Mutual Assurance Society could, under the December 1794 act that created the company, make a “repartition” and ask its subscribers for more money. According to the statute, subscribers would also “engage their property insured (but none other) as security, and subject the same to be sold, if necessary,” for payment of a premium or any additional quota. A later act of the General Assembly in January 1799 enabled the company’s cashier to Ale a motion in county or district court seeking judgment against the property of a delinquent subscriber (Shepherd, Statutes, 1:309-10; 2:160-1). Major Ares that struck Richmond in November, Norfolk in February, and Fredericksburg in April forced the company in May 1799 to call for new payments from its members. The additional
quotas ranged from one hundred percent of the original premium, for those insured before the Richmond Are, to twenty-Ave percent for those who had signed up after the Norfolk blaze, which destroyed more than 260 buildings, but before the Fredericksburg Are. In a statement published along with the announcement of the new requisition, Ast argued that a wider participation in the society throughout the state, by increasing the pool of funds, would signiAcantly reduce the cost of insuring a building (Virginia Herald, 9 Apr., 31 May 1799; Thomas C. Parramore and others, Norfolk: The First Four Centuries [Charlottesville, 1994], 124). q Ampersand and preceding word interlined.
To William Bache Dear Sir Monticello Sep. 20. 99. We have been long in expectation of seeing you, but mr Trist’s return & information puts oC that indeAnitely. in the mean time your carpenters have gone on tolerably well. they will Anish the ensuing week all their work except some small matters which will need further instructions from you, and which can be done in about a fortnight. I do not know what arrangements you made as to the brickwork. I do not hear of any person entering on that, & in the mean while the season for it is passing oC. mr Key called on me some days ago & wrote to me yesterday. he has purchased in N. Carolina adjoining his father in law, and his paiment is to be made in October. he represents that a failure will be entirely disastrous. mr Trist has lost his purchase; mr Lewis having had a ready money oCer at the same price on the day of forAeture & availed himself of it. mr Trist pays 600. D. forAeture, & it was lucky for him it had been so settled. your bargain is absolute. you are entitled to keep the lands, & as no damages have been previously settled on failure in paiments (as was done in Trist’s case) they will be settled by a jury. it is very uncertain to what sum they may be wrought up by a loss of Key’s purchase, delay of his removal, loss of the preparations for it, loss of a crop the ensuing year by removing too late to put one into the ground, & other considerations which they will take care to swell. as you are not of the < 188>
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craft of the law, and I have been, I have thought it best to apprise you of this, because possibly (if your delay proceeds from a disappointment in collecting your own monies as mr Trist supposes) you may obtain money where you are on lesser sacriAces than the damages assessed by a jury would amount to. it would be better to pay almost any interest per month which could be asked, than to incur this risk. I understand that your Arst paiment would secure Key’s purchase, so that that sum with as much as would remove his family being furnished him I have no doubt he would wait a little for the balance. I have made these observations merely to enable you to decide for yourself which of the two species of sacriAce you would prefer. Key has declared himself ready to make a deed at any time. We have had most disastrous rains lately. our tobacco & fodder are much reduced in quantity & quality, the wheat in stacks subjected to great loss, and the seeding the ensuing crop so retarded as to lessen our hopes from that. mr Randolph’s buildings & mine have gone on most slowly. I have not been able to get a single room yet added to my former stock, and I now see that little will be added this season. there are considerable symptoms of a rise in the price of lands here. tobacco is in the dust. the computation is that this state loses this year Ave millions of dollars by the suspension of commerce with France; for the purpose of starving Frenchmen in the article of tobacco. in the mean time the same law, so far as it can aCect the interest of other produce (say other states) is repealed. be so good as to present me respectfully to your father & mother, and to mrs Bache, and to give us hopes of seeing you soon added to our society. health, happiness & Adieu. Th: Jefferson RC (CLjC); addressed: “Doctr. William Bache Philadelphia”; franked. William Bache (1773-1814) graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1790 and over the next four years completed master’s and M.D. degrees from the same institution. He helped found the Philadelphia Chemical Society, and published his thesis for his medical degree as An Inaugural Experimental Dissertation, being an Endeavor to Ascertain the Morbid ECects of Carbonic Acid Gas, or Fixed Air, on Healthy Animals, and the Manner in Which They are Produced (Philadelphia, 1794). A grandson of Benjamin Franklin and a brother of Benjamin Franklin Bache, in 1797 he was elected to the American Philosophical Society. That
year also he married Catharine Wistar, and by early 1799, a few months after his brother’s death from yellow fever, the couple initiated plans to move from Philadelphia to Virginia. Their income in Albemarle County proved inadequate, however, and two years after TJ wrote the letter above, William Bache sought a position with the U.S. government. TJ appointed him to establish a hospital for American seamen in New Orleans, and in 1802 the doctor disposed of his Virginia property and moved his family back to Philadelphia. He arrived in New Orleans in March of the following year. In 1804 he returned to Philadelphia, where he became surveyor of the port, a position he held until his death (Joseph Samuel Hepburn, “How Franklin’s Elec-
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20 S E P T E M B E R 1799 trical Machine Came to the Franklin Institute,” Journal of the Franklin Institute, 261 [1956], 387-90; Leonard W. Labaree and others, eds., The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, 36 vols. to date [1959– ], 1:lxiii; aps, Proceedings, 22, pt. 3 [1884], 261; Bache to Albert Gallatin, 11 Sep. 1801, and Daniel Clark to Gallatin, 16 Aug. 1802, in DLC; TJ to James Monroe, 3 Jan. 1799; Bache to TJ, 7 July, 26 Dec. 1802, 2 Feb., 29 Mch., 1 June 1803, 21 Nov. 1804; George JeCerson to TJ, 1 Dec. 1802). According to SJL James key wrote a letter of 7 Sep., received by TJ on the 18th, which has not been found. Also listed in SJL but missing are letters from Key of 28 Dec. 1799, 7 Feb., 15 Feb., and 20 Feb. 1800, received on 4 Jan., 17, 22 Feb., and 1 Mch. 1800, respectively, and two letters from TJ to Key, 1 Jan. and 25 Feb. 1800. your bargain: earlier TJ had drawn up an indenture for the sale to Bache of 603 acres owned by James Key and his wife, Mary (“Polly”) Daniel Key, in Albemarle County. The price of the land was £1,100. The tract, which was adja-
cent to property owned by John Wayles Eppes, ran from the north side of the Rivanna River “up into the South West Mountains” (Dft in NjP: Charles Hodge Papers, entirely in TJ’s hand, heavily emended, with blanks for day of execution of the agreement in June 1799 and for some names and other information, unsigned; Marcus M. Key, “The Keys of Key West: Albemarle County, Virginia,” Virginia Genealogist, 8 [1964], 179-80). In drawing up that instrument of sale TJ probably utilized “Dr. Bache’s Aeld notes of his survey of James Key’s land May 1799,” which recorded the bearings, distances, and corner markers of the survey (MS in MHi; entirely in TJ’s hand; undated; mutilated). The 9 Feb. act for suspension of commerce with france allowed the president to discontinue the restraints on trade with any part of the Republic of France. Adams’s proclamation of 26 June repealed the prohibition on commerce with Saint-Domingue (asp, Foreign Relations, 2:240-1; TJ to Monroe, 23 Jan. 1799).
From Daniel Call Sir, Richmond Septr 23d. 1799 The Chancellor gave judgment to day in your suit against Henderson—He grants a perpetual injunction to building the mill dam, orders the present nusance to be abated and the testimony of Morgan to be perpetuated. But there is one unlucky circumstance in the business; namely, that two of the dfts appear to live out of the State and have never been served with a Copy of the order taking the Bill for confessed. If this could be obviated any how it would be better, as those two dfts will not be bound by the decree—Perhaps the former Copy of the order might have been served on them; and therefore I shall ask the Court to suspend entering the decree untill after Monday next—By which time I shall expect to hear from you—I am Sir yrs very respectfully Dan Call RC (MHi); endorsed by TJ as received 27 Sep. and so recorded in SJL.
chancellor: George Wythe, judge of the Virginia High Court of Chancery (Vol. 28:474n).
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To Archibald Stuart Dear Sir Monticello Sep. 24. 99. I trouble you with the inclosed copies of mr Clarke’s last letters to me, which will shew you he is indebted to me from Mar. 19. 98. £90.18.80. what he says about it’s being [to be collected cannot] concern me, because by our original agreement the nails were to be sold for ready money only, & therefore I charged only a ready money price. if he sold on credit, doubtless he laid on a good advance for it to indemnify himself. I have nothing to do either with the advance or the delay. thirteen months after the money should have been remitted I sent to him, & he wrote me the answer of Apr. 13. 99. I have waited since that time without hearing from him. being unacquainted with the circumstances under which he wound up his business I do not know whether it was in a state of solvency or not. but I have observed that the longer debts are suCered to stand out, the less obligation the debtor seems to feel to pay them, and that he gets into a habit of preferring his new debts to them. I doubt therefore whether any good eCect can arise from letting this matter lie any longer; and as I am much pressed to make a considerable paiment at our next court, or as quickly after as I can raise the money, it would be a very sensible relief to get this money of mr Clarke’s in time. perhaps if he is made sensible that it must be paid now, he may exert himself to pay it out of his Arst resources, without suCering an action to be brought. I leave this to your discretion & friendship: it will be a real help to me if you can get the money for me. I do not know on what footing of acquaintance you may stand with mr Clarke. perhaps it might be disagreeable to you to push him. if it is, put the matter into the hands of mr Coalter, mr [Monroe] or any other you please. I would rather the paiment could be obtained without a suit if practicable. but the [fear?] is that after submitting to further delays to avoid bringing an action, we may at last have to bring it. this being a letter of business I shall add nothing further than assurances of the sentiments of esteem with which I am Dear Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); faint; at foot of text: “Archibd. Stuart esq.” Enclosures not found, but see below. Enclosed in TJ to John Coalter, 25 Sep. 1799. inclosed copies: according to SJL the last letter from Samuel Clarke to TJ
was that of 10 July 1798, in which he enclosed a statement of the account. i sent to him: TJ’s last letter to Clarke was of 21 Mch. 1799. Clarke’s answer of apr. 13 was not recorded in SJL and has not been found.
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To John Coalter Dear Sir Monticello Sep. 25. 99. I was just sending oC the inclosed letter to the post oDce when I learned that mr Stuart was gone on the Kentucky line and would not be back again till November; and as it would be a real convenience to me to obtain paiment of the money, due from mr Clarke, which is the subject of the letter, and I have not time to repeat the particulars of the letter, I take the liberty of opening & inclosing it to you and of desiring you to collect the money for me, which I presume to be agreeable to the course of your business on commission. it would be [much?] more agreeable to me to have it done without suit if it can be. I must add (what was known to mr Stuart who procured the [agency] of mr Clarke for me) that our agreement was that he should sell my nails for ready money only, for which he was to recieve 3. per cent on the sales. but dealing on credit with the customers to his store, he let them have nails also on credit laying on doubtless an advance suDcient to indemnify him for the delay and risk. but this made himself the purchaser of the nails as to me, & I could have nothing to do with his collection or the delays of it. being obliged myself to pay ready money for my nailrod, it would neither suit my convenience nor my habits to sell on credit & be embarrassed with the collection of outstanding debts. asking your kind assistance herein I am with esteem Dr. Sir Your most obedt. hble servt Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); faint; at foot of text: “Mr. Coalter”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosure: TJ to Archibald Stuart, 24 Sep. 1799. John Coalter (1771-1838), a Staunton attorney with Republican sympathies, was retained by TJ to collect the money Samuel Clarke owed on his nailery account. Coalter obtained an initial judgment against Clarke in 1801, but he did not collect the sum for TJ until 1807. A student at William and Mary College in 1789, Coalter began serving as clerk of the Virginia District Court in Staunton in
1793, became a judge in the Virginia General Court, and in 1811 accepted appointment to the Virginia Court of Appeals (mb, 2:939, 958, 1108, 1211; cvsp, 10:111-13; Joseph A. Waddell, Annals of Augusta County, Virginia [Richmond, 1886], 201, 221; List of Alumni, 13; Coalter to TJ, 3 July 1801; TJ to Coalter, 8 Oct. 1801, 8 May 1807). Archibald Stuart was on the kentucky line to complete his work as a commissioner for Virginia in running the boundary between the two states (cvsp, 9:39; Stuart to TJ, 19 Aug. 1796).
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To Daniel Call Sir Monticello Sep. 28. 99. I recieved yesterday your favor of the 23d. the SheriC of this county had informed me that he had served the process on the guardians of all Henderson’s children under age of which description are the two in Kentucky; their guardian however is here and I had hoped the service was compleat. should I be mistaken in this, I would still prefer taking the decree Anally against the others. as I am immediately to build it is necessary for me to know where my mill house may be placed, which will depend on this decree, & I presume I may afterwards have process served on the two in Kentucky & then close the decree as to them. besides they can in no event have it changed but for error in the substance of it, of which there can be no fear. however I hope, as I Arst mentioned that the service on their guardians will make it Anal now. having never before been concerned in a case of this nature I shall be at a loss (unless the decree is precise) as to the following particulars. who is to abate the dam & at whose expence? who is to Ax on the antient level of the water? the bill stated the matter below the truth, that the oath might be safe. and by examination since that time it is most clear that Morgan’s deposition as to the height to which the dam of Henderson had raised the water on me was a foot or two less than the reality. there are still living some very material witnesses as to this fact. shall I be at liberty to take back the stone of which Henderson’s dam is built, and which was mostly taken from my land as stated in the bill & Morgan’s deposition? I shall be glad of your instructions in these points, & how to proceed in having the decree executed. it is material for me to recieve it as soon as rendered, that I may have it executed before my departure for Congress. I am with esteem Sir Your most obedt. servt Th: Jefferson RC (MB); at foot of text: “Mr. Daniel Call.” PrC (MHi); endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Albemarle County Deputy sheriff Francis Taliaferro served some of the notices in the milldam suit. The county’s sheriC was John Key, 1795-97, followed by William Hughes, 1797-99 (Woods,
Albemarle, 379; Inquest on Shadwell Mill, 18 Sep. 1795; TJ to heirs of Bennett Henderson, 7 Nov. 1795). By 1801 several members of the late Bennett Henderson’s family, including his widow, TJ’s cousin Elizabeth Lewis Henderson, moved to kentucky (Merrill, JeCerson’s Nephews, 65, 106; Vol. 28:474n).
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From James Thomson Callender Sir Richmond Septr. 29th. 1799. Along with this letter You will receive another, which has lain by me a fortnight, the Contents being So unimportant, (some printed papers) that I had a doubt of sending them at all. In the Examiner which comes with this post, you will see a specimen of our troops here, and an abominable defence of all the worst measures of government. The latter piece was foisted in without my knowledge; I am very much ashamed at seeing it, where it is; and then people pretend to call me the Editor! Mr Lyon has not yet returned. after selling all his magazines, He Could have Sold 150 more, if he had had them; instead of coming home to print his second number, he set out for Vermont in order to fetch Mrs. Lyon here. “We once were young our selves,” says an old man, in a Scots Pastoral, as the only apology that could be made for the follies of youth. I Cannot tell how much vexation his absence has Cost his friends. I Inclose 16 pages of the new matter, as a Specimen of the Prospect. I hope you will excuse this freedom. I had not an intermediate 8 pages between what I send. It is not yet worked oC. People in the Country are willing to accept of amusement that would be not worth having in town. I will send all I print by the Arst opportunities, to Charlottesville.q 1500 Copies of the magazine are now put to press of the 2d number, and I am in hopes of probably getting as many of my own book bespoke. The Virginians promise with prodigious Buency. But I am in trembling hesitation about the execution of their promises. If I Could dispose of as many Copies of 3 successive volumes in the Course of 18. months, I Should save some money, and then Come up James River, [which, by the healthy looks of the people who Come down, I take to be one of the paradises of nature,] and try to And 50 acres of clear land, and a hearty Virginian female, that knows how to fatten pigs, and boil hommany, and hold her tongue; and then Adieu to the Rascally society of mankind for whom I feel an indiCerence which increases per diem. I had your letter, and its important Contents. Sir, there are two points on which if convenient, I solicit your help. 1. what was the Sum which Vergennes told you was necessary to make a Turkish treaty? You know You have the Memorandum somewhere. 2. what was the mode adopted by the several States in chusing the electors at the last presidential election. I am master of the latter, except in 2 or 3 instances, but as it is very material, and I have < 194>
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not been able to obtain exact information, I Could wish a few Sentences upon the whole Subject; under cover to Mr. George JeCerson, who could let me Copy it oC. Your attention, Sir, to these two points would be an important favour to Sir Your most obedt servt. James Thomson Callender P.S. If there was ever anything at once the most perfectly distressing and ridiculous, it is surely our present Situation with France and England. The amicable assurances of Talleyrand are now like last year’s almanack. We wd not strike the iron, when hot. “O Vanity, treachery, ignorance, & madness!” RC (DLC); brackets in original; endorsed by TJ as received 3 Oct. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure not found. Callender’s missive sent along with this letter is not recorded in SJL and has not been found. by this post: this issue of the Richmond Examiner has not been located.
For TJ’s few sentences upon a treaty with Turkey and on the choice of presidential electors, see TJ to Callender, 6 Oct. q Remainder of text written perpendicularly to Arst part of letter on same large sheet.
From Morgan Brown Sir Palmyra October 1st. 1799 I have in my possession two stone or Marble Statues, taken out of the ground within a few miles of this place which I suppose are the largest which have ever been discovered in North America that were really made by the Original inhabitance—one is the likeness of a very old man from the waist upwards and the other a woman—they are about the size of children of eight or ten years old and weigh nearly 70 L. each— They were found on a high bluC on the north side of Cumberland river standing side by side faceing to the East, the tops of their heads about six inches under the surface of the earth; there ware two large mounds a little to the West of them and a quantity of human bones under and near them— A Farmer discovered them as he was Ploughing the land—and they were some what injured by the plough as also by the rustic inhabitance who Arst came to see them, but they are still suDcently entire to shew the degree of knowledge in sculpture the Aborigins had Attained to, If you concieve Sir that they will be mat[ters] of Curiosity to you, < 195>
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not been able to obtain exact information, I Could wish a few Sentences upon the whole Subject; under cover to Mr. George JeCerson, who could let me Copy it oC. Your attention, Sir, to these two points would be an important favour to Sir Your most obedt servt. James Thomson Callender P.S. If there was ever anything at once the most perfectly distressing and ridiculous, it is surely our present Situation with France and England. The amicable assurances of Talleyrand are now like last year’s almanack. We wd not strike the iron, when hot. “O Vanity, treachery, ignorance, & madness!” RC (DLC); brackets in original; endorsed by TJ as received 3 Oct. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure not found. Callender’s missive sent along with this letter is not recorded in SJL and has not been found. by this post: this issue of the Richmond Examiner has not been located.
For TJ’s few sentences upon a treaty with Turkey and on the choice of presidential electors, see TJ to Callender, 6 Oct. q Remainder of text written perpendicularly to Arst part of letter on same large sheet.
From Morgan Brown Sir Palmyra October 1st. 1799 I have in my possession two stone or Marble Statues, taken out of the ground within a few miles of this place which I suppose are the largest which have ever been discovered in North America that were really made by the Original inhabitance—one is the likeness of a very old man from the waist upwards and the other a woman—they are about the size of children of eight or ten years old and weigh nearly 70 L. each— They were found on a high bluC on the north side of Cumberland river standing side by side faceing to the East, the tops of their heads about six inches under the surface of the earth; there ware two large mounds a little to the West of them and a quantity of human bones under and near them— A Farmer discovered them as he was Ploughing the land—and they were some what injured by the plough as also by the rustic inhabitance who Arst came to see them, but they are still suDcently entire to shew the degree of knowledge in sculpture the Aborigins had Attained to, If you concieve Sir that they will be mat[ters] of Curiosity to you, < 195>
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or worth your Acceptance; they are at your service: I can send them to Natchez or New Orlans if you will direct what shall be done with them there— I have the Honor to be with the highest respect & Esteem your Unknown Humble Servt. Morgan Brown RC (DLC); at foot of text: “Thomas JeCerson Esqr. Vice President of the United States”; endorsed by TJ as received 30 Dec. and so recorded in SJL. A native of North Carolina, Morgan Brown (1758-1840) moved his family to Tennessee in 1795 and settled on the Cumberland River, where he laid out the town of Palmyra. In 1797 the town became a port of entry and Brown was appointed U.S. collector for the District of Tennessee and inspector of the revenue at Palmyra. Later Brown, who was a doctor and sold medicines, also kept a store, built a mill, established an iron-smelting furnace, and presided over a county court. He moved to Kentucky in 1808, later returning to Tennessee (American Historical Magazine and Tennessee Historical Society Quarterly, 7 [1902], 98-9, 148; jep, 1:226-7). A work on Tennessee’s antiquities Arst published in 1823 stated that the two statues described above by Brown were “found by ploughing the ground near a very large mound below Clarksville. . . . One represented an old man with his body bent forward, and head inclined downwards, exceedingly well executed. The other represented an old woman.” Brown shipped the stones downriver and they went around the coast by sea from New Orleans in 1801. When they were on
display among other art and artifacts in the Entrance Hall at Monticello, TJ described the sculptures as “two busts of Indian Agures male & female, by Indians, in hard stone. 18. I. high,” mistaking their origins somewhat by cataloging them as “dug up at a place called Palmyra, on the Tennissee.” An 1807 notice in an English magazine, which also called the site of the discovery “Palmyra, on the river Tennessee,” described the carvings: “The human form extends to the middle of the body, and the Agures are nearly of the natural size. The lineaments are strongly marked, and such as are peculiar to the copper-coloured aboriginal inhabitants of America: among others, is one of them representing an aged savage, in which the wrinkles and look are very expressive.” The magazine praised the statues’ creators for “executing such a good resemblance of the human head, face, neck, and shoulders.” It is not known what became of the two sculptures after TJ’s death (John Haywood, Natural and Aboriginal History of Tennessee, ed. Mary U. Rothrock [Jackson, Tenn., 1959], 141; The Monthly Magazine, 24 [1807], 74; Susan R. Stein, The Worlds of Thomas JeCerson at Monticello [New York, 1993], 410, 458n; Catalogue of Paintings, undated MS in ViU: McGregor Library; mb, 2:1058).
To John McDowell Sir Monticello Oct. 1. 99. Having to pay a sum of money at our ensuing court (the 7th. inst.) I am obliged to muster up all my resources. if you have any thing for me for nails sold, I should thank you to remit it. if nobody should be coming from your place to our court, I will send express for it a day or two after, if the sum should be worth while. I do not know the per< 196>
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son who rides post; but if you know him or can learn that he is trusty I should be willing to have it sent by him at my risk, to be lodged with Colo. Bell. I would thank you to let me know by return of post whether you have any thing for me, that I may be able to judge of what I can eCect at the time requisite. I should have written to you sooner on this subject, but that I waited the return of my sister Bolling lest she should have had occasion to draw on you. I thank you for your readiness in oCering to furnish her had she needed it; and am with esteem Sir Your most obedt. humble servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); at foot of text: “Mr. John Mc.Dowell”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
Indenture with Craven Peyton for the Lease of Fields at Shadwell This indenture made on the Arst day of October 1799. between Thomas JeCerson of Monticello in the county of Albemarle on the one part & Craven Peyton of the same county on the other part witnesseth that the said Thomas hath demised & leased unto the sd Craven a parcel of land containing four Aelds of his farm called Shadwell in the same county, which Aelds are known by the names of the SouthAeld, WestAeld, EastAeld & the Yard, the three Arst-mentioned of the said Aelds being bounded by, & comprehending their present fences, & containing each of them forty acres, & the said Yard being bounded on the West by the South and West Aelds, on the North by the public road, on the East by the EastAeld, & on the South by a line to be run due East & West so as to make the said Yard include forty acres: to have and to hold the said parcel of land with all it’s appurtenances unto the said Craven his executors & administrators from the 15th. day of this present month of October for the term of Ave years to be counted therefrom:q yielding and paying yearly for the same to the said Thomas & his heirs the sum of one hundred & sixty dollars in the gold or silver coin of the United States, the Arst paiment of one hundred and sixty dollarsr to be made on the 15th. day of October in the year one thousand eight hundred, and a like paiment on the same day in every year after during the said term: and if it shall happen that the said yearly rent or any part thereof be unpaid for the space of six months after it is due, that then it shall be lawful for the said Thomas or his heirs into the said premisses to reenter, & the same to < 197>
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have again, repossess & enjoy as of his former estate: and the said Craven doth covenant with the said Thomas that he will yearly & every year during the term hereby granted pay to the said Thomas the yearly rent of one hundred & sixty dollars before reserved on the days herein before limited for paiment thereof, & that he will pay all taxes levies & assessments laid or to be laid by public authority, which shall become due for the premisses demised during the said term: and it is covenanted between the said Thomas & Craven that if it shall happen that the value of the gold or silver coin of the United States, or the quantity of the precious metal in them which shall constitute the dollar be increased or diminished by public authority during the said term, or any other thing be made a lawful tender except the said coins now by law established, that neither party shall take advantage or suCer loss by such change, but that the rent may & shall be paid and recieved still in the same coins now by law established; each party expressly renouncing for himself the beneAt of any law which may be made to authorise such paiment or demand in such substituted money or money of substituted value: and further that if (this renunciation notwithstanding) the said rent or any part thereof shall yet be paid or demanded by lawful authority in any money or substance having more or less of pure gold or silver in it’s composition and estimated value than the present gold or silver coins of the United states, then this demise shall be ipso facto determined, & the sd Thomas shall of the premisses be re-siesed & re-possessed,s either with or without entry made as of his former estate: And the said Thomas reserves the use of the road between the said South & WestAelds & through the Yard to the public road for himself & all persons having occasion to use the same as a communication between the said public road & his lands on the South side of the river: And the sd Thomas doth covenant that he will allow to the sd Craven during the term aforesd suDcient timber to be cut & taken by the said Craven from any part of the woodlands of the sd tract of land called Shadwell lying between the EastAeld the public road & Eastern boundary of the said land, or between the sd public road & the private road leading from the ford through the demised premises as before mentioned, for Arewood, fencing, repairs & utensils for the use of the farm; and that his stock shall have free range on all the uninclosed woodlands of the said Thomas on the same side of the river: and the sd Craven covenanteth that he will keep the fences & gates on the premisses in good repair & so deliver them at the determination of the lease; that he will also keep the houses built or to be built in repair except against the decays of time; that he will keep the said yard constantly < 198>
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in grass, & not suCer the same to be broke up; that he will divide the said Aelds called SouthAeld, WestAeld & EastAeld into Ave equal shifts of twenty four acres each; that no one shift shall be put into Indian corn more than once in the said term of Ave years; that each of the sd shifts shall rest from culture & pasture two years during the sd term of Ave years neither of which shall be next after a year of Indian corn; but it shall be lawful for him during the said two years that any shift shall be entitled to rest to put the same into peas, clover or other grass to be cut, & not pastured on the ground; that a breach in any of these covenants respecting the mode of employing & cultivating the farm shall be deemed waste; and that he shall not have power to assign this lease to any person without the consent of the said Thomas. And the parties do mutually covenant with each other that all the obligations, burthens & beneAts herein stipulated in their own names shall be binding on & result to their respective heirs, executors & administrators in like manner as if they had been specially named in every several covenant. In witness whereof the said Thomas and Craven have hereto set their hands & seals on the day & year Arst above written. Signed sealed & delivered Th: Jefferson in presence of Craven Peyton Jas. Dinsmore Robt. Bolling Richard Richardson MS (Albemarle County Circuit Court, Charlottesville, on deposit ViU); in TJ’s hand except for signatures; day of month in opening clause inserted in blank by TJ; indented; sealed at TJ’s and Peyton’s signatures; endorsed, including notation: “acknowledged by JeCerson.” PrC (ViU); unsigned; with blank for date in opening clause unAlled. A native of Loudoun County, Virginia, Craven Peyton (1775-1837) lived in Milton by the mid-1790s. He married TJ’s niece, Jane JeCerson Lewis, the daughter of Charles Lilburne Lewis and TJ’s sister Lucy, in 1795. That year TJ helped Peyton, who had previously engaged in military supply contracts with an uncle and had entered into business as a merchant, establish commercial contacts with Philadelphia. With time, Peyton’s own capital was probably augmented by the estates of two brothers and his uncle, all of whom
died without marrying. In 1801 he began to purchase property and buildings that Bennett Henderson, before his death in 1793, had accumulated in and around Milton, and TJ, who had sued Henderson’s heirs after their milldam altered the water level at his mill on the Rivanna River at Shadwell, used Peyton as his conAdential agent to acquire the Hendersons’ real estate. For a decade Peyton bought property from the Hendersons, keeping TJ’s name out of the transactions. In 1811 Peyton transferred title of over 1,100 acres to TJ, although clear title to all the Henderson properties only came after several more years, additional cost, and litigation (Woods, Albemarle, 295; Merrill, JeCerson’s Nephews, 60-70; Malone, JeCerson, 6:505-7; Merrow Egerton Sorley, Lewis of Warner Hall: The History of a Family [Baltimore, 1979], 352; Vol. 28:466-7, 473-4n; mb, 2:968n, 1047n, 1330n; TJ to Peyton, 15 Jan., 18
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1 O C T O B E R 1799 Feb. 1801; Peyton to TJ, 3 Oct. 1801; declaration of trust between TJ and Peyton, 25 Sep. 1801). In 1797 TJ considered the cultivated acreage of Shadwell to consist of seven fields, not including the part called the yard. Some years later he classiAed Shadwell’s farmland as eight Aelds, each of forty acres. In 1799, having grown tobacco there the previous year, he had
the Aelds planted in grains (Betts, Farm Book, 58, 119; Thomas Mann Randolph to TJ, 3 June 1798; TJ to Eli Alexander, 22 Dec. 1809). q TJ here canceled “the said Craven.” r Preceding six words interlined. s TJ Arst wrote “be siesed & possessed” before interlining the preAxes.
From John McDowell Sir Staunton Oct: 3h. 1799 I received your favour this morning by post in which you mention to know the amt: of mony in my hands ariseing from the sales of your Nails I have never sold but Very triEing of them Sense the last Statement None except the 10d: The six penny & 8d is all still on hand therefore It is but a triBing sum in my hands besides the small balance before however whatever there is I will Send It to you the Arst safe opputunity—the ten penny Nails amounts to £6:17:3—which was the quantity left on hands at the time I made out your a/c Current And that is the only kind I have sold sense—the 8d is a kind which is not Very Saleable and there is a large quntity of them on hand— from your Obt Sevt John McDowell RC (MHi); endorsed by TJ as received 11 Oct. and so recorded in SJL.
To James Thomson Callender Sir Monticello Oct. 6. 99. On recieving your favor of Sep. 29. I did believe it would be in my power to answer you satisfactorily on both the points on which you asked information. I knew indeed that I had not made any particular memorandum of the sum which the Ct. de Vergennes supposed a treaty with the Porte would cost; but I expected that I had mentioned it either in my letter on the subject to mr Jay, or in that to mr Adams my collegue in the Barbary negociations. after a very long search yesterday I found both letters, but in neither have I stated any particular sum. they are of May 1786. and only say generally that in a conversation with the Ct. de Vergennes on the subject he said that a treaty < 200>
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with the Porte would cost us a great deal of money, as great presents are expected at that court & a great many claim them; and that we should not buy a peace one penny the cheaper at Algiers: that the Algerines did indeed acknolege a certain dependance on the Porte, & availed themselves of it whenever any thing was to be gained by it, but disregarded it when it subjected them to any demand: & that at Algiers there were but two agents, money & fear. this is the statement in those letters, and my memory does not enable me to Ax any particular sum as having been named by him; but only generally that it was very far beyond any thing then at our command. all who were members of Congress in 1786. may be supposed to remember this information, and if it could be understood to come to you through some such channel, it would save the public from reading all the blackguardisms which would be vented on me were I quoted. not that this would weigh an atom with me, on any occasion where my avowal of either facts or opinions would be of public use; but whenever it will not, I then think it useful to keep myself out of the way of calumny. On the other point I can be more certain. Georgia, N. Carola. Tenissee Kentucky, Virginia, Maryland & Pennsylvania chose their electors by the people directly. in Massachusets the choice is Arst by the people in districts. but if a candidate has not a majority of all the qualiAed voters of the district, it devolves on the legislature to appoint the elector for that district. besides, as they have but 14. districts (laid oC for some state purpose) and are entitled to 16. electors, the legislature name the two extra ones in the Arst instance. again if any of those elected either by the people or legislature die, or decline to act, the residue of the electors All up the vacancies themselves. in this way the people of Massachus. chose 7. electors on the last occasion & the legislature 9. In New Hamp. Rho. Isld. Connect. Vermont, New York, Jersey Delaware & South Carolina the legislature name electors. my information is good as to all these particulars except N. Hampshire & Connecticut: and as to them I think I am right; but speaking only from memory it should be further ascertained before asserted. I thank you for the proof sheets you inclosed me. such papers cannot fail to produce the best eCect. they inform the thinking part of the nation; and these again, supported by the taxgatherers as their vouchers, set the people to rights. you will know from whom this comes without a signature: the omission of which has been rendered almost habitual with me by the curiosity of the post oDces. indeed a period is now approaching during which I shall discontinue writing letters as much as possible, knowing that every snare will be used to get hold of what may be perverted in the eyes of the publick. Adieu < 201>
6 O C T O B E R 1799 PrC (DLC); at foot of Arst page: “Mr. Callendar.” Tr (MHi: Timothy Pickering Papers); in Pickering’s hand; address sheet: “Mr. James Thompson Callendar Richmond”; along with endorsement copied by Pickering from RC: “Given by M Callender to Aug. Davis”; with statement signed by Pickering and in his hand, dated Washington, D.C., 3 Jan. 1804: “The foregoing is a true copy of an original letter in the hand-writing of Thomas JeCerson, now president of the United States, compared by James Hillhouse Esqr. and myself. The handwriting of Mr. JeCerson is so distinguishable, and is so well known to me, that I can vouch for the original, of which the foregoing is a copy, being Mr. JeCerson’s, with the same conAdence and certainty that I can vouch the authenticity of my own hand-writing. In a word, I have no more doubt that the original letter here referred to is Thomas JeCerson’s, than that the certiAcate I am now writing is done with my own hand.—The superscription is also in the hand-writing of Mr. JeCerson. And the words on the back ‘Given by M Callender to Aug. Davis’ appear to be the handwriting of Augustine Davis, formerly postmaster at Richmond, with whom, when I was post-master general, I used to correspond. “Th. JeCerson, who is so fond of manufacturing words (as appears by his public exhibitions) does also indulge himself in departures from the best authorities in the English language in spelling & the form of writing. For instance, in the foregoing letter he begins sentences with small letters; he writes acknolege for acknowledge—& collegue for colleague—and the word expected he has used like the vulgar in Pennsylvania, instead of supposed, or other word of like import; and invariably, I believe, the capital I where he should use J, in proper names.” Tr (same); sub-
joined to TJ to Callendar, 6 Sep. 1799; enclosed in James McHenry to Pickering, 10 Apr. 1808 (same). Tr (MH). Tr (CtHi: Oliver Wolcott Papers); at foot of text: “Directed on the envellop to Mr James Thompson Callender”; with note signed by Oliver Wolcott, Jr., and in his hand: “N.B. I am well acquainted with mr JeCersons hand writing and signature, I have seen the originals, from which these copies were made and I know them to be correct Copies.” Tr (same); incomplete, ending with “Jersey” at the beginning of the Anal paragraph. Tr (NjP). Tr (same). Tr (DLC: TJ Papers, ser. 9); with notation on verso: “Copy of Mr JeCerson’s letter to J. T. Callender dated Octr. 6. 99—(Copied from the original in the hand writing of Mr JeCerson—by WS—) (verbatim et literatim).” Enclosed in TJ to George JeCerson, 6 Oct. 1799, which reads in its entirety, “I take the liberty of putting the inclosed letter under your cover to avoid exciting the curiosity of the post oDce. be so good as to deliver it” (PrC in MHi). i found both letters: TJ reported the results of his consultation with the Comte de Vergennes regarding the expediency of a diplomatic mission to Constantinople in missives to John Jay and John Adams on 23 and 30 May 1786, respectively. In The Prospect Before Us, Callender examined the treaty with Algiers and questioned the high price the United States was paying for the Mediterranean trade. He referred to treaty expenses as “the Algerine tribute” and questioned why the president accepted them but declared that he “would rather Aght the French for twenty years than give them a shilling.” Callender’s analysis of the election of 1796 used the information TJ provided on how the states chose electors (The Prospect Before Us, 25-6, 41-58).
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From William Dunbar 4 [i.e. 6] October 1799. To Thomas JeCerson Virginia I am honored by the receipt of yours of 24 June last. It is highly gratifying to be invited by a person of your high reputation in the republic of letters to contribute in conducting philosophical researches in this and the neighboring country—Constant occupation as a planter since my residence in this country has somewhat disqualiAed me for scientiAc pursuits—.&c xxx But shall take pleasure in pursuing such objects of enquiry as you may point out as worthy of the attention of your Societyq— I keep a regular diary of the weather and the rise and fall of the Thermometer and Barometer the quantity of rain that falls with the direction & Strength of the wind &c of which I will forward you copies—… xx. The natural history of this country so far as I have had an opportunity of visiting it will be found to vary very little from that of the same latitude in the Atlantic States: The forest trees are the same which generally grow from Virginia to Florida. The richest lands are covered with strong canes growing very close which excluding all other Vigetable subjects a few large trees excepted furnish no Aeld for the Botanist—the open woods land and plains are more productive of variety but I believe little is to be found which has escaped the researches of the indefatigable deciples of Linæus.— Tr (DLC: William Dunbar Lb); consisting of mid-19th-century extracts and notes by B. L. C. Wailes (see Charles S. Sydnor, “Historical Activities in Mississippi in the Nineteenth Century,” Journal of Southern History, 3 [1937], 141). Recorded in SJL as a letter of 6 Oct. received from Natchez on 30 Dec. 1799, and acknowledged by TJ as a letter of the 6th (see TJ to Dunbar, 16 Jan. 1800). q The following note appears here in the same hand as the extracts: “Note the
balance of this long letter and of others to Mr. JeCerson & some English Savans. relates to various matters such as to vocabularies of languages of the South Western Indian tribes—to a language of signs in use among them—to the use of a telescopic sight in Are arms—improvements in astronomical instruments &c &c which however interesting in themselves, are not partarticuly Connected with the early history of this Country its resources and agriculture & no further extracts will be made from them.”
From James Thomson Callender Sir Richmond Octr. 7th. 1799. With reference to mine of last week, I now, with Submission, inclose 8 additional pages. I had 8 intermediate ones laid by for you, < 203>
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but they have been some how picked up, and it is too late at night to get others. Mr. Lyon is at last come, and The magazine will be sent out in two days. Hoping your pardon for this freedom I am Sir Your very obliged Servant Jas. T. Callender. RC (DLC); date of TJ’s endorsement clipped but recorded in SJL as received 11 Oct. 1799. Enclosure not found.
From George Jefferson Dear Sir Richmond 7th. Octr. 1799 I have received a bill of lading of Mr. Roberts for 3 tons of nail-rod shipped on your account the 28th. ultimo; supposing you will be glad to know when you will probably receive a supply, I have concluded to give you this information. I am Dear Sir Your Very humble servt Geo. Jefferson Tobacco 30/. Cash wheat 8/. & 8/.6. RC (MHi); at foot of text: “Thomas JeCerson esqr. Monticello”; endorsed by TJ as received 11 Oct. and so recorded in SJL.
From Philip Norborne Nicholas Dear Sir, Richmond October 8th 1799. Inclosed is a little posthumous work of my brother Colo. Geo. Nicholas. It contains some very severe strictures on the measures of the last session of Congress. This pamphlet is characterized by that freedom of inquiry and independence of spirit which is conspicuous in all the writings of the author. Harper if not calous must feel some of the cutting truthes which it contains. I feel great solicitude to hear from the election in Pennsylvania. it is of great importance, much is to be feared from the success of Ross, but I will not let myself for a moment suppose that a possible event. This very mail may bring us information. I have written to Colo. Monroes urging him to come to Richmond by the begining of the session, his presence will have a good eCect and I belive will insure him the chief magistracy of the state & these are times when nothing is to be left undone which may advance the common cause. I am with great respect & regard Ph: Nor: Nicholas. < 204>
13 O C T O B E R 1799 RC (DLC); at foot of text: “Thomas JeCerson Esqr.”; endorsed by TJ as received 17 Oct. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: Correspondence between George Nicholas, Esq. of Kentucky, and the Hon. Robert G. Harper, Member of Congress from the District of 96, State of South Carolina (Lexingon, Ky., 1799). See Sowerby, No. 3196. Philip Norborne Nicholas (1775?1849) was the younger brother of George, John, and Wilson Cary Nicholas. They were the sons of Robert Carter Nicholas and Anne Cary Nicholas. In 1775 the family moved from Williamsburg to Hanover County, then in the early 1780s, after her husband’s death, Anne Cary Nicholas relocated the family again, this time to Albemarle County. After attending the College of William and Mary, Philip Norborne Nicholas studied law, and in March 1800 James Monroe appointed him attorney general of Virginia. Beginning in 1804 he was a bank director in Richmond, and in 1823 he became a judge of the state’s General Court. He subsequently played a role in committing
the “Richmond Junto” to the support of Andrew Jackson (dab, 13:482-6; Monroe, Writings, 3:170). In the election in pennsylvania, Senator James ross and Thomas McKean vied for the governor’s oDce. Over 70,000 votes were cast, more than double the number in any previous election of a Pennsylvania governor. McKean won by a margin of close to 5,400 votes (Harry Marlin Tinkcom, The Republicans and Federalists in Pennsylvania, 1790-1801: A Study in National Stimulus and Local Response [Harrisburg, 1950], 238). In contrast, the chief magistracy of Virginia was decided not by popular vote but by the assembly, and despite Nicholas’s urging, Monroe, the Republican candidate, did not go to Richmond during the legislative session. Anticipating that the Federalists would make an issue of his recall from Paris in 1796, Monroe let James Madison and John Taylor defend him. On 6 Dec. 1799 the legislature selected him for the governorship over James Breckenridge, the Federalist candidate (Ammon, Monroe, 173; Madison, Papers, 17:285-7).
From Daniel Call Sir, Richmond Octr. 13th. 1799. Inclosed is a copy of the decree of the Court of Chancery in your suit against Henderson, which in several respects is contrary to what I thought would be right, but found it impossible to procure any other. Amongst other objections to it you will perceive that as the order of abatement is in the alternative, either that the dfts shall abate or permit you to do it, the latter will most probably be preferred by them, which will throw the expence of the abatement on you, contrary to justice; because he who erected the nuisance ought to be at the expence of pulling it down. Another inconvenience from this alternative order is that it may create disputes and diCerences betwixt you relative to the bounds of the antient level; an inconvenience which it would have been extremely easy to avoid by merely directing the dfts to abate. Because if they had failed to do so, the line might have been ascertained, on a < 205>
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motion for an attachment against them for not performing the decree of the Court. This I observed to the Chancellor, but could not prevail in the attempt to get it altered. You mention in your last letter that some of the dfts are infants. This fact is not mentioned in any of the proceedings; and as it would have been necessary to have undone several things already transacted in the cause, in order to have introduced it, I thought it would have destroyed all your hopes of a speedy decision if any notice had been taken of it. If however you are anxious upon that head I presume the Court would open the decree so as to enable you to take the regular steps against them. I wonder you did not take the testimony of the other witnesses whom you speak of. But as it is omitted it appears to me that it would be prudent to compel the dfts to come to an early resolution whether they will perform the decree or not according to your notion of what is the true antient level. Because if any dispute should arise upon it, that will be furnishing an opportunity of perpetuating their testimony. You ask that I will give you instructions relative to the manner of executingq the decree. This is a compliment to my knowledge which it does not deserve, and your own better judgment and greater information will suggest more upon the subject than I can tell you. But if any hints that I can give will be of any use to you I chearfully oCer them. I think then that the dfts, or those in the immediate occupation of the Mill, should be served with a copy of the decree and that they should be required to pull down the dam to its antient level. If they refuse or neglectr I think you should oCer to have it done yourself; and if they submit you must, in ascertaining the antient level, in some measure depend upon your own judgment if you and the dfts cannot agree upon it. But care should be taken not to reduce it below the antient level, or to commit any other injury not necessary in order to eCect the abatement. The question you ask relative to the stone is very abstract and would admit of very subtle reasoning. The biass of my mind is that it would be decided to be yours and that you might take it away if you could clearly distinguish it. But it would perhaps involve you in more diDculty and embarrassment than you would like to be exposed to, were you to attempt to ascertain your own. For you do not state that it was all taken from your land, but that it was mostly got from thence. You might therefore be extremely puzzled how to ascertain your own from that of the dfts; and although there are some old doc< 206>
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trines of the law which might help you a little, yet from the long disuse of them, it is diDcult to say what degree of respect would be paid to them by our courts and juries. In this state of uncertainty it appears to me, that the most adviseable plan would be to bring some action at the common law for the injury, or a Bill in Equity for an account of the Stone. The latter perhaps would be preferable, as it has all the advantages of an action at common law, at the same time that the enquiry is more calm and less subject to be inBuenced by the heats and animosities of a neighbourhood. If the dfts will neither abate the nuisance themselves or permit you to do it, aDdavits of the refusal, and of the true bounds of the antient level, had better be taken and sent down with a notice to the dfts who refuse that you will move the court upon some day of the next term, for an attachment against them for not performing the decree of the Court or permitting you to do it. So if the dfts should refuse to permit you to take down the dam to what you suppose was the antient level, similar aDdavits should be taken and a similar notice given and transmitted against the sitting of the court. which perhaps will drive the court to the necessity of having the level ascertained by the Surveyor of the County and abated by the Sherif.s A point which it would be very desireable to bring the case to. Especially as it would probably occasion a full investigation and put an end to any future litigation. I have now gone through the several parts of your letter which seemed to require an answer, and am afraid I have been tedious; but I did not know how to comprize in fewer words what I had to say. You will therefore be good enough tot excuse the length of the letter, as well as the blots andu erasures; for the Court of Appeals being now in Session I have not leisure to copy. I am Sir Yrs very respectfully Dan Call RC (MHi); at foot of text: “The Honble. Thomas JeCerson Esquire”; endorsed by TJ as received 17 Oct. and so recorded in SJL. last letter: TJ to Call, 28 Sep. 1799.
q Word interlined in place of “performing.” r Two words interlined. s Call here canceled a sentence. t Preceding four words interlined. u Preceding two words interlined.
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e n c l o s u r e
Virginia High Court of Chancery Decree Virginia
In the high court of chancery Between Thomas JeCerson Plt and John, William, Sally, James, Charles, Isham, Bennett, Killsborough,q Eliza, Francis Lucy, and Nancy Crawford Henderson children heirs and parceners of Bennett Henderson deceased Defts. In this cause, the court, on this Arst day of october, in the year of our lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety nine, doth adjudge, order and decree that the defendents do desist from further proceedings to raise and reBow their back water on the mill seat of the plaintiC on the north side of the Rivanna in the bill mentioned; that the defendents do abate and throw down so much of their already erected dam as raiseth the water in that stream above its natural levelr leaving it at the hight where the water was before erection of the mills constructed by the plaintiCs father Peter JeCerson at the conAnes of the plaintiC and the defendents, or permit prostration of that nusance by the plaintiC or his agents and that the deposition of Thomas Morgan, taken and reported, in perpetuam rei memoriam, be registered as an act and amongst the monuments of this court. A copy Teste P. Tinsley, C,C, MS (DLC); in an unidentiAed hand; endorsed. Tr (MHi); entirely in TJ’s hand, several words abbreviated; two passages underlined as noted below.
q Tr: “Hillsborough.” r Two words underlined in Tr. s Preceding Ave words underlined in Tr.
in perpetuam rei memoriam: in perpetual testimony of the matter.
To Charles Clay Dear Sir Monticello Oct. 14. 99. In compliance with your request I send you on the next page a copy of the passage from my journal which I must have read to you on the subject of the Parmesan cheese, without changing a word. I wish you success in the manufacture; for tho’ it has been tried without success in other parts of Europe, it may answer here. there must be some part of America correspondent to Lombardy where this cheese is made. I expect the quantity requisite to make a cheese will be a diDculty with you; for I have understood it is of consequence in the making of all cheese. I shall be glad to have the pleasure of trying a bit with you some of these days on the spot where made. your marriage has ren< 208>
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dered you so stationary that that would seem the only chance now of seeing you. we have no political news here but what you probably possess. we ardently wish for any event which opening our commerce again with France & the other commercial countries of Europe, would restore the price of our tobacco. I pray you to accept assurances of the sincere esteem of Dr. Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson RC (PPRF); addressed: “The revd. Charles Clay near Lynchburg”; franked. Enclosure: extract of Notes of a Tour into the Southern Parts of France, &c., 1787 (see Vol. 11:438-9, 463n). your request: a letter from Clay of 2 Oct. 1799, received by TJ on the 9th, is
recorded in SJL but has not been found. TJ’s last previous correspondence with Clay, who from 1769 to 1784 was the minister of St. Anne’s Parish in Albemarle County, had been on 11 Sep. 1792 (John Hammond Moore, Albemarle: Jefferson’s County, 1727-1976 [Charlottesville, 1976], 77-8; Vol. 24:367-8).
To George Jefferson Dear Sir Monticello Oct. 14. 99. By this post I forward the papers in the dispute between mr Ross & my [self] to Dr. Currie, who [has] agreed to be the [depository] of them. as I made paiments in money for a tobo. debt, I am entitled to have them converted into tobo. at the Cash price at which [. . .] [I had purchased and inspected] tobo. on the 1st. of Jan. [. . .] [and] [. . .] [the prices] stated to me in your letter mr Rutherford purchased @ [20/ in Jan.?] [. . .] and mr Brown’s @ 17/ in Oct. 9[0]. [on] those I would be glad to [. . .] I have taken the liberty of stating in my observation to the arbitrators that you would furnish certiAcates of the prices at which [. . .] were bought at those dates. if therefore you can learn any [thing] [. . .] you [. . .] liberty to give them in. I think it would be better to apply to mr Rutherford & mr Brown for their certiAcates that they bought at those prices before mr Ross [calls] on them. when received you may hold [them] untill called for by Dr. Currie or the arbitrators. I am Dear Sir Your’s aCectionately Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); faint; at foot of text: “Mr. George JeCerson.” TJ forwarded the papers relating to his dispute with David Ross. In 1783 TJ settled his account with the Scottishborn Virginia merchant, landowner, and industrialist, and made arrangements to
pay approximately 15,000 pounds of tobacco and £215 in cash. In 1790 TJ found that according to Ross’s accounts he still owed the merchant £400 to £500. TJ calculated that he owed Ross about 28,000 pounds of tobacco and that Ross owed him £42.7.6. The disagreement, according to TJ, was over the price of
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14 O C T O B E R 1799 TJ’s Elk Hill tobacco credited to the account in the early 1780s when Ross purchased it. TJ indicated that Ross had agreed to pay 36 shillings for tobacco that he subsequently credited to the account at 20 shillings. TJ began collecting papers and in 1791 proposed to Ross that they seek arbitration if they could not come to an agreement. The arbitration began in January 1801. A year later TJ made arrangements to acquire 20,000 pounds of tobacco to settle the debt according to the arbitrated agreement (Charles B. Dew, “David Ross and the Oxford Iron Works: A Study of Industrial Slavery in the Early NineteenthCentury South,” wmq, 3d ser., 31 [1974],
190-2; mb, 1:534-5; 2:1052-3; TJ to Francis Eppes, 25 July, 10 Oct. 1790; TJ to John Key, 8 Oct. 1790; TJ to Ross, 25 Oct. 1790, 6 May 1791; TJ to James Currie, 14 Dec. 1800). SJL records a letter from TJ to Ross of 23 Oct. 1794, plus Ave others from 28 Aug. 1798 to 14 June 1799, none of which has been found. A dozen letters written by Ross to TJ from 25 June 1798 through 20 June 1799 are also missing, as is one that TJ received from Richmond two days after it was written on 24 Sep. 1801. A letter from George JeCerson to TJ of 23 Sep., recorded in SJL as received four days later with the notation “ads. Ross,” has not been found.
To George Jefferson Dear Sir Monticello Oct. 14. 99. In the year 1774 (before a shilling of paper money had issued) I sold about [. . .] acres of land in [Cumber]land & Bedford to pay my part of a debt of mr Wayles to Farrel & Jones. I oCered the bonds to their agent immediately but he refused to take them. the money was paid to me in 79. 80. &c. I [then carried it] to the treasury as the laws pressed on all to do who owed money to British subjects, declaring that the public would pay it [over] dollar for dollar. this [delusion soon passed away] and, it became evident to me that the public [neither could or ought] to pay according to the [nominal value]. I therefore considered myself from that time as still answerable to the debt and accordingly settled with them otherwise: and I have [never] [. . .] to that [. . .] for restitution: nor do I know [how or] to whom I should apply. will you be so good as to enquire [and report on] what steps I must [take?] I inclose a [note of the] two reciepts, and [. . .] in a [. . .] I shall be advised is required to [. . .] the principal according to the Virginia depreciation [table?] is not quite [300.] D. if interest be allowed it will [. . .]. I am Dear Sir Your’s aCectionately PrC (MHi); faint, with several illegible phrases; memorandum letterpressed on same sheet below closing in place of signature; at foot of text: “Mr. George JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosure: Memorandum for the
most part illegible except for the amounts “167.67” and “122. 45” with the total “290.12” (PrC in same; pressed on same sheet as letter above). Much of the language used by TJ in
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14 O C T O B E R 1799 the Arst part of this letter (to “otherwise:” in the sixth sentence) is repeated in the introduction to TJ’s letter to William Jones of 5 Jan. 1787, which appeared in the Richmond Examiner on 7 Mch. 1800 to refute charges that TJ had not paid his British debts. According to that account TJ sold about 5,000 acres of land in the counties of Cumberland and Bedford (note to Statement for the Aurora, printed at 25 Mch. 1800). their agent: Thomas Evans, factor for Farell & Jones, refused to accept the bonds TJ received upon the sale of lands to pay his share of the Wayles estate debt. TJ subsequently received payments for the land in paper money, which Virginians were obliged to accept as legal tender. TJ deposited the money in the Virginia loan oDce as provided by the Sequestration Act—passed by the Virginia Assembly in January 1778 and repealed in May 1780—presumably to be turned over to British creditors after the
war. Even before the courts ruled that the payments into the Virginia treasury could not be used to discharge debts due British subjects, TJ had made other arrangements to settle his account with Farell & Jones. In December 1796 the state legislature provided for the repayment of the monies deposited in the treasury under the war legislation. A certiAcate would be issued for each sum paid into the treasury, adjusted according to a scale established by a previous act “directing the mode of adjusting and settling the payment of certain debts.” Six percent interest was allowed on the wartime deposits. For the payment on TJ’s certiAcates, see George JeCerson to TJ, 18 Nov. 1799 (Malone, JeCerson, 1:441-4; Hening, 9:377-80; 10:227; Shepherd, Statutes, 2:17-18; mb, 1:380, 474; Bill for Sequestering British Property, at 13 Jan. 1778; TJ to William Jones, 5 Jan. 1787).
To Henry Remsen Dear Sir Monticello Oct. 14. 99. In consequence of your friendly letter of May 23. I wrote you on the 8th. of June that I should immediately order 10. hhds of tobo. from Richmond to New York, consigned to you. mr JeCerson informed me he had accordingly forwarded them. as I have no certainty of their safe arrival, the object of the present is merely to enquire whether they got safe to hand and are sold or likely to be so, & what prospect there would be of selling our whole crop of the same quality? I am aware that the yellow fever may have disturbed the operations of commerce so far as to have prevented the sale. I only wish to know the fact. By the time you recieve this you will know the event of the Pennsylvania elections. these are all-important to the union at large, as that state nearly holds the balance between the North & South. the alarms excited among the people of invasion, subjugation, &c by France are pretty well over here. their dissipation has produced a sensible revulsion of sentiment in parts of the state which had been aCected by them. whatever diDculty some might have concieved in an amicable negociation with France, none can candidly believe any < 211>
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in the present state of their fortunes. if a majority of our commissioners therefore carry dispositions to accomodate (which I hope they do) we may expect peace from that quarter: and a repeal of the law suspending our commerce with them, by which this state loses this year 5. millions of dollars on the sale of her tobaccos; for every dollar loss on the Ê is a million on the whole state. I am with sincere friendship Dear Sir Your’s aCectionately Th: Jefferson RC (CtY); addressed: “Henry Remsen esq. New York”; franked; endorsed by Remsen.
To John Barnes Dear Sir Monticello Oct. 15. 99. Your last at hand was of Aug. 25. mine of Sep. 16. which I hope you recieved safely. it contained advice of a draught in favor of mr Roberts, on which subject he wrote me the 28th. of Sep. before mine to him of this 16th. had got to his hands. I hope that mine will have anticipated his [desire].—I recieved under cover from you a letter from a mr GriDths No. 4. Pine street. I take the liberty therefore of putting the answer under your cover[; &] the rather as he probably left town on the late dispersion, and I know not how to direct to him. be so good as to hold up the letter till you can put it into his own hands. by the last papers recieved here the number of deaths appeared to have abated greatly; & as the season of frost is now arrived we presume you are all Bocking back to the city. I hope you will not do it prematurely. a prudent man tho’ a [fearless] one is inexcusable for uselessly exposing himself to danger. our neighbors the Trists have occasion to lament this in the case of the late mr Brown. I have not written to you on the subject of Genl. Kosciuszko’s dividends: I rely that you will remit them of course as they are drawn to Messrs. Van Staphorsts & Hubbard on account of the General. during the present dispersion it is [useless?] to ask the price of tobo. but [it is] [. . .], [as] [. . .]. mr Randolph [&] I have 50. M on hand unsold, [. . .] into the house. I am with great esteem Dear Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson PrC (CSmH); faint; at foot of text: “Mr. Barnes”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosure: TJ to Elijah GriDths, this date, recorded in SJL but not found.
See TJ’s letter of 16 Sep. for Barnes’s letter of 25 Aug. and the one that TJ sent to Joseph roberts, Jr., on 16 Sep. The reply from Roberts of 28 Sep., which is recorded in SJL as received on 11 Oct., is
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16 O C T O B E R 1799 missing, as is a letter that TJ wrote to Roberts on this day. Clement C. brown, deputy collector for the port of Philadelphia and the father of Mary Brown Trist, Hore Browse Trist’s wife, had died in the city on 27
Sep. (Philadelphia Gazette, 29 Apr., 27 Sep. 1799; anb, 21:832). A letter from Barnes to TJ, written 10 Oct. and received from Philadelphia on the 24th, is recorded in SJL but has not been found.
To James Brown Dear Sir Monticello Oct. 16. 99. I have lately recieved a letter from mr Short in France, in which he expresses a great anxiety to have all his aCairs here settled that he may be precisely informed of their situation. he particularly mentions that there is an account between you & him which he would be glad to have rendered, & the rather as the articles of it are connected with the accounts between him & Colo. Skipwith, andq is necessary to a settlement with them. will you permit me to sollicit your immediate attention to his request, as I am to write to him in a few days, and wish to be able to communicate the statement I shall recieve from you. I am with esteem Dear Sir Your most obedt. servt Th: Jefferson RC (NNebgWM). Recorded in SJL as a letter to Brown. The letter lately recieved from Short was that of 2 July. A letter from
Brown to TJ, dated 4 Feb. 1798 and received six days later, is recorded in SJL but has not been found. q TJ here canceled “yours.”
To Carter Bassett Harrison Sir Monticello Oct. 16. 99. The late mr Benjamin Harrison was some years ago (I believe as far back as 1784) attorney in fact for mr William Short. after some time mr Harrison turned over these aCairs to Colo. Skipwith. on behalf of mr Short, for whom I at present act, I am to solicit from you a copy of mr Harrison’s account at his turning over the business to Colo. Skipwith, with the sequel to it; for there was an article or two still remaining after the Arst settlement with Colo. S. and which mr Harrison promised mr Short he would also transfer to him. I do not mean to give you the trouble of any settlement of accounts but only to ask the favor of a copy of them as they stood on mr H’s books, which I doubt not were accurate. it is necessary to enable mr Short to settle < 213>
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some other accounts with which [that] is blended, and particularly as a material for settlement with Colo. Skipwith. being to write to mr Short some days hence, you would particularly oblige me by an immediate answer. I am Sir Your most obedt. servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC: Short Papers); faint and blurred; at foot of text: “The execr. or admr. of Benj. Harrison decd.,” with “Carter Harrison” added in ink (see TJ to George JeCerson, 17 Oct.), TJ also using Harrison’s name in his endorsement in ink on verso and in SJL. A lawyer, Carter Bassett Harrison (d. 1808) sat in the U.S. House of Representatives in the Third, Fourth, and Fifth
Congresses, 1793-99, and had served in the Virginia House of Delegates. His brother Benjamin Harrison, Jr., who died during 1799, had tended to William Short’s Anancial aCairs for a period in the 1780s during Short’s absence in Europe. Another brother was William Henry Harrison (Biog. Dir. Cong., 1142; vmhb, 35 [1927], 89-93; Shackelford, JeCerson’s Adoptive Son, 136; Vol. 30:351-2, 411, 459-60, 495, 558).
To Peyton Short Dear Sir Monticello Oct. 16. 99. Inclosed is a letter I lately recieved for you from your brother, which doubtless informs you he is in good health. I also inclose you a paper he forwarded me shewing his title to 656. as. of military lands he bought of Capt. Paskie. he says he has before written to you on this subject and desires me to send on this paper to you. you know that Colo. Skipwith had for some time the management of certain lands of his here. he is extremely anxious there should be a settlement with Colo. Skipwith, and (knowing I could not undertake it, & besides that I know nothing [of] the transactions) he wrote me that he would request you; the Arst time you should come into the state, to undertake this settlement for him with Colo. Skipwith. I [sinc]erely wish you could make it convenient to do this, as the longer it lies over the more diDcult it will become. should you undertake it I will furnish you with [. . .] extracts from Colo. Skipwith’s letters to him, which he has sent me, and which will throw great light on the subject. I have no doubt you are getting his Western lands on a proper footing, & will of course advise him thereof. Colo. Skipwith was lately here in good health. report referred his visit to mrs Farley’s presence in this neighborhood, [&] his intended visit to Williamsburg on her return corroborates the report. I hope the watches I forwarded by mr Fowler from mr Short to his sisters got safe to hand. I am with great esteem Dear Sir Your most obedt. servt Th: Jefferson < 214>
17 O C T O B E R 1799 PrC (DLC: William Short Papers); faint; at foot of text: “Peyton Short esq.”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosure: probably William Short to Peyton Short, 3 July 1799, summarized in William Short’s record of his correspondence from 26 Apr. 1799 to 30 Aug. 1800 (same). Other enclosure not found. Elizabeth Hill Byrd, a daughter of William Byrd III, was the widow of James Parke farley. Originally from the island of Antigua, Farley had come to Virginia to attend the College of William and Mary. He and Elizabeth Byrd married in 1771, and he died six years later. Henry Skipwith, whose wife Anne Wayles Skipwith, TJ’s sister-in-law, had died early in 1798, married Elizabeth in the latter part of 1799. He was 48 years
old, she 44 or 45. It was her third marriage, she having been married to the Reverend John Dunbar after Farley’s death. She had four daughters from her marriage to Farley (tqhgm, 2 [1920], 322; vmhb, 6 [1899], 357; 9 [1902], 81, 233n; wmq, 1st ser., 11 [1902], 96; Latrobe, Virginia Journals, 2:554; mb, 1:342n; Mary JeCerson Eppes to TJ, 1 Feb. 1798; TJ to William Short, 13 Apr. 1800). Concerning the watches that William Short sent from France to his sisters in Kentucky, see his letter to TJ, 6 Aug. 1798, and Elbridge Gerry to TJ, 12 Nov. 1798. A letter from Peyton Short to TJ, written on 5 May 1797 and received on 15 June of that year, is recorded in SJL but has not been found.
To George Jefferson Dear Sir Monticello Oct. 17. 99. Having occasion to write to the exr or admr of the late Benj. Harrison and ignorant who it is, I take the liberty of inclosing you the letter and asking you to enquire, and to direct & have it delivered to the proper person. Being about to write to mr Short I wish to inform him What is the present price at market of Jas. river Canal shares? when it is expected that the partners will begin to draw proAts from it? what part of the work still remains to be done? will you enable me to answer these questions?q if you will inform me in what shape I am to draw a proper instrument, I will inclose you one authorising you to act for mr Short as his proxy in the proceedings of the Jas. river company. I am Dear Sir Your’s aCectionately Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC: Short Papers); at foot of text: “Mr. George JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosure: TJ to Carter Bassett Harrison, 16 Oct. 1799.
Richmond merchant who served as agent for the Harrison executors (Marshall, Papers, 3:29; George JeCerson to TJ, 28 Oct. 1799).
George JeCerson delivered the enclosed letter to William Wiseham, the
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q Preceding question interlined.
To Thomas Newton Dear Sir Monticello Oct. 17. 99. Mr. William Short (now in Europe) owns 1000. as. of land in St. Bride’s parishq Norfolk county called Green sea land adjoining to Patrick Henry & co. at their S.W. cornerr by patent dated Dec. 10. 1784. his aCairs are under my care, and it is but lately that this possession has come to my knowlege. I am apprehensive no taxes have been paid for it, & indeed that it had never been placed on the Commissioners books. perhaps it may be in danger. having no correspondent in Norfolk, I take the liberty of addressing myself to you, & solliciting you to enquire for me into this matter. if the lands be not given in to the Commissioners, have the goodness to give them in. if they have been already assessed, I will pray you to inform yourself what arrears are due, & to drop me a line, and I will immediately have the money remitted. the lands being once placed in a safe state, I will take care to provide regular means of keeping them so, without troubling you further with them than for the 1st. information.s—we are distressed in the upper country extremely by the want of market & consequently of [. . .] for our tobo. the repeal of the suspension law as to St. Domingo has only relie[ved] the grain states from it’s fatal eCects. we had quitted that culture for tobacco, [. . .] the law still continues. I am with constant esteem Dear Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson FC (ViW); entirely in TJ’s hand, including interlineations noted below; omits concluding portion of letter (see note 3 below); at head of text: “Decypherment of the press copy letter”; at foot of text: “In my pocket memorandum book, under date of 1799. Nov. 21. I And the following entry verbatim ‘debit W. Short 33/9 5. D. pd by G. JeCerson to the Auditor for taxes of his Green sea lands for 93. 94. 95. 97.,’” the “33/9” being interlined (see mb, 2:1008). PrC (ViW); mutilated and faint, with much of the Arst half of the letter lost; at foot of text: “Colo. Thomas Newton”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Prior to the death of Newton’s father, also named Thomas, in 1794, Newton signed himself as Thomas Newton, Jr. Among other oDces, including several
terms in the House of Burgesses and command of the county militia, he had been the recorder of Norfolk in 1798 and mayor of the city four times between 1780 and 1794 (vmhb, 30 [1922], 86-7; Vol. 4:136, 421; Vol. 23:481). For Short’s land in the portion of the Dismal Swamp known as the green sea, adjacent to a tract that patrick henry held at the time the patent to Short’s holding was issued, see Vol. 30:352n, 459n. Letters from TJ to Newton of 14 July 1794, 28 Feb. 1796, and 4 Sep. 1798, and letters from Newton of 30 July 1794, 6 Mch. 1796, 20 Sep. 1798, and 16 Feb. 1799, noted as received on 5 Aug. 1794, 12 Mch. 1796, 27 Sep. 1798, and 23 Feb. 1799, respectively, are recorded in SJL but have not been found.
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23 O C T O B E R 1799 q Preceding three words interlined. r Preceding three words and abbreviation interlined.
s PrC: “Arst information.” FC ends here with a single closing quotation mark; remainder of text from PrC.
To Daniel Call Sir Monticello Oct. 23. 1799. I recieved in due time your favor inclosing the decree against the Hendersons & thank you for your advice on the mode of executing it. I shall use the cautions you recommend. the decree is upon the whole quite satisfactory. it is true I had thought that he who erected a nuisance ought to be made to abate it, & that in the present case the abatement will be considerably expensive. yet that once incurred, is done with for ever; whereas the principle established will be perpetually valuable; that is to say that the water shall be reduced to it’s natural level as before the erection of the mills. it happens that nature furnishes the evidence of that; for it was Axed by a natural ridge of rocks running across the river at Henderson’s mill. this caused a reBux within my lines &q to within a small distance of my mill. every stone therefore laid on this natural ridge for raising the water, was a wrong to me & must be removed. if I And I can get other stone as convenient for my mill, I shall throw this into the water adjacent: If I cannot I think I shall take whatever of it suits me on the rule that he who confuses my property by mixing it with his own, thereby gives me his. I do not know whether the principal def. will oppose the execution. he may perhaps on somer pretence of construction. I much wonder I did not state in the bill that all the defs but three are infants, the youngest not more than 7. years old now. it appears only I suppose in the sheriC’s returns, who served the process on the guardians of the infants. however we will let it go oC as it is; as I am perfectly satisAed they can never shake the main principle of the decree. I am with esteem Sir Your most obedt. humble servt Th: Jefferson RC (Gilder Lehrman Collection, on deposit NNPM); at foot of text: “Daniel Call esq.” PrC (MHi); endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. principal def.: John Henderson, the oldest of Bennett Henderson’s oCspring
(TJ to the Heirs of Bennett Henderson, 7 Nov. 1795). q Ampersand and words interlined. r Word interlined.
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preceding
three
From Thomas Newton Dr Sir: [. . .] [23 Octr] 1799 I received your favor & inquired of the SheriC respecting Mr. Shorts Land, he informed me that he had returnd it to the Auditor as the Law requires for non payment of taxes, on application to himq the proprietors can redeem it. Wilson Butt is the name of the Sher & it is probable that it was returnd by the collectors before him— had it not been returnd, I wou’d have paid the tax. I shall take pleasure in serving you here & hope when you have occassion you will require it. the adventurers to St. Domingo are great suCerers being a bad Market & the produce ingaged as reported before they cou’d arive. Yrs. respectBy Thos. Newton [. . .] inclin[. . .] to ship Tobo. My friend Mr Robt. Crew of London a native of this State, I have no doubt will do them justice as I have ever found him punctual— RC (ViW); mutilated, with much of dateline, one line of text, and most of TJ’s endorsement missing; at foot of Arst page: “turn.” Recorded in SJL as a letter of 23 Oct. received 31 Oct. 1799.
crew, originally of Virginia, imported American products into Britain. TJ’s last communication with him had been a letter from Crew of 22 Feb. 1793; see also Vol. 18:309n.
your favor: TJ’s letter of 17 Oct. above. The state auditor was Samuel Shepard (cvsp, 8:392; 9:28). Robert
q Word altered from “them,” Newton also canceling an “s” on the end of “Auditor” in the same sentence.
From Joseph Barnes Hamburg Octr. 25th 1799
Tho’ you will have recd. the particulars, yet revering as I do the Liberal principles of modern Philosophy—esteeming you the Arst Patron of these of genuine Republicanism & virtue, & of Universal Philanthropy; Should violate my feelings & do injustice to you, my most worthy friend, were I not to congratulate you & felicitate myself on the recent momentous events in favor of the principles in question.— In Swisserland Massena, having kill’d & taken near 30,000 men & most of the Camp equipage Ammunition & Cannon has almost broken up the Austro-Russian army there— In Holland, Brune, has completely defeat’d, & Anally expell’d the English & Russians with that which ought to be the fate of all who attempt to impose fetters on those who dare to be free, disgrace and < 218>
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contempt—advice being reced. that the English have compromis’d to immediately withdraw, to compensate for all the conBagrations & devastations committ’d on their part, to restore the Beet to the Dutch, & give up 8000 French Prisoners, mostly Seamen!!!— And what completes the Triumph of the French & my exultation is, Bonaparte, having kill’d & taken, in Short; annihilated the Turkish Army who came against him in Egypt—& what is remarkable, having Left his Army triumphant & in good order he is arriv’d in France! for what, is not yet known, but no doubt on Some extra-important object; probably to resume the command in Ittally & annihilate the German Empire; while the Victorious Army in Egypt may revolutionize all Turkey, & then attack the Monster of the East whose execution is Suwarow.— Whether these objects will be immediately eCect’d or not time must demonstrate—but this in my Opinion is beyond all question, that the Fates have decree’d, which recent events demonstrate, the great Liberal principles Shall prevail; & by degrees, I hope, pervade the Universe—when the whole Human race may become one great family, Revere one great Common beneAcent Parent—Nature—& only rival each other, who shall be the most useful, render most Service, or most contribute to promote the Public weal, as the only true Means of his own happiness; the primary object of all who come into existance.— Thus contemplating ’tis with the most inexpressible pleasure I anticipate not only that the Anti-philanthropists in America must yield to the all powerful Fates—but that the rappid Strides made by them in favor of Adams attempt’d new creation in the Unit’d States, or Assumptive power, will have So open’d the Eyes of the People, that, as Soon as France is Settl’d in peace they will So Modify the Constitution of the Unit’d States as to put it out of the power of any Combination ever thereafter to Succeed in Similar objects:—by destining the President to be chosen, as the Representatives, by general SuCrage, devesting him of all negative on the Laws, & Vesting the Legislative power in one House of Representatives was made SuDciently numerous—No Navy—No Army—but a well Arm’d and Organis’d Mass—one uniform Liberal System of Education—of Morality & Virtue thro’ out the the Union at the National expense; over which,—not fanatics, but Philsophers Should preside—&c &c As all circumstances indicate an approaching, I hope permanent, peace between the United States & the French Nation, I anticipate with feeling Satisfaction, that as the English will of course on that event attempt to intercept our Vessels destin’d to the ports of France, < 219>
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a rupture will So far take place as to give a happy pretext, as Suggest’d in my Last, of declaring null & void the infamous treaty made by Mr jay; & an opportunity as the English are now circumstanc’d of making one almost of our own diction.— My Objects in the Useful Arts &c being necessarily Suspend’d & of course will So remain ’till the present convulsions Subside & general peace establish’d,— Presuming on your favorable disposition, I need not re-capitulate the circumstances & motives which induced my Solicitude in the interim to be otherwise useful to my fellow citizens, & to proCer my Services as Suggest’d in my preceding Letters, but rest, assur’d, that nothing in your power has nor will be Omitt’d to promote my wishes of preferment to the oDce of Consul of the Unit’d States Should any Open especially in any principal port of France or the West-Indies— or Such [. . .] you may consider me qualify’d for.— Being only happy in proportion as I am instrumental in promoting that of other’s, particularly those whom I esteem, my highest ambition would necessarily be to demonstrate by Actions, that I was worthy of the trust conAd’d to me—to merit & receive the Eclat of my fellow beings is the Summit of my wishes.—These Sentiments will ever predominate in my mind, with my Arst wishes for your happiness & Speedy preferment to the Arst Chair in the Union, my worthy friend, for the present Adieu. Jos. Barnes P.S. have Since made another tour up the Country—have acquir’d a tolorable knowledge of the German, & Shall Shortly of the French Language also— The presumption, is, I Shall remain here this winter, & go into France next Spring—’tis certain the French have declar’d war against Hamburg, & Laid an embargo on all Vessels in their ports belonging to this City—’till, I Suppose it pays Millions for having given up Napper Tandy & his colleague’s which added to the immense failures here will much oppress the Citizens of Hamburg—Should you have occasion, address for me to Care of Mr Pitcairn Consul of the U.S. Hamburg— RC (DLC); torn; addressed: “Thomas JeCerson Esqr. V. P. of the U:S. Philadelphia pr Nymph. Cap. Green”; endorsed by TJ as received 24 Feb. 1800 and so recorded in SJL. In the 1780s Barnes, a brother-in-law of James Rumsey, had overseen construction of prototypes of Rumsey’s designs
for mechanically powered boats. During Rumsey’s dispute with John Fitch over who had primacy in the development of steam propulsion, Barnes wrote Remarks on Mr. John Fitch’s Reply to Mr. James Rumsey’s Pamphlet (Philadelphia, 1788). The conBict with Fitch involved patent issues, and in 1792 Barnes published a Treatise on the Justice, Policy, and Util-
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27 O C T O B E R 1799 ity of Establishing an ECectual System for Promoting the Progress of Useful Arts, by Assuring Property in the Products of Genius (Philadelphia, 1792; see Sowerby, No. 1225). Following Rumsey’s death in 1792 Barnes went to Europe to oversee matters related to the inventor’s estate (James Thomas Flexner, Steamboats Come True: American Inventors in Action [New York, 1944], 87-9, 98, 129; Ella May Turner, James Rumsey: Pioneer in Steam Navigation [Scottdale, Pa., 1930], 4, 180-1, 189-91, 201-2; wmq, 1st ser. 24 [1916], 165; 25 [1916], 21-4, 314; anb, 19:63-5; Vol. 16:590-1; Vol. 20:733-4; Vol. 26:108, 715-16). André massena commanded the French Army in Switzerland. Taking the initiative before Coalition armies could concentrate against them, the French, beginning on 25 Sep., routed separate Russian and Austrian forces in the vicinity of Zurich and drove a newly arrived Russian army under Alexander Suvorov out of Switzerland. In holland, a combined Russian and British expedition had landed in August, capturing the Dutch Beet, and advanced toward Amsterdam in hopes of overthrowing the Batavian Republic and restoring the House of Orange. Defeated by Dutch and French forces under General Guillaume brune by early October, the invaders had to abandon the eCort and negotiate a withdrawal from the Netherlands, returning the sailors captured with the Batavian Beet but not the ships (T. C. W. Blanning, The French Revolutionary Wars, 17871802 [London, 1996], 250-6; James Marshall-Cornwall, Marshal Massena [London, 1965], 87-96; Simon Schama,
Patriots and Liberators: Revolution in the Netherlands, 1780-1813 [New York, 1977], 391-6). bonaparte left Egypt in secret and was widely acclaimed in France on his sudden appearance there early in October. In Paris he had private discussions with political leaders who hoped to bring about a change in the government, and beginning on 18 Brumaire (9 Nov. 1799) the coup began that would dissolve the Directory, ensure compliant legislative councils, and give Bonaparte executive power as consul (Stewart, French Revolution, 758-67). suwarow: the Russian general, Alexander Suvorov. suggest’d in my last: according to SJL Barnes had written from Hamburg on 20 July 1799. TJ received that letter, which has not been found, on 2 Nov. Also recorded in SJL, but missing, are letters that Barnes wrote at London on 30 Oct. 1797 (received 3 Feb. 1798) and at Frankfurt-am-Main on 10 Apr. 1799 (received 11 July). In February 1802 TJ appointed Barnes to the office of consul in Sicily (jep, 1:406-7). In November 1798 the senate of Hamburg had yielded to British pressure and authorized the arrest of four men, including the Irish radical James napper tandy, who was returning to Paris after a failed attempt, with French backing, to foment a rebellion on the coast of Donegal. In September 1799 the city government allowed the transfer of the prisoners to Britain for trial. France subsequently imposed a Ane of 40 million francs on Hamburg (dnb, 19:355-6).
From James Brown Dear Sir Richmond 27th. Oct. 1799. I did myself the honor to write you by the last mail, to which be referred. you have now annexed a copy mr Short’s account, as it stands on my books. a farther charge of interest on the money since I recieved it, and a countercharge of fees to mr Ronald in suit v. GriDn, (which has been overlooked by me) is yet to come forward, and the balance payable to your order on demand, or invested in stock as you < 221>
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may direct. you have inclosed Mayo, & Mosby’s notes, together with R. Randolph’s bond; as I see little prospect of getting the money soon. with much respect I am Dear Sir Your obedt. servt. James Brown. Tr (ViW); entirely in TJ’s hand, including note following signature: “(Copy)”; at foot of text: “To Thomas JeCerson”; also in TJ’s hand on same page, statement, “William Short esq. in acct. currt. with James Brown,” 27 Oct. 1799, showing receipt of £99.5.9 in interest from the Loan ODce on Short’s government stocks in 1793, balanced against payments of £17.11.10 for various expenses paid in relation to the suit against GriDn, leaving a balance of £81.13.11 due Short, “sundry other fees in suit v. GriDn to come forward,” noting also that the suit was for GriDn’s obligation on £400 in military certiAcates and a note for £192 in the same certiAcates; also on same page in TJ’s hand, Brown’s list of enclosures and note at foot: “All stock transactions were adjusted to the 1st. July 1793. and a copy of the statement rendd. a copy will be forwarded if required”; on recto of same sheet as Tr of Henry Skipwith to Brown, 6 Mch. 1790 (see Enclosure No. 2 listed at TJ to Short, 13 Apr. 1800). Enclosures, not
found: note of John Mayo for £100 in military certiAcates, note of Littlebury Mosby, Jr., for £200 of the same, and Richard Randolph’s bond for £62.10 current money. Tr enclosed in TJ to Short, 13 Apr. 1800. Recorded in SJL as received 31 Oct. 1799. by the last mail: a letter from Brown to TJ of 22 Oct., received on 19 Dec. 1799, is recorded in SJL but has not been found. William Short’s claim against the insolvent John Tayloe griffin originated years before, when Henry Skipwith had managed Short’s business aCairs in the United States. Short himself was unfamiliar with the details. In 179495 it appeared that the only chance of recovering the claim lay with an obligation owed to GriDn in Baltimore. The notes and the bond, unrelated to the GriDn case, also dated from Skipwith’s management of Short’s Anances (Vol. 28:219-20, 241, 355, 491-2, 513; Short to TJ, 24 Aug., 9 Oct. 1798).
To Stevens Thomson Mason Dear Sir Monticello Oct. 27. 1799. Your favor by mr Craven has been duly recieved, and I am very thankful for your attention to the subject of my former letter. it is one I have very much at heart, for I And I am not At to be a farmer with the kind of labour we have, and also subject to such long avocation. mr Craven had thought too much of the Raspberry plains to be satisAed with our mountainous country: however, although we have not come to an absolute engagement, yet he departs under an expectation of deciding to return, and to engage others to come. I have shewn him 800. acres of inclosed & cultivated lands, which I will lease in such parcels as the tenants desire. before he arrived, I had leased 160. acres to a very good man, being afraid to lose the oCer under the uncertainty whether I might get others. < 222>
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I sincerely congratulate you on the success of Mc.kean’s election and I hope the Pennsylvaniaq republicans have been as successful in the election of the members of their legislature. such a state as that, harmonising by it’s public authorities with those to the South, would command respect to the Federal constitution. still we must place at the distance of at least two years that reformation in the public proceedings which depends on the character of Congress. that now coming into the exercise of authority aCords no hope. the misfortunes of the French would probably produce at the next session still greater intolerance than we have hitherto experienced, did not the insolencies of the English keep their votaries here in check for us. the public mind in the middle states, from every information I recieve, has very much regenerated in principles of whiggism. in this part of our state some symptoms of waivering which had appeared in certain places, have again become Arm, or are fast returning to that state: always excepting however that gangrene which spreads from the public functionaries great & small, proceeding from the canker of interest. I am with great & sincere aCection Dear Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); faint; at foot of text: “[. . .] Mason.” Mason’s favor of 23 Oct., recorded in SJL as received two days later, has not been found. Another letter from Mason to TJ of 27 Apr. 1799, recorded in SJL as received 3 May, is also missing. former letter: according to SJL TJ’s last letter to Mason, now missing, was dated 22 May. deciding to return: the agreement by which John H. Craven leased 500 acres from TJ is dated 22 Aug. 1800. very good man: Craven Peyton (Indenture with Craven Peyton for the Lease of Fields at Shadwell, 1 Oct. 1799). TJ did not yet know of the defeat of Coalition forces in Switzerland and Holland (see the letter from Joseph Barnes at 25 Oct. above). For the misfortunes of the french since the for-
mation of the Second Coalition and the revival of war between France and Austria in March, see Tench Coxe to TJ, 21 June 1799. During June and July, most notably in the coup of 30 Prairial on 18 June, power shifted from the Directory to the legislative councils, but the government still seemed unable to solve the country’s economic problems, deal with internal dissent, or consolidate political power (Stewart, French Revolution, 74052; D. M. G. Sutherland, France 17891815: Revolution and Counterrevolution [New York, 1986], 320-9; Georges Lefebvre, The Thermidorians and the Directory: Two Phases of the French Revolution, trans. Robert Baldick [New York, 1964], 427-42). q TJ Arst wrote “Pennsylvanians,” and then interlined “republicans” and revised the words to read as above.
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From George Jefferson Dear Sir, Richmond 28th. Octr. 1799 I received by last post two of your favors of the 14th. & one of the 17th.— The Exors: of the late Benja. Harrison are, Carter Harrison, & Benja. Harrison of Brandon; a Mr. Wm. Wiseham of this place is however their agent & is to have the settlement of the business.—I therefore gave your letter to him, as he has the books &c. in his possession: he promised to draw oC Mr. Shorts account from the books of Harrison & Nickolls & bring it to me, in which though he has failed. The account on those books is balanced, & Mr. W. informs me that Mr. H had no private books altho his transactions were numerous. The private papers are to be examined in the course of the winter when W. expects to And something respecting Mr. S.’s aCairs. He thinks Mr. H. had some CertiAcates of Mr. Shorts, but believes they were given to Colo. S—If so his receipt will of course be found among the papers—which I have understood are in much confusion. I endeavoured to prevail on W. to write to you upon the subject, but he did not appear disposed to do so. I will jog his memory by the next post. I cannot learn the price of James River shares; none have been sold in less than a twelve month, they were then $:150— they would I suppose be worth something more now if they are not lessened in value (as I immagine they must be) in consequence of the bank of the bason having a few days ago given way. It was discovered of a sudden to have sunk about three feet at the lower end, and it was with the utmost diDculty (both by drawing oC the water & by raising the sunken part) to keep the water from going over— in which case, or if it had happened in the night, the dam must inevitably have been torn down to the very bottom, being about 60 feet. The directors have not yet determined what they will do. It is thought they will either thicken the dam, or else not have so much water, & make locks to let in the boats. It cannot be ascertained when the proprietors will begin to draw proAts; as that will depend upon the time when the locks are made to communicate with tide-water; and which is suspended until the company And it convenient; or until the further order of the Assembly. If this is not done at all, and which is thought probable, as it would cost about £20,000–, it is supposed the company will begin to draw dividends in about 2 years—as the last years tolls amounted to £4000–& they will only have to Anish the bason, & compleat improving the bed of the river. After this is done < 224>
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no money will be going out except to reimburse the individuals of the company for the money borrowed in ’97—a part of which will probably be in the course of next year and the balance in the following. The Interest on it is payable half yearly. You have about £40– due, which will be paid to your order on stamped paper. Mr. Pollard the Treasurer of the company promised to furnish me with the form of a power of attorney to act for Mr. Short, but upon my calling for it just now he told me he had not done it, but will let me have it by next post. CertiAcates will be issued for the money you paid into the Treasury, if you will send me the receipts with a power of attorney—I applied to the Treasurer for a form but he tells me no particular one is necessary— if you will acknowledge it before a magistrate or in presence of two witnesses (no stamp required). These certfs: are worth about 16/. in the pound—The Interest is paid in specie. I have procured the Certfs: in Ross’s business. Yr. Very humble servt. Geo. Jefferson RC (DLC: Short Papers); at foot of text: “Thos. JeCerson esqr.”; endorsed by TJ as received 31 Oct. and so recorded in SJL. In January 1799 the Virginia Assembly gave the James River Company dis-
cretion over the time of commencement and completion of locks from the upper navigation of the river to the tidewater, unless directed otherwise by future legislation (Shepherd, Statutes, 2:159-60).
To George RufAn Sir Monticello Oct. 28. 1799. Colo. Skipwith, in a late visit to me, delivered me in your name an antient piece of armour, which he informed me had been turned up by a plough in a Aeld of your neighborhood. it appears to be the true cotte de mailles, or hauberk of antient times, & a very suDcient defence against the arrows of the Indian aborigines of our country, and was doubtless brought over for that purpose. I recieve, Sir, with the sentiments which are due, this mark of regard from you, and I pray you to accept my sincere thanks for it. I shall certainly prize & preserve it as a rare curiosity. I have lately recieved, from a mr Symonds in England, a letter from which the following is an extract. ‘I had, says he, a sister married about 20 years since to a mr Avery of Wiloby hill, Prince George county, up James river, Virginia. I have heard nothing of her now for more than 8. years, notwithstanding I have wrote one or two letters < 225>
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to her every year, & have made every other enquiry I can think of, but all to no purpose. previous to that time I generally heard from her once a year. therefore I have every reason to believe she is no more. in some of my last letters I was desired to address him as Colonel Avery of Wiloby hill &c &c &c. to the care of Messrs. Donald & Fraser merchts. in Petersburg.’ he then proceeds to desire me ‘to make enquiry & let him know if she is dead, or living, & what is become of her husband & children, (she had Ave when she wrote last)’ Mr. Symonds is an entire stranger to me, having never before heard of him: but this is an oDce of common humanity which we are all bound to render one another. having no acquaintance myself in Prince George, I think myself fortunate in this occasion of interesting you for my correspondent, and solliciting from your goodness to procure for me the information he desires, & to enable me to answer his letter. If time and separation have not entirely obliterated me from the remembrance of your father, who was my fellow collegian, I pray you to present him my friendly salutations, & to assure him of my constant esteem. I am respectfully Sir Your most obedt humble servt Th: Jefferson RC (facsimile in Kenneth W. Rendell, Inc., Newton, Massachusetts, Catalogue No. 102, 1974, Item 62). PrC (MHi); at foot of text in ink: “Mr. RuDn.” George RuDn (1765-1810), a planter, lived in Prince George County, Virginia, on the south side of the James River. He had recently married Rebecca Cocke. His Arst wife, Jane Lucas RuDn, died sometime between 1794 and 1797. RuDn served two terms in the House of Delegates beginning in 1803. Edmund RufAn (1794-1865), the nineteenth-century agricultural reformer and famous proponent of secession, was his son (David F. Allmendinger, Jr., RuDn: Family and
Reform in the Old South [New York, 1990], 8-13; Leonard, General Assembly, 233, 237; anb, 19:40-2). On 24 Oct. TJ had received a letter from Richard symonds, recorded in SJL as written 10 Aug. and sent from “Knighton. near Wareham. Dorsetshire.” That letter has not been found. See RuDn’s reply of 30 Nov. and TJ to Symonds, 30 Jan. 1800. RuDn’s father, who like several members of the family was named Edmund, lived from 1745 to 1807 and was a collegian at William and Mary during the period 1761-63 (List of Alumni, 35; Allmendinger, RuDn, 10, 17).
To Charles Pinckney Dear Sir Monticello Oct. 29. 99 Your favor of Sep. 12. came to hand on the 3d. inst. I have delayed acknoledging it in hopes of recieving the longer one you mentioned to have written. but that has not yet reached me. I was both pleased < 226>
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and ediAed by the piece on Robbins’s case. it ought to be a very serious case to the judge. I think no one circumstance since the establishment of our government has aCected the popular mind more. I learn that in Pennsylvania it had a great eCect. I have no doubt the piece you enclosed will run through all the republican papers, and carry the question home to every man’s mind. the success of Mc.kean’s election is a subject of real congratulation & hope. the majority by which he carried it is not yet known here, but it must have been very great. we [have] also to expect that the same spirit which prevailed & shewed itself so strongly on that vote, has been equally eDcacious in the election of their legislature. could a republican legislature in Pensylvania be once added to those South of the Patowmac, it would command more respect to our constitution. I consider all the encroachments made on that heretofore, as nothing, as mere retail stuC, compared with the wholesale doctrine, that there is a common law in force in the U.S. of which & of all the cases within it’s provisions their courts have cognisance. it is compleat consolidation. Elsworth & Iredell have openly recognized it. Washington has [squinted] at it, and I have no doubt it has been decided to cram it down our throats. in short it would seem that changes in the principlesq of our government are to be pushed till they accomplish a monarchy peaceably, or force a resistance which with the aid of an army may end in monarchy. still I hope that this will be peaceably prevented by the eyes of the people being opened and the consequent eCect of the elective principle. this is certainly taking place in the middle states. the late misfortunes of France would probably render the Consolidationers more enterprising & more intolerant than ever at the next session of Congress, were they not held in check by the British aggressions. you Batter us with the possibility of coming on by land & taking this in your route. nothing could [be more pleasing] to me, as it will be to Colo. Monroe & mr Madison. our legislature meets on the same day with Congress, consequently mr Madison’s motions will be aCected accordingly. I wish I knew enough of the roads to recommend the best route to you. but I am unacquainted with them, except so far as to observe that if you come by Halifax [. . .] the direct line thence would be Brunswick, Amelia, Lile’s ford [Appo]matox & Columbia at the fork of James river, from whence [the road] hither is good, except the last 8. or 10. miles. our friend [. . .] Mason, from whom I lately recd a letter, is well. Wilson C. Nicho[las will] be his collegue [. . .] Tazewell, and Monroe will probably be [the] governor. notwithstanding the unaccountable event of some of [the] congressional elections in April last, those for < 227>
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the state legislature have made that body still more republican than it was. I hope [. . .] carolina is recovering from the delusion which aCected their last election. accept assurances of the sincere esteem of Dr. Sir Your most obedt. humble servt Th: Jefferson P.S. I shall not frank my letter lest it should [awak]e the curi[osity] of the post oDces. PrC (DLC); faint, with portions rewritten interlinearly by TJ in pencil; at foot of Arst page in ink: “Pinckney Charles.” According to SJL TJ indeed received Pinckney’s favor of sep. 12 from Charleston, S.C., on 3 Oct., but that letter has not been found. On 8 Oct. Pinckney wrote again, but TJ did not receive that communication, which is also missing, until two days after writing the letter above. Writing as “A South Carolina Planter” Pinckney had composed his piece on robbins’s case during August. Two other essays addressed to the public, one on the captures of American vessels by British ships and the right of expatriation and another on the claims of British cred-
itors under Article 6 of the Jay Treaty, were also published. The one on the Robbins aCair appeared as a pamphlet, Case of Jonathan Robbins, and the essays were also printed by the Philadelphia Aurora and other presses under the collective title Three Letters (Frances Leigh Williams, A Founding Family: The Pinckneys of South Carolina [New York, 1978], 341-2; see Evans, Nos. 36121, 36122, 36124; Sowerby, No. 3216). The route outlined by TJ ran from halifax, North Carolina, to the fork of the James and Rivanna Rivers (Raus McDill Hanson, Virginia Place Names: Derivations, Historical Uses [Verona, Va., 1969], 84). q Word interlined in place of “forms.”
From Dugald Stewart Sir, Edinburgh 29 October—99 I take the liberty of introducing to your Acquaintance, & of recommending to your good oDces, my friend Mr. James Oswald, who proposes to make a Tour through the United States, with a view to his own information & improvement. The Ardor & liberality of mind which have prompted him to this Undertaking will, I am persuaded be a SuDcient motive to you for honouring him with your notice & protection; but I cannot help adding, that he is the Nephew of the late Mr. Richard Oswald (who was an intimate friend of Dr. Franklin, & well known to Such of your Countrymen as were at Paris at the time of the peace 1783); And that his Father, Mr. Alexander Oswald of Glasgow, is one of the most enlightened friends of Liberty at present in Scotland. Accept of my best wishes for your own prosperity, and for that of < 228>
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the country to which your Services have been So Successfully devoted; and believe me to be, with the greatest respect, Dear Sir, Your Obliged, & most Obedt. Servant Dugald Stewart RC (DLC); at foot of text: “Mr. JeCerson Vice-President of the United States of America”; endorsed by TJ as received 26 Feb. 1800 and so recorded in SJL. Years later, james oswald (17791853) of Shieldhall was prominent in a group of reform-minded Glasgow merchants known as “the Clique.” He was elected to Parliament in 1832. Beginning in the latter part of the eighteenth century the Oswald family, heavily involved in the Atlantic trade as marketers of
tobacco, sugar, and other commodities, also became cotton manufacturers (Joe Fisher, The Glasgow Encyclopedia [Edinburgh, 1994], 225, 244, 264; T. M. Devine and Gordon Jackson, eds., Glasgow. Volume I: Beginnings to 1830 [Manchester, 1995], 157, 166; W. Hamish Fraser and Irene Maver, eds., Glasgow. Volume II: 1830 to 1912 [Manchester, 1996], 18, 104, 189-92; George Stewart, Curiosities of Glasgow Citizenship, as Exhibited ChieBy in the Business Career of its Old Commercial Aristocracy [Glasgow, 1881], 233; dnb, 14:1223-4).
Memorandum to Thomas Mann Randolph cart wheels 5. feet diam. larger boxq 40 I. smaller do.r 20 I. the above is the standard we use. Th:J. will be obliged to mr Randolph to have them made & shod as quick as possible, as his corn is suCering much for want of being got in. Oct. 30. 99. MS (DLC); written on scrap of paper, entirely in TJ’s hand. Not recorded in SJL.
q TJ here canceled “43.” r TJ here canceled “23.
To Littleton W. Tazewell Sir Monticello Oct. 30. 1799. By a settlement between mr Wickam as agent for Walsh & Cary of London, & mr Eppes, mr Skipwith & myself as exrs of mr Wayles, a debt of his, due to Cary & Walsh was divided between us, each to pay one third part at certain instalments annually on the 19th. of July. we informed mr Wickam that as the payments would be made out of our annual crops, we should expect to be indulged so far as to sell them < 229>
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at the most advantageous moment. accordingly as tobaccoes if kept till the autumn of the year after they are made, are then considered as old, and sell much higher, I did not pay my last year’s instalment of 1000. D. to mr Wickam till Oct. 1. foreseeing that this year I should be still later in selling I wrote to inform him of it, and that I should be later in paying. he has since informed me that that business is put into your hands. I do not know whether he communicated my letter to you: if he did not I fear you will have considered me as improperly in default. I have been very unlucky in not selling my tobacco early this year when I could have got 11. D. for it. I postponed it on the general observation that it always sells higher in the fall. in the meantime it has so fallen as to give me little hope of a tolerable price unless the exportation to France should be permitted. I must now order my tobo. on to Philadelphia, where I shall probably not sell it till the last of the year, nor be in condition to pay the instalment of this year till enabled by that sale. I have 50. Â weight of the last year’s crop on hand, and the object of the present is to assure you that the instalment of this year shall be sacredly paid out of it’s proceeds. I am in hopes that a moderate sacriAce of time on the part of the creditor, where an interest is paid for it, will be thought more reasonable than a great sacriAce of price by the debtor by being obliged to sell at an unfavorable market. I am happy in the occasion which this matter of business has furnished of addressing you. I had a great aCection for your father, an intimate knowlege of his worth, conArmed by an acquaintance of Ave & twenty years. it will give me pleasure at any time by any useful oDce in my power to evidence to you that my aCections have not died with their object, and to prove those sentiments of esteem with which I am Sir Your most obedt. & most humble servt Th: Jefferson RC (Harry L. Dalton, Rosemont, Pennsylvania, 1950); addressed: “Littleton W. Tazewell esq. at Kingsmill near Williamsburg”; franked; endorsed by Tazewell. PrC (MHi); endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Littleton Waller Tazewell (1774-1860), son of Henry and Dorothea Elizabeth Waller Tazewell, studied with his grandfather, Judge Benjamin Waller, and with George Wythe before entering the College of William and Mary, from which he graduated in 1791. Completing his stud-
ies in John Wickham’s law oDce in Richmond, he became an attorney in 1796. He served intermittently in the Virginia House of Delegates, the Arst time from 1798 to 1800. He was then elected to Congress to complete John Marshall’s term. In 1802 he moved from Williamsburg to Norfolk, where he became a leading attorney and defender of policies to encourage the seaport’s economy. Just as his father came to the U.S. Senate upon the resignation of John Taylor in 1794, Tazewell was elected to the body following Taylor’s death 30 years later and
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2 N O V E M B E R 1799 remained until 1832. He was a member of the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1829-30 and served as governor of Virginia from 1834 to 1836. In 1810 Tazewell agreed to act as TJ’s attorney— along with George Hay and William Wirt—in the Batture case initiated by Edward Livingston. Tazewell was still serving as Wakelin Welch’s agent when TJ gave a new bond for the remaining unpaid debt in 1810 (anb; mb, 2:1258, 1276; TJ to Tazewell, 28 June, and Tazewell to TJ, 5 July 1810).
For the settlement of the debt which the Wayles estate owed Robert Cary & Co., arranged by John Wickham for Welch, see TJ to Francis Eppes, 4 Aug. 1796, and TJ to Wickham, 20 Jan. 1797. While Eppes and Henry Skipwith agreed to make their payments on 1 June, TJ scheduled his for 1 July to allow more time for the sale of his wheat and tobacco. For the delay of TJ’s Arst payment until 1 Oct., see TJ to Wickham, 25 Mch. and 15 June 1798. i wrote to inform him: TJ to Wickham, 6 May 1799.
Notes on Sir William Scott 1799. Nov. 1. see Aurora of this date. Sir Wm. Scott judge of the British high court of Admiralty in the case of the Swedish captures. his philippic against Philosophy & Philanthropy, the love of science & the love of man; for attempts to diminish the miseries of war at sea, as is already done by civilized nations at land, by permitting unarmed persons to pursue their ordinary occupations, and conAning acts of war to those in arms only. MS (DLC: TJ Papers, 233:41672); entirely in TJ’s hand; on verso of one of four sheets with list of documents, events, and articles on various subjects found in newspapers and journals dating primarily from 1785 to 1788, described Arst as “Index to periodical literature. c 17861790” (same, TJ Papers, 233:41672-5) and later as “Notes on ACairs of State.” In the decision in the case of the Maria—a Swedish merchant vessel sailing under convoy and carrying naval stores when captured by the British—Sir William scott defended the right of a
nation at war to stop and search merchant ships of neutral nations to determine their status, cargo, and destination. He rejected the “loose doctrines” upheld by “various denominations” of philosophy & philanthropy that found searching unnecessary because formal agreements could assure that nothing would be carried inconsistent with amity or neutrality. Scott asserted that the real goal of the new philosophy was to introduce a “state of things not yet seen in the world, that of a military war and a commercial peace” (Philadelphia Aurora, 1 Nov. 1799).
From James Madison Dear Sir Novr. 2. 1799 The Bearer Mr. Polk is a Portrait Painter & a kinsman of Mr. Peale of Philada. He visits Monticello with a wish to be favored with a few hours of your sitting for his pencil. Having no acquaintance with you < 231>
2 N O V E M B E R 1799 remained until 1832. He was a member of the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1829-30 and served as governor of Virginia from 1834 to 1836. In 1810 Tazewell agreed to act as TJ’s attorney— along with George Hay and William Wirt—in the Batture case initiated by Edward Livingston. Tazewell was still serving as Wakelin Welch’s agent when TJ gave a new bond for the remaining unpaid debt in 1810 (anb; mb, 2:1258, 1276; TJ to Tazewell, 28 June, and Tazewell to TJ, 5 July 1810).
For the settlement of the debt which the Wayles estate owed Robert Cary & Co., arranged by John Wickham for Welch, see TJ to Francis Eppes, 4 Aug. 1796, and TJ to Wickham, 20 Jan. 1797. While Eppes and Henry Skipwith agreed to make their payments on 1 June, TJ scheduled his for 1 July to allow more time for the sale of his wheat and tobacco. For the delay of TJ’s Arst payment until 1 Oct., see TJ to Wickham, 25 Mch. and 15 June 1798. i wrote to inform him: TJ to Wickham, 6 May 1799.
Notes on Sir William Scott 1799. Nov. 1. see Aurora of this date. Sir Wm. Scott judge of the British high court of Admiralty in the case of the Swedish captures. his philippic against Philosophy & Philanthropy, the love of science & the love of man; for attempts to diminish the miseries of war at sea, as is already done by civilized nations at land, by permitting unarmed persons to pursue their ordinary occupations, and conAning acts of war to those in arms only. MS (DLC: TJ Papers, 233:41672); entirely in TJ’s hand; on verso of one of four sheets with list of documents, events, and articles on various subjects found in newspapers and journals dating primarily from 1785 to 1788, described Arst as “Index to periodical literature. c 17861790” (same, TJ Papers, 233:41672-5) and later as “Notes on ACairs of State.” In the decision in the case of the Maria—a Swedish merchant vessel sailing under convoy and carrying naval stores when captured by the British—Sir William scott defended the right of a
nation at war to stop and search merchant ships of neutral nations to determine their status, cargo, and destination. He rejected the “loose doctrines” upheld by “various denominations” of philosophy & philanthropy that found searching unnecessary because formal agreements could assure that nothing would be carried inconsistent with amity or neutrality. Scott asserted that the real goal of the new philosophy was to introduce a “state of things not yet seen in the world, that of a military war and a commercial peace” (Philadelphia Aurora, 1 Nov. 1799).
From James Madison Dear Sir Novr. 2. 1799 The Bearer Mr. Polk is a Portrait Painter & a kinsman of Mr. Peale of Philada. He visits Monticello with a wish to be favored with a few hours of your sitting for his pencil. Having no acquaintance with you < 231>
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he asks the aid of a line towards obtaining one, and this will be presented to you for the purpose With perfect sincerity I am yours Js. Madison Jr RC (IGK). Recorded in SJL as received 3 Nov. “by mr Polk.” Orphaned at an early age, Charles Peale polk had grown up in the household of his uncle, Charles Willson Peale, who also gave him his artistic training. Thirty-two years old at the time he called on TJ at Monticello, Polk traveled through parts of Maryland and Virginia in 1798 and 1799 seeking portrait commissions. During the latter year he made portraits of
Madison’s parents, brother-in-law, sister, and nephew. According to a newspaper advertisement Polk placed on 18 Nov., he Anished taking TJ’s likeness on the 5th (see illustration; Linda Crocker Simmons, Charles Peale Polk, 1776-1822: A Limner and his Likenesses [Washington, 1981], 6-7, 63-4; George C. Groce and David H. Wallace, The New-York Historical Society’s Dictionary of Artists in America, 1564-1860 [New Haven, 1957], 509-10).
To Philip Norborne Nicholas Dear Sir Monticello Nov. 2. 1799 [Your] favor inclosing the pamphlet came safe to hand. it was written [with that energy of] [. . .] which distinguished everything from the same author. I [had] during the [last winter] read with great pleasure the letter to Judge Addison. it is an unanswerable [. . .] of the [new] [usurpa]tion the federal government is [. . .] about to add to their list. but [all the others] have been petty [. . .] things [compared] with this, which the judges [. . .] them is, that the common law of England (the only standard they can [select]) is in force here, & that the federal courts have cognisance of all cases it embraces. yet, absurd, impossible, as that is, [you will see] that they will stack it in upon us. by degrees, more or less boldly as circumstances may admit. but we should meet them by countermine. an action should be immediately brought (a feigned one) by one republican against another, on a [bond], assumpsit or any other ground not given to the [federal] [. . .] by the constitution, but given by their common law; whichever [way] decided by the districtq court it should be carried by appeal to the supreme court & all the judges be thus forced to avow what it is they intend, at once. the success of the republican candidate for the government of Pensylvania is a subject of great congratulation. I hope that the same spirit, operating at the same time on the election for their legislature will have [. . .]ed a republican majority into that[.] such a state as Pensylva harmonising with those south of the Patow[mac] will command more respect to the constitution. the misfortunes of [the French] would [probably] produce very [. . .] on the < 232>
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approaching [session of Congress were it not] that [the] [. . .] of the English will [keep] the [. . .] in check. accept assurances of [sincere] esteem & attachment Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); faint; at foot of text: “Norborne Nicholas esq.” your favor: Nicholas to TJ, 8 Oct. 1799. The pamphlet Nicholas enclosed with that letter contained George Nicholas’s response to a charge that Alexander addison, as presiding judge of Pennsylvania’s Afth circuit, made to grand juries in 1798. The pamphlet, published after George Nicholas’s death, contained in an appendix some “Observations” on Addison’s tract by “A Lawyer, Who does not wish to be a Judge,” contradicting in par-
ticular Addison’s argument that the Sedition Act was a legitimate codiAcation of common law (Alexander Addison, Liberty of Speech, and of the Press [Washington, Pa., 1798], 11-12; Correspondence between George Nicholas, Esq. of Kentucky, and the Hon. Robert G. Harper, Member of Congress from the District of 96, State of South Carolina [Lexington, Ky., 1799], 3, appendix i-viii; see Evans, Nos. 33267, 35972). q Word interlined in place of “federal.”
From James Madison Dear Sir Novr. 3. 99 Be so good as to let Col. Monroe have the inclosed as early as may be convenient. Have you Axt the time of your setting out for Philada. I wish much for the pleasure of seeing you on your way, but if you do not aim to be there at the beging of the Session, I shall probably lose the opportunity. As something however may depend on circumstances & arrangements, it will be convenient for me to know your intended movements. adieu Yrs. truly Js. Madison Jr. RC (DLC: Madison Papers); endorsed by TJ as received 3 Nov. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure not found. Charles Peale Polk carried this letter to TJ (TJ to Madison, 22 Nov. 1799).
TJ had not fixt the time. He intended to leave earlier, but did not set out until 21 Dec. The Virginia Assembly, to which Madison was elected a delegate, was scheduled to begin on 2 Dec. (mb, 2:1011; jhd, Dec. 1799-Jan. 1800, 3).
From George Jefferson Dear Sir, Richmond 4th. Novr. 1799 Mr. Pollard has again disappointed me in the power of Attorney— and again promises by next post. It is however of but little consequence, as I understand it is only on extraordinary occasions that the individuals of the company have any thing to do—The business < 233>
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being done mostly by directors; even their appointment is considered more as a matter of form than any thing else—as it is understood to be almost a thing of course that the same are to be continued. Mr. Wiseham is out of Town—perhaps your most certain way of getting a speedy answer will be by writing to him. I am Dear Your Very humble servt. Geo. Jefferson I can meet with no oppy of sending the bala. of your nail-rod. RC (MHi); at foot of text “Thomas JeCerson esqr.”; endorsed by TJ as received 7 Nov. and so recorded in SJL.
To George Jefferson Dear Sir Monticello Nov. 8. 99 As soon as mr Pollard will give a form for the power of attorney [I sh]all be glad to send you one on behalf of mr Short; as I wish his interest to be represented at the meetings. Mr Short owned 1000. as. of green sea land in Norfolk county granted [to] him by patent Dec. 10. 1784. it is but lately I know of this. having [written] to Colo. T. Newton to learn on what footing it stood as to the taxes, he [talked?] to Wilson Butt the sheriC, who informed him he had returned it to the Auditor as the law requires for nonpaiment of taxes, and he approved. preceding sheriCs had done the same. I pray you therefore [to go] immediately to the Auditor & to do & pay whatever may be necessary to place the land in a safe situation & to inform me of the [result]. I am with great esteem Dr. Sir Your’s aCectionately Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC: Short Papers); faint; at foot of text: “Mr. George JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
For TJ’s missive to Thomas newton, see 17 Oct. 1799.
To George Jefferson Dear Sir Monticello Nov. 8. 1799. I have to acknolege the reciept of your two [letters of Oct. 28. and] Nov. 4. and I now inclose you [the two] reciepts recieved in [. . .] letter, with a proper authority indorsed on each to [recieve whatever] [. . .] to be given in exchange for them. I presume interest will be [. . .] if it be a certiAcate which is to be given in exchange for these < 234>
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[. . .]. be so good as to turn it into cash & to pay the proceeds to [mr Richard] Hanson agent for the representatives of Farrell & Jones, to [. . .] my bonds given for a debt of mr Wayles’s to them. those proceeds always destined for this object being about the balance remaining due [from] me of that debt, after mr Hanson shall have compleated [. . .] the bonds I put into his hands in satisfaction of the debt, which I [presume] he has now nearly [aCected]. as he is a man of very particular ideas, [be] cautious as to the reciept. I shall be content that it be for so [. . .] ‘paid in discharge of my bonds given for John Wayles’s debt to Farrel & Jones.’ this is so general that he cannot object to it. I learn from Philadelphia that the best tobo. sells at 9. D. [. . .] I may get a dollar more for mine, on account of it’s character established there. I will therefore pray you to send the whole of mine remaining on hand to that place, consigned to John Barnes; mr Randolph writes to you as to his. I promised mrs Anna Key & her son Walter to do the same [with their] tobo. as my own. it is about 9. or 10. hogsheads. the manifests [are in the] hands of mr [Brydie?] in Richmond. they will send you [. . .] [them], be pleased to ship them with mine & in my name. [I will be glad] to [have a list] of their numbers [. . .] of the [. . .] hogsheads of mine [. . .] shipped to New York. I expect the earliest market at Philadelphia may perhaps be the best, and therefore I write to mr Barnes to sell immediately. I am Dear Sir your’s aCectionately Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); faint; at foot of text “Mr. George JeCerson.” Enclosures not found.
From George Jefferson Dear Sir, Richmond 11th. Novr. 1799. I have duly received your two favors of the 8th. with the CertiAcates therein mentioned. Your Tobo. shall be shipped as you desire in the Arst Vessel to be had—together with Mrs. Keys, provided her order arrives in time; and if not, it shall go as soon thereafter as possible. The Auditors ODce having been shut I could not learn whether or not any thing has been done with the land of Mr. S.s you mention; I think it probable however that nothing has, as I understand no land has been sold for taxes since the year ’87, owing to some defect in the law. I at last inclose you a form of a power of atty—from its length I < 235>
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think it should have been had sooner; I likewise send you a stamp, lest you should meet with diDculty in procuring one. I have again spoken to Mr. Wiseham, & again without eCect. I am Dear Sir Yours, Geo. Jefferson RC (MHi); with address on verso of enclosure: “Thomas JeCerson esquire Monticello”; franked and postmarked; endorsed by TJ as received 14 Nov. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: Power of attorney, in an unknown hand, naming George JeCerson attorney in fact to vote in William Short’s behalf at meetings of stockholders of the James River Company; with blanks for date, signatures, and Short’s place of residence; endorsed by TJ: “Short Wm. Copy of power of atty to G. JeCerson. recd. Nov. 14”; with additions to text in TJ’s hand identifying Virginia as Short’s place of residence, Alling in the date as 15 Nov. 1799, representing TJ’s signature and seal, and adding details of the date, place, and scope of coverage of Short’s 2 Apr. 1793
grant of power of attorney to TJ, these changes evidently serving as a record of the signed version of the document TJ sent to George JeCerson on 15 Nov. 1799, the letter described below (MS in DLC: Short Papers). On 15 Nov. TJ replied to the letter above, enclosing the manifests (not found) for nine hogsheads of tobacco belonging to Ann Key that were to be shipped with his own tobacco to Philadelphia, and returning the power of attorney that allowed George JeCerson to look after William Short’s interests in the James River Company (PrC in MHi; faint, with last three lines almost illegible; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso).
From Daniel Clark Sir New Orleans 12 November 1799 I have had the pleasure of receiving the letter you wrote me in June last, and of delivering that which was inclosed for Mr Dunbar who thinks himself honor’d by your application to him. Whilst at his House we had the satisfaction of seeing Mr Philip Nolan arrive from New Mexico, he has brought with him 1000 head of Horses and by a singular favor of Providence has escaped the snares which were laid for him—Gayoso the late Governor of the Province of Louisiana, a few months before his Death wrote to the Governor of Texas the Province conAning on this to the Westward to arrest Nolan on his return as a Person who from the Knowledge he had acquired of the interior parts of New Mexico, might one day be of injury to the Spanish Monarchy, the thing would have been eCected according to his Wish & Nolan might probably have been conAned for Life on mere suspicion, but fortunately the Governor of Texas died a few days before the Letter reached San Antonio the Capital of his Government—The person exercising the ODce of Governor pro. tem. knowing that another had been appointed by the Vice Roy refrained from opening the Letters directed to the late Governor, < 236>
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and during this interval Nolan who was unconscious of the machinations of his Enemies passed thro’ the Province, was treated as usual with the utmost attention, and only learned the Circumstance from me a few days ago when preparing to go to the Frontier of Texas to bring in a small drove of Horses which he had still remaining there. The certainty that this blind yet suspicious people would never believe that he could correspond with a Person in your high station on any Subject unconnected with Politics induced me to request you would give nothing to the World which could be traced to him, for any Communication how innocent soever in itself would be suspected & in case of discovery would have been fatal—He has no longer any thing to fear on this Head and he proposes shortly forwarding you the information you require—In company with him is a Person a perfect master of the Language of signs of which Mr Dunbar has made mention in his Letter to you; I have proposed to Nolan to send him on to the U.S. that you might have an Opportunity of learning from him many curious particulars respecting his Country, and have oCered to defray his Expences till his return here and make him beside a compensation for his time—if he can be induced to undertake the Voyage I shall take the Liberty of giving him a Line to you that you may know the Man. As the manners Customs, situation of the Country Strength, Population &ca are altogether unknown to the People of the U.S. you will not I hope take the liberty amiss, and the Novelty will probably compensate the trouble of acquiring the information—Should any particulars respecting this Country strike you on which I could procure intelligence I would spare no trouble in getting it, and where connected with Subjects with which I may be unacquainted, my connexions here are such that I Batter myself I could obtain it by applying to those who have had better Opportunities & more leisure than myself to attend to the pursuits of Science. In your Letter to Nolan I think you hinted that Horses are found no where in a wild state but in America, I some time ago by accident stumbled on a Work entitled Voyages aux Peuples Samœides in which mention is made of some found Wild in Siberia or in Tartary, they are represented as small, exceedingly Beet, & hard to catch living on the borders of the Settlements & of great injury to the Inhabitants by the destruction of their Crops, I paid no attention to the thing at that time but if the Book falls again in my Way I shall forward it to you, as it may contain other particulars on the same subject which I do not recollect, the title may however be suDcient for you to procure it—As this Country produces excellent Oranges, I have presumed to send to the < 237>
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care of Mr Daniel W Coxe of Philadelphia a barrel hand picked & well put to be delivered to you and a Box of Paccan Nuts, these last are not I understand common in the Atlantic Parts of the U.S. tho’ they grow every where on the Banks of the Mississippi from the Ilinois River to the Sea, generally in the low grounds and even in Places occasionally overBowed by the annual rise of the Waters, the Tree grows to the usual size of Forest Trees and aCords a delightful Shade in summer, it might be worth while to cultivate it in Virginia for use & ornament. I propose to send you shortly by way of Baltimore if no Opportunity oCers direct for Virginia a Bag of a superior kind which I am promised by a Friend and will occasionally take the liberty of sending you any thing which I may suppose either rare or curious with you that I can procure here I remain with Respect Sir Your most obedient & most humble Servant Daniel Clark Junr RC (DLC); at foot of text: “Thos. JeCerson Esqr.”; endorsed by TJ as received 7 Jan. 1800 and so recorded in SJL. TJ’s letter of june last was that of 23 June 1799. The letter from Manuel gayoso de Lemos was probably one he addressed not to the governor of texas but to Pedro de Nava, commandant general of the interior provinces of New Spain, warning of Americans entering Spanish
territory and naming Nolan in particular. Juan Bautista de Elguezábal succeeded the deceased Manuel Muñoz in the office of governor of Texas on an interim basis. Joseph Irigoyen had been appointed governor but never assumed oDce (Maurine T. Wilson and Jack Jackson, Philip Nolan and Texas: Expeditions to the Unknown Land, 1791-1801 [Waco, Tex., 1987], 34-5; Donald E. Chipman, Spanish Texas, 1519-1821 [Austin, Tex., 1992], 214, 261-2).
From James Thomson Callender Sir Richmond Nov. 16. 1799. I Gave Mr. JeCerson, Some days ago, from p. 9 to p. 48 inclusive of The Prospect, to be Sent to you. Having the opportunity of a private hand, I now Send forward 16 additional pages. There is much bad print in it. I inclose the Copy of a plan which has ocurred here to Mr. James Lyon, and which if conducted with taste and perseverance, bids fairer than any other which I have yet seen, to shed the necessary rays of light over our political Atmosphere, at a triBing expence. I am Sir with respect Your very obliged humble Servt Jas. T. Callender. < 238>
18 N O V E M B E R 1799 RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ. Recorded in SJL as received 30 Nov. Enclosure not found, but see below. The plan by James Lyon was probably that for the Friend of the People, which the editor envisioned as a political
newspaper to be published inexpensively in Richmond for general distribution by Republicans throughout the United States (Pasley, Tyranny of Printers, 1723). For Lyon’s description of the paper and its purpose, see the New London Bee, 12 Feb. 1800.
From George Jefferson Dear Sir, Richmond 18th. Novr. 99. I am duly favor’d with yours of the 15th. with the nine manifests therein mentioned; I am sorry they did not come sooner as the last of your Tobo. was shipped to day—13 Hhds: on board the Sloop Little Sam Capt. Dickey, & 13 on board the Sloop Nancy Capt. Oliphant— these with the six shipped to New York make up your quantity except one Hhd: which the Inspectors say is not in the warehouse although we have their receipt. they will of course be liable—we understand they have made many such blunders, by allowing negroes to ship Tobo. in their absence. Mrs. Keys shall be shipped by the very Arst Vessel—they are at present scarce. I have disposed of your Certfs: $:290–9. at 16/6 in the Pound is £71–15–10 which with the Interest £97–13–6 makes £159–9–4 & which I have informed Mr. Hanson I hold subject to his order, but have not yet heard from him. I inclose you a receipt for the tax on Mr. Shorts Land—it was not returned previous to ’93, & could not be in ’96, as there was no Collector for the County for that year. A list of your Tobo. shall be forwarded by next post being at present much hurried I am Dear Sir Your Very humble servt. Geo. Jefferson RC (MHi); at foot of text “Thos. JeCerson esqr. Monticello”; endorsed by TJ as received 22 Nov. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: Receipt from the Auditor’s ODce, 15 Nov. 1799, for William Short for $5.62 on account of the redemption of his lands as returned by the sheriC of Norfolk County for nonpayment of taxes for the years 1793, 1794, 1795, and
1797, signed by John Carter (DLC: Short Papers). See also mb, 2:1008-9. The amount TJ received for his certiAcates combined with the interest was £169.9.4, not £159.9.4. George JeCerson noted the error in his 2 Dec. letter to TJ (see also mb, 2:1009).
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To John Coalter Dear Sir Monticello Nov. 19. 99. I trouble you again on the subject of mr Clarke. Amherst court is [. . .] [over] without my hearing from him; and as I shall set out for Philadelphia shortly & be absent 6. months, it is necessary for me to bring the matter to some certain [. . .] if mr Clarke will [arrange paiment] [. . .] I shall be contented. but he [. . .] it un[reasonable] after these delays that I should require the engagement of some man of known punctuality who will [. . .] to make the [debt? his own] & to pay [. . .] [will not suit]. if this cannot be done, I must [. . .] of you to bring a suit [against] [. . .]. drop me a line immediately [. . .] [to] you the originals of which I before forwarded a copy. I shall [. . .] the 2d. week of December, so must hear from you before that. [. . .] you shall have [attach]ed the money in [another way], after deducting your [commission?] [. . .] be so good as to remit the balance to me if here, and [. . .] to [. . .] my merchant in Milton. I am with great esteem Dear Sir Your most obedt servt Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); faint; in ink at foot of text “Mr. Coalter”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
A letter from Coalter to TJ of 4 Oct., recorded in SJL as received a week later, has not been found.
To James Madison Dear Sir Monticello Nov. 22. 99. I have never answered your letter by mr Polk, because I intended to have paid you a visit. this has been postponed by various circumstances till yesterday, being the day Axed for the departure of my daur Eppes, my horses were ready for me to have set out to see you. an accident postponed her departure to this day & my visit also. but Colo. Monroe dined with us yesterday, and on my asking his commands for you, he entered into the subject of the visit, and dissuaded it entirely, founding the motives on the espionage of the little wretch in Charlottesville, who would make it a subject of some political slander, & perhaps of some political injury. I have yeilded to his representations, & therefore shall not have the pleasure of seeing you till my return from Philadelphia. I regret it sincerely, not only on motives of aCection but of aCairs. some late circumstances change considerably the aspect of our situation, and must aCect the line of conduct to be observed. I regret it the more too, because from the commencement of < 240>
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the ensuing session, I shall trust the post oDces with nothing conAdential, persuaded that during the ensuing twelvemonth they will lend their inquisitorial aid to furnish matter for new slanders. I shall send you as usual printed communications, without saying any thing conAdential on them. you will of course understand the cause. In your new station let me recommend to you the jury system: as also the restoration of juries to the court of Chancery, which a law not long sine repealed because ‘the trial by jury is troublesome & expensive.’ if the reason be good they should go through with it, & abolish it at common law also. if P. Carr is elected in the room of W.N. he will undertake the proposing this business and only need your support. if he be not elected, I hope you will get it done otherwise. my best respects to mrs Madison, and aCectionate salutations to yourself Th: Jefferson RC (DLC: Madison Papers, Rives Collection); at foot of text: “Mr. Madison.” The letter from Madison delivered by Charles Peale polk is found at 3 Nov. little wretch in charlottesville: Albemarle County clerk John Nicholas, probably author of the critical letter to TJ signed “Americanus,” dated 10 Apr. 1798. i shall trust the post offices with nothing confidential: according to SJL, TJ did not write Madison from Philadelphia until 4 Mch. 1800, when Hore Browse Trist agreed to deliver the missive on his return to Virginia. Thomas Mann Randolph probably carried TJ’s letter of 26 Nov. 1799 to Madison in Richmond (Randolph to TJ, 3 Dec. 1799). For the changes TJ advocated in the jury system and selection of jurors, see Petition to the General Assembly of Virginia, [2 or 3 Nov. 1798]. For his advocacy of “trial by jury for all matters of fact” as a means of guarding “against the dangers apprehended” from the court of chancery, see Vol. 9:71. The Virginia House of Delegates on 28 Dec. began discussion of a committee report
on the need for reorganization of the High court of chancery to expedite the “crowded legal docket.” On 14 Jan. 1800 the House appointed TJ, Edmund Pendleton, George Wythe, and an unnamed fourth person, or any three of them, to report on the existing judiciary system and recommend necessary changes. At the same time, the House defeated a substitute resolution, possibly a plan submitted by St. George Tucker to Archibald Stuart, Speaker of the Senate, to establish a Ave-district chancery court. No legislation reforming the chancery court system passed until 1802 (jhd, Dec. 1799-Jan. 1800, 20-1, 44, 47, 85; Charles T. Cullen, St. George Tucker and Law in Virginia 1772-1804 [New York, 1987], 110-13). w.n.: Wilson Cary Nicholas. On 5 Dec. the Assembly elected Nicholas, an Albemarle County member of the House of Delegates, to All the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Henry Tazewell’s death in January. William Woods, not Peter Carr, succeeded Nicholas in the House of Delegates (jhd, Dec. 1799-Jan. 1800, 10; Leonard, General Assembly, 215; TJ to John Wayles Eppes, 21 Dec. 1799).
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From George Jefferson Dear Sir, Richmond 25th. Novr. 1799 I now forward you annexed a list of your Tobo.—Mrs. Keys nine Hhds: were shipped to-day on board the Schooner Polly Capt. Crowell. Pickett Pollard & Johnston have applied to me for a small balance of 43/. due them by you. is it right—& shall I pay it? I inclose you Mr. Hanson’s receipt for £159–9–4 & am Dear Sir Your Very humble servt. Geo: Jefferson TI No. 121 131 1496 121 95 131 1527 95 96 131 1546 96 Shipped to New York 12 123 1496 12 14 106 1663 14 15 107 1677 15 1 131 1398 2 131 1684 3 131 1569 4 131 1607 16 131 1536 17 131 1294 18 131 1443 19 131 1477 20 131 1609 21 131 1507 22 131 1419 23 131 1633 24 131 1615 Shipped to Phila 25 131 1610 26 131 1384 27 131 1422 12 108 1550 13 108 1550 14 105 1514 15 104 1604 11 131 1474 9 126 1538 5 125 1433 6 129 1404 10 124 1320 7 128 1316 8 127 1331 —not found
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26 N O V E M B E R 1799 RC (MHi); with list on verso; addressed: “Thomas JeCerson esqr. Monticello”; franked and postmarked; endorsed by TJ as received 29 Nov. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure not found.
To James Madison Nov. 26. 99.
I omitted in my letter of the 23d to say any thing on the subject of mr Wirt; which however was necessary only for form’s sake, because I had promised it. you know he is a candidate for the clerkship of your house, you know his talents, his worth, & his republicanism; & therefore need not my testimony, which could otherwise be given for him in the strongest form on every point. the desirable object is to have the exact measure of every man’s properties, & give it to the best. I suppose it is thought time that the republicans should know that oDces are to be given exclusively to their opponents by their friends no longer. it is advantage enough to the Feds to possess the exclusive patronage of the administration; and so long as they go on the exclusive principle, we should do the same. I mentioned that new circumstances would require consideration as to the line of conduct they would require from us. our objects, according to my ideas, should be these 1. peace even with Gr. Britain. 2. a sincere cultivation of the Union. 3. the disbanding of the army on principles of economy and safety. 4. protestations against violations of the true principles of our constitution, merely to save them, & prevent precedent & acquiescence from being pleaded against them; but nothing to be said or done which shall look or lead to force, and give any pretext for keeping up the army. if we And the Monarchical party really split into pure Monocrats & Anglo-monocrats, we should leave to them alone to manage all those points of diCerence which they may chuse to take between themselves, only arbitrating between them by our votes, but doing nothing which may hoop them together. the post which leaves Richmond on the 9th. of Dec. will be the last by which I can recieve letters here. by that time you will be able to form a tolerable judgment of the complexion of your house, and I shall be very happy to recieve your ideas as fully as you can give them as to State as well as Federal matters. health & aCectionate salutations to mrs Madison & yourself. RC (DLC: Madison Papers, Rives Collection). Probably enclosed in TJ to
George JeCerson, 28 Nov. 1799, but carried to Richmond and delivered by
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26 N O V E M B E R 1799 Thomas Mann Randolph (see Randolph to TJ, 3 Dec. 1799).
TJ’s previous letter was dated 22 Nov., not the 23d.
To John Taylor Dear Sir Monticello Nov. 26. 1799. Mr. Wirt, who is of my neighborhood, oCers himself a candidate for the clerkship of the H. of Repr. and being known to few of the members, his friends are naturally anxious that what may be said of him with truth should be said. I only fulAll a duty therefore when I bear testimony in this as I would in any other case. he has lived several years my near neighbor, having married the daughter of the late Dr. Gilmer. he is a person of real genius and information, one of the ablest at the bars in this part of the country, amiable & worthy in his private character & in his republicanism most zealous & active. this information is given you in order that, having equal knowlege of the other candidates you may be enabled to satisfy your own mind by chusing the best. For some years past there has been a project on foot for making a more direct road across this state for those travelling between the North & South. it is only necessary to open it in parts, as there are already roads through a great proportion of the way. it is to lead from Georgetown by Stevensburg, Norman’s ford the Raccoon ford, Martin King’s ford, the mouth of Slate river to the High bridge on Appamattox, from whence the present roads Southwardly suDce. it will shorten the line across this state probably 50 miles, is calculated on the precise object of avoiding all hills, but at the crossing of the principal watercourses, and will undoubtedly be the best road for the principal mail between the North & South. this matter will be before you this session and will be worthy your attention. Some schismatic appearances and other political circumstances, will render it necessary for us perhaps to adapt our conduct to their improvement. but I cease from this time during the ensuing twelvemonth to write political letters, knowing that a campaign of slander is now to open upon me, & believing that the postmasters will lend their inquisitorial aid to Ash out any new matter of slander they can, to gratify the powers that be. I hope my friends will understand & approve the motives of my silence. health, happiness & aCectionate salutations. Th: Jefferson RC (MHi: Washburn Collection); addressed: “John Taylor esquire of Caroline
now in Richmond”; endorsed by Taylor. Probably enclosed in TJ to George JeCer-
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27 N O V E M B E R 1799 son, 28 Nov. 1799, but carried to Richmond and delivered by Thomas Mann Randolph (see Randolph to TJ, 3 Dec. 1799).
A letter from Taylor to TJ of 25 Mch. 1800, recorded in SJL as received 4 Apr., has not been found.
To William Bache Dear Sir Monticello Nov. 27. 1799. The letter which mrs Bache did me the honor to write on the 7th. inst. came to hand on the 22d. I immediately went to mr James Key’s to communicate it’s contents. his situation is precisely this. he has purchased a place in N. Carolina adjoining his father in law. the money was to be paid the Arst of this month. the man who sold to him was to carry his family to Kentuckey. both are in readiness to go oC, and only wait for the money. the season in the mean time is coming on so cold, that even Key’s removal with his wife & children becomes formidable, and the other man’s may be impracticable as he has the Alleghaney to cross. this threatens therefore to detain them altogether for another year; they cannot remove in the spring as they will have begun a crop in their present seats & it would be too late for them to begin one elsewhere. the only remedy then is to remit the money without losing a day or an hour, for a day more or less may really happen to be decisive. mr Barnes or any other person you may chuse to trust, can always place the money in Richmond in 10. days by a bill, and Key says if lodged there with Brydie & co. he will go and fetch it. you know his habits of intoxication. his family assures me that this disappointment has driven him so much deeper into this habit that they have seriously feared his becoming an object for the mad-house. I would not write these things to make you uneasy, but for the distress of these people, and to apprise you of them in time that you may avoid circumstances perhaps more disagreeable, such as their keeping you out of possession a twelvemonth, demanding damages &c. I sincerely wish this may And your health reestablished, & trust that the cold weather will have produced that happy eCect. this furnishes a reason the more for wishing you had come on as you originally intended, as you would probably have missed this illness, for we have been very healthy here. I presume you will not now come on till the spring, as your house could not be made inhabitable at this season. I therefore inclose you a letter which has been waiting you here some months. I shall be in Philadelphia about the 23d. Dec. present my respectful salutations to mrs Bache, & health & aCection to yourself. Th: Jefferson < 245>
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P.S. I inclose this to mr Barnes with a request that if it cannot be conveyed to you instantly by post, he will send an express, that not a day may be unnecessarily lost. RC (Mrs. W. F. Magie, Princeton, 1945; facsimile in ProAles in History Catalogue No. 33, January 2002); postscript written perpendicularly in margin; addressed: “Doctr. William Bache Philadelphia or it’s neighborhood.” Enclosure not found. According to SJL, TJ received Catharine Wistar Bache’s letter of the 7th. inst., which has not been found, on 21 Nov. 1799. He noted in SJL that it had come from “Settle,” which was the farm of Richard and Sally Franklin
Bache, William Bache’s parents, on the Delaware River 16 miles downstream from Philadelphia. The spot was named for Richard Bache’s birthplace in Yorkshire, England (Richard N. Rosenfeld, American Aurora: A DemocraticRepublican Returns [New York, 1997], 79; anb, 1:825-7). i inclose this to mr barnes: according to SJL TJ did not write to John Barnes on this day but did write on the 29th. That letter has not been located.
To George Jefferson Dear Sir Monticello Nov. 28. 99 [. . .] distrust of [this] post oDce, induces me to put [these letters] [. . .] to you [but] I desire that they may be delivered to [. . .] on the [moment] of their arrival in Richmond, as their [whole importance is in] their being re[ceived before] the meeting of the house of delegates. will you be so good as to send me by the Arst b[oats] 3. gross of [bottles] & 6. gross of the best corks I am Dear Sir Your’s aCectionately Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); faint; at foot of text: “Mr. George JeCerson.” Enclosures: (1) TJ to James Madison, 26 Nov. 1799. (2) TJ to John Taylor, 26 Nov. 1799. (3) TJ to
William B. Giles, 26 Nov. 1799 (recorded in SJL but not found). For the delivery of these letters, see Thomas Mann Randolph to TJ, 3 Dec. 1799.
Safe Conduct for Three Chickasaw Indians Albemarle county Three Chickasaw Indians having come so far without any guide, interpreter or pass, I have engaged the bearer John Haden to take charge of them & attend them to Richmond to the Governor of the state; and they are recommended to the peace, protection and hospitality of the citizens on the road they pass. should they be in want of < 246>
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any necessaries, it cannot be doubted but that the Governor will authorize paiment to those who may furnish them. Given under my hand this 28th. day of November 1799. Th: Jefferson MS (ViU); entirely in TJ’s hand. Evidently two members of this unidentiAed group of Chickasaws were homeward bound from Richmond by 14 Dec., having seen John Pendleton, a member of the council who acted as governor for part of the period between the completion of James Wood’s term on 6 Dec. and the commencement of James Monroe’s on the 19th. The two Chickasaws were near Staunton with a guide on 20 Dec., but one of them was reported to be “apparently weak and dangerously indisposed, not able to proceed further. However, every attention shall be paid to his present situation, and such reasonable aid as humanity may dictate shall be aCorded for his further relief and comfort.” The notation “Dead” in the endorsement of the next document may explain why only two of the travelers returned to Augusta County, one of them very ill, and without having journeyed to Philadelphia as TJ, in the document that follows, thought they would (cvsp, 9:63; Emily J. Salmon, ed., A Hornbook of Virginia History, 3d ed. [Richmond, 1983], 77). On several other occasions
also, including some during TJ’s presidency, Chickasaw individuals or small groups arrived in the eastern states unannounced and without interpreters. The Chickasaws had made treaties with Virginia in 1783 and with the United States in 1786 (Herman J. Viola, Diplomats in Buckskins: A History of Indian Delegations in Washington City [Washington, 1981], 42-3; Arrell M. Gibson, The Chickasaws [Norman, Okla., 1971], 75-6; Vol. 9:642n; Vol. 17:389n). From May to September 1799 Joseph Bullen made an inaugural visit to the Chickasaws on behalf of the New York Missionary Society. William Linn, with whom TJ corresponded about Indian languages, was one of the society’s directors, but there is no apparent link between Bullen’s mission and this party of Chickasaws traveling through Albemarle County (Dawson A. Phelps, ed., “Excerpts from the Journal of the Reverend Joseph Bullen, 1799 and 1800,” Journal of Mississippi History, 17 [1955], 254-81; New-York Missionary Magazine, and Repository of Religious Intelligence, 1 [1800], 161-5; TJ to William Linn, 5 Feb. 1798).
To James Wood Sir Monticello Nov. 28. 99. Three Chickasaw Indians have called on me, without any guide with them, any interpreter, or any document authorising their entrance or passage through the state except a pass from an oDcer at Staunton. had the County Lieutenant or any other Aeld oDcer of militia been within reach I should have applied to them to take charge of them & have them conducted to Richmond, from whence I understand they mean to proceed to Philadelphia. but no such oDcer happens to be in this part of the county. in this situation I am obliged to take on myself to engage a careful person the bearer John Hadenq to go with them to Richmond, to take care of them, & procure subsis< 247>
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tence for them on the road, and have ventured to give it to him as my opinion that your Excellency will have him paid for his trouble & repay the necessary expences of their journeyr while under his care, which commences here. the irregularity of their entrance being already committed, and they being actually here, I know no other way of disposing of them for their own safety & the public peace, but that which I adopt, & I hope these circumstances will plead my excuse for intermedling in a case totally foreign to me, of which however it would not be easy to make them sensible. I furnish him sixteen dollars towards necessaries for them on the road. I have the honour to be with due respect Your Excellency’s most obedt. & most humble servt Th: Jefferson RC (PHi); addressed: “His Excellency The Governor of Virginia. by mr Haden with 3. Chickasaw Indians”; endorsed: “Mr JeCerson relative to Indians,” with added note, “Dead.” The officer at staunton seems likely to have been Alexander Gibson, to whom John Pendleton addressed a communication about the Chickasaws and who replied to the acting governor from “Camp near Staunton” when two of the travelers arrived there on their return journey (see note to preceding document). A Virginian named Alexander Gibson was a captain in the U.S. Army,
1792-1800 (cvsp, 9:63; Heitman, Dictionary, 1:453). sixteen dollars: according to his Anancial memoranda TJ gave Haden $15.75. On 21 Dec. he recorded the receipt of $16.00 “from the Governor,” who by that time was James Monroe. Wilson Cary Nicholas brought the money from Richmond (mb, 2:1009, 1011). A letter from Wood to TJ, dated 4 Dec. and received on the 7th, is recorded in SJL but has not been found. q Preceding four words interlined. r Remainder of sentence interlined.
From John Coalter Dr Sir Novr. 29th. 799 Since receiving yours of 19th. Inst. I have spoken to Mr. Clark about its contents— He says he was disappointed in the sale he contemplated at Amherst Court, & that he hath no means of making payt, except from some Bonds he hath put into the Hands of Mr. J. Kinney for collection & out of which he has directed that Debt with some others to be paid a list of which he has given him—He says he cannot thus circumstanced think of involving any person as his Security—Under these circumstances I have agreeable to your direction ordered suit & hope you will forward me the original account— By a letter just receivd from Ireland in this place it is stated that the < 248>
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Combined powers are beating the French & that Pit talks of a war against Prusia unless They either join or refund the subsidy— Your huml Sevt John Coalter RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ as received 19 Dec. and so recorded in SJL.
From George RufAn Extract of a letter from George RuDn to Th: JeCerson dated Prince George Nov. 30. 1799. ‘Although gratiAed to have it in my power to give some account of mr Symond’s relations in this county, I lament to conArm his belief of his sister’s death, who, about 5. years ago died in childbed. the child (a son) is well. Colo. Avery, whose usual signature is Billy H. (or Haley) Avery, acquired his present title by his rank in our militia, which he resigned about 2 years ago. he was also an oDcer when a young man, much esteemed among his continental brethren. he lives yet a widower at his old place of abode, with his 5. children, Elizabeth, Edward, Lucy, Mary-Anne, & William, whom I have named according to seniority. Colo. Avery is a respectable citizen & I believe enjoys a comfortable mediocrity between the extremes of indigence & aEuence. it may somewhat console a brother in the hour of aEiction to hear that his sister’s death was much lamented by all who knew her. among us she was considered an amiable and accomplished woman; and a gem of inestimable value in her family: her daughters especially, by her death, have sustained an irreparable loss. the late death of mrs Carter B. Harrison is another grievous stroke of heaven on Lucy, the 2d daughter, whom that lady had taken with her, & fostered as one of her family after the death of mrs Avery.’ ‘P.S. I conjecture that the letters mr Symonds used to have from hence were written by mrs Avery. Colo. Avery seldom writes. you will at once devine the *unlucky cause, & account for his long silence. you will use the purport of this P.S. as you please.’ G.R. * by this I understand that Colo. Avery must be addicted to drink. Th:J. Tr (State Library of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia); entirely in TJ’s hand; written at foot of TJ to Richard Symonds, 30 Jan. 1800. Recorded in SJL as received on 30 Dec. 1799.
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From George Jefferson Dear Sir, Richmond 2d. Decr. ’99 You will observe by referring to my letter of the 18th. ultimo that I made a mistake of £10– in adding together the money I recd. for the principal of your CertiAcates & that for the Interest—I recd. £169–9–4 instead of £159 as I informed you—& which I did not discover until after I had paid Mr. H. I give you at foot the amot. of expences paid on Mrs. Keys Tobo. Yr. Very humble servt. Geo. Jefferson Storage & turning out 9 Hhds: at 2/6 Cooperage 2 Hhds: A.K. drayage to Rocketts of 9 2/6 Mr. Wert is elected—for him agt. him Colo. Larkin Smith Speaker Mr. Wise 55 & 1 blank
90 49 83 56
RC (MHi); endorsed by TJ as received 5 Dec. and so recorded in SJL.
£1– 2–6 – 9–9 1– 2–6 £2–14–9 41 majority 27
"
mr. h.: Richard Hanson.
From Thomas Mann Randolph Th: M. Randolph to Th: Jefferson Richmond Dec. 3. 99 I arrived in time to deliver your letters & with the truest joy inform you that your wish is completely gratiAed. The house of Delegates met at one: W: Giles nominated W’m. Wert: George K. Taylor A. Stewart for Clerk: something was said of character but political sentiments were directly urged by Giles, John Taylor & Nicolas as the true cause of the change desired and that argument was decisive with a great majority: the vote was—W. Wert 90: A Stewart 49. The nomination of Larkin Smith & Wise for Speaker succeeded: here every consideration but political sentiment was wholly waved: on one side it was urged that the division in the house was not so serious as pretended that republicanism was the object of both parties and that hostile or amicable temper towards the foederal government was the true diCerence: Giles replied in the boldest & most open language: he declared that he believed all the important characters who professed the sentiments called foederal were penetrated with aCection for monarchical government & acted upon a < 250>
4 D E C E M B E R 1799
plan to introduce that form gently into the country under a sincere desire [to be] allowed to promote its wellfare. The vote was L. Smith 83: Wise 55. The house was employed two hours in these appointments: it appeared to be strongly impressed with the propriety of observing the most complete consistency in all its measures from Arst to last and is plainly prepared for those of unadulterated Republicanism. Full belief is given here to the disaster of the combined forces in Holland—The Arst division of Russians appears to have been totally lost and the English panic struck. The Majority of the Dutch people, it would seem allmost all, are decidedly Republican. The Ardor of the French seems to be completely rekindled. It must give you much Satisfaction to have conAded as you did in the honor of that nation & the power of Republican principles. I allmost fear those who despaired feel them too much in the head too little in the heart: with the truest aCection y’r. &c Th: M. Randolph Tell Patsy her friends are all well. RC (ViU: Coolidge Deposit); torn; endorsed by TJ as received 4 Dec. and so recorded in SJL. The letters delivered by Randolph were probably those which, according to SJL, TJ wrote on 26 Nov. to Madison, John Taylor, and William B. Giles (not found), all attending the Virginia Assembly, which opened in Richmond on 2 Dec. They were apparently carried to Richmond by Randolph, along with TJ’s
letter to George JeCerson, 28 Nov., in which they were enclosed. In a missive dated 2 Dec., Madison urged Monroe to inform TJ of the election results in the House of Delegates and to conArm that he had received TJ’s letter by “Mr. R.” (Madison, Papers, 17:285). a. stewart for clerk: Randolph refers to John Stewart, who had served as clerk of the House of Delegates since 1795 (Leonard, General Assembly, 199, 203, 207, 211).
To George Jefferson Dear Sir Monticello Dec. 4. 99. I have this day drawn on you in favor of Dabney Carr for [Afty] dollars. tho’ as far as I am possessed of our account there would [be funds?] in your hands suDcient to cover this, [but?] there are some articles of [expences &c] paid by you for me which probably [may make] this an over draught. [if therefore] you will be so good as to make a statement of our accounts and [paiments] so as to arrive in Philadelphia after th[. . .] [. . .] it will And me there and I shall take care immediately to [replace] it. I expect to set out about [the 14th.] or 15th. with respect [to the balance] of [43/] due to Picket < 251>
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Pollard & Johnston [I do] not know of it, [. . .] I have no doubt it is [so.] I therefore [. . .] you to pay it. I am with great esteem Dr. Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); faint; at foot of text: “Mr. George JeCerson.”
TJ noted in his Anancial records that he was charging the $50 draft in favor of dabney carr to David Higginbotham (mb, 2:1009).
To John Harvie Dear Sir Monticello Dec. 5. 99. Being [near an absence] from home of several months, I have, [among] other [. . .]ed things, turned to the papers respecting the land [case between us]. I have thereupon made a statement of facts respecting it, [. . .] [had] been proposed between us, & of the law on those facts according [to my con]ception of it. this I enclose you, and shall be glad to recieve [at] Philadadelphia your counterstatement. if it [should not require] [. . .] to [propose] [. . .] to close the case for [arbitrators]. I am the more anxious to get this [. . .] settled, as I understand [with great] pleasure you intend your lands here for your son, and [. . .] to look forward to him as too agreeable a neighbor to be [willing] to have our acquaintaince clouded with any thing of this kind. [between] you & me it [will be settled] with [as much] indiCerence as a question [concerning arithmetical quantities]. it is a mere diCerence of opinion, & we have known one another too long to suCer our esteem to be shaken by any thing of this kind. I am Dear Sir Your aCectionate friend & servt. Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); faint; at foot of text, partially overwritten in ink: “Colo. J Harvie”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
e n c l o s u r e
Statement for Arbitrators in Land Dispute with John Harvie [ca. 5 Dec.1799] Case between T. JeCerson and John Harvieq Thos. M. Randolph decd. James Hickman, Martin Key William Watson, myself & others held lands on both sides of the S.W. mountains in Alb. the headlines of our several tracts on or near the summit of the mountain encompassing some vacant lands, in the form shewn by the Surveyor’s plat.
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5 D E C E M B E R 1799 1773. Mar. 11. I obtained for it an order of council in these words. ‘at a council held Mar. 11th. 1773. on the petition of Thos. JeCersonr &c. There was an idea that Colo. R. had an entry or survey for one or two hundred acres within the same limits, liable to a caveat. I told him my order should not prejudice his right, whatever it might bes but should cover it.t In June 1773. Anderson Bryan became surveyor of the county, & some circumstances relative to his coming to the oDce have had too remarkeable an eCect on the present case not to be noted. mr Bryan was a clerk to mr Wayles. on his death, being likely to be out of business, I taught him to survey, procured the surveyorship of Alb. for him, became his security, took him into my family & gave him his board for some years. in return he now & then aided me in writing, but was particularly to do my surveying without fees. as soon as he was appointed, I notiAed my ord. of conc. to him, and desired him to survey as soon as convenient. but being pennyless it was necessary for him to work Arst where he might get some money. on a suggestion afterwards thatu there might be more than 1000. as. of lands in the vacancy beforementd. I made with him 2 entries for 400. as. each in the followg words. ‘Oct. 21. 1774. Thos. JeCerson enters for 800. as.v &c The law required nothing further of me than to be ready whenever the surveyor should notify me to attend the making these surveys, but I valued the lands too highly not to be anxious for completing my title. however the supposed entry or survey of Colo. TMR. the lines of which if they existed,w were necessary to be found, threw some real diDculties in the way of the surveyor. he made now & then an eCort to And the lines, as I did also: but they were never found, because in truth there existed no such entry or survey. In the mean time James Marks makes an entry with Bryan for lands within the same limits. Bryan informed him of my prior order & entries; but made the entry for him, as it would be good if there were more land than I claimed. mr Marks applied to me to let him run out his entry, but I expressly refused it. The Revolution now came on, & suspended the means of obtaining grants of land. independance was declared in 1776. but it was not till 3. years after that the legislature re-opened the land oDce. mr Mason then came forward with his plan of a land law. his great object was to remove out of the way the great & numerous orders of council to the Ohio co. Loyal co. Missisipi co. Vandalia co. Indiana co. &c. and the thousands of entries for lands with surveyors of counties, which covered the whole Western country; & not being able to And a properx discrimination between those on the Eastern & Western waters, so as to condemn the latter, & leave the former subsisting (to which there was no objection) he involved the whole in the sweeping clauses which follow. Act. ass. 1779. c. 12. §.3. ‘All orders of council, or entries for land in the council books (except as far as such orders or entries respectively have been carried into execution by actual surveys) shall be, & they are hereby declared void & of no eCect.’ By this clause my order of council was compleatly abolished; because it had not been carried into execution by actual survey. if it had been surveyed, it would have been one of those to be laid before the Court of appeals. The section next before of the same act had given as fatal a blow to entries for land with the surveyors, in these words.
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5 D E C E M B E R 1799 §.2. ‘Where any person, before the end of this present session of assembly, hath made a regular entry according to act of assembly, with the county surveyor for any tract of land not exceeding 400. acres upon any of the Eastern waters, which hath not been surveyed or forAeted according to the laws and rules of government in force at the time of making such entry, the surveyor of the county where such land lies, shall, after advertising legal notice thereof, proceed to survey the same accordingly, & shall deliver to the proprietor a plat & certiAcate of survey thereof within 3. months: & if such person shall fail to attend at the time & place so appointed for making such survey, with chain carriers and a person to [mark the lines, or shall fail to deliver]y such plat & certiAcate into the land [oDce, according] to the [rules and regulations] of the same, together with the Auditor’s [certiAcate] of the Treasurer’s reciept for the composition money herein after mentioned, and pay the oDce fees, he or she shall forfeit his or her [right and title, but] upon performance of these requisitions, shall be entitled to a grant for such tract of land as in other cases.’ To annul all entries which should not be surveyed within 3. months, was to spare a small proportion of them indeed. however so great were the clamors against the injustice of abolishing orders of [council, &]qz vacating entries on the Eastern waters, against which there were no objections either of right or policy, merely to countenance such an abolition on the Western waters, where policy, either public or private called for it, that [. . .] an intermediate act (1780. c. 9) giving further time, the assembly in 1781. by their act c. 29. reestablished all orders of council & entries on the Eastern waters, not precluded by entries or surveys made during their abolition, by the following clauses in that act. §.7. ‘And whereas by the [act of]qq General assembly for adjusting & settling the titles of claimers to unpatented lands, a certain time was limited within which the surveyors of the counties on the Eastern waters should survey all lands within their counties [regularly entered] for before the [end of the] session of ass. in which the sd act was passed, [which time was] by subsequent acts extended to other deAnitive periods, & it not being in the power of the [party claiming] such entries to compel the surveyor to a performance of his duty, [or to] controul those accidents which may sometimes render such performance [impractica]ble, it is therefore unjust that he should lose [his rights on any failure of duty] in the surveyor whether wilful or involuntary: be it therefore [enacted,] that the surveyors of the several counties on the sd Eastern waters [shall pro]ceed with all practicable dispatch to survey the sd entries before described, & for this purpose shall proceed in notifying the party, making [the survey,] delivering a plat & certiAcate, & in all other circumstances as by the act for establishing the land oDce is directed in the case of surveys to be [made on entries] subsequent to the end of the sd session of assembly: & the party [interested] shall be subject also to the same forAetures of right if he fail [in anything prescribed] by the [same act last mentioned], to be done on his part. [§.8. ‘And whereas by the sd law] for establishing the land oDce, all orders of council or entries in the council books for lands not carried into execution by actual survey, were made void, which, so far as it respected lands on the Eastern waters, produced much injury to individuals & no utility to the public: be it therefore enacted that all orders of council & entries in the council
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5 D E C E M B E R 1799 books for lands on the Eastern waters, which were in force at the passing of the said act, & which have *[not]qr been precluded from revival by entries or surveys regularly made for the same lands since the passing of the sd act, shall stand revived & re-established, & the rights accruing thereon be vested in the persons then owning the same, their heirs or other representatives: & that the sd orders of council, or entries in the council books shall stand on the footing of entries in the surveyor’s books, & as such be considered to every intent & purpose, save only that where they exceed the quantity of 400. as. they shall be good for their whole quantity so far as they would have been good by authority of the sd orders of council or entries in the council books before the passing of the sd act.’ *Note the word ‘not’ was omitted in the Arst printed acts of the session, and the Chancellor’s revisal copying that edition, has retained the error, but noted it among the errata in the Postscript. recourse must be had to the Rolls, if disputed. in fact, the absurdity of the act, without the correction, reviving only those orders which had been since taken by others under the faith of the law, & not reviving those which had not been so taken, is suDcient evidence of the intention of the legislators. Here then all orders of council & entries on the Eastern waters being revived & put on the footing on which they were before the abolition of 1779. my orderqs and entries were completely re-established. Immediately on the passage of this law, to wit Dec. 18. 1781. I paid into the treasury £30 composition money for these lands, and sent the Treasurer’s reciept to mr Wiley, to be presented with the copy of the entries to the Auditor to be endorsed by him & then carried to mr Harvie, at that time Register of the land oDceqt to obtain corresponding land warrants. mr Harvie however advised to have surveys made, & to present the surveys, with the Treasurer’s reciept to the Auditors, who would endorse on them that the Compositionqu money had been paid whereon patents would issue from the land oDce. I now returned to the charge with the surveyor. it will be observed that from the dates of my order of Mar. 73. and entries of Oct. 74. till the land oDce was shut up in 74. or 75. he had urged diDculties as to Colo. R’s line. from that time till Dec. 81. the proceedings hung on the occlusion of the land oDce except during the short intervals allowed by the acts of 79. & 80. which were suDcient but for a very small proportionqv of what he had to do. he now urged the pressure of other work, as people began to be anxious to get their old entries completed. he was poor & wanted money,qw reasons for my being still easy with him. in the autumn of the ensuing year 82. before the surveying season I was called away by Congress to go to Europe. after passing the winter in Philada the conclusion of peace superseded my going further. I returned home in June, & went oC to Congress in Oct., wch was again before the surveying season began, & thence went to France leaving among my last injunctions to messrs Eppes & Lewis my attornies to have these lands surveyed. as soon as my back was turned to wit Nov. 29. 1783. Bryand was induced to survey 495. as. of these very lands for James Marks under his junior entry,qx giving him the whole of the compact and fertile part. he says in justiAcn in his letter of Jan. 10. 90. that ‘mr Marks assured him that mr R. was to have the land, and he made no doubt that that gentleman would give up all title to it on my making it appear that my claim
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5 D E C E M B E R 1799 was prior.’ the poverty of this excuse is too palpable to need a comment. the true one was that he was to receive a fee if he surveyed for Marks, but none if he surveyed for me. no body I suppose oCering him fees for the unsurveyed residuum, 5. years after, to wit 1788. Mar. 27. he surveyed it for me, being then reduced to a ragged string of rocks ofqy 485. as. to satisfy an ord. of council & entries for 1800 as. Marks sold his right to Colo. Rand. & he to mr Harvie. I returned from Europe in the winter 1789. arriving at my own house Dec. 23. and understanding what had passed wrote to mr Harvie within 19. days from that time, to wit Jan. 11. 90. reclaiming my right, and proposing an arbitration. to this he readily consented, entering into some explanations of the ground of his right, and particularly that Marks’s survey was made for therz joint beneAt of Marks & Colo. Randolph, that Marks had sold his moiety afterwards to Colo. Randolph, who claiming the other moiety under what I had said to him inrq 1773. had sold the whole to Colo. Harvie.rr Answer. the entry & survey are made in Marks’s name alone for the whole; & neither trust nor interest for Colo. Randolph appears on the surveyor’s certiAcate. but I suppose mr Harvie’s title papers will shew whether Colo. Randolph claimed the whole by purchase from mr Marks, or half from him & half from me. in the latter case the following observations are to be made. 1. the promise was gratuitous, not, on that account, the less solid in my estimation but to be kept in it’s original shape. 2. it was made on the supposition that Colo. Randolph had an entry or survey, & it was only to protect that. it is become evident he had neither entry nor survey; since no entry can be found in the surveyor’s books & not a marked tree on the land. 3. it was to protect his land, not to give him mine. 4. what was the quantum of land to which the promise went? exactly that of his survey, which was nothing. 5. where was it’s location? exactly where his survey was, which was nowhere. if Colo. Randolph did really suppose that out of a promise expressly commensurate with his supposed survey, he could make a title to a moiety of 495. as. clear of all previous survey, and has actually upon that title undertaken to sell & convey it to mr Harvie, it was indeed a very inaccurate estimate of the promise, but I have said that I will yield it, and so I will. I presume it was an undivided moiety, and that a fair division as to value is to be made. mr Harvie’s title papers will doubtless show exactly what is the real interest which Colo. Randolph sold on the ground of my promise, and what was sold on mr Marks’s own right. this latter I reclaim. This statement is prepared for the consideration of the arbitrators.rs I annex to it the following documents. 1. my original order of council. 2. my entries attested by Bryan the Surveyor. 3. an explanatory plat. 4. the Treasurer’s reciept for the £30. composition money, with a memorandum written under it by myself, when I sent it to mr Wiley to present to mr Harvie, and a second memorandum of his answer communicated to me by Wiley. 5. Bryan’s letter of Jan. 10. 90. 6. the correspondence between Colo. Harvie & myself on this subject which will shew how the delays of settlement have taken place, and notes some topics of objection and answer not repeated here.
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5 D E C E M B E R 1799 The facts before stated are all either proved by these documents, or the letters which have passed between us, or, being merely historical, are of public notoriety, excepting only my bargain with Bryan, which I believe can be proved if necessary. Th: Jefferson PrC (CSmH); 7 p., with Arst and Afth pages now lacking, text of missing pages supplied from Dft (see notes 1, 7, 15, and 20 below); entirely in TJ’s hand, including one set of brackets as noted; undated, but supplied on the basis of the covering letter; faint, with illegible passages supplied in brackets from other texts as noted. Dft (MHi); entirely in TJ’s hand; undated; with abbreviations, emendations, and truncation of passages quoted from statutes and other documents; where Dft has been used to supply missing portions of PrC, truncated passages from documents are supplied in notes from the memorandum dated [after 12 Feb. 1790]. In Vol. 2:137-8, this PrC was mistakenly understood to be part of the same document as the PrC of the memorandum by TJ on this land dispute that has been assigned a date of [after 12 Feb. 1790] and was printed in Vol. 27:773-6. A somewhat variant but largely parallel version of this text, in TJ’s hand and similarly titled “The case between T. JeCerson & J. Harvie,” is in MHi and likely dates from several years later (see TJ to Harvie, 21 May 1806). In Vol. 16 that version of TJ’s statement is quoted and identiAed by an inferred date of [ca. July 1795]; see for example Vol. 16:84n, 93n. TJ and Harvie Arst laid out the particulars of their respective claims to the disputed land, which was near Edgehill, and discussed the roles played by Thomas Mann Randolph, Sr., and James Marks, in a series of letters: TJ to Harvie of 11 Jan., 2 Nov. 1790, and 7 Apr. 1791, and Harvie to TJ, 2 Feb. 1790 and 25 Jan. 1791. For the surveyor’s plat of the land and a description of TJ’s copies of the order of council, see the letter of 11 Jan. 1790, Vol. 16:97-100. TJ’s reference to the entries for the land meant the two entries of 21 Oct. 1774 and did not include the entry of 12 Mch. 1774 described in the note to that letter to Harvie (Vol. 16:99n). The involvement
of George mason in the revision of Virginia’s land law is discussed in the Editorial Note to the Bills for Establishing a Land ODce and for Adjusting and Settling Titles, printed above in this series at [8-14 January 1778], Vol. 2:133-8. The collection of laws known as the chancellor’s revisal was A Collection of All Such Public Acts of the General Assembly, and Ordinances of the Conventions of Virginia, Passed since the year 1768. . . . Published under Inspection of the Judges of the High Court of Chancery (Richmond, 1785); see Evans, No. 19351, and Vol. 2:321. paid into the treasury £30 composition money: in his Anancial memoranda under 18 Dec. 1781 TJ recorded a payment to the Virginia Land ODce of £30 in paper currency. “Composition money” was a term dating from before the Revolution that referred to payments securing rights to crown or escheated land (mb, 1:277n, 516). mr wiley was Alexander Wylie (Wily, Wyley, Wyly), a barber who supervised the transfer of oDcial records from Williamsburg to Richmond in 1780 and, beginning in 1779, handled miscellaneous purchases and errands in Richmond for TJ (mb, 1:488-90, 507-8, 510, 513, 518; 2:836; Vol. 16:82, 388n; SJL, 14 May 1790). Harvie was register of the land office from 1780 to 1791 (Marshall, Papers, 1:92). The 27 Mch. 1788 survey of the ragged string of rocks is represented in simpliAed form at Vol. 16:99 and is the second plat noted in Vol. 16:100n. The survey was made by Walter Leak, Anderson Bryan’s assistant, and also signed by Bryan. he readily consented: Harvie answered TJ’s letter of 11 Jan. 1790 on 2 Feb. of that year, stating that “I mean not to have any Opinion of my own on our Respective Rights, and embrace with pleasure your proposition for a Reference” (Vol. 16:136). Letters from TJ to Harvie of 19 Jan. and 1 Mch. 1800, two from Harvie to TJ
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5 D E C E M B E R 1799 on 30 Jan., both received on 11 Feb., and another from Harvie of 12 Feb., received on 24 Feb. 1800, are recorded in SJL but have not been found. q Title appears in margin of Dft, from which the text of the missing Arst page of the PrC has been supplied. r Passage continues in memorandum of [after 12 Feb. 1790]: “leave is given him to survey and sue out a patent for one thousand acres of land on the South West mountains in Albemarle, between the lines of Thomas Mann Randolph, James Hickman, the said petitioner, Martin Key and William Watson. Copy John Blair Cl. Conc.” (Vol. 27:773). s Preceding clause interlined in Dft. t Here in Dft TJ canceled “whenever it.” u In Dft TJ Arst wrote “I notiAed my ord. of conc. to him, and on a suggestion that,” then reworked the passage to read as above. v Passage continues in memorandum of [after 12 Feb. 1790]: “of land to be included by two entries of 400. acres each to adjoin the land of Thomas Mann Randolph on the South West mountains. Copy e Anderson Bryan S.A.C.” (Vol. 27:773). w PrC begins after this word. x Word interlined in place of an illegible cancellation. Word interlined in Dft in place of “just.” y Bracketed text in this paragraph supplied from memorandum of [after 12 Feb. 1790] (Vol. 27:774-5). qz Text in brackets supplied from Dft. qq Except as otherwise noted, text in brackets in this and the next paragraph has been supplied from memorandum of [after 12 Feb. 1790] (Vol. 27:775). qr TJ’s brackets. qs Dft: “orders of council.” qt Dft: “sent the Treasurer’s receipt to mr Harvey then register of the land oDce, with an endorsement on these very entries by the Auditor.” qu PrC lacks page beginning in the middle of this word; text supplied from Dft. See note 20 below. qv In Dft TJ Arst wrote “not suDcient for the 100th. part” before altering the passage.
qw Remainder of sentence interlined in Dft in place of “which made me more willing to accomodate him.” qx Here in Dft TJ continued “both Marks & himself well knowing my prior right,” but canceled the passage. qy Preceding six words interlined in Dft. rz PrC resumes with this word. rq Preceding seven words interlined in Dft in place of “my promise of.” rr In Dft TJ continued: “tho’ my promise [went] only to cover any right Colo. R. might have, & it was now become evident enough that he had had no right at all, yet [to quiet] Colo. R. I immedly. abandoned my claim to one moiety & conArmed the sale of it to mr H. but the moiety . the business in which both of us have been engaged and a mutual conAdence of a just settlement whenever both shd be ready, has hitherto delayed the arbitration: as to the moiety it is now proposed to be concluded, and.” He then inserted in the margin, to follow “no right at all,” this passage: “for there is neither an entry on the surveyor’s books nor lines on the land. however to quiet Colo. R I agreed to abandon as much as might be claimed as his own proportion. this was merely voluntary and therefore must go only to a fair fourth of the whole survey. I consider the divn made by Marks & Bryan a mere nullity. under color of ceding a fourth I should cede the whole in value that is to say give away all Besh and keep the bone to myself. but this must be understood on a fair division, and not that under color of ceding for him a moiety of a moiety. I am bound to cede the whole in order to give all the Besh to others & keep the bone to my self. if the expressions in my ltr from Phila were not strictly guarded it should be considd. from whence it was written when I had not a momt to think of my own aCairs, before I was apprised too of the fraud of the surveyor in the division, that it was voluntary only binding on me in morality, but that morality cd not extend to cover a fraud. Colo. R. hd no right, therefore no right to any particular spot. all the land the [rugged] as well as the good bound equally on him.” TJ sub-
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5 D E C E M B E R 1799 sequently struck through both of those passages and continued in Dft with “this statement is prepared for the consideration of the arbitrators.” TJ’s “ltr from Phila” was evidently that to Harvie of 7 Apr. 1791.
rs Here in PrC TJ canceled several words beginning with “[who will].” Here in Dft he continued “who will be such persons as will need no observation [in favor of mine in the premises]” before canceling the passage.
From Peyton Short Dear Sir, Woodford County—5th. Decr: 1799 I had the pleasure of receiving your favor of the 16th. Octr. last, enclosing me a Letter from my Brother, as also a Copy of the Document shewing his Claim to a tract of military Land purchased of Capt. Paskie— I very much regret that my Brother did not at an earlier day give me some instructions with regard to his Claim against Colo. Skipwith—as it would in the course of the frequent Visits I have made to his (Colo. Skipwith’s) Neighbourhood, for several Years past, have been very convenient to me to have attended to this Business—At any rate shd. you not put it in any other equally satisfactory Channel, I will in the course of the ensuing Year, shd. you advise me of the expediency of the measure, such is my Devotion to my Brother’s interest, take a trip in for the express purpose of adjusting so long unsettled a peice of Business between two friends— With respect to my Brother’s Western Lands I have got them in a pretty good train—of which I have fully advised him in the enclosed Letter— I am pleased with the Report of Colo. Skipwith’s Gallantry, as it is a pretty certain indication of his being in good Health & Spirits.— The Watches you were so obliging as to forward to my Sisters got safe to hand—they feel themselves much indebted to you for your politeness.—I for my part cannot express my Acknowledgments for the great trouble I have given you with the Correspondence between my Brother & myself—& am still encreasing the obligation by addressing the enclosed Letter to you——Be assured, my good Sir, I feel no small Degree of Sensibility in taking such a Liberty—but my Brother presuming on yr. friendship has pressed me to do so— I am, with the greatest Esteem & Regard, Dear Sir Yr. Most Obt. Sert Peyton Short RC (DLC: William Short Papers); endorsed by TJ as received 30 Dec. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: Peyton Short to William Short, 29 Nov. 1799 (see William Short to Peyton Short, 28 July 1800, FC in same).
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From Harry Innes Dr. Sir Frankfort Kentucky Decr. 6th. 1799 Agreably to my promise I have proceeded to get some certiAcates respecting the Murder of the Indians which caused the War with them in 1774, as also that Michael Cressap was guilty of an outrage, upon two of those unhappy people preceeding that opposite the mouth of Yellow Creek, & that it was perpetrated by him as far as it can be now ascertained without provocation. The transactions are of an old date & the people who resided in that part of the Country, entertaining strong prejudices against Indians, generally approbated every act which tended to destroy any of those people, the minds therefore of the white people who resided on the frontiersq were not so strongly impressed with the impropriety of the frequent murders which were committed by the whites upon the Indians as those of the interior part of the country, therefore cannot now minutely detail the whole of the circumstances. If the inclosed certiAcates are not suDciently explicit I will take them over upon your stating interrogatories—Other certiAcates can be procured respecting the aCair at yellow Creek—but I do not know whether any other circumstance can be proved respecting Cressap. I am well acquainted with Jacob Newland he is a man of integrity— Charles Polke & Joshua Baker both support respectable characters. I pray you to excuse the interlineations in the CertiAcates, Polke & Newland were in the woods perpetuating testimony—I had to write on my knee, & no opportunity of copying them. Having long been of opinion that it was extremely burthensome to suitors in Chancery to be obliged to produce their Witnesses in open Court, & having at the last Fœdral Court held in this state asscertained the fact, I shall take the liberty of stating a single case to you in support of my opinion, hoping that if it makes the same impression upon your mind that it has done on mine, your inBuence will be exerted to remove the evil—Our innumerable land suits are all ended in a Court of Chancery; & the variety of facts, which generally arise in the investigation of the contending Claims, produce a number of witnesses, viz. the identifying—Cabbins, other improvements, marked Trees, Springs, the antient & present names of Watercourses, BuCaloe roads, Licks & the roads which were Arst traveled from one station to another &c. &c. The case that occurred the other day is not an extraordinary one, yet the Plf & Deft. had summoned 12 Witnesses—the indisposition of one Witness produced a continuance of the Cause, & it being a rule < 260>
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of Court that the party praying a Continuance shall pay the expence—the Plf had to pay 150$ & 35 Cts.—this included milage & 5 days attendance; the procrastination arose from other business which preceeded it & which engaged the Court—the Plf who wished the beniAt of the sick witness, was anxious for trial, & kept his Witnesses attending, but his Counsel upon considering the application & materiallity of the Witness in the cause would not proceed— the Plf was obliged to sell a negroe boy in consequence of it, he is rather needy. There are about one hundred Chancery land suits now depending in the Court & from the experience I have had in Courts as a Lawyer & a Judge, am will assured that one half of them will require as many Witnesses as the one alluded to. The present mode of trying suits in Equity by Parol testimony will not only increase expence, but delay— the instance I have adduced proves the fact—there is Sir still a greater objection to this mode of trial than as yet stated—Matters of fact are to be tried by a Jury—Jurors of bystanders are too often incompetent to the task—there are several facts submitted—a variety of testimony introduced & a number of Witnesses—Jurors seldom take Notes—trusting to their recollection—they not only forget but misapply—their Verdicts are contrary to evidence & a new Trial is granted—this doubles the expence—The experience of this Country has taught us the impropriety of that mode of proceeding, which was attempted under the Original jurisdiction given to the Court of Appeals. If depositions were used, New trials would but seldom occur, because the Jurors could & will on their retirement, read & apply the testimony. The idea is pleasing in theory, but upon trial, is oppressive & impracticable in this Country. There is another subject which is of importance to the Western Country & to the Union too, & on which I have maturely reBected; a subject on which the senate have passed a Bill, that has been arrested in its passage in the Ho. of Representatives, respecting a change in the Judiciary on which I shall trouble you with a few comments; they contain the sentiments of a number of respectable fellow citizens as well as my own; being addressed to you in a legislative capacity, presume an appology is unnecessary, well knowing that the pursuits of your life have been for the good of Society. I have been informed that the Bill contemplates establishing a Circuit Court & to Ax the Circuit to North Carolina, Tenessee & Kentucky—My Arst objection to the plan is probable delay—arising from the extent of this Circuit—from Frankfort to Knoxville 220 < 261>
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miles—from Knoxville to Raleigh between 4 & 500—a rough road— thinly inhabited in places—bad accomodations & diDcult to travel in wet seasons on account of the numberless watercourses, over which there are neither, Bridges or Ferrys. The inconvenience which would result to suitors by the non-attendance of a Judge is easily conceived & especially by a gentleman of your experience— A second objection arises from a political consideration, to you sir I can venture an explanation—We are really afraid of Eastern political inBuence creeping in among us by an improper appointment, which might create discord among us & division in the Court upon particular questions. A third objection—is, the inconvenience of having a judge sent to us who is a stranger to our Land Law—a Law which is full of ambiguity—a Law which to do justice to the Community, must be construed in part by local circumstances, knowledge of which must be acquired by being conversant in the land business of the Western Country. By having a Judge who has had experience in the land business, there would be a greater probability of union in the Court & be a means of preventing frequent Appeals, which is much dreaded. Is it not practicable, & would it not prove really beniAcial to establish a Circuit, to be composed of the States of Tenessee & Kentucky & of the Territory North West of the Ohio—appoint two Judges to ride the Circuit alternately who are resident in the Western Country—The Land titles in Tenessee & Kentucky have been acquired much alike— a part of the Territory No. West of the Ohio, viz the Military claims between sciota & the little Miamis in the same manner—And I am informed that the Legislature in the Territory now in session are adopting many of our laws—In addition to this it will be a means of desiminating political information among the inhabitants North of the Ohio who at present know or hear but little except what Bows from a ministerial paper, published under the inspection of their Executive. It is the evident interest of the Western Country to move unanimously in all great questions—Our political consequence & the maintenance of our Rights depend upon it. My letter is long, but the subjects I Batter myself merit your attention With sentiments of respect & esteem I am Dr. Sir your friend & Servt. Harry Innes N.B. I have written to Messrs. Brown Davis & Fowler upon the same Subjects— < 262>
6 D E C E M B E R 1799 RC (DLC); at end of text: “The Hble Thos. JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ as received 30 Dec. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosures: (1) CertiAcate of Charles Polke of Shelby County, Kentucky, 15 Nov. 1799, in Innes’s hand, signed by Polke, stating that in April or May 1774 a group that gathered at his house on Cross Creek proceeded to the house of Joshua Baker about 16 miles away on the Ohio River across from the mouth of Yellow Creek, where under the principal leadership of Daniel Greathouse the party “murdered several Indians among whom was a woman said to be the sister of the Indian Chief Logan”; stating also that Michael Cresap was not involved in that incident, although sometime before “it was currently reported” that he had murdered one or two Indians on the Ohio River below Wheeling (DLC: TJ Papers, 105:18086). (2) CertiAcate of Jacob Newland, also of Shelby County, 15 Nov. 1799, following Polke’s certiAcate on the same sheet, in Innes’s hand and signed by Newland; declaring that in June or July 1774 he joined a company recruited by Michael Cresap, who “several times” told Newland of having killed “two or three” Indians on the Ohio sometime prior to the killings “by Greathouse & others at Yellow Creek”; Newland stating also that he cannot recall Cresap giving any reason for the killings by his hand, “but never understood that the Indians gave any oCence” (same). (3) Statement by Innes, undated, following Newland’s certiAcate on the same sheet, entirely in Innes’s hand and signed by him, attesting to the statements of Polke and Newland; stating also that on 14 Nov. 1799 Innes met by accident Joshua Baker, who said that the murder of the people opposite the mouth of Yellow Creek “was perpetrated at his house by 32 men led on by Daniel Greathouse”; that 12 people were killed in that incident and 6 or 8 others wounded, the dead including “a sister & other relations of the Indian Cheif Logan”; that Cresap was not among the killers then, but some days earlier Cresap “& a party of land improvers” murdered two Indian men traveling down the Ohio from Baker’s house, this deed having been done “if not
by Cressap himself with his approbation, he being the leader of the party & that he had this information from Cressap” (same). The enclosures were printed in the Appendix to the Notes on Virginia Relative to the Murder of Logan’s Family (see Notes, ed. Peden, 237, 241-2). fœdral court held in this state: Innes had been U.S. district judge since 1789 (dab). In his messages to Congress of 3 Dec. 1799 and 22 Nov. 1800 John Adams called attention to the organization of the federal judiciary, but only in February 1801, when “An Act to provide for the more convenient organization of the Courts of the United States” became law, did a bill to restructure the courts receive the approval of both houses of Congress. That statute placed Tennessee, Kentucky, and the territories north and west of the Ohio River into a judicial circuit and abolished the district courts in Kentucky and Tennessee in favor of a threejudge circuit court panel (jhr, 3:527, 725; U.S. Statutes at Large, 2:89-91, 97). messrs. brown davis & fowler: Kentucky’s congressional delegation, minus Federalist Senator Humphrey Marshall; that is, Senator John Brown and Representatives Thomas T. Davis and John Fowler (Biog. Dir. Cong., 63, 883, 1022). Through Brown, TJ received a certiAcate of William McKee of Lincoln County, Kentucky, dated 18 Dec. 1799, stating that when McKee was an oDcer of Virginia militia in 1774 he “heard repeated conversations concerning an extraordinary speech made at the treaty, or sent there, by a chieftain of the Indians, named Logan, and heard several attempts at a rehearsal of it. The speech as rehearsed excited the particular attention of said William, and the most striking members of it were impressed on his memory.” McKee stated also that after TJ’s Notes on Virginia appeared “he was struck, with the speech of Logan as there set forth, as being substantially the same, and accordant with the speech he heard rehearsed in the Camp as aforesaid.” The copy of McKee’s statement that was sent
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6 D E C E M B E R 1799 to TJ bore an attestation signed by James Speed, Jr., and Joseph Hamilton Daveiss at Danville, 18 Dec. 1799. The statement and attestation were printed in the Appendix to the Notes on Virginia, omitting a notation by Woodson G. Wren, who had made the copy of the certiAcate, and misinterpreting Daveiss’s signature as “Dewees” (MS in DLC: TJ Papers, 105:18096, with a diagonal stroke through Wren’s notation and signature, apparently as a direction to the printer of the Appendix, and one instance of “at” changed to “in,” both probably by TJ;
Notes, ed. Peden, 244-5). Daveiss, having heard that TJ “was making some enquiries” in response to Luther Martin’s accusations, had solicited McKee’s statement and sent it to Brown from Danville on 21 Dec. (RC in same, 106:18097; endorsed by TJ: “Mc.kee Colo Wm.”; the letter, which does not appear in the Appendix, has been struck through with a diagonal line and has a note, “not to be copied,” in TJ’s hand at head of text). q Preceding Ave words interlined.
From Jean Xavier Bureaux de Pusy Monsieur, Philadelphie, Ce 9 Xbre 1799 J’étais Venu dans cette Ville, avec l’intention Et dans l’espérance de vous y rencontrer Et de vous y remettre les lettres, ci-jointes, de deux hommes qui S’honorent d’être de vos amis Et que je Suis honoré de compter au rang des miens. Je Serais bien heureux Si la bienveillance qu’ils ont pour moi pouvait être un acheminement à l’interet qu’ils Sollicitent de vous en ma faveur, Et au quel j’ai quelque droit, du moins par la Vénération que je vous porte. Des aCaires indispensables me forcent à retourner à New York, avant d’avoir pu proAter des recommandations de MM. de la Fayette Et de Liancourt: mais j’espere voir bientôt arriver M. Dupont, (de Nemours) mon beau pere, et je Sais avec quel empressement il se hâtera de venir se rappeller à votre souvenir. Je n’attends pas avec moins d’impatience le moment de vous être prèsenté par lui Et de vous oCrir Verbalement l’hommage de l’admiration Et du profond respect, avec les quels, J’ai l’honneur d’être, Monsieur, Votre très humble Et très obèissant serviteur JX. Bureaux-Pusy e d i t o r s’
t r a n s l a t i o n
Sir, Philadelphia, this 9 Dec. 1799 I had come to this city with the intention and the hope of meeting you here and of delivering to you the attached letters of two men who pride themselves on being numbered among your friends, and whom I pride myself on counting among mine. I should be most happy if the kindness they have for me could be a pathway to your having for me the interest that they solicit of you in my favor, and to which I have some right, at least by the veneration that I
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11 D E C E M B E R 1799 bear for you. Unavoidable business forces me to return to New York, before being able to take advantage of the recommendations of Messrs. Lafayette and Liancourt: but I hope to see Mr. Du Pont (de Nemours), my father-inlaw, arrive soon, and I know with what haste he will come to renew his acquaintance with you. I await with no less impatience the moment when I will be presented by him to you, when I shall oCer you verbally the tribute of the admiration and profound respect with which I have the honor to be, Sir, your very humble and very obedient servant JX. Bureaux-Pusy RC (DLC); at foot of text: “à N. York, William Street, No. 6”; endorsed by TJ as received 28 Dec. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosures: (1) Lafayette to TJ, 19 Apr. 1799. (2) La RochefoucauldLiancourt to TJ, 4 May 1799. The son of a government oDcial in Dôle, France, Jean Xavier Bureaux de Pusy (1750-1806) was a captain of engineers in the French Army in 1789, when he was elected a deputy to the States General. An energetic advocate of reforms in a variety of areas, he served three times as the president of the National Assembly. In that capacity he wrote an oDcial letter to TJ on 6 June 1791, enclosing statements from the assembly aDrming cordial relations between the two countries and calling for a new treaty of commerce
(see Vol. 20:524-8). After rejoining the army, Bureaux de Pusy was on Lafayette’s staC when, in 1792, he was denounced to the assembly for attempting to arrange a movement of troops to Paris in support of the king. Released after claiming that his actions had been misunderstood, Bureaux de Pusy deserted the army with Lafayette in August of 1792 and was held by the Austrians until September 1797. He then went to Hamburg before traveling to the United States. He subsequently returned to France, where he held a series of appointments under Napoleon. His wife was a stepdaughter of Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours (Dictionnaire, 7:689; Jean Tulard, ed., Dictionnaire Napoléon [Paris, 1987], 314-15; Lafayette to TJ, 19 Apr. 1799).
From Samuel Adams Dear Sir Boston Decem’r 11 1800 [i.e. 1799] I am very loth to trespass upon your precious time; but shall be happy with your leave to introduce to your notice the young Gentleman who takes the charge of this letter. It is his own request. He descended from that illustrious man Governor Winthrop the leader of our Arst rennoned ancestors; leaving what was called in those days a handsome fortune that he might plant the seeds of religion knowledge & liberty in this, as they then termed it, outside of the world. His descendants have sustained hitherto his principles & manners. The grandfather of this youth was John Winthrop Esqr; the learned professor of mathematicks and natural philosophy at Harvard Colege & a fellow of the royal society in England— The youth, I now recommend, though but 22 years of [age] has been a considerable traveller in Europe. If you can spare a few < 265>
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moments of your important hours to countenance & instruct him, you will very much gratify— Your sincere & aCectionate fellow citizen Saml Adams RC (DLC: TJ Papers, 108:18484-5); in unknown hand, signed by Adams; with day and year in dateline perhaps added at a later time; damaged; addressed: “Thomas JeCerson vice president of the United States”; endorsed by TJ as a letter of “Dec. 11. 1800” but recorded in SJL as received 23 Mch. 1800. The young gentleman introduced by Adams was John Winthrop (17781819), a seventh-generation Winthrop in
America. He graduated from Harvard in 1796 and spent the next few years as a traveller in europe. His father John Winthrop, a Boston merchant, was reportedly a JeCersonian. Professor John Winthrop, his grandfather, became a member of the Royal Society of London in 1766 and a member of the American Philosophical Society two years later (Lawrence Shaw Mayo, The Winthrop Family in America [Boston, 1948], 167, 184, 225-9, 352-5; aps, Proceedings, 22, pt. 3 [1884], 4, 8).
From John Breckinridge Dear sir Frankfort Kentucky Decr. 13th. 99 I took the Liberty the last post of inclosing to you the proceedings of our Legislature (now in Session) in support of its Resolutions of the last Session, respecting the Alien & sedition laws. It was at the opening of the session concluded on to make no reply, but on further reBection, least no improper conclusions might be drawn from our silence, we hastily drew up the paper which I inclosed you. In the lower house, there was not a dissenting voice. In the Senate, there was considerable division, particularily on that Sentance which declares, “a NulliAcation of those acts by the States, to be the rightful remedy”.—It has so happenned, that what little fœderal inBuence exists among us, it at present concentred in the Senate. The election of Senators in May next under our amended constn., & which must be made viva voce & by the people, instead of electors, will extinguish even this little inBuence. The great mass of the people are uncontaminated & Arm; & as all appointments now Bow from them, Men who hold sentiments contrary to theirs, will be discarded. Permit me to call your attention to a subject which has, I am told, been under the consideration of the Senate of the United States, for a session or two past. It is meditated, I am told, to annex this state to the No. Carolina fœderal Circuit Court. No regulation would, in my opinion, be so universally disagreeable to the people of this country, or would so eCectually tend to endanger or destroy that Harmony of sentiment which < 266>
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now prevails here. Many reasons unanswerable in my mind, present themselves against such a regulation. The vexation & ruin which litigants would experience in being dragged 500 miles through a rough & in part unsettled Country, & the adjustment of our important & complex land controversies, by men who would be perfect strangers to our land lands & adjudications;q & who might perhaps attempt to make legal adjudication bend to political expediency, are some of the striking objections to a regulation of this kind.—What good objection could there be, to the erection of Tenissee, The Northwestern Territory, & this State, into a district, & a court to be held by two judges living within such district? The district would then be compact & convenient, & the Judges being competent to the decision of our land contests, would give satisfaction to litigants, & there would be harmony in the Court. Within such bounds, proper persons, I have no doubt may be selected; & if inferior in general legal acquirements, to some who might be imported among us, yet this would be greatly overbalanced by the satisfaction which men resident in the Western Country would give to the people. Altho the Court as at present Alled, gives [. . .] satisfaction, yet from its regulations, it is oppressive. The whole of our important land controversies are in Chancery; and your acquaintance with the land laws of Virga. from which we derive our titles, will enable you to discern on what a variety of facts, entries for land, must depend. In our State Courts, those facts are all ascertained by Deposition; but in the fœderal court, the witnesses are brought forward & examined in Court. This mode, after a trial of three years in our State Courts, was abolished by general Consent. The expence is intolerable. I was present in the fœderal Court lately, when a poor man, who was induced to continue his cause on account of the absence of a single important witness, was taxed in 150 dollars the costs of the continuance; & the witnesses were not more numerous, nor the cause more important than our land suits generally are. This will be handed you by Genl. Philn. Thomas a member of our Legislature. He is a plain, honest republican Man; and any civilities you may be pleased to shew him will be gratefully received by him With the greatest respect & esteem I am your friend & Sert. John Breckinridge RC (DLC); with one word illegibly altered; addressed: “The Honble Thomas JeCerson esqr. Philadelphia Favd [G’n?] Genl. Thomas”; endorsed by TJ as received 22 Jan. 1800 and so recorded in
SJL, where TJ recorded the date of the letter erroneously as 22 Jan. Dft (DLC: Breckinridge Family Papers); dated 9 Dec. 1799.
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13 D E C E M B E R 1799 proceedings of our legislature: Breckinridge had been elected Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives. On 14 Nov. he introduced what became known as the Kentucky Resolution of 1799, a single resolve that reaDrmed opposition to the Alien and Sedition Acts and called “nulliAcation” a state’s “rightful remedy.” TJ had included the latter assertion in his draft resolutions the year before, but the expression was excised before the legislature adopted the Ken-
tucky Resolutions of 1798 (Lowell H. Harrison, John Breckinridge: JeCersonian Republican [Louisville, 1969], 81-4; Ethelbert Dudley WarAeld, The Kentucky Resolutions of 1798: An Historical Study [New York, 1887], 123-7; Vol. 30: 530-1, 533, 535, 539, 547). The copy of the resolution that Breckinridge sent has not been found, and evidently no letter accompanied it. q Dft: “our laws and adjudications.”
From James Thomson Callender Sir Richmond Decr. 18th. 1799 I understood by Colonel Quarrier that You were on Sunday to set out for Philadelphia. I therefore venture to inclose the yesterday’s Examiner, lest it Should be sent on to Monticello, as it Contains some articles of mine, that I wish you to see. On friday I Shall take the freedom of sending to you 50 or 60 additional pages of the Prospect. Sir I hope that You will pardon this freedom, (I do not edite the Examiner at all, though I sometimes write in it.) from Sir Your very obliged & humble servt Jas. T. Callender. RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ as received 30 Dec. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure not found. articles of mine: The Richmond Examiner of 17 Dec. included a piece “From a Scots Correspondent,” a title regularly used by Callender, in which he criticized John Stewart, editor of the Richmond Virginia Federalist. Perhaps
Callender was also responsible for the warning to the public, dated 16 Dec., against the widely circulated assertion of “No British Debtor” in the Virginia Gazette and General Advertiser that TJ was “insolvent.” The Examiner had called on the Albemarle County accuser to exhibit his evidence, but so far he had remained silent.
To John Coalter Dear Sir Monticello Dec. 19. 99. I wrote you on the 19th. Nov. asking the favor of you, to obtain from mr Clarke either the money due me, or the satisfactory undertaking of some [other person] that it should be paid in [some] deAnite time or as the most [. . .] recourse to bring suit. I have before < 268>
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inclosed you copies of his account stated by himself and of a letter or two. I now inclose you the originals, which will be necessary if a suit be brought, as being now setting out for Philadelphia I may possibly not be here at the moment when they might be wanting. I am with great esteem Dr. Sir Your most obedt. servt Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi): faint; at foot of text: “John Coalter esq”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosures not found.
i have before inclosed you copies: see TJ to Archibald Stuart, 24 Sep., and TJ to Coalter, 25 Sep. 1799.
To George Jefferson Dear Sir Monticello Dec. 19. 99. I hardly expected to have addressed you again from this place, where I have been detained much beyond my calculation. I am just now on my departure. In my last I desired some bottles (3. gross) & 6 gross of corks to be forwarded when there should be boats coming up. part of my nailrod is still to come also. as I understand that molasses is become cheap, say as low as 2/[6]. I would be glad to have 2. hhds sent up, if at that price [. . .] one if higher. if above 3/. send none. Should Governor Monroe call on you for money in my name to make good any undertakings for me with the printers for certain [papers to be] published, be so good as to answer them from time to time [until] all be [. . .]. Mr. Randolph got for me 3. pr worsted stockings at a store next [. . .] to you, which you paid for. [they are] so much softer than any I can get in Philadelphia, that I will thank you to get 3. pr more of the same kind for me. perhaps you may meet some friend coming on to Philadelphia who will give them a place in his portmanteau. otherwise they may be kept [till] my return. I am Dear Sir Yours aCectionately Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); faint; at foot of text: “Mr. George JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Although TJ’s last missive to George JeCerson was dated 4 Dec., the request for bottles and corks came in his letter of 28 Nov.
James monroe was elected governor of Virginia by a joint ballot of the Virginia Assembly on 6 Dec. (jhd, Dec. 1799-Jan. 1800, 11; Madison, Papers, 17:286-7).
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Memorandum to Richard Richardson Mr. Richardson: [ca. 21 Dec. 1799] To use every exertion to hire 6 men for me. On this everything depends. To take the key of the smoak-house & have necessary attention paid to the meat. John will cut it up; Ursula salt it and see that it is properly cured and managed. Mr. Richardson will use of this for himself and Mr. Dinsmore, but when the beef comes from Bedford I would wish that to be their main supply. Mr. Richardson to get sugar and coCee from Mr. Higgenbotham, and the necessary whiskey where it can be had reasonably. Money will probably be received for nails which will pay for this. Peter to cook for them as usual. To direct the digging of the canal. The canal must be 2 feet deep at its mouth in a summer tide, 5 feet wide at bottom; and the whole fall from the upper to the lower end should be about two feet, or 1 inch in 50 feet. The dirt and stone taken out must be thrown on the side next the river & formed into a good bank. Mr. Richardson knows what is necessary to be done as to burning the bricks, receiving the lime, cutting slate-pavements, which may be of any size he thinks most convenient from 12 to 18 inches square; but must all be of a size. At least those for the same portico or piazza must all be of a size. Prepare marble when there is nothing else to do. Do the wall of the sink. It is to be 3 f. wide and high in the clear, & to descend 3 I. in 10 feet. The wall of the Smith’s shop is next to be done. For this I give the plan. It should be six feet in the ground at the upper side, and 2 feet above ground. It is to be dry wall, of slate. In the spring of the year, plaister the rooms as fast as Mr. Dinsmore prepares them. They are to have three coats, Anished white. I will send some plaister of Paris. Measure Fagg’s plank. Settle with Mr. Woodson the coal, bricks, lime, &c., in any way Mr. Randolph chuses. Send 120 faggots of half-crown iron to Mr. JeCerson for me. See to having the beef, butter, tallow, soap & bacon brought up when it shall be lodged at Columbia by Mr. Clarke. The bacon will not come till spring, the other things soon. The smoaking & other attentions to the meat must be very exact. Money shall be sent from Philadelphia for the hire of Jack & Frank. Jupiter is to move into the North Square cellar room, as soon as it < 270>
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is ready, for the safeguard of the house. In the mean time he should sleep in the diningroom or the South Square cellar room, & have a dog. No other Are to be kindled in the house. Hired Men. Six men to be hired. They are to cut 200 cords of coal wood, dig out the canal, mend the fence at Shadwell. When these are done, to give all the assistance they can to the overseer, and particularly in fencing. Rather than let the plantation suCer greatly they must even interrupt their other work to help him. They must quarry stone for the waggon. The Carpenters. Davy & Lewis to prop the shed adjoining the shop, to mend the coal houses & make doors, to Ax up the wheat machine at Franklin barn. In this John Hemings is to assist and direct, & to rectify it while at work, if it gets out of order; to make 3 double gates and Ax them at Shadwell for Mr. Peyton. They may take for one of them the pair which is ready made; to join the hired men in cutting coal-wood; to join them also in digging the canal; Abram, Phil & John are also to join in cutting wood & working on the canal. At all other times Abram and Phil may assist the overseer, and John be in the garden. He should espalier the rest of the vines & keep the paling in repair. While he is at work on the canal the old people can do all that will be necessary in the garden with some direction from him, as I shall not be at home till towards harvest. I think Davy & John will be the best hands to keep constantly blowing and raising rock in the canal. Get powder from Mr. Higgenbotham. In proper time they must build a tobacco-house in the Indian Aeld. The logs should be cut and hauled into place before the ground is broken up. The Booring plank mayq be kiln-dried when convenient. Abram can attend to it. Nail-house. The boys to be again divided by a new lot and choice into three Ares, under the same three foremen; their work to be daily weighed out & in, and set down. Burwell and James to join them when Mr. Randolph’s family go away. Nails to be furnished to any of the merchants in Milton and Charlottesville, and to any of the old customers, who apply, on credit. To others they must be sold only for cash. Mr. Aldridge is particularlyr to be furnished with nails to be sold on my account for ready money. Moses to make traces when not at smith’s work. It would be well to < 271>
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arrange with the overseer a particular day for his work, so that the other days may be unbroken & that we may know what traces to expect from Moses. His work should be narrowly examined. Frank to burn another coal-kiln as soon as the wood is ready; then to burn no more till March. The coal-houses to be mended, made secure, and kept locked. A box 2 feet square & deep to be made for every hearth, to be Alled in the morning & the door then locked. Jerry: To waggon home Fagg’s plank, which is to be sorted; such as will do for Booring to be stored at once in the kiln in a proper manner for kiln-drying, and nailed up until we are ready to kiln-dry. What the kiln will not hold should be put into the scantling house and be spread in the loft of the house to season for future Booring of the loft. If this will not hold all, the surplus may be spread over the stable. To bring home the oak plank which Davenport is to saw. If it is not done soon, some other person must be employed to saw it. Haul in brickwood. Fetch the nailrod from Mr. Kelly’s. Haul slatestone from the quarry for the sink and for the covered way, kitchen, & oDces. Furnish the house with wood as long as Mr. Randolph’s family stays there. To waggon the wheat to Mr. Higginbotham. Phil: To bring a load of wood on some one day in every week to Ursula’s, Tom’s, Bet’s, Critta’s, Sally’s, Jupiter’s, & Peter’s, and forage for Jupiter. Printed in New York Times, 15 Apr. 1923 (magazine section); date supplied from internal evidence and day of TJ’s departure for Philadelphia; at head of text: “Instructions.” For the engagement of James dinsmore to work as a housejoiner at Monticello, see Vol. 30:249, 435. In a statement of his account with Dinsmore, dated 20 Dec. 1799, TJ noted that he paid the housejoiner $30, on 24 Oct. 1798, for the expenses he incurred in traveling from Philadelphia to Monticello, and on 23 Apr. and 20 Dec. 1799 he paid him $18 and $20, respectively. TJ credited Dinsmore with $30 in travel expenses from
Philadelphia on 22 July 1798; with $1331 for “one year’s services ending this day” on 1 July 1799; and with a Anal entry “By service from July 1. 1799. @ the rate of 200. Doll. a year.” The last entry did not have a separate amount or date, but since the statement was dated 20. Dec., it could be assumed it was for $100 for six months of service. But the endorsement on the verso of the statement gives the balance due Dinsmore on 20 Dec. 1799 as $295.331, the correct total if the last amount credited for work was $200 (MS in OkTG; entirely in TJ’s hand, except for endorsement in unknown hand). TJ’s three payments to Dinsmore are recorded in mb, 2:991,
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21 D E C E M B E R 1799 1000, 1011. In September 1803 TJ owed Dinsmore $526.21 “besides his wages from July 1. 1803” (mb, 2:1107). TJ noted that in September and October 1799 “Dinsmore alone made & put up the semicircular arch of the Cabinet” in 10 days. During the same period Dinsmore and John Hemings, who became his principal assistant, “prepared & put up the oval arch,” which was “8. feet wide in 12. days.” On 25 Oct. “Dinsmore began to prepare some few things still unprepared of the Library.” On 1 Nov. “all the work being prepared he began to put it up.” It was Anished on 19 Nov., Dinsmore having worked 13 days, being “employed otherwise Nov. 2. 18. 19,” and John Hemings 9 days, being “employed otherwise 2. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16” (MS in MHi, entirely in TJ’s hand, with several entries on sheet headed: “1799”; Stanton, Free Some Day, 136). recieving the lime: TJ quarried limestone at his estate on the Hardware River in Albemarle County and had it transported to Monticello, where it was burned in lime kilns. Great quantities of lime were used for mortar in the brick and stone work at Monticello (Betts, Farm Book, 102, 105, 337). measure fagg’s plank: on 13 Jan. 1800 TJ ordered that John Fagg be paid $100 for sawing (mb, 2:1013). For the return of the half-crown iron, see TJ to George JeCerson, 12 Jan. 1800. On 13 Jan. TJ authorized Richardson to pay Lydia Mallory and Richard Hop, respectively, $54.33 for the hire of jack and £20 or $66.67 for the hire of frank (mb, 2:1013; TJ to George JeCerson & Co., 13 Jan. 1800). indian field, part of TJ’s Tufton estate in Albemarle County on the west side of the Rivanna River, was one of the Ave Aelds TJ agreed to lease to John H. Craven in August 1800 and was scheduled to be cleared in 1800 and 1801 (Betts, Farm Book, 168-70, 336; TJ to Stevens Thomson Mason, 27 Oct. 1799). Richardson sold William J. aldridge over twenty pounds worth of nails during TJ’s absence (Nailery Account Book, 1796-1800 at CLU-C). In a statement of his account with Richardson, dated 19 Dec. 1799, TJ
noted that on 13 Dec. 1798 he owed him £24.3.0. On 4 Apr., 2 June, 14 July, 17 Aug., 18 Sep., and 13 Oct. 1799, TJ recorded payments to Richardson, totaling $79.42, transactions also recorded in his Anancial records (mb, 2:994, 1000-1, 1004-7). On 26 May Richardson purchased TJ’s horse, Darlington, for £60 “in account for work,” £35 payable in 1799 and £25 in 1800. In the statement of account TJ credited Richardson with a £10 rebate for the horse in 1799, which was not recorded (same, 2:1000). According to the statement TJ also paid Richardson for “5. barrels of corn @ 2. D.” or £3 and “half a barrel corn @ 30/” or 15/ in November 1799, items which again were not recorded with TJ’s Anancial transactions for the month (same, 1008-9). On 1 Apr. TJ credited Richardson £5.11.0 for work and, on 14 Dec. 1799, an additional £61.16.0 for 206 days of work. He owed Richardson another £2.2.0 for “7 [nights burning lime]” and 6/ for “[shoe thread]” from “[Swan].” Altogether TJ credited Richardson with £103.18.0, leaving TJ with a balance due Richardson of £16.7.2. In the statement, however, TJ had debited Richardson the entire £60 for Darlington, which probably explains TJ’s notation below the initial balance due: “I am to pay £25 more & to have credit for it in next year’s acct. as above,” thus increasing the amount he owed Richardson to £41.7.2. At the foot of the statement, TJ wrote: “During the ensuing winter months mr Richardson is to over look all my aCairs (not belonging to the plantation) and to have £4. a month. if the weather admits him to lay any dry wall, an additional allowance is to be made” (facsimile of MS in Superior Galleries Catalogue, Beverly Hills, California, 7 Nov. 1992 Auction, Lot 508; entirely in TJ’s hand and signed by him; faded). The day after this statement was drawn TJ paid Richardson £8–17–7 (mb, 2:1011). Letters from Richardson to TJ of 1 and 13 Feb. 1799, recorded in SJL as received on 12 Feb. and 1 Mch., respectively, have not been found. q Times: “my.” r Times: “paurticularly.”
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To John Wayles Eppes Dear Sir Monticello Dec. 21. 1799. Your favor from the Hundred came to hand the [day before] yesterday. I have been detained here a week by bad weather. [this morn]ing mr Nicholas & myself breakfasted at Sun-rise to set out: but heavy snow is now come on. we shall start as soon as it holds up. our election was yesterday. Woods carried it against P. Carr by 247. against 122 votes. those of your people who were unwell when you went away are still so, & one who had been cured is ill again; Augustine I believe it is. Maria’s maid produced a daughter about a fortnight ago, & is doing well. with respect to mr Powell I shall be glad to engage him immediately, even for the next year; tho’ I had rather it had been for the present. perhaps it will be best to engage him for the next year absolutely, to come at as early a day as he will agree to, & let his removal at an earlier time be left to a subsequent negociation. if you will inform me what his rent is, & if there be any other obstacles to his removal, I can determine whether to take the sacriAces on myself. be so good therefore as to engage him at once for the next year, & inform me as to his rent &c by a letter to Philadelphia, from whence I can write you on the subject. my wish would be to get him by the 1st. of July if to be done on a moderate sacriAce.—tell Maria I will acknolege the reciept of her letter as soon as I get to Philadelphia. it is accidentally that I am able to write this. deliver her my warmest aCections, and my best salutations to mr & mrs Eppes & family. to yourself aCectionately Adieu. Th: Jefferson RC (ViU); torn, with words in brackets conjectured. Not recorded in SJL. Eppes’s favor from the hundred, which according to SJL was written and received by TJ on 19 Dec., has not been found. A letter from Eppes, recorded in SJL without a date but received by TJ on 21 Dec. 1799, is also missing. maria’s maid: Sally Hemings gave birth to Thenia, who died in infancy (Betts, Farm Book, 56; Lucia Stanton, “‘Those Who Labor for My Happiness’: Thomas JeCerson and His Slaves,” in Peter S. Onuf, ed., JeCersonian Legacies [Charlottesville, 1993], 174n). Hemings’s Arst-born daughter, Harriet, died in late 1797 at the age of two (Betts, Farm Book,
31, 56; Annette Gordon-Reed, Thomas JeCerson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy [Charlottesville, 1997], 195; Thomas Mann Randolph to TJ, 13 Jan., and Martha JeCerson Randolph to TJ, 22 Jan. 1798). For more than a year TJ unsuccessfully sought the services of powell, a blacksmith, to superintend the nailery and other activities at Monticello (TJ to Eppes, 23 Dec. 1800; Thomas Mann Randolph to TJ, 3 Jan. 1801; TJ to Randolph, 9 Jan. 1801). acknolege the reciept of her letter: a letter from Mary JeCerson Eppes to TJ of 1 Dec., recorded in SJL as received 12 Dec. 1799, has not been found.
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From Charles Brockden Brown Sir December 25. 1798 [i.e., 1799] After some hesitation, a stranger to the person, though not to the character of Thomas JeCerson, ventures to intreat his acceptance of the volume by which this is accompanied. He is unacquainted with the degree in which your time & attention is engrossed by your public oDce: he knows not in what way your studious hours are distributed, & whether mere works of imagination & invention are not excluded from your notice. He is even doubtful whether this letter will be opened or read, or, if read, whether its contents will not be instantly dismissed from your memory; so much a stranger is he, though a citizen of the United States, to the private occupations & modes of judging of the most illustrious of his fellow Citizens. To request your perusal of a work, which at the same time, is confessed to be unworthy of perusal, would be an uncommon proof of absurdity. In thus transmitting my book to you, I tacitly acknowledge my belief that it is capable of aCording you pleasure & of entitling the writer to some portion of your good opinion. If I had not this belief, I should unavoidably be silent. I am conscious, however, that this form of composition may be regarded by you with indiCerence or contempt; that social & intellectual theories, that the history of facts in the processes of nature & the operations of government may appear to you the only laudable pursuits; that Actitious narratives, in their own nature, or, in the manner in which they have been hitherto conducted, may be thought not to deserve notice, & that, consequently, whatever may be the merit of my book as a Action, yet it is to be condemned because it is a Action. I need not say that my opinions are diCerent, & am therefore obliged to hope that an artful display of incidents, the powerful delineation of characters & the train of eloquent & judicious reasoning which may be combined in a Actitious work will be regarded by Thomas JeCerson with as much respect as they are regarded by me. No man holds a performance which he has deliberately oCered to the world in contempt; but, if he be a man of candour & discernment, his favourable judgement of his own work, will always be attended by diDdence & Buctuation. I confess, I foster the hope that Mr. JeCerson will be induced to open the book that is here oCered him; that when he has begun it, he will And himself prompted to continue, & that he will not think the time employed upon it, tediously or uselessly consumed. With more than this I dare not Batter myself. That he will be < 275>
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pleased in any uncommon degree, & that, by his recommendation, he will contribute to diCuse the knowledge of its authour, & facilitate a favourable reception to future performances, is a beneAt far beyond the expectations, though, certainly, the object of the fondest wishes of Charles B. Brown. RC (DLC); at foot of text: “No: 45. Pine Street, New York”; endorsed by TJ as received 30 Dec. 1799 and so recorded in SJL with the notation, “author of Wieland.” After apprenticing in a law oDce for six years, Charles Brockden Brown (17711810), a native of Philadelphia, determined in 1793 to become a professional writer. InBuenced by the work of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, in New York from 1798 to 1801 he wrote a half-dozen novels, beginning in 1798 with Wieland; or, The Transformation and then Ormond; or, The Secret Witness the following year. The novels reBected political, economic, and cultural currents of the time and are the works for which Brown is best known. If the volume the author sent with the above letter was Wieland, as TJ’s entry in SJL would seem to indicate, TJ did not list the work in his library catalogue. He was, however, a subscriber to the Weekly Magazine of 1798, in which some of Brown’s work appeared, and to the Monthly Magazine, and American Review, a short-lived publication that Brown edited, 1799-1800. In 1801 Brown returned to Philadelphia and became a merchant, but continued to
write, mostly for periodicals, and edited serial publications. He also wrote and published anonymously several political tracts that were sharply critical of policies of TJ’s presidency: An Address to the Government of the United States, on the Cession of Louisiana to the French and Monroe’s Embassy, both published in 1803; The British Treaty, in 1807; and an 1809 attack on the embargo, An Address to the Congress of the United States, on the Utility and Justice of Restrictions upon Foreign Commerce. TJ received a copy of the last pamphlet from George Logan. TJ and Brown did not, according to SJL, correspond after TJ’s letter of 15 Jan. 1800, although Brown did send TJ a onesentence note from Charleston, South Carolina, on 5 Mch. 1806 to accompany one or more issues of the Monthly Register, and Review of the United States. The writer died of tuberculosis in Philadelphia in February 1810 (Charles E. Bennett, “Charles Brockden Brown: Man of Letters,” in Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Critical Essays on Charles Brockden Brown [Boston, 1981], 214-18; Alan Axelrod, Charles Brockden Brown: An American Tale [Austin, 1983], 70, 174-5; anb; Sowerby, Nos. 3375, 3464, 4897, 4898).
From George Jefferson Dear Sir, Richmond 26th. Decr. 1799. Your favor of the 19th. was duly received. I have applied where Mr. R. got your Stockings and And they are all sold. The balance of your nail-rod was sent up some time ago with the bottles & Corks which you ordered. I have since received 4 tons more of nail-rod, & some hoop-iron, which shall be shortly forwarded. Molasses here has got up to 3/6 & will probably be higher before I can again hear from you; I shall therefore decline sending any up as you direct. < 276>
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Your acct. shall be made up to the end of the year & forwarded as soon thereafter as possible. I am Dear Sir Your Very humble servt. Geo. Jefferson RC (MHi); at foot of text: “Thos. JeCerson esqr.”; endorsed by TJ as received 2 Jan. 1800 and so recorded in SJL.
Notes on Treasury Statement [after 28 Dec. 1799]
Monies wanting for the year 1800. according to a Report by the Secretary of the Treasury to Congress of Dec. 17. 1799. Civil department, including Mint, valuation of lands & lighthouses 888,8 1 5.95 Foreign intercourse, viz. diplomatic department & certain treaties 336,000. Navy 2,482,953.99 Arms 260,000. Army 4,067,200. Indian department 81,800. Annuities, grants, military pensions 93,953.33 Miscellanies 34,000. Interest & reimbursements of public debt, suppose equal to 1799. 4,409,254.78 12,572,1 7 8.05q Resources to meet those wants on the supposition that the taxes &c yield in 1800 what they did in 1799 Impost 6,437,086.34 Excise, auctions, licenses, carriages, stamps patents, postage, coinage 818,020.94 Lands sold 8,769.79 Dividends on Bank stock 71,040. Contingent reciepts for Old balances, Repaimts. sale of a vessel, Anes & forAetures, & Prizes in 1799. suppose equivalent contingencies in 1800 34,024 7,368,941.92r DeAcit for 1800. 5,203,236.13s 12,572,178.05
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28 D E C E M B E R 1799 MS (DLC: TJ Papers, 106:18105); entirely in TJ’s hand; undated; endorsed on verso: “Treasury statemt. Dec. 1799.” report by the secretary of the treasury: Letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, Accompanied with a Report and Estimates of the Sums Necessary to be appropriated for the Service of the Year 1800; Also, a Statement of the Receipts and Expenditures at the Treasury of the United States, For one year preceding the Brst day of October, 1799 (Philadelphia, 1799); see Evans, No. 36533. Theodore Sedgwick presented Wolcott’s report to the House on 18 Dec. It was immediately referred to the Ways and Means Committee, which had it printed. It is unlikely that TJ saw the report before he arrived in Philadelphia on 28 Dec. but he proba-
bly took these notes shortly thereafter. The information is similar to that which TJ gathered from previous Treasury Department reports and included in his correspondence in early 1799 (see TJ to John Wayles Eppes, 21 Jan. 1799). In early January 1800 Republicans used information from Wolcott’s report to argue for a reduction in the size of the army as a way to decrease the expected Ave million dollar deAcit (jhr, 3:540; Annals, 10:247-9). q The correct sum is 12,653,978.05. TJ’s total does not include the sum of $81,800 from the Indian Department. r Sum is correct except for last two digits, which add up to “.07” not “.92.” s Using the corrected totals the sum of the deAcit would be 5,285,036.98.
From James Madison Dear Sir Richmond Decr. 29. 1799 My promise to write to you before your leaving Albemarle was defeated by a dysenteric attack which laid me up for about a week, and which left me in a State of debility not yet thoroughly removed. My recovery has been much retarded by the job of preparing a vindication of the Resolutions of last Session agst. the replies of the other States, and the sophistries from other quarters. The Committee made their report a few days ago, which is now in the pressq and stands the order of the day for thursday next. A sett of Resolutions proposed by Mr. Giles, instructing the Senators to urge the repeal of the unconstl. acts, the disbanding of the army, and the proper arrangement of the Militia, are also in the press and stand the order of the same day for the same Committee. It is supposed that both these papers, the latter perhaps with some modiAcations, will go through the H. of Delegates. The Senate, owing to inattention & casualties, is so composed as to render the event there not a little uncertain. If an election, to All the vacancy of Mr. H. Nelson who lately resigned, should send Mr. Andrews in preference to his competitor Mr. Saunders, I am told that the parties will be precisely in equilibrio; excepting only one or two, whom circumstances now & then on particular questions, transfer from the wrong to the right side. It is hoped that this contingent fund of votes, will be applicable to the Vindication. On other important < 278>
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questions, there is much less expectation from it. There is a report here that the Legislature of N. Carolina now in Session, have voted the Resolutions of Virginia under their table. The report is highly improbable, and I do not believe it. But it is impossible to calculate the progress of delusion, especially in a State where it is said to be under systematic management, and where there is so little either of system or exertion opposed to it. We had a narrow escape yesterday from an increase of pay to the members, which would have been particularly unseasonable & injurious both within & without the State. It was rejected on the third reading by a small majority; and was so much a favorite, with the distant members particularly, that I fear it has left them in rather an ill humour. The late course of foreign events has probably made the same impression every where. If it should not render France less anxious to meet our advances, its good eCects will be felt every way. If our Executive & their Envoys be sincere in their paciAc objects, it will perhaps supply by their increased anxiety what may be lost on the other side. But there can be little conAdence after what has been seen, that the negociation would be inBuenced by this temper of the Envoys, instead of that which perverted it in the hands of their predecessors. This possibility of failure in the diplomatic experiment, will present the most specious obstacle to an immediate discharge of the army. It would be useful for the Assembly to know how this matter is viewed where you are. Mr. Dawson will be good eno’ to write me on the subject. I intended to have written to him by this mail; but my time has been taken from me till the closing of the mail is approaching. Yrs. aCecly. J M. Jr. RC (DLC: Madison Papers); endorsed by TJ as received 7 Jan. 1800 and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: Report of the Committee to Whom was Committed the Proceedings of Sundry of the Other States, in Answer to the Resolutions of the General Assembly, of the — Day of — [Richmond, n.d.]; see Evans, No. 38961, in which the publication date is incorrectly conjectured as 7 Jan. 1800. After arriving in Richmond in early December, Madison prepared a vindication of the resolutions passed by the Virginia Assembly in 1798 in opposition to the Alien and Sedition Acts. He headed a committee appointed by the House of Delegates to consider the responses of the various states to the Vir-
ginia Resolutions. On 24 Dec. the committee’s report was presented to the House, which ordered that 250 copies be printed for the use of the assembly (a copy of which Madison enclosed with this letter; see Madison to TJ, 4 Jan. 1800) and decided to consider the report in the committee of the whole on 2 Jan. 1800. On 7 Jan., after several days of debate, the House adopted the report and had it printed in the journals as amended (jhd, Dec. 1799-Jan. 1800, 53-72). The Senate, by 15 yeas and 6 nays, agreed to the report and the closing resolution, which noted that after carefully considering the objections of the several states, the members of the Virginia Assembly found it their “indispensable duty to adhere” to the Virginia Resolutions of 21 Dec. 1798 “as
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29 D E C E M B E R 1799 founded in truth, as consonant with the constitution, and as conducive to its preservation” and renewed their protest against the Alien and Sedition Acts “as palpable and alarming infractions of the constitution” (jhd, Dec. 1799-Jan. 1800, 38, 40, 49-50, 52, 71; Madison, Papers, 17:303-7, 317-18, 326-39). For the document as adopted, see Madison, Papers, 17:307-51. The sett of resolutions proposed by William B. Giles instructed Virginia Senators Stevens Thomson Mason and Wilson Cary Nicholas to seek a reduction of the army; to prevent an augmentation of the navy and promote its reduction, thus reducing taxes; to oppose the passage of any law “recognizing the principle lately advanced, ‘that the common law of England is in force under the government of the United States’”; and to procure repeal of the Alien and Sedition Acts (Instructions from the General Assembly of Virginia, to Stephens Thompson Mason, and Wilson Cary Nicholas, Senators from the State of Virginia, in the Congress of the United States [Richmond, n.d.]; Evans, No. 34939). Giles brought the instructions before the House on 26 Dec. and on 10 Jan. 1800 the House considered them. Sections objecting to the Nonintercourse Act for contributing to the decline of tobacco prices and calling for revision and modifying the language of the resolution on the common law were added before passage. The instructions on 11 Jan.
passed the House 102 to 49 and were sent to the Senate (jhd, Dec. 1799-Jan. 1800, 42, 77-9, 81-3). Federalist Robert andrews, professor of mathematics at the College of William and Mary, had served in the House of Delegates for nine terms from October 1790 through January 1799. Robert saunders was elected to the Virginia Senate and represented Elizabeth City, Warwick, and York counties through the session ending 1 Feb. 1805 (Leonard, General Assembly, 181, 185, 189, 193, 197, 201, 205, 209, 213, 222, 226, 230, 234, 238; Madison, Papers, 3:312-13; Richard R. Beeman, The Old Dominion and the New Nation, 1788-1801 [Lexington, Ky., 1972], 260-2). obstacle to an immediate discharge of the army: in the 11 Jan. debate on the instructions to the state’s U.S. senators, an unsuccessful attempt was made to qualify the Arst resolution calling for a reduction of the army by amending it to read “as soon as an accommodation of the existing diCerences with the French Republic may render such a reduction safe and expedient.” The addition of the phrase “unless such a measure shall be forbidden by information not known to the public” passed, however, with both Giles and Madison voting for it (jhd, Dec. 1799-Jan. 1800, 81-2). q Preceding six words interlined.
Memorandum on Attendance of the Vice President [after 29 Dec. 1799]
It is very well known that, in the earlier part of their sessions, very little business is done in either house of Congress; & particularly that in the Senate there is rarely a bill even brought in during the Arst 3. or 4. weeks. in the mean while the Senate is employed in recieving the President’s speech, preparing their address, & is divided into Committees who are digesting business. they meet daily for form only, & their journal is little more than that they met & adjourned. as the Vice-President cannot be of a committee, & is not even counted in < 280>
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the number requisite to constitute a house, his attendance, during the Arst 3. or 4. weeks, is perfectly useless to the public. hence it has been very much the practice of both the gentlemen who have Alled that oDce, not to [. . .] the usual time of convening [actual business?] [. . .] thus [. . .] of 92.3. mr A. did not attend from Nov. 5. to Dec. 4. being 30. days after the meeting of Congress. mr J. who attended the 1st. day of the 1st. session after his election, was absent 30. days at the beginning of the 2d. 24. at the beginning of the 3d. & 28. at the beginning of the present. and certain it is that if members of the legislature are to be indulged in any absences (and few are not) they had better be at the beginning & especially in the case of the V. President, who has absolutely nothing to do till bills are brought in. thus we see by recurring to the journal of the session of 97.8. there was but a single bill brought in, & that not passed before the attendance of mr J. that in that of 98.9 not one had been brought in. in the present session 3. small bills for relief of prisoners, reviving suits in the district court of Pensylva & authorising the member from the North Western territory to frank letters had run through, because there was no other business in their way. But the only question of importance to the public is on the a[bsence of] their members after business is got under way. on the 1st. [Mar. 1792 an act] was passed declaring that in [the eve]nt of the [death or] resignation both of the President & Vice President, the President pro tem. of the Senate should succeed to the government: & as there can be no Pres. pro tem. but in the absence of the VicePresident, it has from that date been deemed his duty to retire from the Senate towards the close of the session, to give the Senate an opportunity [of] appointing a Pres. pro tem. who may continue in oDce through [the] vacation. counting from this date therefore the absences of the Vice President at the latter end of the sessions they stand thus: in the session of 91.2. mr A. was absent at the close of the session 92.3. 93.4. 94.5. 95.6. 96.7.
21. days. 2. 10. 12. 27. 16 88. days
in the session of 97. mr J. was absent at the close of the session 5. days 97.8. 20. 3. 28. days 98.9.
thus we see that mr A. in 6. sessions was absent at the close 88. days, [which aver]ages 142 each session. < 281>
29 D E C E M B E R 1799
and that mr J. in 3. sessions was absent at the close 28. days, which averages 91 each session. mr A’s absences then at this, which is the time of business, are more than half as long again as mr J.’s. Let us test their absences by another measure. of 275. acts passed in the 6. sessions Arst mentioned, 133. only are signed by mr A. which is 48. in every 100. of 154. acts passed in the 3. sessions last mentioned 92. are signed by mr J. which is 60. in the 100. in any given number of acts therefore mr J. had signed 5. for every 4. signed by mr A. It is not intended however by this, to lead the public into the erroneous supposition that their Vice-Presidents have been absent while such a proportion of the laws have been on the carpet. nothing would be more erroneous. after bills are passed, they are to be enrolled on parchment, then examined by a committee who proceed very much at their leisure to see if they are truly enrolled; then they are reported to the H. of R. for the signature of their Speaker, & lastly carried to the Senate for the signature of the person presiding there. this is often [the work] of many days, so that [a great propor]tion of the bills signed by [. . .]q passed during [the presence of the?] Vice President. indeed where an absence is only of 3. 4. or 5. days it is probable that every bill had gone thro’ it’s most interesting discussions, before the departure of the V.P. so that the attestation of the Pres. pro tem. is but a mere matter of form to an act passed before his appointment. MS (Edward Anderson Estate, Richmond, Virginia, 1995); entirely in TJ’s hand, including table (see facing page); undated, with date conjectured from internal evidence; torn at folds. For TJ’s comments that very little business was done at the beginning of Senate sessions, see TJ to John Page, 1 Jan. 1798, and TJ to Mary JeCerson Eppes, 1 Jan. 1799. The Senate passed three small bills, noted by TJ, on 12, 16, and 27 Dec., respectively. The Arst was for the relief of persons imprisoned for debt and the third extended franking privileges to William Henry Harrison (js, 3:9-10, 15). duty to retire from the Senate towards the close of
the session: on 28 Feb. 1799 TJ reported to the Senate “that inasmuch as the law seemed to require the retirement of the Vice President, of the United States, from the duties of President of the Senate before the close of the Session, in order that the Senate might elect a President pro tem: he gave the notice that he should, on the next day retire.” The next day the Senate elected James Ross to the post (Philadelphia Aurora, 1 Mch. 1799; js, 2:599). For a compilation of TJ’s absences from the Senate, see pw, 16-17. q One-half line, or approximately eight words, obliterated at fold of paper.
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1792. March 1. the act was passed which, on the death of the President and Vice President, devolves the government on the Presidt pro tem. of the Senate Beginng of Session. End of do. Absences at the beginning of the session
days Absences at the close of the session.
1791. Oct. 24.—1792. May 8.
the V.P. absent from Apr. 18. to May 8. inclus.
1792. Nov. 5.—1793. Mar. 2. theV.P. absent from Nov. 5. to Dec. 4. inclus.
30
1793. Dec. 2.—1794. June 9.
days acts acts signd passd by VP 21
44
24
2
31
20
May 31. to June 9. inclus.
10
65
37
53
27
Mar. 1. & Mar. 2.
1794. Nov. 3.—1795. Mar. 3
from Nov. 3. to Nov. 9. inclus.
7
Feb. 20. to Mar. 3.
12
1795. Dec. 7.—1796. June 1.
from Dec. 7. to Dec. 8.
2
May 6. to June 1.
27
54
23
Feb. 16. to Mar. 3.
16
28
2
88
275
133
5
17
10
20
89
60
3
48
22
154
92
1796. Dec. 5.—1797. Mar. 3.
1797. May 15 —
July 10.
Nov. 13.—1798 July 16.
July 6. to July 10. inclus. from Nov. 13. to Dec. 12. inclus. 30
1798. Dec. 3.—1799. Mar. 3.
Dec. 3. to Dec. 26.
24
1799. Dec. 2.—
Dec. 2. to Dec. 29.
28
June 27. to July 16. Mar. 1. to Mar. 3.
28.
From George Jefferson Dear Sir, Richmond 31st. Decr. 1799 At a late meeting of the James River company they directed their Treasurer to return one fourth of the 30 dollars e share which has been borrowed from the members of the company; the Interest on which will stop tomorrow— You will therefore be intitled to draw on account of Mr. Shorts 33 shares $:247.0, exclusive of Interest to this time. I attended the meeting but was informed I could not represent Mr. Short on account of my not being a member of the company, which the law directs; and which had escaped the recollection of Mr. Pollard. I inclose your account & am Dear Sir Your Very humble servt. Geo. Jefferson RC (MHi); at foot of text: “Thos. JeCerson esqr.”; endorsed by TJ as received on 7 Jan. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure not found.
Notes on the Doctrine of Epicurus [ca. 1799?]
The Universe eternal it’s parts great & small inter-changeable Matter & Void alone Motion inherent in matter, weighty & declining eternal circulation of elements of bodies Gods, neither creators nor preservers of the universe Happiness the aim life Virtue the foundn of happiness. Utility the test of virtue ______ Pleasure active &q in-dolent indolent is the absence of pain, the true felicity active, consists in agreeable motion & is not happiness but the means to produce it. thus the absence of hunger is an article of felicity. eating the means to obtain it. Summum bonum is to be not pained in body nor troubled in mind. i.e. in-dolence of body, tranquility of mind. to procure tranquility of mind we must avoid desire & fear the two principal diseases of the mind. Man is a free-agent. < 284>
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Virtue consists in
1. Prudence, 3. Fortitude, which are opposed to 1. Folly 3. Fear. Doctrine of Epicurus. MS (MH); entirely in TJ’s hand; undated; three words in TJ’s handprinting shown in small capitals. TJ’s notes on the Greek philosopher Epicurus (c. 341-270 B.C.) may have served as an early draft of his “Syllabus of the doctrines of Epicurus,” with some variations in wording. He included it in a letter of 31 Oct. 1819 to William Short, where he observed that he had written the syllabus “some 20. years ago.” TJ in 1798-99 was thinking of preparing for Benjamin Rush his “view of the Christian System” compared to the doctrines of
2. Temperance, 4. Justice 2. Desire 4. Deceipt
the “most remarkeable of the antient philosophers,” including Epicurus (eg, 327-8, 390). Epicurus’s writings survive primarily because they were quoted in Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, and although TJ neither quotes directly nor paraphrases, his notes seem to be based on the Letter to Menoeceus (Diogenes Laertius, 10:122-35). TJ’s library contained three editions of Laertius’s work, two in Latin and one in French, all published in the 17th century (see Sowerby, Nos. 31-3). q TJ here canceled “indolent.”
To Tench Coxe Jan. 1. 1800.
Th: JeCerson presents his compliments to Mr. Coxe and incloses him an order on mr Barnes (his agent here) for 113. dollars. should it be more agreeable however to mr Coxe Th:J. will himself draw and deliver him the money. did mr Coxe lose a watch-key yesterday? the inclosed was found on the Boor here last night, & must have been dropped by some gentleman who had been here. Th:J. will have the pleasure of seeing mr Coxe before his departure. RC (MoSHi: JeCerson Papers); addressed: “Tenche Coxe esquire, 139. Walnut str.”; endorsed. Not recorded in SJL. Enclosure: Order on John Barnes, 1 Jan. 1800, to pay Tench Coxe $113 (MS in ViU: Edgehill-Randolph Papers; written and signed by TJ; endorsed and signed by Ezekiel Forman as received for
Tench Coxe on 3 Jan.; endorsed by Barnes and canceled). before his departure: on 6 Jan. Coxe left Philadelphia for Lancaster to assume his appointment as secretary of the Pennsylvania Land ODce (Cooke, Coxe, 361-4).
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From John Wayles Eppes Eppington January. 1. 1800.
Since my note to you from the wharf at the Hundred I have been in daily expectation of having it in my power to make you a sharer in a species of happiness from which my Mary and myself have heretofore been debarred. Fortune has at length crowned our wishes & made us happy in the birth of a daughter—It was born last Evening and tho’ very small has every appearance of good health—Maria has been perfectly well & clear of fever from the commencement—Accept our joint wishes for Your health & happiness—yours sincerely J: W: Eppes RC (ViU: Edgehill-Randolph Papers); endorsed by TJ as received 18 Jan. and so recorded in SJL. my note to you: for the missing letter, see TJ to John Wayles Eppes, 21 Dec. 1799. The daughter born to John and
Mary Eppes died several weeks later. TJ did not record her birth and death dates in his prayer book and her name, if one was given, is not known (Thomas JeCerson’s Prayer Book, ed. John Cook Wyllie [Charlottesville, 1952], plate 9; TJ to Mary JeCerson Eppes, 12 Feb. 1800).
To George Jefferson Dear Sir Philadelphia Jan. 1. 1800. Mr. John Barnes has recieved from Dr. Bache 33331 Dol. say £1000. V.C. for James Key, to be remitted at Key’s request to mr Brydie. the money is deposited for safe custody in the bank of the US. mr Key’s distress for the money is great, & mr Barnes assures me a draught on Richmond is not to be had here. the purport of this is to ask of you, if you should have occasion for a draught on this place, that you would prefer taking one from mr Brydie in order to aid us in the transfer of this sum to Richmond to relieve mr Key’s distress, in which I feel concern because I have had some agency in the transaction as a mutual friend. I am with esteem Dr. Sir Your’s aCectionately Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); at foot of text: “Mr. George JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. A letter from TJ to brydie & Co., recorded in SJL on this date, has not
been found. Letters from Brydie, Brown & Co. to TJ of 8, 19 Jan., and 8 Feb., recorded in SJL as received on 14, 27 Jan., and 15 Feb. 1800, respectively, are also missing, as is a letter from TJ to Brydie, Brown & Co. of 30 Jan. 1800.
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Notes on a Conversation with Tench Coxe 1800. Jan. 2. information from Tenche Coxe. mr Liston had sent 2. letters to the Govr. of Canada by one Sweezy. he had sent copies of them together with a third, (original) by one Cribs. Sweezy was arrested (being an old horsethief) and his papers examd. T. Coxe had a sight of them. as soon as a rumor got out that there were letters of mr Liston disclosed, but no particulars yet mentioned, mr Liston, suspecting that Cribs had betrayed him, thought it best to bring all his three letters & lay them before Pickering Secy. of state. Pickering thot them all very innocent. in his oDce they were seen by a mr Hodgden of N. Jersey, Commissy. of military stores, and the intimate friend of Pickering. it happens that there is some land partnership between Pickering, Hodgden & Coxe, so that the latter is freely & intimately visited by Hodgden, who moreover speaks freely with him on Political subjects. they were talking the news of the day, when mr Coxe observd. that these intercepted lres of Liston were serious things (nothing being yet out but a general rumor) Hodgden asked which he thought the most serious. Coxe said the 2d. (for he knew yet of no other) H. said he thot little of any of them, but that the 3d was the most exceptionable. this struck Coxe who not betraying his ignorance of a 3d. lre, asked generally what part of that he alluded to. Hodgden said to that wherein he assured the Govr. of Canada that if the French invaded Canada, an army would be marched from these states to his assistance. after this it became known that it was Sweezy who was arrested & not Cribs; so that mr Liston had made an unnecessary disclosure of his 3d. letter to mr Pickering, who however keeps his secret for him. in the beginning of the conversn between Hodgden & Coxe, Coxe happened to name Sweezy as the bearer of the letters. ‘that’s not his name,’ says Hodgden, (for he did not know that 2. of the lres had been sent by Sweezy also) ‘his name is Cribs.’ this put Coxe on his guard and set him to Ashing for the new matter. < 287>
2 JAN UARY 1800 MS (DLC: TJ Papers, 108:18558); entirely in TJ’s hand; initial entry in a group of such memoranda written between 2 Jan. and 27 Mch. 1800. For the two intercepted letters which Isaac sweezy was carrying to
Canada for Robert Liston, see Elijah GriDths to TJ, 4 Aug. 1799. land partnership: in 1785 and 1787 Coxe purchased lands in the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania with Pickering and Samuel Hodgdon (Cooke, Coxe, 81).
From James Madison Dear Sir Richmond Jany. 4. 1800 My last covered a copy of the Report on the Resolutions of last year. I now inclose a copy of certain resolutions moved by Mr. Giles, to which he means to add an instruction on the subject of the intercource law which has been so injurious to the price of our Tobo. It is not improbable that the Resolutions when taken up, may undergo some molliAcations in the spirit & air of them. The Report has been under debate for two days. The attacks on it have turned chieBy on an alledged inconsistency between the comment now made, and the arguments of the last Session; and on the right of the Legislature to interfere in any manner with denunciations of the measures of the Genl. Govt. The Arst attack has been parried by an amendment admitting that diCerent constructions may have been entertained of the term “States” as “parties” &c but that the sense relied on in the report must be concurred in by all. It is in fact concurred in by both parties. On examination of the debates of the last Session, it appears that both were equally inaccurate & inconsistent in the grounds formerly taken by them. The attack on the right of the Legislature to interfere by declarations of opinion will form a material point in the discussion. It is not yet known how far the opposition to the Report will be carried into detail. The part relating to the Common law it is said will certainly be combated. You will perceive from this view of the matter, that it is not possible to guess how long, we shall be employed on it. There will in the event be a Considerable majority for the Report in the House of Delegates, and a pretty sure one in the Senate.—Can you send me a copy of Priestly’s letters last published. Adieu. Js. M. Jr RC (DLC: Madison Papers); endorsed by TJ as received 11 Jan. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: see note to Madison to TJ, 29 Dec. 1799.
my last: Madison to TJ, 29 Dec. 1799. debate on Madison’s report on the Virginia Resolutions of 1798 was over the sense in which “the states are parties
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4 JAN UARY 1800 to the Constitution or compact,” as expressed in the third of the resolutions, which held that the federal government derived its powers “from the compact, to which the states are parties” (Madison, Papers, 17:305, 308). For a reference to the arguments of the last session, see same, 300-1. The “states,” Madison wrote, could have diCerent meanings: “it sometimes means the separate sections of territory occupied by the political societies within each; sometimes the particular governments, established by those societies; sometimes those societies as organized into those particular governments; and lastly, it means the people composing those political societies, in their highest sovereign capacity.” In the 24 Dec. report he continued: “In the present instance the fact itself shews that the sense last mentioned, must be that intended by the General Assembly: because in that sense, the constitution was submitted to the ‘States.’” In the
report as printed with an amendment on 7 Jan. in the House journal, the passage was altered to read: “In the present instance whatever diCerent constructions of the term ‘States,’ in the resolution may have been entertained, all will at least concur in that last mentioned; because in that sense, the Constitution was submitted to the ‘States’” (Report of the Committee to Whom was Committed the Proceedings of Sundry of the Other States . . . , 5; jhd, Dec. 1799-Jan. 1800, 40, 54-5). right of the legislature to interfere: before passage of the report a substitute resolution, noting the impropriety of the Resolutions of 1798 and calling protests by the state against particular acts of Congress an unauthorized assumption of power, was defeated (jhd, Dec. 1799-Jan. 1800, 71-2). priestly’s letters last published: see TJ to Joseph Priestley, 18 Jan. 1800.
From James Monroe Dear Sir Richmond Jany 4. 1800 Colo. Cabell furnishes an opportunity by wh. I enclose you a copy of Mr. Madisons rept. on the acts of the other states on the alien & sedition laws. This report has been two days before the house supported by the author Taylor & Giles, and opposed by two or three whose names it is not necessary to give. Its eCect is very discernible on the whole federalq party, some of the more moderate of wh., wod. certainly come over, if they were not pledged in a very strong manner to their constituents. It will be carried by a great majority in the h. of D. and a respectable one I believe in the Senate. You perceive I have commenc’d here, as to the letters of the speakers of the two houses, in a tone of moderation, yet of decision as to principle. I have thought it beneath me to make a more direct attack on Mr. Adams, and perhaps at present impolitick. Yet the publick mind ought not to be suCered to lose any portion of its republicanr tone by taking a position short of what it will bear. on this you will have the best information, relative to which & indeed every other topic on wh. you think proper to give an advice I shall be happy to receive it. Your name will appear as a subscriber to neither of the papers you men< 289>
4 JAN UARY 1800
tioned to me when I saw you. I have told the Editors, I shod. act for you with wh. they were satisAed; and shall do for you precisely what I am forced to do for myself. I shall endeavor to keep them within suitable limits, in their publications, since I am strongly impressed with a belief, if A. puts himself in the hands of the Bh. faction, an attempt will be made to carry the sedition law into eCect here, as an electioneering trick, in the course of the summer. they must be deprived of a plausible pretext, in wh. case, an attempt will dishonor them, & their systems of standing armies &c become a burden to themselves. I shall pay for you whatever you have to pay here, after wh. I shall reserve the balance I may owe you for adjustmt. when we meet, unless you have occasion for it here in wh. case direct the application. yr. aCectionate friend & servt Jas. Monroe RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ as received 11 Jan. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: see Madison to TJ, 29 Dec. 1799. Nicholas cabell represented the Virginia Senate district that included Albemarle County (Leonard, General Assembly, 218). letters of the speakers: on 6 Dec. 1799 Larkin Smith, Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, informed Monroe of his election as governor and deemed it “the result of your inBexible republican principles,” noting also that “a just and full view of the incidents interwoven in your public character, have been such, as to place you high in the conAdence of this branch of the Legislature.” The next day Archibald Stuart, the speaker of the state Senate, also wrote a congratulatory letter. Monroe’s reply to Smith and the House of Delegates on 10 Dec. stated: “The epoch thro’ which we have passed, and are passing, has many extraordinary incidents attending it. It has fallen to my lot to bear some part in the transactions which characterise it; and decided as my conduct has been, on all occasions which brought the subject into view, in favor of the free elective sys-
tem of government which happily exists among us, it cannot otherwise than be delightful to me, to And my exertions in support of that cause approved, and the cause itself supported, with so much energy and decision, by the virtuous and enlightened Assembly of my native state.” The new governor pledged a continuing “faithful adherence to the same principles” (jhd, Dec. 1799-Jan. 1800, 20; Preston, Catalogue, 1:73; Leonard, General Assembly, 215). The two Richmond papers were likely the Friend of the People, published by James Lyon, and the Press of Meriwether Jones, publisher of the Richmond Examiner, Alexander McRae, and John H. Foushee. The ventures were aDliated, and both papers Arst appeared in January 1800—the Press as a weekly, the Friend to appear every other week. The Press may not have lasted beyond February. Later in the year Lyon moved his newspaper, under the same title, to Georgetown (Brigham, American Newspapers, 1:91; 2:1139-41; Madison, Papers, 17:361n, 432n). q Word interlined. r Word interlined.
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To Bishop James Madison Dear Sir Philadelphia Jan. 6. 1800. A mr Thomas P. Smith of this place, who is particularly able in the line of chemistry, and is master also of the Linnean Botany is desirous of getting a birth in your college, if these professorships still exist there & are vacant. I could not inform him on these points. I remember that in our reformation of the plan of the college in 1779. there was a professorship of Chemistry, Botany & Medecine established, & that Mc.lurg was the professor for a considerable time. but whether in the subsequent demolition of that reform this professorship escaped the ruin, or not, I do not know. this gentleman could bring the most unquestionable recommendations as a chemist, & particularly from Dr. Priestly; so that if the institution admits of him he would really be an acquisition. I have promised him to ask information from you, and I will thank you to give it me by the Arst post. if it be favorable, I would request the names of the present visitors, as it might be advantageous to him to take letters from gentlemen here to their acquaintances among them. I learn nothing new in the line of science or the arts. the republican horison is greatly brightening by the events of Europe and the current of public opinion in America. accept my friendly & respectful salutations Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); at foot of text: “Bishop Madison”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Thomas Peters smith, in his midtwenties when TJ made this inquiry in his behalf, had studied with Robert Patterson and Benjamin Smith Barton. In 1798 he gave an oration before the Chemical Society of Philadelphia that was published as A Sketch of the Revolutions in Chemistry (Philadelphia, 1798; see Sowerby, No. 848). He became a member of the American Philosophical Society in July 1799, served on committees pertaining to minerals and niter, and was elected one of the society’s secretaries three days before TJ wrote the letter above. In May 1800 Smith embarked for Europe and Britain to expand his knowledge of mineralogy, chemistry, and industrial processes, but during his return voyage in 1802 he was mortally wounded when a cannon on board the
ship exploded. He died at sea after bequeathing his papers and specimens to the society (Wyndham Miles, “Thomas Peters Smith: A Typical Early American Chemist,” Journal of Chemical Education, 30 [1953], 184-8; aps, Proceedings, 22, pt. 3 [1884], 283, 290). Three letters exchanged by TJ and Smith are recorded in SJL but have not been found: Smith to TJ, 1 June 1798 and 4 Jan. 1800, received on the same days on which they were written, and TJ to Smith, 12 June 1798. The reformation of the plan of the college of William and Mary in 1779, when TJ was on the Board of Visitors, abolished the professorships of divinity and classical languages. Among three new faculty positions created at that time was one in anatomy and medicine that James McClurg occupied until 1783. He never developed a formal course in medicine, and Bishop Madison, the president of the college, came to construe the position as a professorship of chemistry
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6 JAN UARY 1800 (Autobiography, in Ford, 1:69-70; Notes, ed. Peden, 151; J. E. Morpurgo, Their Majesties’ Royall Colledge: William and
Mary in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries [Williamsburg, 1976], 193-4).
To Jean Xavier Bureaux de Pusy Sir Philadelphia [Jan. 7. 1800] I avail myself of the Arst moments of leisure [. . .] my arrival here to acknolege the reciept of your favor of Dec. 9. & to express my regret that my absence deprived me of the pleasure of a personal interview. it is the Arst opportunity which has ever been presented me of asking a thousand questions as to my much esteemed friend La Fayette whose suCerings have been to me a source of the most sincere anxiety. how much have I to say to him, how much to philosophise on the astonishing developments of the human character on both sides of the Atlantic! but this I reserve to the moment of my meeting him; & may that moment soon arrive as he gives me reason to hope. it will be a circumstance of additional joy to recieve with him my old friend, & the best & wisest of men, Monsr. Dupont. accept I pray you Sir assurances, for yourself and the friends who have accompanied you, of every service I can render you here. your character and my esteem for it entitle you to this, independant of the wishes of Messrs. de la Fayette & Liancourt. I am happy to hear that the latter preserves his health; his worth entitles him to the best wishes of everyone. if you should recieve any new information as to Monsr. de la Fayette or Dupont, & especially as to the time & certainty of our expecting them here, you will oblige me by a communication of it by letter. I need not add how much pleasure I should recieve, should your aCairs bring you here during my stay, from an opportunity of assuring you personally of the high respect & esteem with which I am Sir Your most obedt. humble servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); damaged, date and estimated three or four words of Arst sentence obliterated; date supplied from SJL; at foot of text: “M Bureaux-Pusy”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. friends who have accompanied you: Bureaux de Pusy had traveled to the United States with his young daugh-
ter and his mother-in-law, Françoise Robin Poivre Du Pont de Nemours, to prepare for the arrival of the extended Du Pont family. His wife, who was pregnant with their second child, had expected to make the voyage with him but had been detained in Europe by illness (Saricks, Du Pont, 277-8).
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American Philosophical Society Memorial to U.S. Congress [7-10 Jan. 1800]
To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States. The Memorial of the American Philosophical Society, Respectfully Sheweth, That this Society, instituted for the promotion of useful knowledge, understanding that the Legislature of the Union have under their consideration a bill for taking a new census of the inhabitants of the United States, consider it as oCering an occasion of great value, and not otherwise to be obtained, of ascertaining Sundry facts highlyq interesting and important to Society. Under this impression they beg leave respectfully to submit to the wisdom of the Legislature, the expediency of requiring from their ODcers, in addition to the table in the former Act for the same purpose, others presenting a more detailed View of the inhabitants of the United States, under several diCerent aspects. They consider it as important to determine the eCect of the Soil and climate of the United States on the inhabitants thereof; And, for this purpose, dividing life into certain epochs, to ascertain the existing numbers within each epoch, from whence may be calculated the ordinary duration of life in these States, the chances of life for every epoch thereof, and the ratio of the increase of their population:r Armly believing that the result will be sensibly diCerent from what is presented by the tables of other countries, by which we are, from necessity, in the habit of estimating the probabilities of life here. And they humbly Suggest, as proper for these purposes, the intervals between the following epochs, to wit;—birth, two, Ave, ten, sixteen, twenty one, and twenty Ave years of age, and every term of Ave years from thence to one hundred. For the purpose also of more exactly distinguishing the increase of population by birth, and by immigration, they propose that another table shall present, in separate columns, the respective numbers of native citizens, citizens of foreign birth, and of Aliens. In order to ascertain more compleatly the causes which inBuence life and health, and to furnish a curious and useful document of the distribution of society in these States, and of the conditions and vocations of our fellow citizens, they propose, that still another table shall be formed, specifying, in diCerent columns, the number of free male < 293>
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inhabitants of all ages engaged in business, under the following or such other descriptions as the greater wisdom of the Legislature shall approve, to wit: 1. men of the learned professions, including clergymen, lawyers, physicians, those employed in the Ane arts, teachers and scribes, in general. 2. Merchants and traders, including bankers, insurers, brokers and dealers of every kind. 3. Mariners. 4. handy craftsmen. 5. labourers in agriculture. 6. labourers of other descriptions. 7. domestic servants. 8. paupers. 9. persons of no particular calling living on their income: care being to be taken, that every person be noted but once in this table, and that under the description to which he principally belongs. They Batter themselves, that from these data, truths will result very satisfactory to our citizens; that under the joint inBuence of soil, climate and occupation, the duration of humans life in this portion of the earth, will be found at least equal to what it is in any other; and that it’s population increases with a rapidity unequalled in all others. What other views may be advantageously taken, they submit with those above suggested, to the superior wisdom of Congress, in whose decision they will acquiesce with unqualiAed respect. by order of the society Th: Jefferson President MS (DNA: RG 46, Senate Records, 6th Cong., 1st sess.); in an unidentiAed hand except for closing, signature, and one correction by TJ (see note 2 below); undated; endorsed by TJ: “Jan. 10. read & commd.”; also endorsed by a Senate clerk. MS (PPAmP); entirely in TJ’s hand; unsigned; endorsed in another hand for the American Philosophical Society: “Read Jany. 17. 1800.” Printed by order of the Senate, 23 Jan. 1800, with the memorial of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences (see below; In Senate of the United States, January 23d, 1800 [Philadelphia, 1800]; Evans, No. 38739). A communication from the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, read at a meeting of the American Philosophical Society that TJ presided over on 7 Jan., prompted the writing of this memorial. The academy, established the previous year and Alling a void left by the demise of the earlier Connecticut Society of Arts and Sciences, had prepared a memorial to Congress regarding the upcoming federal census of 1800, not-
ing that “The United States, comprehending a great variety of climates, have the power, by legislative measures, to collect and combine, under one view, many important facts, relative to the eCects of climate, modes of living, face of the country and occupations, upon the character of diseases, and the duration of human life.” Over the signature of the academy’s president, Timothy Dwight, the Connecticut memorial suggested that the census classify inhabitants by nine categories of age ranging from infants to people over 100, note occupations and marital status, and keep separate “the returns from the several cities, towns, counties or other districts.” The academy, which also sought to mobilize the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Boston on the subject, urged the APS to “unite their inBuence with that of the Connecticut Academy, by petitioning Congress to the same eCect,” and stressed that there should be “no delay” (Simeon Baldwin to Adam Seybert, 25 Dec. 1799, RC in APS; In Senate of the United States, January 23d, 1800; aps, Proceedings, 22, pt. 3 [1884], 290; Rollin G.
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9 JAN UARY 1800 Osterweis, “The Sesquicentennial History of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences,” Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, 38 [1949], 105-7). At the meeting of 7 Jan. TJ and the society’s three vice presidents, Caspar Wistar, Robert Patterson, and Benjamin Rush, were appointed to draw up a memorial on behalf of the APS. Although the memorial above is nominally addressed to both houses of Congress, in January the second U.S. census was not under consideration by the House of Representatives, which had passed a bill on the subject on 31 Dec. and awaited action by the Senate. There, a committee consisting of James Ross, John Laurance, and Uriah Tracy was to report on the matter, and Ross on 10 Jan. presented the APS memorial to the Senate, Tracy presented the one from the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, and both appeals were referred to the committee. A week later at a meeting of the APS, which had not met since the 7th, the document was read into the society’s record and copies were ordered for the academy in Connecticut and the American Academy. The Senate wrote amendments to the census bill, all but one of which were agreed to by the House, and the measure became law on 28 Feb. Under the former act, passed in 1790, the schedules of the Arst census distinguished free white males 16 or older from free white males under that age, but nothing was
recorded about the ages of the rest of the population. The 1800 statute provided for some greater categorization by age, but only for free white males and females. The legislators did not use the epochs mentioned by the APS or the age divisions suggested by the academy, ignoring any distinctions above the age of 45 or for children younger than 10 even among free whites. The schedule allowed for the recording of the county, parish, or town in which each family resided, but made no provision for any data about places of birth or occupations (aps, Proceedings, 22, pt. 3 [1884], 290, 293-4; jhr, 3:533, 546-7, 584-5, 603, 608, 611, 629, 640; js, 3:16, 19, 22, 24, 26-7, 35, 39, 40; U.S. Statutes at Large, 1:101-3; 2:11-14). tables of other countries: in calculating human lifespans and the associated question of the duration of a generation, as in his 6 Sep. 1789 letter to Madison containing the assertion that “the earth belongs in usufruct to the living,” TJ relied on information published by the Comte de BuCon (Herbert E. Sloan, Principle and Interest: Thomas JeCerson and the Problem of Debt [New York, 1995], 52, 84, 209, 277n, 356n; Vol. 15:394, 399; Vol. 24:95). q Word interlined in MS at PPAmP in place of “greatly.” r Word interlined by TJ in place of “proportion”; MS at PPAmP: “population.” s Word interlined in MS at PPAmP.
From James Madison Dear Sir Jany. 9. 1800 The question on the Report printed, was decided by 60 for & 40 agst. it, the day before yesterday, after a debate Ave days. Yesterday & today have been spent on Mr. Giles’ propositions, which with some softenings will probably pass, by nearly the same vote. The Senate is in rather a better state than was expected. The debate turned almost wholly on the right of the Legislature to protest. The Constitutionality of the Alien & Sedition Acts & of the C. Law was waved. It was said that the last question would be discussed under Mr. Giles propo< 295>
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sitions; but as yet nothing has been urged in its favor. It is probable however that the intention has not been laid aside. I thank you for the pamphlets. Adieu. Yrs aCy. Js. Madison Jr RC (DLC: Madison Papers); endorsed by TJ as received 16 Jan. and so recorded in SJL.
According to the printed journal, the House of Delegates approved Madison’s report by a vote of 100 to 60 (jhd, Dec. 1799-Jan. 1800, 72).
To Thomas McKean Dear Sir Philadelphia Jan. 9. 1800. Mr. Beckley informs me he has proposed himself to your notice in the disposal of oDces in this state. his long residence here has given you such opportunities of personal knolege of him that it is unnecessary to supply that: otherwise I should add with pleasure & truth my testimony of the talents, diligence & integrity with which he has conducted himself in oDce, and of his zealous attachment to good principles in government. but all this has been under your own eye, and my putting pen to paper on the subject is only because he has set some value on my evidence. with the scales of justice in your hand, and weighing in them the qualiAcations of every candidate, we are in duty bound to say ‘thy will be done.’ our conAdence in the merits of a friend leaves nothing to fear from the issue of that trial. with great and sincere respect & esteem for you personally, and constant prayers for calm seas & temperate breezes on the voyage to which you are committed, I am Dear Sir Your friend & humble servant Th: Jefferson RC (PHi); at foot of text: “Governor Mc.Kain”; endorsed. PrC (DLC).
For J. Brown’s delivery of this letter to Governor McKean in Lancaster, see John Beckley to Tench Coxe, 7 Jan. 1800 (PHi: Coxe Papers).
Notes on a Conversation with Benjamin Rush Jan. 10. Dr. Rush tells me that he had it from Saml. Lyman that during the XYZ Congress the Federal members held the largest Caucus they have ever had, at which he was present, & the question was proposed & debated whether they < 296>
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should declare war against France, & determined in the Negative. Lyman was against it. he tells me that mr Adams told him that when he came on in the fall to Trenton, he was there surrounded constantly by the opponents of the late mission to France. that Hamilton pressing him to delay it, said ‘why, Sir, by Christmas Louis the XVIII. will be seated on his throne’—Mr. A. by whom?—H. by the coalition.—Mr. A. ah! then farewell to the independce of Europe. if a coalition moved by the Anger of England is to give a government to France, there is an end to the independance of every country. MS (DLC: TJ Papers, 108:18558); entirely in TJ’s hand; on same sheet as Notes on a Conversation with Tench Coxe, 2 Jan. 1800. The large caucus may have been the one that Henry Tazewell reported to TJ in the summer of 1798; see Tazewell to TJ, 5, 12 July 1798. Although in 1801 adams made some notes of his October 1799 stay in trenton, where the federal government had relocated due to yellow fever and where he instructed his cabinet to send forward the new diplomatic mission to France, only later, in 1808-9, did he pen a description of his meeting with hamilton. In a letter of 30 Dec. 1799, Abigail Adams characterized her husband's comments to Hamilton in some detail. By her account, when Hamilton declared that both the king of France and the Dutch stadtholder would be restored to power by Christmas, her husband retorted: “I should as soon expect . . . that the sun, moon & stars will fall from their orbits, as events of that kind take place in any such
period.” Mrs. Adams was not in Trenton with her husband at the time of the interview with Hamilton, and it seems likely that she and Rush, whom she mentioned in her letter of 30 Dec., both learned of the conversation from the president in Philadelphia in the latter part of 1799. None of the accounts by Adams or his wife contained a warning by the president about the consequences that outside interference in the governance of France would have on national sovereignty. None of those versions, however, purported to include every particular. Hamilton did not record details of the conversation (Adams, Works, 9:253-6; Ephraim May Cunningham, comp., Correspondence between the Hon. John Adams, Late President of the United States, and the Late Wm. Cunningham, Esq.: Beginning in 1803, and Ending in 1812 [Boston, 1823], 48; Stewart Mitchell, ed., New Letters of Abigail Adams, 1788-1801 [Boston, 1947], 2089, 224-5; Syrett, Hamilton, 23:546-7; 25:219; Elkins and McKitrick, Age of Federalism, 639-40).
To George Jefferson Dear Sir Philadelphia Jan. 12. 1800. Your favors of Jan. 26. & 31. came safely to hand. what you decided on the subject of the molasses was according to my wish, and I would only desire my former order on that subject to be complied with in < 297>
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the event of it’s falling to the price then mentioned. I expect by this time you will have recieved 3. tons of half crown rod from Monticello, which I return to mr Roberts as unAt for my use. he agrees to recieve it in Richmond. keep it therefore till I get information from him as to the person in Richmond to whom we are to deliver it. With respect to mr Short’s principal & interest payable by the James river co. as mr Barnes is the deposit of all his funds, I have given him an order to receive this payment, which order he indorses to you, & it will remain between him and you as he shall direct. I inclose you the order, and shall be glad to learn from you the exact sum which shall be paid under it. On my own account I now inclose you a bank post note for eight hundred dollars to replace the balance of my account with you, and to enable you to answer draughts which will come to you in the course of this & early in the next month. I write by this post to mr John Wardrop to call on you for 94. D 93 c but as I am particularly desirous this should not be a moment unpaid, I will ask you to seek him, if he should not call on you immediately. I suppose him to be in Richmond; but if not in the way the paiment will be as valid if made to mr Thomas Gordon of Petersburg. it is in discharge of an old account of Ninian Minzies presented not long since.—let me know immediately if you please whether there has beenq a draught by Brydie & co on Barnes for the 33331 D for James Key. if not made before you get this, I will on recieving your information have it forwarded to mr Brydie in bank bills. of course after you shall notify me, no bill must be drawn by him as it would And our hands emptied of this deposit. I am Dear Sir Your’s aCectionately Th: Jefferson P.S. our tobaccoes of 1798. sent here are sold on long instalments at 7. D. PrC (MHi); with postscript written in left margin perpendicular to text; at foot of text: “Mr. George JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosures not found. George JeCerson’s favors were of 26 and 31 Dec. 1799. The letter from TJ to john wardrop, recorded in SJL at 12 Jan. 1800, has not been found. A letter from Wardrop to TJ of 16 Dec. 1797, recorded in SJL as received from Richmond on 26 Dec. 1797, is also missing, as are letters from TJ to Wardrop of 3 Jan. and 2 Aug. 1798. Letters from thomas gordon of
petersburg to TJ of 28 Jan. 1795, 30 June and 19 Oct. 1796, and 29 Aug. 1798, recorded in SJL as received 11 Feb. 1795, 8 July, 21 Oct. 1796, and 30 Aug. 1798, respectively, have not been found. Letters from TJ to Gordon of 21 Feb. 1795 and 2 Oct. 1796 are also missing. In 1775 TJ stayed in the house of the Scottish merchant ninian minzies while in Richmond. TJ contracted the debt to Minzies in 1773 (mb, 1:287, 392; 2:1013). q Preceding two words interlined in place of “is a probable prospect of.”
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From James Madison Dear Sir Richmond Jany. 12. 1800 My last informed you of the result of the debates on the justifying Report of the Select Committee. I am now able to add that of Mr. Giles’s resolutions. The question on the whole was decided in the aDrmative by a little upwards of a hundred against less than Afty. The vote was rather stronger on some of the particular resolutions, for example the instruction for disbanding the army. The alien sedition & Tobacco instructions passed without a count or a division. That relating to the Common law, passed unanimously with an amendment qualifying it in the words of the paragraph in the Justifying Report under which certain deAned parts of the C.L. are admitted to be the law of the U.S. This amendment was moved by the minority on the idea that it covers the doctrine they contend for. On our side it is considered as a guarded exposition of the powers expressed in the Constn: and those necessary & proper to carry them into execution. I am not able to say in what manner they misconstrue the deAnition, unless they apply the term “adopt” to the “Court” which would be equally absurd & unconstitutional. The Judges themselves will hardly contend that they can adopt a law, that is, make that law which before was not law. The diCerence in the majority on the Report & the resolutions, was occasioned chieBy by the pledge given agst. the former by the members who voted agst. the Resolutions of last year. The resolutions also underwent some improvements which reconciled many to them who were not satisAed with their Arst tone & form. It is understood that the present assembly is rather stronger on the republican side than the last one: and that a few favorable changes have taken place in the course of the Session. It is proposed to introduce tomorrow a bill for a general ticket in chusing the next Electors. I expect to leave this in a week; so that your subsequent favors will And me in Orange. adieu Shew this to Mr. Dawson. RC (DLC: Madison Papers); endorsed by TJ as received 18 Jan. and so recorded in SJL. my last: Madison to TJ, 9 Jan. 1800. paragraph in the justifying report: on 11 Jan. the Virginia House of Delegates amended Giles’s third resolution, which denied that the British common law was in force in the United States, by adding a passage, almost ver-
batim, from Madison’s report on the Virginia Resolutions. The amendment excepted particular parts of the common law sanctioned by the Constitution “so far as they are necessarily comprehended in the technical phrases, which express the powers delegated to the government” or that “may be adopted as necessary and proper for carrying into execution the powers expressly delegated.” The Virginia Senate added the words “by
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12 JAN UARY 1800 Congress” after “adopted” for clariAcation. TJ had Madison’s report printed with the emendation (Madison, Papers, 17:329, 351n; jhd, Dec. 1799-Jan. 1800, 80, 82; Madison to TJ, 18 Jan. 1800). On 13 Jan. the House of Delegates appointed a committee, which included Madison and John Taylor, to bring in a bill for a general ticket to replace the district method for choosing the state’s 21 electors for president and vice president. While the Republicans had previously criticized the use of the general ticket, they realized that under the district method the Virginia Federalists would win several electoral votes. They
argued that since several New England states consolidated their votes with the general ticket, states that did not were at a disadvantage, and that the general ticket was necessary until a constitutional amendment established a uniform mode for choosing electors. The legislation passed the Virginia House on 17 Jan. by a 78 to 73 vote and the Senate three days later (jhd, Dec. 1799-Jan. 1800, 83, 91; Shepherd, Statutes, 2:197-200; Richard R. Beeman, The Old Dominion and the New Nation, 1788-1801 [Lexington, Ky., 1972], 216; TJ to James Thomson Callender, 6 Oct. 1799).
To James Monroe Jan. 12. 1800
Yours of Jan. 4. was recieved last night. I had then no expectation of any opportunity of communicating to you conAdentially information of the state of opinions here. but I learn to-night that two mr Randolphs will set out tomorrow morning for Richmond. if I can get this into their hands I shall send it. otherwise it may wait long. on the subject of an election by a general ticket or by districts, most persons hereq seem to have made up their minds. all agree that an election by districts would be best if it could be general: but while 10. states chuse either by their legislatures or by a general ticket, it is folly & worse than folly for the other 6. not to do it. in these 10. states the minority is entirely unrepresented; & their majorities not only have the weight of their whole state in their scale but have the beneAt of so much of our minorities as can succeed at a district election. this is in fact ensuring to our minorities the appointment of the government. to state it in another form, it is merely a question whether we will divide the US. into 16. or 137. districts. the latter, being more chequered, & representing the people in smaller sections, would be more likely to be an exact representation of their diversiAed sentiments. but a representation of a part by great & a part by small sections, would give a result very diCerent from what would be the sentiment of the whole people of the US. were they assembled together.—I have had to day a conversation with 113.r who has taken a Bying trip here from N.Y. he says they have really now a majority in their H. of R. but for want of < 300>
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some skilful person to rally round, they are disjointed, & will lose every question. in the Senate there is a majority of 8. or 9. against us. but in the new election which is to come on in April, three or 4. in the Senate will be changed in our favor; & in the H. of R. the country elections will still be better than the last: but still all will depend on the City election which is of 12. members. at present there would be no doubt of our carrying our ticket there; nor does there seem to be time for any events arising to change that disposition. there is therefore the best prospect possible of a great & decided majority on a joint vote of the two houses. they are so conAdent of this that the Republican party there will not consent to elect either by districts or a general ticket. they chuse to do it by their legislature. I am told the Republicans of N.J. are equally conAdent, & equally anxious against an election either by districts or a general ticket. the contest in this state will end in a separation of the present legislature without passing any election law (& their former one is expired) and in depending on the new one, which will be elected Oct. 14. in which the Republican majority will be more decided in the Representatives, & instead of a majority of 5. against us in the Senate, will be of 1. for us. they will, from the necessity of the case, chuse the electors themselves. perhaps it will be thought I ought in delicacy to be silent on this subject. but you, who know me, know that my private gratiAcations would be most indulged by that issue which should leave me most at home. if any thing supercedes this propensity, it is merely the desire to see this government brought back to it’s republican principles.—consider this as written to mr Madison as much as yourself; & communicate it, if you think it will do any good, to those possessing our joint conAdence, or any others where it may be useful & safe. health & aCectionate salutations. RC (NN); addressed: “James Monroe Governor of Virginia Richmond”; endorsed by Monroe. PrC (DLC). q Word interlined. r That is, “Burr.” TJ placed a caret
under the Anal digit; in Code No. 9, the cipher used by TJ, Monroe, and Madison (see Madison to TJ, 22 May, 19 Dec. 1796, and note to TJ to Monroe, 12 June 1796), “113” means “bur,” and the caret indicates a doubling of the Anal letter.
Notes on a Conversation with Samuel Smith 12. Genl. Sam. Smith says that Pickering, Wolcott & Mc.Henry wrote a joint letter from Trenton to the President then at < 301>
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Baintree, dissuading him from the mission to France. Stoddard refused to join in it. Stoddard says the instructions are such as that if the Directory have any dispositions to reconciliation, a treaty will be made. he observed to him also that Elsworth looks beyond this mission to the Presidential chair, that with this view he will endeavor to make a treaty & a good one. that Davie has the same vanity & views. all this communicated by Stoddard to S. Smith. MS (DLC: TJ Papers, 108:18558); entirely in TJ’s hand; on same sheet as Notes on a Conversation with Benjamin Rush, 10 Jan. 1800. On 11 Sep. 1799 Pickering informed Adams from trenton that the department heads had concluded that the government should seriously consider “suspending the mission” to France. Wolcott and McHenry concurred with Pickering, but Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Stoddert conveyed to Adams on 13 Sep. his opinion that peace could be
maintained with both France and England. He urged the president to come to Trenton to secure the proper preparations for the French mission. Upon receipt of Stoddert’s letter, Adams decided to proceed there and requested Attorney General Charles Lee, who supported the mission to France, and commissioners Oliver Ellsworth and William R. Davie to join him there (Adams, Works, 9:23-9, 33-4; Page Smith, John Adams, 2 vols. [Garden City, N.Y., 1962], 2:1010-14; Notes on a Conversation with Benjamin Rush, 10 Jan.).
To George Jefferson & Company Dear Sir Philadelphia Jan. 13. 1800. I wrote to you yesterday inclosing an order in favor of mr Barnes for mr Short’s principal & interest due from the Jas. river co. as also a bank post note on mr Heth for 800. Doll. to be applied to my credit. I have in consequence by letters of this day authorised Richard Richardson (Albemarle) to draw on you for 329. Doll. and mr John Watson of Milton to draw on you for 116 D. 17 which draughts be pleased to honor, when they shall be presented. early in February a draught of mine in favor of William Page of Albemarle for 80. Doll. dated in Dec. but paiable in February will be presented which make up the whole of the calls which this remittance was meant to cover. that in favor of Wardrop for 94. D [93] was mentioned yesterday. I am Dear Sir Yours sincerely & aCectionately Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); at foot of text: “Messrs. George JeCerson & co.”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. richard richardson was to pay
John Hendrick $66.67 for the hire of Moses and to pay Ban $41.33 “for his own hire” (mb, 2:1013). For other payments from the sum, see Memorandum to Richard Richardson, printed at 21
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13 JAN UARY 1800 Dec. 1799. The letter from TJ to Richardson, recorded in SJL under 12 Jan., has not been found. In his Anancial records TJ noted that john watson was to credit James Key, from whom TJ had purchased corn in late 1799, for the amount of the payment
(mb, 2:1013). A letter from TJ to Watson, recorded in SJL under 13 Jan., has not been found. On 20 Dec. TJ gave william page an order on George JeCerson & Co. for £24 to settle the account (mb, 2:101011).
Notes on a Conversation with John Nicholas 13. Baer & Harrison G. Otis told J. Nicholas that in the Caucus mentioned ante 10th. there wanted but 5. votes to produce a declaration of war. Baer was against it. MS (DLC: TJ Papers, 108:18558); entirely in TJ’s hand; on same sheet as Notes on a Conversation with Samuel Smith, 12 Jan. 1800.
caucus: see Notes on a Conversation with Benjamin Rush, 10 Jan. 1800. Nicholas, George Baer, Jr., of Maryland, and Harrison Gray Otis served together in the Fifth and Sixth Congresses (Biog. Dir. Cong.).
From Josiah Parker Dear Sir, Phila. Jany. 13th. 1800. Dr. Oliver a particular friend of mine from Massachusets. has requested me to apply to you for the price of the Statue erected at Richmond in honor of General Washington, also to know the price of an equestrian Statue, in Marble or Bronze, the object of his enquiry is to know the price of the diCerent sorts of Statues that he may be able to inform a Committee, of which he is one, in Salem who are requested by the Citizens of that Town to procure a Statue to be erected in that Town in remembrance of General Washington—I would have done myself the pleasure to have called on you but from indisposition— With much respect & esteem. J: Parker RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ as received on this date and so recorded in SJL. Benjamin Lynde oliver was a Salem, Massachusetts, physician. In 1802 the
town’s selectmen renamed the common, to which improvements had been made by subscription the previous year, Washington Square. Local craftsman and house designer Samuel McIntire carved a wooden portrait medallion of the Arst
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13 JAN UARY 1800 president for one of the gates of the square (The Diary of William Bentley, D.D.: Pastor of the East Church, Salem, Massachusetts, 4 vols. [Salem, Mass., 1905-14], 3:30, 533; Charles S. Osgood
and H. M. Batchelder, Historical Sketch of Salem, 1626-1879 [Salem, Mass., 1879], 244, 249; Samuel Chamberlain, A Stroll through Historic Salem [New York, 1969], 13-16, 45).
To Josiah Parker Sir Senate chamber Jan. 13. 1800. In answer to the several enquiries in your letter of this day, I have the honor to inform you that the marble statue of Genl. Washington in the Capitol in Richmond with it’s pedestal cost in Paris 24,000. livres or 1000 Louis d’ors. it is of the size of life, and made by Houdon, reckoned one of the Arst statuaries in Europe. besides this we paid Houdon’s expences coming to & returning from Virginia to take the General’s likeness, which as well as I recollect were about 500 guineas, & the transportation of the statue to Virginia with a workman, to put it up the amount of which I never heard. The price of an equestrian statue of the usual size, which is considerably above that of the life, whether in Marble or Bronze costs in Paris 40,000 Louis d’ors from the best hand. Houdon asked that price for one which had been thought of for General Washington: but I do not recollect whether this included the pedestal of marble, which is a considerable piece of work. these were the prices in 1789. in Paris. I believe that in Rome or Florence, the same things may be had from the best artists for about two thirds of the above prices, executed in the marble of Carrara, the best now known. but unless Ciracchi’s busts of Genl. Washington are, any of them, there, it would be necessary to send there one of Houdon’s Agures in plaister, which packed properly for safe transportation would probably cost 20. or 30. guineas. I do not know that any of Ciracchi’s busts of the General are to be had any where. I am with great consideration Sir Your very humble servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); at foot of text: “Mr. Parker.”
To Thomas Mann Randolph Th:J. to TMR. Philadelphia Jan. 13. 1800 I have suCered the Post day to come upon me for two weeks past so unexpectedly as to be unable to write even the necessary letters of < 304>
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business. I found on my arrival that Barnes had not had the courage to sell our tobacco notwithstanding my positive directions to do so. he could then I believe have got 70 D. for it. I struggled for a fortnight for that price, but was obliged at length to take 7. D. at very long instalments, to wit, 2, 4, 6, 8, & 10. months. I was indeed conAned almost entirely to Lieper, because I would not have trusted any merchant in Philadelphia for 10. months. the Hamburg failures, (which are in truth English failures, for the Hamburghers were only the depositories for the English merchants) are so total, & such consignments of produce have been made thither from all the trading towns of the US. & bills drawn on them & now on their passage, that no merchant is safe. for however unconnected himself with Hamburgh he is connected with those in that trade, and a crush is expected of incalculable extent. Mc.Gruder owed Gamble in account 49,000 Doll. besides £16,000 sterl. bills of his sold & endorsed by Gamble which it is expected will all come back. this came from Temple through a single hand to me.—you will see by the papers that a motion to disband the army has failed, by a majority of 60. to 39. of that majority, Virginia contributed 7. votes, & N.C. near as many. another motion will be tried to-day, to stop recruiting: but I see no reason to expect it to succeed.—J. Randolph has spoken twice with inAnite applause, on two successive days, tho’ the tenor of his speeches were very temperate he used a word, ragamuDns, in speaking of the common soldiery, on the Arst day. he took it back of his own accord very handsomely the next day. nevertheless he was insulted by some oDcers on the 2d evening at the playhouse; but being spiritedly supported by some members of Congress who were with him it passed oC. as they are said to have been very inferior oDcers of the navy, I understand his friends have thought it the best course to address the President for their dismissal.—I arrived here on the 8th. day of my journey having had good weather & good roads after I got to Fredsbg. I left Jupiter there very sick, & having heard nothing of him since am not without anxiety. I think his complaint of very doubtful event, tho it may be of some time. if mr Trist has not yet left Charlottesville I would thank you to ask the favor of him to bring about half a pint of the cowpeas to me. it is to oblige a very particular friend here.—Bureaux-Pusy (the companion of La Fayette) arrived some time ago at N. York, & with him the wife & daughter of Dupont de Nemours. the latter is the wife of BureauxPusy. I recieved by him a letter from La Fayette who expected to sail for America in July, but probably waits the issue of our negociation. I have not yet seen Bureaux-Pusy. I understand they expect Dupont < 305>
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daily.—the deAcit for the year is 5. millions of Dollars. they propose to borrow it, but I think they cannot in the present crazy state of our merchants. I am told there will be an attempt by the minority to tax the funds & banks equally with lands. this would add a capital for taxation of 100. millions of dollars, which does not now pay one dollar. it would carry an argument home to those gentry who are calling for a war in which they are neither to pay nor Aght. but the attempt will fail with the present Congress.—my warmest love to my ever dear Martha. kisses to the children & aCectionate salutations to yourself. P. S. since writing the above we recieve information of the failure of the house of Stewart in Baltimore for a million & a half of dollars. RC (DLC); endorsed by Randolph as received 1 Feb. 1800. PrC (same). motion to disband the army: on 10 Jan. the House defeated the resolution introduced by John Nicholas on 1 Jan. calling for the repeal of the acts of 16 July 1798 to augment the army and of 3 Mch. 1799 for the better organizing of the troops. Eleven Virginia representatives voted for the reduction of the army but Thomas Evans, Samuel Goode, Henry Lee, John Marshall, Robert Page, Josiah Parker, and Levin Powell voted against the measure. Of the nine North Carolina representatives present, four voted for the resolution and Ave against it. On 13 Jan. Harrison Gray Otis brought in a report recommending that the army of 4,000 men already raised be kept in readiness but that recruiting be stopped. A bill to suspend further enlistments passed the House on 24 Jan. and the Senate on 11 Feb. by a 21 to 10 vote (Annals, 10:227-8, 247, 368-9, 374-5; jhr, 3:556-7, 560-1, 569; js, 3:23, 29). For a discussion of the support of a number of Federalists for the bill, see Kohn, Eagle and Sword, 260-3. mc.gruder: notice of the failure of the Baltimore Arm of William B. McGruder & Co. appeared in the Federal Gazette & Baltimore Daily Advertiser, 24 Dec. 1799. John randolph, the Arst-term congressman from Virginia, argued in debate on 9 Jan. against a standing army and in support of the militia. He referred
to the common soldiery as “mercenary forces” and “ragamuDns” and noted the adverse eCect on the public temper of troops “who live upon the public, who consume the fruits of their honest industry, under the pretext of protecting them from a foreign yoke.” Randolph took it back the next day and wished that he could “exchange” the word “ragamuDn,” a term that had been “extorted from him by the character and appearance of the recruits in his country; men the most abject and worthless of the community.” Two marines, Captain James McKnight and Lieutenant Michael Reynolds, harangued and jostled him that same evening at the New Theatre on Chestnut Street and several congressmen who had accompanied him came to his defense. Randolph, arguing that by the assault on him the independence of the legislature had been attacked, penned an address to the president for their dismissal, “to deter others from any future attempt to introduce the reign of terror” into the country. Encouraged by his cabinet oDcers, Adams transmitted the letter to the House of Representatives on 14 Jan., requesting them to investigate the incident. Randolph retorted that it was up to the president, as commander-in-chief of the Army, “to aCord a remedy, and to restrain men under his command from giving personal abuse and insult.” A committee dominated by Federalists investigated, chided Randolph for addressing Adams improperly, and resolved to thank the president for respecting the privileges of the House
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14 JAN UARY 1800 by forwarding Randolph’s letter to them. A second resolution found insuDcient cause “for the interposition of this House” in the matter. On 29 Jan. the House passed the resolution thanking the president. Republicans made an unsuccessful eCort to amend the second resolution by Anding the conduct of the two oDcers “indiscreet and improper.” An attempt by Randolph supporters at a resolution
disapproving the behavior of McKnight and Reynolds was ruled out of order by the Speaker. The resolution failed, and no action was taken (jhr, 3:572-7; Annals, 10:298, 367, 369, 372-4, 377-84, 448-50, 502-7; Page Smith, John Adams, 2 vols. [Garden City, N.Y., 1962], 2:1023). letter from la fayette: see 19 Apr. 1799.
To Henry Remsen Dear Sir Philadelphia Jan. 14. 1800. I am not certain whether I ever acknoleged the reciept of your favor of Oct. 21. which came to hand in due time. the rapid fall of the price of tobacco in all the markets has kept the holders of that commodity constantly doubtful what to do. the part of mine which I detained, I afterwards brought here, & after refusing several better oCers have at length taken 7. Doll. a hundred. probably the same thing has taken place with you. I write therefore to ask the favor of your information of the state of the [. . .] you were so kind as to recieve for me; in order that [if it] be still undisposed of I may decide what had best be done with it. I am happy to hear from Colo. Burr that you are well, & that you have taken a stand in the new company. I hope the position will answer all your wishes being with very sincere esteem Dear Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); damaged; at foot of text: “Henry Remson esq.”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Remsen’s favor of oct. 21, recorded in SJL as received on the 31st of that month, has not been found. new company: the Manhattan Company, incorporated in 1799 through the eCorts of Aaron Burr. Ostensibly intended to provide drinking water for New York City, the corporation was primarily a mechanism for the formation of a bank— one that was meant to be favorably dis-
posed to Republicans and became a hot political issue. Remsen, who in 1792 had been appointed teller of the New York branch of the Bank of the United States, was cashier of the new bank, which opened at 23 Wall Street (Kline, Burr, 1:399-403; Syrett, Hamilton, 22:446-9; Longworth’s American Almanac, NewYork Register, and City Directory for the Twenty-Fifth Year of American Independence [New York, 1800], 271, 308; New York Times, 10 Aug. 1941, section 3, p. 1; George Taylor, Jr., to TJ, 17 Mch. 1792).
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To Charles Brockden Brown Sir Philadelphia Jan. 15. 1800. I recieved on my arrival here some days ago the copy of the book you were so kind as to send me together with your letter, for which be pleased to accept my thanks. as soon as I am in a situation to admit it (which is hardly the case here) I shall read it, & I doubt not with great pleasure. some of the most agreeable moments of my life have been spent in reading works of imagination which have this advantage over history that the incidents of the former may be dressed in the most interesting form, while those of the latter must be conAned to fact. they cannot therefore present virtue in the best & vice in the worst forms possible, as the former may. I have the honor to be with great consideration Sir Your most obedt. servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); at foot of text: “Mr. Charles B. Brown. 45 Pine street: N. York”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
your letter: Brown to TJ, 25 Dec. 1799.
To Jonathan Williams Philadelphia. Jan. 15. 1800.
Th: JeCerson presents his compliments & thanks to mr Williams for the copy of his Thermometrical navigation which he was so kind as to send him. he has read it, as he had done before, in another form, with great satisfaction, and has no doubt it will be of great utility to navigators. Th:J. has for some time wished he could try the thermometer daily in the river near which he lives, presuming it would furnish a very steady measure of the advance & recess of the seasons, and that such observations made in the rivers of diCerent states would exhibit one of the good comparative views of climate. but the present course of his life forbids it. health and friendly salutations. PrC (DLC). Williams’s recently published book was Thermometrical Navigation. Being a Series of Experiments and Observations Tending to Prove, that by Ascertaining the Relative Heat of the Sea-Water from Time to Time, the Passage of a Ship through the Gulph Stream, and from Deep Water into
Soundings, May be Discovered in Time to Avoid Danger (Philadelphia, 1799; see Sowerby, No. 649). in another form: the book incorporated reports that Williams and Benjamin Franklin, his great-uncle, had presented to the American Philosophical Society in 1785, 1790, and 1792 (aps, Transactions, 2 [1786], 294-329; 3 [1793], 82-100, 194-202).
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To Morgan Brown Sir Philadelphia. Jan. 16. 1800. Your letter of Octob. 1. has been duly recieved, and I have to make you my acknowlegements for the oCer of the two Indian busts found on the Cumberland & in your possession. such monuments of the state of the arts among the Indiansq are too singular not to be highly esteemed, and I shall preserve them as such with great care. they will furnish new and strong proofs how far the patience & perseverance of the Indian Artist supplied the very limited means of execution which he possessed. accept therefore, I pray you my sincere thanks for your kind oCer, and assurances of the gratiAcation these curiosities will yield here. as such objects cannot be conveyed without injury but by water, I will ask the favor of you to forward them by some vessel going down the river to New Orleans, to the address of mr Daniel Clarke junr. of that place, to whom I write to have them forwarded round by sea, & to answer for me the expences of transportation, package &c. I am, with many acknowlegements for this mark of your attention Sir Your most obedt. humble servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); at foot of text: “Mr. Morgan Brown. Palmyra.” Probably enclosed in TJ to Harry Innes, 23 Jan. 1800.
q Preceding three words interlined.
To Daniel Clark Sir Philadelphia Jan. 16. 1800. Your favor of Nov. 12. has been duly received; as has also the parcel of Paccan nuts for which, as well as the oranges, be pleased to accept my acknolegements. the latter mr Coxe informed me had experienced the usual fate of such delicate things on long voiages. the nuts I have immediately forwarded to Monticello, my residence in Virginia, to be planted. two young trees planted in that part of the country in 1780. and now Bourishing, though not bearing, prove they may be raised there; and I shall set great value on the chance of having a grove of them. I sincerely rejoice at mr Nolan’s escape from the designs entertained against him. I do not recollect the particular expressions in my letter to him relative to the places where the horse is to be found wild. but I presume from what you mention that the expression has been too careless. I know that they exist in Siberia in a state absolutely wild, & probably aboriginal; & in some other parts of Northern Asia < 309>
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where they have become wild & so continued for generations. but still we have of these few particulars, as to render the details which mr Nolan can give extremely desireable.—mr Dunbar gives me hope of a full communication of the language by signs which you mention in your letter. it is probable he will take it down with more exactness than would result even from a journey of the person to this place. he would And us here immersed in business during the session of Congress, & in it’s recess dispersed over the diCerent parts of the US. so that any diCerences in the eCect of his communications here or there, might not satisfy himself for the trouble of so long a journey. this is our last session at this place. in future we shall convene at a place newly laid out at the head of the tidewater of the Patowmac.— you may be assured that no communications on the subject of the horse shall ever compromit the person from whom they come. Mr. Morgan Brownq of Palmyra proposes to send me two Indian busts of marble or other stone, which must be curious, as made by a people who possessed so few of the means of working in stone. emboldened by your kind attentions, I have taken the liberty of desiring him to send them down the river to your address; and I have even ventured to say you would pay the expences of transportation & package for me, which I would instantly replace to your friend mr Coxe here, or any other person you please. understanding that General Wilkinson is to come round by the way of New Orleans to this place in the spring, I have written to ask the favor of him to call on you for the busts & bring them here. in this way they would come with greater safety than the ordinary passage of vessels would furnish. but it is possible his journey may be declined, in which case I would ask the favor of you to avail me of any very safe conveyance by water which may occur, & not to trust them till such an one does occur. I shall on sight answer any expences which may be occasioned by this; and be happy in every occasion of assuring you of the sentiments of regard with which I am Sir Your most obedt. humble servt Th: Jefferson P.S. I take for granted mr Nolan will dispose [of his] horses before he reaches our Eastern waters. sh[ould] it prove otherwise, & should he decide to try the mar[ket] of Virginia, Monticello would be directly on his best route[.] in that case, besides the pleasure of seeing him personally I should be very happy to become a purchaser of one of his Anest horses, or rather mares for the saddle; as the males, I presume are all entire, in which state they are not so pleasant or safe to ride. I am told they have singularities of colour which are very beautiful. < 310>
16 JAN UARY 1800 PrC (DLC); at foot of Arst page: “Mr. Daniel Clarke junr.”; portions of postscript missed in letterpressing have been supplied conjecturally in brackets. RC, not found, enclosed in TJ to Harry Innes, 23 Jan. Dupl, not found, sent by sea (see Clark to TJ, 29 May 1800).
my letter to him: TJ to Philip Nolan, 24 June 1798. q Word interlined in place of “Brian.”
To William Dunbar Sir Philadelphia Jan. 16. 1800. Your favor of Oct. 6. has been duly recieved & I am much Battered with the prospect of your communications. the vocabularies of the Western Indians are much desired; and your meteorological observations will also be very acceptable; as they will furnish materials for a comparative view of climates. your letter gives me the Arst information I have ever had of the language by signs used among the Indians. I can entertain no doubt of it’s perfectibility after what I have myself seen practised by persons born deaf. a very particular account of it will be considered as a valuable acquisition. mr Clarke writes me that a person accompanies mr Nolan who is deeply versed in it, & expresses a thought of sending him on to this place. but I rather think it safest that the account should be taken from him with you, where your knolege of the subject will enable you to do it better, and he might be disappointed in the object of his journey here by that dispersion into the distant parts of the Union which takes place among us after the rising of Congress. we are not without hopes that mr Nolan may decide to try the Virginia market with his horses. in that case as my residence is on his best route, I may have the pleasure of seeing him personally, and perhaps of purchasing one of his Ane animals for the saddle, which I am told are so remarkeable for the singularity & beauty of their colors & forms. accept assurances of the great regard & esteem of Sir Your very humble servt. Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); at foot of text: “William Dunbar esq. at the Natchez.” Probably enclosed in TJ to Harry Innes, 23 Jan. 1800.
ship in the American Philosophical Society the day after TJ wrote this letter (aps, Proceedings, 22, pt. 3 [1884], 294). mr clarke writes me: Daniel Clark to TJ, 12 Nov. 1799.
prospect of your communications: Dunbar was elected to member-
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To James Wilkinson Dear General Philadelphia Jan. 16. 1800. A mr Morgan Brownq of Palmyra has been so kind as to oCer me two Indian busts of marble or other stone, which are to be forwarded to New Orleans to the care of mr Daniel Clarke junr. of that place. as there would be considerable danger of their being lost, should they come by any common conveyance from thence to this place, and understanding you will be coming round in a frigate in the spring, I take the liberty of soliciting your patronage & care of these curiosities. I take for granted you will stop at New Orleans, where mr Clarke will take the trouble of embarking them under your permission; and in whatever port you may arrive, they may be landed & put under the care of some one who will notify me. here mr John Barnes mercht. 16. South 3d street would recieve them & reimburse any expences they may have occasioned. the value which you set yourself on objects of this nature, will I am sure be my best apology for the trouble I propose to you; which I do the more willingly as it furnishes me an occasion of assuring you of the sentiments of respect & esteem with which I am Dear General Your most obedt. & most humble servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); at foot of text: “Genl. James Wilkinson.” Recorded in SJL as directed to Wilkinson “at Loftus’s heights.” Probably enclosed in TJ to Harry Innes, 23 Jan. 1800. Born on a farm in Maryland, James Wilkinson (1757-1825) trained as a physician but joined the military in 1775 almost immediately after commencing his medical practice. He quickly rose in rank during the American Revolution, was secretary of the Board of War, and became clothier general. Forced to resign from the latter post due to accounting irregularities, he also earned a reputation as an ambitious and self-serving oDcer. Released from active duty and settling near Lexington, Kentucky, in the 1780s, he negotiated special trade privileges for himself with Spanish authorities in New Orleans and secretly went on their payroll, convincing them that he would help Spain sever Kentucky from the U.S. although he simultaneously promoted statehood. In the 1790s he returned to active military service, becoming briga-
dier general and, upon Anthony Wayne’s death in 1796, assuming command of the army on the frontier. For a time after the acquisition of Louisiana he governed that territory. Concealing his own involvement in western intrigues, Wilkinson in 1806 informed TJ of Aaron Burr’s activities on the frontiers. His own conspiratorial actions were evidently always aimed at his own self-promotion rather than any larger purpose, and he seems to have alienated all of his inBuential allies in the U.S. with the exception of TJ. During Madison’s presidency in 1811 Wilkinson was court-martialed, winning acquittal for lack of evidence. Again court-martialed for dereliction of duty as major general in the War of 1812, he was once more acquitted. He did not, however, regain his command, and he spent his Anal years in New Orleans and Mexico (anb, 4:35-6; 23:400-1; dab, 20:2226). value which you set yourself on objects of this nature: Wilkinson was elected to membership in the American Philosophical Society in January
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17 JA N UA R Y 1800 1798 and later that year was, with TJ, named to a committee appointed to seek information and specimens related to the natural history and prehistory of North America. That year he sent some unidentiAed bones to the society and, in 1799, meteorological tables from Michilimackinac (aps, Proceedings, 22, pt. 3 [1884],
266, 270, 275, 287, 302, 304; note to Hugh Williamson to TJ, 3 Mch. 1798). A letter from Wilkinson to TJ, written 12 Mch. 1797 and received the same day, is recorded in SJL but has not been found. q Interlined in place of “Bryan.”
To Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours Th: Jefferson to M. Dupont the elder. [17 Jan. 1800] I have just heard, my dear friend, of your arrival, and I hasten to welcome you to our shores, where you will at least be free from some of those sources of inquietude which have surrounded you in Europe. I feel much for what you must have suCered in a voyage of 95. days at this inclement season: but I shall hope to hear that these suCerings have passed away without any lasting eCects. I should certainly have hastened to New York to see you, and to oCer you all the services I can render you, but that I am conAned by my oDce to be in the chair of the Senate daily. your son is so well acquainted with our country, and M. Bureau-Pusy I presume in some degree so, that I hope they will be able to take care of you. I much regret that you do not speak our language with ease, as I know from experience how much that lessens the pleasures of society. until I hear from you what are your plans & purposes, I know not in what way I can be useful to you; I wish I could have a personal explanation of them; but in the mean time I pray you to command any oDces I can render you. the present agonising state of commerce, and the swarms of speculators in money and in land, would induce me to beseech you to trust no-body, in whatever form they may approach you till you are fully informed; but your son, I am sure, is able to guard you from those who in this as in every other country consider the stranger as lawful prey, & watch & surround him on his Arst arrival. I am in hopes you bring us some account of La Fayette. health & happiness to you & the most aCectionate salutations. Th: Jefferson RC (DeGH: Winterthur MSS); addressed: “M. Dupont the elder”; undated, but supplied from SJL and endorsement on PrC. PrC (DLC); endorsed by TJ in ink on verso: “Dupont de Nemours. Jan. 17. 1800.”
your arrival: after a prolonged Atlantic passage hampered by unfavorable winds, the unseaworthiness of the vessel, a rebellious crew, and navigational errors, Du Pont de Nemours arrived in Newport, Rhode Island, which was not
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17 JA N UA R Y 1800 the ship’s original destination, on or soon after New Year’s Day. With him were his sons, Victor and Éleuthère Irénée, their families, a brother-in-law of Irénée, the wife and baby of Jean Xavier Bureaux de Pusy, and a few members of household staC. They soon went to Bergen Point,
New Jersey, opposite Staten Island. There Bureaux de Pusy and Madame Du Pont, arriving some weeks earlier, had purchased a house and property to serve as the family’s American home (Saricks, Du Pont, 279-81, 415n; Philadelphia Gazette, 16, 18 Jan. 1800).
To Mary Jefferson Eppes My dear Maria Philadelphia Jan. 17. 1800. I recieved at Monticello two letters from you, & meant to have answered them a little before my departure for this place; but business so crouded on me at that moment that it was not in my power. I left home on the 21st. & arrived here on the 28th. of Dec. after a pleasant journey of Ane weather and good roads, & without having experienced any inconvenience. the Senate had not yet entered into business, & I may say they have not yet entered into it: for we have not occupation for half an hour a day. indeed it is so apparent that we have nothing to do but to raise money to All the deAcit of 5. millions of Dollars, that it is proposed we shall rise about the middle of March; & as the proposition comes from the Eastern members who have always been for setting permanently, while the Southern are constantly for early adjournment, I presume we shall rise then. in the mean while they are about to renew the bill suspending intercourse with France, which is in fact a bill to prohibit the exportation of tobacco & to reduce the tobacco states to passive obedience by poverty.—J. Randolph has entered into debate with great splendor & approbation. he used an unguarded word in his Arst speech, applying the word raggamuDn to the common souldiery. he took it back of his own accord & very handsomely the next day, when he had occasion to reply. still in the evening of the 2d. day he was justled & his coat pulled at the theatre by two oDcers of the navy who repeated the word raggamuDn. his friends present supported him spiritedly so that nothing further followed. concieving, & as I think justly, that the H. of Representatives (not having passed a law on the subject) could not punish the oCenders, he wrote a letter to the President, who laid it before the house, where it is still depending. he has conducted himself with great propriety, and I have no doubt will come out with increase of reputation; being determined himself to oppose the interposition of the house where they have no law for it.—M. du Pont, his wife & family are arrived at New York, after a < 314>
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voyage of 3 months & 5 days. I suppose after he is a little recruited from his voyage, we shall see him here. his son is with him, as is also his son in law Bureau-Pusy the companion & fellow suCerer of La Fayette. I have a letter from La Fayette of April. he then expected to sail for America in July; but I suspect he awaits the eCect of the mission of our ministers. I presume Made. de la Fayette is to come with him, & that they mean to settle in America.—the prospect of returning early to Monticello is to me a most chearing one. I hope the Ashery will not prevent your joining us early in the spring. however on this subject we can speak together, as I will endeavor if possible to take Mont Blanco & Eppington in my way. a letter from D. Carr of Dec. 27. informed me he had just left you well. I become daily more anxious to hear from you, and to know that you continue well, your present state being one which is most interesting to a parent; & it’s issue I hope will be such as to give you experience what a parent’s anxiety may be. I employ my leisure moments in repassing often in my mind our happy domestic society when together at Monticello, and looking forward to the renewal of it. no other society gives me now any satisfaction, as no other is founded in sincere aCection. take care of yourself, my dear Maria, for my sake, and cherish your aCections for me, as my happiness rests solely on yours & that of your sister & your dear connections. present me aCectionately to mr Eppes, to whom I inclosed some pamphlets some time ago, without any letter; as I shall write no letters the ensuing year for political reasons which I explained to him. present my aCections also to mrs & mr Eppes senr. and all the family for whom I feel every interest that I do for my own. be assured yourself, my dear, of my most tender & constant love. Adieu Your’s aCectionately & for ever Th: Jefferson RC (DLC); addressed: “Mrs. Maria Eppes at Eppington by the Petersburg mail”; franked and postmarked. letters from you: for a missing letter written by Mary JeCerson Eppes, see TJ to John Wayles Eppes, 21 Dec. 1799. There is no record of a second one. According to SJL, her preceding letter was of 26 June 1799. A bill to renew the suspension of trade with France was introduced into the House on 3 Feb. and passed on 20 Feb. An amendment that would have given neutral vessels the right to trade between U.S. and French ports failed,
but one that permitted the president to appoint a consul to French dependencies passed. Striking out the amendment and a clause which permitted American residents in France to return to the United States with their property before 1 Oct., the Senate returned the bill to the House on 26 Feb. Although Nathaniel Macon declared the bill as passed by the Senate “so fatal to the interests of the Southern States” that “duty impelled him to take measures for its destruction,” the House promptly agreed to it (jhr, 3:581, 591, 596-7, 605; js, 3:34-7; Annals, 10:524-9, 557-8). On a printed copy of the bill Arst
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17 JA N UA R Y 1800 passed by the House, TJ recorded the progress of the legislation in the Senate from 21 to 26 Feb. and his emendations indicated the Senate amendments to the bill. He also made notations in the margin on two unsuccessful attempts to amend the bill. The Arst, an eCort by Wilson Cary Nicholas to amend the second section, reads: “Mr. Nicholas’s motion to strike out ‘Europe’ & insert ‘foreign countries.’ Yea & Nay. rejected.” A second notation identiAed Stevens
Thomson Mason as the mover to strike out the sixth section of the bill (“Act Further to suspend the commercial intercourse between the United States and France, and the dependencies thereof ” in DNA: RG 46, Senate Records, 6th Cong., 1st sess.; js, 3:35-6). The letter from Dabney carr of 27 Dec., recorded in SJL as received from Williamsburg on 9 Jan. 1800, has not been found.
From Bishop James Madison Dear Sir January 17th. 1800 Williamsburg. I should certainly have answered your Favour by the succeeding Post, had I received it in Time. Unfortunately it did not come to Hand ’till the next Morning. I am sorry I cannot return such an Answer as could be desired. The Professorship of Chemistry &c has not been actually abolished; but after Dr McClurg left us, two Professorships of Humanity were instituted in it’s Stead.—This Revival of the Grammar School has, however, so illy answered the Expectations of the Patrons of the Scheme, that I am persuaded, could a Visitation be had, one or both of the Professorships would be abolished. If this were done, the Professorship of Chemistry might be, very advantagously revived; an Event which I should rejoice to see. At present however, it is almost impossible to say what will be done. The Visitors seem to have abandoned the College. We have not been able to obtain a Meeting of them for 5 Years. Such is the attention paid to Science!—An ECort will be made to prevail upon them to meet at the annual Period, about the 25th of March, which, I Batter myself, will be successful. It is more than probable, that a considerable Change will then take Place in this badly organized Body. If Members more active, & more zealous in the Promotion of real Science be chosen, an Opening may then be made for Mr. Smith: In this Case I will immediately notify you of the fortunate Circumstance. I rejoice to learn, that the Current of public Opinion is likely, at Length, to And the proper Channel. I can most heartily say, God speed it— Beleive me to be, Dr Sir, with greatest Respect & Esteem—Yr. Friend & St. J Madison < 316>
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I had great Pleasure in reading your observations upon the Megalonix, which I saw, for the Arst Time, only a few Weeks past, in Smith’s Paper. Is it not probable, that the Saltpeter which abounds in the Part of the Country where thes. Bones were found, much more than in any other Place, might have been the Cause of their Preservation there, whilst many similar Bones may have perished elsewhere, for want of the same Cause. Would it not be an Object well worthy of the Philosl Society to depute one of it’s Members, suDciently instructed in Natural History & Chemistry—to examine the Wall in North Carolina, of which you have, no Doubt, often heard. According to the Account given to me by the Presidt of the College in that State, this wall may be ranked among the most extraordinary Phænomena of this Continent. Perhaps an able Chemist & Philosopher might be, enabled to penetrate into the Night of Time, & bring to Light Information most curious & useful.—If it be indeed, a Production of Nature, he would easily ascertain that Point; but if it be the Work of Man, as is conAdently aArmed, or as the Descriptions of it lead us to conclude, it would be not only worthy of the Phill Society, but of the Govt. of the U.S. to have it accurately examined. To this Miscellany, I will add one more Observation. When at the Sweet Springs, last Fall, I endeavoured to ascertain the Quantity of Carbonic Acid contained in any given Buck of the Water; & found, by the Expt. with Lime Water, according to the Method of Fourcroy & Weigleib—that an Ounce of the Water contained a Cubic Inch & more than a half of that Air.—I do not think those Waters contain any Magnesia. I have sent Mr Tucker’s Letter to Morse in a seperate Paper.—Did you see my short Observations respecting the Wall in No Carolina, in my last? I wish’d to Know, generally, what was your Opinion respecting it. RC (DLC); addressed: “Thomas JeCerson Esqr Vice President of the U. States Philadelphia”; franked; endorsed by TJ as received 28 Jan. and so recorded in SJL. your favour: TJ’s letter of 6 Jan. The grammar school of the College of William and Mary had been closed in the 1779 reorganization of the institution. The dismissed master of the lower school, John Bracken, tried unsuccess-
fully to challenge the action by means of a lawsuit. However, in 1792 the Board of visitors gave Bracken one of the two new humanities professorships, and in that capacity he reestablished the grammar school; see also Bishop Madison’s letter of 30 Mch. below (Wilford Kale, Hark Upon the Gale: An Illustrated History of the College of William and Mary [Norfolk, 1985], 67-9). On 14 Nov. 1799 Samuel Harrison smith’s paper, the Universal Gazette,
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17 JA N UA R Y 1800 published TJ’s Memoir on the Megalonyx, [10 Feb. 1797], following the text as it had been published in the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society but omitting the Anal paragraph and postscript (see Vol. 29:291-304). Heavy rains in 1794 had exposed a buried wall in Rowan County, north carolina. Although it proved to be a natural phenomenon rather than a human-built structure, to some observers the wall seemed to consist of stones laid in courses and held in place by a form of cement. Geographers commented on it well into the nineteenth century (James S. Brawley, Rowan County: A Brief History [Raleigh, N.C., 1974], 48-51; Jasper Leonidas Stuckey, North Carolina: Its Geology and Mineral Resources [Raleigh, N.C., 1965], 132-3, 218). The person aDliated with the college in that state with whom Bishop Madison communicated about the wall may have been
Samuel Eusebius McCorkle, a Presbyterian divine who was involved in the establishment and early operations of the University of North Carolina as a trustee and faculty member in the 1790s but ultimately failed to obtain the institution’s presidency. McCorkle and another clergyman Arst brought the stone wall to the attention of the American Philosophical Society in the spring of 1797 (William D. Snider, Light on the Hill: A History of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill [Chapel Hill, 1992], 9, 19-25, 28-9, 32; aps, Proceedings, 22, pt. 3 [1884], 257-8). tucker’s letter to morse: A Letter, to the Rev. Jedidiah Morse, A.M. (Richmond, 1795), which criticized statements made about Virginia in Morse’s American Universal Geography. The pamphlet identiAed its author, St. George Tucker, only as “a citizen of Williamsburg.” See Evans, No. 29662.
From George Jefferson Dear Sir, Richmond 18th Janr. 1800. Your favor of the 12th. inclosing a Treasury draft for $:800–& an order on the Treasurer of the James River Company in favor of Mr. Barnes for whatever sums of principal or Interest there may be due from the company to Mr. Short, is duly received. I have endeavoured as you desired to assist Mr. Brydie in the disposal of a draught for Mr. Key’s money, but without eCect. I have just sent to him & he informs me he has directed that notes shall be sent him. I am Dear Sir Your Very humble servt. Geo. Jefferson RC (MHi); at foot of text: “Thos. JeCerson esqr.”; endorsed by TJ as received 25 Jan. and so recorded in SJL.
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From James Madison Dear Sir Richmond Jany. 18. 1800 Since my last the Senate have agreed to the Report—& the Resolutions, by 15 to 6. To the latter they made an amendt. to the deAnition of the portion of C.L.q in force in the U.S. by inserting the words “by Congress” after the word “adopted,” in order to repel the misconstruction which led the minority to concur in that particular resolution as it passed the H. of D. The amendt. was agreed to by 82 to 40. The plan of a Genl. Ticket was so novel, that a great no. who wished it, shrunk from the vote, and others apprehending that their Constts. would be still more startled at it voted agst. it; so that it passed by a majority of 5 votes only. The event in the Senate is rather doubtful; tho’ it is expected to get thro’. As the avowed object of it is to give Virga. fair play, I think, if passed into a law, it will with proper explanations become popular. I expect to get away abt. the middle of the week. The assembly will rise perhaps at the end of it; tho’ possibly not so soon. I forgot to tell you that a renewed eCort to raise the pay of the members to 3 drs. has succeeded; a measure wrong in principle, and which will be hurtful in its operation. I have desired Barnes to pay you a balance in his hands, out of which you will please to pay yourself the balance due to your Nailery. Adieu. Yrs. ACey. Js. M. Jr RC (DLC: Madison Papers); endorsed by TJ as received 27 Jan. and so recorded in SJL. The Virginia assembly adjourned on 28 Jan. The bill to raise the pay of the members of the General Assembly passed on the 13th (jhd, Dec. 1799-Jan. 1800, 104-5; Shepherd, Statutes, 2:224). i
have desired barnes to pay you: TJ received £20.15.40. In August he found that Madison’s nailery account and other charges amounted to less than £7 and he returned the remaining sum (TJ to Madison, 29 Aug. 1800, and enclosure). q “Common Law” is here interlined, probably by Madison at a later date.
To Joseph Priestley Dear Sir Philadelphia Jan. 18. 1800. I have to thank you for the pamphlets you were so kind as to send me. you will know what I thought of them by my having before sent a dozen sets to Virginia to distribute among my friends. yet I thank you not the less for these which I value the more as they came from yourself. the stock of them which Campbell had was I believe exhausted the Arst or second day of advertising them. the papers of < 319>
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Political arithmetic both in your’s & Mr. Cooper’s pamphlets are the most precious gifts that can be made to us; for we are running navigation-mad, & commerce-mad, and navy-mad, which is worst of all. how desireable is it that you could pursue that subject for us. from the Porcupines of our country you will receive no thanks; but the great mass of our nation will edify & thank you. how deeply have I been chagrined & mortiAed at the persecutions which fanaticism & monarchy have excited against you even here!q at Arst I believed it was merely a continuance of the English persecution. but I observe that on the demise of Porcupine & division of his inheritance between Fenno & Brown, the latter (tho’ succeeding only to the federal portion of Porcupinism, not the Anglican which is Fenno’s part) serves up for the palate of his sect dishes of abuse against you as high-season as Porcupine’s were. you have sinned against church & king & can therefore never be forgiven. how sincerely have I regretted that your friend, before he Axed his choice of a position, did not visit the vallies on each side of the blue ridge in Virginia, as mr. Madison & myself so much wished. you would have found there equal soil, the Anest climate & most healthy one on the earth, the homage of universal reverence & love, & the power of the country spread over you as a shield. but since you would not make it your country by adoption, you must now do it by your good oDces. I have one to propose to you which will produce their good & gratitude to your [ages?], and in the way to which you have devoted a long life, that of spread[ing?] light among men. We have in that state a college (Wm. & Mary) just well enough endowed to draw out the miserable existence to which a miserable constitution has doomed it. it is moreover eccentric in it’s position, exposed to bilious diseases as all the lower country is, & therefore abandoned by the public care, as that part of the country itself is in a considerable degree by it’s inhabitants. we wish to establish in the upper & healthier country, & more centrally for the state an University on a plan so broad & liberal & modern, as to be worth patronising with the public support, and be a temptation to the youth of other states to come, and drink of the cup of knolege & fraternize with us. the Arst step is to obtain a good plan; that is a judicious selection of the sciences, & a practicable grouping of some of them together, & ramifying of others, so as to adapt the professorships to our uses, & our means. in an institution meant chieBy for use, some branches of science, formerly esteemed, may be now omitted, so may others now valued in Europe, but useless to us for ages to come. take, as an example of the former, the Oriental learning, and of the latter almost the < 320>
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whole of the institution proposed to Congress by the Secretary of war’s report of the 5th. inst. now there is no one to whom this subject is so familiar as yourself. there is no one in the world who equally with yourself unites this full possession of the subject with such a knolege of the state of our existence, as enables you to At the garment to him who is to pay for it & to wear it. to you therefore we address our sollicitations. and to lessen to you as much as possible the ambiguities of our object, I will venture even to sketch the sciences which seem useful & practicable for us, as they occur to me while holding my pen. Botany. Chemistry. Zoology. Anatomy. Surgery. Medecine. Natl. Philosophy. Agriculture. Mathematics. Astronomy. Geology. Geography. Politics. Commerce. History. Ethics. Law. Arts. Fine arts. this list is imperfect because I make it hastily, and because I am unequal to the subject. it is evident that some of these articles are too much for one professor & must therefore be ramiAed; others may be ascribed in groupes to a single professor. this is the diDcult part of the work, & requires a hand perfectly knowing the extent of each branch, & the limits within which it may be circumscribed; so as to bring the whole within the powers of the fewest professors possible, & consequently within the degree of expence practicable for us. we should propose that the professors follow no other calling, so that their whole time may be given to their academical functions: and we should propose to draw from Europe the Arst characters in science, by considerable temptations, which would not need to be repeated after the Arst set should have prepared At successors & given reputation to the institution. from some splendid characters I have received oCers most perfectly reasonable & practicable. I do not propose to give you all this trouble merely of my own head. that would be arrogance. it has been the subject of consultation among the ablest and highest characters of our state, who only wait for a plan to make a joint & I hope succesful eCort to get the thing carried into eCect. they will recieve your ideas with the greatest deference & thankfulness. we shall be here certainly for two months to come; but should you not have leisure to think of it before Congress adjourns, it will come safely to me afterwards by post, the nearest post oDce being Milton. Will not the arrival of Dupont tempt you to make a visit to this quarter? I have no doubt the Alarmists are already whetting their shafts for him also, but their glass is nearly run out; and the day I believe is approaching when we shall be as free to pursue what is true wisdom as the eCects of their follies will permit: for some of them we shall be forced to wade through because we are immerged in them. < 321>
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Wishing you that pure happiness which your pursuits and circumstances oCer, and which I am sure you are too wise to suCer a diminution of by the pigmy assaults made on you, and with every sentiment of aCectionate esteem & respect I am Dear Sir Your most obedt. & most humble servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); at foot of Arst page: “Doctor Priestly.” Joseph Priestley (1733-1804) was a British Unitarian theologian and a chemist. Priestley came to America in the spring of 1794, a few years after his home and laboratory near Birmingham were destroyed by a mob. With his wife and sons and his friend Thomas Cooper, he settled in Northumberland, Pennsylvania, where he lived until his death. TJ knew of Priestley’s scientiAc work as early as 1784 when he placed orders for the chemist’s books from England. In 1791 TJ praised Priestley’s rebuttal of Edmund Burke (dnb; Malone, JeCerson 3:448-51; Vol. 7:288; Vol. 20:410, 712n; Vol. 28:24, 67, 102; Vol. 29:284). pamphlets you were so kind as to send me: Priestley apparently sent his own pamphlet, Letters to the Inhabitants of Northumberland and its Neighborhood, on Subjects Interesting to the Author, and to them, Part II of which was his Maxims of Political Arithmetic, applied to the Case of the United States of America (Northumberland, Pa., 1799). He also forwarded the Arst edition of Thomas Cooper’s Political Essays, which carried a preface by Cooper dated 19 July 1799 (Northumberland, Pa., 1799; Sowerby, No. 3217). On 30 Dec. 1799 TJ paid $7.87 for pamphlets from the Philadelphia bookseller Robert Campbell. TJ ordered more on 15 Mch. and 4 Apr. 1800, these likely being of the second edition, printed for Campbell in Philadelphia in 1800, which Campbell may have arranged for when supplies of the Northumberland edition were exhausted. Substantially revised, this version eliminated some items of purely local interest and added one important essay, “On the Propriety and Expediency of Unlimited Enquiry” and carried a preface by Cooper dated Northumberland, February 1800. It is this second edition of Political
Essays that TJ dispatched to his friends in March and April (Evans, No. 37250; mb, 2:1012, 1015-16; order on John Barnes, 15 Mch. 1800, to pay Campbell $12.50, MS in MHi, written and signed by TJ, endorsed by Barnes, receipted). demise of porcupine: TJ had noted a year earlier that Porcupine’s Gazette was “going downhill.” William Cobbett, who saw his newspaper decline in subscriptions during 1799, brought out its Anal Philadelphia issue on 28 Aug. and published a few more from Bustleton, where he Bed to escape the yellow fever. The paper folded completely after publishing one last issue, which appeared as a pamphlet, from New York on 13 Jan. 1800, and Cobbett returned to England (Brigham, American Newspapers, 2:9467; TJ to Thomas Mann Randolph, 3 Jan. 1799). John (“Jack”) Ward fenno became editor of the Federalist Gazette of the United States when his father died in the yellow fever epidemic on 14 Sep. 1798 (dab). Andrew brown, Jr., had succeeded to the editorship of the Philadelphia Gazette when his father perished in a Are in the newspaper’s oDces in February 1797. JeCerson may have subscribed to this newspaper, originally titled the Federal Gazette and Philadelphia Evening Post, when it Arst appeared in 1788, and as secretary of state he patronized it for the printing of the laws of the United States. Although less rabid than Porcupine’s Gazette or the Gazette of the United States, and although TJ continued to read it, the Philadelphia Gazette by this time apparently was within the group of newspapers that TJ regarded as Federalist (mb, 2:1012; Brigham, American Newspapers, 2:911; Vol. 18:66n, 78, 135n). In the weeks preceding this letter several issues of Brown’s newspaper carried dishes of abuse against Priestley. He and other immigrants were referred to as “turbulent wretches” and Priestley himself was called an “evil genius” who
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18 JAN UARY 1800 had “transplanted himself to the woods” of America (see, for example, the Philadelphia Gazette of 14 Dec. 1799 and 7 Jan. 1800). your friend: Thomas Cooper. a miserable constitution: among the bills reported by the committee of revisors, 18 June 1779, was a “bill for amending the constitution of the College of William and Mary, and substituting more certain revenues for its support.” In essence, TJ hoped to create a statesupported university with a modernized and secularized curriculum. He accom-
plished some of what he intended when he served on the Board of Visitors (see Vol. 2:535-43 and Bishop James Madison to TJ, 17 Jan. 1800). secretary of war James McHenry on 5 Jan. submitted a report to the president, which Adams transmitted to Congress on 13 Jan. It called attention to the necessity for improving the nation’s military system by establishing and staDng a military academy (National State Papers: Adams, 16:21-59). q Preceding two words interlined.
From Thomas Mann Randolph Th M Randolph to Th: Jefferson Edgehill Jan: 18. 1800. A person who was born in this Co. & has resided all his life in it with a fair reputation: John Kerr the son of James the Magistrate and neighbour of George Divers, called on me on Wednesday the 15th. inst: to inquire about your Shadwell lands a part of which, not more than 100 acres of arable, he wishes to rent for Ave years, or longer if you please. I rode with him & shewed him all the unoccupied lands of Shadwell, the whole of Lego, and Hickmans old Aelds. He Axed on the two Aelds of Lego the Square and oblong and the half of the lower Aeld of Hickmans containing the Apple Orchard, with the use (for this year) of the Cabins which Page occupied, at present inhabited by the family of Peytons overseer upon my permission; given upon reBection that the houses would if deserted suCer dilapidations; and with an express stipulation to remove when required. I undertook to make his proposal to you: he expects the conditions which were made with Peyton. He begs you will give him an answer the very Arst post as he is very impatient to begin farm operations. If you do not chuse to divide that farm, I believe he will take the quantity he wants any where you please. Your aCairs go on well at Mont’o. but Powell has not arrived: Richardson has, with seven good laborers at an average a little under 20£. We removed here last week: we are in good health and spirits but our situation from smoke, rain & wind thro’ badly Anished windows, and mud from the fresh earth taken out of the Cellars still lying all around, is as uncomfortable as possible. < 323>
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You have no doubt heard long what reached us yesterday by T. Eston Randolph the birth of a Daughter to Mr. Eppes & the health of Maria. We are, every individual in perfect health. Yours most aCectionatly Th M Randolph RC (MHi); endorsed by TJ as received 4 Feb. and so recorded in SJL.
Notes on a Conversation with Wilson Cary Nicholas 19. W. C. Nicholas tells me that in a conversn with Dexter 3. or 4. days ago, he asked Dexter whether it would not be practicable for the states to agree on some uniform mode of chusing electors of a President. Dexter says ‘I suppose you would prefer an election by districts.’ yes, said N. ‘I think it would be best, but would nevertheless agree to any other consistent with the Constn.’ Dexter said he did not know what might be the opn of his state, but his own was that ‘no mode of election would answer any good purpose; that he should prefer one for life.’ on that reasoning said N. you should prefer a hereditary one. no, he said, we are not ripe for that yet. I suppose added he this doctrine is not very popular with you. no, said N. it would eCectually damn any man in my state. so it would in mine said D. but I am under no inducement to bely my sentiment, I have nothing to ask from any body; I had rather be at home than here; therefore I speak my sentiments freely. mr Nicholas a little before or after this, made the same proposition of a uniform election to Ross, who replied that he saw no good in any kind of election. perhaps, says he, ‘the present one may last awhile.’ on the whole mr N. thinks he percieves in that party a willingness & a wish to let every thing go from bad to worse, to amend nothing, in hopes it may bring on confusion and open a door to the kind of governmt. they wish.—in a conversation with Gunn, who goes with them, but thinks in some degree with us, Gunn told him that the very game which the minority of Pensva is now playing with Mc.Kean (see substitute of minority in lower house, & address of Senate in upper) was meditated by the same party in the Federal govmt in case of the election of a republican President; & that the Eastern states wd in that case throw things into confusion & break the union. that they have in a great degree got rid of their paper, so as no longer to be creditors, & the moment they ceased < 324>
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to enjoy the plunder of the immense appropriations now exclusively theirs, they would aim at some other order of things. MS (DLC: TJ Papers, 108:18558); entirely in TJ’s hand; with opening quotation marks, except for the Arst one, supplied; on same sheet as Notes on a Conversation with John Nicholas, 13 Jan. 1800. game which the minority of pensva is now playing: the Federalist minority continued to control the Pennsylvania Senate and prevented the passage of a law, similar to the one used for the 1796 election, that called for the selection of presidential electors by a general ticket. Backing a district system, the Federalists prevented the passage of any election law. Governor Thomas McKean waited until the election of a new assem-
bly in October before calling a special session to meet on 5 Nov. 1800 to choose Pennsylvania’s electors. Although the Republicans won a decisive majority of the votes and captured six of the seven contested Senate seats, the Federalists still controlled the upper house. The stalemate between the Republican House and the Federalist Senate almost denied Pennsylvania a vote in the presidential election. For a description of the maneuvers that on 2 Dec. led to the election of eight Republican and seven Federalist electors, see Harry Marlin Tinkcom, The Republicans and Federalists in Pennsylvania, 1790-1801: A Study in National Stimulus and Local Response [Harrisburg, 1950], 243-54.
From James Barbour Dear Sir Richmond Jany. 20th. 1800 I received last night under cover from you Mr. Coopers pamphlet for which accept my thanks. The Legislature here will adjourn I presume on Saturday next after the most important Session We have had for some years. The report produced by my Colleague Mr Madison I suppose has long since reached you as well as instructions to our Senators. Amongst other subjects contemplated in the instructions is the opposing a Law predicated upon the principle that the common law was appurtenant to the general government to this was introduced an amendment by the opposition copied verbatim from Mr Madisons report and unanimously agreed to by the house. It appeared however in the sequel that this by that party was intended as a Anessee. The Senate merely for greater certainty recommended an ammendment the words “by Congress” in that part which goes to this eCect, and so far also as such other parts may be adopted as necessary &c. The opposition contended that they meant by the expression the Judiciary as well as Congress, however they were left in the most pitiful minority some of their warmest Friends deserting; both those subjects have passed the Senate by much larger majorities than were contemplated. 15. to 6. We have also passed in the lower house a law directing a general ticket but by only a majority of Ave votes. We have < 325>
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preserved the principle of Districting as far as is compatible with a general ticket by declaring that there shall be one Elector from each District. This law will likewise unquestionably pass the Senate. This law excited the opposition more sensibly than any measure which has obtained this Session. The others being merely opinions were somewhat easily digested but when this measure was discovered, to operate something more than opinion and might lead to consequences which they deprecate it rendered some of the Chiefs perfectly intolerable. Their opposition wore the appearance of the most complete chagrin and disappointment. The general ticket will (as far as I can learn) amongst the People be received extremely well and forbodes the most suspicious eCects. I will bring my letter to a close fearful that I have already detained you too long upon subjects in detail. Accept Sir my wishes for your welfare I am Respty Js. Barbour RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ as received 25 Jan. 1800 and so recorded in SJL. James Barbour (1775-1842) of Orange County read law with a Richmond attorney and became a member of the Virginia bar at the age of eighteen. Entering the House of Delegates in the term that began in December 1798, he immediately played a key role in assailing the Alien and Sedition Acts and supporting the Virginia Resolutions. Barbour’s plantation, Barboursville, was located near Montpelier, and as his early actions in the legislature demonstrated, he considered James Madison to be a political mentor. An indispensable proponent of Republican measures and ideals in Virginia, Barbour became Speaker of the House of
Delegates in 1809, governor in 1812, and a U.S. senator two years after that. He then became a strong advocate of the National Republican program, favoring a strong federal role in internal improvements, serving in John Quincy Adams’s administration as secretary of war and minister to Britain, and supporting Henry Clay’s bids for the presidency. Barbour promoted innovative agricultural techniques. He built a house at Barboursville using a design and advice from TJ, and assisted TJ in securing funding for the University of Virginia (anb; Leonard, General Assembly, 213; Charles D. Lowery, James Barbour: A JeCersonian Republican [Tuscaloosa, Ala., 1984], 19, 53; Kimball, JeCerson, Architect, 73-4, 185-6, plate 206; Nichols, Architectural Drawings, 34).
From Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours Good-Stay. Bergen-Point, near New-York
Monsieur, 20 Janvier 1800. me voila dans votre Patrie; et la premiere chose que j’y trouve est une marque de votre bonté pour moi, entre les mains de mon ami Pusy. < 326>
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Je suis bien sensible à votre souvenir. J’avoue que nos anciennes relations, et le zéle que vous m’avez vu pour l’Amérique lorsque j’étais Conseiller d’Etat du Roi de France et chargé de l’Administration du Commerce de mon Pays, m’avaient fait esperer de retrouver quelque bienveillance chez vous en retour de l’attachement que vous m’avez inspiré. Mais il ne m’en est que plus doux de voir que je n’avais pas trop présumé de votre favorable disposition. J’irai dans une quinzaine de jours vous en remercier à Philadelphie; et je reviendrai dans l’azyle provisoire que j’habite attendre que je sache mieux la langue, et que je sois plus instruit sur le genre d’etablissement que je puis former. Les idées que j’ai conçues en Europe tendent à me rapprocher de vous en plaçant le centre de mon travail dans la haute Virginie. Mais je ne puis m’arrêter à aucun Plan avant d’être plus éclairé. Ce qui ne souCre nul doute est ma respectueuse amitié pour vous. DuPont de Nemours Comme je ployais ma lettre, je reçois la vôtre sans date. Que vous êtes bon! Combien j’en suis touché! Et combien je suis disposé à proAter de vos lumieres, autant que je le pourrai sans vous trop importuner! Je savais déja qu’il faut être ici extrêmement réservé, surtout lorsqu’on y veut gérer en honnête homme les interêts d’autrui: car, en se ruinant soi même, on ne serait qu’imprudent, ce qui est toujours un tort, et malheureux ce qui en est la juste punition; mais en altérant la fortune de ses amis, de ceux à qui l’on a inspiré de la conAance, on serait coupable. Je suis arrivé à soixante ans, et j’ai passé par bien des épreuves de Gouvernemens, d’aCaires et de révolutions, sans avoir jusqu’ici essuyé aucun reproche. C’est un des bonheurs pour lesquels je remercie avec la plus vive reconnaissance la bonté divine. Jugez si je voudrais hazarder de le perdre aujourd’hui. Je vous détaillerai ma position, mes désirs, mes devoirs, mes moyens. Votre sagesse, votre expérience, votre connaissance du pays et des habitans, des hommes et des choses, guideront ma conduite. J’ai une donnée avantageuse; c’est que nous sommes quatre hommes, Pusy, mes deux Fils, et moi, qui ne manquons ni d’intelligence ni de bonté, et qui par un miracle presque unique avons chacun une femme pleine de raison, de sens, de courage et d’envie de bien faire. Un tel quaterne, quatre ménages si parfaitement assortis, et huit personnes < 327>
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de quelque talent, de tant de vertu, si intimement unies, sont une chose que je n’ai encore vue que cette fois. Et nous vous avons pour nous préserver des faux-pas! Que Dieu soit en tout béni! J’ai laissé notre cher La Fayette, il y a huit mois, en Hollande. J’ai vu sa Femme et son Fils presque tous les jours, jusqu’à mon départ de Paris, 12 7bre de l’année derniere. L’invasion des Anglais l’avait forcé de quitter la République Batave et de retourner à Hambourg. Le mécontentement que La France a des Hambourgeois, lui aura vraisemblablement fait abandonner de nouveau leur ville; et je pense qu’il est actuellement en Holstein, ou revenu en Hollande. Il ne peut et ne veut passer en Amérique que lorsque sa Femme aura réussi à réaliser sur la fortune qui lui est à elle personnelle (car celle de La Fayette est détruite) de quoi lui procurer une sorte d’indépendance. e d i t o r s’
t r a n s l a t i o n
Good-Stay, Bergen-Point, near New York, Sir, January 20, 1800 Here I am in your country; and the Arst thing I And here is a mark of your kindness towards me, in the hands of my friend Pusy. I am very touched by your remembrance. I admit that our former relations, and the zeal for America which you saw in me when I was counselor of state of the King of France in charge of the administration of commerce of my country, had made me hope to And in you some kindness in return for the aCection you inspired in me. But it is all the sweeter for me to see that I had not been too presumptuous concerning your favorable disposition. I shall go in about a fortnight to thank you for it in Philadelphia; and I shall return to the provisional haven where I am living until I know the language better and am more knowledgeable about the kind of establishment that I can form. The ideas that I conceived in Europe tend to draw me closer to you by placing the center of my work in upper Virginia. But I can decide on no plan before being further enlightened. The subject that allows no doubt is my respectful friendship for you. DuPont de Nemours As I was folding my letter, I received yours without date. How kind you are! How touched I am by it! And how ready I am to take advantage of your knowledge, as much as I can without being too importunate! I already knew that one must be extremely reserved here, especially when one wishes to administer as an honest man the interests of others; for, in ruining oneself, one is merely imprudent, which is always wrong, and unfortunate, which is its own just punishment, but by altering the fortune of one’s
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20 JAN UARY 1800 friends, of those in whom one has inspired conAdence, one would incur guilt. I have arrived at sixty years, and I have passed through many trials from governments, business aCairs, and revolutions without having incurred any reproach. That is one of the pieces of good fortune for which I thank divine goodness with the most lively gratitude. You may judge whether I would wish to risk it today. I shall detail to you my situation, my desires, my duties, my means. Your wisdom, your experience, your knowledge of the country and its inhabitants, of men and things, will guide my conduct. I have one advantageous foundation; that is that we are four men, Pusy, my two sons, and I, who do not lack intelligence or virtue, and by an almost unique miracle we each have a wife Alled with reason, sense, courage and the desire to do well. Such a lucky foursome, four households so perfectly matched, and eight people of some talent, with so much virtue, so intimately united, is a thing that I have never before seen. And we have you to preserve us from missteps! May God be blessed in all things! I left our dear Lafayette, eight months ago, in Holland. I saw his wife and his son almost every day until my departure from Paris, 12 September of last year. The English invasion had forced him to leave the Batavian Republic and return to Hamburg. France’s disaCection for the Hamburgers likely caused him to abandon their city again; and I think that he is now in Holstein, or returned to Holland. He cannot and will not go to America until his wife has succeeded in raising out of the fortune which is personally hers (for Lafayette’s is destroyed) a modicum of independence. RC (DLC); at head of text: “a Mr. JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ as received 24 Jan. and so recorded in SJL. Dft (Pierre S. duPont, Wilmington, Delaware, 1950); postscripts written perpendicularly in margins.
entre les mains de mon ami pusy: that is, in TJ’s letter to Jean Xavier Bureaux de Pusy under 7 Jan. above. la vôtre sans date: TJ to Du Pont de Nemours, [17 Jan. 1800].
From George Jefferson Dear Sir, Richmond 20th. Janr. 1800. On presenting your order in favor of Mr. Barnes at the ODce of the Treasurer of the James River Company, we were informed he was out of Town and that they could not ascertain to a certainty the sum due Mr. Short; for which reason they requested I would hold the order until Mr. P.s return, as they expect him in about a week. The sum however which they think due is £127–16–8—£74–5– being principal, and £53–11–8 Interest. Mr. Wardrop being in England I have written to Mr. Gordon that I will pay him the sum you direct I am Dear Sir Your Very humble servt. Geo. Jefferson < 329>
20 JAN UARY 1800 RC (MHi); at foot of text: “Thos. JeCerson esqr.”; endorsed by TJ as received 27 Jan. and so recorded in SJL.
mr. p.s return: Robert Pollard, treasurer of the James River Company.
To Angelica Schuyler Church Philadelphia Jan. 21. 1800.
I am honored, my dear Madam, with your letter of the 16th. inst. and made happy by the information of your health. it was matter of sincere regret on my arrival here to learn that you had left it but a little before, after passing some time here. I should have been happy to have renewed to you in person the assurances of my aCectionate regards, to have again enjoyed a society which brings to me the most pleasing recollections, & to have past in review together the history of those friends who made an interesting part of our circle, & for many of whom I have felt the deepest aEiction. my friend Catharine I could have entertained with details of her living friends, whom you are so good as to recollect, & for whom I am to return you thankful acknolegements. I shall forward your letter to my daughter Eppes, who I am sure will make you her own acknolegements. it will And her in the [straw; having lately presented] me with the Arst honors of a grandfather [on her part. mrs Randolph has] made them cease to be novelties. she has [four children. we shall teach] them all to grow up in esteem for yourself & Catharine. whether they or we may have opportunities of testifying it personally, must depend on the chapter of events. I am in the habit of turning over it’s next leaf with hope, & tho’ it often fails me, there is still another & another behind. in the mean time I cherish with fondness those aCectionate sentiments of esteem & respect with which I am dear Madam Your sincere friend & humble servt Th: Jefferson RC (Charles J. Paine descendants, Boston, Massachusetts, 1956); damaged, with words in brackets supplied from PrC; at foot of text: “Mrs. Church.” PrC (MHi); endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. your letter: see TJ to Catherine Church, 22 Jan. 1800. four children: Martha JeCerson
Randolph gave birth to her daughter Cornelia at Monticello on 26 July 1799 (Thomas JeCerson’s Prayer Book, ed. John Cook Wyllie [Charlottesville, 1952], plate 7; Collected Papers to Commemorate Fifty Years of the Monticello Association of the Descendants of Thomas JeCerson, ed. George Green Shackelford [Princeton, 1965], 147).
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To Martha Jefferson Randolph My dear Martha Philadelphia Jan. 21. 1800. I wrote on the 13th. inst. to mr Randolph. I now inclose you a letter from your friend Mde. Salimberi. it came under cover to me. and without looking at the second cover, or suspecting it not for me, I broke the seal, a few words in the beginning shewed me it was not, & on looking at the back I found it was addressed to you.—M. BureauPusy, the companion of la Fayette, with hisq family & Mde. Dupont arrived at N. York some time ago. Dupont, with his son (late consul) & family arrived there a few days ago. I have a letter from La Fayette in which he says he should sail for America in July, but as he also expressed a wish to see the event of our negociation I suppose he will not come till reconciliation is established by that. J. Randolph’s aCair is not over. a rancorous report was made to the H. of R. yesterday by a committee. it would seem as if the army themselves were to hew down whoever shall propose to reduce them. the non-intercourse law is to be renewed, but whether only for the tobacco states, or for all, is a question. were it not for the prospect of it’s expiring by the eCect of a treaty, our state would do better to drop the culture of tobo. altogether.—I am made happy by a letter from mr Eppes, recd two or three days ago & informing me that Maria was become a mother & was well. it was written the day after the event. these circumstances are balm to the painful sensations of this place. I look forward with hope to the moment when we are all to be reunited again. it is proposed that we shall adjourn about the middle of March; & as the proposition comes from the Eastern members it will probably prevail. there is really nothing to do but to authorize them to make up their deAcit of 5. millions by borrowing at 8. or 10. per cent. my friend Govr. Rutledge of S. Carolina is dead. news is this moment recieved here of the death of Govr. MiEin at Lancaster; and there is a rumor of the death of George the 3d. the great & antient house of Cuningham & Nesbitt of this place has stopped paiment. it is but the beginning of a great crush. no commerce was more deeply interested than our’s in the deposits at Hamburgh. indeed our commerce & navigationr generally are in a state of prostration. I am anxious as you may suppose to hear from you, having heard nothing since I left home. I hope you all continue well, yet should be happier to know it. I inclose a little tale for Anne. to Ellen you must make big promises, which I know a bit of gingerbread will pay oC. kiss them all for me. my aCectionate salutations to mr Randolphs & tender & unceasing love to yourself. Adieu my ever dear Martha aCectionately. Th: Jefferson < 331>
21 JAN UARY 1800 RC (NNPM); at foot of Arst page: “Mrs. Randolph”; endorsed by Randolph. PrC (MHi); with recto and verso letterpressed on same sheet. Enclosures not found. letter from la fayette: see 19 Apr. 1799. For the letter from John Wayles eppes, see 1 Jan. 1800. Governor Edward rutledge suCered a severe stroke on 10 Jan. but did not die until the 23d or 24th. The Philadelphia Gazette incorrectly reported that Rutledge had died on 11 Jan. Having served the maximum of three terms as governor of Pennsylvania, Thomas miff-
lin heeded the appeal of Republicans and won a seat in the Pennsylvania House in 1799. He was attending the session in Lancaster when he died on 20 Jan. (James Haw, John & Edward Rutledge of South Carolina [Athens, Ga., 1997], 274; anb, 15:441). The rumor about the death of george the 3d. was published in Philadelphia newspapers without elaboration from a New York source (Philadelphia Gazette, 20 Jan. 1800; Philadelphia Aurora, 21 Jan.). q TJ here canceled “wife the daughter.” r Word and ampersand interlined. s TJ here canceled “& [. . .].”
To Catherine Church Philadelphia Jan. 22. 1800.
I wrote to your Mama, yesterday, my dear Catharine, intending to have written by the same post to yourself. an interruption however put it out of my power. it was the more necessary to have done it, as I had inadvertently made an acknolegement in my letter to her, instead of yourself, of yours of the 16th. I recieve with sincere pleasure this evidence of your recollection, and assure you I reBect with great delight on the scenes which your letter recalls. you are often the subject of our conversation, not indeed at our Areside, for that is the season of our dispersion, but in our Summer walks, when the family re-assembles at Monticello. you are tenderly remembered by both mrs Randolph & mrs Eppes: and I have this day notiAed Maria that I have promised you a letter from her. she was not much addicted to letter-writing before; & I fear her new character of mother may furnish new excuses for her remissness. should this however be the occasion of my becoming the channel of your mutual love, it may lessen the zeal with which I press her pen upon her. but in whatever way I hear from you, be assured it will always be with that sincere pleasure which is inspired by the sentiments of esteem & attachment with which I am, my dear Catharine, Your aCectionate friend & humble servt Th: Jefferson RC (ViU); addressed: “Miss Catharine Church New York”; franked and postmarked. PrC (MHi); endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
yours of the 16th: the letter from Catherine Church to TJ, recorded in SJL as received from New York on 20 Jan., has not been found.
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To John Wayles Eppes Dear Sir Philadelphia Jan. 22. [1800] Your favor of Jan. 1. came to me on the 18th. that of the 12th. was recieved yesterday. the one you mention from the Hundred has never been recieved. none of these acknolege the receipt of mine of Dec. 21. the day I left Monticello. on the 30th. of Dec. I inclosed you some pamphlets, not writing as you know I mentioned my design of writing little for a year to come. on the 17th. inst. I wrote to Maria. it would seem then that something in your situation occasions the passage of letters to be slow & uncertain. mine were always directed to you at Mont Blanco or Eppington near Petersburg. perhaps they lie at Petersburg. mine of Dec. 21. was important in answer to one received from you on the subject of Powell. it desired you to engage him positively, and also to let me know what sacriAce would be necessary to induce him to go to Monticello as soon as I return, or at farthest at Midsummer. I will still request you to do this. I sincerely congratulate Maria & yourself on the new addition to our family. your letter of the 1st. inst. in announcing that event, gave me the purest joy, my anxiety on that subject having been as great as yours. the circumstance mentioned in your letter of the 12th. tho’ a common one is often very distressing both to the mother and child, and I shall be very anxious till I hear from you again as to their situation. I inclose for Maria a letter I recieved from Kittyq Church. I think she cannot & ought not to avoid writing to her.r I have in my answer promised this for her. by the time you recieve this I hope she will be well & released from conAnement. we have here strange news. Arst a rumor that George III. is dead. this would secure a general peace: secondly a West-India account that Buonaparte has usurped the government of France. if this were true we should soon hear of the end of his race. the enthusiasm of that nation would furnish a million of Brutus’s who would devote themselves to death to destroy him. the worst consequence of this would be the inducing the coalition to continue the war. if not true, there seems to be some prospect of a general peace, even without the death of G. III. heaven send it. our non intercourse law is likely to be renewed. but whether for the grain & navigating states as well as the tobacco states is a question. were it not that the law will expire by the conclusion of a treaty, it would be better for the tobacco states to abandon that culture. the bankruptcies in our trading towns in consequence of those of Hamburg (which however are in truth English bankruptcies) have begun seriously. besides the two great failures in Baltimore & one in < 333>
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New York, the house of Cuningham & Nesbitt have stopped paiment here. it was one of the best credit & greatest respectability of this place. it seems entirely expected that there will be a general crush. no commerce was more deeply interested than ours in the deposits at Hamburg. the best merchant in America ought not to be trusted now for a dollar, till this storm winnows the light from the sound. in truth the commerce of America is in a state of entire prostration.—the winter here has been remarkeably mild: and sickness is very prevalent at this time. I think it probable our session will be a very short one.—I was obliged to sell my tobo. (of 1798) for 7. Dollars, which clears only 61 per hundred, & at long credit. but it was to a solid manufacturer not a merchant. if there is any better mode of directing to you than by the Petersburgh post, be so good as to notify me of it. present my most friendly esteem to mr & mrs Eppes and the family. pour into the bosom of Maria the eCusions of my tenderest and constant love. sincere and aCectionate esteem to yourself. Adieu. Th: Jefferson RC (NHi); partially dated; addressed: “John W. Eppes at Eppington by the Petersburg mail”; franked and postmarked. PrC (MHi); endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosure not found, but see TJ to Catherine Church, 22 Jan. 1800. recieved yesterday: Eppes’s letter of 12 Jan., recorded in SJL as received nine days later, has not been found. For Eppes’s correspondence from the hundred, see TJ to Eppes, 21 Dec. 1799. The west-india account that Bonaparte had usurped the government of france in the coup of 18 Brumaire came from St. Thomas by way of New
York and was Arst printed in detail in Philadelphia on 21 Jan. The Aurora printed the report a day later but labeled it “Highly Ridiculous” and dismissed the notion that Bonaparte would participate in a coup against the republican government in France (Philadelphia Gazette, 21 Jan.; Philadelphia Aurora, 22 Jan. 1800). solid manufacturer: Thomas Leiper (TJ to Thomas Mann Randolph, 13 Jan. 1800). q Interlined in place of “mrs.” r TJ here canceled “[or to Miss?] Catharine.”
From Benjamin Hawkins Fort Wilkinson 23 Jany. 1800
My nephew Mr. William Hawkins will have the pleasure to deliver this to you. He has been an assistant in the Indian department for some time past, possesses accurate information of our aCairs in this quarter and will communicate freely to you all that he knows. Invited him to spend some months with me in this climate for the restoration of his health; and fortunately for him with success. He < 334>
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now gos to Philadelphia to qualify himself to be more useful. As I am certain you will And him highly worthy of your conAdence I must request the favour of your frendship for him. I have sent by him to the war oDce a sketch of the Creek country, in the years 1798 and 1799. This you can obtain from the Secretary of War; The second part is not yet complete, as soon as it is, I will send you a specimen of the Creek tongue. It will aCord you pleasure to be informed that the benevolent plan of the government, is going successfully into operation, among the Creeks, that we are ploughing spining and weaving, and begin to be attentive to the raising of stock; that 300 women and children were the last year clothed in homespun, and we had for market 1,000 beef cattle and 300 hogs. With the sincerest wishes for your health and happiness. I have the honour to be my dear sir, Your obedient servant Benjamin Hawkins RC (DLC); at foot of text: “The Honble Thomas JeCerson Esqr. Vice president of the US. and president of the Senate”; endorsed by TJ as received 13 Mch. and so recorded in SJL. fort wilkinson, on the Oconee River in Georgia, was the location of the government store for trade with the Creek Indians. Hawkins’s twenty-two-year-old nephew, William Hawkins, had attended college at Princeton and then studied law before serving for two years as an assistant to his uncle. After two years in Philadelphia studying law and
French he returned to his native North Carolina, where he was elected governor in 1810 (Florette Henri, The Southern Indians and Benjamin Hawkins, 1796-1816 [Norman, Okla., 1986], 94; William S. Powell, ed., Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, 6 vols. [Chapel Hill, 197996], 3:75). Benjamin Hawkins’s sketch of the creek country, in the years 1798 and 1799, with some additions made as late as 1813 or after, was printed in 1848 as vol. 3, pt. 1, of the Collections of the Georgia Historical Society.
To Harry Innes Dear Sir Philadelphia Jan. 23. 1800. Your favor of Dec. 6. I recieved here on the 30th. of the same month, and have to thank you for the papers it contained. they serve to prove that if Cressap was not of the party of Logan’s murderers, yet no injury was done his character by believing it. I shall while here this winter publish such material testimony on the subject as I have recieved; which by the kindness of my friends will be amply suDcient. it will appear that the deed was generally imputed to Cressap by both whites & Indians, that his character was justly < 335>
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stained with their blood, perhaps that he ordered this transaction, but that he was not himself present at the time. I shall consequently make a proper change in the text of the Notes on Virginia, to be adopted if any future edition of that work should be printed. With respect to the judiciary district to be established for the Western states nothing can be wilder than to annex to them any state on the Eastern waters. I do not know what may be the dispositions of the House of Representatives on that subject, but I should hope, from what I recollect of those manifested by the Senate on the same subject at the former session that they may be induced to set oC the Western country in a distinct district. and I expect that the reason of the thing must bring both houses into the measure. The Missisipi territory has petitioned to be placed at once in what is called the second stage of government. surely such a government as the Arst form prescribed for the territories is a despotic oligarchy without one rational object. I had addressed the inclosed letters to the care of the postmaster at Louisville; but not knowing him, I have concluded it better to ask the favor of you to avail them of any passage which may oCer down the river. I presume the boats stop of course at those places. We have wonderful rumors here at this time. one that the king of England is dead. as this would ensure a general peace, I do not know that it would be any misfortune to humanity. the other is that Buonaparte, Sieyes, & Ducos have usurped the French government. this is West-India news, and shews that after killing Buonaparte a thousand times they have still a variety of parts to be acted by him. were it really true——while I was writing the last word a gentleman enters my room, and brings a conArmation that something has happened at Paris. this is arrived at New York by a ship from Corke. the particulars diCer from the West India account. we are therefore only to believe that a revolution of some kind has taken place, & that Buonaparte is at the head of it. but what are the particulars & what the object we must wait with patience to learn. in the mean time we may speak hypothetically. if Buonaparte declares for royalty either in his own person or of Louis XVIII. he has but a few days to live. in a nation of so much enthusiasm there must be a million of Brutuses who will devote themselves to death to destroy him. but, without much faith in Buonaparte’s heart, I have so much in his head, as to indulge another train of reBection. the republican world has been long looking with anxiety on the two experiments going on of a single elective Executive here, & a plurality there. opinions have been considerably divided on the event in both countries. the greater opin< 336>
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ion there has seemed to be heretofore in favor of a plurality. here it has been very generally, tho not universally in favor of a single elective executive. after 8. or 9 years experience of perpetual broils & factions in their Directory, a standing division (under all changes) of 3. against 2. which results in a government by a single opinion, it is possible they may think the experiment decided in favor of our form, and that Buonaparte may be for a single executive, limited in time & power, & Batter himself with the election to that oDce; & that to this change the nation may rally itself. perhaps it is the only one to which all parties could be rallied. in every case it is to be feared & deplored that that nation has yet to wade through half a century of disorder & convulsion. these however are conjectures only, which you will take as such, and accept assurances of the great esteem & attachment of Dear Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson RC (NcD); at foot of Arst page: “Harry Innis esq.” PrC (DLC). Enclosures: probably TJ’s letters of 16 Jan. A committee of inhabitants of Mississippi drew up a petition dated 2 Oct. 1799, complaining that they did not have a say in the governance of the territory and asking Congress to “enact, that the Ordinance of 1787, in its second Grade may immediately operate in this Territory.” The House of Representatives received the petition on 13 Jan. 1800. Congress responded with an act of 10 May that referred to the laws of 1787 and 1789 for the government of the Northwest Territory and extended similar pro-
visions for a general assembly to the Mississippi Territory (Terr. Papers, 5:78-82, 95-8; jhr, 3:557). Emmanuel Joseph sieyes and Pierre Roger ducos, both members of the Directory, were among the planners of the events of 18 Brumaire. As a result of the coup they became, with Bonaparte, provisional consuls. The confirmation of the events in France appeared on this day in the Philadelphia Gazette, which reprinted information that had arrived in New York from Ireland early on the 22d (Stewart, French Revolution, 758-9; Philadelphia Gazette, 23-24 Jan.; New York Daily Advertiser, 23 Jan.; Philadelphia Aurora, 24 Jan.).
Notes on a Conversation with Mr. Smith of Hamburg Jan. 24. mr Smith a merchant of Hamburg gives me the following informn. the St. Andrews club, of N. York (all of Scotch tories) gave a public dinner lately. among other guests A. Hamilton was one. after dinner the 1st. toast was the Pres. of the US. it was drunk without any particular approbation. the next was George the III. Hamilton started up on his feet, & insisted on a bumper & 3. cheers. the whole company accdly rose & gave the cheers. one of them, tho’ a federalist was so disgusted at the partiality shewn by H. to a foreign sovereign < 337>
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over his own President, that he mentioned it to a mr Schwarthouse an American mercht of N. York, who mentioned it to Smith. mr Smith also tells me that calling one evening on mr Evans then Speaker of the H. of Rep. of Pensylva, & asking the news, Evans said Harper had been just there, & speaking of the President’s setting out to Baintree said ‘he prayed to God that his horses might run away with him or some other accident happen to break his neck before he reached Braintree.’ this was in indignation at his having named Murray &c to negotiate with France. Evans approved of the wish. MS (DLC: TJ Papers, 108:18558); entirely in TJ’s hand; on same sheet as Notes on a Conversation with Wilson Cary Nicholas, 19 Jan. 1800. schwarthouse: most likely New York City merchant John Swartwout, one of Burr’s allies and a member of the state assembly (Syrett, Hamilton, 22:477n; 25:173; 26:106; Longworth’s American Almanac, New-York Register, and City Directory for the Twenty-Fifth Year of American Independence [New York, 1800], 343).
Cadwalader evans of Montgomery County was elected Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the legislative session that began in December 1798. John Adams left Philadelphia for Massachusetts in March 1799 (Journal of the First Session of the Ninth House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania [Philadelphia, 1799], 23; note to TJ to Edmund Pendleton, 22 Apr. 1799).
From Henry Remsen Dear Sir New York January 25th. 1800 I have delayed writing you since the latter end of Octr., when your favor of the 14th. of that month came to hand, in the hope and expectation of being able to inform you when I did write, of the sale of the 10 Hhds. of Tobacco, at a price somewhat near that which induced it’s shipment to this market. I have however been always disappointed in attempting to sell it, for I was encouraged to believe it would rise, and therefore never oCered it for less than 10 Cents. The gentleman on whose opinion I much relied, was acquainted with the quality of tobacco raised in your neighbourhood, and his advice was that I should not yet sell. It has been very unfortunate that I have been so much governed by it. I And that tobacco at present has no price, and that 6 Cents is as much as could be got were it sold immediately. Our manufacturers appear to have stocked themselves with Georgia tobacco at low prices. That article from Georgia is generally consigned, and the consignee often is obliged to sell at the marketprice, however reduced, to answer drafts drawn in consequence of the < 338>
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consignment. The yellow fever of last year suspended all purchases by merchants for shipping; and when it disappeared and trade was resumed, the European accounts gave little encouragement to ship this article. The price of tobacco is governed by the demand for shipment to Europe. The restoration of tranquility in Holland, and the hope entertained that our Mission to France will succeed, present good reasons for not selling at present, for it cannot possibly, I think, be lower and may be a great deal higher. I shall however follow whatever directions you may please to give, in regard to selling or keeping it longer. It is stored in my brother’s store, and lies perfectly secure.— I continue to direct the newspaper to Monticello, as I presume you have given directions at the Post ODce in Philada. to keep them; the price current stopped in July. The Editor of it recommenced it’s publication after the fever, but never sent me one since then, tho’ I called on him and left my residence. As the general opinion is, that we are to be visited every summer with the yellow fever, and as all publications are during those visitations stopped, I am apprehensive the price current will not so completely answer your purpose, as you had calculated when you ordered it. I must therefore beg the favor of knowing, whether I shall renew the subscription.—I take the liberty to send you Gouvr. Morris’s oration on the death of General Washington.— I have the honor to be with great esteem & respect, Dear Sir Your most obt. h’ble Servt. Henry Remsen RC (ViU); addressed: “Thomas Jefferson Esquire Vice President of the US. Philadelphia”; endorsed by TJ as received 28 Jan. and so recorded in SJL. Despite Remsen’s recollection that the price current stopped in july, James Oram did not halt publication of his New-York Price-Current until 7 Sep. 1799, when he noted that the “present
calamitous situation of this City” required a suspension “for a few Weeks.” The paper resumed publication on 2 Nov. gouvr. morris’s oration: Gouverneur Morris, An Oration, Upon the Death of General Washington . . . Delivered at the Request of the Corporation of the City of New-York, on the 31st day of December, 1799 (New York, 1800; see Evans, No. 38002).
To Joseph Priestley Dear Sir Philadelphia Jan. 27. 1800. In my letter of the 18th. I omitted to say any thing of the languages as part of our proposed university. it was not that I think, as some do, that they are useless. I am of a very diCerent opinion. I do not think them essential to the obtaining eminent degrees of science, but I < 339>
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think them very useful towards it. I suppose there is a portion of life during which our faculties are ripe enough for this & for nothing more useful. I think the Greeks & Romans have left us the purest models which exist of Ane composition, whether we examine them as works of reason, or of style & fancy; and to them we probably owe these characteristics of modern composition. I know of no composition of any other antient people which merits the least regard as a model for it’s matter or style. to all this I add that to read the Latin & Greek authors in their original is a sublime luxury; and I deem luxury in science to be at least as justiAable as in architecture, painting, gardening or the other arts. I enjoy Homer in his own language inAnitely beyond Pope’s translation of him, & both beyond the dull narrative of the same events by Dares Phrygius, & it is an innocent enjoyment. I thank on my knees him who directed my early education for having put into my possession this rich source of delight: and I would not exchange it for any thing which I could then have acquired & have not since acquired. with this regard for those languages you will acquit me of meaning to omit them. about 20. years ago I drew a bill for our legislature which proposed to lay oC every county into hundreds or townships of 5 or 6. miles square, in the center of each of which was to be a free English school; the whole state was further laid oC into 10. districts in each of which was to be a college for teaching the languages, geography, surveying and other useful things of that grade; and then a single University for the sciences. it was recieved with enthusiasm; but as I had proposed that Wm. & Mary, under an improved form should be the University, & that was at that time pretty highly Episcopal, the dissenters after a while began to apprehend some secret design of a preference to that sect, and nothing could then be done. about 3. years ago they enacted that part of my bill which related to English schools, except that instead of obliging, they left it optional in the court of every county, to carry it into execution or not. I think it probable the part of the plan for the middle grade of education, may also be brought forward in due time. in the mean while we are not without a suDcient number of good country schools where the languages, geography & the Arst elements of Mathematics are taught. having omitted this information in my former letter, I thought it necessary now to supply it, that you might know on what base your superstructure was to be reared.—I have a letter from M. Dupont since his arrival at N. York, dated the 20th. in which he says he will be in Philadelphia within about a fortnight from that time; but only on a visit. how much would it delight me if a visit from you at the same time were to shew us two such illustrious < 340>
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foreigners embracing each other in my country as the asylum for whatever is great & good. pardon, I pray you, the temporary delirium which has been excited here, but which is fast passing away. the Gothic idea that we are to look backwards instead of forwards for the improvement of the human mind, and to recur to the annals of our ancestors forq what is most perfect in government, in religion & in learning, is worthy of those bigots in religion & government, by whom it has been recommended, & whose purposes it would answer, but it is not an idea which this country will endure; and the moment of their shewing it is fast ripening. and the signs of it will be their respect for you & growing detestation of those who have dishonored our country by endeavors to disturb your tranquility in it. no one has felt this with more sensibility, than, my dear Sir, Your respectful & aCectionate friend & servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); at foot of Arst page: “Dr. Priestly.” dares phrygius: mentioned in the Iliad as a priest of Hephaestus. Some later Greeks thought he actually existed and authored a poem on the destruction of Troy, a supposed Latin prose translation of which survives. TJ most likely refers to this translation, which gained popularity during the Afteenth and sixteenth centuries; see M. C. Howatson, ed., The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature, 2d ed. (Oxford, 1989). TJ did not own the work, but he did possess a
copy of Alexander Pope’s translation of the Iliad (London, 1750). See Sowerby, No. 4264. him who directed my early education: James Maury; see Malone, 1:44. bill for our legislature: the Bill for the More General DiCusion of Knowledge was one of the bills reported by the committee for the revisal of the laws between 1776 and 1779 and not passed. In 1796 an act for primary schools was enacted, but it relied on local funding; see Vol. 2:526-35; Vol. 29:178n, 288n. q Canceled: “perfection.”
To Thomas Mann Randolph Th:J. to TMR. Philadelphia Jan. 28. 1800. Si vales bene est. ego valeo. having occasion to write to-day to Dr. Wardlaw, I touched a little on politics, but think it better to avoid it. having recieved from N. York this morning a paper giving the details of the revolution at Paris, I inclose it to you, as you cannot get it through the other papers by this week’s post. all reBections on this subject would be nugatory.—our tobo. was sold to Lieper at 7. D. on 5 instalments of from 2. months to 2. months. the expences will be about 2 of a dollar pr. C. so that we get 61 D. nett. I wish we may do as well with that at N. York, which is not yet sold, notwithstanding < 341>
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my positive recommendations from Monticello to sell.—I have not heard from you since I left home; but mr Trist tells me you are all well. I have had one letter of business from mr Richardson. we have not yet been able to get Dr. Bache’s money for Jas. Key forwarded to Richmond.—some failures the last week in N. York, but none here. they will not get well under way till the Hamburgh ships begin to arrive which are now on their return. notice has been given to-day that it will be proposed to tax bank stock, & public stock of all kinds. you did not say any thing to me I believe about renewing your subscription for the Aurora; but presuming you meant it, I shall do it, when I renew my own. I do not know what you thought as to the Chronicle; or whether you would prefer the Telegraph. I will await your directions. my tenderest love to my dear Martha & the little ones, & aCectionate salutations to yourself. P.S. I have inclosed Brown as being fuller RC (DLC). PrC (CSmH); lacks postscript; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosure: Philadelphia Gazette, 28 Jan. 1800. si vales bene est. ego valeo: the classical salutation “if you are well, that is good; I am well.” The New York paper giving more details of events in France, including translations of the texts of decrees issued by Bonaparte and the other provisional consuls, was the Daily Advertiser dated 27 Jan., which printed information received from London the previous day. TJ decided to enclose the Philadelphia Gazette of 28 Jan., which printed information from the same New York source.
The letter of business from Richard richardson of 7 Jan., recorded in SJL as received from Monticello on the 18th, has not been found. renewing your subscription: on 4 Apr. TJ paid William Duane, through an order on John Barnes, $25 for Ave renewals of the Aurora, including his own and Randolph’s. On 10 May TJ gave Joseph B. Varnum, Republican congressman from Massachusetts, $3 to renew his subscription to the Independent Chronicle and $3 for Randolph’s subscription to the Constitutional Telegraphe. Both were Republican semiweekly newspapers in Boston (mb, 2:964, 1016-17; Sowerby, Nos. 589, 590).
To William Wardlaw Dear Sir Philadelphia Jan. 28. 1800. I have duly recieved your favor of the 12th. and according to your desire will pay for you at the oDce of the Aurora 5. D. & to Dr. Jackson £24–16–10. Pensylva making together 71.25 D from which deducting 39.79 D which I was to remit you there will be a balance of 31.46 which if you will be so good as to pay to mr John Watson it will go so far in discharge of a sum I have to remit him & be the same to me as the cash here. < 342>
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We have here through diCerent channels a general account of a revolution in France at the head of which is Buonaparte. no particulars which can command belief are recieved. the Feds believe the whole and that it is in favor of royalty. our zealous friends believe nothing of it. for my part I suppose that some change has taken place in the Directory, perhaps in it’s form; but that it does not look towards royalism, & is not serious enough to disturb the course of their military operations. A bill is ordered in to continue the non-intercourse law. whether our Southern gentlemen can unite against this or not remains to be seen. if it passes, I think it would be better for the tobacco states not to set out a single plant. for another crop piled on the last will make the whole worth less than the last one is alone. the Federal majority in the H. of R. is of 20 votes. the administration demand 5. millions for the present year, beyond the amount of the revenues. but they will not add to the taxes till the next session when it cannot aCect the elections. they propose to borrow this sum & think they can get it at 8. per cent. I do not believe they can. our commerce is in a state of compleat prostration. the Hamburg bankruptcies, which will aCect us more deeply than even England, the non-intercourse law, and the continued depredations of France & England, have done up the merchants compleatly. yet they dare not open their mouths with a word of complaint, because the bank will instantly refuse to discount for any individual who censures any proceeding of the government.—be so good as to inclose the depositions in Johnson’s suit against me to the clerk of the court of Chancery. I am Dear Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson P.S. since writing this I recieve from N. York a paper giving all the details; & as I know they cannot get into the Aurora for you to recieve them by this post, I inclose the paper to mr Randolph, to whom I refer you. they are painfully interesting. PrC (MHi); at foot of text: “Dr. Wardlaw”; postscript written in margin perpendicular to text; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Wardlaw’s favor of the 12th, received by TJ on 18 Jan., is recorded in SJL but has not been found. On 4 Apr. 1800 TJ paid for an aurora subscription for Wardlaw, and on 17 Apr. he ordered payment of $66.25 to David
jackson on Wardlaw’s behalf. After a settlement of accounts in December 1799 TJ owed the Arm of Brydie & Co. £21.13.5, and payments by Wardlaw to john watson, the company’s factor in Milton, were one means by which he satisAed this obligation (mb, 2:1010, 1016, 1021, 1039, 1044). Peter Tinsley was the clerk of the Virginia High Court of chancery (Vol. 30:622n; mb, 2:1051).
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To John Breckinridge Dear Sir Philadelphia Jan. 29. 1800. Your favor of the 13th. has been duly recieved, as had been that covering the resolutions of your legislature on the subject of theq former resolutions. I was glad to see the subject taken up, and done with so much temper, Armness and propriety. from the reason of the thing I cannot but hope that the Western country will be laid oC into a separate Judiciary district. from what I recollect of the dispositions on the same subject at the last session, I should expect that the partiality to a general & uniform system would yeild to geographical & physical impracticabilities. I was once a great advocate for introducing into Chancery vivâ voce testimony, & trial by jury. I am still so as to the latter; but have retired from the former opinion on the information recieved from both your state & ours, that it worked inconveniently. I introduced it into the Virginia law, but did not return to the bar, so as to see how it answered. but I do not understand how the vivâ voce examination comes to be practised in the Federal court with you, & not in your own courts; the federal courts being directed by law to proceed & decide by the laws of the states. A great revolution has taken place at Paris. the people of that country, having never been in the habit of self government, are not yet in the habit of acknoleging that fundamental law of nature, by which alone self government can be exercised by a society, I mean the lex majoris partis. of the sacredness of this law, our countrymen are impressed from their cradle, so that with them it is almost innate. this single circumstance may possibly decide the fate of the two nations. one party appears to have been prevalent in the Directory andr council of 500. the other in the council of antients. Sieyes & Ducos, the minority in the Directory, not being able to carry their points there seem to have gained over Buonaparte, & associating themselves with the majority of thes Council of antients, have expelled *120 odd members the most obnoxious of the minority of the Elders, & of the Majority of the council of 500. so as to give themselves a Majority in the latter council also. they have established Buonaparte, Sieyes & Ducos into an executive, or rather Dictatorial consulate, given them a committee of between 20. & 30. from each council, and have adjourned to the 20th. of Feb. thus the Constitution of the 3d. year which was getting consistence & Armness from time, is demolished in *60 were expelled from the 500, so as to change the majority there to the other side. it seems doubtful whether any were expelled from the antients. the majority there was already with the Consular party.
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an instant, and nothing is said about a new one. how the nation will bear it is yet unknown. had the Consuls been put to death in the Arst tumult, & before the nation had time to take sides, the Directory & councils might have reestablished themselves on the spot. but that not being done, perhaps it is now to be wished that Buonaparte may be spared, as, according to his protestations, he is for liberty, equality & representative government, and he is more able to keep the nation together, & to ride out the storm, than any other. perhaps it may end in their establishing a single executive, & that in his person. I hope it will not be for life, for fear of the inBuence of the example on our countrymen. it is very material for the latter to be made sensible that their own character & situation are materially diCerent from the French; and that whatever may be the fate of republicanism there, we are able to preserve it inviolate here: we are sensible of the duty and expediency of submitting our opinions to the will of the majority, and can wait with patience till they get right, if they happen to be at any time wrong. our vessel is moored at such a distance, that should theirs blow up, ours is still safe,t if we will but think so. I had recommended the inclosed letter to the care of the post master at Louisville; but have been advised it is better to get a friend to forward it by some of the boats. I will ask that favor of you. it is the duplicate of one with the same address which I inclosed last week to mr Innes, & should therefore go by a diCerent conveyance. I am with great esteem Dr. Sir Your friend & servt. Th: Jefferson RC (DLC: Breckinridge Family Papers); author’s note written perpendicularly in margin; addressed: “John Breckenridge esquire Frankfort Kentucky”; franked and postmarked; endorsed. PrC (DLC). Enclosure: probably TJ’s letter of 16 Jan. to Morgan Brown of Tennessee (see also TJ to Harry Innes, 23 Jan.).
by law: Section 34 of the Judiciary Act of 1789 stated: “That the laws of the several states, except where the constitution, treaties or statutes of the United States shall otherwise require or provide, shall be regarded as rules of decision in trials at common law in the courts of the United States in cases where they apply” (U.S. Statutes at Large, 1:92).
your favor of the 13th: Breckinridge to TJ, 13 Dec. 1799, which referred to the resolutions of the Kentucky legislature. federal courts being directed
q TJ here canceled “alien & [. . .].” r Preceding two words interlined. s Preceding three words interlined. t Remainder of sentence interlined.
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From Joseph Priestley Dear Sir Northumberland Jan 30. 1800 I am Battered by your thinking so favourably of my pamphlets, which were only calculated to give some satisfaction to my suspicious neighbors. Chancellor Livingston informs me that he has got an edition of them printed at Albany, for the information of the people in the back country, where, he says, it is much wanted. Indeed, it seems extraordinary, that in such a country as this, where there is no court to dazzle mens eyes, maxims as plain as that 2 and 2 make 4 should not be understood, and acted upon. It is evident that the bulk of mankind are governed by something very diCerent from reasoning and argument. This principle must [turn?] its inBuence even in your Congress. For if the members are not convinced by the excellent speeches of Mr. Gallatin and Nicolas, neither would they be persuaded the one should rise from the dead. It is true that I had more to do with colleges, and places of education, than most men in Europe; but I would not pretend to advise in this country. I will, however, at my leisure, propose such hints as shall occur to me; and if you want tutors from England, I can recommend some very good ones. Were I a few years younger, and more moveable, I should make interest for some appointment in your institution myself; but age and inactivity are fast approaching, and I am so Axed here, that a remove is absolutely impossible, unless you were possessed of Aladin’s lamp, and could transport my house library, and laboratory, into Virginia without trouble or expence. On my settlement here the gentlemen in the neighbourhood, thinking to make me of some use, set on foot a college, of which I gave them the plan, and they got it incorporated, and made me the president; but tho I proposed to give Lectures gratis, and had the disposal of a valuable library at the decease of a learned friend now near 80, and had it in my power to render them essential service in various ways, yet, owing I suspect, in part at least, to religious and political prejudices, nothing more has been done, besides raising the shell of a building these Ave years, so that I have told them I shall resign. I much wish to have some conversation with you on several subjects; but I cannot expect that the Vice President of the united states should visit me in my shed at Northumberland, and I cannot come to you. I intended on my settling here to have spent a month or so every winter at Philadelphia, but the shok of the times, and various accidents, have a little deranged my Anances, and I prefer to expend what < 346>
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I can spare on my experiments, and publications, rather than in travelling and seeing my friends. With the greatest respect, I am, Dear Sir, Yours sincerely J Priestley RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ as received 4 Feb. and so recorded in SJL. an edition of them printed at albany: while Priestley’s correspondence indicates the publication of an edition of his pamphlets in Albany, Evans contains no listing and the Editors have found no extant copy of an edition done there. See Jenny Graham, Revolutionary in Exile: The Emigration of Joseph Priestley to America, 1794-1804 (Philadelphia, 1995), 140-1.
For the excellent speeches of Albert Gallatin and John Nicholas, which later were published separately as a pamphlet, see TJ to James Madison, 26 Feb. 1799. set on foot a college: Priestley hoped in 1794 that enough of his English friends would settle in the United States to form a college “on the most liberal principles,” but the endeavor came to naught (Graham, Revolutionary in Exile, 77-8, 82, 99-100).
From Martha Jefferson Randolph Edge hill January 30 1800
I have this moment recieved your 2 letters to Mr Randolph & my self (together) and by the same post one from Mr Eppes informing me of the loss of his child. my heart is torn by an event which carries death to hopes so long & fondly cherished by my poor sister. I would give the world to By to her comfort at this moment but having been dissappointed before in doing what perhaps my anxiety only termed a moral duty (visiting her during her lying in) I am afraid to indulge any more hopes upon that subject. to your enquiries relative to poor Jupiter he too has paid the debt to nature; Anding himself no better at his return home, he unfortunately conceived him self poisoned & went to consult the negro doctor who attended the George’s. he went in the houseq to see uncle Randolph who gave him a dram which he drank & seemed to be as well as he had been for some time past; after which he took a dose from this black doctor who pronounced that it would kill or cure. 20 hours after taking the medecine he fell down in a strong convulsion At which lasted from ten to elevin hours, during which time it took 3 stout men to hold him, he languished nine days but was never heard to speak from the Arst of his being seized to the moment of his death. Ursala is I fear going in the same manner with her husband & son, a constant puking shortness or breath and swelling Arst in the legs but nowr extending itself the doctor I understand had also given her means as they term it and upon Jupiter’s < 347>
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death has absconded. I should think his murders suDciently manifests to come under the cognizance of the law. Mr Trist had left Charlottesville before I recieved your letters but should Mr Randolph be able to procure any other conveyance he will send the peas he is not at home at present I have of course answered those parts of his letter which required an immediate one adieu my dearest Father I have written this with the messenger who is to carry it at my elbow impatiently waiting, I will write by the next post more deliberately we are all well Ellen sends her love to dear seet grand papa, believe me with tenderest aCection yours M. Randolph RC (MHi); endorsed by TJ as received 11 Feb. and so recorded in SJL. The letters to mr randolph & my self are printed at 13 and 21 Jan. The black doctor who treated Jupiter was possibly “Perkins’s Sam” from Buckingham County to whom TJ paid $10 in November 1798 for attendance upon George, who superintended the nailery. He and his father Great
George, overseer at Monticello, died in June and Nov. 1799, respectively. ursala (Ursula) died in April 1800 (mb, 2:992; Stanton, Free Some Day, 339, 50). q Preceding two words interlined. r Word interlined in place of “I believe it was.” s Word interlined in place of “[proved?].”
To Richard Symonds Sir Philadelphia Jan. 30. 1800. Your favor of Aug. 10. came to me Oct. 24. at Monticello my residence in Virginia. that being very distant from Prince George county, and knowing nothing of Colo. Avery myself, I wrote to a friend in that county for the information you desired. it was not till I had come on to this place to attend a session of Congress that I recieved his answer, which, so far as it related to Colo. Avery I shall copy at the foot of my letter. the oDce which you asked of me is such as we all owe to each other. I should have performed it with greater pleasure if the information had been of a diCerent complexion. as it is, I can only take to myself that satisfaction which arises from rendering a duty. should you wish to write to Colo. Avery his nearest post oDce is Petersburg; and by sending your letters by a vessel bound to some port of James river, the expence of postage will be abridged. I am Sir Your most obedt. humble servt. Th: Jefferson RC (State Library of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia); at foot of text: “Mr. Richard Symonds. Knighton near
Wareham Dorsetshire. England”; with extract of George RuDn to TJ, 30 Nov. 1799, at foot.
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31 JAN UARY 1800 For Symonds’s missing favor of aug. 10, see TJ’s letter of 28 Oct. to George
RuDn, his contact in prince george county.
From Samuel Adams Sir Boston Jany: 31st: 1800— I have very lately written to you recommending a Young Gentleman by the name of Winthrop. I pray you not to apprehend that I design to trouble you with frequent Letters: your time will not admit of it.— But, when I meet with a Youth of good natural, and acquired abilities—of an accurate knowledge of the World, and a Arm attachment to the elective representative System of Government; I cannot help recommending him. The bearer of this Letter, Mr. Erving, thô an English native, possesses all these qualities and more than I have mentioned. You will judge of the Virtues of this Young Gentleman and I dare promise myself, you will be pleased with him.— I am Dear Sir, Your respectfull friend and aCectionate fellow Citizen Saml Adams RC (DLC); in unknown hand, signed by Adams; at foot of text: “Thomas JeCerson Vice President of the United States”; endorsed by TJ as received 12 Feb. and so recorded in SJL.
i have very lately written to you: see Adams to TJ of 11 Dec. 1799. bearer of this letter: George W. Erving.
To Bishop James Madison Dear Sir Philadelphia Jan. 31. 1800. I have recieved your favor of the 17th. & communicated it to mr Smith. I lately forwarded you a letter from Dr. Priestly, endorsed ‘with a book’; I struck these words through with my pen, because no book had then come. it is now recieved, & shall be forwarded to Richmond by the Arst opportunity: but such opportunities are diDcult to And; gentlemen going in the stage not liking to take charge of a package which is to be attended to every time the stage is changed. the best chance will be by some captain of a vessel going round to Richmond. I shall address it to the care of mr George JeCerson there. I have lately by accident got a sight of a single volume, (the 3d.) of the Abbé Barruel’s ‘Antisocial conspiracy,’ which gives me the Arst idea I have ever had of what is meant by the Illuminatism, against < 349>
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which ‘illuminati Morse’ as he is now called, and his ecclesiastical & monarchical associates have been making such a hue & cry. Barruel’s own parts of the book are perfectly the ravings of a Bedlamite. but he quotes largely from Wishaupt whom he considers as the founder of what he calls the order. as you may not have had an opportunity of forming a judgment of this cry of ‘mad dog’ which has been raised against his doctrines, I will give you the idea I have formed from only an hour’s reading of Barruel’s quotations from him which you may be sure are not the most favourable. Wishaupt seems to be an enthusiastic Philanthropist. he is among those (as you know the excellent Price and Priestly also are) who believe in the indeAnite perfectibility of man. he thinks he may in time be rendered so perfect that he will be able to govern himself in every circumstance so as to injure none, to do all the good he can, to leave government no occasion to exercise their powers over him, & of course to render political government useless. this, you know is Godwin’s doctrine, and this is what Robinson, Barruel & Morse have called a conspiracy against all government. Wishaupt believes that to promote this perfection of the human character was the object of Jesus Christ. that his intention was simply to reinstate natural religion, & by diCusing the light of his morality, to teach us to govern ourselves. his precepts are the love of god & love of our neighbor. and by teaching innocence of conduct, he expected to place men in their natural state of liberty & equality. he says, no one ever laid a surer foundation for liberty than our grand master, Jesus of Nazareth. he believes the Freemasons were originally possessed of the true principles & object of Christianity, and have still preserved some of them by tradition, but much disAgured. the means he proposes to eCect this improvement of human nature are ‘to enlighten men, to correct their morals & inspire them with benevolence. secure of our success, sais he, we abstain from violent commotions. to have foreseen the happiness of posterity & to have prepared it by irreproacheable means, suDces for our felicity. this tranquility of our consciences is not troubled by the reproach of aiming at the ruin or overthrow of states or thrones.’ as Wishaupt lived under the tyranny of a despot & priests, he knew that caution was necessary even in spreading information, and the principles of pure morality. he proposed therefore to lead the Freemasons to adopt this object, and to make the objects of their institution, the diCusion ofq science & virtue. he proposed to initiate new members into this body by gradations proportioned to his fears of the thunderbolts of tyranny. this has given an air of mystery to his views, was the foundation of his banishment & the subversion of the Masonic order, and is the colour for the ravings against him of < 350>
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Robinson, Barruel & Morse, whose real fears are that the craft would be endangered by the spreading of information reason & natural morality among men.—this subject being new to me, I have imagined that if it be so to you also, you may recieve the same satisfaction in seeing, which I have had in forming the Analysis of it: and I believe you will think with me that if Wishaupt had written here, where no secrecy is necessary in our endeavors to render men wise & virtuous, he would not have thought of any secret machinery for that purpose: as Godwin, if he had written in Germany, might probably also have thought secrecy & mystycism prudent.—I will say nothing to you on the late revolution of France, which is painfully interesting. perhaps when we know more of the circumstances which give rise to it, & the direction it will take, Buonaparte, it’s chief organ, may stand in a better light than at present. I am with great esteem Dear Sir Your aCectionate friend & servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); at foot of Arst page: “Bishop Madison.” The letter lately forwarded by TJ was likely the one he received from Joseph Priestley on 12 Jan.; see his letter to Priestley of 18 Jan. book: Joseph Priestley’s recently completed A Comparison of the Institutions of Moses with Those of the Hindoos and Other Ancient Nations; with Remarks on Mr. Dupuis’s Origin of All Religions, the Laws and Institutions of Moses Methodized, and an Address to the Jews on the Present State of the World and the Prophecies Relating to It (Northumberland, Pa., 1799); see John Towill Rutt, ed., Life and Correspondence of Joseph Priestley, 2 vols. (London, 1831-32), 2:423, 425. The Abbé Augustin barruel, a Jesuit, had written Mémoires pour servir à l’histoire du jacobinisme to expose what its author saw as dangerously conspiratorial origins of revolutionary thought in Europe. First published in French in 1797-98, the book appeared in the United States in 1799 in an English translation published by Cornelius Davis (see Evans, Nos. 35153-6). In translation the volumes of the work were called The Antichristian Conspiracy, The Antimonarchical Conspiracy, and The Antisocial Conspiracy, the last of which continued into a fourth volume. Sermons given by Jedidiah morse on fast days in Massachusetts in
1798-99 warned Americans of the dangers of the Illuminati. John C. Ogden, the indefatigable opponent of the New England religious, cultural, and political establishment, responded to those jeremiads with a pamphlet, A View of the New England Illuminati, and with articles published in the Philadelphia Aurora. Ogden labeled Morse and his elitist associates the only secret organization or “Illuminati” to be feared in the United States. The founder of the order of the Illuminati was Adam Weishaupt, an academic of Ingolstadt, Bavaria. Weishaupt had studied at a Jesuit seminary, but the society he formed in 1776 was anticlerical, emphasized natural religion and the perfectibility of humankind, and incorporated elements of freemasonry. The order elicited strong opposition from Jesuits and was oDcially suppressed in Bavaria in 1784 (Dictionnaire, 5:627-8; Alan V. Briceland, “The Philadelphia Aurora, the New England Illuminati, and the Election of 1800,” pmhb, 100 [1976], 336; Henry Garland and Mary Garland, The Oxford Companion to German Literature [Oxford, 1976], 416, 926; Erwin L. Lueker, Lutheran Cyclopedia, rev. ed. [St. Louis, 1975], 403, 811; for Morse’s sermons, see Evans, Nos. 34148, 34151, 35838). robinson: John Robison, professor of natural philosophy at the University of
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31 JAN UARY 1800 Edinburgh, was the author of Proofs of a Conspiracy Against All the Religions and Governments of Europe, Carried on in the Secret Meetings of Free Masons, Illuminati, and Reading Societies. The book was Arst published in 1797 and appeared
in several editions by the end of the next year, including impressions in Philadelphia and New York (Evans, Nos. 34477, 34478; dsb, 11:496-7). q Preceding three words interlined.
To John McDowell Sir Philadelphia Feb. 1. 1800 Your favor of Oct. 3. was recieved in due time; by which I percieve that the sale of nails at your market is too slow to merit further attention. I would therefore make you a proposition on the subject of those remaining on hand. I have occasion the ensuing summer for 4. or 500 L of feathers for making beds, and I understand they are to be had good & cheap with you. perhaps you can get them from your customers in the ordinary course of dealing in paiment of their accounts. if you think proper to take the balance of the nails on hand, I will accept paiment in this way, taking for granted you will take care to recieve none but goose feathers, unmixed & well aired. be so good as inform me whether this proposition is agreeable, that, if it is not, I may decide what else is best to be done with those remaining unsold. a letter put into your post oDce & directed to me here, will come safely and readily. I am Sir Your very humble servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); at foot of text: “Mr. Mc.Dowell”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
Notes on a Conversation with Benjamin Rush Feb. 1. Dr. Rush tells me that he had it from Asa Green that when the clergy addressed Genl. Washington on his departure from the govmt, it was observed in their consultation that he had never on any occasion said a word to the public which shewed a belief in the Xn. religion and he thot they should so pen their address as to force him at length to declare publicly whether he was a Christian or not. they did so. however he observed the old fox was too cunning for them. he answered every article of their address particularly except that, which he passed over without notice. Rush observes he never did say a word on the subject in any of his public papers except in his valedictory let< 352>
31 JAN UARY 1800 Edinburgh, was the author of Proofs of a Conspiracy Against All the Religions and Governments of Europe, Carried on in the Secret Meetings of Free Masons, Illuminati, and Reading Societies. The book was Arst published in 1797 and appeared
in several editions by the end of the next year, including impressions in Philadelphia and New York (Evans, Nos. 34477, 34478; dsb, 11:496-7). q Preceding three words interlined.
To John McDowell Sir Philadelphia Feb. 1. 1800 Your favor of Oct. 3. was recieved in due time; by which I percieve that the sale of nails at your market is too slow to merit further attention. I would therefore make you a proposition on the subject of those remaining on hand. I have occasion the ensuing summer for 4. or 500 L of feathers for making beds, and I understand they are to be had good & cheap with you. perhaps you can get them from your customers in the ordinary course of dealing in paiment of their accounts. if you think proper to take the balance of the nails on hand, I will accept paiment in this way, taking for granted you will take care to recieve none but goose feathers, unmixed & well aired. be so good as inform me whether this proposition is agreeable, that, if it is not, I may decide what else is best to be done with those remaining unsold. a letter put into your post oDce & directed to me here, will come safely and readily. I am Sir Your very humble servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); at foot of text: “Mr. Mc.Dowell”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
Notes on a Conversation with Benjamin Rush Feb. 1. Dr. Rush tells me that he had it from Asa Green that when the clergy addressed Genl. Washington on his departure from the govmt, it was observed in their consultation that he had never on any occasion said a word to the public which shewed a belief in the Xn. religion and he thot they should so pen their address as to force him at length to declare publicly whether he was a Christian or not. they did so. however he observed the old fox was too cunning for them. he answered every article of their address particularly except that, which he passed over without notice. Rush observes he never did say a word on the subject in any of his public papers except in his valedictory let< 352>
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ter to the Governors of the states when he resigned his commission in the army, wherein he speaks of the benign inBuence of the Christian religion. I know that Gouverneur Morris, who pretended to be in his secrets & believed himself to be so, has often told me that Genl. Washington believed no more of that system than he himself did. MS (DLC: TJ Papers, 108:18558); entirely in TJ’s hand; on same sheet as Notes on a Conversation with Mr. Smith of Hamburg, 24 Jan. 1800. The source of Rush’s information was not Asa, but Ashbel green, with whom Rush had a long acquaintance. Green drafted the address of the Philadelphia clergy to George Washington in March 1797, when he was minister of the Second Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, chaplain of Congress, and the stated clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States. He later played a key role in founding the Princeton Theological Seminary and from 1812 to 1822 was president of the College of New Jersey. In 1830, following the publication of the notes above by Thomas JeCerson Randolph in his fourvolume selection from TJ’s papers, Green penned a scathing commentary for a monthly publication he edited, the Philadelphia Christian Advocate. In their
address to Washington the ministers had quoted a portion of his Farewell Address that related to religion and morality, and Green acknowledged that he had hoped to elicit from the retiring president a statement equivalent to the reference to “the Divine Author of our blessed Religion” that Washington had placed at the conclusion of his circular letter to the governors of the states when he left the army in June 1783. But Green denied that the ministers had attempted to prompt Washington into making a public declaration in support of Christianity, and he took strong exception to TJ’s characterizations of the ministers’ address and Washington’s religious beliefs (Lyman H. ButterAeld, ed., Letters of Benjamin Rush, 2 vols. [Princeton, 1951], 1:435n; Joseph H. Jones, ed., The Life of Ashbel Green, V.D.M. [New York, 1849], 269-70, 614-15; Christian Advocate, 8 [1830], 78, 305-9; Fitzpatrick, Writings, 26:496; 35:229; dab, 7:536-7; anb, 9:476-7).
To William Bache Dear Doctor Philadelphia Feb. 2. 1800. After having waited long in hopes that either we could have found means of purchasing a draught here on Richmond, or that Brydie Brown & co. might sell there a draught on mr Barnes, I at length recommended to mr Barnes to endeavor to procure a government draught on their custom houses in Virginia. this could not be obtained on the one in the Richmond district: but they gave us one on Norfolk, which we preferred to Alexandria. this draught therefore for 3317 Dollars was forwarded two days ago to Brydie Brown & co. with orders to place it to the credit of James Key as paid by you. and to guard against the dangers of the mail being robbed, I have this day advised of it by letter, mr Otway Byrd on whom the draught is, to < 353>
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assure himself when it is presented, that it comes from Brydie Brown & co. I hope therefore that you may henceforward be at ease on this subject. I considered myself as unfortunate in having missed of you, by our taking diCerent routes. indeed I think it unfortunate that mrs Bache should have commenced her new residence just as the disagreeable season was beginning, and at the moment when our society was to a certain degree breaking up. however I hope we shall rally together again in the spring, & that the return of mr Trist, Colo. Monroe, & my family will add to the number of those who wish to render her new situation as agreeable as possible. I am not without hopes you will be able to avoid the necessity of trying your new quarters till the winter is over. I think it impossible you can get the house into order. I have given orders to mr Dinsmore to deliver the sashes necessary for you. having found it best to transfer the particular ones I pointed out to you to the frontq of my house in order to render it uniform, I have directed some of the London sashes to be furnished to you. they are better made than those from Philadelphia, but the panes are only 12 I. square instead of 12. by 18. I. if you do not like them as well, you can use them till you can order others from Philadelphia. You have seen the aEicting details from Paris. on what grounds a revolution has been made, we are not informed, & are still more at a loss to devine what will be it’s issue; whether we are to have over again the history of Robespierre, of Caesar, or the new phaenomenon of an usurpation of the government for the purpose of making it free. our citizens however should derive from this some useful lessons. they should see in it a necessity to rally Armly & in close bands round their constitution; never to suCer an iota of it to be infringed; to inculcate on minoritiesr the duties of acquiescence in the will of the majority, and on majoritiess a respect for the rights of the minority; to beware of a military force even of citizens; and to beware of too much conAdence in any man. the conAdence of the French people in Buonaparte, has enabled him to kick down theirt constitution, & instead of that to leave them dependent on his will & his life. I have never seen so awful a moment as the present. the prospects too in this state, important as it is in our union, are very discouraging. on the other side however there seems to be a gleam of hope that a general peace will take place.—Dr. Wistar called on me last night, and is well. present my friendly compliments to mrs Bache, and accept yourself the salutations of a sincere friend & neighbor. Th: Jefferson P.S. I inclose mr Barnes’s statement. < 354>
2 FEBRUARY 1800 RC (Mrs. W. F. Magie, Princeton, 1945); addressed “Doctr. William Bache Charlottesville”; franked and postmarked; endorsed; with sketch of windows and numerical calculations appended in an unknown hand. PrC (DLC). Enclosure not found. forwarded two days ago: TJ’s missing letter of 30 Jan. to Brydie, Brown & Co. is noted at TJ to George JeCerson, 1 Jan. 1800. A letter of 2 Feb. from TJ to Francis otway byrd, the collector of customs at Norfolk, and one from Byrd writ-
ten on 13 Feb. and received on the 25th, are recorded in SJL but have not been found. They are the only correspondence between TJ and Byrd in TJ’s epistolary record. On 13 Jan. 1800 TJ wrote a letter to James dinsmore that is recorded in SJL but has not been found. q Two words interlined in place of “another part.” r TJ Arst wrote “on the minority.” s TJ Arst wrote “on the majority.” t TJ here canceled “government.”
To Elisha Boudinot Sir Philadelphia Feb. 2. 1800. Since I took the liberty of troubling you on a former occasion with a letter on the interests of my friend the Baron de Geismar, I have recieved a letter from him informing me he has purchased another share in the mines of Schuyler in Jersey from the Chevalr. Ferdinand Malsburg chamberlain to the Prince of Baden. it is No. 36. but he expresses at the same time a great desire to sell the whole. I am under the necessity therefore of so far availing myself of your kind dispositions as to sollicit your enquiries whether these shares can be sold at all, & for what precise sum, on a reasonable credit with security. at the same time it would enable me to judge of the expediency of selling if I could be informed what a share has been originally valued at. as, after the present session we are removing to a greater distance from the scene, I should be very happy to accomplish the views of my friend before our adjournment. accept assurances of the respect of Sir Your most obedt. & most humble servt Th: Jefferson RC (PHC: Charles Roberts Autograph Collection); addressed: “Elisha Boudinot esq. Newark”; franked and postmarked; endorsed by Boudinot. former occasion: TJ to Boudinot, 1 Feb. 1799. Since writing that letter TJ had received two from the Baron von geismar at Hanau, written on 7 Aug.
1798 and 20 Feb. 1799 and received on 30 Mch. and 30 Aug. 1799, respectively, neither of which has been found; see note to TJ to Van Staphorst & Hubbard, 30 Apr. 1798. A letter from Boudinot to TJ, written at Newark on 6 Feb. and received 8 Feb. 1800, is recorded in SJL but has not been found.
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From Philip Norborne Nicholas Dear Sir, Richmond Feby 2d 1800. Colo. Monroe informed me that he had inclosed you a copy of the republican ticket. This of course communicated to you the change which has taken place in the law of this state upon the subject of choosing electors. The members of the legislature before they dispersed adopted a general system of correspondence through the state for the purpose of giving eCectual support to our ticket. A committee of Ave is established in each county and a central committee of the same number in Richmond. The objects of their establishment are to communicate useful information to the people relative to the election; and to repel every eCort which may be made to injure either the ticket in genl. or to remove any prejudice which may be attempted to be raized against any person on that ticket. I was appointed by the meeting who organized the system which I have described as chairman of the genl. comtee in Richmond. We have begun our correspondence with the subcommittees, and mean to keiep up a regular intercource upon the subjects which may seem to require it. Among the duties enjoined upon the genl. Comtee, that of writing to the diCerent persons who compose the republican ticket, and informing them that, the are selected on account of their attachment to republican principles is a primary and most important one. We have received an answer as yet from no gentleman but Mr. Wythe, who consents to occupy a place upon our ticket. This I rejoice at as it will give it great weight & dignity. And I cannot but augur well of a cause which calls out from their retirement such venerable patriots as Wythe & Pendleton. I see that the eCort to repeal the most obnoxious part of the sedition law has failed; and that an attempt was made to induce congress indirectlyq to declare the common law in force. I should deem it a very wise and necessary measure, if the republicans would endeavor to obtain the adoption of a declaratory act denying the existince of the common law as a part of our federal municipal code. I belive that a part of the instructions to our senators adopted at the last session is directed to this point. Indeed it appears to me there cannot be a better questionr upon which the republicans can rally than this; nor a question on which the would obtain more completely the sympathy of the people. The advantages, which will be derived from Colo. Monroes being at the head of our state government, will be considerable he, will form a center around which our interest can rally; and the conciliation of his manners is calculated to advance the principles for which he is an advocate. We have not been able distinctly to under< 356>
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stand from the public prints what the situation of Pennsylvania is likely to be as the choice of electors. Will the legislature meet time enough to revive the old law or to appoint the electors themselves. We entertain great hopes here of Jersey and New York; but these hopes are founded upon letters from Philadelphia. Colo. Harvie yesterday communicated to me the contents of letter on the subject of his son; I expect he will remove him to Philadelphia. I must make an apology for so long a trespass on your time; and the best I can oCer is my being with sentiments of real regard & friendship Ph: Nor: Nicholas RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ as received 11 Feb. and so recorded in SJL. Ninety-three members of the legislature “and a number of other respectable persons” met at the Capitol in Richmond on 21 Jan. to propose a republican ticket of 21 presidential electors. On the 23d and 24th the meeting reconvened to adopt a general system of correspondence consisting of a general standing committee in Richmond with Nicholas as chairman and some 92 local committees representing Virginia’s counties and some towns, although a few of those subcommittees had no members at Arst. On 30 Jan. Nicholas and John H. Foushee, the secretary of the general committee, addressed a letter to the proposed members of the ticket of electors, which included George wythe, Edmund pendleton, Madison, Giles, Archibald Stuart, Thomas Newton of Norfolk, and Carter Bassett Harrison. That letter was printed to facilitate distri-
bution (Evans, No. 38962). The Republican ticket presented to voters in August 1800 was identical to that proposed in January (cvsp, 9:74-87; Cunningham, JeCersonian Republicans, 196). Nathaniel Macon of North Carolina had on 23 Jan. submitted a resolution to the U.S. House of Representatives for the repeal of the section of the sedition law that outlawed criticism of the government or its oDcers. Nicholas’s brother John vigorously opposed an amendment oCered by James A. Bayard that said sedition would “remain punishable” under common law. Unable to secure passage of the resolution without the amendment, Macon, Nicholas, Gallatin, and other Republicans Anally had to join in an overwhelming vote against Macon’s resolution (Annals, 10:404-25; U.S. Statutes at Large, 1:596-7). q Word interlined. r Word interlined in place of “standard.”
To Thomas Mann Randolph Th:J. to TMR. Philadelphia Feb. 2. 1800. My letters to yourself and my dear Martha have been of Jan. 13. 21. & 28. I now inclose a letter lately recieved for her. you will see in the newspapers all the details we have of the proceedings of Paris. I observe that La Fayette is gone there. when we see him, Volney, Sieyes, Taleyrand gathering round the new powers, we may conjecture from thence their views and principles. should it be really true that Buonaparte has usurped the government with an intention of < 357>
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making it a free one, whatever his talents may be for war, we have no proofs that he is skilled in forming governments friendly to the people. wherever he has meddled we have seen nothing but fragments of the old Roman government stuck into materials with which they can form no cohesion: we see the bigotry of an Italian to the antient splendour of his country, but nothing which bespeaks a luminous view of the organisation of rational government. perhaps however this may end better than we augur: and it certainly will if his head is equal to true & solid calculations of glory. it is generally hoped here that peace may take place. there was before no union of view between Austria & the members of the triple coalition: the defeats of Suwarrow appear to have compleatly destroyed the conAdence of Russia in that power, & the failure of the Dutch expedition to have weaned him from the plans of England. the withdrawing his armies we hope is the signal for the entire dissolution of the coalition, and for every one seeking his separate peace. we have great need of this event; that foreign aCairs may no longer bear so heavily on ours. we have great need for the ensuing twelvemonth to be left to ourselves. the enemies of our constitution are preparing a fearful operation, and the dissensions in this state are too likely to bring things to the situation they wish; when our Buonaparte, surrounded by his comrades in arms may step in to give us political salvation in his way. it behoves our citizens to be on their guard, to be Arm in their principles, and full of conAdence in themselves. we are able to preserve our selfgovernment if we will but think so. I think the return of La Fayette to Paris ensures a reconciliation between them & us. he will so entwist himself with the envoys that they will not be able to draw oC.—mr C. Pinckney has brought into the Senate a bill for the uniform appointment of juries. a tax on public stock, bank-stock &c is to be proposed. this would bring 150. millions into contribution with the lands, and levy a sensible proportion of the expences of a war on those who are so anxious to engage us in it. Robins’s aCair is perhaps to be enquired into. however the majority against these things leave no hope of success. it is most unfortunate that while Virginia & N. Carolina were steady the middle states drew back: now that these are laying their shoulders to the draught, Virginia & N. Carolina baulk; so that never drawing together, the Eastern states steady & unbroken, draw all to themselves. I was mistaken last week in saying no more failures had happened. new ones have been declaring every day in Baltimore, others here and at New York. the last here have been Nottnagel, Montmollin & co. & Peter Blight. the sums are enormous. I do not know the Arms of the bankrupt houses in Balti< 358>
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more, but the crush will be incalculable. in the present stagnation of commerce & particularly that in tobo. it is diDcult to transfer money from hence to Richmond. government bills on their custom house at Bermuda can from time to time be had. I think it will be best for mr Barnes always to keep them bespoke, and to remit in that way your instalments as fast as they are either due or within the discountable period. the 1st. is due the middle of March, & so from 2. months to 2. months in 5. equal instalments. I am looking out to see whether such a diCerence of price here may be had as will warrant our bringing our tobo. from N. York here rather than take 6. D. there. we have been very unfortunate in this whole business. Arst in our own miscalculation of the eCect of the non-intercourse law; and when we had corrected our own opinions, that our instructions were from good but mistaken views, not executed. my constant love to my dear Martha, kisses to the young ones, and aCectionate esteem to yourself. Th: Jefferson RC (DLC); endorsed by Randolph as received 16 Mch. PrC (same). Enclosure not found. For the defeats of Suvorov and the failure of the dutch expedition, see Joseph Barnes to TJ, 25 Oct. 1799. On 31 Jan. Charles pinckney introduced a bill to “establish an uniform mode of drawing Jurors by lot, in all the Courts of the United States.” For TJ’s interest in reforming the process of jury selection, see Petition to the General Assembly of Virginia, [2 or 3 Nov. 1798].
TJ made notations on a printed copy of the bill indicating changes proposed by the Senate. The vice president also recorded the progress of the bill from its Arst reading on 31 Jan. to 11 Mch. when it was “postp’d to next session” (DNA: RG 46, Senate Records, 6th Cong., 1st sess.; js, 3:25, 26, 35, 46; National State Papers: Adams, 20:208-17). See also Pinckney’s address, “On the subject of having Impartial Juries, by Lot, in all the Federal Courts,” in Speeches of Charles Pinckney, Esq. in Congress ([Philadelphia], 1800), 3-18; Evans, No. 38270.
To Thomas Mann Randolph Th:J. to TMR. Feb. 4. 1800. Your’s of Jan. 18 never reached me till this day, so that it has loitered a week somewhere. our post going out tomorrow morning, I hasten to answer it. my anxiety to get my lands rented is extreme. I readily agree therefore that mr Kerr shall take for 5. years, or say till Christmas 1804. the Oblong, Square Aeld, and the one on the river next below the Square Aeld, comprehending the orchard: only I should be very urgent that he should take a compleat Aeld there; for I expect there is enough between the river and the road, by old Hickman’s settlement to make 2. Aelds of 40. as. each, by cleaning up & < 359>
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straitening the skirts, perhaps by cutting down some slips on the margin. for so much as would be to clear, I would take no rent the 1st. year. he would then have the 3 Aelds in a line on the river, and three other Aelds would remain along the road to the triangle inclusive, for another tenant. observe I must have with him, as I have with mr Peyton, free passage along the roads; that is to say along the road whichq used to be, & must be again, down the river side. all the conditions to be the same as with mr Peyton. I say, I wish him to be pushed to the taking the 120. acres; yet, rather than lose a tenant I would agree to the hundred acres, towit, the Oblong, Square & half the lower Aeld. but you are sensible he would get by that means a great over-proportion of cream, & therefore I wish to force on him the other half Aeld.—Buonaparte’s operations begin to wear a somewhat better aspect. it seems as if he meant a republic of some sort: therefore we are encouraged by the strength of his head to hope he calculates correctly how much superior is the glory of establishing a republic to that of wearing a crown. but still we must suspend our judgments a little longer.—my Arst letter from mr Eppes gave me little hope of the child’s doing well. one recieved to-day announces it’s death. it appears, as we might expect, a severe aEiction to both. By a letter recieved to-day also from mr Richardson I learn the death of Jupiter. he has fallen a victim to an imprudent perseverance in journeying. I was extremely against his coming to Fredsbg with me & had engaged Davy Bowles, but Jupiter was so much disturbed at this that I yielded. at the end of the second day’s journey I saw how much he was worsted, & pressed him to wait at Hyde’s a very excellent house till the horses should return, & I got the promise of a servant from thence. but he would not hear of it. at Fredericksburg again I engaged the tavernkeeper to take care of him till he should be quite well enough to proceed. and it seems that immediately on his arrival at home, he took another journey to my brother’s where he died. I am sorry for him as well as sensible he leaves a void in my [domestic]r administration which I cannot All up.—I must get Martha or yourself to give orders for bottling the cyder in the proper season in March. there is nobody there but Ursula who unites trust & skill to do it. she may take any body she pleases to aid her. I am in hopes if any keys had been delivered to Jupiter that they have been taken care of. mr Richardson may perhaps be useful in seeing to the cyder. when I say that Ursula may have any body she pleases to help her, I mean to except John, who must have nothing to do with drink.—pray conclude with Kerr, & I will conArm what you do. my < 360>
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constant love to my dear Martha & the little ones, and aCectionate attachment to yourself. Adieu. RC (DLC); torn at seal, with word in brackets supplied from PrC; endorsed by Randolph as received 16 Mch. PrC (MHi); lacks second page. PrC (ViU); second page only. The first letter from John Wayles eppes announcing the birth of his daughter is printed at 1 Jan. The letter from Eppes to TJ of 17 Jan., recorded in SJL as received 4 Feb., is missing, as is another one from him dated 25 Jan., recorded in SJL as received 8 Feb.
For the letter from Richard richardson, see TJ to Richardson, 10 Feb. i engaged the tavernkeeper: on 24 Dec. TJ spent $7.58 at Davis’s tavern in Fredericksburg and gave Jupiter $9.33 to cover expenses for a blanket and his trip back to Monticello (mb, 2:1011). q TJ here canceled “[laid?] upon the line between Lego & Pantops from the [river?].” r Word added by TJ in right margin.
From George Jefferson Dear Sir, Richmond 5th. Febr. 1800 Mr. Pollard having returned only yesterday I to-day received of him on account of your order in favor of Mr. Barnes £127–16–8. Only 28 bundles of the half crown nail-rod is yet brought down; the balance being left on the way, the boatman having taken in an over-load. The balance I suppose will shortly be here. I have paid Mr. Thomas Gordon the sum you directed & am Dear Sir Your Very humble servt. Geo. Jefferson RC (MHi); at foot of text: “Thos. Jefferson esqr. Philada”; mistakenly endorsed by TJ and entered in SJL as a letter of 5 Jan. but as received 12 Feb. 1800.
your order: see TJ to George JeCerson, 12 Jan. 1800.
To George Jefferson Dear Sir Philadelphia Feb. 6. 1800 I mentioned in a former letter that 3. tons of nail rod, too large for my use, would be brought down from Monticello, & desired you to hold it till I could get mr Roberts’s order to whom it should be delivered in Richmond to his use. he now authorises me to have it delivered to Joseph Anthony, merchant in Richmond. I will ask the favor of you to do this, if the rod is come down, & to send me mr Anthony’s < 361>
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receipt immediately; if it is not come down, to send me the receipts as it does come; as it will save me from paying so much ready money now soon to become due. I am Dear Sir Your’s aCectionately Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); at foot of text: “Mr. George JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
To James Monroe Th:J. to Govr. Monroe Philada Feb. 6: 1800. Nobody here has recieved mr Madison’s report as it passed the house. the members of the diCerent states are waiting to recieve & forward a single copy to their states to be reprinted there. this would require half a dozen copies. but if you send me one, we can have it reprinted here & sent out. pray do it by the Arst post. if it was not printed there as amended in a separate pamphlet then send me those sheets of the journal in which it is contained. I expect Dupont the father at Philada every hour. Adieu aCectionately. RC (NN); addressed: “Governor Monroe Richmond”; franked and postmarked; endorsed by Monroe. PrC (DLC); endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
From John Wayles Eppes Dear Sir, Eppington Feb: 7th. 1800 My poor Mary still continues to suCer much from her right breast—It has broke in four or Ave diCerent places & is still much inBamed. Her fever had left her entirely until yesterday: it returned then in consequence of new rising & inBamation—We expect Doctr. Turpin here again this evening & I hope a few days more will put an end to the cruel pain she has for some time suCered— With sincere wishes for your health I am yours sincerely J W Eppes RC (ViU: Edgehill-Randolph Papers); endorsed by TJ as received 17 Feb. and so recorded in SJL.
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To Richard Richardson Dear Sir Philadelphia Feb. 10. 1800. Your favors of Jan. 7th. and 18th. have both been recieved. on the 12th. of January I made a remittance to mr JeCerson, and directed him to pay out of it 329. dollars to your order as I notiAed you in my letter of the 13th. which I presume you recieved on the 22d. I am sincerely concerned for the death of Jupiter, which I am persuaded might have been prevented could I have prevailed on him to give up going with me to Fredericksburg, or to have stopped the 2d day, and permitted a man to go on with me whom I engaged for that purpose, proposing to him to stay by the way. I suppose the journey to my brother’s compleated the business. I hope you will have care taken of the things in his charge, such as the carriages, harness, saddles &c as it is proper somebody should sleep so as to guard the house, perhaps it would be best for Joe, Wormely & Burwell, or any two of them to sleep in the North square cellar. I take John to be a great nightwalker. besides I have no idea of letting him oC from his share of labour with the men. he is beginning to be idle, and I consider his labouring with the rest in the winter to be necessary to keep him to his duty. at that season there is nothing to be done in the garden but what the old people can do with his direction. I think therefore it would be better that Burwell should feed the horses. if a supply of forage is kept ready, it need interrupt his day’s work but a short time. I shall be glad if you will keep the key of the corn crib in the stable, and see that the corn is always locked up in that. under this arrangement, the sheep might remain on John’s hands, without hindering him. as I understand Ned lost every thing in his house, & of course his bedding, give him three new blankets, and a hempen roll bed. I am in hopes you have sent down the three ton of half crown rod, as my merchant here agrees to take it in Richmond as cash. of course it is important it should be there immediately as it will save my paying him 120.£ cash soon to become due. I hope you have recieved the 4. tons of nail rod sent on in December, which with the 3. tons recieved before I came from home will be a supply till summer. I should like to recieve the weekly report of the boys work whenever you write to me, as also a journal of the nails sold. If you would write to me always the day after you recieve a letter from me, so that it might come by return of the same post, I would do the same here, so that a letter written by each about every three weeks would keep me possessed of the progress of the several works & enable me to give directions. I should have been very glad of the smith you mention to me; but Powel is engaged to come, < 363>
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tho’ not till next winter. I wrote to mr Eppes to try to engage him to come the 1st. of July, & expect an answer from him. if he does not I should be willing to take this one for the present year. I have sent on a bag of a particular kind of nut, called the Paccan. as soon as ever they arrive John must plant them in the nursery in rows 2. feet apart, and 6. Inches from nut to nut in the row. Congress propose to rise the 1st. of April. if they do, I shall be at home between the 8th. & 15th. of that month. I want to hear from mr Dinsmore as to the progress of his work. I am Sir Your humble servt. Th: Jefferson RC (Jane B. Acherman, Morristown, New Jersey, 1947); at foot of Arst page: “Mr. Richardson.” your favors: for Richardson’s letter of 7 Jan., see TJ to Thomas Mann Randolph, 28 Jan. Richardson’s letter of 18 Jan., recorded in SJL as received from Monticello on 4 Feb., has not been found. directed him to pay: see TJ to George
JeCerson & Co. on 13 Jan., not the 12th, for TJ’s directions to pay Richardson and for mention of TJ’s letter to Richardson of 12 (not 13) Jan. my merchant: Joseph Roberts, Jr. i wrote to mr eppes: TJ to John Wayles Eppes, 21 Dec. 1799. A letter from James dinsmore to TJ of 8 Feb., recorded in SJL as received 17 Feb. 1800, has not been found.
From Bishop James Madison Dr. Sir, Feby. 11h. 1800 Williamsburg I return you many Thanks for your Care of Dr. Preistly’s Book. If an opportunity should oCer for Norfolk, & the Book were directed to Col. Byrd—the Collector, it would come safe to Hand. Some Merchant connected with Norfolk would take Charge of it, & I doubt not, attend to the safe Delivery. I mention this only to save you a Trouble, to which I am so unwilling to expose you. I am particularly gratiAed with the Communications & Correspondence of Preistly. He stands certainly in the Arst Grade of Philosophers, physical or moral. His Treatment in this Country is a Disgrace to common Sense, & ought to be opposed by every one who has any Regard or Feeling for oppressed Integrity, & Talents the most distinguished. I am also much obliged for your Analysis of Illuminatism. It is the most satisfactory which I have seen; particularly, so far as is concerns Wishaupt. I have no Doubt, the Mysticism attached to it, originated in the Manner you have described.—The old-fashioned Divines look out for a Millennium; the modern Philanthropist for the epoch of inAnite Perfectibility. Both equally distant, because equally inAnite.—The Advancement of Man to this State of Perfection, is like < 364>
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those two Geometrical Lines, which are continually approaching, & yet will never touch. Condorcet appears to me the ablest, & at the same Time, equally as visionary as Godwin, or any other.—I cannot agree with Wishaupt, that the Time will arrive, when no Government will be necessary, because that Time, upon their own Hypothis, is inAnitely distant; but I do most Armly beleive, that the Xn. Religion rightly understood, & carried into full ECect, would establish a pure Democracy over the World. It’s main Pillars are—Equality, Fraternity, Justice universal Benevolence. So far Wishaupt & myself most cordially agree. I have intended to publish a Discourse, which I have by me, the object of which is to prove, that the true Xn. must be a good Democrat.—It is astonishing what Enemies to Xy. its advocates generally are—Morse is a Blockhead.—I inclosed a Letter from our Friend Tucker to him.—You will And, that he is treated as he deserved; & with him the whole Tribe of Sycophants—Beleive me, to be Dr. Sir, with the greatest Esteem & Respect— Yr. Friend & Sert. J. Madison RC (DLC); mutilated endorsement by TJ. Recorded in SJL as received 20 Feb.
For the letter to Jedidiah morse from St. George tucker, see Bishop Madison to TJ, 17 Jan.
To Martha Jefferson Randolph My dear Martha Philadelphia Feb. 11. 1800. I wrote to mr Randolph on the 2d. inst. acknoleging the receipt of his letter of the 18th. Jan. I had one also at the same time from mr Richardson giving me the details from Monticello. the death of Jupiter obliges me to ask of mr. Randolph or yourself to give orders at the proper time in March for the bottling my cyder. I forgot to bring with me a morsel cut from one of our sheets, as a sample to guide mr Barnes in providing some sheeting for me. being entirely ignorant of it myself I must ask the favor of you to inclose me a bit in a letter by the return of post. I suppose our French sheets to be of the proper Aneness & quality. a person here has invented the prettiest improvement in the Forte piano I have ever seen. it has tempted me to engage one for Monticello, partly for it’s excellence & convenience, partly to assist a very ingenious, modest & poor young man, who ought to make a fortune by his invention. his strings are perpendicular, so that the instrument is only 3. f. 4. I. wide, 16. I. deep, and 3. f. 6. I. high. it resembles when closed the under half of a book case, & may be moved, < 365>
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by it’s handles, to the Are side. he contrives within that height to give his strings the same length as in the grand fortepiano, and Axes his 3. unisons to the same screw, which screw is in the direction of the strings and therefore never yields. it scarcely gets out of tune at all, & then for the most part the 3. unisons are tuned at once. the price of one with 5. octaves is 200. D. with 50 octaves 250. D. I recieved a letter of Jan. 17. from mr Eppes announcing the death of his child, & that poor Maria was suCering dreadfully, both her breasts having risen & broke. she was still ill from that cause. I have not heard from her since. there is abundant cause of deep concern in this, and especially for the peculiar aEiction it will be to them, as I think they would have been made very peculiarly happy by the possession of a child. I am extremely uneasy to hear further from her. the H. of Representatives have sent a resolution to the Senate to adjourn on the 1st. Monday of April. the Eastern men being for the Arst time eager to get away for political reasons, I think it probable we shall adjourn about that time. there is really no business which ought to keep us one fortnight. I am therefore looking forward with anticipation of the joy of seeing you again ere long, and tasting true happiness in the midst of my family. my absence from you teaches me how essential your society is to my happiness. politics are such a torment that I would advise every one I love not to mix with them. I have changed my circle here according to my wish; abandoning the rich, & declining their dinners & parties, and associating entirely with the class of science, of whom there is a valuable society here. still my wish is to be in the midst of our own families at home. present me aCectionately to mr Randolph. kiss all the dear little ones for me. do not let Ellen forget me; and continue to me your love in return for the constant & tenderest attachment of Your’s aCectionately Th: Jefferson RC (NNPM); at foot of Arst page: “Mrs. Randolph”; endorsed by Randolph. PrC (MHi); second page only; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. TJ acknowledged the receipt of Thomas Mann Randolph’s letter on 4 Feb., not the 2d. For the missing letter from Richard richardson, see TJ to Richardson, 10 Feb. John Isaac Hawkins, an English inventor, impressed TJ with his improvement in the forte piano. On 31 Jan. TJ ordered John Barnes to pay Hawkins
$125 (MS in MHi; written and signed by TJ; endorsed by Barnes and canceled; with receipt signed by Hawkins as received 31 Jan. 1800) and on 12 Feb. ordered an additional payment of $25 (MS in ViU; written and signed by TJ; endorsed by Barnes as paid on 12 Feb. and canceled; with receipt signed by Hawkins). These were in partial payment for the model with Ave and one-half octaves, which TJ purchased for $264 (mb, 2:1014). For the missing letter from John Wayles eppes, see Eppes to TJ, 7 Feb.
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To Aaron Burr Dear Sir Philadelphia Feb. 12. 1800. I communicated to Dr. Currie your idea that the creditors of mr Morris should buy in the mortgage which stands before them. he answers me in these words. ‘I should wish to be informed by you to what amount I should be obliged to advance, if I became a purchaser with others of the mortgaged lands, to secure my whole debt. tho’ I am almost moneyless, if the thing was practicable, & could come within my possible reach, I would stretch my credit, or sacriAce some property to secure (to me) so considerable a debt if possible. of the time when, & the mode how this is to be done, & with whom & to what amount, I shall be glad to be informed as soon as possible & convenient.’ If therefore you should get other creditors to join in this so that it may be within bounds practicable for Doctr. Currie, you will be so good, in the fulness of time, as to communicate the particulars, that he may decide what to do. Within a day or two the Resolutions of the Virginia assembly will be printed here & I will send you a copy. they are drawn by mr Madison. I am with great esteem Dr. Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); at foot of text: “Colo. Burr”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. TJ had written to James currie on 14
Jan., and on 8 Feb. received a letter from Currie dated the 29th. Those letters and one from TJ to Currie of 8 Mch. 1800 are recorded in SJL but have not been found.
To Mary Jefferson Eppes My dear Maria Philadelphia February 12. 1800. Mr. Eppes’s letter of Jan. 17. had Alled me with anxiety for your little one, & that of the 25th. announced what I had feared. how deeply I feel it in all it’s bearings, I shall not say, nor attempt consolation where I know that time & silence are the only medecines. I shall only observe as a source of hope to us all that you are young and will not fail to possess enough of these dear pledges which bind us to one another & to life itself.—I am almost hopeless in writing to you, from observing that at the date of mr Eppes’s letter of Jan. 25. three which I had written to him & one to you had not been recieved. that to you was Jan. 17. and to him Dec. 21. Jan. 22. and one which only covered < 367>
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some pamphlets. that of Dec. 21. was on the subject of Powell and would of course give occasion for an answer. I have always directed to Petersburg: perhaps mr Eppes does not have enquiries made at the post oDce there. his of Jan. 1. 12. 17. & 25. have come safely tho’ tardily. one from the Hundred never came. I will inclose this to the care of mr JeCerson. The Representatives have proposed to the Senate to adjourn on the 7th. of April, and as the motion comes from the Eastern quarter & the members from thence are anxious, for political reasons, to separate, I expect we shall adjourn about that time. I fully propose, if nothing intervenes to prevent it, to take ChesterAeld in my way home. I am not without hopes you will be ready to go on with me; but at any rate that you will soon follow. I know no happiness but when we are all together. you have perhaps heard of the loss of Jupiter. with all his defects, he leaves a void in my domestic arrangements which cannot be Alled. Mr. Eppes’s last letter informed me how much you had suCered from your breasts: but that they had then suppurated, & the inBammation & consequent fever abated. I am anxious to hear again from you, and hope the next letter will announce your reestablishment. it is necessary for my tranquility that I should hear from you often: for I feel inexpressibly whatever aCects either your health or happiness. my attachments to the world and whatever it can oCer are daily wearing oC, but you are one of the links which hold to my existence, and can only break oC with that. you have never by a word or a deed given me one moment’s uneasiness; on the contrary I have felt perpetual gratitude to heaven for having given me, in you, a source of so much pure & unmixed happiness. go on then, my dear, as you have done in deserving the love of every body: you will reap the rich reward of their esteem, and will And that we are working for ourselves while we do good to others. I had a letter from your sister yesterday. they were all well. one from mr Randolph had before informed me they had got to Edgehill, and were in the midst of mud, smoak, & the uncomfortableness of a cold house. mr Trist is here alone, and will return soon: present me aCectionately to mr Eppes, & tell him when you cannot write, he must. as also to the good family at Eppington to whom I wish every earthly good. to yourself my Dear Maria I cannot And expressions for my love. you must measure it by the feelings of a warm heart. Adieu Th:J. RC (ViU: Edgehill-Randolph Papers); addressed “Mrs. Maria Eppes Eppington”; franked. Enclosed in letter below.
According to TJ’s letter to Thomas Mann Randolph on 4 Feb., it was John Wayles eppes’s letter of jan. 17, not
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12 FEBRUARY 1800 that of the 25th, that brought news of his daughter’s death. For the missing letter of 25 Jan., see note to TJ to Thomas Mann Randolph, 4 Feb., and for that of
12 Jan., see TJ to Eppes, 22 Jan. 1800. letter from your sister: Martha JeCerson Randolph to TJ, 30 Jan. one from mr randolph: 18 Jan. 1800.
To George Jefferson Dear Sir Philadelphia Feb. [12.] 1800. Your’s of the 5th. is this moment come to hand. I learn from home that 69. faggots of rod were sent from thence. I hope they will be safely delivered to you, as it would be very inconvenient to me to advance cash in lieu of them. I have written 4. diCerent letters to mr Eppes & my daughter, by post to Petersburg, and not one has been recieved. I therefore take the liberty of inclosing one under your cover and praying you to And a safe conveyance for it. it will be notice for them to have enquiry made at the Petersburg post oDce for the others, & for future letters. I am Dear Sir Your aCectionate friend Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); partially illegible dateline supplied from TJ’s endorsement and SJL; at foot of text: “Mr. George JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosure: TJ to Mary JeCerson Eppes, 12 Feb. 1800.
letters to mr eppes & my daughter: see preceding letter.
To Uzal Ogden Philadelphia Feb. 12. 1800.
Th: JeCerson presents his compliments to the reverend mr Ogden and thanks him for his pamphlet which he has read with great satisfaction. the example which has been set by the great man who was the subject of it, will be of immense value to mankind if the Buonapartes of this world, & those whose object is fame & glory, will but contemplate & truly calculate the diCerence between that of a Washington & of a Cromwell. PrC (DLC). Uzal Ogden (1744?-1822), son of a Newark, New Jersey, iron manufacturer of the same name, studied theology privately with an Episcopalian clergyman in Elizabethtown and was ordained in Lon-
don in 1773. He returned to America as a missionary for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, serving in several New Jersey counties in 1774. After the Revolution Ogden led the eCort to reorganize Anglican parishes into the Protestant Episcopal church. In
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12 FEBRUARY 1800 1788 he became rector of Trinity Church in Newark. Ten years later the New Jersey convention elected Ogden to serve as the Arst bishop of New Jersey, but the General Convention refused to conArm his appointment, primarily because they disapproved of his revivalist sympathies. Opposition within his own congregation led to his dismissal from Trinity in 1805. Shortly thereafter he entered the Presbyterian church, becoming a member of the Presbytery of New York (anb).
his pamphlet: Two Discourses, Occasioned by the Death of General George Washington, at Mount-Vernon, December 14, 1799 (Newark, N.J., 1800), a eulogy delivered by Ogden on 29 Dec. 1799 and 5 Jan. 1800 (see Evans, No. 38154). A letter from Ogden to TJ of 11 Feb., recorded in SJL as received the next day, has not been found.
From Samuel Miller Sir, New:York, February 13 1800 I do myself the honor to transmit to You a copy of a discourse which I lately delivered, on accasion of the death of General Washington. Be pleased t o receive it, as a small testimony of the high respect with which I have the honor to be, Sir, Your obedient servant Saml: Miller RC (MoSHi: JeCerson Papers); endorsed by TJ as received 14 Feb. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: Samuel Miller, A Sermon, Delivered December 29, 1799; Occasioned by the Death of General George Washington (New York, 1800).
Statement of John Sappington I John Sappington, declare myself to be intimately acquainted with all the circumstances, respecting the destruction of Logans family, & do give in the following narrative a true statement of that aCair. Logans family (if it was his family) was not killed by Craesap, nor with his knowledge, nor by his consent, but by the Greathouse,s and their Associates. They were killed 30 Miles above Wheeling, near the mouth of Yellow creek.—Logans camp was on one side of the river Ohio, and the house where the murder was committed, opposite to it on the other side. They had encamped there only four or Ave days, and during that time had lived peaceably and neighbourly with the whites on the opposite side untill the very day the aCair happened. A little before the period alluded to, letters had been received by the inhabitants from, a man of great inBuence in that Country, & who was then I believe at Capteener, informing them that war was at hand, and desiring them to be on their guard. In consequence of < 370>
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those letters & other rumours of the same import almost all the inhabitants Bed for safety into the Settlements.—It was at the house of one Baker the murder was committed. Baker was a man who sold rum, & the Indians had made frequent visits at his house, induced probably, by their fondness for that liquor.—He had been particularly desired by Craesap to remove & take away his rum, & he was actually preparing to move at the time of the murder.—The evening before a squaw came over to Bakers house, and by her crying seemed to be in great distress. The cause of her uneasiness being asked, she refused to tell, but getting Bakers wife alone, she told her, that the Indians were going to kill her and all her family the next day, that she loved her, did not wish her to be killed, & therefore told her what was intended, that she might save herself. In consequence of this information, Baker got a number of men to the amt. of 21 to come to his house, and they were all there before morning. A council was held and it was determined, that the men should lie concealed in the back apartment, that if the Indians did come & behaved themselves peaceably, they should not be molested, but if not the men were to shew themselves and act accordingly. Early in the morning 7 Indians 4 Men and 3 Squaws came over, Logans brother was one of them.—They immediately got rum & all except Logans brother became very much intoxicated.—At this time all the men were concealed, except the man of the house, Baker, & two others who staid out with him.—Those Indians came unarmed. After some time Logans brother, took down a coat and hat belonging to Bakers brotherinlaw, who lived with him, and put them on, & setting his arms akimbo began to strut about, till at length coming up to one of the men, he attempted to strike him saying “white man Son of a bitch.” The white man whom he treated thus, kept out of his way for some time, but growing irritated he jumpt to his gun, & shot the Indian as he was making to the door with the coat and hat on him: The men who lay concealed then rushed out, & killed the whole of them excepting one child which I believe is alive yet. But before this happened, one with two the other with Ave Indians all naked, painted & armed completely for war were discovered to start from the shore on which Logans camp was. Had it not been for this circumstance, the white men would not have acted as they did, but this conArmed what the squaw had told before. The white men having killed as aforesaid the Indians in the house ranged themselves along the bank of the river, to receive the Canoes. The Canoe with the two Indians came near, being the foremost.— Our men Ared upon them & killed them both.—The other canoe then < 371>
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went back.—After this two other canoes started the one containing 11 the other 7 Indians painted and armed as the Arst.—They attempted to land below our men, but were Ared upon, had one killed, and retreated, at the same time Aring back.—To the best of my recollection there were three of the Greathouse,s engaged in this business. This is a true representation of the aCair from beginning to end. I was intimately acquainted with Craesap, & know he had no hand in that transaction. He told me himself afterwards, at Redstone old fort— that the day before Logans people, were killed, he with a small party had an engagement with a party of Indians on Capteener about 44 Miles lower down.—Logans people were killed at the mouth of yellow creek on the 24th. of May 1774 and on the 23d, the day before, Craesap was engaged as already stated.—I know likewise that he was generally blamed for it, & believed by all who were not acquainted with the circumstances, to have been the perpetrator of it. I know that he despised and hated the Greathouse,s ever afterwards on account of it.—I was intimately acquainted with Genl. Gibson, & served under him during the late war,—& I have a discharge from him now lying in the Land oDce at Richmond to which I refer any person for my character who might be disposed to scruple my veracity. I was likewise at the treaty held by Lord Dunmore with the Indians at Chelicothe. As for the speech said to have been delivered by Logan on that occasion, it might have been or might not for any thing I know—As I never heard of it till long afterwards. I do not believe that Logan had any relations killed except his brother—Neither of the Squaws who were killed was his wife.—Two of them were old women, & the third with her child which was saved, I have the best reason in the world to believe was the wife & child of Genl. Gibson. I know he educated the child & took care of it as if it had been his own.—Whether Logan had a wife or not, I cant say, but it is probable that as he was a chief, he considered them all as his people. All this I am ready to be qualiAed to at any time— John Sappington Attest Saml. McKee Jr Madison County Feb.y. 13th 1800— I do certify further, that the above named John Sappington told me, at the same time & place at which he gave me the above narrative, that he himself was the man who shot the brother of Logan in the house as above related, & that he likewise killed one of the Indians in one of the canoes which came over from the opposite shore— He likewise told me—that Craesap never said an angry word to < 372>
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him about the matter although he was frequently in company with Craesap, & indeed had been and continued to be in habits of intimacy with that gentleman, & was always befriended by him on every occasion—He further told me that after they had perpetrated the murder, & were Bying into the Settlements he met with Craesap (if I recollect right at Redstone old fort) & gave him a scalp, a very large Ane one, as he expressed it and adorned with Silver.” This scalp, I think he told me was the scalp of Logans brother, though as to this I am not absolutely certain— CertiAed by— Saml. McKee Jr MS (DLC); evidently in McKee’s hand; endorsed in the same hand: “A Copy of a narrative given by John Sappington respecting the death of Logans family”; in TJ’s hand at head of text: “The declaration of John Sappington recieved after the publication of the preceding Appendix,” that note introducing Sappington’s statement as it was printed as an addendum to the Appendix to the Notes on Virginia (see below). In a letter of 10 May 1800 to Samuel Brown, TJ stated that Sappington’s narrative had come to him the day before. Evidently the manuscript was not accompanied by any covering letter, for according to SJL the only letter that TJ received on 9 May was a now-missing one written on that day by Henry SheaC, his supplier of wines in Philadelphia (mb, 2:809). In his letter to Brown TJ mentioned that An Appendix to the Notes on Virginia Relative to the Murder of Logan’s Family had already been set into type. The printing was done in Philadelphia by Samuel H. Smith (see Evans, No. 37700). The Anal document in that 52page pamphlet was the statement of John Heckewelder, a composite of the enclosure to his letter of 28 Apr. 1798 to TJ and his letter of 24 Feb. 1800 below, which was followed in the pamphlet by TJ’s “historical statement” about the attack on Logan’s family and a map of the area of the upper Ohio Valley where the events took place in 1774. TJ told Brown that he would try to “annex” Sappington’s statement to any copies of the Appendix that had not already been distributed, and indeed in some copies of
the pamphlet Sappington’s declaration, preceded by the brief note TJ added to the top of the document, begins on page 53 and appears in full, including McKee’s statement (see Evans, No. 37701; Notes, ed. Peden, 255-8). The Appendix with Sappington’s statement appeared as Appendix No. 4 of an edition of the Notes that William Pechin published in Baltimore later in 1800 (see Evans, Nos. 37702, 37703). John Connolly, who exercised Virginia’s authority along the upper Ohio River in the spring of 1774, was the man of great influence in that country whose letters incited violence against Native Americans (White, Middle Ground, 357-63). In the autumn of 1774 lord dunmore imposed peace terms on the Shawnees in a treaty conference near the village of Chillicothe on the Scioto River in the Ohio Country, where Logan’s famous address was delivered to the governor (same, 364; Reuben Gold Thwaites and Louise Phelps Kellogg, eds., Documentary History of Dunmore’s War: 1774 [Madison, Wis., 1905], 292-3; Vol. 29:409-10n; Vol. 30:106, 137-8, 514). In 1774 Sappington lived on the Virginia side of the Ohio River in the region where the events he related took place. For diCering accounts of the incidents and Sappington’s role in them, see Thwaites and Kellogg, Dunmore’s War, 9-19; Alexander Scott Withers, Chronicles of Border Warfare: or, A History of the Settlement by the Whites, of NorthWestern Virginia, and of the Indian Wars and Massacres in that Section of the State, ed. Reuben Gold Thwaites [Cincinnati, 1917], 148-9n. In 1784 Sappington was
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13 FEBRUARY 1800 recommended as a justice of the peace. Three years later he had moved to Kentucky and was appointed a trustee of
the town of Boonesboro in madison county (Hening, 12:603; cvsp, 3:580).
From James Madison Dear Sir Orange Feby. 14. 99 [i.e. 1800] My last to you was from Richd. your last to me is just recd. covering the Bill for drawing Jurors by lot. The plan proposed by the Bill is a great improvement on the regulation in force here. I cannot say, whether it may have the same merit every where. This subject was not wholly forgotten during our late Session. A Bill was even prepared on it, by one of our State Judges. But subjects deemed more immediately interesting, diminished so much the attention of some whose agency in carrying it thro’ was essential, that the bill was never introduced. We see by the late papers that a new scene is presented in the French Theatre, which leaves the denôuement more a problem than ever. The characters and professions of some of the leading actors furnish a hope that Monarchy may not be their object, but melancholy evidence appears that the destiny of the Revolution is transferred from the Civil to the military authority. Whether the lesson will have the proper eCect here in turning the public attention to the danger of military usurpations or of intrigues between political & military leadersq is more than I can say. A stronger one was perhaps never given, nor to a country more in a situation to proAt by it. We have had for two weeks & more, snow on the ground from 15 to 20 inches deep, which has blockaded every body within his own doors. Adieu I was a subscriber for Trumbull’s prints, which I And are now in America. Can you tell me when & how I am to get them. and what is to be pd. in addition to the payments at subscribing. I wish to know also whether they are to be delivered in frames. RC (DLC: Madison Papers); with paragraph after closing written perpendicularly in the left margin; endorsed by TJ as received 22 Feb. 1800 and so recorded in SJL. my last to you: Madison to TJ, 18 Jan. 1800. No letter from TJ covering
the bill has been found or is recorded in SJL. For the eCorts in the late session to reform the Virginia jury system, see TJ to James Madison, 22 Nov. 1799. one of our state judges: St. George Tucker. trumbull’s prints: on 6 Dec. 1799
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14 FEBRUARY 1800 the House of Representatives accepted from John Trumbull prints of his two newly available history paintings, The Battle of Bunker Hill and The Death of General Montgomery at the Attack on Que-
bec. The Senate received them on 17 Dec. (Annals, 10:16, 187, 193). q Preceding seven words and ampersand interlined.
From John McDowell Sir Staunton Feb: 14. 1800 I received your favour this morning by post in which you mention that feathers of a good quallity would answer you for the balance of Nails now on hand I should be willing to give feathers but they are so Scarce at present that It would impossible to procure them at any price. there has been Such A demand last Summer in the place That I doe now that 20 Ls Could be Got in the Whole Town therefore I doe suppose It would impossible to get Any quantity in a reasonable time I have sold Verry few of the Nails since I wrote you last—the amount of Money in my hands may be had at any time—however If I have Any opputunity of Getting any feathers I will Write you— I am Sir your Obt Sevt John McDowell RC (MHi); endorsed by TJ as received 20 Feb. and so recorded in SJL.
i received your favour: TJ to McDowell, 1 Feb. 1800.
From Littleton W. Tazewell Sir; Kings mill. feby. 14. 1800. A variety of circumstances have prevented my receiving your letter of the 30th. of October ’til now—Being well convinced that the several instalments of the debt due to Mr. Welch by yourself Mr. Skipwith and Mr. Eppes would be paid so soon after they became due as your several exertions and convenience would permit, I have forborne mentioning this debt either to yourself or the other gentlemen—I will only observe to you at present, that I am directed to invest all sums which I may receive for Mr. Welch in Stock of the United States, this article is now expectedly low, and every reason exists to induce a belief, that should the existing diCerences with France be happily terminated, a considerable rise in its value will immediately take place—Hoping and believing as I do that this desired event will speedily take place, I can but consider it as a duty I owe the gentle< 375>
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man I represent, to make the largest purchase I can possibly before the expected augmentation of price may happen—And urged by this motive only I will take the liberty to solicit the payment of the sum now due at the most early day your interests will permit—. Accept Sir my grateful thanks for your sentiments of esteem and your oCer of assistance—To merit and enjoy any portion of that regard which my deceased father received from you will constitute a great part of my happiness—The desire of obtaining it is the only claim however I have to entitle me to the enjoyment—Since to render to patriotism to virtue and to talents their merited tribute of service should ever be considered as the satisfaction of a just claim and not the creation of an obligation—Happy should I be if fortune should ever enable me to verify to you with how much pleasure I should discharge the demand. I am very respectfully your obdt. servt. Littn: W Tazewell RC (MHi); endorsed by TJ as received 22 Feb. and so recorded in SJL.
From James Thomson Callender Sir Richmond Febry. 15. 1800. I did not, untill this day, know that Your Examiner has not been forwarded to Philadelphia. It Shall be done in future. The Prospect goes oC very well to many parts of the Country. About 500 are sent oC and many more bespoke, but not yet Sent. A parcel will come to Philadelphia, as soon as the River Opens. Chancellor Wythe is the law oDcer referred to in the inclosed, as Speaking of The Prospect. Colonel Quarrier went to Aght a duel with Major William Preston, at Manchester, and let his pistol go oC thro’ his own foot; so the duel ended for that time. I have begun extending a clean Copy of Vol 2d of The Prospect, for the Staunton Scourge of aristocracy, set up by Lyon; as all depends on haste, and the momentuous month of October. It will be there Arst printed in separate pieces, or at least a part of it. They wanted to burn the oDce of the Scourge. Vid. next Examiner. I am Sir Your most obedt Servt Jas. T. Callender. P.S. Some weeks ago, Mr. George JeCerson sent You a complete copy of The Prospect per post. < 376>
16 FEBRUARY 1800 RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ as received 22 Feb. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure not found, but see below. A rebuttal to criticism of The Prospect Before Us appeared in the Richmond Examiner on 14 Feb. under the heading, “From A Correspondent.” In the piece Callender related that a distinguished law officer, “whose name is known and respected by every man in Richmond,” had commented: “Callender’s Prospect is the ablest and most profound political production that I ever read in Virginia.” Callender continued: “All those who think themselves better qualiAed to judge than this eminent lawyer are welcome to contradict him.” Callender admitted that one aim of The Prospect Before Us was “to promote the election of Mr. JeCerson.” The confrontation between Alexander quarrier and William preston probably took place after Governor Monroe, in
January 1800, appointed Quarrier to evaluate the arms supplied to the state by James Swan. Preston, a brigade inspector in 1799, had been appointed on behalf of Swan to value the arms. In communications of 27 and 28 Jan., Quarrier dissented from the valuations placed on the guns by Preston and John Pryor, another inspector. In early February it was concluded that the arms had been “examined very imperfectly” (cvsp, 9:71, 87-8, 902). In January 1800 advertisements indicated that a newspaper entitled “The Scourge of Aristocracy; or Political Mirror,” would be published in staunton by James lyon. The earliest extant copy of the weekly newspaper was entitled Political Mirror with “Scourge of Aristocracy” appearing on the masthead and the dateline above the local Staunton news (Brigham, American Newspapers, 2:1156; Political Mirror, 3 June 1800).
From John Wayles Eppes Dear Sir, Feb: 16th. 1800. Maria continues I think to mend slowly; The inBamation in the part of her breast already broke has gone oC—She will I hope escape one of the places we apprehended would break when I wrote last— The other however will most certainly break and we are now forwarding it with hot poultices—She has not left her room yet, but has got clear of the bed to which she was conAned for eight or ten days from the violence of the pain & inBamation in her breast—I hope in the course of six or eight days more she will be able to go out as the last rising appears triBing compared with the former ones— Maria sends her love & hopes in seven or eight days to be able to write to you—Her arms at present are useless and have been so for some time— With sincere regard I am yours J: W: Eppes RC (ViU: Edgehill-Randolph Papers); endorsed by TJ as received 24 Feb. and so recorded in SJL.
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From Baron von Geismar a Hanau Ce 16 de fevrier 1800.
J’ai recu la Votre Mon Cher Ami du fevr 1799. avec bien du plaisir, m’aprenant Votre bien etre au quel je m’interesserai toute ma Vie, comme a la Continuation de Vos Sentimens amicals pour moi—Au reste je Suis bien en peine pour mes ACaires Chés Vous; quoique au fond pas de grande Valeur ne laissent pas de l’etre pour mois, n’etant pas riche. Ce qui me console C’est de les Savoir entre Vos mains; la maniere genereuse avec la quelle Vous Vous interessés a Vos Amis m’ettant connue, et dont les preuves convaincantes que Vous m’aves donné dans ma Captivité ne Sortiront jamais de la memoire—Autant de belles Esperances que j’avais apres Votre premiere, autant aije ete decourage par la derniere, et je repends de m’avoir laissé induire par la premiere d’acheter un 4me Billet Nro. 36. qui m’a ete cedé par le Baron Ferdinand de Malsburg le quel Nro. Vous trouveres enregistré dans le livre Sous ce Nom: et dont je Vous ai envoié la Copie dans mon Nro 3. (je joins a cette Copie encore le meme Billet), du quel une duplique est partie par l’Engleterre (les quels come je Vois aujourdhui 27 de Juin 1801 ne doivent pas Vous etre parvenues).—Ce qui me deconcerte le plus c’est une lettre de Baltimore du 25 de Septem 1797. d’un Allemand qui est allé en Amerique dans l’idée d’etre employé dans les Mines etant un homme tres habile dans ce metier; qui dit, qu’aiant trouvé tout les Mines et leurs Ouvrages absolument delaissé, le Directeur Allemand nomé Rohde qu’on avait fait venir d’ici, avec Sa femme et Enfants dans la plus grande Misere, n’aiant pas meme de quoi Se nourir, Il S’ettait trouvé dans la Necessite de cherger du Soutiens dans le comerce, et S’ettait engagé Comme Secretair dans un des Bureaux de Baltimore—Je ne Sais concilier cette Nouvelle avec ceux que j’ai de Vous mon Ami ou ni Votre derniere du Mois de fevr 1799. ni l’incluse de Msr Baudiner ne disent Mot que les Mines ne Sont plus travailées: et celle de l’anné 1797 de Baldimore dit qu’allors les Mines ettaient deja delaissée; Il est impossible que Votre Ami, aiant eté a la Place, ait eté trompé a cet egard! cela me fait esperer, et je Suppose quil y aura egalement quelques Intereseés dans ces Mines dans Votre pays; qui veilleront les Entreprenneurs, qui du moins Seraient obligé de faire un Rapport comment ils ont employé les Sommes qu’on leur a conAer—J’ai un Rapport imprimé en Main de l’année 1794 et 1795 de ce nomé Rohde le quel est tres favorable en tout et conArme ce que disent Msr Ralewelt et Baudiner des Mines dans l’année 1798 encore—tant de leur produit que de la manniere qu’ils pourraient etre travaillés; Ce < 378>
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Msr Rohde promet meme dans ce Rapport des Dividends pour la An de l’anné 1795 mais depuis nous n’avons plus rien vue de la Direction—J’imagine toujour Mon Cher Ami Comme j’ai 4 Voix d’apres les Statutes dans la Direction, il vaudrait la peine de Charger un Atorney de prendre les Information propre ou en Sont les ACaires: Sur est il que la Direction est dans un tres grand discredit dans ma patrie et pour cela je pourrais faire de grands Achats et on pourrait gagner beaucoup Sur ces Billets Si on Savait ce qu’il y a à esperer. Je Vous prie donc instament de me donner Votre Avis dans Votre premiere, Si Vous me Conseilles d’acheter encore d’autres Billets, pour me de dommager peut-etre par la, ou Si je dois me contenter de la perte que je fais en ceux que j’ai—Au reste, j’espere que Vous me feres le plaisir d’agir en mon Nom-absolument comme Vous le jugeres apropos. Comme Vous feries Si c’ettait Votre ACaire etant content de tout ce que Vous essayés. Il est malheureux que j’ai conAé cet Argent a une Si grande distance, mais mon Envie ettait trop grande d’etre du moins interessé dans Votre pays pour quelque Chose—J’espere que Vous me tireres d’aCaire autant qu’il est possible, et Vous augmenteres par la les Sentiments de reconnaisance qui m’attachent a Vous, et avec les quels je Suis pour la Vie Geismar. e d i t o r s’
t r a n s l a t i o n
Hanau, this 16 February 1800. I received yours, my dear friend, of February 1799, with much pleasure, informing me of your well-being, which will be of interest to me all my life, as well as the continuation of your friendly sentiments for myself—Moreover, I am greatly troubled for my business aCairs in your country; although not of great value basically, they do not fail to be so for me, since I am not rich. What consoles me is knowing that it is in your hands; the generous way in which you interest yourself in your friends being known to me, and of which you gave me such convincing proof during my captivity, will never leave my memory—As many Ane hopes as I had after your Arst letter, by just so much was I discouraged by your last one, and I repent having let myself be induced by the Arst one into buying a fourth certiAcate, No. 36, which was ceded to me by Baron Ferdinand de Malsburg, which number you will And registered in the book under that name: and a copy of which I sent you in my No. 3. (I attach to this copy again this same certiAcate), of which a duplicate was sent by the Engleterre (which as I see today 27 June 1801 must not yet have arrived to you).—What disconcerts me the most is a letter from Baltimore of 25 September 1797 from a German who went to America in the expectation of being employed in the mines, being a man very clever in that profession; who says that, having found the mines and their works completely abandoned, the German director named Rohde who had been brought from here with his wife and children, being in the greatest wretchedness, not even hav-
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16 FEBRUARY 1800 ing enough to eat, he had found himself in need of seeking support in business, and had enlisted as a secretary in one of the oDces of Baltimore—I cannot reconcile that news with what I hear from you, my friend, neither your latest of the month of February 1799 nor the enclosure from Mr. Baudiner [Boudinot] mentions a word that the mines are no longer being worked: and the letter of 1797 from Baltimore says that the mines were already abandoned. It is impossible that your friend, having been on the spot, can have been mistaken in that respect! That gives me hope, and I suppose that there will likewise be some investors in those mines in your country; who will watch over the contractors who would at least be obliged to make a report on how they have used the sums conAded to them—I have a printed report at hand from the years 1794 and 1795 from the aforementioned Rohde, which is very favorable in all respects and conArms what Messrs. Ralewelt [Roosevelt] and Baudiner say about the mines still in 1798—both concerning their output and the way in which they could be worked; in that report Mr. Rohde even promises dividends for the end of the year 1795, but since that time we have received nothing more from the administration—I still imagine, my dear friend, that since I have four votes according to the statutes in the administration, it would be worthwhile hiring an attorney to get information about where the business is: it is certain that the administration is in great discredit in my country, and because of that I could make large purchases and one could earn a great deal from those shares if one knew what there is to expect. I beg you then urgently to advise me in your next, whether to buy even more certiAcates, to recoup perhaps in that way, or whether I should be satisAed with my loss in the ones I have—Moreover, I hope that you will do me the pleasure of acting in my name absolutely as you think appropriate, as you would if it were your business, being satisAed with everything that you try. It is unfortunate that I conAded that money from such a great distance, but my desire was too great to be at least involved in some way in your country—I hope that you can extricate me as much as possible, and you will increase thereby the sentiments of gratitude that bind me to you, and which I keep for my whole life Geismar Dupl (DLC); at head of text: “Copie du Nro 4”; at foot of text: “Copie du dernier Billet que j’ai acheté apres avoir recu la premiere lettre de Msr T. JeCerson” (Editors’ translation: “Copy of the last certiAcate I bought after receiving the Arst letter of Mr. T. JeCerson”), followed by copies in Geismar’s hand, in English, of certiAcate no. 36 for one share in the New Jersey Copper Mine Association issued to “sir Ferdinand Malsburg Lord Chamberlain in the Court of the Prince of Baaden,” as agreed to on 5 Feb. 1793 by the lessees of Schuyler’s Copper Mine and recorded in the clerk’s oDce of Bergen County, New Jersey, signed and sealed by Philip A. Schuyler and Jacob Mark for the company on 6 Feb. 1793, and of Malsburg’s certiAcation, dated
Kassel, 8 Aug. 1798, that he sold the share to Geismar; endorsed by TJ as a letter of 18 Feb. 1800 received 1 Oct. 1801 and so recorded in SJL. Enclosed in Geismar to TJ, 27 June 1801. The February 1799 letter from TJ mentioned by Geismar was one of 23 Feb. that is recorded in SJL but has not been found. The baron’s nro 3 to TJ was possibly the missing letter of 20 Feb. 1799 (see TJ to Elisha Boudinot, 2 Feb. 1800). Nicholas J. Roosevelt was associated with Robert R. Livingston’s steamboat experiments, and in 1797-98 Roosevelt diverted employees of the New Jersey copper mine who had technical expertise, including two men named rohde,
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16 FEBRUARY 1800 George and Lewis, from work at the mine to construct the engine for Livingston’s boat, the Polacca (Elizabeth Marting, “Arent Schuyler and His Copper Mine,” Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, 65 [1947], 136-7; J.
H. Granbery, “History of the Schuyler Mine,” Engineering and Mining Journal, 82 [1906], 1118; anb, 18:828). baudiner and ralewelt were probably misreadings of the names of Boudinot and Roosevelt.
To James Monroe Dear Sir Philadelphia Feb. 16. 1800. A mr Robinson proposing to go to Richmond with a view to establish an academy there, I have been desired to state to you his character and qualiAcations, as I learn them from Doctr. Reynolds of this city, for I have never seen mr Robinson, nor is he here at present. he is a person of a regular collegiate education, of Trinity college Dublin, and has documents of his recieving double premiums every year during his scholarship there. he is of course a good latin & Greek scholar; and took his mathematical courses also but what proAciency he made in them I could not learn. does not read French. a man of the most excellent morals and excessive modesty. he is an United Irishman, and therefore was obliged to leave Ireland. he is of course a good Republican. at the request of two or three gentlemen here I promised to deposit these truths with you, that if they can be used to his advantage they may be so; in which way alone I wish you to use them, not meaning to embarras you otherwise with his pursuit. I promised to write to you by post, & that he might present himself to you in my name as if he were the bearer of the letter. I ask for him just those attentions which may give him the credit with others which his merit deserves. I do not mean pecuniary credit; for I believe he is without resources. —A bill is brought into the Senate, allowing the two houses to chuse each 6. members who with the Chief Justice, are to recieve the votes, certiAcates & other documents of the electors of President & V.P. to shut themselves up, and to decide who is elected President. their decision to be without appeal & Congress to have no power to dissolve them. I make neither commentary nor prophecy on this. we have no further news from the French triumvirate. I hope you will be able to circumscribe the federalism of Richmond within it natural bounds of British subjects & natives. present me aCectionately to mrs Munroe. I believe we shall rise in April, as the Eastern men seem afraid to be together when a treaty comes from our envoys. friendly salutations to yourself. Adieu. Th: Jefferson < 381>
16 FEBRUARY 1800 RC (DLC: Monroe Papers); addressed: “Governor Munroe Richmond”; franked and postmarked; endorsed by Monroe. PrC (DLC). Thomas robinson received a bachelor’s degree from Trinity College in 1798 but was expelled that year following an investigation of United Irish committees and the Historical Society, a center of radicalism at the college. In time he and several other former students of Trinity took up residence in Petersburg, Virginia, and eventually collaborated on a songbook that combined Irish melodies with lyrics adapted to the American republic. Many years after his expulsion from the college, Robinson declared that “since my arrival in Virginia, I have sustained the character of a gentleman, a scholar, and a physician, as successfully as my best friends could wish” (David A. Wilson, United Irishmen, United States: Immigrant Radicals in the Early Republic [Ithaca, N.Y., 1998], 29, 61, 111; William H. Drummond, ed., The Autobiography of Archibald Hamilton Rowan [Shannon, Ireland, 1972], 426-8; A Catalogue of Graduates Who have Proceeded to Degrees in the University of Dublin [Dublin, 1869], 470). On 14 Feb. James Ross brought into the senate “A Bill Prescribing the mode of deciding disputed elections of President and Vice President of the United States.” The Pennsylvania senator, recently defeated in the state’s gubernatorial election, earlier had proposed appointing a committee to ascer-
tain whether a law was needed to decide disputed elections by determining the “legality or illegality of the Votes given” for electors in the diCerent states. The constitutionality of the federal government assuming control over powers delegated to the states was debated, but on 24 Jan. the Senate appointed a committee to bring in a bill. The Aurora charged that the measure was designed to challenge Pennsylvania’s electoral votes and to deprive the state “of its due weight” in the coming presidential election (Speeches of Charles Pinckney, Esq. in Congress [Philadelphia], 1800, 33; Philadelphia Aurora, 27 Jan. 1800; js, 3:23, 31). On a printed copy of the Senate bill, TJ docketed the progress of the legislation from its Arst reading on 14 Feb. to its passage by the Senate on 28 Mch. When the bill was recommitted on 10 Mch., TJ listed the Ave original committee members, Ross, John Laurance, Samuel Dexter, Charles Pinckney, and Samuel Livermore, and noted the additional appointment of Wilson Cary Nicholas to the committee. TJ’s emendations to the bill also noted amendments and identiAed in the margin the movers of several motions, information not included in the Senate journal (DNA: RG 46, Senate Records, 6th Cong., 1st sess.; js, 3:31-5, 37-42, 46, 49, 55, 57-8, 61-3). TJ’s hand is present on other documents relating to the bill as well (see TJ to Madison, 4 and 25 Mch., and Appendix: Notations by JeCerson on Senate Documents). For House action on the bill, see TJ to Edward Livingston, 30 Apr. 1800.
To Thomas Mann Randolph Dear Sir Philadelphia Feb. 17. 1800. I recieved by the last post Martha’s letter of Jan. 30. since which date I wrote to you on the 4th. & to her on the 11th. inst. your letters if they came by the Fredericksburg mail would arrive here on Saturday and would give time to answer them by Wednesday morning, the departure of our mail. but they have for some time past reached us only Tuesday afternoon, which shews they go in the Richmond mail. it is rarely practicable to answer them the same evening.—Tho’ our < 382>
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tobo was sold in January it was not till last week that the accounts could be settled & the notes given by Lieper to mr Barnes. I now inclose you Barnes’s account of the sales of yours. the expences there stated I observe are about 11. Dollars a hhd, which I suppose would be 4/5 pr. Ê, and when we add loss of weight on reweighing I imagine it will amount to a Dollar a hundred, so as to clear us about 6. Dollars only. indiCerent as this is I wish we may do as well with that at N. York, which lies still unsold. mr Barnes will remit to mr JeCerson the instalments as they become due. we have on the whole made a very bad hand of it, and the continuance of the nonintercourse law which is likely to take place gives a worse prospect for the future. there is a bill brought into Senate for regulating the election of President & Vice President. if it should not get into the papers in time to go by the post which carries this I will inclose you one. it will be it’s own commentary. we have no more European news; consequently are in the dark as to the further proceedings at Paris. give my tenderest love to my ever dear Martha, and all the little ones, and cordial & aCectionate salutations to Yourself. Adieu. Th: Jefferson P.S. mine of the 4th. answered yours as to mr Kerr. RC (DLC); at foot of text: “T M Randolph”; endorsed by Randolph as received 16 Mch., with notation on verso: “Feb: 2. 4. 17. 1800,” indicating those three letters arrived together on 16 Mch. Enclosures not found.
The Philadelphia Aurora James Ross’s bill on 19 Feb.
printed
To Richard Richardson Dear Sir Philadelphia Feb. 17. 1800. The day after I wrote my letter of the 10th. your’s of Jan. 31. arrived towit on the Tuesday, which shews it came by the Richmond mail. had it been in time for the Fredericksburg mail, it would have arrived here on Saturday, and could have been answered a week sooner. your former letters arrived on the Tuesdays also, so that their setting oC one day later from you makes a week’s odds in answering. mr Kelly told me he should soon want in supply of nails of every size. it might be worth your while to apply to him, as also to Colo. Bell, to see if they are not in want.—there must have been mismanagement in the course of the last year with the herrings, or they could not have < 383>
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been out so soon. there were enough laid in to last till they should come again. the issues of beef also were calculated according to the quantity to last till the spring. when you recieve that from Bedford, it must be issued to the people according to the lists I left. I will immediately order up a hogshead of molasses. I am glad you have engaged a smith, only that he must be subject to leave us whenever Powel comes. whether this will be in July, or not till December I have not yet heard. I think it will be best to put Joe to the anvil: as I have no doubt he will make the best smith. Moses may be employed in making nails: for the smith & Joe will make more chains than we can sell at their leisure times. I mean when they are not doing smith’s work for me; for as to taking in custom, I reject it entirely. I know from experience both in Bedford & Albemarle that it is throwing away coal and labour. I thought when I left home that we had unbroke faggots of half crown iron to make up 3. tons (120.) and loose rod enough of the same kind for my own use. you mention 68. sent down & 21. delivered to mr Randolph, making in all 89. perhaps you have kept some back with a view of employing Moses in that way. if so, I would rather it should be sent oC to Richmond, as it will be exactly so much ready money saved to me, and long before we can get through the loose rod I can have more brought. but it is but a small quantity of chains which can be sold yearly.—when my bacon arrives from Bedford, and is in order to be packed, let one half of it be packed in hogsheads among cut straw, cut as you would to feed horses. I learn from an experienced hand that it is an infallible preservative against the worm. if we can get your letters on the Saturday, I shall regularly answer them by the return of the same post, so that there will be but three weeks between writing a letter & recieving an answer. I am Sir Your humble servt. Th: Jefferson P.S. mr Nicholas Lewis was to have surveyed mr Short’s farms & to have sent me the surveys. be so good as to enquire of him when I may expect it. how is Shepherd’s leg? RC (PWacD: Feinstone Collection); at foot of Arst page: “Mr. Richardson”; endorsed by Richardson. Richardson’s letter of jan. 31, recorded in SJL as received 11 Feb., has not been found. On 24 Mch. Charlottesville merchant John kelly gave Richardson a receipt for nails received from TJ’s nailery, amount-
ing to 200 pounds each of twenty-penny brads and sixteen-penny nails and 70 pounds of sixpenny nails at 10, 100, and 120 pence per pound, respectively. Thomas Carr, Jr., signed a receipt for nails he received from Richardson for Thomas bell at Charlottesville on 23 Mch., amounting to 50 pounds each of twenty, sixteen, ten, eight, and sixpenny nails at 10, 100, 110, 12, and 120 pence,
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20 FEBRUARY 1800 respectively, totaling £11.15.5 (MSS in ViU: Edgehill-Randolph Papers). TJ entered these transactions, along with others, in his nailery records as “Accounts of nails sold by Richard Richardson from Dec. 21. 99. to May 29. 1800.” Before TJ’s return to Monticello at the end of May, Richardson had sold nails worth £20 to Kelly and £35 to Bell (Nailery Account Book, 1796-1800 at CLU-C; mb,
2:918). A letter from TJ to Kelly of 30 Dec. 1799, recorded in SJL, has not been found. joe (Joseph Fossett), a grandson of Betty Hemings, began working in the nailery in 1794 and in 1796 was introduced to the blacksmithing trade by Smith George (Stanton, Free Some Day, 132-3).
From George Jefferson Dear Sir Richmond 19th. Febr. 1800 I should before this have sent you Mr. Anthony’s receipt for the 28 bundles of nail-rod that are down, and which I have delivered—but he is from home, and his Clerk refuses to grant a receipt, as he says he has received no instruction upon the subject. This information I should have given you sooner, but Mr. A has been expected from day to day ever since I received your letter; I however think it improper any longer to defer writing. There are only 40 bundles left on the way which I hope will be shortly down; the balance Mr. Richardson informs me he has sold Mr. Randolph I am Dear Sir Your Very humble servt. Geo. Jefferson RC (MHi); at foot of text: “Thos. Jefferson esqr.”; endorsed by TJ as received 26 Feb. and so recorded in SJL. In a short letter to TJ dated 21 Mch. George JeCerson enclosed a receipt (now
missing) from Joseph Anthony for the remaining 41, not 40, bundles of nailrod which arrived that day (RC in MHi; endorsed by TJ as received 29 Mch. and so recorded in SJL).
From Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours 20 fevrier 1800 Good Stay
Parce que je ne suis pas arrivé a Philadelphie et que je ne vous ai pas recrit depuis le pareil jour du mois passé, ne croyez pas Monsieur, que je n’aie pas songé avec tendresse à votre amitié, et que je n’aie pas désiré vivement de la cultiver. Mais une maison a prendre, a disposer, à meubler à la ville et une autre à la Campagne ont consumé mon tems. J’esperais d’un jour à < 385>
20 FEBRUARY 1800
l’autre Anir tous ces petits arrangemens domestiques et partir pour vous aller voir. Je m’apperçois que j’en ai encore pour quelque tems. Soyez donc bien assuré que ce n’est pas ma faute si je ne suis pas auprès de vous, et qu’y arriver est un de mes voeux les plus chers. Voila Notre La Fayette dans la Patrie. J’en suis bien aise et de ce que plusieurs de ses amis et des miens cessent d’etre maltraités, de ce qu’on paraît aimer les consulter. Mais je souhaiterais que le tour fût fait par des formes moins arbitraires et moinsq romaines. L’evangile dit que dieu a donné le Royaume des Cieux Rapientibus. Il en fait autant de ceux de la terre. C’est pour cela que je prefere les veritables Republiques. Salut et respectueuse amitié. e d i t o r s’
t r a n s l a t i o n
20 February 1800 Good Stay Because I have not arrived in Philadelphia and have not written to you since the same day last month, do not think, Sir, that I have not thought aCectionately of your friendship, and that I have not earnestly desired to cultivate it. But a house to buy, to arrange, to furnish in the city, and another in the country, have consumed my time. I was hoping from one day to the next to Anish all those little domestic arrangements and leave to see you. I notice that I still have more to do for some time. Rest well assured that it is not my fault if I am not with you, and that to get there is one of my dearest desires. So our friend Lafayette is back in his homeland. I am very happy about that and that several of his friends and mine have ceased being mistreated, and that the government seems to like consulting them. But I should wish that everything were done according to forms less arbitrary and less Roman. The Gospel says that God gave the Kingdom of Heaven to the Ravishers. He does likewise with those of the earth. That is why I prefer proper Republics. Farewell and respectful friendship. Dft (Pierre S. du Pont, Wilmington, Delaware, 1950); at head of text: “Mr JeCerson.” Recorded in SJL as received 26 Feb.
q Du Pont de Nemours here canceled “révolutionnaires.”
From John Wayles Eppes Dear Sir, Eppington Feb: 20th. 1800. We have been favoured within a few days past with a visit from Patsy and Mr. Randolph which has revived a little the drooping spirits of my poor Mary. The sores on her breasts have proved most < 386>
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obstinate & successive and continual risings appear almost daily to check the hopes I form of seeing her once more free from pain—Two new places of which we had no apprehension have pointed (since my last letter) & will most certainly break—Her fever has again returned & the pain and inBamation is so considerable that she is once more conAned to her bed—The idea that from a local inBamation & fever from local cause no danger can arise aCords some comfort in a case where there is no remedy but Time— I inclose you a letter from Powell which I received a few days since—You will And from it that he is willing at present to go to Monticello without any sacraAce on your part—I should not think it necessary to mention this circumstance but that Mr. Randolph informed me that the Smith employed by Richardson has left Monticello—If you should And this to be the case I can bargain with Powell to go up at any period you wish— With sincere regard I am yours J: W: Eppes RC (MHi); with closing parenthesis supplied by Editors; endorsed by TJ as received 4 Mch. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure not found.
my last letter: Eppes to TJ, 16 Feb.
To John Beale Bordley Feb. 21. 1800.
Th: JeCerson presents his compliments to mr Boardeley and thanks him for the volume he was so kind as to send him. mr Boardely having lost the model of a mould board formerly sent him Th:J. asks his acceptance of another, and oCers many wishes for his better health. RC (Henry C. Davis, Columbia, South Carolina, 1947). Not recorded in SJL. John Beale Bordley (1727-1804), a native of Maryland, had several farms, the largest being a sixteen hundred acre estate on Wye Island on the Eastern Shore where he carried on experimental farming and made a successful transition from tobacco to wheat as his main crop. He was also a lawyer and member of the Maryland bar. After his marriage to Sarah Fishbourne MiEin in 1776—second marriages for both—Bordley began spending more time in Philadelphia. He
became a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1783 and was among those who contributed to the controversial Michaux expedition a decade later. In 1784 he published A Summary View of the Courses of Crops in the Husbandry of England and Maryland. The following year Bordley was a principal force in the establishment of the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture, serving as its vice president until 1791, the year he moved permanently to Philadelphia. Bordley and others from the Philadelphia agricultural society led an unsuccessful eCort to incorporate a state agricultural
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21 FEBRUARY 1800 society in 1794 (anb; Olive Moore Gambrill, “John Beale Bordley and the Early Years of the Philadelphia Agricultural Society,” pmhb, 66 [1942], 410-39; Simon Baatz, “Venerate the Plough”: A History of the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture 1785-1985 [Philadelphia, 1985], 3-4; aps, Proceedings, 22, pt. 3 [1884], 116, 298, 844; above in this series, Vol. 25:82-3n). Bordley probably sent TJ his volume published in Philadelphia in 1799 entitled Essays and Notes on Husbandry and Rural ACairs. It included reprints of his Outlines of a Plan for Establishing a State Society of Agriculture in Pennsylvania
and Country Habitations published in Philadelphia in 1794 and 1798, respectively (see Sowerby, Nos. 708, 715, 719). For TJ’s acquaintance with other agricultural pamphlets by Bordley, see TJ to Madison, 5 Feb. 1795. TJ also owned Bordley’s 1789 publication calling for the decimalization and standardization of weights and measures, On Monies, Coins, Weights, and Measures Proposed for the United States of America (see Vol. 16: 603, 605, 608; Sowerby, No. 3758). Letters from Bordley to TJ of 13 and 18 Sep. 1800, both recorded in SJL as received on 2 Oct., have not been found.
To George Jefferson Dear Sir Philadelphia Feb. 21. 1800. I wrote you on the 6th. since which I have recieved your’s of the 5th. being indebted to mr Lyon the printer 10. Dollars, and perhaps something more for his magazines, I have desired him to call on you for paiment, which I pray you to make him. I put the letter to him under your cover, lest a letter from me to him might excite the oDcious notice of the post oDce. I forwarded to mr Randolph lately an account of the sale of his tobo. we could only get 7. Dollars, payable in Ave instalments from two months to two months. the 1st. is due March 15. mr Barnes will remit them to you for mr Randolph & mrs Key, and you will be pleased to keep her account separate & answer her orders for the money when in hand. I am Dear Sir Your aCectionate friend & servt Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); at foot of text: “Mr George JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosure: TJ to James Lyon, of this date (recorded in SJL but not found). TJ paid James lyon for copies of Friend of the People, a fortnightly news-
paper published intermittently in 1800. For a time the political paper was published in the oDce of Lyon’s National Magazine in Richmond (mb, 2:1014; Brigham, American Newspapers, 2:1140). See Sowerby, No. 554. i forwarded to mr randolph: see TJ to Thomas Mann Randolph, 17 Feb.
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From Thomas Mann Randolph Goodalls tavern:
Th: M. Randolph to Th: Jefferson Richmond Feb: 22. 1800. The account of Marias misfortune in the loss of her child and her bad health reached us on the 1st. inst: at Edgehill: the ground was then covered with snow and two days after the great snow storm, (which buried every thing 15 inches with us), happened and delayed till the 15th. our visit to Eppington: Patsy & myself, Ann, Ellen & Cornelia began our journey on that day and after much fatigue & some danger & suCering reached it on the 18th. We found Maria much worse than we expected; still conAned to her bed, greatly reduced in Besh and strength and suCering extremely from inBammation and suppuration of both breasts. Dr. Turpin has been long with her and is still: he kept her constantly in bed and trusted with full conAdence to some magic power in a few drops of Elixir Vitriae & some other little medicines which he might have administered quite innocently if he had suCered her to pass every day up and had refrained from Castor oil &c. which he gave too freely in the begining from the idea of reducing to check inBammation, when really the obstinacy of it was the consequence of debility. He is deservedly beloved at Eppington and has the conAdence of the whole family (except Maria herself) so completely that they were perfectly satisAed when we arrived: we were not so: we immediately proposed a change and met strong opposition even from Mr. Eppes himself: but it was attempted thro’ Patsy entirely and so gently that there was no violence done to the feelings of the good man whom he so much esteemed. I had an opportunity of urging Maria personally and succeeded very easily (as I knew I should by making her reBect herself) in producing a desire to be out of bed and a disgust to the internal remedies oCered her. I left her with this impression on the 20th. at Noon and have the fullest expectation of Anding her gaining strength fast and relieved from the pain occasioned by the inBammation of her breasts: for the continuance of it and the successive suppurations plainly arose from the languor of her system and that again enabled the other to produce much fever. The new spring her system will acquire from the change of treatment and the Bow of spirits her sisters arrival produces must at her time of life very soon restore full vigor. To my great joy I found Bache still here and have concerted a visit to Maria from him which can give no oCence to Turpin as it has not the least appearance of design being masked by that of a deviation from his rout to Albemarle for my Company. I < 389>
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hope we shall And her well: if we do not we carry her a medical power so great allready that it promises to come nearer Hippocrates than any thing the world has since produced: my anxiety will make me know and my familiarity enable me to control in some measure the remedies used and none shall be but those At for the most delicate subject. I am easy respecting her as far as it is possible to be where so dear an object is concerned: I hope you will be so allso: your feelings can be more alive than mine, on the occasion, only as they are by nature nicer. My estate of Varina is thrown into great jeopardy by the illiberality of Le Roys agent; rather by his want of faith, for I never counted on even the common accomodation from him. Early in December I informed him of my shipment of Tobacco to Philad’a. and assured him the proceeds of the sale should go to discharge the ballance of the mortgage if he would wait till they were received; he told me he would and said it suited very well as the money was to be remitted to New York. I attended at the sale of Dover and prevailed on the commissioners to divide the Estate into three Lots from a sincere conviction it would sell, [. . .] they did, the lot containing the mill sold at [. . .] tolerably well for the circumstances and [. . .] that gave a disappointment to the agent [. . .] by surprize and indecision or something he did not buy it and was thwarted in his design upon the Estate. There was no bidder for the other two lots: he attempted to get them for 2000$ less than the commissioners had valued them at in their computation to make up the debt upon the three and had overtures made to me to that end which I rejected: he advertized the remainder of Dover and Varina allso for sale on the 28th. inst: to revenge himself. Geo: JeCerson steps forward as my friend & will pay him the money before the day for he has positively refused to take their draught on New-york merely to make his kindness to me as hard as possible to him: but I am greatly hurt at being obliged to ask this favor of him as I know it is very inconvenient and feel great anxiety to return him the money as soon as possible therefore if I am not too late and you have not made some other appropriation of it I ask now what I refused in December that the whole of the Arst installment on the Tob’o. may be paid on my acc’t. and forwarded in Bank notes (the method Geo: JeCerson directs) to him as soon as possible! I would not [hesitate?] to sacriAce my crop of Tob’o. now on hand to borrow at any interest rather than discommode Geo: JeCerson for they have droped their practice I suppose from the smallness of their capital of advancing on crops for double commission but my Tob’o. is yet up the river and it is impossible to borrow < 390>
22 FEBRUARY 1800 RC (MHi); torn at seal; addressed: “Thomas JeCerson Vice president U.S. Philad’a.”; franked and postmarked 25 Feb.; endorsed by TJ as received 4 Mch. and so recorded in SJL. When Thomas Mann Randolph received the estate of varina at the time of his marriage to Martha, Herman LeRoy held a mortgage on the property for the family’s debt to the merchant amounting to $2,900. Randolph’s Dover plantation was also designated as security
for the debt (Thomas Mann Randolph to TJ, 31 Oct. 1793; Gaines, Randolph, 29, 37-8, 44). leroys agent: George Pickett (Gaines, Randolph, 44; Randolph to TJ, 1 Mch. 1800). According to the advertisement the sale of the remainder of dover and varina was to take place at the Eagle Tavern in Richmond on 28 Feb. Varina was to be sold “unless the balance of the sum for which it was originally mortgaged” was paid before the date of the sale (Virginia Gazette, & General Advertiser, 7 Feb. 1800).
From George Wythe G. Wythe to T. Jefferson. 22 of february, 1800. George Keith Taylor sent to me a letter written to him by Caleb Lownes, in which that benevolent man consenteth to superintend our hospital for reception and amendment of sinners formerly doomed to the gibbet. i was desired to hand the letter to the governor, which hath been done, and to do what is mentioned in the subjoined extract from his letter to me: ‘will you be so good as to write to m’ JeCerson, with whom i have no personal acquaintance, stating the circumstances of this business, and to request him, if he should be applied to by the executive, to assist general Marshall in bringing the treaty with m’ Lownes to a proper issue?’ to which is added: ‘mr JeCerson, i am convinced, will feel pleasure in aCording every aid in his power.’ farewell, my best friend. RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ as received “Mch.” and recorded in SJL under 3 Mch. george keith taylor forwarded to Governor James Monroe on 18 Feb. a request from caleb lownes who asked to be considered for the post of superintendent of the penitentiary in Richmond (Vi-Ar: Executive Papers). On 19 Mch.
Monroe acknowledged receipt of Taylor’s letter, but on 18 Apr. wrote again to explain that although he had brought Lownes’s name to the attention of the Council of State, they had chosen Martin Mims for the post (same: Executive Letterbook; Edward A. Wyatt IV, “George Keith Taylor, 1769-1815, Virginia Federalist and Humanitarian,” wmq, 2d ser., 16 [1936], 1-18; Vol. 29:310n, 489n).
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To John Barnes Dear Sir Feb. 24. 1800. I gave my servant an order on you in favor of Henrietta Gardner, washer-woman, for Afteen dollars. he says he has lost it. be so good therefore as to pay him that sum if not before paid on account of Dr Sir Your most obedt. servt Th: Jefferson The woman brings it herself RC (CSmH); at foot of text: “Mr. Barnes”; endorsed by Barnes. Not recorded in SJL. Fortune Barnes, not evidently related to John Barnes, became TJ’s servant on 30 Dec. 1799 and held the position until the vice president left for Monticello the following May. henrietta gardner, who worked in a boarding house and did washing for TJ, was the widow of William Gardner, a slave freed by James Madison who had moved to Philadelphia and worked as a merchant’s agent. TJ ordered the payment to Mrs. Gardner on 21 Feb. (mb, 2:808n, 962n, 1012, 1014, 1019; Madison, Papers, 15:32n; Vol. 30:644n). In a note to John Steele, comptroller of the U.S., on 30 Dec. 1799, TJ under power of attorney from William Short authorized payment to Barnes of all interest and principal due on Short’s treasury certiAcates on 1 Jan. (RC, photostat in ViU, endorsed and signed by Steele at foot of text as “Admitted,” 2 Jan. 1800; not recorded in SJL). On 2 Jan. Barnes drew up a statement showing that after the receipt of those proceeds and Barnes’s deduction of his commission Short had a credit with Barnes of $618.29. Barnes also noted some additional interest payments that were not yet receivable but were to be paid in January and April (MS in DLC: Short Papers; entirely in Barnes’s hand; endorsed by TJ). On 7 Dec. 1799 TJ made out an order on Barnes to pay $100 on 5 Jan. to James Old, who had sent that sum to TJ on 11 Dec. (MS in MHi, written and signed by TJ, with receipt on verso signed by Old
on 6 Jan., endorsed by Barnes, canceled; mb, 2:1010). By an order of 10 Feb. 1800 TJ paid Maurice Rogers, through Barnes, $40 for books (MS in ViU: Edgehill-Randolph Papers, written and signed by TJ, receipt signed by Rogers on 15 Feb., endorsed by Barnes; mb, 2:1014). TJ on 21 Feb. wrote an order for Barnes to pay Richard Folwell $6 for the Arst three volumes of Folwell’s edition of the Journals of Congress, a work that was supported by subscription, including 400 copies ordered by act of Congress. Folwell published the journals of the Continental and Confederation Congresses from September 1774 to March 1789 in 13 volumes printed in Philadelphia, 1800-01 (MS in MHi, written and signed by TJ, note of receipt for Folwell by H. W. Weston, endorsed by Barnes; mb, 2:1014; Herbert Friedenwald, “The Journals and Papers of the Continental Congress,” pmhb, 21 [1897], 371-3; Evans, No. 38750). On 26 Feb. TJ wrote a one-line request to Barnes: “Th: JeCerson will be obliged to mr Barnes for twenty Dollars,” and noted receipt of the money in his Anancial memoranda (MS in ViU: Edgehill-Randolph Papers, in TJ’s hand, addressed: “Mr. Barnes,” endorsed by Barnes; not recorded in SJL; mb, 2:1015). Letters from Barnes to TJ of 30 Sep., 29 Oct., 17 Nov., and 8 Dec. 1799, received on 17 Oct. (from Trenton), 7, 28 Nov. 1799, and 14 Jan. 1800, respectively, one written by Barnes on 20 Jan. 1800 and received the same day, and two from TJ to Barnes of 9 and 29 Nov. 1799 are recorded in SJL but have not been found.
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From John Heckewelder Sir Philada. Feby. 24th. 1800 Having had an Opportunity last June of seeing the Revd. David Zeisberger, Senior Missionary to the Dellaware Nation of Indians, who had resided among the same on Muskingum at the time when the Murder was committed on the family of Logan: I put the following Questions to him: 1,) Who he had understood, it was, that had committed the Murder on Logans family? & 2d,ly whether he had any knowledge of a Speech send to Lord Dunmore, by Logan in consequence of this aCair &c. to which Mr. Zeisbergers Answer was: That he had from that time when this Murder was committed to the present day Armly believed the common report, (which he never had heard contradicted) vizt. That one, Cressop was the Author of the Massacree;—or that it was committed by his Orders—And that he had known Logan as a Boy—had frequently seen him from that time—and doubted not in the least that Logan had sent such a Speech to Lord Dunmore on this occasion, as he understood from me had been published—that expressions of that kind from Indians were familiar to him—& that Logan in particular was a Man of quick Comprehention, good Judgment & Talents—Mr Zeisberger has been a Missionary upwards of Afty Years—his Age about 80. Speaks both the Language of the Onondagoes & the Dellawares,—resides at presant on Muskingum with his Indian Congregation, & is beloved & respected by all who are acquainted with him. I have the Honor to bee Your Most Obedt. & Humble. Servt John Heckewelder RC (DLC); at foot of text: “Hon. Thos. JeCerson.” Printed in the Appendix to the Notes on Virginia as the concluding portion of the statement Heckewelder enclosed in his letter to TJ of 28 Apr. 1798 (Notes, ed. Peden, 250; Vol. 30:309-10).
From George Jefferson Dear Sir Richmond 24th. February 1800 Mr. Anthony’s Clerk being at length instructed to receive the nailrod I inclose you his receipt for that which is delivered; the balance has not yet come down. I sent your letter to Mr. Eppes by the way of Petersburg having a few days previous to the receipt of it got one from him in which he < 393>
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desired me to write to him in that way; it is therefore unaccountable how he came not to get your letters. Mrs. E. I am happy to inform you is getting better, though I am sorry to add she is yet very low—being still conAned to her bed. Mrs. R. is with her. I am Dear Sir Your Very humble servt. Geo. Jefferson RC (MHi); at foot of text: “Thos. Jefferson esqr.”; endorsed by TJ as received 3 Mch. and so recorded in SJL. Receipt not found.
i sent your letter: see TJ to Mary JeCerson Eppes, 12 Feb. 1800.
To Samuel Miller Sir Philadelphia Feb. 25. 1800. I have to acknolege the reciept of your favor of the 13th. with the sermon inclosed, for which I return you my thanks, and have read it with great satisfaction. praise, when given within the limits of truth & nature aCords us an occasion of exercising some of the most pleasing & virtuous emotions of the mind, of paying by a just tribute a debt of gratitude which we owe to those who have deserved well of their fellowmen. but we have seen some examples lately, which if they do not border on impiety, yet revolt us by their extravagance, and would have revolted no one more than the great man who was the subject of them. I am afraid I may owe you some apology on a subject on which I believe you once applied to me for information, which I was to seek on my return home. but whether I did so, or whether I ever wrote to you on the subject, & even what the subject was, has so entirely escaped my memory, that I am unable to judge in what degree of blame I stand. if any, it must be that of forgetfulness, as I am sure I respected the application & applicant too much to have been wilfully inattentive. if I have failed, and the occasion be not passed away, you will, by repeating it, give me pleasure in enabling me to repair the sins of my memory, which are but too frequent, and to assure you of the sentiments of esteem & respect with which I am Sir Your most obedt. & most humble servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); at foot of text: “Revd Samuel Miller.”
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To Samuel Adams Dear Sir Philadelphia Feb. 26. [1800] Mr. Erving delivered me your favor of Jan. 31. and I thank you for making me acquainted with him. you will always do me a favor in giving me an opportunity of knowing gentlemen as estimable in their principles & talents as I And mr Erving to be. I have not yet seen mr Winthrop. a letter from you, my respectable friend, after three & twenty years of separation has given me a pleasure I cannot express. it recalls to my mind the anxious days we then passed in struggling for the cause of mankind. your principles have been tested in the crucible of time & have come out pure. you have proved that it was monarchy, & not merely British monarchy you opposed. a government by representatives, elected by the people at short periods was our object, and our maxim at that day was ‘where annual election ends, tyranny begins.’ nor have our departures from it been sanctioned by the happiness of their eCects. a debt of an hundred millions growing by usurious interest, and an artiAcial paperq-phalanx overruling the agricultural mass of our country with other &c. &c. &c. have a portentous aspect.—I fear our friends on the other side the water, labouring in the same cause have yet a great deal of crime & of misery to wade through. my conAdence had been placed in the head, not in the heart, of Buonaparte. I hoped he would calculate truly the diCerence between the fame of a Washington & a Cromwell. whatever his views may be, he has at least transferred the destinies of the republic from the civil to the military arm. some will use this as a lesson against the impracticability of republican government. I read it as a lesson against the danger of standing armies. Adieu, my ever respected & venerable friend. may that kind & overruling providence which has so long spared you to our wishes, still foster your remaining years with whatever may make them comfortable to yourself & soothing to your friends. accept the cordial salutations of Your aCectionate friend Th: Jefferson RC (NN: Bancroft Collection); partially dated, with year determined by internal evidence and SJL; at foot of text: “Samuel Adams esq.” PrC (DLC).
q Word interlined in place of “monied.”
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To Auguste Belin Feb. 27. 1800.
Th: JeCerson presents his compliments to M. Belin and his thanks for the funeral oration of M. Chaudron on General Washington. he has read this very eloquent production with great satisfaction. it is in truth a very pleasing thing to Americans to see foreigners so liberally participate in their grief on the loss of their great countryman. it is but justice to acknolege that the citizens of France paid this fraternal homage to the memory of their other great character, their patriarch Franklin, as on the present to that of Genl. Washington. RC (Longwood Library, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, 1959); addressed: “Monsr. Belin Secretary of the Lodge de l’Amenité.” Not recorded in SJL. Auguste Belin (1774-1845) came to the United States from Saint-Domingue. Later, known as Augustus Belin, he was a Delaware merchant and bookkeeper for E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. His descendants continued the association with the du Pont Arm, and in the nineteenth century the two families became connected by marriage (John Beverley Riggs, A Guide to the Manuscripts in the Eleutherian Mills Historical Library: Accessions through the Year 1965 [Greenville, Del., 1970], 694, 713; John K. Winkler, The Du Pont Dynasty [New York, 1935], 120-1, 239; William H. A. Carr, The du Ponts of Delaware [New York, 1964], 189). Belin was the secretary of the Loge Française L’Aménité, a masonic lodge that served as an important focal point in Philadelphia for émigrés from France and Saint-Domingue. Simon chaudron, a Philadelphia jeweler, watchmaker, and clockmaker, held the position of orator of the lodge and gave the address commemorating “Brother” Washington on New Year’s Day. The group’s membership voted to have the oration printed, and John Ormrod published it in French and English. Both versions also included remarks that Joseph E. G. M. De la Grange, the lodge’s master, had made to the oDcers of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania and other guests (Simon Chau-
dron, Oraison Funèbre, du Frère George Washington [Philadelphia, 1800]; Chaudron, Funeral Oration on Brother George Washington, trans. Samuel F. Bradford [Philadelphia, 1800]; Extrait des Régistres de la Loge Française L’Aménité, No. 73, Séante a Philadelphie [Philadelphia, 1800], 6; Wayne A. Huss, “Pennsylvania Freemasonry: An Intellectual and Social Analysis, 1727-1826” [Ph.D. diss., Temple University, 1984], 159-60, 169, 203-5, 373; StaCord, Philadelphia Directory, for 1800, 30). John Ormrod also published another masonic tribute, Samuel Magaw’s Oration Commemorative of the Virtues and Greatness of General Washington; Pronounced in the German Lutheran Church, Philadelphia: Before the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, on the Twenty-Second Day of February, Eighteen Hundred (Philadelphia, 1800; see Evans, No. 37879). George A. Baker, grand secretary of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, inscribed a copy of Magaw’s oration for presentation to TJ (CSmH). For tributes paid by citizens of france on the occasion of Franklin’s death, see Gilbert Chinard, L’Apothéose de Benjamin Franklin: Collection de Textes Accompagnée d’une Introduction et de Notes [Paris, 1955], and the group of documents on the death of Franklin in Vol. 19:78-115. Abbé Siéyès’s letter to Washington of 20 June 1790 referred to the homage of mourning by the French National Assembly as a “solemn act of fraternal friendship” (Vol. 19:110).
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From Robert R. Livingston Dear Sir New York 28th. Feby 1800 Mr. Smith being just about to depart I have but a moments time to send you the proceedings of the Society for the promotion of Agriculture &c. in this State—In this you will And an important discovery of mine in the fabrication of paper from a very large species of conferva common in Hudsons river—I have proposed the experiment for many years back to the paper makers but could never get them to try it till after I had made last July with my own hands & sent them samples—I send you a sheet which was the Arst made at a mill [. . .] contains i A th. rags—I have succeeded in rendering white by means of oxiginated muriatic acid yet I And today that some artist in Germany has worked successfully on the same material or a similar Species of it at the very time that I was engaged in the work here—I am indebted to you a long letter on the subject you mentioned to me & I think I have digested a plan for it which at the Arst moment of Leasure I will send you—I am Sir with the most respectful esteem & regard Your Most Obt humbl. Servt Robt R Livingston RC (DLC); one word eCaced; endorsed by TJ as received 17 Apr. and so recorded in SJL. Thomas Peters smith carried this letter; see Livingston to TJ, 4 June 1800. The Transactions of the Society, for the Promotion of Agriculture, Arts, and Manufactures. Instituted in the State of NewYork. Part IV [Albany, 1799], 94-8, contained Livingston’s description of his experiments in making paper from conferva, a mossy form of aquatic algae. A friend volunteered to take 80 pounds of the water growth to a paper mill at Catskill, New York, where “by dint of arguments and brandy” he persuaded the workmen to make a trial with the material. Believing that the technique oCered
an economical substitute for linen rags in the manufacture of various kinds of paper, Livingston received a patent in October 1799 but never developed the idea commercially. A few experimenters in Europe had tried conferva as a source of paper pulp. The person in germany whose work became known to Livingston may have been G. A. Senger, who in 1799 published a pamphlet on the subject printed on conferva paper (Dard Hunter, Papermaking: The History and Technique of an Ancient Craft [New York, 1943], 236-7, 246, 249-50, 334, 345, 397n; George DangerAeld, Chancellor Robert R. Livingston of New York, 1746-1813 [New York, 1960], 284-6). subject you mentioned to me: see TJ to Livingston, 23 Feb. 1799.
Statement of William Robinson William Robinson of Clarkesburg in the county of Harrison and state of Virginia subscriber to these presents, declares that he was, in the year 1774. a resident on the West fork of Monongahela river < 397>
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in the county then called West Augusta; & being in his Aeld on the 12th. of July with two other men, they were surprised by a party of eight Indians, who shot down one of the others, & made himself and the remaining one prisoners; this subscriber’s wife & four children having been previously conveyed by him for safety to a fort about 24. miles oC. that the principal Indian of the party which took them was Capt. Logan: that Logan spoke English well, & very soon manifested a friendly disposition to this subscriber, & told him to be of good heart, that he would not be killed, but must go with him to his town, where he would probablyq be adopted in some of their families;r but above all things that he must not attempt to run away: that in the course of the journey to the Indian town, he generally endeavored to keep close to Logan, who had a great deal of conversation with him, always encouraging him to be chearful, & without fear, for that he would not be killed, but should become one of them; & constantly impressing on him not to attempt to run away; that in these conversations he always charged capt Michael Cresap with the murder of his family: that on his arrival in the town, which was on the 18th. of July, he was tied to a stake, and a great debate arose whether he should not be burnt; Logan insisting on having him adopted, while others contended to burn him; that at length Logan prevailed, tied a belt of wampum round him, as the mark of adoption, loosed him from the post, & carried him to the cabbin of an old Squaw, where Logan pointed out a person who he said was this subscriber’s cousin, and he afterwards understood that the old woman was his aunt, and two others his brothers;s & that he now stood in the place of at warrior of the family, who had been killed at Yellow creek: that about three days after this, Logan brought him a piece of paper, & told him he must write a letter for him, which he meant to carry & leave in some house where he should kill somebody: that he made ink with gunpowder, & the subscriber proceeded to write the letter, by his direction, addressing Capt. Michael Cresap in it, & that the purport of it was to ask ‘Why he had killed his people? that some time before they had killed his people at some place (the name of which the subscriber forgets) which he had forgiven; but, since that, he had killed his people again at Yellow creek, and taken his cousin, a little girl, prisoner: that therefore he must war against the whites; but that he would exchange the subscriber for his cousin.’ & signed it with Logan’s name: which letter Logan took & set out again to war. and the contents of this letter as recited by the subscriber, calling to mind that stated by judge Innes to have been left, tied to a war club, in a house where a family was murdered, & that being read to < 398>
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the subscriber, he recognises it, & declares he verily believes it to have been the identical letter which he wrote; & supposes he was mistaken in stating, as he has done before from memory, that the oCer of the exchange was proposed in the letter; that it is probable it was only promised him by Logan, but not put into the letter: that while he was with the old woman, she repeatedly endeavored to make him sensible that she had been of the party at Yellow creek, and by signs shewed how they decoyed her friends over the river to drink, & when they were reeling & tumbling about, tomahawked them all;u & that whenever she entered on this subject she was thrown into the most violent agitations: andv that he afterwards understood that among the Indians killed at Yellow creek was a sister of Logan, very big with child, whom they ripped open and stuck on a pole: that he continued with the Indians till the month of November, when he was released in consequence of the peace made by them with Ld. Dunmore: that while he remained with them, the Indians in general were very kind to him, & especially those who were his adopted relations; but above all, the old woman & the family in which he lived, who served him with every thing in their power, & never asked, or even suCered him to do any labour, seeming in truth to consider & respect him as the friend they had lost. All which several matters & things, so far as they are stated to be of his own knowlege, this subscriber solemnly declares to be true, and so far as they are stated on information from others, he believes them to be true. given and declared under his hand at Philadelphia this 28th. day of February 1800. William Robinson MS (DLC); entirely in TJ’s hand except for signature; inserted in TJ’s hand between text and signature: “two pasages in the 1st. page and one in the second being Arst corrected by dashing out a part, and interlining” (see notes 2-3, 5-6 below). Printed in the Appendix to the Notes on Virginia (see Notes, ed. Peden, 242-4). William Robinson settled in 1773 on the West Fork River in what eventually became West Virginia. He, Coleman Brown, who was killed, and Thomas Hellen, who like Robinson was captured, were working in a Bax Aeld when they were set upon. In 1784 Robinson was named a member of the county court of the newly organized Harrison County, and he was sheriC of the county, 1788-90
(Dorothy Davis, History of Harrison County West Virginia, ed. Elizabeth Sloan [Clarksburg, W. Va., 1970], 24, 301, 83, 89; Alexander Scott Withers, Chronicles of Border Warfare: or, A History of the Settlement by the Whites, of North-Western Virginia, and of the Indian Wars and Massacres in That Section of the State, ed. Reuben Gold Thwaites [Cincinnati, 1917], 156-8). With regard to the letter dictated by Logan and left in a settler’s house, see Harry innes to TJ, 2 Mch. 1799. q TJ interlined this word and altered the word preceding it from “should.” r Preceding four words interlined in place of “the name of a great warrior who had been killed at Yellow creek.” s TJ Arst wrote “who Logan told him,
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28 FEBRUARY 1800 was to be his aunt, that a man whom he pointed out was his cousin, & two others his brothers” before altering and interlining the passage to read as above. t Word interlined in place of “the.” u TJ here canceled “that among these
was a sister of Logan, very big with child, whom they ripped open, & stuck on a pole” (see next note). v Passage from this word to next colon interlined.
To George Wythe My dear Sir Philadelphia Feb. 28. 1800. I know how precious your time is and how exclusively you devote it to the duties of your oDce. yet I venture to ask a few hours or minutes of it on motives of public service, as well as private friendship. I will explain the occasion of the application. You recollect enough of the old Congress to remember that their mode of managing the business of the house was not only unparliamentary, but that the forms were so awkward & inconvenient that it was impossible sometimes to get at the true sense of the majority. the House of Repr. of the US. are now pretty much in the same situation. in the Senate it is in our power to get into a better way. our ground is this. the Senate have established a few rules for their government, and have subjected the decisions on these & on all other points of order without debate, & without appeal, to the judgment of their President. he, for his own sake, as well as theirs, must prefer recurring to some system of rules, ready formed; & there can be no question that the Parliamentary rules are the best known to us for managing the debates, & obtaining the sense of a deliberative body. I have therefore made them my rule of decision, rejecting those of the old Congress altogether; & it gives entire satisfaction to the Senate; insomuch that we shall not only have a good system there, but probably, by the example of it’s eCects, produce a conformity in the other branch. but in the course of this business I And perplexities, having for 20. years been out of deliberative bodies & become rusty as to many points of proceeding: & so little has the Parliamentary branch of the law been attended to, that I not only And no person here, but not even a book to aid me. I had, at an early period of life, read a good deal on the subject, & common placed what I read. this common-place has been my pillar. but there are many questions of practice, on which that is silent. some of them are so minute indeed and belong so much to every day’s practice that they have never been thought worthy of being written down. yet from desuetude they have slipped my memory. you will see by the inclosed paper what they are. I know with < 400>
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what pain you write: therefore I have left a margin in which you can write a simple negative or aDrmative opposite every position, or perhaps, with as little trouble correct the text by striking out or interlining. this is what I have earnestly to sollicit from you: and I would not have given you the trouble if I had had any other resource. but you are in fact the only spark of Parliamentary science now remaining to us. I am the more anxious, because I have been forming a manual of Parliamentary law, which I mean to deposit with the Senate as the Standard by which I judge, and am willing to be judged. tho’ I should be opposed to it’s being printed, yet it may be done perhaps without my consent; and in that case I should be sorry indeed should it go out with errors that a Tyro should not have committed. and yet it is precisely those to which I am most exposed. I am less afraid as to important matters, because for them I have printed authorities. but it is those small matters of daily practice, which 20. years ago were familiar to me, but have in that time escaped my memory. I hope under these circumstances you will pardon the trouble I propose to you in the inclosed paper. I am not pressed in time, so that your leisure will be suDcient for me. accept the salutations of grateful & sincere friendship and attachment and many prayers for your health and happiness from Dear Sir Your’s aCectionately Th: Jefferson RC (Henry N. Flynt, New York City, 1946). PrC (DLC); endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosure: see TJ to Edmund Pendleton, 19 Apr., and enclosure at Pendleton to TJ, 17 June 1800. TJ’s request for information from Wythe is his Arst extant acknowledgment that he was forming a manual of parliamentary law for the use of the Senate. TJ may have begun work on the manual soon after he began presiding over the Senate in 1797. He began producing the Anal draft in May 1800 and delivered the manuscript to Samuel Harrison Smith for printing in December. Entitled A Manual of Parliamentary Practice. For the Use of the Senate of the United States, it was published in Washington on 27 Feb. 1801, the day before TJ resigned as president of the Senate,
and it became the Senate’s Arst rule book. In 1837 the House of Representatives agreed that the rules in TJ’s Manual “shall govern the House in all cases to which they are applicable, and in which they are not inconsistent with the standing rules and orders of the House.” TJ’s work is still published with the rules of the House (Malone, JeCerson, 3:452-7; Constitution, JeCerson’s Manual and Rules of the House of Representatives of the United States, One Hundred Seventh Congress [Washington, D.C., 2001]; Roy Swanstrom, The United States Senate: 1787-1801 [Washington, D.C., 1985], 194; pw, 17, 24-7, 339-41; TJ to Samuel Harrison Smith, 21 Dec. 1800). For TJ’s earlier exchange of information on parliamentary law with John Beckley, see Vol. 30:180.
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To Benjamin Smith Barton Mar. 1. 1800.
Th: JeCerson presents his compliments to Dr. Barton. he is just now beginning to copy the Indian vocabularies lent him by Dr. Barton; but Ands it necessary to know previously whether some of them may not already have been entered in the Vocabularies of Th:J. lent to Dr. B. he will therefore thank him for them, & if Dr. B. has not made the uses of them which he wished, they shall be speedily sent back to him, with his own. RC (PHi); addressed: “Dr. Barton.” Not recorded in SJL. For Barton’s request to see TJ’s vocabularies of Native American languages and his oCer to lend his lists to TJ, see Barton’s letter of 26 Oct. 1798. On 13 Mch. 1800 TJ wrote Barton the
following brief note: “Th: JeCerson returns Dr. Barton’s vocabularies with many thanks for the use of them. he also sends his own, which Dr. Barton was not done with. friendly salutations” (RC in PHi, addressed: “Dr. Barton”; not recorded in SJL).
To William Jackson Mar. 1. 1800.
Th: JeCerson presents his compliments to Majr. Jackson and his thanks for the pamphlet inclosed yesterday. he had heard it delivered with great satisfaction, and shall with equal pleasure go again over it’s contents. to much of it’s truths he has himself been a witness, and it is a gratifying exercise to his mind, to recognize them as retraced by so good a pencil. RC (CtY: William Jackson Papers); addressed: “Majr. Jackson”; endorsed. Not recorded in SJL. The pamphlet was Jackson’s Eulogium, On the Character of General Washington, Late President of the United States; Pronounced at the request of the Pennsyvlania Society of the Cincinnati, before the President of the United States, and the Members of Both Houses of Con-
gress; On the Twenty-Second Day of February, Eighteen Hundred, in the German Reformed Church, Philadelphia (Philadelphia, 1800). If a letter accompanied the pamphlet, TJ did not record it in SJL. Jackson, who at the time was U.S. surveyor and inspector of the revenue at Philadelphia, had become secretary general of the Society of the Cincinnati in 1799 (anb, 11:779).
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From Thomas Mann Randolph Th: M. Randolph to Th: Jefferson Richmond March 1. 1800 My aCair with Picket is Anally settled this moment but not as I precipitately stated on 27. ult. from a conversation, in the very time of writing, with Mr. Gibson the partner of Mr. JeCerson; he himself being out of the way & the mail hour near. Geo: JeCerson & co. have paid Picket 1868$ .79 Cents and desire all my money may be remitted them in Bank-notes as soon as possible. I must still ask of you the use of the whole Arst installment and beg allso that if it can be done in any way you will have an advance of the whole proceeds negotiated and forwarded as soon as can be to Geo: JeCerson & co. I am extremely uneasey under my obligation to them tho’ I have been treated with the utmost delicacy & most friendly Candor at the same time. I would rather have lost the land if I had not considered my family: my own feelings would have sacriAced it. I am just mounting for Eppington. with the most sincere aCection Th: M. Randolph RC (MHi); endorsed by TJ as received 8 Mch. and so recorded in SJL.
as i precipitately stated: Randolph’s letter to TJ of 27 Feb., recorded in SJL as received 6 Mch., has not been found.
From Joseph Barnes Hamburg March 4th. 1800
Tho’ I have not Since in Europe had the happiness of receiving a Line from you Mr. JeCerson, yet esteeming you not merely my chief Patron, but the Great Patron of the Liberal principles of Philosophy, Republicanism, Virtue, & Universal Philanthropy, gratitude impels me to address you as Occurrent circumstances indicate— Having given my Sentiments generally in my Last dated Octr. 25th. 1799. & as you will of course have been inform’d of the recent, Sudden & great change in the Political regulations of France aCect’d by Bonaparté on his return from Egypt, I need not recapitulate the Same—The constitution tho’ not Legitimate, is adopt’d, & bids fair to answer the purpose for the time being; Bonaparte, having pledged himself to endeavor to procure peace, & Act’d with much propriety, possesses the general conAdence of the Nation; &, as I hope he is as good as he is great, when the much desired object a general peace is obtained, he will be the Arst to cause to be brot. forward a Legitimate < 403>
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constitution of & for the People of France on the true principles of Representation; he has in consequence made overtures of peace, to all the powers oppose to the French Republic, which the administration of England has reject’d!—’tis Said however that Petitions are formally open’d in London, which will be followed thro’ out the Country, to the King in favor of peace with France—if unanimous as expect’d they may prevail on the Government to change its determination. The eCect on the other Powers is not yet known, ’tis report’d & generally believed that greater part of the Russians have withdrawn to Poland, which is a Strong indication of Negotiations going on— Should these overtures however prove unsuccessful, ’tis also report’d & believed that in the Spring Bonaparte will place himself again at the head of the Armies of Itally & the Rhine, which he may command at his pleasure to be increased to 300.000 men, & enforce a peace in the heart of the German Empire.— The Chouans are entirely Suppress’d, the Surrender of themselves & Arms is eCectuating fast to completion.— The disposition of Bonaparte, & indeed of the whole of the good Citizens of France combined with other circumstances cause the present to be a most favorable period for the Commissioners of the United States to Arrive at Paris, & presage a Speedy reconciliation & good understanding between the two great Republics—On this happy event, of course the British will re-commence their Spoiliations, annul the infamous treaty made by Jay, & open the way to form Such another as the wellfare of the People of the U.S. may require.— ’Tis thought by this time our Commissioners must be arrived in Paris— ’Tis Some time Since we received here the Melancholy intelligence of the death of General Washington, on which the Native Citizens of the U.S. assembled here resolved, & have paid that respect which they consider’d due to the Memory of him to whom they essentially owed their Liberty & independence—the Loss of whom I deeply regret at the present, Arst on acct. of the Citizens at Large, as there is not another in whom their conAdence can be So generally concentred; nor, Should Necessity require is there any one under whose Military Standard they would So generally & cheerfully rally, even the knowledge of his existence had much inBuence in detering eCorts of intrigue against the cause which he defend’d [& the] objects he Achieved; [Seco]ndly, that he did not Live to See the result of the present [momen]tous contest, for his Secret Satisfaction; as the triump[hant] Cause of the human race would have caused him indesc[ribable] Satisfaction, & to have died in exultation.— < 404>
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All circumstances Seem to presage a change in the tyde of the Political aCairs of the United States, highly favorable to the Success of the Man of the People at the ensuing [elec]tion of President &c of the Unit’d States, which I believe is in Octr. next, who has not a Superior, & who combines more requisites for the oDce of President than any other in the U.S.—Mr JeCerson—to whom I need not recapitulate the circumstances & motives which induced my Anxious Solicitude to be prefer’d to the ODce of Consul, Should it open in any of the principal ports especially of France, Itally, or West Indies, but rest assured that no requisite will have been, nor be omitt’d on part of Mr JeCerson to promote my wishes of having it in my power to be more useful to myself & fellow Citizens, (as the Fates have destined my detention as yet in Europe,) which is among my Arst wishes for your earliest possible preferment to the Arst chair in the U.S.—health & happiness Mr JeCerson— for the present Adieu— Jos. Barnes P.S. I am about to Set out on another tour up the Country—probably as far as Itally—therefore, Should you have occasion to favor me with a Line, address to care of Mr Pitcairn, consul of the U.S. in Hamburg— It being a fact well known & too well experienced by Several highly respectable Citizens of the United States, of my acquaintance, Viz, that great inconvenience, & Loss in many instances has Occurred from the ODce of consul being vested in foreigners Who have not a common interest & feeling with the [. . .] [of] the U.S. it would be well if the executive would avoid as far as po[ssible the] appointment of any other than Natives to foriegn consulcies [. . .]— RC (DLC); torn, with text in brackets supplied conjecturally; addressed: “Thomas JeCerson Esqr. V.P. of the Unitd States Philadelphia”; postmarked 4 June at an illegible location, franked, and “Milton Va” written in an unknown hand in place of canceled “Philadelphia”; endorsed by TJ as received 20 June 1800 and so recorded in SJL. The French constitution of the Year VIII, shaped by Bonaparte from a plan by Emmanuel Joseph Siéyès, went into eCect in December 1799 with a pronouncement that the revolution was over. The new frame of government gave executive authority to three consuls, naming Bonaparte to a ten-year term as First
Consul with indeAnite reeligibility thereafter. The legislative branch would consist of a Tribunate of 100 members and a Legislative Body of 300, the members of those chambers to be selected by a Conservative Senate from lists of eligible candidates nationwide (Stewart, French Revolution, 767-80). Bonaparte transmitted overtures of peace to Great Britain in a letter addressed directly to King George III. There had been no diplomatic prelude to the unexpected message, which arrived in England late on the last day of 1799. The British government swiftly rebuCed the proposal, declaring that a restoration of the monarchy in France would be the surest means of reconciliation. In Aus-
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4 MAR CH 1800 tria, Emperor Francis II’s government also rejected a peace feeler from Bonaparte (Ehrman, Pitt, 332-44). During late 1799 and early 1800 the russians recalled their troops and ceased to participate in the Second Coalition (T. C. W. Blanning, The French Revolutionary Wars, 1787-1802 [London, 1996], 255). An armistice between the French government and rebel chouans, armed
counterrevolutionaries who had made gains, especially in the west of France, in a resurgence during the autumn of 1799, expired in January 1800. Then troops under General Brune, on orders from Bonaparte, imposed martial law and eCected the disarmament and surrender of the strongest Chouan groups (D. M. G. Sutherland, France, 1789-1815: Revolution and Counterrevolution [New York, 1986], 257-8, 341-2, 348-9).
To George Jefferson Dear Sir Philadelphia Mar. 4. 1800. Your favor of the 24th. is recieved. I this afternoon recieved a letter from mr Randolph informing me you had been so kind as to step in between him & the agent of Leroy & Bayard, & by advancing the sum necessary, to prevent the sale of his land: and he wishes me to do what I can to prevent inconvenience to you till his tobacco instalments can come in. knowing nothing of the amount of the sum you have been obliged to advance for him, I must ask the favor of you to inform me of it by return of post. in the mean time I shall take the following measures towards covering the advance as speedily as possible. mr Lieper is to give me his note immediately for the tobo. we sent to New York. it will be 720. D. this we can get discounted in time to go on on Monday & be with you on Saturday the 15th. another note of about 150. D. can be discounted & forwarded at the same time. I am not certain whether some monies of mr Short’s may not be lying in mr Barnes’s hands at this moment & unemployed. if there be they can for a short time be spared & replaced by our tobo. instalments. I shall be anxious to learn from you the amount called for. not knowing whether mr Randolph is at Eppington or Edgehill I take the liberty of putting a letter to him under your cover. If you could And a conveyance to this place for Edmd. Randolph’s abridgment of the laws of Virginia I will thank you to procure & forward it to me. perhaps some acquaintance may be coming on in the stage who would take charge of it. I am sending on a cask of clover seed, which I will pray you to forward to Monticello with the least delay possible; as the season for sowing is fast approaching. I am Dear Sir Your’s aCectionately Th: Jefferson < 406>
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P.S. a hogshead of my tobo. was lost at the warehouse. I presume I am to be paid for it: and at the same rate I sold the residue at, [to] wit 7.D. [. . .] 6. D. [class]. do we stand any chance to get our money from N. Carolina? PrC (MHi); faint; at foot of text: “Mr. JeCerson.” Enclosure: TJ to Thomas Mann Randolph, 4 Mch. 1800.
Edmund randolph’s abridgment of the laws of virginia was published in Richmond in 1796 (see Sowerby, No. 1867).
For the letter from Thomas Mann randolph, see 22 Feb. 1800.
To James Madison Mar. 4. 1800.
I have never written to you since my arrival here for reasons which were explained. your’s of Dec. 29. Jan. 4. 9. 12. 18. & Feb. 14. have therefore remained unacknoleged. I have at diCerent times inclosed to you such papers as seemed interesting. to-day I forward Bingham’s amendment to the election bill formerly inclosed you, mr Pinkney’s proposed amendmt. to the constn, & theq report of the Ways & Means. B.’s amendmt. was lost by the usual majority of 2 to 1. a very diCerent one will be proposed containing the true sense of the Minority, viz that the two houses, voting by heads, shall decide such questions as the constitution authorises to be raised. this may probably be taken up in the other house under better auspices. for tho’ the federalists have a great majority there, yet they are of a more moderate temper than for some time past. the Senate however seem determined to yeild to nothing which shall give the other house greater weight in the decision on elections than they have.—mr Pinckney’s motion has been supported, and is likely to have some votes, which were not expected. I rather believe he will withdraw it, and propose the same thing in the form of a bill; it being the opinion of some that such a regulation is not against the present constitution. in this form it will stand a better chance to pass, as a majority only in both houses will be necessary. by putting oC building the 74s. & stopping enlistments the loan will be reduced to 30 millions. but I think it cannot be obtained. for though no new bankruptcies have happened here for some weeks, or in New York yet they continue to happen in Baltimore, & the whole commercial race are lying on their oars, and gathering in their aCairs, not knowing what new failures may put their resources to the proof. in this state of things they cannot lend money. < 407>
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some foreigners have taken asylum among us, with a good deal of money, who may perhaps chuse that deposit. Robbins’s aCair has been under agitation for some days. Livingston made an able speech of 20 hours yesterday. the advocates of the measure feel it’s pressure heavily; & tho’ they may be able to repel L’s motion of censure, I do not believe they can carry Bayard’s of approbation.—the landing of our envoys at Lisbon, will risk a very dangerous consequence, inasmuch as the news of Truxton’s aggression will perhaps arrive at Paris before our commissioners will. had they gone directly there they might have been two months ahead of that news. we are entirely without further information from Paris. by letters from Bourdeaux of Dec. 7. tobo. was then from 25. to 27. D. per Ê yet did Marshal maintain on the non-intercourse bill, that it’s price at other markets had never been aCected by that law. while the navigating and provision states who are the majority can keep open all the markets, or at least suDcient ones for their objects, the cries of the tobacco makers, who are the minority, and not at all in favor, will hardly be listened to. it is truly the fable of the cat pulling the nuts out of the Are with the monkey’s paw; and it shews that G. Mason’s proposition in the convention was wise, that on laws regulating commerce two thirds of the votes should be requisite to pass them. however it would have been trampled under foot by a triumphant majority. Mar. 8. My letter has lain by me till now, waiting mr Trist’s departure. the question has been decided to-day on Livingston’s motion respecting Robbins. 35 for it, about 60. against it. Livingston, Nicholas & Gallatin distinguished themselves on one side & J. Marshall greatly on the other. still it is believed they will not push Bayard’s motion of approbation. we have this day also decided in Senate on the motion for overhauling the editor of the Aurora. it was carried as usual by about 2. to 1. H. Marshall voting of course with them, as did & frequently does Anderson of Tennissee, who is perfectly at market. it happens that the other party are so strong that they do not think either him or Marshall worth buying.—as the conveyance is conAdential, I can say something on a subject which to those who do not know my real dispositions respecting it, might seem indelicate. the Feds begin to be very seriously alarmed about their election next fall. their speeches in private, as well as their public & private demeanor to me indicate it strongly. this seems to be the prospect. keep out Pensylva, Jersey & N. York, & the rest of the states are about equally divided; and in this estimate it is supposed that N. Carolina & Maryland added together are equally divided. then the event depends on the 3. middle states beforementd. As to < 408>
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them, Pensylva passes no law for an election at the present session. they conAde that the next election gives a decided majority in the two houses when joined together. Mc.kain therefore intends to call the legislature to meet immediately after the new election to appoint electors themselves. still you will be sensible there may arise a diDculty between the two houses about voting by heads or by houses.— the republican members here from Jersey are entirely conAdent that their two houses, joined together, have a majority of republicans; their council being republican by 6. or 8. votes, & the lower house federal by only 1. or 2. and they have no doubt the approaching election will be in favor of the republicans. they appoint electors by the two houses voting together.—in N. York all depends on the success of the city election which is of 12. members, & of course makes a diCerence of 24. which is suDcient to make the two houses, joined together, republican in their vote. Govr. Clinton, Genl. Gates, & some other old revolutionary characters have been put on the republican ticket. Burr, Livingston &c. entertain no doubt on the event of that election. still these are the ideas of the republicans only in these three states, & we must make great allowance for their sanguine views. upon the whole I consider it as rather more doubtful than the last election; in which I was not decieved in more than a vote or two. if Pensylvania votes, then either Jersey or New York giving a republican vote, decides the election. if Pensylva does not vote, then New York determines the election. in any event we may say that if the city election of N. York is in favor of the Republican ticket, the issue will be republican; if the federal ticket for the city of N. York prevails, the probabilities will be in favor of a federal issue, because it would then require a republican vote both from Jersey & Pensva to preponderate against New York, on which we could not count with any conAdence. the election of New York being in April it becomes an early & interesting object.—it is probable the landing of our envoys in Lisbon will add a month to our session: because all that the Eastern men are anxious about is to get away before the possibility of a treaty’s coming in upon us.—you must consider the money you have in mr Barnes’s hands as wholly at your disposal. I have no note here of the amount of our nail account; but it is small and will be quite as convenient to me to recieve after I go home. present my respectful salutations to mrs Madison and be assured of my constant & aCectionate esteem. RC (DLC: Madison Papers); at foot of Arst page: “Mr. Madison”; endorsed by Madison. PrC (DLC).
William bingham’s amendment to the bill on the mode of deciding disputed elections of president and vice president
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4 MAR CH 1800 proposed altering the Arst section from a choice by ballot to a selection by joint lottery in Congress. The Senate defeated the amendment in a vote of 24 to 4 on 3 Mch. (Amendment, Proposed by Mr. Bingham, to the Bill, Prescribing the Mode of Deciding Disputed Elections of President and Vice President of the United States [Philadelphia, 1800; Evans, No. 38706]; Annals, 10:65-6; TJ to Monroe, 16 Feb. 1800). amendmt. to the constn: Charles Pinckney on 3 Feb. proposed an amendment that prohibited federal judges from holding any other appointment while continuing in oDce (Annals, 10:41-2). For the amendment proposed by Wilson Cary Nicholas expressing the true sense of the minority, see TJ to Madison, 25 Mch. The report of the ways & means committee of 21 Feb. considered, among other possible cost reductions, the question of whether Congress should proceed with the expense of $600,000 to construct six 74-gun ships, as Congress had called for a year earlier, or postpone the plan, as Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Stoddert recommended to the chair of the Ways and Means Committee, Robert Goodloe Harper. The committee decided in favor of postponement and recommended a resolution authorizing the president to borrow 30 millions (Annals, 10:582; Report of the Committee of Ways and Means, on the subject of a Loan, for the service of the Year 1800. 21st February 1800 [Philadelphia, 1800; Evans, No. 38861], 3, 5, 23-4; U.S. Statutes at Large, 1:621). robbins’s affair: for the arrest and trial of Jonathan Robbins (Thomas Nash), see TJ to James Callender, 6 Sept. 1799. Edward livingston on 20 Feb. introduced into the House resolutions criticizing President Adams for executive interference in what was properly a judicial matter. After Livingston’s long speech on 3 Mch. the House on the 8th voted 61 to 35 against his motion, which chastised the judge of the District Court of South Carolina, Thomas Bee, for sacriAcing the constitutional independence of the judicial power and exposing the “administration thereof to suspicion and reproach.” Countering Livingston’s
motion, James A. Bayard of Delaware on 5 Mch. oCered approbation of the president’s action (Annals, 10:532-3, 583, 595, 619; Mr. Livingston’s Motion [Philadelphia, 1800; Evans, No. 38791]; see also TJ’s Notes on Marshall’s Speech, 7 Mch.). During a 1-2 Feb. 1800 naval battle in the West Indies, Thomas truxton’s aggression led the U.S. frigate Constellation in a Ave-hour engagement against the more heavily armed French frigate La Vengeance. Although the French frigate escaped when the mainmast of the Constellation collapsed, the French suCered around 150 men killed or wounded to the American loss of 18 dead and 21 wounded (asp, Naval ACairs, 1:71-3; Palmer, Stoddert’s War, 185-7; anb). John marshall spoke in favor of the nonintercourse bill during the long debate in Congress on 20 Feb. (Annals, 10:531). In La Fontaine’s fable of the cat, Book 9, Fable 17, “Le Singe et Le Chat,” a cat steals chestnuts from the Are for a monkey. Frightened by a parlor maid’s footsteps, the cat runs away without gathering any chestnuts for himself (Jean de La Fontaine, Oeuvres Complètes [Paris, 1965], 146). George Mason favored Charles Pinckney’s August 1787 proposition in the convention that laws regulating commerce should be approved by a twothirds majority of both houses in order to safeguard against any of the Ave distinct commercial regions gaining undue inBuence. Madison, claiming that the southern states were a minority, opposed it (Max Farrand, Records of the Federal Convention of 1787, 4 vols. [New Haven, 1911-37], 2:449-52). Neither the speech of John nicholas nor that of Albert gallatin of 6 Mch., both lengthy, has been found although the notes for Gallatin’s speech exist at NHi: Gallatin Papers (“Observations on Robbins’s Case,” [7 Feb.-7 Mch. 1800]; Annals, 10:595-6). See also Ruth Wedgwood, “The Revolutionary Martyrdom of Jonathan Robbins,” Yale Law Journal, 100 (1990): 335-9. For William Duane, editor of the aurora, and the charges against him
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4 MAR CH 1800 in the Senate, see Thomas Cooper to TJ, 23 Mch., and Duane to TJ, 24 Mch. Humphrey marshall and Joseph anderson sided with the Federalists (Annals, 10:93, 96).
For the money in barnes’s hands, see Madison to TJ, 18 Jan. q TJ here canceled “Treasury.”
From Samuel Miller Sir, New-York, March 4 1800. I had the honor to receive your polite favour of the 25 Feby a few days ago. Your kind reception of my Sermon, and the respectful opinions of it which you are so good as to express, give me great pleasure, and demand my thanks. Had I been so forgetful of my principles and duty as a Minister of the Gospel, as to imitate the impious extravagance of many other eulogists; my political creed would have prevented me from falling into such an error. The application which I once made to you, and which you are so good as to recollect, and to request me to renew, was on the following subject—Having been, for some time past, engaged in collecting materials with a view to writing the history of New-York, I wished to obtain and incorporate in the work, as much information respecting the Indians who have, at diCerent periods, inhabited the district of country once called New Netherlands, (which you recollect included New-York, New Jersey, part of Pennsylvania, & the State of Delaware) as I could possibly procure. Knowing your extensive and accurate acquaintance with most of the usual topics of enquiry, respecting the Aborigines of America, I took the liberty, about 18 months ago, to request from you such information as you might possess on this subject, in addition to that which you have presented to the public, in your “Notes on Virginia.” In answer to this application, [you] expressed some doubt whether your papers would furn[ish] much more information, to my purpose, than you had already published; but were so polite, at the same time, as to promise to inspect them, on your return home, and to communicate the result of your examination.—Not having since heard from you on the subject, I concluded, either that, on examining your papers, there was nothing which you thought proper to communicate; or that your numerous and more important avocations had put the whole business out of your mind.— As I am still engaged in pursuing the same object, and still wish for the same information, your remembrance does not come too late. < 411>
4 MAR CH 1800
Any thing, Sir, relating to the Indians beforementioned, even a single fact, however apparently trivial, which tends either directly or indirectly to throw light on their character, history, or language, will be to me a most acceptable communication, and will be acknowledged with gratitude.— I hope you will excuse the liberty I take in asking your opinion of Dr. Barton’s “New Views” &c You have doubtless observed, that his information does not, in all respects, agree with that delivered by Mr. Thompson, in his remarks subjoined to your “Notes.”— There is one small event in the early history of New-York, connected with Virginia. Stith, your historian, if I mistake not, informs us, that early in the last century, Sir Saml. Argall, was sent on an expedition to the Northward, by the Governor of Virginia, in the course of which he entered the mouth of the Hudson, found a small dutch colony on Manhattan Island, subdued them, took a formal acknowledgment, in writing, of their submission to his government, and caused the said acknowledgment to be recorded in Virginia. As this fact, has in my view, some extensive relations, I wish to ascertain it fully and accurately. If the record above referred to were really made, & if it be still preserved, would it not be possible to obtain a copy of all that appears in the archives of the state, of that transaction? If convenient, I should consider your agency in favoring the attainment of this object, as conferring on me a very great obligation.— I take the liberty of inclosing for your perusal a copy of a circular letter, which I have sent to Gentlemen in diCerent parts of our State. Since the date of this, I have had another struck oC, containing more queries; but of the latter I have no copy left.—If on any of the topics referred to in the letter, & the subjoined queries, you can give me any hints to direct or answer my enquiries, you will do me a very great favour.—I have the honor to be, Sir, with the highest respect, your obliged & obedient Servant— Saml: Miller RC (CSmH); torn; addressed: “Thomas JeCerson Esquire Vice President of the U.S. Philadelphia”; endorsed by TJ as received 7 Mch. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: printed letter from Miller to “Sir,” dated New York, 10 Feb. 1798, announcing his intention to write a history of New York from “the Arst settlement of the Colony by the Dutch” to “the revolutionary war”; a list of 26 queries is subjoined (Evans, No. 34110). Miller’s request for information about
18 months prior to this letter may have been made orally, since according to SJL the last correspondence between Miller and TJ before 13 Feb. 1800 was TJ to Miller, of 3 Sep. 1793. remarks subjoined to your “notes”: Charles Thomson’s observations on TJ’s Notes on the State of Virginia, which TJ appended to the published work, included information about Indian tribes and languages (Notes, ed. Peden, 199-208, 296n). William stith (d. 1755) had written
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4 MAR CH 1800 The History of the First Discovery and Settlement of Virginia (Williamsburg, 1747; Sowerby, No. 463). In 1613 Sir Samuel argall asserted English authority north of Virginia by breaking up
French Jesuit missions in Maine and Acadia and obtaining a declaration of allegiance from the Dutch governor of New Netherland (dab, 1:345; 18:34-5; anb, 1:589).
From James Monroe Dear Sir Richmd. March 4. 1800. You will have heard of the death of Mr. R.B. before this reaches you. On my arrival here the engagmt. in his favor became due, & as a judgment stood agnst me on a forthcoming bond I was forced to pay the amt. wh. was £651.—I notiAed to Francis Brooke his brother, that he stood indebted to you for this act of friendship £100., to two other gentln. in a like sum, each, and to me for the balance. You will recollect you advanc’d for me some time since to Mr. Kenney £30. so that you owe me on the above advance £70. I am just going on a Bying visit to albemarle to look into my aCrs. It is possible I may sell my plantation above charlottesville while up. If I do I shall not want the above sum till I see you, of wh. will inform you on my return. yr. friend & servant Jas. Monroe RC (MHi). mr. r.b.: state attorney general and former governor of Virginia Robert Brooke, who died in Fredericksburg on 27 Feb. Earlier, Monroe had undertaken to cover the most pressing claims by Brooke’s creditors. He enlisted James Madison and John Francis Mercer to help with £75 each, increasing the sum to £100 when he discovered that the debts
were greater than he had anticipated. Wilson Cary Nicholas also pledged £100. In July 1799 Monroe had hoped to get similar pledges from Francis Walker and Nicholas’s brother John, while others took responsibility for some of Brooke’s lesser debts (vmhb, 19 [1911], 100-1; Madison, Papers, 17:253-4, 390; Robert Brooke to Monroe, 29 Aug. 1798, in DLC: Monroe Papers).
To Thomas Mann Randolph Dear Sir Philadelphia Mar. 4. 1800. I wrote you last on the 17th. of February. since that I learn by a letter from Richmond that Martha is with her sister. my last letter from Eppington was of the 16th. of Feb. when Maria was hoped to be in fair way of speedy recovery. the continuance of the non intercourse law for another year and the landing of our commissioners at Lisbon, have placed the opening of the French market (where, at < 413>
4 MAR CH 1800
Bourdeaux tobo. was selling at 25 to 27. D. pr. Ê Dec. 7.) at such a distance, that I thought it better to sell our tobo. at N. York. Remsen had informed me in January that no more than 6. D. could then be got for it, and it has been falling since; and Lieper oCering to take it there at 6. D. payable in 60. days I struck with him; and thus ends this tragedy by which we have both lost so much. I observe Varina advertised. how does that matter stand? there have been no new failures here or at New York; but at Baltimore very great ones weekly. we are entirely without news of the further proceedings in Paris. Buonaparte seems to be given up by almost every one. the caucus election bill for President & V.P. will certainly pass the Senate, by the usual majority of 2. to 1. an amendment will be proposed to shew the sense of the minority. this may perhaps however be taken up by the other house with a better chance of success. in order to lessen the necessary loan, they put oC building the 74s. a year, which with the saving by stopping enlistments, reduces the loan to 30 millions; but whether even that can be got at 8. per cent is very doubtful. wheat is at 2.13 here and is likely to be very high through the year, as Europe will want generally. I think I shall Ax my price with mr Higginbotham at about the middle of April. I have not heard how it is at Richmond. Key’s money was sent on to Richmond Jan. 30. yet on the 20th. of Feb. (3. weeks after) he seems not to have heard of it.—kiss all the little ones for me, and accept sincere & cordial salutations from Your’s aCectionately Th: Jefferson P.S. I wrote the preceding this morning, and on coming from Senate at 3. aclock I recieved your’s of Feb. 22. I had a consultation with mr Barnes this afternoonq in order to press into service all our resources. there is in mr JeCerson’s hands about 400. D. of mr Short’s for which Barnes had an order. this perhaps we can let lie there awhile. I am not quite certain about it.r I had not taken Lieper’s note for the tobo. at New York. I shall now do it, and avail ourselves of it by discount, and it can be sent on about the 10th. inst. my part of it is 432. D. & yours 288. making 720. D. we can also discount mrs Key’s Arst instalment which is 148.485 & remit it to mr JeCerson; and as I know she does not immediately want it, I shall say nothing to her about it, as it can be replaced by some of your instalments in time. this shall all be done as quickly as the forms of the banks in cases of discount will admit, and I shall apprise mr JeCerson of it this evening, and enquire from him the precise sum he advances; that we may know what further needs, or can, be done. I put this letter under cover to him, as he will know whether to forward it to Eppington or < 414>
4 MAR CH 1800
Edgehill.—I have suCered great anxieties for Maria. her complaint seems to have been longer than any thing of the kind I have ever known. the system of physicking as subsidiary to the aid of surgery is very questionable. for every good eCect it can produce, I am sure two bad ones will result. Adieu aCectionately. RC (DLC); with postscript on verso. PrC (MHi); in ink at foot of text: “Randolph TM.” Enclosed in TJ to George JeCerson, 4 Mch. 1800.
a letter from richmond: George JeCerson to TJ, 24 Feb. q Preceding two words interlined. r Preceding sentence interlined.
To Henry Remsen Dear Sir Philadelphia Mar. 4. 1800. On the receipt of your favor of Jan. 25. I thought it would be best to suCer the tobos. with which I had troubled you to lie, in conAdence the nonintercourse law would have been suCered to expire, & that the price would then have sprung up. but the continuance of that law for another year, and the news that our envoys are landed at Lisbon, place the opening of the French market at such a distance that I have thought it better to sell immediately. mr Lieper, who purchased the residue of the crop & knew it’s quality was glad to purchase it, and accordingly I yesterday made sale of it to him for 6. D. per Ê, which you mentioned in your last was as much as could then be got there, & it has been falling since here. we learn that on the 7th. of Dec. it was selling at Bourdeaux at from 25. to 27. D. pr. Ê, while in London the merchants will not recieve it on consignment, but freight paid. so much do the tobacco states suCer by the shutting up of their markets, while the navigating & grain states by keeping the West Indies out of the operation of the law feel none of it’s inconveniences. be so good as to have these tobaccoes delivered to the order of mr Lieper, and for any expences preceding the present time to draw on mr John Barnes here who will answer the draught, or will remit the money on recieving a note of the amount of expences. I have given you a great deal of trouble on a subject entirely out of your way; for which I have only barren regrets to oCer you. the appearances of a better market at N. York than Philadelphia at that moment was the temptation. We had a hope of adjourning early in April. but the tardy route which our envoys have taken will give us at least a month longer. I hope they may And dispositions to bury the tomahawk as against us. < 415>
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but whether the new government of three in one will be disposed for a general peace, seems yet uncertain, and what is to be the Anal fate of that unhappy nation. I am with great & constant esteem Dear Sir Your aCectionate friend & servt Th: Jefferson RC (CtY); addressed: “Henry Remsen esq. New York”; franked and postmarked. PrC (privately owned, 1956).
Notes on Senate Debates [after 5 Mch. 1800]
1800. March. heretical doctrines maintained in Senate. on the motion against the Aurora. that there is in every legalq body of men a right of self preservation authorising them to do whatever is necessary for that purpose. by Tracy, Read, & Laurence. that the common law authorises the proceeding proposed agt. the Aurora, & is in force here. by Read. that the privileges of Congress are and ought to be indeAnite. by Read. Tracy sais he would not say exactly that the Common law of England in all it’s extent is in force here: but common sense, reason, & morality, which are the foundations of the Common law, are in force here and establish a common law. he held himself so nearly half way between the Common law of England and what every body else has called Natural law, & not Common law, that he could hold to either the one or the other as he should And expedient. MS (DLC: TJ Papers, 108:18558); entirely in TJ’s hand; added, along with Notes on Senate Debates at 19 Mch., in a minuscule hand at bottom of sheet following Notes on a Conversation with Benjamin Rush, 1 Feb. 1800.
Mch. in debate on the Aurora that every public body of necessity had a right to “the principle of self-preservation” (Annals, 10:87). See also TJ’s refutation of the notion of “self-preservation” in pw, 360-1.
every legal body: Senator Uriah Tracy of Connecticut commented on 5
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q Word interlined.
To Auguste Belin Sir Philadelphia Mar. 6. 1800. I have to acknolege the receipt of the several copies of the funeral oration pronounced by Monsr. Chaudron on the death of our late most illustrious General Washington, which you were pleased to send me. no circumstances can ever eCace the memory of those services which had rendered him so dear to his country; no time can dry their tears. the tender expressions of grief which Bow from the eloquent pen of M. Chaudron, And their unison in our hearts: we feel, & at the same time admire, the touches of the masterly hand which renew, while they paint, the eCusions of our sorrow. I pray you to make acceptable to the respectable lodge of which you are a member, my acknolegements for this mark of their attention to me, and the homage of my respect; and that you will accept yourself my particular thanks for the politeness of your communication, & assurances of the sentiments of regard & esteem with which I have the honor to be Sir Your most obedt. & most humble servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); at foot of text: “M. Belin. secretary of the Lodge de l’Amenité”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
To John Dickinson Mar. 7. 1800.
Th: JeCerson, with his respects to mr Dickinson, begs his acceptance of a copy of a late resolution of the legislature of Virginia. it was drawn by mr Madison, and the value of whatever Bows from his pen is suDciently known. he prays him to accept his friendly salutations and assurances of his constant attachment. RC (PHi); addressed: “Mr. Dickinson”; endorsed by Dickinson. Not recorded in SJL. resolution of the legislature of virginia: the Philadelphia edition of the Proceedings of the Virginia Assembly, on the Answers of Sundry States to Their Resolutions, Passed in December, 1798 that TJ distributed included Madison’s report to the General Assembly and the assem-
bly’s instructions to Virginia’s U.S. senators. On 24 Feb. TJ paid Philadelphia printer James Carey $5 for 20 copies of the pamphlet (invoice in CSmH; in Carey’s hand and signed by him; directed to TJ at Francis’s Hotel; with TJ’s signed order: “Mr. Barnes be pleased to pay this”). The next day the publication was advertised in the Philadelphia Aurora. See Evans, No. 38960, and mb, 2:1014.
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To George Jefferson Dear Sir Philadelphia Mar. 7. 1800. I wrote you on the 4th. that I should have a sum of money sent on about the 11th. to cover your advance for mr Randolph: but yesterday I recieved a letter from him mentioning that mr Picket had agreed to recieve the money in New York, and that the whole sum would be 2300. D. I And that about 400. D. for which I had given mr Barnes an order on the James river co. did not remain with you as I expected, but was applied to his credit to replace as much advanced by him for mr Short. this lessens my resources so much: and on rallying them to their utmost I And I can cover only 1800. Dollars. you may assure your correspondent at New York & rely yourself that this sum shall be placed in his hands in time to answer your draught on him; or it shall be paid any where else you please to direct. the remaining sum of 500. D. I am in hopes can be managed with you. on this subject be so good as to write to me fully, and count on whatever I can do, and on my particular acknolegements and participation in the friendly aid you have given mr Randolph in this business. I am Dr. Sir Yours aCectionately Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); at foot of text: “Mr. Jefferson”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosure: TJ to Thomas Mann Randolph of this date.
i recieved a letter: see Thomas Mann Randolph to TJ, 1 Mch., for the missive of 27 Feb. Bethune & Smith served as the correspondent at new york for George JeCerson & Co. (TJ to George JeCerson, 15 June 1799).
From Thomas McKean Dear Sir, Lancaster. March 7th. 1800. Believe me when I assure you, that it has not been owing to inattention or a want of the sincerest friendship that your favor of the 9th. of January has not been answered before now; but to my not having in it my power to do it in such a way as would be pleasing to you and satisfactory to myself. When I entered on the duties of my Station I found there was a great deal to do, and also to undo: tho’ a man of business all my life, I have never been so fully employed as the last three months, unless while I was Presidt. of Congress. My diDculties are nearly surmounted; I have had some boisterous gales, and have weathered the storm, but have still to watch the reptiles that are constantly nibbling the hull of the vessel under water. < 418>
7 MAR CH 1800
I have appointed & commissioned our friend Mr; Beckley Clerk of the Mayor’s court for the city of Philadelphia, and also Clerk of the Orphans court for the county, which will amount to an Equivalent for the Clerkship of the House of Representatives, which he was unjustly deprived of by a Party, who placed Mr; Condy (married to a Sister of Mr; Joseph Hopkinson & my Neice) in his stead. I had the best reasons, public & private, for the removal of my graceless nephew, and I am convinced sound reasons for putting Mr; Beckley in his place: It is at least countenanced by the lex talionis, Moses’s Law. I confess I should have made this change with more reluctance, were I not under a conviction that the President of the U.S. will, if not from personal regard, yet from the importunity of Messieurs Woolcot & Pickering, make ample provision for Mr; Hopkinson, who has been an indefatigable & indeed useful partizan for them all. Should this reasonable expectation prove falacious, and my nephew by proper concessions and reformation put it in my power, I may hereafter make him amends. Our General Assembly will make no law directing the manner of choosing Electors of President & Vice-President. The consequence will be, that I shall be obliged to call them in August, and if the two Houses do not agree, I must direct the manner by a Proclamation, which will be accompanied by an Address of the House of Representatives and nine of the Senate, out of twenty four, to their constituents. The manner will be the same that has been prescribed hitherto by the legislature of this State from the commencement of the Constitution of the United States, being nearly twelve years, and for three diCerent Periods of election: besides this, the practice is founded on principle & solid reason, that the majority of the Freemen of each State shall choose the Electors, which cannot be the case in any other way. The Governor is, under the obligation of an oath, to see that the laws of the State shall be faithfully executed; the Constitutions of the United States & of this Stateq are the supreme laws of the land, and it is my duty to have them faithfully executed, which I shall endeavor to accomplish; and I am perfectly convinced, that the Returns of the Electors, made in pursuance of the Act of Congress and under the authority of the States, cannot be controlled by any thirteen Gentlemen, selected by both Houses of Congress, or any other power whatsoever, without a manifest violation of the federal compact, which cannot nay which will not be submitted to. I have been interrupted more than half a dozen times by Visitants, some on business, some out of respect, while I have wrote thus far. I must therefore reserve what I intended further to say, until I shall < 419>
7 MAR CH 1800
have the pleasure of seeing you, which I Batter myself will be in about a fortnight. Adieu, and believe me to be with truth & sincerity, dear Sir, Your friend & most obedient servant Thos M:Kean RC (DLC); addressed: “The Honoble. Thomas JeCerson”; mistakenly endorsed by TJ as written and received on 10 Mch. and so recorded in SJL. removal of my graceless nephew: Joseph Hopkinson had received the clerkships, now conveyed to Beckley, after his marriage to Emily MiEin, the only child of Governor Thomas MiEin. Governor McKean and Francis Hopkinson, Joseph’s father, had both married daughters of Joseph and Elizabeth Rogers Borden, a prominent New Jersey family. The brothers-in-law were noted for their animosity toward one another. Jonathan W. Condy was married to
McKean’s niece, Elizabeth Hopkinson. For Condy’s partisan election as clerk of the House of Representatives, see TJ to Madison, 18 May 1797. Joseph Hopkinson protested that his political opposition to McKean and the governor’s hatred of his father accounted for his removal from oDce (Burton A. Konkle, Joseph Hopkinson, 1770-1842, Jurist: Scholar: Inspirer of the Arts [Philadelphia, 1931], 5-6, 17, 40-6; G. S. Rowe, Thomas McKean: The Shaping of an American Republicanism [Boulder, 1978], 26, 49, 322-4). lex talionis: law of retribution. q Preceding three words and ampersand interlined.
To Thomas Mann Randolph Dear Sir Philadelphia Mar. 7. 1800. I wrote to you on the 4th. inst. and yesterday recieved yours of the 27th. ult. I And on enquiry that the 400. D. of mr Short’s which I thought were in mr JeCerson’s hands have been applied to the credit of mr Barnes, for so much he had advanced here for mr Short. this reduces so far what I had depended on. on rallying all other resources I And I can cover about 1800. dollars for you, and will take care that they shall be paid to mr JeCerson’s direction. I observe by your letter that this will fall short about 500. D. which however may perhaps not incommode mr JeCerson. I put this under cover to him, and write him at the same time what he may rely on me for. nothing new has occurred since my last. my clover seed goes oC tomorrow and I hope will get in time for sowing. with sincere & cordial attachment I am Dear Sir Yours aCectionately Th: Jefferson P.S. should the remaining 500. D. be not manageable with you, do not make any sacriAces, but only procure more time with G. JeCerson, and I will try to accomplish it. < 420>
8 MAR CH 1800 RC (DLC); at foot of text: “Mr. Randolph.” Enclosed in TJ to George JeCerson, 7 Mch. 1800.
recieved yours: see Randolph to TJ, 1 Mch.
Notes on John Marshall’s Speech [after 7 Mch. 1800]
1. it was a Pyracy by the law of nations, & therefore cognisable by our courts. 2. if alleged to be a murder also, then, whether he was not an impressed American was an essential enquiry. 3. tho’ the President,q as a party subordinate to the court might enter a Nolle prosequi, a requisition in the style of a Superior was a violation of the Constitutional independancy of the Judiciary. MS (ViHi); written in TJ’s hand on verso of last page of printed copy of Speech of the Hon. John Marshall, Delivered in the House of Representatives, of the United States, on the Resolutions of the Hon. Edward Livingston, Relative to Thomas Nash, Alias Jonathan Robbins (Philadelphia, 1800). Marshall’s speech to the House of 7 Mch. was a defense of John Adams’s action in extraditing Jonathan Robbins. He argued that the validity of extradition rested on three propositions: that the case was covered under Article 27 of the Jay Treaty, that the question was one for the executive and not the judiciary, and that the president therefore had not interfered with a judicial decision. Marshall claimed Robbins was extradited not for piracy, a crime beyond any jurisdiction and therefore against all nations, but for
murder, which was comprehended by the treaty and punishable under the jurisdiction of Great Britain. The authority of the judiciary, he believed, did not extend in all questions but rather in all cases in law and equity arising under the Constitution. He clariAed the distinction between legal and political issues, claiming that the court’s sole authority was in the legal realm while Adams’s actions were in the political and thus defensible (Marshall, Papers, 4:82-109; Frances Howell Rudko, John Marshall and International Law: Statesman and Chief Justice [New York, 1991], 86-8). q TJ Arst wrote “as a party might enter a Nolle prosequi, he could not controul the court as a superior by a requisition” before altering the passage to read as above.
To John Wayles Eppes Dear Sir Philadelphia Mar. 8. 1800. My last was to Maria of the 12th. of Feb. I have been discouraged from writing under the apprehension that my letters did not get to you. I therefore inclosed that to mr JeCerson. since this I have recieved yours of Feb. 7. 10. 16. & 20. by which I have had acknolege< 421>
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ments of the receipt of all mine except of Dec. 21. & my last of Feb. 12. this I shall hear of in due time. the former was sent by some people of mr Randolph’s going to Varina. I thank you much for the regular information you have communicated of Maria’s state. tho it has been a painful one to me, yet it is less so than a state of uncertainty & fear. a letter from mr Randolph from Richmond of Feb. 27. informs me that a favorable change had taken place within a few days. I hope your next will conArm this information. the continuance of her indisposition is far beyond any case of the same kind I have ever known before. I inclose you a letter for her from her friend Kitty Church which has been in my hands upwards of a month, owing to it’s having got displaced among my papers. I had not heard that the smith employed by Richardson had left Monticello. but that had made no change in my mind with respect to Powell, whom I should still have preferred. I shall be glad to engage him to come in the beginning of July so as to be ready to commence work about the middle of that month when our harvest Anishes. I should be afraid that were he to go before I go home, some diDculties might occur & deter him from continuing. We are still entirely without news from Europe. here the lower house is occupied with Jonathan Robbins: and the upper with the Editor of the Aurora, for some publications concerning the Senate in his paper of Feb. 19. some among us insist that Congress have no privileges but those given by the constitution, which go only to their own persons & to proceedings within their own doors: while others insist there is an inherent right of self-preservation in every body of men, which authorises them to do whatever they think necessary for protecting themselves undisturbed in the exercise of their functions. there is little doubt which sentiment will be strongest within doors, & which without.—by stopping enlistments, & suspending for one year the building of the 74s. they reduce the deAcit to 30 millions, which is to be borrowed at any interest the President shall approve.— our envoys having landed at Lisbon may very possibly add somewhat to the length of our session.—present me aCectionately to mr & mrs Eppes & the family. to my beloved Maria express the tender anxieties I feel for her and how much I wish it were in my power to go to her. accept assurances to yourself of cordial esteem & attachment from Your’s aCectionately Th: Jefferson RC (OT); addressed: “John W. Eppes at Eppington in ChesterAeld by the Petersburg mail”; franked and postmarked. PrC (CSmH); endorsed by TJ in ink on
verso. Enclosure not found (probably enclosed in a letter from Catherine Church to TJ of 31 Jan., recorded in SJL as received 3 Feb., but now missing).
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9 MAR CH 1800 i have recieved yours: Eppes’s letter of 10 Feb., recorded in SJL as received nine days later, has not been found.
For the letter from Thomas Mann randolph from richmond of 27 Feb., see Randolph to TJ, 1 Mch. 1800.
To George Jefferson Dear Sir Philadelphia Mar. 9. 1800. Mr. Randolph’s second letter of Feb. 27. directing the money you were to advance to be repaid at N. York at 30. days, I had omitted the discounting day, supposing I had time at command. his letter of Mar. 1. informing me that Picket had retracted, & that you had actually paid the cash, arrived yesterday (Saturday) afternoon. it is therefore now impossible to remit till Wednesday morning the 12th. by that post I will forward you 1000. Dollars. by Saturday’s (15th.) 400. D. more, & by the post of the Saturday following (22d.) 468. D 79 making up the whole sum of 1868.79 mentioned in mr Randolph’s letter of the 1st. inst. you will of course recieve every remittance on the 6th. day after it’s departure [hence]. they will probably be in bank post notes for the sake of safety. I inclose you a [. . .] [for the?] cask of clover, and a box containing a marble bust. be so good as to have this last handled gently between the landing and relading on board the batteau. I am Dear Sir Yours aCectionately Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); faint; at foot of text: “Mr. George JeCerson.” Enclosure: TJ to Thomas Mann Randolph, 9 Mch. 1800. Second enclosure not found. For Thomas Mann randolph’s letter of 27 Feb., see Randolph to TJ, 1 Mch. cask of clover, and a box containing a marble bust: on 8 Apr.
1800 George JeCerson wrote TJ: “I some days ago received four barrels of stone lime, and yesterday a box, & a barrel of clover-seed, of yours—the whole of which I have this day forwarded to Milton” (RC in MHi; at foot of text: “Thos. JeCerson esqr. Philada.”; endorsed by TJ as received 14 Apr. and so recorded in SJL).
From Henry Knox My dear Sir Boston 9th. March 1800— I feel great pleasure in any circumstance, which may present me to your remembrance.—No person has a higher respect & esteem for your Character, any shades of a diCerence in political opinions notwithstanding. The mutual and sincere expressions of regret at parting have always aCorded me satisfaction.— I remember on a former occasion that You desir’d some information < 423>
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respecting the improvements of Mr. Pope’s horizontal wind mill, which I communicated to him, and I have now the pleasure to introduce him, for the purpose of making personally those explanations.— You will recollect that he is the Author of an Orrery at Cambridge College.—His modesty, his talents, & his morals, have gain’d him the esteem & aCection of all to whom he is known.— I think I may venture to conAde to You my extreme chagrin, at the reBected disgrace upon me, by the rejection of the President’s nomination of my Son as a Lieutenant in the Navy.—I justify no part of his errors, or crimes. I know however he has a good heart, and hope whispers, he may reform, the fact is that his faults have been magniAed into crimes, & his crimes swelled in a ten-fold degree. I have lost ten Children & I have been embarrass’d in my pecuniary ACairs, all these however have not aCected me so keenly as this recent disgrace.—I really thought that a number of the Senate, would have had such regard to my feelings, that if they could not assent to the promotion, that they would have suspended the negative. But the name only of Genl. Gunn, has reach’d me, who was of this opinion, there may however have been others.— I have injoin’d my Son, who will not be twenty Years of age, until the latter end of next May to continue to serve as a Midshipman, until he shall by a course of regular meritorious conduct, have atoned for his faults & Crimes—But whether his pride will permit him to continue I cannot determine.—I pray your kindness to present my thanks to Genl Gunn, But I make no request respecting my Son.— I am my dear Sir with respect and attachment Your humble Servant H Knox RC (NN: Miscellaneous Papers of Henry Knox); in an unidentiAed hand, closing and signature in Knox’s hand; addressed: “The honorable The Vice President of the United States”; endorsed by TJ as received 20 Mch. and so recorded in SJL. mr. pope’s horizontal wind mill: see Knox to TJ, 20 June 1795. The Senate rejected the appointment of Henry Jackson Knox as a lieutenant in the navy on 15 Jan. because of the midshipman’s misconduct. Ever a costly concern to his father, the son ran up
drinking and gambling debts, attempted to reform, but ultimately failed in both marriage and business matters. His father reduced his son’s inheritance to a small living allowance to balance the costs of a lifetime of paternally underwritten “thoughtless extravagance.” The young man was described as “a poor Miserable drunken puppy” (jep, 1:334, 336; North Callahan, Henry Knox: George Washington’s General [New York, 1958], 375, 377; Thomas Morgan GriDths, Major General Henry Knox and the Last Heirs to Montpelier [Lewiston, Me., 1965], 48, 52-4).
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To Thomas Mann Randolph Th:J. to T M Randolph. Philadelphia Mar. 9. 1800. Your letter of the 1st. inst. came to hand yesterday. that of Feb. 27. had thrown us oC our guard so as to lose a discounting day. however on Wednesday the 12th. I shall remit to mr JeCerson 1000. Doll. on Saturday 15th.q 400. more and on the Saturday following (22d.) 468.79 making up the whole 1868.79 Mr. JeCerson will recieve every remittance on the 6th. day after it’s departure hence. not knowing where yourself or Martha are, I inclose this as I did those of the 4th. & 7th. to mr JeCerson. aCectionate salutations wherever you are. RC (DLC). PrC (CSmH). Enclosed in TJ to George JeCerson of this date.
q TJ Arst wrote “Friday 14th.” before altering it to read as above.
To Henry Remsen Dear Sir Philadelphia Mar. 9. 1800. I observe in Greenleaf ’s paper of the 5th. inst. page 3d. a collection of newspapers advertised for sale at that oDce, and among these are some of such periods as are very desirable to me to All up a chasm in my collection. the New York packet from 1776—to 1788. this is so exactly within the dates that without making questions about price I must ask the favor of you to secure it for me, unless indeed the price were to be more enormous than I suppose is possible. I expect for example they would never think of going beyond the Arst cost. however I would go considerably beyond it for this particular collection, because it’s dates suit me remarkeably the Providence gazette from 81. to 95. Albany gazette —— 87. to 89. I should be glad to know the price of the two last. indeed if the Albany gazette is to be had for Arst cost, I would take it on account of it’s dates. I have some hope however they may be all below Arst cost. this of course you will be so good as to assay. they will no doubt give time till I can remit them bank notes or a draught from hence, say a week; within which term the money shall be placed in your hands. when I know the bulk & condition of the papers, to wit, whether bound or not, I will decide whether to ask the favor of their being forwarded here or to Richmond. I wrote you a few days ago to put an end to all further trouble with the tobacco. apologies for frequent troubles are exhausted. I believe therefore I had better rely for them < 425>
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on your own friendly dispositions and on a perfect reciprocation of them from Dear Sir Your sincere friend & humble servt Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); at foot of text: “Henry Remsen esq.”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Samuel Loudon established the new york packet in 1776. The following year he moved the paper to Fishkill, returning it to New York City in 1783. It disappeared as a title in 1792. The providence gazette, still in publication in
1800, Arst appeared in 1762, and the albany gazette, also still in operation when TJ wrote the letter above, produced its Arst issue in 1784 (Brigham, American Newspapers, 1:532-3, 570-1, 675-6; 2:1007-8). A letter from Remsen to TJ, written on 13 Mch. 1800 and received on the 15th, is recorded in SJL but has not been found.
From Joseph Barnes Hamburg March 10th. 1800—
This will be present’d you, Mr JeCerson, by Cap. Benj. Peirce of Rhode-Island, commandor of the Arm’d Ship Semiramis; Who having been detain’d here this winter by the Ice, I have had the pleasure of frequently associating with him; in consequence, have formed a high Opinion of his Sentiments and integrity—having often conversed respecting you, & the Superior requisites you possess for President of the United States &c, he is equally desiroous thus to have an Opportunity of an interview with you, as I am that he Should, as well for his own Satisfaction, as to give you an opportunity of making any enquiries you may conceive proper, in order to be assured personally, that tho’ I have been Seven years in Europe, & Ave under the most Corrupt Government, of England, So far from tainting, it has only Served to heighten & eternalize my Sentiments of Republicanism & Aimer Patrie—& to teach me the great Lesson of Man—which can only be eCectually Learn’d in the old intriguing governments of Europe—for which London is the Arst School; to give force & facility to my views—anxious & repeat’d Solicitude, being necessarily detain’d in Europe, to be prefer’d to the oDce of Consul of the Unit’d States, Should it open especially in any of the Principal ports in France, Itally, or the West-Indies—or to Such other oDce as I might be consider’d qualiAed for, in order to have it in my power to be more useful to myself & fellow citizens, the Arst object of my wishes, & only true Source of happiness; as I consider myself only happy in proportion as I can be instrumental in promoting that of others—especially of my Country-men.— < 426>
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Wishing you the earliest possible preferment to the Presidency of the U.S. to which threeforths of the People would call you could they Speak or vote directly—my best friend & Patron for the present adieu— health & happiness— Jos. Barnes P.S. am about to Set out on another tour up the Country—probably as far as Itally—hope Soon to Speak both German & French well— Should it be necessary—address to care of Mr Pitcairn consul of the US. Hamburg— RC (DNA: RG 59, LAR); endorsed by TJ as received 29 Nov. and so recorded in SJL.
Benjamin peirce had been engaged in the Baltic Sea trade for 15 years (Peirce to TJ, 6 July 1793).
From James Thomson Callender Sir Richmond March 10. 1800. I now inclose for you a number of the Republican, along with the last number of the Examiner, Containing a Copy of the Letter from You. Some errata! The Second Part of The Prospect will be continued in the Republican, and reprinted at Staunton, and all, or part of it, in the national Magazine. I had once entertained the romantic hope of being able to overtake the federal Government, in its career of iniquity; but I am now satisAed that they can act Much faster than I Can write after them. I will send You the Continuation of the second part of The Prospect, and I am Sir Your most obedt servt J. T. Callender. P.S. Every Engine has been set at work to do me all kinds of mischief, since I Came here; the Satisfaction of knowing that they are exceedingly provoked is to me a partial Compensation for the inconvenience of being belied and Stared at, as if I was a Rhinoceros. They are chop fallen, and many turn round that were very bitter agt. me at Arst! Will You have the goodness to let General Mason know that I send him two franks by this post? RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ as received 19 Mch. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: Richmond Examiner, 7 Mch. 1800. Second enclosure not found.
The republican, established in Petersburg, Virginia, by James Lyon and Thomas Field in December 1799, began as a weekly newspaper but became a semiweekly publication about six
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10 MAR CH 1800 months later. For the copy of the letter in the Richmond Examiner, see Statement for the Aurora, 25 Mch. re-
printed at staunton: probably in Lyon’s Political Mirror (Brigham, American Newspapers, 2:1133, 1156, 1447).
To George Jefferson Dear Sir Philadelphia Mar. 11. 1800. Agreeably to what I informed you in my letter of the 9th. inst. I now inclose you one thousand dollars in bills of the banks of Pennsylvania & the United States, on account of the advances you have made for mr Randolph to mr Picket. the residue shall follow according to what is mentioned in the same letter. I am Dr. Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); at foot of text: “Mr. George JeCerson.”
From George Jefferson Dear Sir Richmond 11th March 1800. I am by to nights post favor’d with yours of the 4th.; The sum I advanced for Mr. R. to L. & B. was $:1868.c, which I think he informed me he had mentioned to you in a letter subsequent to the one of which you now acknowledge the receipt—but which it may not be amiss to repeat, lest he should have forgotten it. I would not by any means have you to put yourself to the smallest inconvenience to hasten the remittance of this money; the fear of that was the principal cause of my altering the mode which had been agreed upon between Mr. Gibson & Mr. R. in my absence—of our merely lending him a bill on New York, and his writing to you to place money in the hands of our correspondent in time to take it up; (which by the bye you do not notice) as in that case I concluded you would lose no time however inconvenient it might be, whereas in sending the money to us there will be no necessity for any haste; as I am certain we shall not want it shortly. It really appears as if the money from Carolina will never be recovered—I have spoken to Nicolson until I am ashamed. he constantly tells me he has not recd. it—what can I do? for his friend I believe is the only person in the place who is known by any one here. I will however again mention it in a few days. Your lost hhd: of Tobacco I presume beyond all kind of doubt the < 428>
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Inspectors are liable for—although they appear to doubt it, as it was not inspected here; which however I suppose can make no possible diCerence. They promise however to replace all lost hhds: by others, so far as they will go, many having been wrong shipped and others left in lieu of them; not enough tho’ they say to replace the whole. Although there would be considerable loss in receiving another hhd: in lieu of yours, in quality probably, as well as by the fall in the price, and that in consequence of their inattention, yet perhaps it is as much as should be required. for if they are to be liable for the fall in this instance, they would be equally so, when they are called upon for Tobo. which they cannot And at the time, but And afterwards, provided in the mean time the price declines—and which would be an extreme hardship when it is considered, that from the crouded situation of the Warehouses it is often utterly impracticable to And every hhd: which is ordered to be shipped. We have one precisely in the same situation of yours for which we will gladly receive another & take 22/6 for it altho’ we should have got 39/—I will however mention your expectation, & wait until I again hear from you. I am Dr. Sir Your Very humble servt. Geo. Jefferson RC (MHi); addressed: “Thomas Jefferson esquire Philadelphia”; franked and postmarked; endorsed by TJ as received 19 Mch. and so recorded in SJL.
For Randolph’s letter subsequent to that of 22 Feb., see Randolph to TJ, 1 Mch. 1800.
Notes on Conversations with Abigail Adams and Edward Dowse Mar. 11. conversing with mrs Adams on the subject of the writers in the newspapers, I took occasion to mention that I never in my life had directly or indirectly written one sentence for a newspaper, which is an absolute truth. she said that mr Adams she believed had pretty well ceased to meddle in the newspapers since he closed the peices on Davila. this is the Arst direct avowal of that work to be his, tho’ long & universally understood to be so. Mr. Dowse of Dedham in Massachusetts, of which town Fisher Ames is, corrects information I had formerly recieved of the very great fortune made by Ames by speculations in the funds. he believes he did a great deal for his friends Gore & Mason; but that his own capital < 429>
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was so small that he could not do much for himself. he supposes him worth at present about 30,000. Doll. some of which, he doubts not, was made while in the legislature, by speculation; but that he has a practice at the bar worth about 1000.£. a year lawful, & living frugally he lays by some of that. a great deal of his capital has been absorbed by building a very elegant house. he says he is a man of the most irritable & furious temper in the world; a strong monarchist. MS (DLC: TJ Papers, 108:18559); entirely in TJ’s hand; at head of sheet and followed by Notes on Senate Debates, [11-12 Mch. 1800]. The essays on davila appeared in the Gazette of the United States between 28 Apr. 1790 and 27 Apr. 1791. For TJ’s reaction and identiAcation of John Adams as the author, see Vol. 16:238-9; Vol. 19:515-16; Vol. 20:279-80. In late 1792 TJ described fisher
ames as “the colossus of the monocrats and paper men.” A few months later he was on TJ’s list of 28 congressmen known or suspected of holding public securities or stock in the Bank of the United States. TJ charged that the congressmen defended Hamilton’s policies because of their personal interest in sustaining his Ascal system (TJ to Thomas Mann Randolph, 16 Nov. 1792; Notes on Stockholders in Congress, 23 Mch. 1793).
To Thomas Mann Randolph Dear Sir Philadelphia Mar. 11. 1800. Agreeably to my promise in my letter of the 9th. inst. I have this day inclosed to Messrs. George JeCerson & co. one thousand dollars in bank bills to be applied to the credit of their advances for you. the residue shall follow as mentioned in the same letter. I am Dear Sir Your’s aCectionately Th: Jefferson RC (DLC); at foot of text: “T M Randolph”; endorsed by Randolph: “March 4. 7. 9. 11. 1800” (see TJ to Randolph, 31 Mch.). PrC (CSmH); endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
Notes on Senate Debates Mar. 11. the jury bill before the Senate. mr Read says that if from any circumstances of inaptitude the Marshall cannot appoint a jury analogously with the state juries, the common law steps in & he may name them according to that. and Mar. 12. same bill. mr Chipman speaking of the case of Vermont where a particular mode of naming jurors was in force under a former law of that state, when the law of the US. passed declaring that juries shall be appointed in their courts in the several states in the mode ‘now’ in use in the same state. < 430>
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Vermont has since altered their mode of naming them mr Chipman admits the federal courts cannot adopt the new mode, but in that case he says their marshal may name them according to the rules of the Common law. now observe that that is a part of the common law which Vermont had never adopted, but on the contrary had made a law of their own, better suited to their circumstances. MS (DLC: TJ Papers, 108:18559); entirely in TJ’s hand; on same sheet as Notes on Conversations with Abigail Adams and Edward Dowse, 11 Mch. 1800. jury bill before the senate: on 11 Mch., the same day Pinckney’s bill for selecting jurors by lot was postponed, a motion was made to consider amendments to the Judiciary Act of 1789, speciAcally the provision for summoning jurors to serve in the federal courts. The next day the Senate appointed a committee, chaired by the Vermont Federalist Nathaniel Chipman, to bring in a bill. TJ recorded the progress of the legislation from its Arst reading on 8 Apr., through its recommitment on 16 Apr., with Wilson Cary Nicholas heading a new committee and reporting amendments on 28 Apr., to its passage by the Senate two days later. The House concurred with the bill on 12 May. The law called for jurors in U.S. courts to be chosen by the same method as that used to select jurors in the highest court of each state (“A Bill To amend an act entitled An act to establish the Judicial Courts of the United States,”
in DNA: RG 46, Senate Records, 6th Cong., 1st sess.; U.S. Statutes at Large, 1:88; 2:82; js, 3:46-7, 69, 72, 74, 81-3, 94-6; jhr, 3:714; TJ to Thomas Mann Randolph, 2 Feb. 1800). For a comparison of the bill reported on 8 Apr. with the amended version of 28 Apr., see dhsc, 4:282-4. See also Notes on Senate Debate, 29 Apr. 1800. federal courts cannot adopt the new mode: Section 29 of the Judiciary Act of 1789 called for jurors in the federal courts to be selected “according to the mode of forming juries therein now practised” in the respective states. Only in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Georgia, and South Carolina were jurors selected by lot in 1789 and consequently they were the only states where that method could be practised in the federal courts in 1800. According to rules of the common law, the state court could issue a writ of venire facias, calling upon the sheriC to summon and choose jurors. In the federal courts jurors were chosen by the federal marshals, who, according to the Republicans, rigged the juries (U.S. Statutes at Large, 1:88; dhsc, 4:271).
To George Jefferson Dear Sir Philadelphia Mar. 13. 1800 Agreeable to the arrangement expressed in my letter of the 9th. inst. I did on the 11th. inclose you one thousand dollars, and now inclose 400. Dol. more in notes of the banks of the US. & Pennsylva, to be applied to the credit of mr Randolph for your advances on his behalf. I am Dear Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); at foot of text: “Mr. George JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
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To George Meade Dear Sir Philadelphia Mar. 13. 1800. I should with great pleasure have accomodated you with the notes mentioned in your letter had it been in my power, and should have reposed entire conAdence in your engagement to furnish their amount when necessary. but the course of our business in Virginia is this. the supplies of the year furnished by our merchant are to be paid out of the crop of the year. if he does not buy it, still it’s proceeds are engaged to him. the notes therefore on the sale of my tobo. go to my merchant, & he uses them for his own purposes. his indulgence is considered as suDciently extended in allowing us to sell on good credit in order to get a good price. persuaded that you will see in this state of things that these notesq are no otherwise in my power than as in trust for another, and entirely in his power, I conclude with assurances of respect & esteem from Dear Sir Your most obedt. servt Th: Jefferson RC (ViU); addressed: “Mr. Meade Market street”; endorsed by Meade as “rec’ed the same day.”
ceived the same day, has not been found. A letter from TJ to Meade of 22 Feb. 1800 is also missing.
your letter: Meade’s communication of 13 Mch., recorded in SJL as re-
q Preceding three words interlined in place of “a suDcient.”
From James Thomson Callender Sir Richmond March 14. 1800 I hope You will excuse the freedom I took last week of Sending you some Examiners, and a number of the Republican. I now inclose a Continuation. Some errata! This is to be printed again in Staunton, and perhaps in the national magazine and the friend of the people, which will soon go on again, having been only interrupted by that Idle thing the press. And so I am Aring through Ave port holes at once, which is enough for one hand; besides what is reprinted from me in Connecticut, &ca—They Cannot blame me, if the most enlightened people in the world are as ignorant as dirt. The Examiner augments in Circulation, and The Prospect is already more than half sold. We are in a strong Canvass here about who is to be attorney General—If merit has any thing to say George Hay will get it. Of the other Candidates, one is only not a boy— the second is incessantly drunk; the third is a tory of the dirtiest kind, < 432>
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and the 4th. is G. K. Taylor.—I understand that some of the above named Candidates have given up. I wish the inclosed to be forwarded (as I cannot get a spare one) to Mr. Leiper, because he has understood I am idle. I am Sir Yours respectfully J. T. Callender. RC (DLC). Recorded in SJL as received 21 Mch. Enclosures not found. James Lyon interrupted publication of Friend of the People to collaborate with the editors of the Press, the shortlived Republican newspaper (Press, or
Friend of the People, 6 Feb. 1800; Monroe to TJ, 4 Jan. 1800). reprinted from me in connecticut: extracts from The Prospect Before Us appeared in Charles Holt’s New London Bee (see 12 Feb. 1800).
To David Campbell Dear Sir Philadelphia Mar. 14. 1800. I have long been of opinion that the only means we can have of coming at the descent and relations among the Indians, is by a collection & comparative view of their languages. for this purpose I have never failed to avail myself of any opportunity to get their vocabularies. I have now a large collection, & for fear that in case of any accident they should be lost, I am about to print them. I want however the Cherokee to compleat my object. your situation near them has suggested to me that it might be in your power to procure me a vocabulary of that language without much trouble. for this purpose I send you a vocabulary ready prepared, nothing being necessary but to write the Cherokee word by the side of the English one. I think it would be best to use the English orthography, only, where there are sounds which that is incapable of expressing, substituting some arbitrary character. in proposing to you this trouble, I rely not merely on the friendly dispositions which I have with great satisfaction believed to be reciprocated, but that as an object of science this matter will not be indiCerent to you. probably you will know of some person in the Cherokee nation who will be able and willing to perform this task. I would add to my sollicitation that of it’s being done as soon as your convenience will admit, as I propose to prepare the whole of my materials early this summer, and I would wish to place the Cherokee in it’s proper column along side of it’s kindred tongues. a letter put into your post oDce and directed to me at Monticello near Charlottesville will come safely.—we are at present in a total dearth of European news. Congress have before them a bill making consid< 433>
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erable innovations in their judiciary system. I have not yet seen it; but from what I have heard I hardly expect it will pass. I am with sentiments of great esteem Dear Sir Your most obedt. servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); at foot of text: “Judge Campbell”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosure: vocabulary list, containing 276 English words in TJ’s hand in a narrow column that he headed “English,” corresponding in general sequence to his printed blank vocabulary lists (see TJ to William Linn, 5 Feb. 1798); in a wider column, headed “Cherokee” by TJ, Campbell Alled in Cherokee equivalents for all but three of the English words; at foot of text in TJ’s hand: “recd from Judge Campbell. see his lre Aug. 5. 1800,” that letter, not found, recorded in SJL as received from Tennessee on 3 Nov. 1800; with additional transcriptions of some Cherokee words probably added by the Historical and Literary Committee of the American Philosophical Society, Campbell’s list being one that TJ donated to the APS (MS in PPAmP; see also Benjamin Hawkins to TJ, 12 July 1800). Despite his expectation of Anishing his compilation of American Indian vocabularies, TJ continued to work on the project for several more years. Many of the word lists he collected were stolen and destroyed in 1809. Several lists that he managed to preserve he conveyed to a Committee of History, Moral Science, and General Literature that the American Philosophical Society formed in 1815 to collect manuscripts of use to researchers. Peter S. Du Ponceau, the committee’s corresponding secretary, undertook in particular to utilize the society’s data on Native American languages (Transactions of the Historical & Literary Committee of the American Philosophical Society, 1 [1819], vi-x, xii-xiii, xvii-xlvi, xlviii-xlix; aps, Proceedings, 22, pt. 3 [1884],
453; Silvio A. Bedini, Thomas JeCerson: Statesman of Science [New York, 1990], 376-8, 417, 439; Anthony F. C. Wallace, JeCerson and the Indians: The Tragic Fate of the First Americans [Cambridge, Mass., 1999], 144-52, 318-26). Campbell, a Tennessee superior court judge, had lived in the region for a number of years and was an early landowner at Knoxville. In 1792 he was a commissioner in the survey of a boundary with the cherokee Indians (Harold D. Moser and others, eds., The Papers of Andrew Jackson, 6 vols. [Knoxville, 1980- ], 1:122n; Philip M. Hamer, ed., Tennessee: A History, 1673-1932, 4 vols. [New York, 1933], 1:155). On 11 Mch. Robert Goodloe Harper, for a House committee that also included John Marshall, Chauncey Goodrich, James A. Bayard, and Samuel Sewall, introduced a bill to alter the judiciary system in keeping with a request in the president’s December message. The House of Representatives did not take up the bill, which provided for an elaborate framework of 30 U.S. court districts and 9 circuits, until 24 Mch. Following debate and a recommital of the measure to the committee, Harper on 31 Mch. introduced a substitute bill that called for fewer districts and circuits. In April the House postponed further action until December 1800, when the bill became the basis for the act of February 1801 that, in restructuring the courts, allowed John Adams to make a number of judicial appointments at the conclusion of his term as president (dhsc, 4:284-95, 310-57; Annals, 10:623, 643-50; see also Harry Innes to TJ, 6 Dec. 1799).
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From John Gibson Dear Sir, Pittsburg March 14th. 1800— I recieved the inclosed letter from a Mr. Luther Martin of Baltimore, requesting me to answer the Queries therein contained. But as I am fully Convinced he is actuated by party Spirit, more than by any other Consideration, I shall not return him answer until I hear from you, in the mean time permit me to request you to send me a Copy of the last letter I wrote to you, when I shall be able to Give you a deposition of every thing, I know concerning it. Since I had the honour of addressing my last letter to you, my aCairs have Become very much Embarassed, the present prothonotary of Allegeney County is very ill and cannot possibly Survive Many days, permit me Dear Sir, to Sollicit your Interest with Governor McKean in my Behalf, a single Line from you, will Insure me the ODce,* and you may rest assured that nothing Shall be wanting on my part to render myself worthy of your recommendation. I shall Esteem myself highly honoured in Recieving a Line from you by the Return of the post. I am, Dear Sir, very respectfully your most obedient humble Servant Jno. Gibson *the Court of Allegeney have recommended James Breson the former prothonotary. I Shoud therefore not wish to have the ODce unless the Govenor shoud be determined not to reappoint him. RC (DLC); at foot of text: “Honble T. JeCerson Esq.” Recorded in SJL as received on 20 Mch. Enclosure not found (see TJ to Gibson, 21 Mch.). In requesting a copy of his last letter Gibson did not mean his most recent communication to TJ, dated 2 Feb. 1798. That letter contained no substantive information relative to Luther Martin’s re-
cent queries to Gibson, which according to TJ’s reply on 21 Mch. related to the “circumstances” of the message that Gibson had transmitted from the Mingo Indian leader Logan to Lord Dunmore in 1774. Instead, Gibson meant his letter to TJ of 17 June 1797, which contained information Gibson used to frame a part of his deposition printed below at 4 Apr. 1800.
To Benjamin Hawkins Dear Sir Philadelphia. Mar. 14. 1800. I had twice before attempted to open a correspondence by writing to you, but recieving no answer, I took for granted my letters did not reach you & consequently that no communication could be found. yesterday however your nephew put into my hands your favor of Jan. < 435>
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23. and informs me that a letter sent by post by way of fort Wilkinson will be certain of getting safely to you. still I expect your long absence from this part of the states has rendered occurrences here but little interesting to you. indeed things have so much changed their aspect that it is like a new world. those who know us only from 1773. to 1793. can form no better idea of us now than of the inhabitants of the moon; I mean as to political matters. of these therefore I shall say not one word; because nothing I could say would be any more intelligible to you if said in English, than if said in Hebrew. on your part however you have interesting details to give us. I, particularly take great interest in whatever respects the Indians, and the present state of the Creeks, mentioned in your letter, is very interesting. but you must not suppose that your oDcial communications will ever be seen or known out of the oDces. reserve as to all their proceedings is the fundamental maxim of the executive department. I must therefore ask from you one communication to be made to me separately & I am encouraged to it by that part of your letter which promises me something on the Creek language. I have long believed we can never get any information of the antient history of the Indians, of their descent & Aliation, but from a knowlege & comparative view of their languages. I have therefore never failed to avail myself of any opportunity which oCered of getting their vocabularies. I have now made up a large collection, and afraid to risk it any longer, lest by some accident it might be lost, I am about to print it. but I still want the great Southern languages, Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw. for the Cherokee I have written to another. but for the three others I have no chance but through yourself. I have indeed an imperfect vocabulary of the Choctaw; but it wants all the words marked in the inclosed vocabulary with either this mark * or this +. I therefore throw myself on you to procure me the Creek, Choctaw & Chickasaw, and I inclose you a vocabulary of the particular words I want. you need not take the trouble of having any others taken, because all my other vocabularies are conAned to these words, and my object is only a comparative view. the Creek column I expect you will be able to All up at once, and when done, I should wish it to come on without waiting for the others. as to the Choctaw & Chickasaw, I know your relations are not very direct: but as I possess no means at all of getting at them, I am induced to pray your aid. all the dispatch which can be conveniently used is desirable to me, because I propose this summer to arrange all my vocabularies for the press, and I wish to place every tongue in the column adjacent to it’s kindred tongues. your letters addressed by post to me at Monticello near Charlottesville will come safely, & more < 436>
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safely than if put under cover to any of the oDces, where they may be mislaid & lost. Your old friend mrs Trist is now settled at Charlottesville within 20 miles of me. she lives with her son who married here, & removed there. she preserves her health & spirits fully, and is much beloved with us as she deserves to be. as I know she is a favorite correspondent of yours, I shall observe that the same channel will be a good one to her as I have mentioned for myself. indeed if you And our correspondence worth having, it can now be as direct as if you were in one of these states. mr Madison is well. I presume you have long known of his marriage. he is not yet a father. mr Giles is happily & wealthily married to a Miss Tabb.—this I presume is enough for a Arst dose: after hearing from you & knowing how it agrees with you, it may be repeated. with sentiments of constant & sincere esteem I am Dear Sir Your aCectionate friend & servt. Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); at foot of Arst page: “Colo. Hawkins”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosure: see Hawkins to TJ, 12 July 1800. The last previous correspondence from TJ to Hawkins was a letter of 22 Mch. 1796. Although that was before Hawkins took up residence at the Creek agency (anb), there is no record of a reply. If TJ subsequently attempted to open a communication with Hawkins at the agency, the correspondence has
not survived and he did not record it in SJL. for the cherokee i have written to another: see TJ to David Campbell of this date. The imperfect vocabulary of the choctaw language in TJ’s possession had very likely come from Hawkins, who some years earlier had sent Choctaw and Cherokee word lists to TJ; see Vol. 11:203n and Hawkins’s letters of 14 June 1786 and 8 Mch. 1787. William Branch giles had married Martha Peyton tabb in 1797 (anb).
From George Jefferson Dear Sir Richmond 14th. March 1800 I have again spoken to the inspectors respecting your lost hhd. of Tobacco. They say they are willing to replace it by another from the same inspection & of the same weight; and that nothing more has ever heretofore been required of them. I informed them that you expected to be paid the same price that you had received for the balance of your crop, as otherwise you would sustain a loss in consequence of their neglect—and that if you received another hhd. in lieu of it you would lose doubly—both in the fall in the price & in the quality of the Tobacco; to which they replied that the owner should run such risks, that generally there is as great a chance for a rise as for a fall, and that as they could not gain in the one case, so neither should they lose in < 437>
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the other; to which however they added a more satisfactory reason— that it is absolutely impossible for them always to deliver the right hhd: the heads being frequently out, and of course the owners mark gone—in which cases they can only go by the Warehouse number; and as there are so many of them, they must frequently in the hurry of business ship wrong hhds:, however great their attention. I am to night favor’d with yours of the 7th. which requires no answer as I wrote you fully upon the subject two posts ago. I am Dear Sir Your Very humble servt. Geo. Jefferson RC (MHi); at foot of text: “Thos. Jefferson esqr.”; endorsed by TJ as received 21 Mch. and so recorded in SJL.
i wrote you fully upon the subject: for George JeCerson’s remarks on the settlement of the debt for Thomas Mann Randolph, see his letter to TJ of 11 Mch.
Notes on Charleston Printers Mar. 14. Freneau in Charleston had the printing of the laws in his paper. he printed a pamphlet of Pinckney’s lres on Robbins’s case. Pickering has given the printing of the laws to the tory paper of that paper, tho’ not of half the circulation. the printing amounted to about 100. D. a year. MS (DLC: TJ Papers, 108:18559); entirely in TJ’s hand; on same sheet as Notes on Senate Debates, [11-12 Mch. 1800]. Since 1795 Peter freneau, the brother of Philip Freneau, had with his partner, Seth Paine, published the charleston City Gazette and Daily Advertiser, and in 1798 they had established the weekly Carolina Gazette. They were oDcial printers for both South Carolina and the federal government. For Charles pinck-
ney’s Case of Jonathan Robbins, see TJ’s letter to Pinckney of 29 Oct. 1799. The printer TJ labeled a tory was evidently Benjamin Franklin Timothy, publisher of the South-Carolina State Gazette and founder, in January 1800, of the shortlived Federal Carolina Gazette (Richard B. Davis and Milledge B. Seigler, “Peter Freneau, Carolina Republican,” Journal of Southern History, 13 [1947], 397; Brigham, American Newspapers, 2:10246, 1032, 1040; Pasley, Tyranny of Printers, 233).
From William Floyd Dear Sir March 15th. 1800. I am much obliged to you for the pamphlet you Sent me, and have only to regret that there is not a more general circulation of that and Such like publications throughout the United States—as it would have a great tendency to enlighten many honest well meaning persons < 438>
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who are Deceived and Missled by those who have been employed throughout the United States to represent and missrepresent with a view to Deceive and I am Sorry to see that they have too far Succeeded in their undertaking. I could wish Some Republican would write us a picture of the times as Relating to america, a true picture would appear so DiCerent from what a great part of the people have been taught to believe, that they would be Surprised to think how they had been Imposed on—(but I had like to have forgotten that we had a Sedition Law in force in our own Country) The Enemies to the Liberties of this Country are Indefatigueable in Carrying their points at all Elections while the republicans have been too inattentive in many parts of the Country—if there is not more pains taken by the republicans to Enlighten the people I fear that our public aCairs will go on in the Same line that they have done for Some time past and we Shall Soon And that we have very little Liberty left and as to property there will not be much of that but what will be wanted in the public Treasury to Satisfy that monstrous load of Debt which our Rules are bringing upon our Country (and which in my opinion is all totally unnecessary) unless from experience we Should And as Some have asserted that a National Debt is a National Blessing, if that Should be the Case we Shall be wonderfully Blessed indeed. from Sir your most Obedt and humble Servt Wm: Floyd RC (DLC); at foot of text: “To Thomas JeCerson Esqr.”; endorsed by TJ as received 20 Mch. and so recorded in SJL. For the background of William Floyd (1734-1821), see Vol. 6:240n. James Madison set out to court his daughter,
Catherine “Kitty” Floyd, but the romance was short-lived and unrequited. In June 1791, Floyd extended hospitality to TJ and Madison when they came to Long Island for a “botanizing excursion” (anb; Brant, Madison, 283, 285; above in this series, Vol. 20:449).
From James Madison Dear Sir March 15. 1800 Since my last I have been favored with the following inclosures— The Bill relating to Electors Ramsay’s oration, the Report on ways & means, a motion by Bingham, and the resolution for excluding the Judges from other oDces. It is not to be denied that the Constn. might have been properly more full in prescribing the election of P: & V.P. but the remedy is an amendment to the Const:n. and not a legislative interference. It is < 439>
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evident that this interference ought to be and was meant to be as little permitted as possible; it being a principle of the Const:n. that the two departments should be independent of each other, and dependent on their constituents only. Should the spirit of the Bill be followed up, it is impossible to say, how far the choice of the Ex: may be drawn out of the Constitutional hands, and subjected to the management of the Legislature. The danger is the greater as the Chief Magistrate for the time being may be bribed into the usurpations by so shaping them as to favor his re-election. If this licenciousness in constructive perversions of the Constitution, continue to increase, we shall soon have to look into our code of laws, and not the Charter of the people, for the form as well as the powers of our Government. Indeed such an unbridled spirit of construction as has gone forth in sundry instances, would bid deAance to any possible parchment securities against usurpation. I understand that the general ticket law is represented at Phila. as generally unpopular. I have no reason to believe this to be the fact. On the contrary, I learn that the information collected at Richmond on this subject is satisfactory to the friends of the law. The ground has been covered for six weeks with snow; and there is still a remnant of it. It has given a very unusual backwardness to all the preparations for the ensuing crops, but we hope for some amends from its inBuence on the winter grain. RC (DLC: Madison Papers); addressed: “Thomas JeCerson Vice President of the U. States Philadelphia”; endorsed by TJ as received 23 Mch. and so recorded in SJL.
For Madison’s last, see Madison to TJ, 14 Feb.; for background on the enclosures, see TJ to Madison, 4 Mch. ramsay’s oration: David Ramsay, An Oration on the Death of LieutenantGeneral George Washington ([Charleston, S.C., 1800]; Evans, No. 38358).
From John Wayles Eppes Dear Sir, Eppington March 16. 1800. My poor Mary is still conAned—She is well enough to pass to an adjoining room but has not yet ventured down stairs. The sores on her breast have proved most obstinate & will not I fear be easily healed without the aid of the knife to which she feels as is natural a great repugnance— I left her for one day on business to Richmond and learnt from George JeCerson his having forwarded a letter for me to Petersburg—We have received none from you since the 17th of January & < 440>
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I have enquired regularly at the post oDce until within the last twelve days—Patsy who is here joins with Maria in the tenderest greetings. adieu Yours sincerely J: W: Eppes RC (MHi); endorsed by TJ as received 3 Apr. and so recorded in SJL.
George JeCerson forwarded the letter from TJ to Mary JeCerson Eppes of 12 Feb. 1800.
To James Lyle Dear Sir Philadelphia Mar. 17. 1800. I wrote you before I left home informing you of the unlucky error I had committed in not selling my tobo. of 98.99. in May when I was oCered 11. D. in Richmond: but believing it would be higher in the fall as usual, and unaware of the eCect of the non-intercourse law, I kept it; & after bringing it here to lessen my loss, I have only lately been able to sell it for 7. Doll. at long instalments, running on to 10. months. it will not be therefore till September & October that the money will come in so as to enable me to pay what it was destined to pay last year. in the mean time the tobacco of 1799.1800. is now on hand for the paiment of 1800. that of the present year shall be sacredly applied to the paiment of the next year, and so on till the whole be paid at the rate of 1000. D. a year, for under present circumstances I do not see that I can accomplish more. I must continue to ask time for disposing of my crop to the best advantage, still punctually applying it to it’s object whenever it does come in. at the time abovementioned I will take care to place in your hands an order to recieve 1000. D. and should the non-intercourse law be terminated by an accomodation with France, so as to give a spring to prices, I may by the same time be able to make paiment of the same sum for the present year. I am with great and constant esteem Dear Sir Your aCectionate friend & humble servt Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi) at foot of text: “Mr. Lyle”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
wrote you before i left home: according to SJL the most recent correspondence between TJ and Lyle was TJ’s letter of 6 May 1799.
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From Edmund Pendleton Dear Sir Edmundsbury Virga. Mar. 17th. 1800 Permit me to introduce to you my friend Mr. John Hoomes jr., son of Mr. Hoomes of the Bowling Green whose respectability you are no stranger to. The young Gentn. (worthy of such a father) is in the Mercantile line and about to go to Europe; and as it is possible that he may be taken & carried to France; Or that he may incline to viset that Countrey before his return, he judges that in either case, he might derive considerable beneAt from your recommendation of him to some of your Acquaintance there: Any thing of the sort, wch. you can with propriety give him, either oDcially, or as a Citizen, will be gratefully acknowledged by father & son, and esteemed as a favor done to Dr. Sir, Your ACe. & obt. servt. Edmd Pendleton RC (NNPM); torn at seal; endorsed by TJ as received 4 Apr. and so recorded in SJL. your recommendation of him: TJ apparently did send recommendations
for the young Hoomes. According to SJL on 5 Apr. TJ wrote letters to F. C. A. Delamotte and Joseph Fenwick in France and conveyed them “by mr Hoomes.” For the father, see John Hoomes, Sr., to TJ, 9 Dec. 1800.
To Littleton W. Tazewell Dear Sir Philadelphia Mar. 17. 1800. I have to acknolege the reciept of your favor of Feb. 14. never was so unfortunate a slip made as mine with respect to my last year’s tobacco. I was oCered in May 11. Dollars in Richmond; but believing it would be higher as usual in the fall, & unaware of the eCect of the nonintercourse law, I refused it, and after keeping it and bringing it here, have only lately been able to sell it for 7. Dollars at instalments running to 10. months. this is what has made me so tardy in the paiment of the instalment of 99. nor will the money come in so as to enable me to discharge it till July. I hope & believe this delay will not be any loss to the creditor. stock has got up. the 8. pr. cents (the last) are at 5. above par. but a new loan is to be opened: and [experience appreciates?] it is best not to subscribe, but to wait till the latter instalments are due, & then purchase. it is then below par; occasioned by many selling out to loss because unable to make good their instalments.—under every circumstance the fund promised to mr Wickam for these paiments, that is to say, my tobacco, shall be sacredly applied to them. that of the < 442>
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growth of 98. inspected in 99. the subject of this letter, is the fund for the paiment of 99. that of 1799-1800. is now on hand for the paiment of 1800. that of the growth of the present year, will discharge the paiment of the next, and close this last remnant of mr Wayles’s debts, which I have been working oC ever since the peace. all I ask is time to sell my produce to the best advantage. I hope I shall not again use the indulgence so much to my own loss and your delay, but indeed if our envoys do not terminate this non-intercourse law by an accomodation with France, our funds may be annihilated in our hands. in Nov. tobacco was 22. D. per Ê at Bourdeaux: on the 7th. of Dec. it was 25. to 27. Doll. while in England the consignee would not pay freight for it.—we are [passing a] bankrupt law. it’s opponents say it will include farmers, drovers, graziers, [. . .] & manufacturers. it’s advocates say it will not. when it shall have passed, both parties will change doctrines, as happened in the case of the constitution. I inclose you a pamphlet, which I am persuaded you will think worth perusing and am with great esteem Dr Sir Your most obedt. servt Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); damaged; at foot of text: “Littleton W. Tazewell, esq.”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosure: the second edition of Thomas Cooper, Political Essays (see TJ to Joseph Priestley, 18 Jan. 1800). bankrupt law: on 21 Feb. Theodore Sedgwick, Speaker of the House, cast the tie-breaking vote that sent the bankruptcy bill to the Senate. On the day TJ wrote this letter, Wilson Cary Nicholas unsuccessfully moved to exclude farmers, drovers, graziers, tavernkeep-
ers, and manufacturers from the legislation. TJ docketed the progress of the bill through the Senate from its Arst reading on 21 Feb. to its passage, by a 16 to 12 vote, on 28 Mch. Adams signed the law, which was to remain in eCect for Ave years, on 4 Apr. (“A Bill to Establish an Uniform System of Bankruptcy Throughout the United States,” printed by order of the Senate, in DNA: RG 46, Senate Records, 6th Cong., 1st sess.; jhr, 3:599-600; js, 3:34, 50, 62; National State Papers: Adams, 18:259; U.S. Statutes at Large, 2:19-36).
From B. D. Armistead County Philadelphia March 18. 1800
The auther, sensible of the rank which you hold in the literary world, presents you with due respect the inclosed manuscript for examination: If you think it suDciently interesting, and would so far oblige an obscure stranger, he requests that you would either communicate your sentiments upon the subject to the auther for the purpose of forwarding the publication; or lay it before the A. P. Society. It was with extreme reluctance the auther consented to address a < 443>
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personage to whom he is unknown—but who should judge an essay wherein the auther encounters popular oppinions in religion & philosophy; but the Man, who from the mass of truth and error selecting all that was valuable has ventured to reject the prejudice & superstition of the age?— He regrets that it was not practicable to exhibit this work in a more correct form—It was his intention to bestow more labour on it: but being apprehensive, as the period of your residence in Philadelphia is uncertain, & temporary, that he might loose the opportunity of obtaining your oppinion, he was anxious to hasten it to a conclusion— Other reasons however might have prevented this wish—In the course of his education he has rather glanced upon some branches literature, than made any one the object of study. Natural history, especially those parts relative to fossils & mountains which should form the basis of a Theory of the earth, he was but very imperfectly acquainted with. Chymistry which is perhaps no less connected with the subject than those branches of natural history, he knew nothing of: & tho correctness of stile is not essential in such a work; (unless it be contended that correctness of thinking is in some degree allied to it) yet considerable advantages might have been derived from perspicuity & precission: but he has to lament the want even of this also: for he is unacquainted with every principle of grammer Nevertheless, he is not ignorant of the prominent features from which a theory of the earth should be drawn: He knows that two great continents with chains of mountains of unknown lengths are to be formed; that sea shells are to be buried upward of 500 feet in regular strata & planted near the summits of the highest mountains upon earth; that the productions of the torrid zone are to be transported to the temperate buried in limestone &c some hundred feet below the surface; He sees the form & inequalities of the moon & some of the planets; he knows that all the bodies in the system revolve about a common center; & that principles which so exist, have always existed: He knows also that no rational argument, can be advanced in favour of a vortex, of an abyss, or even a cavity suDcient to contain one hundredth part of the waters of the deluge; that comets are improbable agencies; & that electrical evaporations & central explosions are merely chimeras of the brain—With this information it is possible to develope the system of the world But the auther never should have attempted a subject in which the most learned & ingenius have been baEed, had not the principle on which the hypothesis is founded been started by an involuntary exertion of the mind—Strongly impressed with the aptness of the < 444>
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hypotheses in solving every question with which he was then acquainted relative to the deluge, he was induced to extend his enquiries; & receiving additional conArmation of its truth from every datum he collected, he determined, tho unqualiAed for the production of a regular theory of the earth conneted with a chain of reasoning, to arrange his thoughts upon the subject with as much order as he was capable & if approved of by an adequate Critick to submit them to the public The length of the work rendering it unpracticable to communicate the whole at once, the observations upon mountains & seas with some historical remarks will be comprised in another paper: But as they require considerable time to prepare for examination, the auther request, if you can relax so long from the duties of your important station, that your sentiments upon the part before you might be delivered—he can receive them thro the channel of the post oDce at Philadelphia & will acknowledge the favour with that gratitude & respect due to so great a sacraAce of your time But if it is deemed worthy of thir attention, & you think it more adviseable to oCer it to the Society, the auther will withdraw the proposals which are in the hands of the printer From Sir Your most obliging & very humble servant B. D. Armistead RC (DLC); addressed: “Honbl Thomas JeCerson V.P.U.S.”; endorsed by TJ as received on the same day as written and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure not found (see TJ to Armistead, 20 Mch.).
From John Dickinson [18 Mch. 1800]
John Dickinson accepts with many Thanks the Copy of the late Resolution of the Legislature of Virginia. It is an inestimable Contribution to the Cause of Liberty; and, if it was possible, that any thing could be justly compared with the Importance of Truth, it might be said, that the Manner is equal to the Matter. How incredible was it once, and how astonishing is it now, that every Measure and every Pretence of the stupid and selAsh Stuarts, should be adopted by the posterity of those who Bed from their Madness and Tyranny to the distant and dangerous Wilds of America? RC (DLC); undated; endorsed by TJ as a letter written and received from Wilmington on 18 Mch. 1800 and so recorded in SJL.
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From James Monroe Sir, Richmond March 18th. 180[0] I have the pleasure to transmit you a copy of the report of a Committee of the House of Delegates on the proceedings of several of the States on certain Resolutions of the General Assembly passed at a former Session on the alien and sedition laws of the United States— as also certain instructions to our Senators in Congress on the same subjects. and am Sir with great respect and esteem your obedt. Servant Jas. Monroe RC (ViU); in a clerk’s hand, signed by Monroe; torn, Anal digit of date lost, a later hand having supplied a “2” for it; notation in later hand identiAes TJ as the recipient. Evidently the enclosed report was an incomplete copy of Communications from Several States, on the Resolutions of the Legislature of Virginia, Respecting the Alien & Sedition Laws (Richmond, 1800; Evans, No. 38952); see TJ to Monroe, 26 Mch. The General Assembly resolved on
20 Jan. to publish 5,000 copies, and printing was complete by 28 Mch., the date of a printed circular that Monroe used as a cover letter for batches of the publication sent throughout the state (Preston, Catalogue, 1:77-8; Madison, Papers, 17:374-5). An earlier printing of Madison’s report ordered by the assembly, called a Report of the Committee to Whom was Committed the Proceedings of Sundry of the Other States, did not include the instructions to the senators (see Madison to TJ, 29 Dec. 1799).
From George Isham Parkyns Monday morn. 18 March 1800.
Mr. Parkyns has done himself the Honor to pay his respects to Mr. JeCerson, and shall esteem himself particularly happy to be favourd with any observations Mr. JeCerson may condescend to suggest on a series of paintings this morning arrived from his House in the Country, and which at present, are in Mr. Leipers withdrawing Room. Mr. Parkyns feels himself extremely obliged to Mrs. Leiper, who has permitted him to use her name to Mr. JeCerson as an introduction to the Honor of his notice. RC (MoSHi: JeCerson Papers); addressed: “Mr. JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ as received 18 Mch. and so recorded in SJL. This brief communication is the only known correspondence between TJ and George Isham Parkyns of Nottingham, England (ca. 1749-ca. 1820). Parkyns, the grandson of a baronet, made little
lasting impact as an artist but exhibited his work in London, wrote on landscape design, and aquatinted other artists’ works before traveling to the United States in the mid-1790s. After undertaking a series of aquatints to depict scenic views from Mount Vernon to Boston, he returned to Britain (George C. Groce and David H. Wallace, The New-York Historical Society’s Dictionary of Artists
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19 MAR CH 1800 in America, 1564-1860 [New Haven, 1957], 488; H. L. Mallalieu, The Dictionary of British Watercolour Artists up to 1920, 2d ed., 3 vols. [Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1986-90], 1:262; G. I. Parkyns, No. 1. Sketches of Select American Scenery [Philadelphia, 1799]; Proposals for Publishing in Aquatinta, a Series of Views [undated; see Evans, No. 48952]; James Moore, Monastic Remains and Ancient Castles in England and Wales [London, 1791]; Joseph Charles Barrow, Picturesque Views of Churches and Other Buildings [London, 1791-93]). mrs. leiper: Elizabeth Coultas Gray Leiper, who had married Thomas Leiper in 1778 (dab). TJ retained his draft of a letter of rec-
ommendation for Parkyns dated 13 May 1800: “The bearer hereof mr Parkyns, a Landscape painter of eminence, proposing to visit the state of Virginia in order to make drawings of some of it’s most interesting scenes, I take the liberty of recommending him to those of my countrymen among whom he may sojourn or pass as a person worthy the attentions & hospitality for which they are so justly respected: and I bear this testimony to the character of this gentleman in order that they may be assured their civilities to him will be meritoriously placed” (Dft in DLC; entirely in TJ’s hand, initialed and endorsed by him; among other emendations, “interesting” is interlined in place of “remarkeable”; not recorded in SJL).
Notes on Senate Debates Mar. 19. same subject. Dexter maintained that the Com. law as to crimes is in force in the courts of the US. Chipman says that the principles of Com. right are Common law. and he says the Com. l. of England is in force here. there being no laws in Vermont for appointing juries which the Marshall can follow, he sais he may appoint them as directed by the Com. l. of England tho’ that part of the Com. l. was never adopted in Vermont. MS (DLC: TJ Papers, 108:18558); entirely in TJ’s hand; Anal entry, on same sheet following Notes on Senate Debates, [after 5 Mch. 1800]. same subject: Senate consideration of measures to be taken against William Duane for breach of privilege (see Notes on Senate Debates, [after 5 Mch. 1800], js, 3:42-3, 52). On 10 Apr. the Philadelphia Gazette printed an undated speech by Nathaniel chipman “on the subject of Privileges.” The Vermont senator noted
that every community had principles of common justice, which were “exclusive of positive laws” and “positive institutions.” These were “the principles of common right, or more intelligibly expressed of common law.” He went on to assert: “The common law of England was and still is the common law of the several states; the people from the Arst colonization in the country claimed the common law as their birthright, and its rights and privileges as their unalienable inheritance.”
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To B. D. Armistead Sir Philadelphia Mar. 20. 1800. My occupations & avocations here not permitting me to read any thing with that close attention requisite for a work of the nature of that which you have been pleased to inclose to me, I have been able to give it but a hasty perusal, not suDcient indeed to make myself master of your views in all it’s parts, much less to pronounce on their merit. I see many which are ingenious, and which I am persuaded will be acceptable to the readers; others hypothetical, as must be in Theories of the earth. these are peculiarly works of conjecture. we have had several. all of them have their advocates; and all have their diDculties, in some one or other part of their system of organisation. some of these diDculties you have strongly enforced in the beginning of your work. how far your hypothesis may surmount them, & whether it’s postulates are within the limits of established principles, I would not, on so slight a view, undertake to decide: nor should I presume in any case to prejudge for others. I have believed it more proper that the work be published substantively; & therefore have not used the liberty you permitted me of laying it before the Philosophical society, whose transactions are rather a depository for preserving occasional & fugitive pieces, than entire & systematic treatises. I therefore return it with many acknolegements for the communication, and am with respect Sir Your most obedt. & most humble servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); at foot of text: “Mr. B. D. Armistead. Philadelphia county.” Enclosure not found; see Armistead’s letter of 18 Mch.
To George Jefferson Dear Sir Philadelphia Mar. 20. 1800. According to former assurances I now inclose you four hundred and seventy dollars in Pennsylvania bank bills, which with the two sums of 1000. and 400. before sent, make up the sum of 1870. D. being as near as we could come to the 1868.79 advanced by your friendship for mr Randolph, and which this is to replace. your favor of the 11th. was recieved yesterday. I am properly sensible of the readiness expressed to wait my convenience; and it has made it the more my duty to prevent inconvenience to you. I shall be perfectly willing to settle for the lost hhd of tobo. with the inspectors on < 448>
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the terms you mention. I know it is diDcult for them not to commit mistakes, & am willing to participate in the loss by taking the price there instead of what I got here for the rest of the same tobo. which was 7. Doll.—with respect to the money from Carolina, I must leave it to yourself altogether as I neither know at what post it is, nor in whose hands. if you have any correspondent at the place, I presume he would call for it and forward it to you. has the person in whose hands it is never acknoleged it? I am with great esteem Dr. Sir Your’s aCectionately Th: Jefferson P.S. be so good as to drop a line [on] the reciept of these sums, as I shall be anxious to hear they have got safe to hand. PrC (MHi); faint; in ink at foot of text: “JeCerson George”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
For the sums . . . before sent, see TJ to George JeCerson, 11 and 13 Mch.
To John Gibson Dear Sir Philadelphia Mar. 21. 1800. I recieved last night your favor of the 14th. and now inclose you a copy of your letter. I was within a day or two of putting into the press the evidence I had collected on this subject. I have been long in collecting it, because of the distance & dispersion of those acquainted with the transaction. however I have at length that of a dozen or Afteen persons, who clear up the mystery which threw doubt on this piece of history. it appears that instead of one, there were four diCerent murders committed on the Indians. the 1st. by Cresap & his party a little above Wheeling, on two Indians. the 2d. by the same persons on the same or the next day on a party of Indians encamped below Wheeling on the mouth of Grave creek, among whom were some of Logan’s relations. the Indians here returned the Are & wounded one of Cresap’s party. the 3d. by Greathouse & Tomlinson a few days after. this was a hunting party of Indian men, women & children encamped at the mouth of Yellow creek opposite to Baker’s bottom. Greathouse went to their camp as a friend; found them too strong, and invited them over to Baker’s to drink. they came over, were furnished with as much rum as they would drink, & when the men were quite drunk Greathouse’s party fell on & massacred the whole except a little girl Logan’s cousin whom they made prisoner.q here his sister was murdered and some other of his relations. the Indians over the river alarmed at the guns, sent over two canoes of men to see for their < 449>
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friends. Greathouse & his party recieved them as they approached the shore with a well directed Are and killed and wounded several. at this massacre Baker says there were 12. killed & 5. or 6. wounded. the popular report, at a distance from the scene, had blended all these together and made only one transaction of it; and passing from one to another unacquainted with the geography of the transaction, the Kanhawa had been substituted for the Ohio. here[in] too arose the doubt whether it was not Greathouse instead of Cresap who killed Logan’s relations. the principal murder was by Greathouse at Yellow creek; but some of them had been killed a few days before by Cresap at Grave creek. the mistake of Cresap’s title, calling him Colo. instead of Capt. I presume was merely an Indian mistake. I think I have observed them call those whom they deemed great men among us, Colo. by way of courtesy. I suppose from the letter you inclose me, which I now return, that some chicanery is to be exercised on Logan’s speech, it’s genuineness, whether it was written in the Indian language, & by whom, &c. as to all this you can set us to rights. this gentleman begun as I am told (for I have never read a single one of his papers except as much of the beginning of the Arst as shewed me the stile in which he thought proper to indulge himself, and which determined me at once not to gratify him by reading what he wrote to give me pain) he begun it is said by denying that any such speech was ever delivered, by declaring it a forgery, & a forgery of mine &c. he Ands the current of testimony too strong to be resisted, and wants to see if he can take any hold on the circumstances of it’s being written or spoken, in what language, by whom &c. you have perfectly devined the cause of his taking up this subject. while his wife lived he never noticed it. for years after her death he never [noticed] it. but when it became an object with a party to injure me in the eyes of my countrymen, this, among other circumstances, was thought to furnish grounds for writing me down. they set this cat’s paw to work on it: and he has served them with zeal. I shall never notice him otherwise than by publishing the evidence I have collected, & correcting the text in the Notes on Virginia conformably to the more exact information of the historical fact. I shall delay doing this a few days, in hopes of recieving from you the deposition you are so kind as to promise. if this could be by the Arst return of post I should be glad because I must get these testimonies printed before Congress leaves this place. With respect to the application you wish to the Governor, he is to be here in a few days, and if I can possibly serve you with him I will. I shall see him of course; but must be indirect in the manner. a little reBection will suggest to you that there are delicacies in this business < 450>
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which must be observed, and are necessary indeed to give aCect to what is desired. ancient recollections and a thorough sense of the [. . .] grounds on which you have a right to be thought of, give me a sincere wish to [serve] you. I am with great esteem Dear Sir Your most obedt. servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); faint; at foot of Arst page: “Genl. John Gibson,” TJ having interlined the forename in ink; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosures: (1) Tr, unlocated, of Gibson to TJ, 17 June 1797 (see Gibson to TJ, 14 Mch. 1800). (2) UnidentiAed letter from Luther Martin
to Gibson, sent by Gibson to TJ on 14 Mch. this gentleman: Luther Martin. q Preceding four words interlined.
Notes on John Marshall Mar. 21. mr John Marshall has said here that had he not been appointed minister to France he was desperate in his aCairs, and must have sold his estate & that immediately, that that appointment was the greatest God-send that could ever have befallen a man. I have this from J. Brown & S. T. Mason. MS (DLC: TJ Papers, 108:18559); entirely in TJ’s hand; on same sheet as Notes on Charleston Printers, 14 Mch. 1800.
From Thomas Cooper Sir Sunday Evening [23 Mch. 1800] Mr. Dallas, Mr. Duane and myself met to day, and after canvassing the most expedient method of proceeding on our side, we determined at length on the following. That Mr. Duane shd. write you the Letter which accompanies this, to be presented to the Senate in your oDcial Capacity. That Mr. Duane shd. be in the way at the meeting of the Senate, without formally presenting himself till it become necessary. That if the request to be heard by Counsel should be refused (which we much wish) before the time when the Senate have determined to call him, that he shall not obey the call: for we cannot be upon better ground (as we conceive) than in such a case. That if it be required that he shall personally appear in conformity to the resolution of the house, before the prayer of his Letter be granted, he shall appear for the purpose of obtaining it. That if the preliminary debate on his Letter be protracted < 451>
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so that he be not called at all, or untill the close of the meeting, that he may properly go away having evidence of his attendance.—That if Counsel be allowed, we shd. obtain a day as distant as possible for their appearance in his behalf, both in the Arst instance, & afterward on their personal application. That on the appearance of Counsel at the bar of the house, they shall state in the outset, that they mean to object to the Jurisdiction of the Senate in the present Case. That if they are stopped in this, they shall expressly decline entering into any farther or other defence, as they conceive their Client fully entitled to be heard on this Objection; an objection supported by precedent in the Case of Blount. That then Mr. Duane shall be absent, and keep out of the way of the Serjeant at Arms. To this I beg leave to add as my present Suggestion, that if after these proceedings the Serjeant either acting by order of the house, or in consequence of any proclamation of the president at the Senate’s request should And him, that he Aghts the question by application for an habeas Corpus. I am Sir with great esteem Your obedt Servt Thomas Cooper RC (DLC); addressed: “Thomas Jefferson Esqr”; undated, but endorsed by TJ as written and received on 23 Mch. 1800 and so recorded in SJL. Born in England, Thomas Cooper (1759-1839) was a chemist, writer, and religious dissenter who fervently supported the principles of the French Revolution and the cause of Parliamentary reform in England. He visited the United States in 1793 to explore possible locations for English dissenters who might want to emigrate, and the following year he brought his family and joined Joseph Priestley in Northumberland, Pennsylvania. This letter marks the beginning of a lifelong friendship between TJ and Cooper, who after his arrival in America embarked upon an extended and controversial career as a party activist, journalist, lawyer, judge, and educator. His political writings aided Thomas McKean’s election as governor of Pennsylvania in 1799 and championed TJ’s candidacy in 1800. For libeling President John Adams in a handbill Cooper was Aned and imprisoned for six months. During TJ’s second term Cooper lost the support
of the Pennsylvania Republican leadership, was removed from his judicial post, and grew disillusioned with the JeCersonian cause. He turned his attention back to science, publishing supplementary appendices to Priestley’s Memoirs after Priestley’s death and serving as professor of chemistry at Carlisle (later Dickinson) College. After the temporary failure of that college Cooper taught at the University of Pennsylvania. Because the opening of the new university at Charlottesville, Virginia, to which Cooper in 1819 had been elected professor of chemistry, mineralogy, natural philosophy, and law, was delayed, he moved to Columbia, South Carolina. There he served as professor and president of the college until he resigned in 1833, after doing battle with the clergy and college trustees over his teaching of materialist doctrines. Although earlier he had opposed the slave trade, he denied the theory of equality and natural rights, owned slaves, and campaigned as a nulliAer against a proposed tariC (anb; Dumas Malone, The Public Life of Thomas Cooper, 1783-1839 [New Haven, 1926; repr., Columbia, S.C., 1961]; Vol. 26:715).
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24 MAR CH 1800 mr. dallas, mr. duane and myself: William Duane asked Alexander J. Dallas and Cooper to defend him against the charges of breach of privilege leveled against him by the Senate for discussing and publishing Pennsylvania Senator James Ross’s electoral count bill in the Aurora on 19 Feb. and for incorrectly reporting that the bill had passed when it had only received its second reading. On 25 Feb. New Jersey Senator Jonathan Dayton made an unprecedented proposal that a “Committee of Privileges, consisting of Ave members, be appointed to continue during the present session.” The Anal six words of Dayton’s resolution in the Senate records are in TJ’s hand. The Senate records also indicate an amendment proposed by Charles Pinckney, on which TJ made the following notations: “Mr. Pinckney’s amendmt. Question divided. 1st. on striking out. decided negatively. Y & N”; to the phrase “As the Constitution of the U.S. does not vest in either branch of Congress any other powers than those mentioned & limited,”
written by a clerk, TJ interlined after “powers” the words “on the subject of privilege.” The resolution passed on 26 Feb., and Senators Dayton, Tracy, Latimer, Chipman, and Brown were appointed to determine how the editor of the Aurora gained possession of the bill and “by what authority” he published it. On 20 Mch. an amended resolution deemed the publication to be a “high breach of the privileges” of the Senate and ordered Duane to present himself at the bar of the Senate at noon on 24 Mch., when he would “have opportunity to make any proper defence for his conduct, in publishing the aforesaid false, defamatory, scandalous, and malicious assertions, and pretended information” (DNA: RG 46, Senate Records, 6th Cong., 1st sess.; Annals, 10:53, 62-3, 68-96, 109, 112-15; Smith, Freedom’s Fetters, 289-301; Malone, Thomas Cooper, 113-18). letter which accompanies this: see the following document. Dallas had also served as attorney in the trial of William blount (Vol. 30:615-16n).
From William Duane Sir Aurora ODce, March 24, 1800 A copy of the Proceedings of the Senate of the United States, in relation to a publication in “The Aurora,” and ascribing guilt to me in that publication, and a breach of their Privileges, has been left at my oDce. It is with pleasure I observe that the justice of the Senate provides, as the constitution prescribes, that I shall “have an opportunity to make any proper defence” for the conduct which has been imputed to me; and as such defence will necessarily involve points of law as well as of fact, I pray you, Sir, to submit to the Senate, a respectful request on my behalf—That I may be heard by Counsel, and have process awarded to compel the attendance of witnesses in my behalf. I am, Sir, With perfect respect Wm. Duane RC (DNA: RG 46, Senate Records, 6th Cong., 1st sess.); addressed: “To the Vice President of the United States”; endorsed by clerk; not recorded in SJL.
William Duane (1760-1835), radical newspaper editor and politician, was born in America near Lake Champlain to Irish Roman Catholic immigrant parents. At the age of 11 he went to Ireland with
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24 MAR CH 1800 his mother after the death of his father. After serving an apprenticeship in the printing trade and marrying a Protestant woman, Duane moved his family to London, where he acted as parliamentary reporter for John Almon’s General Advertiser for several years. In 1786 he left for Bengal, where he worked on a number of newspapers, eventually editing and coowning the Calcutta Bengal Journal. He was expelled for praising the principles of the French Revolution and criticizing the establishment East India Company. After a temporary return to London, he and his family emigrated to America in 1796. Following his wife’s death from cholera in 1798, he began to work for Benjamin Franklin Bache at the Aurora. After Bache’s death, Duane married his widow Margaret Bache and together the couple edited the Aurora. Although he staunchly maintained that he was a native-born American citizen, in 1802 Duane, to be safe, took out naturalization papers. He broke with the Republican Party during James Madison’s presidency, in part because he felt his military eCorts as a lieutenant colonel and an adjutant general were unappreciated. Duane advocated a high tariC and opposed the rechartering of the Bank of the United States. He also attacked the Missouri Compromise. In the last few years before his 1822 sale of the Aurora, Duane focused on the Latin American independence movements and in 1822-23 traveled extensively by mule in South America. The income from the book that described his travel adventures aided his always precarious Anances as did a small salary as a clerk of the state supreme court that he was awarded in
1829. In 1834 he revived the Aurora, with only modest success, to support Andrew Jackson’s attack on the Second Bank of the United States (anb; Pasley, Tyranny of Printers, 176-95). On 24 Mch. TJ laid this letter before the Senate. Duane appeared and submitted a respectful request to be represented by counsel. The remarks he addressed to the Senate, in which he claimed that he was “willing to answer all questions” that were properly put to him, were printed in the Aurora of 25 Mch. The Senate asked him to withdraw and debated the wording of the proposition to allow counsel, with Massachusetts Federalist Samuel Dexter oCering an amendment that eCectively would limit Duane’s right to counsel to a time when he was “personally attending at the bar of the Senate,” and to speak only “in denial of any facts charged” or in “excuse and extenuation of his oCense.” On a copy of the motion in the Senate records, TJ made the notation “Mr. Dexter’s amdmt to be inserted.” Republican Stevens Thomson Mason’s unsuccessful eCort to substitute a more open wording, “motion to amend the amendmt. by striking out the words ‘he be allowed the assistance of counsel &c’ to the end & insert ‘he be permitted to have the assistance of counsel for his defense,’” is entirely in the vice president’s hand, along with the notation “question divided & to be put Arst on striking out by Y. & N.” Dexter’s amendment passed by a vote of 21-8, and Duane was ordered to appear at noon on 26 Mch. (DNA: RG 46, Senate Records, 6th Cong., 1st sess.; Annals, 10:117-19).
Notes on a Conversation with Perez Morton Mar. 24. mr Perez Morton of Mass. tells me that Thatcher, on his return from the War-Congress, declared to him he had been for a decln of war against France, & many others also; but that on counting noses they found they could not carry it, & therefore did not attempt it. < 454>
25 MAR CH 1800 MS (DLC: TJ Papers, 108:18559); entirely in TJ’s hand; on same sheet as Notes on John Marshall, 21 Mch. Perez Morton (1751-1837), a Republican living in Boston and then Dorchester, was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1794. As a leader in state politics, he served as speaker of the House from 1806 to 1811 and then as attorney general for the next two decades
(John L. Sibley and CliCord K. Shipton, Sibley’s Harvard Graduates: Biographical Sketches of Those Who Attended Harvard College, 17 vols. [Cambridge, Mass., 1873-1975], 17:555-61; Madison, Papers: Sec. of State Ser., 5:192-5). Representative George thatcher (Thacher) lived in Biddeford, Maine. In 1801 he retired from Congress to accept an appointment as associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court (dab).
To James Madison Philadelphia Mar. 25. 1800.
Your’s of the 15th. is safely recieved. I percieve by that that I had by mistake sent you Ramsay’s Eulogy instead of Cooper’s smaller pamphlet, which therefore I now inclose, merely for the last paper in it, as the two Arst were in the copy I Arst sent you. I inclose also mr Nicholas’s amendment this day proposed to the bill concerning President & V.P. formerly sent you. we expect it will be rejected by 17. to 13. in Senateq but that it may be brought forward in the lower house with better prospects. we have nothing from Europe but what you will see in the newspapers. the Executive are sending oC a frigate to France; but for what purposes we know not. the bankrupt law will pass. a complimentary vote of a medal to Truxton will pass. a judiciary law adding about 100,000 D. to the annual expence of that department is going through the H. of R. a loan of 30 millions will pass. the money it is said will be furnished by some English houses. bankruptcies continue at Baltimore; and great mercantile distress & stagnation here. the Republican spirit beginning to preponderate in Pennsva, Jersey & N.Y. and becoming respectable in Mass. N. Hampsh. & Connect. of R.I. & Vermont I can say nothing. there are the strongest expectations that the republican ticket will prevail in the city election of N.Y. Clinton, Gates, & Burr are at the head of it. it’s success decides the complexion of that legislature. we expect Gouvr. Morris to be chosen by the present legislature a Senator of the US. in the room of Watson resigned. the legislature here parted in a state of distraction; their successors, as soon as chosen, will be convened: but it is very questionable if the Senate will not still be obstinate. we suppose Congress will rise in May. respectful & aCectionate salutations to mrs Madison & yourself. Adieu. < 455>
25 MAR CH 1800 RC (DLC: Madison Papers, Rives Collection). PrC (DLC); in ink at foot of text: “J. Madison.” Enclosures: see below. Thomas Cooper’s smaller pamphlet was Political Arithmetic (n.p., n.d.; Sowerby, No. 2804). See TJ to Philip Norborne Nicholas, 7 Apr. 1800, for TJ’s explanation of its separate printing. Wilson Cary nicholas’s amendment to James Ross’s bill on disputed elections, which called for an open procedure to count electoral votes and for a majority vote in Congress to determine any challenges to the electoral college, was defeated on 27 Mch. by a vote of 15 to 10 (Annals, 10:119-20, 124-5, 144, 179, 182; see also the Appendix). On 10 Apr. John Adams issued a passport for Captain Daniel McNeill of the Portsmouth to sail the frigate from New York to Havre de Grace under a Bag of truce and carrying dispatches for the commissioners in Paris. Before getting underway, McNeill learned of a mutiny plan among 17 members of his crew. The secretary of the navy advised him against waiting for trial of the oCenders but recommended that they be left in jail locally and a replacement crew recruited without delay. On 13 Apr. Benjamin Stoddert instructed McNeill to accept as a passenger on the Portsmouth Mr. J. Parrott, who was traveling to France on private business and would be a “proper person to send from Havre with the dispatches to
our Ministers at Paris.” Upon arrival in France, McNeill was to send one of his oDcers to Paris to receive orders from the commissioners, and provide return passage either to Boston or Rhode Island for Oliver Ellsworth and William R. Davie as directed upon the conclusion of their business. The Portsmouth arrived in Le Havre on 20 May after a passage of 36 days from New York and was expected to return to America by the end of June (ndqw, Jan.-May 1800, 222, 395, 399, 404-5, 408, 412, 539). After some debate and Republican criticism, the House of Representatives approved, on 24 Mch., the presidential award of a medal to Captain Thomas Truxton for his good conduct and gallantry in the battle between the U.S. Constellation and the French La Vengeance. The Senate concurred on 27 Mch. (Annals, 10:122, 640-2). A bill to increase the size of a loan for the public service, as requested by the president, passed the House on 19 Mch. and the Senate on 30 Apr. before it was approved on 7 May (same, 10:170-1, 630, 633; U.S. Statutes at Large, 2:60). The Federalist Gouverneur morris from New York was elected to the Senate upon James Watson’s resignation and served from 3 Apr. 1800 to 3 Mch. 1803. He was unsuccessful in seeking reelection in 1802 (Biog. Dir. Cong.). q Preceding two words interlined.
From Robert Patterson Sir March. 25 1800 I take the liberty of introducing the bearer Mr. Smith an acquaintance of mine from Bucks county. He wishes to see the model of your mould-board, as he and his brother have turned their attention a good deal to that subject. He has with him the description and model of a mouldboard for which he has had thoughts of obtaining a patent—It is I believe the spiral or twisted-board, which, in theory at least, is certainly inferior to yours. Yours with perfect esteem R Patterson < 456>
25 MAR CH 1800 RC (DLC); addressed: “Thos. JeCerson Esqr”; endorsed by TJ as received 25 Mch. and so recorded in SJL. Robert Smith obtained a patent for a mould-board plow on 19 May 1800. His brother Joseph Smith was the principal founder of the Tinicum industrial works along the Delaware River in Bucks County in the 1780s. He was credited with making the Arst cast-iron moldboard in Pennsylvania and was produc-
ing them at his works several years before his brother obtained the patent. Local sources credited Joseph, not Robert, with inventing the patented moldboard. In 1803 the industrial works shipped 758 moldboards to Philadelphia (List of Patents, 22; William W. H. Davis, History of Bucks County Pennsylvania from the Discovery of the Delaware to the Present Time, 2d ed., 3 vols. [New York, 1905], 2:6).
Statement for the Aurora subjoin to the letterq ‘It will be observed that the preceding letter is dated at Paris in 1787. mr Jones, to whom it is addressed, awaited mr JeCerson’s return to America, & authorised his agent to settle it with him there. immediately on his arrival in Virginia in Dec.r 1789 he procured a meeting with the agent & the other gentlemen interested, and an amicable settlement was made in writing, on the principles of the letter. mr JeCerson immediately sold property again to the whole amount of the debt,s and in the course of the 1st. and 2d. years, delivered over the obligations recieved for it to the agent, who took on himself the collection of the money. so that it is now seven or eight years since he has paid up this debt.’*t The views of othersu with respect to these debts, I am not able to state; my absence making me a stranger to them. mr Nicholas can better do it, either in addition to the preceding paragraph, or in any other place he thinks At.— if the letter should not be in Duane’s paper of this morning, it is desireable that this addition should be made here; and it will save the trouble of doing it in another place.— the correction in the Arst column is the same furnished to mr Mason, and will I suppose appear in the Aurora.v Mar. 25. 1800. * There was another claim made by the agent of the same house of Farrell & Jones against the executors of mr Wayles. that house had consigned to mr Waylesw & another a cargo of about 4000.£ value to be sold on commission, on account of the consignors.x mr Wayles assisted in the sale, but died soon after; and the whole collection survived to the other consignee, who recieved it, wasted it, & died bankrupt. the agent thought he would try the chance of recovering the < 457>
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money from the executors of mr Wayles, though they had not recieved it. but, on the Arst hearing, eleven of the jury determined at once against their liability; but, a twelfth member dissenting, the case laid over to the next Federal court, when a second jury, concurring unanimously with the eleven of the Arst, gave verdict for the executors, and agreeably to the opinions of Judge Iredell, who had presided at one hearing & of judge Patterson at the other. mr J. Marshally & judge Washington, then of the bar, were of counsel for the executors. palpably unfounded as this claim was, the trumpet of calumnyqz swelled it, when it suited a particular purpose, from one third of £4000. to 40,000.£ & from a groundless claim to an unquestionable debt, which was to swallow up allqq mr JeCerson’s fortune.qr it was in truth, on the part of the agent, a mere speculation on the chances of the law: and failing in this, he is now demanding the debt, under the British treaty, on the ground of bankruptcy in the other consignee, the real debtor, who alone recieved and wasted the money. MS (Thomas A. Lingenfelter, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 1994); entirely in TJ’s hand. The Philadelphia Aurora of 5 Apr. 1800 printed portions of this text (see below) without identifying TJ as the author. subjoin to the letter: in the document printed above, TJ furnished William Duane’s Philadelphia Aurora with explanatory text to be published in that newspaper along with TJ’s letter of 5 Jan. 1787 to William jones of the English Arm of Farell & Jones. In that letter, printed at Vol. 11:14-18, TJ had outlined his proposed arrangement to pay his share of what the estate of his deceased father-in-law, John Wayles, owed to the Arm. He referred also to his personal debt to another company, Kippen & Co. of Glasgow, and explained his refusal to pay interest on British debts for the period of the Revolutionary War, basing his argument on economic and practical, rather than political, reasons. The letter, preceded by an introduction of several paragraphs, had appeared in the Richmond Examiner of 7 Mch., which James Callender sent to TJ on 10 Mch. The Aurora, without identifying the Virginia paper as its source, on 5 Apr. printed the introductory paragraphs and the 1787 letter, appending language that TJ sug-
gested in the statement above (see notes 1, 4, and 12 below). The Virginia agent of Farell & Jones was Richard Hanson. For the February 1790 meeting in Albemarle County between Hanson and the executors of Wayles’s estate—TJ and his brothersin-law, Henry Skipwith and Francis Eppes—and the resulting settlement, see Vol. 15:674-6. In the Aurora several sentences intervene between two passages taken from the document above (see note 4). That intervening text may have been the result of TJ’s suggestion that Wilson Cary nicholas write something in addition to TJ’s recounting of speciAc details. The additional claim did not involve Wayles’s debt from tobacco trading but the disposition of the cargo of The Prince of Wales in 1772. That cargo, unspeciAed in the document above, consisted of Africans sold into slavery in Virginia, and the other consignee was Richard Randolph. Failing in court, Hanson laid the claim before the bilateral commission established under Article 6 of the Jay treaty (Vol. 30:426-30). A landmark eCort to reach assets in the possession of Randolph’s heirs, initiated by Wayles’s executors and joined by other creditors, failed with a Anal ruling by the Virginia Court of Appeals in November
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25 MAR CH 1800 1799; see Bill in Chancery of Wayles’s Executors against the Heirs of Richard Randolph, [on or before 2 Mch. 1795]. In the Aurora of 5 Apr. TJ’s letter to Jones was preceded by the following introduction taken from the Richmond Examiner of 7 Mch. and printed under the heading “Account of Mr. JeCerson’s British Debts”: “It is the fate of every man whose virtue and talents have elevated him in society, to excite the envy and hatred of many; among persons thus disposed, some are imperceptibly carried into error, others are designedly criminal.—The steady industry displayed by the assailants of virtue exceeds inAnitely that of its defenders; and unfortunately, the meditated injury has its full eCect before the person accused is aware of it, and instead of parrying the blow, he has the wound to heal.—In this situation of things, so rare is benevolence to be found amongst us, so little interest do we generally take in the welfare of our fellow-men, that we are apt to imagine we have discharged our duty when we declare our belief of the innocence of the accused, and content ourselves under the self-approbation, that we have done nothing to injure the feelings of the suCerer. “The evils to society which we permit to remain, without our utmost exertions to remove, may answer well enough with people who are negatively good, or who believe that virtue consists in abstaining from evil: I think diCerently: and thinking as I do, will never permit the people to be duped by false accusations levelled against their most meritorious and deserving servants. If in the charges, which from my best judgement I am obliged to make against public characters, I pass into error, the principle which governs me, ought also to draw forth an advocate for truth and virtue, on the opposite side of the question. “For some time past, a great clamour has been made through the United States, respecting debts due from Mr. JeCerson to British merchants: I have taken some trouble to inform myself upon this subject, and I confess, that although I did not believe the charge to be correct, as to the idea which it was intended to
convey of that gentleman’s honor; I had no conception, that his enemies would be driven to attack him upon a subject, which if fairly examined, would add so considerably to the lustre of his character. “In the year 1774, before a shilling of paper money had been issued, Mr. JeCerson sold about Ave thousand acres of land in Cumberland and Bedford counties, to pay his proportion of a debt due from the estate of Mr. Wayles to Farrel and Jones. He oCered the bonds to their agent immediately, who refused to take them. The money was paid to Mr. JeCerson in 1779 and 1780, and he carried it to the treasury of Virginia, as the laws pressed on all to do, who owed money to British subjects; declaring that the public would pay it over, dollar for dollar. This delusion soon passed away, and it became evident, that the public neither could nor ought to pay according to the nominal value. The reader will perceive the loss which Mr. JeCerson sustained, and that if he had been disposed to quibble no event could have aCorded him a more plausible pretext: But it appears that this gentleman considered himself still answerable to Farrel and Jones, and therefore settled with their agent otherwise. “The next debt in succession, was one due to Kippen, and company for whom, Mr. Lyle of Manchester was agent. I called upon that gentleman for information respecting Mr. JeCerson’s conduct in the settlement of this claim, who assured me that it was strictly honourable. Mr. Lyle told me that as soon as the Vice President returned from his mission to France, he waited upon him, and made immediate arrangements for payment, deducting the 8 years war interest. “Concerning the war interest, I think the annexed letter from Mr. JeCerson, will be quite satisfactory. But exclusive of his particular situation, and the losses which he sustained, probably from his conspicuous services during the revolutionary contest; I know of not a solitary instance in which the eight years interest has been paid if objected to by the defendants counsel; and I fancy it was the opinion of the federal judges assembled in Philadelphia, that the war interest ought to be deducted, if a special reason
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25 MAR CH 1800 for avoiding it could be assigned—and surely no reason could be assigned with more forcible propriety, than that the British themselves had destroyed the means. But to my mind, there is the best evidence of the equity of withholding the eight years interest; the juries have uniformly deducted it, although the counsel for the plaintiC has often assigned peculiar and strong reasons, springing from the manner in which the debt originated, why it should be allowed. “The following letter from Mr. JeCerson while in Paris, is now submitted to the public. It was not procured from him but having been produced in court by Jones’s agent in another case, was by the counsel of that agent candidly and honorably read in court, as an act of justice to Mr. JeCerson, got thus into the press, and has since been used by the advocates for the payment of British debts, and by them, very much complimented.” In the Examiner the Anal paragraph of the introduction read: “The following letter from Mr. JeCerson while in Paris, is now submitted to the public. It was not procured from him by me, but on the other hand, has been used by the advocates for the payment of British debts, and by them, very much complimented.” The Aurora appended the following footnote, keyed by an asterisk to the Anal word of the introduction: “We add from unquestionable authority, that soon after Mr. JeCerson’s return from France, arrangements were made with the agent of Farrel and Jones, and a deposit placed in his hands, to the amount of the claim against Mr. JeCerson.” Some phrasing in the introductory comments repeats language from TJ’s letter to Jones, such as “before a shilling of paper money had been issued” (in the letter TJ gave the date of that sale of land as 1776 rather than 1774). However, particular details in the introduction, such as the quantity of land TJ sold, the counties in which it lay, and his receipt of payment in 1779-80, do not appear in the 1787 letter and must have come from a source familiar with the transactions (see TJ to George JeCerson, 14 Oct. 1799). In 1790, in what proved to be an unsuccessful attempt to pay oC his debt to the
Kippen Arm in Ave years, TJ had given bonds to James Lyle of Manchester, Virginia, who represented Henderson, McCaul & Co., the successor to the Kippen company (Herbert E. Sloan, Principle and Interest: Thomas JeCerson and the Problem of Debt [New York, 1995], 1820; mb, 1:7; Vol. 16:212-13; Vol. 29:2024). The Supreme Court—“the federal judges assembled in Philadelphia”—did not have occasion to rule on the speciAc issue of interest on debts during the Revolution, although as the author of the introductory comments stated, Virginia juries generally disallowed interest for the war years when deciding creditors’ claims (Charles F. Hobson, “The Recovery of British Debts in the Federal Circuit Court of Virginia, 1790 to 1797,” vmhb, 92 [1984], 193-5). Duane provided material for John Wood’s controversial 1802 book, History of the Administration of John Adams, which printed TJ’s letter to Jones with some alteration of the introductory comments that had appeared in the Aurora in April 1800 and omitted everything appended to the foot of the letter in that newspaper (John Wood, The History of the Administration of John Adams, Esq. Late President of the United States [New York, 1802], 441-9; Kline, Burr, 2:641-8, 696-8, 713-16; see Sowerby, No. 506). q The remainder of this paragraph was printed in the Aurora directly below TJ’s letter to William Jones. r Aurora: “the fall of.” s In the Aurora the preceding Ave words are in italics. t The text in the Aurora continues here with the following passage: “From the foregoing facts it appears that Mr. JeCerson, before the present government existed, before he could have known that it was thought of, and at a time when there was no power to compel him to payment on account of Mr. Wayle’s debts to British merchants, make a voluntary oCer of settlement, on the most favourable terms which they have obtained under the judicial system of the United States. The claim under the payment into the treasury of Virginia, was so well founded, that it
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26 MAR CH 1800 received the sanction of a circuit court there, although that decision was afterwards reversed by the supreme court.— Every body who attended on the court, will recollect the impressive argument of Mr. Marshall, (now in Congress) in support of the decision of the circuit court, and it will ever remain a doubt whether it ought not to have been aDrmed. It is highly honorable to Mr. JeCerson, to have waved a legal defence, which was compleat at the time (as the courts of Virginia were sovereign) so specious in its general merits, and as it respected himself, rendered perfectly just by the sacriAce of as much property as was suDcient to pay the debt. It is enough to say that no British creditor, even where payment could not be alleged, has ever obtained more from the federal courts than Mr. JeCerson vol-
untarily paid.” The Aurora then silently resumed TJ’s text with the passage beginning “There was another claim.” John Marshall’s argument was in the case of Ware v. Hylton (Marshall, Papers, 3:414). u Preceding two words interlined. v The Aurora did not print this paragraph or the dateline below it. w Preceding seven words and period lacking in Aurora, probably due to a copying error. x Aurora: “consignees.” y Aurora: “Gen. Marshall.” qz Word interlined in place of “[slander].” qq Word lacking in Aurora. qr Text in Aurora ends here, with an exclamation point.
To James Monroe Mar. 26. 1800.
I thank you for the part of the ‘Communications from the states,’ which I recieved yesterday from you as I presume by the superscription of the letter; and will ask the residue (from page 48.) when it appears. a great impression made here of the Resolutions of the Virga legislature has been sold oC, and dispersed into the other states. I inclose you an amendmt proposed by W. C. Nicholas to the bill concerning disputed elections of Presidt. & V.P. it is supposedq it will be lost by about 17 to 13. mr Watson a Senator for N.Y. has resigned and it is said Gouvr. Morris will come in his place. the Exve are sending oC a vessel (a frigate) from N.Y. to France. the object has not transpired. some conjecture it has been occasioned by the correspondce between the govmts of France & England on the subject of peace.—A mr Irving from Boston has called on me several times, being introduced by a lre from mr Saml Adams who vouched for his republicanism; and I found him zealous in it & well informed. he knew you in Paris, & endeavored there to obtain from you a certiAcate or protection of some sort as an American citizen; which however you were not satisAed to give. he did not at all disapprove of your hesitation because he was sensible that under the then circumstances you might not be satisAed of his character. when he returned to England he published there your book with a spirited preface, in which < 461>
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he speaks of you in terms of great approbation. he sent you a copy of it, which he learns from his correspondent was conveyed to you; his view was to shew you that nothing remained on his mind unfavble to you: & he spoke of you to me in the highest terms. yet I percieved that your not having acknoleged the reciept of the book was felt by him. if from your own knolege & view of this subject you see no impropriety in dropping him a line, I think it would be very satisfactory to him, & that he is worthy of being satisAed.—I expect we shall rise in May. I shall go through the Eastern shore, by Norfolk & up the S. side of James river to Petsbg to Eppington, because the whole route will be through a country I have never yet seen. I say nothing of it to any body because I do not wish to beget ceremony anywhere; or have any thing to do with it. for the same reason I shall not call on you in Richmond, but go from Eppington the direct road home. besides my hatred of ceremony, I believe it better to avoid every occasion of the expression of sentiments which mightr drag me into the newspapers. I know that sometimes it is useful to furnish occasions for the Bame of public opinion to break out from time to time; & that that opinion strengthens & rallies numbers in that way. the federal party have made powerful use of this. yet I doubt whether we ought not to rest solely on the slow but sure progress of good sense & attachment to republicanism, & build our fabric on a basis which can never give way. this is most consonant to my own opinion, & especially to my dislike of being the Mannequin of a ceremony. I shall therefore avoid Richmond. if I were sure you could silence altogether the supposed devoirs of hospitality as well as all other friendly feelings, & see nothing but the abstract question, whether my view of the subject is not best for the public as well as myself I would ask your opinion, through the Arst conAdential conveyance. I should not have deliberated on it even in my own mind, but that my not paying a visit, when so near yourself & the city of Richmond, may be observed on by some.—a judiciary bill is before the H. of R. which will add from 80. to 100 thousand dollars a year to the expence of that department. accept assurances of my aCectionate esteem. Present the same to mrs Monroe. Adieu. RC (DLC: Monroe Papers); at foot of Arst page: “Govr. Monroe”; endorsed. PrC (DLC). Enclosure: see TJ to Madison, 25 Mch. 1800. communications from the states: see Monroe to TJ, 18 Mch. above. The great impression made here was James Carey’s printing of the Proceedings
of the Virginia Assembly (see TJ to John Dickinson, 7 Mch. 1800). As minister to France Monroe had declined to give a certificate that he characterized as a passport to George W. Erving, whose Loyalist parents had left the United States with their young son during the American Revolution. A London edition of Monroe’s book, A View of
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26 MAR CH 1800 the Conduct of the Executive, appeared in 1798. After receiving this letter from TJ Monroe wrote Erving a letter of apology, explaining that he had not acknowledged receiving the volume because political controversy since his return to the United States had caused him to cease corresponding with overseas acquaintances. In
1801 Monroe successfully urged TJ to appoint Erving to a diplomatic position (Monroe, Writings, 3:171-3; Ammon, Monroe, 190, 196-7; dab, 6:181). q TJ Arst wrote “we suppose.” r TJ Arst wrote “may.”
From James Monroe Dear Sir Richmond March 26. 1800 The sum I have been forc’d to advance on the subject of my last, will force me to draw on you for the portion chargeable to you. This draft will be for 300. dolrs. at ten days sight in favor of Jas. Hooe of alexa.—wh. if you cannot otherwise pay than by a draft on me beg you to make. From this particular item, I mentioned in my last a deduction of 30£ for so much paid to Mr. Kinney by you for me. But since which Chmpe: Carter has been here and made a claim on me & recd. money on that acct., which I thought had been fully satisAed by funds plac’d in yr. hands by the Trustees of the late Peter Marks. I only mention this for yr. information. It will be an object of easy adjustment when we meet. It is with regret I make this draft, nor wod. I on other condition than assuring you I will accept yours for the same sum sooner than it shall subject you to inconvenience. yr. friend & servt Jas. Monroe RC (MHi). my last: not the routine notice of transmittal dated 18 Mch., but Monroe to TJ, 4 Mch. 1800. On 31 Mch. Monroe wrote an order on
Wilson Cary Nicholas to pay James hooe the $300. The order, signed by Nicholas as accepted on 9 Apr. and endorsed by Hooe and others for eventual payment to John Lisle, Jr., is in TJ’s papers at MHi.
To William Short Dear Sir Philadelphia Mar. 26. 1800. I never learned till last night that our Executive are sending oC a vessel from New York for France, & that this morning’s post is the last which can reach her before her departure. I have therefore barely time to inform you that I am writing you a long letter containing a comprehensive view of all your aCairs here under my care. in the mean time I may shortly mention the single particular which has < 463>
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been the most doubtful: I mean the 9. Â. D. of this 4. Â. were recieved from the person who had misapplied it, and were invested in our new 8. per cents. the balance remaining in the hands of the government stands suDciently engaged by them to secure you, and I prevailed on them to invest it in the same funds, to be delivered to you on the decision of their suit against E.R. till which they will not deliver it up. I understand this will be decided this spring. they hold it on this single condition ‘that if he proves he was regularly your agent, not merely theirs, they will not be bound to pay it.’ I have in due time laid before them every thing you had communicated to me looking like an authorization from you to E.R. and I have obtained a written declaration from the Secretary of state, on view of all that, that they consider the government as liable to you for the moneyq unless something more full & express be produced by him at the trial. I have also obtained an acquiescence at least, and almost an agreement, that interest is to be allowed in this case, though not the practice of the treasury to allow it. I think it conceded on the circumstances of this case. as to this & every thing else I shall write you fully by a Bag ship which is to leave this place for France some time next month under passports.—Having for several years past come to this place every winter I have regularly written to you while here & before my return home in the spring; except the last year. I sat down then as usual to give you an account of your aCairs; but when I came to review your letters, I found that in various instances respecting those in the hands of others, I did not possess full information. instead of writing to you therefore, I wrote to them, & expected to obtain their answers in time to write to you immediately on my return home. their answers not arriving, yet constantly expected at Short date, run oC the Summer, till my return to this place was approaching, and Anally prevented my annual statement. I shall commit it to some sure person among those who are to go with the Bag. I have never seen mr Gerry, nor had any information from him. he is proposed as Governor of Massachusets & under good auspices. mr GriDths called on me with your letter; but I reserve acknolegements of these to my next. your brother is to attend to your Western lands, & to Colo. Skipwith’s matter. no doubt he informs you of these in the inclosed letter to you. I commit to you two others. the one from a French family settled in my neighborhood; the other from Anthony Giannini whom you know. they both rely on me to convey their letters, & I must ask the favor of you to And some channel. tho’ our quadrennial election is still 9. months distant, the public mind begins already to be agitated. the campaign of slander is opening & it’s batteries beginning to play on the two objects of the < 464>
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public wishes. defamation has been carried in our papers to so licentious and revolting a length, that it has lost all it’s eCect. it does not even give pain to those at whom it is levelled. it is in truth now only a contest of principler whether the Executive or the legislature shall be strengthened? no mortal can foresee in favor of which party the election will go. there is one supreme consolation. that our people have so innate a spirit of order & obedience to the law, so religious an acquiescence in the will of the majority, and deep conviction of the fundamental importance of the principle that the will of the majority ought to be submitted to the minority, that a majority of a single vote, as at the last election, produces as absolute & quiet a submission as an unanimous vote. but on politics I must not write. present me respectfully to your amiable friend and accept assurances of my constant & aCectionate friendship and Attachment. Adieu. Th: Jefferson P.S. la Connoissance des tems for the year, and indeed as far forward as it is published, will always be a most acceptable annual communication to me. RC (ViW); at foot of Arst page: “Mr. Short”; endorsement by Short, partially obscured, reads in part: “[. . .] [Ports]mouth, directed to the care of Mr. F. Skip—but was inclosed in the despatches to the Amer. Envoys, & given to me by Mr Davie.” PrC (PWacD: Feinstone Collection, on deposit PPAmP); lacks postscript; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosures not found. writing you a long letter: see TJ to Short, 13 Apr. 1800. Sometime after 5 June 1799 TJ made and conveyed to Short the following extract of a report on the status of the federal suit against Edmund Randolph: “Extract of a letter from Thos. Nelson esq. Atty of the US. in Virga to the Secretary & Comptroller of the treasury dated June 5. 99. “‘Judge Cushing who pronounced the opinion [for a continuance] declared that the court diCered upon some points and agreed in others: that they diCered as to the credit of 9000. D. claimed through mr Short; that judge GriDn considered mr Randolph as an agent of mr Short, and answerable to him only; that he himself did not, that he considered him alto-
gether as the oDcer of the US. throughout the whole transaction; that not having done what such an oDcer ought to have done, he was still accountable to the US. at the trial mr Randolph endeavored to support this credit by shewing that he had assigned a judgment to mr JeCerson as the agent of mr Short, and that he had made a paiment of £500. Virginia currency, part of the same judgment, which payment was made to a person in this city on the 21st. day of the last month, the day immediately preceding the day on which the court commenced it’s term. Judge Cushing thought that this did not support the credit’” (MS in DLC: Short Papers, entirely in TJ’s hand, including brackets). The judges were William Cushing, associate justice of the Supreme Court, and Cyrus GriDn of the U.S. district court (anb, 5:918-19, 9:590). For the declaration from the secretary of state, see Timothy Pickering to TJ, 25 Feb. 1799. The flag ship or parlementaire that would sail under a Bag of truce to return captured French sailors to their home country was the Benjamin Franklin. The vessel, which did not depart Philadelphia for Bordeaux until May, had made a sim-
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26 MAR CH 1800 ilar voyage under safe-conduct protection two years earlier (Philadelphia Aurora, 19 Apr. 1800; ndqw, Jan.-May 1800, 543; Vol. 30:361n, 380n; TJ to Short, 13 Apr.; Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours to TJ, 21 Apr.; Short to TJ, 6 Aug. 1800). mr griffiths: Thomas Waters Griffith (see Short to TJ, 2 July 1799). amiable friend: the Duchesse de La Rochefoucauld. The French Bureau des Longitudes published astronomical, navigational, and meteorological information annually in the Connaissance des tems (later des
temps), Arst issued in the seventeenth century. TJ, who valued it for its reports of astronomical discoveries, purchased some volumes in France in the 1780s and tried to stay current with the publication after his return to the U.S. (Pierre Larousse, Grand Dictionnaire Universel du XIXe Siècle, 28 vols. [Paris, 1866-76; repr., 1990], 6:950; Sowerby, No. 3808; Vol. 28:359). q Remainder of sentence interlined. r TJ here canceled “whether we shall [have a slave].”
From William Duane Sir, Aurora ODce March 27 1800 I beg you to lay before the Senate this acknowlegement of my having received an authenticated copy of the resolution of Monday last in my case. Copies of those resolutions I transmitted to Messrs. Dallas and Cooper, my intended counsel, soliciting their professional aid. A copy of my letter to each of those Gentlemen is enclosed, marked (A). Their answers I have also the pleasure to enclose, marked (B) and (C). I And myself in consequence of those answers deprived of all professional assistance, under the restrictions which the Senate have thought At to adopt. I therefore think myself bound by the most sacred duties to decline any further voluntary attendance upon that body, and leave them to pursue such measures in this case as in their wisdom they may deem meet. I am, Sir, With perfect respect Wm. Duane RC (DNA: RG 46, Senate Records, 6th Cong., 1st sess.); addressed: “To the President of the Senate”; endorsed by clerk. Not recorded in SJL. Enclosures: (1) Duane to Alexander J. Dallas, [25] Mch. 1800, with notation that a similar letter was addressed to Thomas Cooper (Tr in DNA: RG 46, Senate Records, 6th Cong., 1st sess.). (2) Dallas to Duane, 25 Mch. 1800 (RC in same). (3) Cooper to Duane, 25 Mch. 1800 (RC in same). Duane’s communications with dallas
and cooper enclosed a copy of the resolution passed by the Senate on 24 Mch. and requested that the two men appear as his counsel. Duane noted that it was not from a conviction that the Senate possessed the “constitutional authority to order my attendance” that he appeared before them, “but from a sense of delicacy towards a branch of the legislature” that he would not want to disrespect. Both Dallas and Cooper declined to serve. Dallas argued that he could not “consent to act as Counsel, under so limited an au-
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27 MAR CH 1800 thority,” and that accompanying Duane to the Senate would be “degrading to the profession, as well as to myself.” Cooper was even more adamant that he would not attend the Senate with “their Gag in my Mouth.” “Where rights are undeAned,” Cooper warned, “and power is unlimited—where the Freedom of the Press is actually attacked, under whatever Intention of curbing its Licentiousness, the melancholy Period cannot be far distant, when the Citizen will be converted into a Subject.” Duane published the two letters in the Aurora of 27 Mch.
Duane not only declined any further voluntary attendance, but went into hiding. On 27 Mch., TJ, as president of the Senate, signed the warrant for the editor’s arrest on the charge of contempt of the Senate. On the following day Duane announced in the Aurora that readers could still reach him by writing under seal to the newspaper’s oDce, although he hid well enough until the adjournment of Congress to avoid the Senate’s process server (Annals, 10:121-4; Smith, Freedom’s Fetters, 297-300).
From George Jefferson Dear Sir Richmond 27th. March 1800 I have duly received your favor of the 20th. inclosing $:470– on account of Mr. Randolph; which with the two sums of which I have heretofore acknowledged the receipt, make $:1870– being within a triBe of the sum I advanced for him to Mr. Pickett. I am Dear Sir Your Very humble servt. Geo. Jefferson RC (MHi); at foot of text: “Thos. Jefferson esqr. Philada.”; endorsed by TJ as received 3 Apr. and so recorded in SJL. In missives of 18 and 20 Mch., George JeCerson acknowledged the receipt of $1,000 and $400 sent by TJ on 11 and
13 Mch., respectively (RCs in MHi; the Arst endorsed by TJ as received 25 Mch. and so recorded in SJL; the second mistakenly endorsed by TJ as a letter of “21,” not 20 Mch., received on the 29th, and so recorded in SJL).
Notes on a Conversation with Hugh Henry Brackenridge Mar. 27. Judge Breckenridge gives me the following informn. he and mr Ross were originally very intimate; indeed he says he found him keeping a little Latin school, and advised & aided him in the study of the law & brought him forward. after Ross became a Senator and particularly at the time of the Western insurrection they still were in concert. after the British treaty Ross, on his return, informed him there was a party in the US. who wanted to overturn the govmt, who were in league with France, that France, by a secret article of treaty with Spain was to have Louisiana; and that Gr. Brit. was likely < 467>
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to be our best friend & dependce. on this informn he Breckenridge was induced to become an advocate for the British treaty. during this intimacy with Ross he says that Genl. Collot in his journey to the Western country called on him, & frequently, that he led Breckenridge into conversns on their grievances under the govmt & particularly the Western expedn, that he spoke to him of the advges that country would have in joining France when she should hold Louisiana, showed him a map he had drawn of that part of the country, pointed out the passes in the mountain & the facility with which they might hold them against the US. & with which France could support them from N. Orleans. he says that in these conversns Collot let himself out without common prudence. he says Michaud (to whom I at the request of Genet, had given a letter of intrdn to the Govr. of Kentucky as a botanist, which was his real profession) called on him; that Michaud had a commissary’s commission for the expedn which Genet had planned from that quarter against the Spaniards; that the late Spanish commandant of St. Genevieve with one Powers an Englishman called on him. that from all these circumstances together with Ross’s stories he did believe that there was a conspiracy to deliver our country or some part of it at least to the French. that he made notes of what passed between himself & Collot and the others, and lent them to mr Ross, who gave them to the President by whom they were deposited in the oDce of the board of war. that when he complained to Ross of this breach of conAdence, he endeavored to get oC by compliments on the utility & importance of his notes. they now cooled towards each other, & his opposn to Ross’s election as governor has separated them in truth tho’ not entirely to appearance. MS (DLC: TJ Papers, 108:18559); entirely in TJ’s hand; on same sheet as Notes on a Conversation with Perez Morton, 24 Mch. 1800. Hugh Henry Brackenridge (17481816) attended college at Princeton, where he was a contemporary of James Madison and Philip Freneau. He continued his studies with the intention of entering the Presbyterian ministry, but decided instead to read law under Samuel Chase in Maryland. He then established himself as an attorney in Pittsburgh. Thomas McKean, whom Brackenridge had supported for the governorship against James Ross, appointed him to the
Pennsylvania Supreme Court in December 1799. Moving from Pittsburgh to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in 1801, Brackenridge remained on the bench for the rest of his life. He was also a journalist and an author. His best-known writings are Incidents of the Insurrection in the Western Parts of Pennsylvania, in the Year 1794 (Philadelphia, 1795) and a novel, Modern Chivalry, the Arst part of which appeared in 1792, that provided vignettes of society and politics along the frontier (anb; Claude Milton Newlin, The Life and Writings of Hugh Henry Brackenridge [Princeton, 1932], 207-13). James Ross, fourteen years younger than Brackenridge, taught latin and
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27 MAR CH 1800 Greek at an academy in western Pennsylvania before undertaking the study of the law in Philadelphia. During the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794 both Ross and Brackenridge attempted to maintain credibility with the people of western Pennsylvania, although Ross, who had strong professional and political ties to Federalists, was named to the commission representing the U.S. government, whereas for a time the Washington administration suspected Brackenridge of complicity with rebellion (anb, 18:91416; Newlin, Brackenridge, 147, 155-6; Daniel Marder, ed., A Hugh Henry Brackenridge Reader, 1770-1815 [Pittsburgh, 1970], 290, 295). A professional soldier, Georges Henri Victor collot served with Rochambeau during the American Revolution and was chargé of the French mission in the U.S., 1789-90. Appointed governor of Guadeloupe, 1792-94, after surrendering the island to the British he was paroled to Philadelphia, where in 1796 Pierre Auguste Adet called on him to make a journey of observation, its actual purpose kept secret, down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Collot made extensive maps and notes along the way and studied American and Spanish military posts, developing a plan for French seizure of the
western country that included holding the passes through the Allegheny Mountains (George W. Kyte, “A Spy on the Western Waters: The Military Intelligence Mission of General Collot in 1796,” mvhr, 34 [1947], 427-42; Dictionnaire, 9:307-8). letter of intrdn to the govr. of kentucky: TJ to Isaac Shelby, 28 June 1793. For André Michaux’s role in Edmond Charles Genet’s proposed expedition to seize Louisiana, see also Vol. 25:75-84 and Vol. 26:438-9. The former spanish commandant of the Mississippi River post at Ste. genevieve was Henri Peyroux de la Coudrèniere; see TJ’s letter to him of 21 June 1796. one powers: Thomas Power, who in 179597 as the agent of the Baron de Carondolet, Spanish governor at New Orleans, gathered intelligence and made preparations for a plan to separate Kentucky and the adjacent region from the United States (James Ripley Jacobs, Tarnished Warrior: Major-General James Wilkinson [New York, 1938], 150-2, 160, 163-6; Daniel Clark, Proofs of the Corruption of Gen. James Wilkinson, and of his Connexion with Aaron Burr [Philadelphia, 1809; repr., 1971], “Notes,” 15-16, 33-8, 66-74, 80-8, 106-7).
Notes on a Conversation with Benjamin Rush [27 Mch. 1800 or after]
Dr. Rush tells me that within a few days he has heard a member of Congress lament our separation from Gr. Brit. & express his sincere wishes that we were again dependant on her. MS (DLC: TJ Papers, 108:18559); entirely in TJ’s hand; on same sheet as the preceding document, and is the Anal notation on that page.
On 24 Feb. 1800 TJ received a letter of unspeciAed date from Rush that is recorded in SJL but has not been found.
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From Littleton W. Tazewell dear sir; Kings-mill March 29th. 1800. I have no occasion to say to you any thing more relative to the payments of the several instalments of Mr. Wayles’s debt due to Mr. Welch’s house—Your conduct as to this aCair has been such as I expected, & for his sake I could wish the other creditors could feel the same sentiments which have actuated you—For myself I have to repeat that whenever your convenience will permit it, without injury, the payment will be expected—Until then it ought not to be asked, & when this period shall arrive to you I know a request will not be necessary— I And among Mr. Welch’s papers an open account against you for the sum of £87– 4– Sterling due on the 17th. Novr. 1774—I know not whether this claim against you individually, was taken into account at the settlement of Mr. Wayles’s debt with Colo. Skipwith, Mr. Eppes & yourself—I have too some faint recollection, that the former agent mention’d to me a payment had been made by you to old Mr. Welsh directly, but whether that payment was partial or in full, or under what circumstances it was made I know not—Will you therefore be so good sir as to inform me on these points for my own satisfaction & justiAcation? Was this account included in your bonds? Have you not paid while in Europe the whole or what part of this claim? Excuse these inquiries if you please, but my situation is such as compels me to make them—. I cannot forbear the expression of my thanks to you for the inclosure you sent. well indeed is it “worth perusing”—I have to regret only that some of the subjects are not discussed in a style and manner which would be better Atted to the capacities of the bulk of the people, for surely it is of the last importance that subjects in which every member of society is so immediately interested should be treated if possible so plainly as to be generally understood & yet so brieBy as to be easily remember’d—The author altho’ he has been aware of this truth, & has written in a manner less exceptionable in this respect than most of the writers of this class, has not yet I think attained the object which is so much to be desired—Perhaps, however, the nature of the subject itself does not permit it—His eCorts however are laudable & deserve the thanks of the community—. I have seen the bankrupt law as it has passed the house of Representatives—To the people of the Southern states it gives a stab of which they are yet unconscious—Here where there are few or no < 470>
29 MAR CH 1800
banks, where the population is thin, the wants of the people limited & chieBy supplied within themselves, property which is certainly to be sold never commands its value, the scarcity too of money added to other causes, places the debtor almost at any time completely in the power of his creditor, even under that system which our own legislature has provided & which in many respects considers the situation of the debtor such as I have described it, but the bankrupt law whilst it strips him of these advantages adds also to the unfortunate causes that drag the honest & even wealthy man to ruin—Who too it may be well asked are those creditors who deserve at our hands such favors, & who the debtors whose conduct merits such punishment! The former generally foreigners, merchants, speculators, the latter the honest yeomanry of the Country, plants of its own produce, nurtured entirely by its own soil, & attached to it by every cause that nature can create—Protection to Commerce & Speculation—& destruction to Agriculture & Industry however have long been the orders of the day—In the construction of this law I do suppose (whatever its advocates may say) but one opinion can be held, when you use almost the same words with the British Statute, you must have used them with the same intent, what that intent was, & how comprehensive the words are, the British Judges have long & often Axed, with this law & these decisions before the Legislature at the time it passed, who can doubt what must have been their object—Perhaps however even this act pernicious as its consequences will be may be ultimately beneAcial, the cup of forbearance was almost full “this crowns its utmost brim.” The people will soon (in spite of the loans intended to lull them into rest) feel the oppression of enormous taxation, when strip’d by the tax-gatherer almost to nakedness—a creditor comes in & robs them of their all under a bankrupt law, they must murmur against the authors of their misfortunes, & a Sedition Law punishes them for their audacity—They will not reason, & ill they feel, but ill besides the punisher when the stripes began to [show]. Pardon I beseech you sir this long letter, it has grown unknowingly & unintentionally, I will not add to its tediousness by an apology, but trust it rather to your goodness. With much esteem & respect I am your mo: obedt. servt. Littn: W Tazewell RC (MHi); torn at seal; addressed: “Thomas JeCerson esq: Philadelphia”; franked; endorsed by TJ as received 8 Apr. and so recorded in SJL.
open account against you: for the private debt TJ owed Wakelin Welch, see Welch to TJ, 22 Aug. 1796, and enclosure. former agent: John Wick-
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29 MAR CH 1800 ham. inclosure you sent: see TJ to Tazewell, 17 Mch. 1800. Philadelphia newspapers published the 63 sections of the bankrupt law shortly after it
passed the House of Representatives (Philadelphia Aurora, 26 Feb.; Philadelphia Gazette, 28 Feb. 1800).
From Bishop James Madison Dear Sir, March 30h. 1800 Williamsburg I mentioned in a former Letter, that a Meeting of the Visitors of this College was expec[ted] on the 25h. Inst. & that I would communicate to them Mr. Smith’s Proposition; or rather, your Recommenda[tion] of that Gentleman.—A Meeting was obtained, but Not[hing] of Consequence was done. Some preparatory Steps we[re] taken for a full Discussion of collegiate Business, [on] the 4h. of July. I have no Doubt of a Meeting on that Day as the new Elections were conAned to the Neighbourho[od,] but I fear, the Funds of this College, unless the Gramm[ar] School should be once more abolished, which I do not expect, will not permit us to indulge the Hope of a Revival of the chymical Professorship. I wish most sincerely for the Removal of every Obstacle; but it seems easier to move Mountain[s] than to eradicate old Prejudices. They seem, like [the] Stone of Sysiphus, to be eternally tumbling back upon us.— I am greatly obliged to you for forwarding Dr. Preistley’s Book, which arrived sooner than I expected.—It contains no small Portion of Learning, & Ingenuity.—I am, Dr Sir with sincerest Sentiments of Respect & Esteem— Yr Friend & Sert. J Madison RC (DLC); edge frayed; endorsed by TJ as received 10 Apr. and so recorded in SJL. former letter: Bishop Madison to TJ, 17 Jan. 1800. The Board of visitors of the College of William and Mary, which with the exception of one person
seated in 1794 had taken on no new members since 1792, reconstituted itself in 1800 with 13 new members, all from towns and counties in the vicinity of Williamsburg (The History of the College of William and Mary (Including the General Catalogue) from its Foundation, 1660, to 1874 [Richmond, 1874], 77).
To Thomas Mann Randolph Dear Sir Philadelphia Mar. 31. 1800. Your’s of the 22d. came to hand by last post. the dates of my late letters to you have been of the 4th. 7th. 9th. 11th. the last only of these is < 472>
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acknoleged in yours, on which day I sent on 1000. D. to mr JeCerson. on the 13th. I inclosed him 400. D. and on the 19th. 470. D. making up the whole sum of 1870. D. of the two Arst sums I have recieved his acknolegement, & expect the last. the amount of your tobacco instalments as they come in will replace this, & any diCerence of amount may enter into account between us. what is mentioned to me in your letter & Richardson’s of the state of Ursula is remarkeable. the symptoms & progress of her disease are well worthy attention. that a whole family should go oC in the same & so singular a way is a problem of diDculty. I have not heard from Maria since your letter of the 12th. I hope from this silence that her friends are at ease for her situation. from your silence about Martha & the little ones I presume she is with her sister. the H. of R. have proposed the 1st. Monday of May for adjournment, & I rather expect the Senate will agree to it. I am sure the business may be got through if they desire it. we know nothing certain of our envoys. the Executive is dispatching a frigate to them. but for what purpose is not said. you will have seen the correspondence between Buonaparte & Grenville. there is reason to believe this was known to some here before it was to the public, & further that Grenville had notiAed mr King that Gr. Br. was determined to consider all neutrals as enemies. if so, & we are to be in the war, I hope we shall not permit it to cost us one dollar. give license to our privateers, & mind our business at home as usual, keeping strict account of the depredations made on us, & never opening commerce with Gr. Br. again till she pays up the whole. we have no other news from Europe. the December & January packets are not yet arrived. they are expected to bring the great mass of the protested bills occasioned by the failures at Hamburg. I expect my next will convey directions for my horses to meet me at Eppington. accept assurances of my sincere aCection. Th: Jefferson RC (DLC); at foot of text: “T M Randolph”; endorsed by Randolph as received 8 Apr. PrC (MHi); endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. last post: Randolph’s letter of 22 Mch., recorded in SJL as received a week later, has not been found. Randolph’s preceding letter of 12 Mch., recorded in SJL as received on 19 Mch., is also missing. For acknowledgment by George jefferson of the sums sent by TJ, see his letter of 27 Mch. 1800. For the record of Richard richardson’s
missing letter, see the following document. correspondence between buonaparte & grenville: in his extension of a peace overture on 25 Dec. 1799, Bonaparte corresponded directly with King George III (see Joseph Barnes to TJ, 4 Mch. 1800). Bonaparte’s correspondence was enclosed in a letter from Talleyrand to Foreign Secretary Grenville, who directed the response through Talleyrand on 4 Jan. 1800. The correspondence was published in the Philadelphia Gazette on 21 Mch. and repeated the next day with
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31 MAR CH 1800 commentary; on the 31st the newspaper published further correspondence between Talleyrand and Grenville. The Au-
rora printed the letters without comment on 22 Mch.
To Richard Richardson Dear Sir Philadelphia Mar. 31. 1800. In your’s of the 21st. you acknolege mine of Feb. 17. since that I wrote to you on the 16th. and 25th. inst: the last was merely to inform you of the departure of a box of plants and 4. casks of plaister of Paris. I would have Fagg’s plank immediately sorted by mr Perry. what is At for Booring to be kiln-dried directly, that not At for it to be spread by way of Boor in the loft of the dwelling house. mr Perry should proceed with the Boors the moment the plank is dry. this matter requires pressing attention.q by this time I expect my bacon will be coming to Columbia. you should be on the lookout & have it brought home the moment it arrives there. Congress propose to rise the Arst Monday in May; so that I expect by the next post to send you directions for my horses to go to Eppington to meet me. in the mean time they should be got into order as much as possible. I wish you to engage Davy Bowles to go with them to meet me. he lives in Milton with mr Anderson I believe, who had agreed to indulge him when I came from home to come with me to Fredericksburg if Jupiter had not come. hence I presume it not disagreeable to mr Anderson. otherwise I would not have it proposed; but some other person looked out for. the nail rod is all arrived at Richmond from Monticello. I would not have you delay plaistering the rooms for the plaister of Paris. especially my room which must be ready by the time I get home. tho’ I suppose the plaister will arrive in Richmond certainly in the course of this present week. I am Sir Your humble servt Th: Jefferson P.S. I was in hopes to have recieved before this mr Lewis’s survey of mr Short’s farms as mentioned in a former letter to you. RC (Thomas JeCerson Memorial Foundation photostat, on deposit ViU); at foot of text: “Mr. Richard Richardson.” in your’s: letters from Richardson of 7 and 21 Mch., recorded in SJL as received 15 and 29 Mch., respectively, have not been found. According to SJL TJ wrote Richardson on 16, 18, and 25
Mch., all now missing. TJ recorded in SJL that his 18 Mch. letter concerned plants. On 26 Mch. TJ wrote George JeCerson a note “to cover a bill of lading for the box of plants and 4. casks of Plaister of Paris,” requesting that they be forwarded “without delay.” The bill of lading has not been found (PrC in MHi; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso).
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4 APRIL 1800 Reuben perry began working as a carpenter at Monticello in April 1799 (mb, 2:1000). A letter from TJ to David anderson of 11 Feb. 1800, recorded in SJL, has not been found. In 1800 Anderson repre-
sented Brown, Rives & Co. in Milton (Woods, Albemarle, 139). former letter to you: TJ to Richardson, 17 Feb. 1800. q Preceding sentence interlined.
From David Campbell Campbella near Knoxville
Honourable Sir, Apl. 2d. 1800 Your favour of the fourteenth of March came safe to hand. I will, with great pleasure comply with your request. The undertaking is highly gratifying to me in two points of view, Arst that it has put it in my power to oblige a man, whose character I have long admired above all others in the world; and for whose person I have the truest friendship. Secondly that the completion of your object will be of public utility. That you may live long, and continue to be supereminently useful to mankind is the fervent wish of your sincere friend And very Hbl. Servt. David Campbell RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ as received 17 Apr. and so recorded in SJL.
To Peter Carr Th:J. to P. Carr Philadelphia Apr. 4. 1800. Mr. Ross’s Kitt setting out for Charlottesville where he has a cause to be tried with James Ross, and apprehending personal danger from him, has asked me to interest some person to ensure him the protection of the laws. I assured him every one would see that protection extended to him, however as he intreated it, I promised to write to yourself, mr Randolph & Colo. Bell to have an eye to him. he furnishes me an earlier occasion of writing to you than the post. Capt Barry in the frigate US. arrived last night from Corunna. our envoys landed Nov. 27. at Lisbon, from whence their Secretaries proceeded by land to Paris. the principals reimbarked Dec. 21. for Lorient but after long beating against contrary winds in the bay of Biscay, they landed at Corunnã Jan. 11. & sent a courier to Paris for their passports. they proceeded to Burgos & there recieved their passports from Paris with a letter from Taleyrand, expressing a desire < 475>
4 APRIL 1800 Reuben perry began working as a carpenter at Monticello in April 1799 (mb, 2:1000). A letter from TJ to David anderson of 11 Feb. 1800, recorded in SJL, has not been found. In 1800 Anderson repre-
sented Brown, Rives & Co. in Milton (Woods, Albemarle, 139). former letter to you: TJ to Richardson, 17 Feb. 1800. q Preceding sentence interlined.
From David Campbell Campbella near Knoxville
Honourable Sir, Apl. 2d. 1800 Your favour of the fourteenth of March came safe to hand. I will, with great pleasure comply with your request. The undertaking is highly gratifying to me in two points of view, Arst that it has put it in my power to oblige a man, whose character I have long admired above all others in the world; and for whose person I have the truest friendship. Secondly that the completion of your object will be of public utility. That you may live long, and continue to be supereminently useful to mankind is the fervent wish of your sincere friend And very Hbl. Servt. David Campbell RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ as received 17 Apr. and so recorded in SJL.
To Peter Carr Th:J. to P. Carr Philadelphia Apr. 4. 1800. Mr. Ross’s Kitt setting out for Charlottesville where he has a cause to be tried with James Ross, and apprehending personal danger from him, has asked me to interest some person to ensure him the protection of the laws. I assured him every one would see that protection extended to him, however as he intreated it, I promised to write to yourself, mr Randolph & Colo. Bell to have an eye to him. he furnishes me an earlier occasion of writing to you than the post. Capt Barry in the frigate US. arrived last night from Corunna. our envoys landed Nov. 27. at Lisbon, from whence their Secretaries proceeded by land to Paris. the principals reimbarked Dec. 21. for Lorient but after long beating against contrary winds in the bay of Biscay, they landed at Corunnã Jan. 11. & sent a courier to Paris for their passports. they proceeded to Burgos & there recieved their passports from Paris with a letter from Taleyrand, expressing a desire < 475>
4 APRIL 1800
to see them at Paris, & assuring them that the form of their credentials, addressed to the Directory would be no obstacle to their negociation. Murray & the Secretaries wereq already at Paris. the letters from our envoys to the Executive brought by capt. Barry are dated at Burgos Feb. 10. they would have about 800. miles to Paris, where they will have arrived probably about the 1st. of March, & by the 1st. week of May we may expect to hear of their reception. the frigate Portsmouth is about sailing from N.Y. to France. the object a secret.— the Senate yesterday rejected mr Pinckney’s bill against appointing judges to any other oDces; & to-day they have rejected a bill from the H. of R. which forbade the presence of troops at an election on the day of any election. you have seen the warrant against Duane. he has not yet been found. I think we shall rise about the 1st. or 2d. week of May. I shall stay to the last hour.— being pressed by the departure of the bearer I refer Colo. Bell to you for the news, and I pray you to communicate it also to Colo. Nich. Lewis with my aCectionate respects. I presume you will recieve it at Court & can communicate it readily. my aCectionate respects to mrs Carr. her brother & mr W. C. Nicholas are here & well. salutations of esteem & attachment to yourself. Adieu. RC (MdAN); at foot of text: “P. Carr.” PrC (DLC); endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. mr. ross’s kitt: Christopher McPherson, son of Clarinda, a slave in Louisa County, and Charles McPherson, a Scottish merchant. Purchased by David Ross, the young slave obtained several years of schooling. In the late 1770s he served as Ross’s clerk and in 1782 accompanied him to Fluvanna County where he supervised Ross’s store. In 1792 Ross signed and Aled a deed of emancipation for McPherson, noting that the document legalized what long before had taken place. McPherson remained in Fluvanna County until 1799 when a religious experience and diDculties with Ross’s family led him Arst to Norfolk and then, by late November, to Philadelphia, where he obtained a position as an enrolling clerk in the House of Representatives. During this time, McPherson shared his belief in millennial prophecies in letters to John Adams, George Washington, Wilson Cary Nicholas, and Stevens Thomson Mason. Upon his return to Virginia in
1800, McPherson served brieBy as William W. Hening’s clerk in Charlottesville and then as clerk of Virginia’s High Court of Chancery in Richmond. When Ross’s brother James died in June 1800, McPherson served as an executor of the estate (Edmund Berkeley, Jr., “Prophet without Honor: Christopher McPherson, Free Person of Color,” vmhb, 77 [1969], 180-90; McPherson to Adams, 27 Nov. 1799, and McPherson to Nicholas and Mason, 28 Jan. 1800, in MHi: Adams Papers). The cause to be tried in the district court at Charlottesville concerned McPherson’s suit against James D. Ross, son of David Ross, for damages sustained when he was driven from his property in 1799, including an allowance for the “crop that was growing and about to be pitched.” McPherson also brought an indictment against Ross in Fluvanna County Court for lost wages and expenses incurred when he was forced to Bee. Ross was present at the courthouse on 27 May 1800 when McPherson proposed a settlement, by which Ross would admit “that misrepresentation had Caused him to act in an
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4 APRIL 1800 error,” leading McPherson to be “discarded” by Ross’s father. In consequence McPherson had “found it absolutely necessary for his safety” to leave. But now “heat & passion” would give way to “Cool & deliberate reason & Justice.” McPherson wanted Ross to post a bond or security to ensure that the family would not attack him over “past matters.” On the same day Ross signed an agreement promising to inBuence his father to pay some of the expenses incurred (the amount later determined to be $1,000) and himself to pay another $1,000, giving property as collateral. McPherson signed the agreement, and it was witnessed by three persons. After James D. Ross’s death in 1801 McPherson brought suit against William Pasteur, administrator of the estate, claiming he had not received the $2,000. The suit was brought before the Albemarle County Court at Charlottesville, with the documents of 27 May 1800 submitted as evidence. In 1806 judgment was found for the defendent (MSS in Albemarle County Court Records: Judgments, 1806, at Library of Virginia, Richmond; Fluvanna County Will Book, No. 1, 1777-1808, Fluvanna Court House, Palmyra, Va.). A letter from
McPherson (Macpherson) to TJ dated 3 Apr., recorded in SJL as received the same day, has not been found. A letter from TJ to Thomas bell of 4 Apr. is recorded in SJL but has not been found. On 4 Apr. the Philadelphia Gazette reported the arrival of the frigate United States, commanded by John barry, carrying dispatches from Davie and Ellsworth and news of the mission. Talleyrand forwarded the passports from paris in his letter to Ellsworth and Davie of 30 Jan. 1800, which arrived in Burgos on 9 Feb. (asp, Foreign Relations, 2:3078). letters from our envoys to the executive: Davie and Ellsworth to Pickering, 10 Feb. (same, 2:308). TJ noted the progress of the bill passed by the House which forbade the presence of troops at an election from its Arst reading in the Senate on 14 Mch. to its rejection by that body on 4 Apr., by a 17 to 12 vote (“An Act To prevent the interference of any military force in certain elections” in DNA: RG 46, Senate Records, 6th Cong., 1st sess.; jhr, 3:626; js, 3:48-9, 57, 63-4, 67). q TJ Arst wrote “Murray was.”
Deposition of John Gibson Allegeney County ss. State Pensa.
Before me the Subscriber a justice of the Peace in and for said County, personally appeared John Gibson Esqr. an associate Judge of same County, who Being duly sworn deposeth and Saith that he traded with the Shawanese and other tribes of Indians then setled on the Siota in the year 1773, and in the Beginning of the year 1774, and that in the Month of April of the same year, he left the same Indian towns, and came to this place, in order to procure some goods, and provisions, that he remained here only a few days, and then set out in Company with a Certain Alexd. Blaine and Mat.q Elliot by water to return to the towns on Siota, and that one Evening as they were drifting in their Cannoes near to the Long Reach on the Ohio, they were hailed by a number of White Men on the South West Shore, who requested them to put a Shore as they had disagreeable News to Inform < 477>
4 APRIL 1800
them of, that we then Landed on Shore and found amongst the party, a Major Angus Mac. Donald from Winchester, a Doctor Woods from same Place, and a party as they said of 150 Men, we then asked the News, they informed us that some of the Party who had Been taken up, and Improving Lands near the Big Konhawa river, had seen another party of white Men, who informed them that they and some others had fell in with a party of Shawnese who had Been hunting on the South west side of the Ohio, that they had Killed the whole of the Indian party and that the others had gone across the Country to Cheat River with the horses and plunder, the Consequence of which they Apprehended would be an Indian War, and that they were Bying away. On Making Enquiry of them when this murder shoud have happened, we found that it must have Been some considerable time Before we left the Indian towns, and that there was not the Smallest foundation for the Report, as there was not a Single Man of the Shawnese, But what returned from Hunting long Before this shoud have happened. We then informed them that if they woud agree to remain at the place we then were, one of us woud goe to Hock Hockung river with some of their party, where we shoud And some of our People making Cannoes, and that if we did not And them there, we might Conclude that every thing was not right, Doctor Wood and another person then proposed going with me, the rest of the party seemed to agree, But said they woud send and Consult Capt. Cressap who was about two Miles from that Place, they sent of for him, and during the grea[. . .] part of the Night they Behaved in the Most disorderly Manner threatning to Kill us, and Saying the damned traders were worse than the Indians and ought to be Killed. In the Morning Capt. Michael Cressap came to the Camp, I then gave him the Informat[ion] as above related, they then met in Council, and after an hour or more Capt. Cressap, returned to me and informed that he coud [not] prevail on them to adopt the proposal I had made to them, that as he had a great regard for Capt. R. Callender a Brother in Law of Mine with whom I was connected in trade, he advised me by no means to think of Proceeding any further, as he was convinced the present party woud fall on and Kill every Indian they met [on the] River; that for his part he shoud not Continue with them, But go right across the Country to Red Stone to avoid the Consequences—that we ther proceeded to Hockung and went up the same to the Cannoe Place where we found our people at Work and after some days we proceeded to the towns on Siota by Land on our arrival there, we heard of the difts Murders committed by the Party on their way up the Ohio. < 478>
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This Deponent further saith that in the Year 1774, he accompanied Lord Dunmore on the Expedition against the Shawnese and other Indians on the Siota, that on their Arrival within 15 Miles of the towns, they were met by a Flag, and a White Man of the name of Elliot, who informed Lord Dunmore, that they Chiefs of the Shawnese had sent to Request his Lordship to halt his army and send in some person, who understood their Language, that this Deponent at the Request of Lord Dunmore and the whole of the ODcers with him went in, that on his arrival at the towns, Logan the Indian came to where this deponent was Sitting with the Corn Stalk and the other Chiefs of the Shawnese, and asked him to walk out with him, that they went into a Copse of Woods, where they Sat down, when Logan after shedding abundance of tears, delivered to him the Speech, nearly as related by Mr. JeCerson in his notes on the State of Virga., that he this Deponent told him then that it was not Col. Cressap who had Murdered his Relations, and that altho his Son Capt. Michl. Cressap was with the party who killed a Shawnese Chief and other Indians,t yet he was not present when his Relations were killed at Bakersu near the Mouth of Yellow Creek on the Ohio. that this Deponent on his Return to Camp delivered the Speech to Lord Dunmore; and that the Murders perpetrated as above was considered as Ultimately the Cause of the War of 1774, commonly Called Cressaps war— Sworn and Subscribed this 4th. of April 1800. at Pittsburg Jno. Gibson Before me Jerh. Barker MS (DLC: TJ Papers, 104:17915, 106:18237); in Gibson’s hand, signed by him and Barker; frayed; with TJ’s numerals in margin to identify instances of violence against Native Americans in 1774 according to his key in the Appendix to the Notes on Virginia (see notes below; Notes, ed. Peden, 231; Vol. 30:102n). Printed in An Appendix to the Notes on Virginia Relative to the Murder of Logan’s Family (Philadelphia, 1800); with minor variations of punctuation, capitalization, and spelling (Notes, ed. Peden, 232-4). A letter from Gibson to TJ, dated 21 Mch. 1800 and received on 3 Apr., and one from TJ to Gibson of 16 Apr. are recorded in SJL but have not been found. Gibson incorporated a portion of his letter to TJ of 17 June 1797 into the Anal
paragraph of the deposition above; see Gibson to TJ, 14 Mch. 1800. In the Appendix the deposition printed above was followed by a letter, dated 4 Feb. 1800 at Wheeling, from Ebenezer Zane to Senator John Brown of Kentucky. Brown probably gave the letter to TJ, who made no markings on it but retained it in his papers. Zane reported his knowledge of two incidents in April 1774 in which armed groups led by Michael Cresap killed Indians. He also stated that although Cresap was not involved in the murder of Logan’s relatives at Yellow Creek, his actions precipitated both that incident and Dunmore’s War. The Appendix omitted the Arst paragraph of the letter, in which Zane indicated that he was responding to an inquiry from Brown dated 23 Jan. As published, the letter
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4 APRIL 1800 contained the numerals 1, 2, and 3 inserted in brackets to locate the incidents mentioned by Zane within the sequence of events that TJ identiAed in the Appendix (RC in DLC, addressed to Brown at Philadelphia and franked, printed in the Appendix with minor variations; Notes, ed. Peden, 235-6). Zane (1747-1812) had been born on the Virginia frontier. He laid out the town of Wheeling and was active in land speculation and development in what became the state of Ohio (anb).
q Because Gibson did not always cross the letter “t,” this could be mistaken for “Mal.” That confusion probably accounts for the compression to “M.” in the Appendix to the Notes on Virginia, where Blaine’s Arst name and Michael Cresap’s in the deposition’s last paragraph were expanded rather than contracted. r Appendix: “then.” s Appendix: “diCerent.” t Notation by TJ in margin: “2.” u Notation by TJ in margin: “3.”
To James Madison Apr. 4. 1800.
Christopher Mc.pherson, better known as mr Ross’s man Kitt, proposing to go to Charlottesville direct, I shall put into his care a packet of books & a letter left in my room for you by somebody, while I was out, without information as to the quarter from whence they come. I observe them addressed to the care of Governor Monroe. I suppose Kitt will carry on the letter; but as he goes in the stage to Fredsbg, he will leave the books there with mr Maury.—Capt. Barry in the frigate US. arrived last night. our envoys landed Nov. 27q at Lisbon from whence their secretaries proceeded by land to Paris. the principals reimbarked Dec. 21. for Lorient but after long beating against contrary winds in the bay of Biscay, they landed at Corunna Jan. 11. and sent a courier to Paris for their passports. they proceeded to Burgos, & there recieved their passports from Paris, with a letter from Taleyrand expressing a desire to see them at Paris, & assuring them that the form of their credentials addressed to the Directory, would be no obstacle to their negociation. Murray was already at Paris. the letters from our envoys to the Executive, brought by Capt Barry, are dated at Burgos Feb. 10. they would have about 800. miles to Paris, where they will have arrived probably about the 1st. week in March and by the 1st. week of May we may expect to hear of their reception. the frigate Portsmouth is about sailing from N. York to France. the object a secret.—the H. of R. having voted to adjourn the 1st. Monday in May, the Senate this day postponed taking up the resolution for a fortnight. still I think we shall adjourn the 1st. or 2d. week in May. the Senate yesterday rejected mr Pinckney’s bill against appointing judges to any other oDces. they have this day rejected a bill from the H. of R. for removing military troops from the place of election on the day of an elec< 480>
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tion. you will have seen their warrant to commit Duane. they have not yet taken him. the President has nominated a third Major General to our 4000. men (Brookes of Mass.) and 204. promotions and appointments of oDcers are now before the Senate for approbation, to make the oDcers for 16. regiments compleat. it will all be justiAed & conArmed.—Dupont de Nemours has been here on a visit from New York. he will settle there or at Alexandria. he promises me a visit with Madame Dupont, & will pay his respects to you on his way. he is one of the very great men of the age. I am to go by ChesterAeld to take my daughter Eppes home with me. this will deprive me of the pleasure of seeing you on the way; but not I hope of seeing you at Monticello where a great deal can be said to you which could not be conAded to paper. accept my aCectionate salutations & assurances of attachment for mrs Madison & yourself. Adieu. RC (DLC: Madison Papers, Rives Collection); at foot of text: “James Madison.” PrC (DLC). On 31 Mch. John Adams nominated a third major general, John Brooks of Massachusetts, in place of Henry Knox who had declined the appointment. The Senate postponed consideration of the
nominations of 31 Mch. and 1 and 2 Apr. until 14 May when it negatived Brooks’s nomination, further postponed consideration of three chaplaincies, and consented to all the remaining military nominations of these dates (jep, 1:342, 355). q Date interlined, as are the next two dates that appear in the letter.
From James Madison Dear Sir April 4. 1800 Your favor by Mr. Trist was duly handed to me, since which I have recd. the report on imports under your cover, & yesterday your favor of the 25 Ult: accompanied with the pamphlet & Mr. Nicholas’s motion on the Electoral Bill, which appears to be so fair & pertinent, that a rejection of it in favor of any other modiAcation proposed, must Ax a new brand on the Authors. The spirit manifested in the Senate steadily, & in the other House occasionally, however mischievous in its immediate eCects, cannot fail I think to aid the progress of reBection & change among the people. In this view our public malady may work its own cure, and ultimately rescue the republican principle from the imputation brought on it by the degeneracy of the public Councils. Such a demonstration of the rectitude & eDcacy of popular sentiment, will be the more precious, as the late defection of France has left America the only Theatre on which true liberty can have a < 481>
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fair trial. We are all extremely anxious here to learn the event of the Election in N.Y. on which so much depends. I have nothing to add to what I have already said on the prospect with us. I have no reason whatever to doubt all the success that was expected. If it should fall in your way, you will oblige me by inquiring whether there be known in Philada. any composition for encrusting Brick that will eCectually stand the weather; and particularly what is thought of common plaister thickly painted with white lead and overspread with sand. I wish to give some such dressing to the columns of my Portico, & to lessen as much as possible the risk of the experiment. ACectionately yrs Js. Madison Jr RC (DLC: Madison Papers); addressed: “Thomas JeCerson Vice President of the U States, Philadelphia”; endorsed by TJ as received 11 Apr. and so recorded in SJL. your favor by mr. trist: TJ to Madison, 4 Mch. report on imports: Letter from the Secretary of the Treasury Transmitting Two Statements; One Exhibiting the Value or Quantities of the Goods, Wares and Merchandize, Imported into the United States, in Ships or Vessels of the Said United States, for one Year prior to the First of October 1798, and the Other Exhibiting, in Like Manner, the Importations
in Ships or Vessels of Foreign Nations, during the Same Period (Philadelphia, 1800; Evans, No. 38772). James and Dolley Madison moved back into Montpelier in December 1798 even though the renovation to their home was far from Anished. The front portico in the Tuscan order was added at this time but its brick pillars remained bare as late as 1804. It was not until 1809 that Madison received the formula for encrusting brick with stucco (Conover Hunt-Jones, Dolley and the “great little Madison” [Washington, D.C., 1977], 65; Brant, Madison, 3:459; William Lewis to James Madison, 20 Feb. 1809, DLC: Madison Papers).
To Thomas Mann Randolph Th:J. to T M Randolph Philadelphia Apr. 4. 1800. I wrote you last on the 31st. of Mar. since which I have recieved G. JeCerson’s of Mar. 22. acknoleging the reciept of the last 470. D. making 1870. D. in all.—Mr. Ross’s Kitt setting out for Charlottesville where he has a cause to be tried with James Ross, and apprehending from him some personal assault, has asked me to interest some person to ensure him the protection of the laws. I have promised to write to yourself, P. Carr & Colo. Bell to have an eye to him, merely because he desired it, tho’ I assured him he would be protected by every one. he furnishes me an earlier occasion of writing to you than by post. Capt Barry in the frigate US. arrived last night from Corunna. our envoys landed Nov. 27. at Lisbon, from whence their Secretaries pro< 482>
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ceeded by land to Paris. the principals reimbarked Dec. 21. for Lorientq but after long beating against contrary winds in the bay of Biscay they landed at Corunna Jan. 11. & sent a courier to Paris for their passports. they proceeded to Burgos & there recieved their passports from Paris, with a letter from Taleyrand, expressing a desire to see them at Paris, & assuring them that the form of their credentials, addressed to the Directory, would be no obstacle to their negociation. Murray was already at Paris. the letters from our envoys to the Executive brought by Capt Barry are dated at Burgos Feb. 10. they would have about 800. miles to Paris, where they will have arrived probably about the 1st. week in March & by the 1st. week of May we may expect to hear of their reception. the frigate Portsmouth is about sailing from N. York to France. the object a secret.—the Senate yesterday rejected mr Pinckney’s bill against appointing judges to any other oDces: & to-day they have rejected a bill from the H. of R. which forbade military troops to be at the place of election on any day of election. a warrant has been issued to commit Duane, but he has not been yet found. the President has nominated a third Major Genl. (Brookes of Massachusets) to our 4000. men, and 204. promotions & appointments of oDcers are now before the Senate for approbation. so there will be 16. regiments of oDcers & 4. or 5.r of souldiers. Dupont de Nemours has been here from N. York on a visit. he will settle there or at Alexandria. he promises me a visit this summer with Made. Dupont.—I think we shall rise the 1st. or 2d. week in May. I have recieved the grateful news of Maria’s recovery, and am to go by Eppington or Mont blanco to carry her to Monticello with me. I shall by next post write to Richardson the day my horses are to meet me there, all three; and expect him to engage David Bowles to go with them. not knowing whether Martha is yet returned home, I can only deliver my love to her provisionally, and my aCectionate salutations to yourself. Adieu. P.S. you have not informed me where your brothers newspapers are to be directed to. RC (DLC); endorsed by Randolph as received 15 Apr. PrC (MHi); endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
q TJ interlined the passage from this point through “Jan. 11.” r Preceding word and Agure interlined.
For George jefferson’s letter acknowledging the receipt of TJ’s last payment, see 27 Mch., not 22 Mch. 1800.
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To Mary Jefferson Eppes Philadelphia April 6. 1800.
I have at length, my ever dear Maria, recieved by mr Eppes’s letter of Mar. 24. the welcome news of your recovery. welcome indeed to me, who have past a long season of inexpressible anxiety for you: and the more so as written accounts can hardly give one an exact idea of the situation of a sick person. I wish I were able now to leave this place & join you. but we do not count on rising till the 1st. or 2d. week of May. I shall certainly see you as soon after that as possible at Mont Blanco or Eppington, at whichever you may be; and shall expect you to go up with me according to the promise in mr Eppes’s letter. I shall send orders for my horses toq be with you, & wait for me if they arrive before me. I must ask mr Eppes to write me a line immediately by post to inform me at which place you will be during the 1st. & 2d. weeks of May, & what is the nearest point on the road from Richmondr where I can quit the stage & borrow a horse to go on to you. if written immediately I may recieve it here before my departure. mr Eppes’s letter informs me your sister was with you at that date; but from mr Randolph I learn she was to go up this month. the uncertainty where she was has prevented my writing to her for a long time. if she is still with you, express to her all my love and tenderness for her.— your tables have been ready some time, & will go in a vessel which sails for Richmond this week. they are packed in a box, marked I.W.E. and will be delivered to mr JeCerson, probably about the latter part of this month. I write no news for mr Eppes, because my letters are so slow in getting to you that he will see every thing Arst in the newspapers. assure him of my sincere aCections, and present the same to the family of Eppington if you are together. cherish your own health for the sake of so many to whom you are dear, and especially for one who loves you with unspeakable tenderness. Adieu my dearest Maria. RC (ViU); signature clipped; addressed: “Mrs. Maria Eppes at Montblanco near Petersburg”; franked and postmarked. John Wayles eppes’s letter of 24 Mch., recorded in SJL as received 1 Apr.,
has not been found. i learn: for the missing letters from Thomas Mann Randolph, see TJ to Randolph, 31 Mch. q TJ here canceled “meet me.” r Preceding Ave words interlined.
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To Philip Norborne Nicholas Dear Sir Philadelphia Apr. 7. 1800. Your favor of Feb. 2. came to hand Feb. 11. and I put oC the acknoleging it, till I could forward to you some pamphlets on a subject very interesting to all the states, and containing views which I am anxious should be generally exhibited. in a former collection of tracts published by mr Cooper were two papers on Political arithmetic. he was printing a 2d edition of the whole, & was prevailed on to strike oC an extra-number of the two on Political arithmetic, adding to it some principles of government from a former work of his. I have forwarded to you by a vessel going from hence to Richmond 8. dozen of these, with a view that one should be sent to every county commee in the state, either from yourself personally or from your central commee. tho’ I know that this is not the immediate object of your institution, yet I consider it as a most valuable object, to which the institution may most usefully be applied. I trust yourself only with the secret that these pamphlets go from me. you will readily see what a handle would be made of my advocating their contents. I must leave to yourself therefore to say how they come to you. very possibly they will have got to you before this does, as I shall retain it for a private conveyance, & know of none as yet. I dare trust nothing this summer through the post oDces. at other times they would not have such strong motives to inAdelity.—It is too early to think of a declaratory act, as yet. but the time is approaching & not distant. two elections more will give us a solid majority in the H. of R. and a suDcient one in the Senate. as soon as it can be depended on we must have ‘a Declaration of the principles of the constitution’ in nature of a Declaration of rights, in all the points in which it has been violated. the people in the middle states are almost rallied to Virginia already; & the Eastern states are recommencing the vibration which had been checked by XYZ. North Carolina is at present in the most dangerous state. the lawyers all tories. the people substantially republican, but uninformed & decieved by the lawyers, who are elected of necessity because few other candidates. the medecine for that state must be very mild & secretly administered. but nothing should be spared to give them true information. I am Dr. Sir Your’s aCectionately Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); at foot of text: “P. N. Nicholas.” For the former collection of
tracts and the second edition of Thomas Cooper’s Political Essays, see TJ to Joseph Priestley, 18 Jan. 1800. The additional principles of government
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7 APRIL 1800 contained in Cooper’s Political Arithmetic probably were his “Propositions respecting the Foundation of Civil Government,”
delivered as a lecture in England in 1787 and Arst published three years later.
To George Wythe Th: Jefferson to G. Wythe. Philadelphia Apr. 7. 1800. I recieved in due time your favor of Feb. 22. and shall with pleasure assist mr Marshall in the negociation with mr Lowndes, whenever desired either by mr Marshall or our executive. I wrote you a troublesome letter sometime ago, and now propose some additiments to it. it is with vast reluctance I do it, and would not do it, if books could furnish the information I want. but these are minutiae of practice, which are hardly to be met with in the books, and therefore can only be learned from practical men; and you know how destitute we are of such in Parliamentary reading at present. that science is so lost, & yet so important, that I am taking considerable pains, and shall pursue it through the ensuing summer to form a Parliamentary Manual, which I shall deposit with the Senate of the US. and may thence possibly get into the public possession. to this I shall not object, if I can be satisAed that what I shall prepare will be correct. on the contrary it may do good by presenting to the diCerent legislative bodies a chaste Praxis to which they may by degrees conform their several inconsistent & embarrassing modes of proceeding. but there is but one person in America whose information & judgment I have suDcient conAdence in, to be satisAed that what I may put together, would be rigorously correct: and he is so absorbed in other useful duties, more peculiarly his own, that I have no right to trouble him with helping me through mine. I can ask it only on the score of charity, for which we are all bound to And time.—we shall probably rise the 1st. or 2d. week of May, after which I shall be at Monticello, where & every where it will give me the greatest pleasure to hear of the continuance of your health. may you enjoy it with many long years of life for the solace of your friends & service of your country. Adieu—most aCectionately. PrC (DLC).
troublesome letter: TJ to Wythe, 28 Feb. 1800.
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Queries on Parliamentary Procedure [7 Apr. 1800] When a motion is made to strike out a paragraph, section, or even the whole bill from the word ‘whereas,’ and to insert something else in lieu thereof, it is understood that the friends of the paragraph, motion, or bill have Arst a right to amend & make it as perfect as they can, before the question is put for striking out. suppose the question is then put on striking out, & that it passes in the negative. can any further amendment be made to it after that? 1. A motion is made to amend a bill or other paper by striking out certain words and inserting others; & the question, being divided, & put Arst on striking out, it is negatived, and the insertion of course falls. 2. After this a motion is made to strike out the same words & to insert others of a diCerent tenor altogether from those before proposed to be inserted. is not this admissible? 3. Suppose the 2d. motion to be negatived; would it not be admissible to move to strike out the same words, & to insert nothing in their place? So if the 1st. motion had been to strike out the words & insert nothing, & negatived; might it not then have been moved to strike out the same words & insert other words? When any paper is under the correction of the house, the natural order is to begin at the beginning, & proceed through it with amendments. but there is an exception as to a bill, the preamble of which is last amended. Does this exception extend to any other form of paper? e.g. a resolution &c? or would the preamble of the resolution be Arst amended according to the natural order? Suppose a paper, e.g. a resolution, brought in without a preamble, & that a motion be made to preAx a preamble; can such a motion be recieved and acted on before the body of the paper is acted on? PrC (DLC: TJ Papers, 106:18245); undated, but date supplied from endorsement; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
To Henry Knox Dear Sir Philadelphia Apr. 8. 1800. I recieved with great satisfaction your favor of Mar. 9. which mr Pope forwarded by post, and proposed to follow it but he is not yet arrived here.q I communicated to Genl. Gunn your friendly expressions respecting him. of the transaction to which they related I < 487>
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can say little, having, you know, neither ears to hear, eyes to see, or tongue to speak, but as the Senate direct me. I may say however that so far as it occasioned debate, which was scarcely at all, it was treated with great delicacy, no expression having been dropped which you would not have heard without dissatisfaction. I recieve great pleasure from the continuance of your friendly dispositions. I can with truth reciprocate the assurances that diCerences of political opinions excited in me no unfriendliness more than a diCerence of feature. it is not thus that I view or value man. were we to deny our esteem & society to all but those who think with us, every man would be an insulated being, andr social relations would be dissolved. I can say with truth, and with great comfort to my own heart, that I never deserted a friend for diCerence of opinion in politics, in religion, in physics; for I place all these diCerences on a footing. but great numbers have deserted me. the paroxysm however, which was too strong for their minds, is rapidly passing away; & some of them doubtless will return, and meet again the constancy of my esteem. I have heard with great sensibility of the losses you have sustained in your family. on this subject even friends should be silent; time being the only physician. the diDculties you mention in your aCairs are of another order, & more remediable. for these you have still suD cient of life, health & activity to do much. I pray heaven to favor your eCorts to your own satisfaction. Be so good as to make my respectful salutations acceptable to mrs Knox and to recieve yourself assurances of the constant esteem with which I am Dear Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson RC (MHi: Knox Papers); addressed: “Majr. Genl. Knox Boston”; franked and postmarked; endorsed by Knox. PrC (DLC).
q Preceding seven words interlined. r TJ here canceled “society.”
To Everard Meade Dear Sir Philadelphia. Apr. 8. 1800. I have to acknolege the reciept of your favor of Mar. 9. I consider the request it contains, as the form you have chosen for manifesting your friendly dispositions towards me, & that they lead you to wish me an honor to which I have not the presumption to think myself destined, much less have I taken on myself to contemplate the details of it’s duties. we have lately heard of strange occurrences in France. < 488>
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what is to be the issue of republicanism there may now be doubted. some here consider this last revolution as an additional proof of the impracticability of republican government. but I will never believe that man is incapable of self-government; that he has no resources but in a master, who is but a man like himself, and generally a worse man, inasmuch as power tends to deprave him. on the other hand I view this last revolution as an additional lesson against a standing army without which, it is evident Buonaparte could not have accomplished it, nor could now maintain it. our vessel however is moored at such a distance from theirs that should they blow up, we need not feel the shock. we have only to stand Arm at our oars, & nothing can injure us. all I ask from France & the world is peace & a good price for our wheat and tobacco. I beg you to be assured of my friendly attachment to you, and my wishes for your ease & happiness, being with very sincere esteem Dear Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); at foot of text: “Genl. E. Meade.” Everard Meade (1748-1802) was educated at Harrow in England, and lived there for approximately Ave years. In 1767 he built the Hermitage in Amelia County, Virginia, where he resided after the American Revolution. He was commissioned on 8 Mch. 1776 as a captain in the second Virginia regiment and served until 1 May 1780, when he was appointed General Benjamin Lincoln’s aide-decamp with the rank of major. After the war, he was named a brigadier general and then a major general of militia and received land grants from Virginia for his revolutionary services. Meade served in
the House of Delegates, 1780-81 and 1782-83, and in the state senate from 1794 to 1798 (P. Hamilton Baskervill, Andrew Meade of Ireland and Virginia; His Ancestors, and Some of His Descendants and Their Connections [Richmond, 1921], 41-4; Hortense Funsten Durand, The Ancestors and Descendants of Colonel David Funsten and His Wife Susan Everard Meade [New York, 1926], 54-5; Kathleen H. HadAeld, ed., Historical Notes on Amelia County, Virginia [Amelia, Va., 1982], 295; Leonard, General Assembly, 137, 145, 149, 197, 201, 205, 209). Meade’s favor of mar. 9 has not been found but TJ recorded it in SJL as received on 24 Mch.
From James Monroe Dear Sir Richmond April 8. 1800. I have yours of the 26. March. I enclose you a letter for Mr. Irvine, wh. as you know the part of the case wh. is agnst me, I leave open that you may see my explanation. I will thank you to have it conveyed to him. Whether it is proper for you to withdraw yr.slf from the attention of the friends of free govt. at the present moment, is an important < 489>
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question wh. ought not to be decided but on mature deliberation. It is certainly one in wh. personal considerations ought not to rule. There can be no doubt it is a practice wh. ought to be banished from America, because it tends to raise a govt. of inBuence at the expence of principle; to elevate individuals by depressing and degrading the Mass of the people. but as this weakness, (a benevolent one it is), of the people, has been practic’d on to their injury, and is likely to be so on the present occasion, is it safe to leave that engine in the hands of the enemies of free govt., without counteracting it, by availing ourselves of like means in defense of free govt. & in support of the rights of the people. The point ought to be examined on this ground by the republicans now in Phila. & the arrangment to follow accordingly. If it is proper to give a date, perhaps it ought to be general; tho’ the latter idea can also best be decided in Phila. In this state it may be carried to any desirable extent. I can meet you and will if it is approved with 100. horse on the frontier of the state, and conduct you here or home, or if military parade is declined and civil preferr’d a like attention might be shewn by me & such of the council as wod. unite. Perhaps a military parade with me at its head might set a bad precedent & lead to bad consequences hereafter, it being but a step to other things, especially when foreign powers are so disposed to interfere in our elections. Perhaps a prominent attitude by Virga. of either kind, might be particularly improper, as it might revive prejudices and strengthen the opposing party in the other states. Or perhaps this objection applies only to my acting in it personally. In revolving this matter over, it shod. chieBy be examined what eCect the activity of this State or certain characters inq wod. be likely to have on the other States, for nothing of the kind is necessary here. The business goes on as it ought to do here. A total dispair seems to have seized the adversary. It is therefore that I am less competent to decide than those in Phila., who are possessed of all the data in respect to other Statesr on wh. a decision ought to be founded. It were proper that either Mason or Nicholas give me early and correct information of what is deemed adviseable, for a reason that is obvious. I had intended to send the letter to Mr. Irvine with this, but you will receive that probably by another conveyance. Be so kind as direct it— RC (CSmH); endorsed by TJ as received 13 Apr. and so recorded in SJL. letter for mr. irvine: Monroe to George W. Erving, 4 Apr. 1800 (Monroe,
Writings, 3:171-3; Preston, Catalogue, 1:78). q Four words interlined. r Five words interlined.
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To Littleton W. Tazewell Dear Sir Philadelphia April 10. 1800 Your favor of Mar. 29. is duly recieved and the object of the present is to answer your enquiries concerning mr Welch’s open account. consulting with the late mr T. Adams in 1774. about the importation of glass windows ready made & glazed for my house, he pressed me to address my commission to his friends Welch & co. I did so, making them a small shipment which turned out next to nothing, while the windows were much higher than expected. they sent them and there was a balance of I do not recollect how much. they arrived in 1775 after the non-importation agreement, and I had to buy them again at vendue. the immediate stoppage of intercourse prevented paiment. on recieving the account from Welsh in 1787. I informed him that as the conAdence had been reposed in me, then a stranger to him, I would not deduct the 8. year’s interest, tho’ I did it in all other cases, and to close that matter I paid then (about 40£ sterl. I believe) the whole interest from 1774. to that time. mr Wickham had the settlement of this afterwards, and on an exact statement of principal & interest I gave him a 4th. bond for £150. payable July 1. 1801. with interest from Aug. 26. 93. which bond he has doubtless delivered you with the three which were given for mr Wayles’s debt to the same house, my portion of which was £981. The bankrupt law has passed all the branches. the bill for the election of President & V.P. passed the Senate in a much worse form than that in which Duane published it. for they struck out the clause limiting the powers of the electoral committee, and extended it to all subjects of enquiry. what it’s fate will be in the lower house we know not. the bill for preventing judges from being ambassadors &c was rejected by the Senate; so was that from the lower houseq for preventing the interference of the military at elections. but they have read a 2d time an excellent bill, allowing the states to modify their jury laws. whether it will pass or not, cannot be said. there has been a grand Judiciary bill on the anvil, which would have added about 90. or 100,000 D. to the present annual expence of the Judiciary, and 27. or 29. judges to the present number. it has been considerably reduced in it’s dimensions in the lower house; and whether it will pass there or in the Senate is still to be seen. I expect we shall rise the 1st. or 2d. week in May. there is such a change in the public sentiment, & it is so rapidly progressive, that we count conAdently that the next election will place a decisive majority of republican politics in the H. of R. and bring the Senate almost to a balance. even the eastern states < 491>
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are getting under way: but the dominion of the church & the law there, will keep their eyes long shut to abuses. you have heard of the proceedings against Duane. the marshal has not yet been able to lay hold of him. mr Cooper (author of the pamphlet I sent you) is indicted here for a letter he addressed to the President in the public papers last fall. an English lawyer would be as much puzzled to And indictable matter in it, as in the matter for which Frothingam of N. York was Aned & imprisoned. the fate of mr Cooper however before a jury named by the Marshal, is not doubted. a printer in Vermont is indicted for printing mr Mc.Henry’s letter to Genl. Darke. under this prosecution, the press must yield. in the election which has just taken place of a Governor for Massachusets, we are informed that in 3. of the most populous counties of that state, not a single printer could be found who would venture to insert a single paper in favor of the republican candidate. we have no European news but what is in the papers. nothing has been permitted to be known from the dispatches from our envoys. there was a rumor [that] they were recieved, and it still continues, that England will consider our peace with France as a cause of war with her: and there are some indications [&] foundation for this. the injury it would be to Gr. Britain herself seems to make it improbable. appearances threaten a bloody campaign in Europe. there is nothing in nature corresponding with the man of Europe, except the tyger of Africa. heaven send us peace and good prices, & preserve us in our sober [liv]es. accept assurances of sincere esteem from Dear Sir Your most obedt. servt Th: Jefferson PrC (MHi); faint; at foot of Arst page: “Mr. Tazewell”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. For TJ’s order for windows, see TJ to Archibald Cary and Benjamin Harrison, 9 Dec. 1774. his friends welch & co.: TJ placed the order with Robert Cary & Co., of which Wakelin Welch, Sr., was a partner. TJ received the account from Welch in 1783—not 1787—by which time Welch was the surviving partner of Cary, Moorey & Welch. At the same time Welch informed TJ that he had established a new partnership with his son, Wakelin Welch, Jr. On 25 Apr. 1786, TJ paid Welch £40, being the whole interest from 1774 on the debt (mb, 1:616-17; Vol. 6:272-3; Vol. 29:173-4). mr wickham had the settlement
of this: TJ to John Wickham, 20 Jan. 1797. Thomas cooper was indicted for his reaction to an article in a Reading, Pennsylvania, newspaper, which revealed that Cooper had applied unsuccessfully for a position in the Adams administration in 1797. Cooper published his response, which his opponents characterized as the product of disappointment and revenge, as a handbill in November 1799 and included his 1797 letter of application. Denying that he was a political hypocrite, Cooper argued that when Adams entered oDce “even those who doubted his capacity, thought well of his intentions.” Cooper then enumerated the mistakes Adams had made since then. It was commonly noted that Cooper, although indicted as author of the November handbill, was arrested
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10 APRIL 1800 for seditious libel on 9 Apr. because of his role in Duane’s defense and his 25 Mch. letter to the Senate, described in the Philadelphia Gazette as insulting to that body and degrading to the American people (Philadelphia Gazette, 27 Mch. 1800; Thomas Cooper, An Account of the Trial of Thomas Cooper, of Northumberland; on a Charge of Libel Against the President of the United States [Philadelphia, 1800], 48; see Sowerby, No. 3224; Smith, Freedom’s Fetters, 307-33; Cooper to TJ, 23 Mch., and Duane to TJ, 27 Mch. 1800). Alexander Hamilton called for action against the New York Argus, where David frothingham was a journeyman who assisted in management of the paper, after it reprinted from Republican publications an “Extract of a letter from Philadelphia, dated Sept 20” on 6 Nov. 1799. The letter charged Hamilton with attempting to suppress the Philadelphia Aurora by oCering Margaret Bache $6,000 in partial payment for the paper, with an additional sum to be paid when the publication was forfeited. The writer questioned whether Hamilton was in partnership with Robert Liston, the British minister. Anne Greenleaf, who assumed publication of the Argus after her husband Thomas Greenleaf died in the yellow fever epidemic of 1798, was already indicted under the Sedition Act. The New York attorney general’s oDce therefore charged Frothingham with libelous comments against Hamilton. Frothingham was arrested on 9 Nov. and tried on the 21st before the New York Court of Oyer and Terminer under the common law of seditious libel, which remained in eCect in the state until 1821. Found guilty, Frothingham was Aned $100 and sentenced to four months in prison, with his release contingent upon paying the Ane and providing $2,000 in security to ensure his good behavior (Boston Constitutional Telegraphe, 26 Oct. 1799; New York Commercial Advertiser, 22 Nov. 1799; Syrett, Hamilton, 24:5-8; Wharton, State Trials, 649-51; Pasley, Tyranny of Printers, 268-9; Smith, Freedom’s Fetters, 400-6). For the partisan context of the charges against Frothingham and the Argus, described as the lone Republican newspaper in New
York City, see Smith, Freedom’s Fetters, 398-417. jury named by the marshal: on 4 Dec. 1799 Adams nominated John Hall to serve as marshal of the Pennsylvania District. During his trial, which commenced on 19 Apr., Cooper expressed concern that defendants under the Sedition Act were in a diDcult position because the president appointed the judges who ran the trials and the federal marshals who summoned the juries. U.S. District Court Judge Richard Peters and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase presided at Cooper’s trial (jep, 1:325; Cooper, Account of the Trial of Thomas Cooper, 18; Smith, Freedom’s Fetters, 317). printer in vermont: Anthony Haswell, the editor of the Vermont Gazette, who was charged with printing an extract from the Aurora critical of the administration for considering Tories “who had fought against our independence, who had shared in the desolation of our homes, and the abuse of our wives and daughters” for appointments. To prove the truth of the assertion Haswell obtained a certiAed copy of James McHenry’s letter to General William Darke of 18 Dec. 1798, in which McHenry sought the Virginia militia leader’s recommendations for appointments by noting: “as there are many among that description of persons whom you denominate old Tories, who are known to be men of honour and integrity, attached to the Constitution of the United States, approvers of the general measures which have proceeded from it since its adoption, decided opposers of French principles, and French aggressions; I can see no reason why the recommendations of such characters should not also be considered.” At the time of McHenry’s resignation, President Adams noted that the secretary of war’s letter to Darke was “quoted all over the Continent, assigning to me a Determination to appoint Tories to ODce, and exclude all those who are not decided favourers of the Administration.” Indicted in October 1799, Haswell’s trial was postponed until May 1800. On 9 May he was found guilty, sentenced to two months in prison, and Aned $200, plus court costs (Smith, Freedom’s Fetters, 359-71; Syrett, Hamilton,
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10 APRIL 1800 24:552, 560-1; Wharton, State Trials, 685). Elbridge Gerry was the republican candidate in the Massachusetts guber-
natorial contest (Dauer, Adams Federalists, 246-7). q Preceding four words interlined.
From George Wythe G’ Wythe to T’Jefferson 10 of april, 1800. After the seventh decad of my years began i learned to write with the left hand, as you may see by this specimen, and that with ease,q although slowly. yet if to write were painfull, i should, before this time, have answered your letter of 28 of february: but i have been endeavouring to recollect what little of parliamentary procedings i formerly knew, and And myself unable to give information on the questions which you propounded. adieu, my best friend. RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ as received 18 Apr. and so recorded in SJL. find myself unable to give information: with this letter Wythe
apparently returned the queries on parliamentary procedures, which TJ had enclosed in his letter of 28 Feb. q Preceding four words interlined.
From Edward Livingston New York. Apl. 11. 1800
The prevalence if not the very existence of republicanism in the U States depends so much on the event of our ensuing Election that I am persuaded Sir you can not be indiCerent to our prospects and will excuse the liberty I take of communicating them. It is impossible yet to obtain any certain information from the distant Counties. that which I have receved from the more central parts strongly indicates a favorable change—If however every thing were to remain as it was in the Country representation a change in that of the City would give a Majority SuDcient to countervail that of the Senate and decide the appointment of electors—both parties are fully apprized of the importance of this district and have for the fortnight past been watching each others movements with the most jealous care—we have a most respectable ticket but dare not publish it before theirs—lest it should induce some men of weight among them (who otherwise would not come out) to OCer themselves as Candidates—Gates, Clinton & Br. Livingston will head our list—the two < 494>
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Arst have not yet positively agreed but they do not refuse and will of course be run— A very important change has been eCected by the instrumentality as Mr. Hamilton would call it of the New Bank. it has emancipated hundreds who were held in bondage by the old institutions—& they all know and understand the principles of their deliverers—Burr is not on the list it was supposed he could be of more service in promoting the Election of the Others than if his Name were connected with theirs—he is zealous and will be active in his Exertions—on the whole I think every thing promises a favorable issue to our labors— the Use I may be of here makes me the less regret my unavoidable absence from the house where every ECort to Stem the torrent has been unavailing and will continue so, untill the important change we may now make is ECected—the head of our body politic will always be aCected with the delirious dreams of royal & aristocratic Visions untill a republican Energy is given to the System thro the State governments— If you permit me Sir I will from time to time give you Such information of the State of things here as may be deemed interesting—I pray you to beleve that I am with great Respect & sincere Esteem Sir Your Mo Obdt Servt Edward Livingston RC (NN: Ford Collection); endorsed by TJ as received 14 Apr. and so recorded in SJL, where TJ incorrectly entered it as a letter written on the day of its receipt. In order to construct a New York City ticket for the state assembly elections that would not alienate any major Republican faction, Aaron Burr led a behind-thescenes eCort to ensure that the reluctant Horatio gates, George clinton, and
Brockholst livingston would all agree to stand for the election. On 15 Apr. the Federalists, unable to overcome their own rifts to achieve a similar unity and entice formidable candidates, adopted a ticket with considerably less political clout than the one the Republicans announced two days later. The election took place during the last week of April (Kline, Burr, 1:419-25). For the new bank, see TJ to Henry Remsen, 14 Jan. 1800.
To Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours Th: Jefferson to M. Dupont de Nemours. Philadelphia Apr. 12. 1800 You have a mind, active, highly informed, and benevolent. I avail myself of all these qualities in addressing to you the following < 495>
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request. I mentioned to you when you were here, that we had in contemplation in Virginia to establish an university or college on a reformed plan: omitting those branches of science no longer useful or valued, tho hitherto kept up in all colleges, and introducing others adapted to the real uses of life and the present state of things: and that I had written to Doctr. Priestly to engage him to propose to us a plan. this he will do. but I wish to have your aid in this business also. I do not mean to trouble you with writing a treatise; but only to state what are the branches of science which in the present state of man, and particularly with us, should be introduced into an academy, and to class them together in such groupes, as you think might be managed by one professor devoting his whole time to it. it is very interesting to us to reduce the important sciences to as few professorships as possible because of the narrowness of our resources. therefore I should exclude those branches which can usually be learned with us in private schools, as Greek, Latin, common arithmetic,q music, fencing, dancing &c. I should also exclude those which are unimportant, as the Oriental languages &c. and those which may be acquired by reading alone, without the help of a master, such as Ethics &c. a short note on each science, such as you might give without too much trouble would be thankfully recieved. possessing your’s & Dr. Priestly’s ideas, we should form a little committee at home, and accomodate them to the state of our country, and dispositions of our fellow citizens, better known to us than to you. our object would be, after settling the maximum of the eCort to which we think our fellow citizens could be excited, to select the most valuable objects to which it could be directed. eia, age; et sis nobis magnum Apollo. accept my salutations and assurances of sincere respect & esteem & my hopes that your apostleship from the national institute will lead you towards Monticello, where we shall be made very happy by possessing Made. Dupont & yourself. ACectionately Adieu. PrC (DLC). written to doctr. priestly: TJ to Joseph Priestley, 18 Jan. 1800. eia, age: a familiar Latin (Roman) phrase, “come on!” et sis nobis mag-
nus apollo—“and be like Phoebus, wise”—is an adaptation from Virgil’s Eclogues, 3.104. q Remainder of sentence interlined.
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From Thomas Mann Randolph Dear Sir, Edgehill Ap. 12. 1800 We received your favor of March 31. yesterday and learn with great joy that your next will order your horses—that of the 4th. March I thought I had acknowledged but And it slipped me: those of the 7. & 9. have not yet reached me. I cannot express the feelings your kindness excite: I was really on the point of ruin from my own neglect: I knew all along that I should not have one moment when the Varina debt did come on me & should have sold my Tob’o. in full time to meet it if I had acted wisely: but a great price for that crop rendered me perfectly easy for life & I risked ruin with the hope of obtaining it & I fear have procured embarrassment for life: 4$. at Lynchburg would have been as well as what I got, on acc’t. of the high carriage & great losses I sustained: Clarke obtained 10$. & I could have had 12 by giving a credit to meet the demand for Varina in the fullest time. My crop on hand I am compelled to sell immediately for I counted too much on high prices for produce & made contracts which I shall be rendered unhappy by, but I believe I may (if I do not lose my health,) by exertion get through without a sale; if the absolute necessity I shall now be under for years, of Selling my crops as soon as I can get them to market does not curtail too much my annual income. I will never be too late again in preparing for a demand: I have had a lesson on that I shall never forget. We have all been a little unwell since our return—Martha & Ann for one day each, I myself for many with a terrible inBammation & imposthume on my hip from a hurt in driving home. Ursula is better tho still conAned in bed & greatly swelled. All goes on well at Mont’o.: what is under Lillie admirably. with most cordial aCection y’r. &c Th: M. Randolph RC (MHi); endorsed by TJ as received 18 Apr. and so recorded in SJL. what is under lillie: Gabriel Lilly
served as overseer at Monticello from 1800 to 1805. TJ paid him a base salary of £50 per year, with an additional £10 for superintending the nailery (mb, 2:1021).
To Oliver Wolcott, Jr. Sir Philadelphia Apr. 12. 1800. According to what I mentioned when I had the honor of a conference with you on the subject of the 9000. Doll. due from the US. to mr Short for salary, I now inclose you the assumpsit of messrs. < 497>
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Pendleton and Lyons for the paiment of a sum of money due on a decree, which assumpsit was sent to me by mr Randolph, who stated the amount thus. the original debt £788. 5. 7 sterl. 20. years int. @ 5. p. cent 788. 5. 7 1576. 11. 2 convertd. into Virga. currency @ 25. p. cent 394. 2. 9 1970. 13.11 I had before informed the Secretary of state that mr Short considered the US. and not mr Randolph, as his debtor: that he had never made mr Randolph his agent, having long before given a full power of attorney to me to act for him in all his aCairs which was still in force: that some diDculties having been made about procuring bills of exchange on Madrid, he had consented that mr Randolph, if he could not remit the money or bills to Madrid, might pay it into my hands in the form of stock or in money for him; but that none of these alternatives had been complyed with. I therefore observed to the Secretary of state that I would either deliver to him the assumpsit of Messrs. Pendleton & Lyons, or retain it & recieve any monies they should pay, on behalf of the US. & pass it to their credit in mr Short’s account, on the express condition that that act should not be considered as waiving mr Short’s right against the US. or changing his debtor, which he had expressly forbidden me to do. the Secretary of State desired me to retain the paper & recieve the money to the credit of mr Short’s demand against the US. agreeing that it should not be considered as aCecting his right against the US. in consequence the following paiments were made by Messrs. Pendleton & Lyons to Messrs. George JeCerson & co. of Richmond for mr Short. viz. 1798. Nov. 21. £500. Virginia currency Dec. 31. £300. 1799. Jan. 14. £400. £1200 leaving something upwards of £800. including interest on the assumpsit still due according to mr Randolph’s statement. for these sums mr Randolph is entitled to correspondent credits with the US. and perhaps you may think proper to credit him the whole sum, as no men on earth may be more solidly relied on than Messrs. Pendleton & Lyons for whatever they undertake. I have thought it necessary to give up to you at this time the assumpsit, because I understand the suit against mr Randolph is coming soon to trial, and it is proper that the due credits should then be established. I have the honor to be with great respect Sir Your most obedt. servt Th: Jefferson < 498>
13 APRIL 1800 PrC (DLC: Short Papers); at foot of Arst page: “The Secretary of the Treasury”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosure not found. For details of the assumsit that was to serve as a partial reimbursement for William Short’s errant diplomatic salary,
see Edmund Randolph to TJ, 21 Nov. 1797. TJ noted the payments by Edmund Pendleton and Peter Lyons to george jefferson in mb, 2:996-7; see also the correspondence between TJ and George JeCerson, 26 Nov., 17 Dec. 1798, 1, 2, 15, 31 Jan. 1799.
To James Monroe Dear Sir Philadelphia Apr. 13. 1800. Your favor of the 6th. came to hand last night. mr Erving had left town two days before: however it will go tomorrow morning by a private hand. it will much more than satisfy him. I am persuaded he will recieve it with extreme pleasure. I either expressed myself badly in my letter, or you have understood the expressions too generally. I never doubted the impropriety of our adopting as a system that of pomp & fulsome attentions by our citizens to their functionaries. I am decidedly against it as degrading the citizen in his own eye, exalting his functionary, & creating a distance between the two which does not tend to aid the morals of either. I think it a practice which we ought to destroy & must destroy, & therefore must notq adopt as a general thing, even for a short time. my query was meant for the single spot of Richmond, where I had understood was a great deal of federalism & Marshalism; and this latter spirit I thought nothing should be spared to eradicate. I did not know whether every reiteration of republican demonstrations might notr be of service towards drawing over his less inveterate supporters. however I own to you the letter had hardly gone out of my hand, before I convinced myself, that it was more in our spirit to let things come to rights by the plain dictates of common sense, than to urge them by the practice of any artiAces; & that at any rate I ought not to take a part in them. as therefore I had never suggested the thought but to yourself at that time, so have I done it to no one since.—you have seen the bills lately rejected by the Senate. they have brought in a bill leaving all the states tolerably free to model the federal as well as state juries. but whether they will pass it is another question. it is believed the bill for electing the President & Vice President will pass the lower house in it’s caucus form. I think we shall rise the 1st. or 2d. week in May. we have no news from Europe at all interesting. the election of Massachusets will be known in a few days, & that of the city of New York soon after it. < 499>
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I am of opinion the republicans heres have been much too sanguine as to the issue of this last. present my salutations of esteem & respect to mrs Monroe, & accept assurances of my constant aCection to yourself. Adieu. RC (DLC: Monroe Papers); addressed: “Governour Monroe Richmond”; endorsed by a clerk and by Monroe, whose endorsement “Feby 13 1800” has been canceled. PrC (DLC); endorsed by TJ in ink.
TJ here called Monroe’s letter of 8 Apr. 1800 his favor of the 6th. q Canceled: “think.” r Canceled: “tend to.” s Word interlined.
Jefferson’s Letter to William Short I. TO WILLIAM SHORT 13 APR. 1800 II. PARTIAL COPY FROM MEMORY 9 MAY 1800 III. STATEMENT OF ACCOUNT WITH WILLIAM SHORT [CA. 13 APR.-MAY 1800] IV. STATEMENT OF JOHN BARNES’S ACCOUNT WITH WILLIAM SHORT [CA. 13 APR.-MAY 1800] V. FORM OF LEASE [CA. 13 APR.-MAY 1800]
E D I T O R I A L
N O T E
On 26 Mch. 1800 JeCerson promised William Short “a long letter containing a comprehensive view” of Short’s aCairs under his management. Although he began writing the detailed epistle on 13 Apr., he worked on it, and presumably on several of the enclosures that he sent with it, “at intervals” for almost a month. After dispatching the letter, JeCerson realized that he had neglected to make a letterpress copy of the Anal page, dated 9 May. To correct this oversight he reconstructed the page from memory, as he had done earlier with letters written to John Adams on 28 Dec. 1796 and James Madison on 1 Jan. 1797. The concluding portion of his letter to Short touched on political subjects, as had those letters to Adams and Madison, and his eCort to “repeat” what he wrote to Short “as nearly verbally” as he could is printed below as Document ii.
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I. To William Short Dear Sir Philadelphia Apr. 13. 1800. I wrote to you on the 26th. of Mar. by a conveyance which occurred suddenly, merely to inform you that I should soon forward you a full state of your aCairs. I then also explained the circumstances which prevented my writing to you the last year. I have to acknolege the receipt of your’s from Jagouville Aug. 6. 98. & from Paris Aug. 24. & Oct. 9. 98. on the general subjects of business, and those of July 2. & 3. by mr GriDth, by whom also I recieved the Virgil stereotype & the book on the method of building in Pisé. I had seen buildings in this way near Lyons, and moreover had known the author at Paris, where he raised some walls to shew his manner: and afterwards, while I was secretary of state, the President recieved from him lengthy details & propositions on the same subject. how far it may oCer beneAt here superior toq the methods of the country, founded in the actual circumstances of the country as to the combined costs of labour & materials, and the circumstances of durability comfort & appearance, must be the result of calculation. of Colo. Fulton’s propositions on the subject of canals I had recieved information from a book of his of which I had a copy. the watches you sent by mr Gerry for your sisters, were delivered me here, & forwarded by two gentlemen going hence to Kentucky, who wore them in their pockets, the only safe way of conveyance. I have an acknolegement of their safe delivery. your brother promises to settle the matter between Colo. Skipwith & yourself. he shall recieve from me the information you have communicated to me on that subject whenever he takes it up. to him also I sent the evidences of your purchase from Paskie, to which he will attend as well as to your other interests in Western lands. Mr. Brown’s aCair was one of those which occasioned the delay of my writing to you. I did not get his answer till October. I now inclose you a copy of it. he forwarded to me at the same time Richard Randolph’s bond for £62–10, Littlebury Mosby’s for £200. in Military audited certiAcates & John Mayo’s for 100.£ of the same. the two last are probably good & recoverable: but Richard Randolph (he is son of R.R. of Curles) is dead & I believe insolvent. it does not appear by these papers or any others in my possession how he became your debtor. I have forwarded these bonds to mr George JeCerson with instructions to collect or recover for you what is recoverable on them, only avoiding the throwing good money after bad. I have also authorised him to recieve the £81–13–11 balance due from mr < 501>
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Brown with the interest & to remit it to mr Barnes to be applied with the other monies in his hands in the purchase of new stock. GriDn died bankrupt; and I presume, from mr Brown’s letter he recovered nothing from him.—Benjamin Harrison died suddenly the last year of an apoplexy. I wrote to his admr for a statement of his aCairs with you, which was handed him by mr G. JeCerson. I recieved only the promise of an answer as soon as he could examine the papers. but he informed mr JeCerson verbally that it appeared from the books that your account was balanced and Anally acquitted with Colo. Skipwith. mr JeCerson will still sollicit an exact account from him, which may enable your brother to settle this article with Colo. Skipwith. mr JeCerson whom I have named to you is a cousin of mine, an amiable faithful & diligent young man, settled in the Commission business in Richmond, to whom I conAde your aCairs there, and shall always take care that the monies he may collect or recieve for you shall be promptly deposited with mr Barnes for your general purposes. I now inclose you a statement of my own account with you. the result of this has astonished me beyond any thing which has ever happened to me in my life. for tho’ I kept such exact entries in my daily memorandum book as would enable me, or any body else, to state the account accurately in a day, yet I had never collected the items, or formed them into an account, till within these few days. it happened thus. when in the beginning of 1794. I retired from public aCairs, I determined to set up some work which might furnish my current expences, in aid of my farms. the making of nails was what peculiarly suited me, because it would employ a parcel of boys who would otherwise be idle. but the laying in nail rod, from time to time, would require, for a while, advances of money, which my farms could not meet. It was your desire that your property here should be in various forms, to guard against accidents, in stock, canal-shares, lands & mortgages; and I fully approved of the idea. I therefore concluded to avail myself, for a while, of your quarterly interest, which was almost exactly the amount of my quarterly supplies of nail rod, which I was to get also from Philadelphia where the interest was to be received. my nailery Bourished, and still Bourishes greatly, employing 16. boys at a clear proAt of about 4. to 500£ annually. you know that the system of credit in this country makes it long before the returns of any business come in eCectually to it’s support. two or three years however were suDcient for this; but after the occasion from this cause had really ceased, still the diDculty of getting where I live bills on Philadelphia, and the facility oCered on the spot by your interest, < 502>
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drew me on insensiblyr after the real necessity had ceased. awaking at length to the circumstance (but not till the close of 1798.) I determined to put a stop to it, & from that moment never to permit myself to look at that resource, but to direct mr Barnes to open an account with you, & recieve & invest your monies regularly. still, not collecting or adding the articles, I had no conception they were of above one half the amount; which I knew I could at any time pay in the course of one year. I was the more tranquil because I knew the state of my own aCairs to be as good as clear, having long before delivered good bonds to Hanson to the full of my part of mr Wayles’s great debt to Farrel & Jones; having paid a 2d. sum for which he was responsible for R. Randolph of Curles, and settled his only remaining debt to Cary & Welch (of which my part was £900.) at easy instalments, the last of which will be paid oC by this year’s crop. I had moreover, in the beginning executed a mortgage to you on 80. slaves, which at a sale would fetch 4000.£. and deposited it in the hands of a man remarkeable for his integrity, Colo. Thomas Bell, of Charlottesville, who still holds it to be delivered to you. when I came from home last December I selected all the papers necessary to enable me to give you a full state of your aCairs, & brought them with me, and lately only drew out our account. you will see that the balance is upwards of 9000. Dollars besides interest to be computed from the date of every article. instantly on percieving this, I sat down and executed another mortgage on 1000. acres of my lands in Bedford (held in my own right) which I shall in like manner deposit in the hands of Colo. Bell. these lands would sell for the whole money, lands there being risen to a higher price than in Albemarle: in this mortgage I have inserted a covenant that the whole money shall be paid which, in the event of my death, is a lien on all my property real, as well as personal, by our laws, the same in this respect as the laws of England; and I had at the very Arst provided in my will (and it so stands now) that if I should happen to die before I should discharge this debt, it should be paid before any other whatever. but this unexpected amount makes me still profoundly uneasy, because it has got beyond what I could pay promptly. however, after the present year, the produce of which as I before mentioned is destined to pay oC the last remains of mr Wayles’s debts, I shall, besides the interest, score in on the principal so deeply as to discharge it in two or three years. this is certain. but there is a probable circumstance which may shorten the time by one half: and if in any event you wish to invest the money otherwise sooner, I will by a sale raise it whenever you desire it.s the following statement will shew you that all the principal which has been re< 503>
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cieved, has been immediately invested, so that the interest alone has been placed in my hands under the mortgage. D. D. 3741.60 Indian camp cost 5224.83 2854.30 33. canal shares & the 5379.53 loan to the compy. 6971.45 Recieved from invested in 8. per cents 4200. Edmund Randolph 4000. 16,396.28 15,975.43 Proceeds of stock sold
Mr. Barnes who has recieved your interest from the beginning of 1799. with other monies, and invested them, has opened an account with you from that time, of which I now inclose you a copy, balance in your favor 1208.10 and I desire him to render you an account semiannually, so that you may be kept in possession of the state of your money matters. he is a very honest man, cautious, active, & punctual in the extreme. he is old (perhaps 60.) but healthy: and I think you could not do better than to send a new power of attorney to him & myself jointly, that if one should die, the business may survive to the other till you could again join a second, which it is always safest to do. under the present arrangement I hold your certiAcates, and mr Barnes recieves the interest, which is the safest footing possible. a new loan was opened by the government the last year at 8. per cent. E. Randolph having by the hands of mr Pendleton & Lyons paid 4000. Doll. I invested in the 8. per cent loan 4200. Doll. the certiAcates of which I now hold for you. I thought it a good opportunity to make a push to get the whole of the 9000. Dollars settled, & waited on the Secretary of state on the subject. the principal had before been as good as settled, but I urged the injustice of refusing interest, and he the want of example of such an allowance. at length however he acknoleged the justice of refundingt it in this instance & that he would speak on the subject with the Secretary of the treasury; & he desired me to call again. I did so in due time, and fortunately found the Secretary of the treasury with him; and after discussing the subject, and my representing particularly the hardship of your losing the opportunity, by their witholding the money, to invest it in the present 8. per cent loan, they agreed to have 8000. D. subscribedu in the new loan in the name of one of the clerks, to be paid to you instead of so much money, as soon as Randolph’s cause should be decided. soon after I came to town this winter I called on the Secretary of the Treasury to know if the investiture was made, and he informed me it was done. this sum with the 4000.D. paid by Randolph will I suppose cover the whole < 504>
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9000. D. & interest—to this is to be added that the 8. per cents are now 5. or 6. above par. a new loan is about to be opened for 30 Millions, probably at the same interest. with the money in Barnes’s hands, & Brown’s, and the July & October interest if their instalments permit it, we may invest between 2. & 3000. D. more in the new loan: and I have desired mr Barnes to calculate and consider whether it would not be better to convert your 6. pr. cents which are at 16/4 and threes which are @ 10/ into the new loan, which will be obtained at par, & be immediately worth 4. 5. or 6. per cent more than par. I am tempted to advise this, because the principal of the sixes is eating out in paiments of 2. per cent at a time. tho’ the price of sixes is called 16/4 yet they deduct from that all the capital already paid, so that what was originally 20/ does by no means yield 16/4. The original price of the James river canal shares, was 200. D. = 60.£ Virginia currency. yours were bought @ 18/ say 54.£. they have fallen in value lately by the failure of a dam which incloses the bason. they have been obliged to draw oC the water & strengthen the dam. the canal has for some time been used quite to Richmond; but as the works are still going on no proAt is drawn yet on the shares. it is expected they will begin to draw in about 2. years, as the last year’s tolls amounted to £4000. & they have only to Anish the bason, & compleat improving the bed of the river. there is however a disagreeable circumstance. the original conditions require the company to carry the works to tide water. this would cost £20,000, and, as many think, would be useless: but the legislature have not yet relinquished it; & if they do, may perhaps demand an equivalent abatement of toll. at present therefore these shares are not at market. The Canals of Patowmack & Norfolk are likewise going on. their completion is rather more distant. the prices of shares in these also are below par. the progress of these works has encountered diDculties not foreseen, & their maintenance will be more expensive than was expected. they all will cost more than was calculated, and the tardiness of the completion, by keeping the capital so long unproAtable, will in this way also enhance the cost considerably. still their proAts, which are tolerably well in the beginning, will increase in the geometrical ratio of population & produce. so that in the end it will have been money well laid out. but it would have been better to have delayed buying till this time, if we could have foreseen the unexpected delays in the work, & the accidents to the bason. but at the time we bought they were expected to rise in value rapidly as the completion was expected to be near at hand. most unfortunately their original manager, Harris, died soon after. the plan & execution have been < 505>
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worse & slower in the new hands. I rather think too, were it to do again, I should prefer the Norfolk canal to any of the three. it has no obstructions to encounter, nothing but common earth in a level country to be dug away, and it’s proAts are more promising, & it’s maintenance more easy. but when your James river shares were bought, the Norfolk enterprize was in a very torpid state. On enquiring into your green sea lands from Colo. Harvie, he sent me the patent. it is to yourself, dated Nov. 1783. for ‘1000. acres lying & being in St. Bride’s parish & county of Norfolk, & is bounded as followeth to wit, beginning at the S.W. corner of Patrick Henry esq. & co. & running due W. 744. po. to a Juniper, thence due N. 224. po. to a small cypress: thence due E. 744. po. to Patrick Henry & co.’s land; thence due S. 224. poles to the beginning.’ these dimensions contain in fact 1041. acres. I suspect you ought to consider them as of no value. I understand they are covered with water & irreclaimable. you may see from the description of the boundaries that the lines were never actually run, & probably could not be, & that corner trees have been named at Hazard. I enquired at the Auditor’s oDce into the paiment of taxes, & found them 6. years in arrear. I paid for 5. years, the 6th. having never been returned by the sheriC. they are taxed at about a dollar a year, which being an ad valorem tax, aCords another symptom of their want of value. In order to place your Indian camp under proper leases it is absolutely necessary to survey the several Aelds. I went with the surveyor & passed a day in beginning that work, but the uncertainty of our instrument occasioned us to decline it till a better could be got. I came oC to this place soon afterwards, having the surveyor’s promise that he would proceed to the work immediately after Christmas. not recieving it as I expected, I wrote to him, & recieved an apology that for want of the external lines of the tract (which he had not been able to get as was expected from his brother, who surveyed it originally) he had not been able to proceed. as I happened to have brought the plat here with some other select papers I copied it & sent it to him. I am not without hopes I may still recieve his survey in time to inclose with this letter. if not, it shall follow by the next conveyance. I inclose you also a copy of the original survey; as also of the kind of lease under which the lands are tenanted until we have the survey compleated. then I shall give them leases for Ave years on the same rotations of culture and rest as in the present leases. these in their present form will yield about the same money rent as in the old way when they were free to waste & exhaust the lands as they pleased. in every Ave years they are allowed a 1st. year of small grain, 2d. corn, 3d. small grain, 4th. & < 506>
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5th. rest unpastured.v and I promise them verbally if they will sow the Aelds at rest in red clover, to be mowed not pastured, they may do it without paying rent. in this way the land will be getting better instead of worse. besides this I allow them to open new lands adjoining the old, & tend them 1. or 2. years in tobacco, for one fourth of the tobacco made. this will not be of long continuance: but while it continues it will yield near as much as the other part of the rent, and at the end of a year or two these new lands are added to the farm, and will pay the same rent by the acre. until the Aelds are surveyed, and remodelled into 5. equal Aelds in each farm, they will continue in a slovenly and disgusting state; and to get the tenants to aim at something better is extremely diDcult. it is not easy to tenant lands at all, with us. I have been these two or three years endeavoring to procure tenants for my own lands: but as yet without success: however the prospect grows better, and I think will continue to do so. it is easy enough to get tenants if you will let them destroy the land with Indian corn: but when you propose to restrain that, and to allow such a portion of rest as to ensure the lands against deterioration, they very generally refuse. I observe by one of your letters that you seem willing to purchase mr Morris’s Dover. take care of that. if I am rightly informed, the most atrocious fraud has been committed as to that tract of land. I am told the title is at present claimed by mr Marshall. however, like every thing else which mr Morris has ever touched, it is under such a multiplicity of titles, as will keep it at law for a half a century to come. mr Morris has himself been in prison two or three years, & expects to end his days there. his children have principalities, & his creditors not a cent in the Dollar. you also enquire whether Curles can be bought? it cannot now. it was purchased by Colo. Heath a few years ago, very low; the title being then thought desperate. the bond creditors of R. Randolph had brought suits to levy their debts on it, which law & justice seemed to render certain. however they contrived to boulster up a settlement which had been made of it on his sons, and the creditors lost their debts. mr Wayles’s representatives were among these, to indemnify them for £2000. they had to pay for R. Randolph on a securityship of their testator. there are at this time two capital tracts of land in the same neighborhood and of the same quality, which can now be bought. you doubtless have heard of, if not seen, Colo. T. M. Randolph’s Varina. it is 12. miles below Richmond on James river, where old Henrico stood, the 2d. settlement of the colony. there are about 900. acres, of which the greatest part are low grounds exactly such as those of Curles. it is divided into two by a narrow slip held at present as a glebe, but which will shortly be sold, & can be bought < 507>
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only by the owner of Varina, because surrounded by him, & without a stick of timber for fencing or fuel. this small parcel is all low grounds. the other is mr Eppes’s tract of land at Bermuda Hundred, opposite Shirley, and but a small distance from Varina across the river. you will see their position in the map of the state, and I inclose you a plat of the last. and I think you must have a personal knowlege of this land. it is of the very Arst quality, fully equal to Curles, and it is certain that there are not in the state two superior tracts of land. the titles are unquestionable having been in the present families of Randolph & Eppes from the Arst settlement of the colony. they are now held by my two sons in law, who being desirous of concentrating their property round Monticello, are willing to sell these lands. they ask £7000. Virga currency each. the fathers of these gentlemen refused £10,000. each for them 15. or 20. years ago. perhaps they may suit you or some of your friends. some other agent than myself must of course be employed to negociate for them. lands in my neighborhood are considerably raised since the purchase of Indian camp. such a tract would now command 6. Dollars, which is 50. pr. cent on what you gave for it. some talk of 10. D. but the fall in the price of tobacco, will check such demands as these. I suppose that from those who really want to sell, good lands in our neighborhood might still be bought @ 6. or 7. D. according to your desire I have lately enquired into the price of lands in the Middle states. in Pennsylvania good Highland, in a farm, with woodlands enough to support it, sells for from 16. to 100. Doll. the acre according to situation & quality. I exclude the lands within 20. miles of Philadelphia. in Jersey they are from 10. to 50. Dollars. in New York & Long-island from 15. to 50. D. bottom lands (what we call low grounds in Virginia) are much higher. perhaps in all these three states we may state the average price of good highland more than 20. miles from any great city @ about 30. Dollars. I will here make a statement of your property under my care. Stock 3. per cents 6. per cents.
11,256.63 15,342.18
8. per cents. 4,200. do. in hands of govmt about 8,000. Balance in the hands of J. Barnes 1208.10 { of James Brown about 360. } about 3,000. adding the July & Oct. interest we may make up with the above in the new loan Balance in my hands, exclusive of interest 9,607.97 James river Canal. 33. shares @ 200. D. each 6,600. Indian Camp 1334. as. Green sea. 1000. as.
[
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— part of w principl paid.
13 APRIL 1800
I may now give you something of our small news. Colo. Skipwith remained a widower but a short time. he is married to mrs Dunbar, formerly mrs Fairley, who was miss Byrd. the last twelvemonth has been remarkeable for deaths of high characters. among these are General Washington, Patrick Henry, Governor Edward Rutledge, Governor MiEin, George Nicholas. the tide of public sentiment, which had been greatly aCected by the unsuccesful mission of Pinckney, Marshal, & Gerry, is Bowing back into it’s antient channel.x May. 9. I had begun this letter according to it’s Arst date, and continued it at intervals. being now within two or three days of my departure from this place, and also of the sailing of the Parlementaire, I must bring it to a close. in the mean time considerable facts have shewn themselves. you no doubt understand the distinction here between the two parties called Republicans & Federalists. the principles of the former are undoubtedly those of the body of the people. irritated by the depredations of the French on our commerce & by the conduct of that government to our ministers, they had gone with their whole weight into the scale of the opposite party. this appearance of popularity inducing that party to develope & act fully on their own principles, these have given alarm, and produced a revulsion of the public sentiment. it is now returning to it’s naturaly attachment to the principles of the republicans. in N. Hampshire it shewed itself suddenly, and was lately very near ousting the formerqz governor. in Massachusets Gerry has been run against a federal candidate for the government, and lost it by only 2000. in 37. or 38,000. votes. eighteen months ago, as many hundred votes could not have been got in such a contest. the New York elections are just decided, so as to give a great majority in their legislature in favor of the republican tickets. their legislature chuse the electors of a President (12 in number.) on a view of the dispositions of the other states, this N. York majority is considered by both parties as deciding the event of the Presidential election to be held the next fall, even should the state of Pensylvania not be able to vote (of which some doubt arises from a diCerence between the two branches of their legislature.) should Pensylvania vote, as it would add 15. votes to the republican side, it would remove all doubt. in hopes that they can not vote, the federal party propose to counteract the eCect of their loss of N. York by starting a Southern candidate, of their friends (Genl. Pinckney) to take oC the vote of S. Carolina. but how they propose to manage between him and the present President I neither know nor can concieve. whatever may be the event of this election, the next house of representatives will be strongly republican, and the administration cannot long refuse to < 509>
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adopt the sentiments of that branch of the legislature supported by the weight of the people. I have ventured to say this much that you might have a truer idea of our aCairs than you may possibly get from others. present my respects & attachment to Made. de la Rochefoucault, and accept yourself assurances of the constant and sincere esteem of Dear Sir Your aCectionate friend Th: Jefferson P.S. I pray you to give a safe conveyance to the two letters inclosed. you would always greatly oblige me by sending the Connoissance des tems as fast as they appear. they are never to be had here. RC (ViW); written, as TJ indicated at the beginning of the Anal paragraph of text, “at intervals” from 13 Apr. to 9 May; at foot of Arst page: “Mr. Short”; endorsed by Short as received 12 July 1800 and “delivered me by M. Testard, who came by the Parlementaire to Bordeaux”; on another sheet now with the letter Short listed his assets as TJ outlined them in the letter, including the balance owed him by TJ “exclusive of interest—9.607.97 (see the calculation of interest up to Jan 1. 1800. wch. I have made).” PrC (DLC: Short Papers); lacks one emendation and Anal page (see notes 7-8 below and Document ii). Enclosures: (1) James Brown to TJ, 27 Oct. 1799. (2) Henry Skipwith to James Brown, 6 Mch. 1790, authorizing Brown to have attorney Andrew Ronald initiate legal proceedings against John Tayloe GriDn if necessary to obtain payment of two military certiAcates due to Short; recording also that Skipwith gave Brown notes from John Mayo and Littleberry Mosby, Jr., for military certiAcates (Tr in ViW; entirely in TJ’s hand, on verso of Enclosure No. 1; at head of text: “copy”; with subjoined Tr in TJ’s hand of Skipwith’s receipt from May 1790, the day of the month being torn away, acknowledging Mosby’s partial payment of interest). (3) Survey of Indian Camp Quarter, 18 Apr. 1795, by Robert W. Lewis (described in note to Articles of Agreement with William Champe Carter, 20 Apr. 1795). (4) Probably TJ to Dugnani, 7 May 1800. (5) Probably TJ to Van Staphorst & Hubbard, 8 May 1800, with enclosures. Other enclosures printed as Documents iii-v below.
For TJ’s earlier acquaintance with the author of the book on pisé building, François Cointeraux, see Cointeraux to TJ, 16 June and 2 Sep. 1789. When George Washington in 1792 asked TJ to comment on Cointeraux’s proposal to bring the method to the United States, TJ did not advise the president to follow up on the idea (TJ to Washington, 18 Nov. 1792). With regard to the watches that Short sent as gifts to his sisters, see Short to TJ, 6 Aug. 1798, and Elbridge Gerry to TJ, 12 Nov. 1798. Short’s brother Peyton acknowledged the watches’ arrival in Kentucky in his letter to TJ of 5 Dec. 1799, in which he also stated that he would resolve matters still pending from the earlier administration of William Short’s aCairs by Henry skipwith. In his letter of 16 Oct. 1799 to Peyton Short, TJ fowarded the evidences of William Short’s purchase of land from Frederick Paschke (paskie). TJ believed that the younger richard randolph had given more than one mortgage on the curles plantation his father had deeded to him in 1785. The younger Richard died before November 1799, when the Virginia Court of Appeals resolved a lawsuit that TJ and others had instituted against the estate of the elder Richard Randolph (Vol. 28:288-9, 291n). In a letter of 15 Apr. 1800 TJ asked george jefferson to undertake the collection of the bonds that had been in James Brown’s hands, which suggests that TJ did not compose the second paragraph of the letter above until the 15th or after. For his correspondence with the ad-
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13 APRIL 1800 ministrator of the estate of benjamin harrison, Jr., see TJ to Carter Bassett Harrison, 16 Oct. 1799. In 1790 TJ gave Richard hanson seven bonds to pay his share of John wayles’s great debt to Farell & Jones. He did not pay oC the last of the bonds until 1807 (mb, 1:751-2; 2:1199). The 2d. sum for which Wayles had been responsible was a bond given by the elder Richard Randolph, with Wayles as security, to James Bivins in 1772 (Vol. 28:98100). TJ’s mortgaging of some of his slaves to Short in May 1796 and his placing of that document in the care of colo. thomas bell are discussed in the note to TJ to James Lyle, 12 May 1796. A subsequent mortgage given to another party referred to 57, not 80, slaves mortgaged to Short (Deed of Mortgage of Slaves to Van Staphorst & Hubbard, 21 Nov. 1796). loan to the compy.: TJ had subscribed Short to a loan to the James River Company from its shareholders; see TJ to Short, 12 Mch. 1797, 1 May 1798, and Short to TJ, 6 Aug. 1798. randolph’s cause: the U.S. government’s suit against Edmund Randolph; see the letter from Timothy Pickering, 25 Feb. 1799, and TJ to Short, 26 Mch. 1800. For Short’s holdings in the green sea of the Dismal Swamp, see the exchange of letters between TJ and John harvie on 6 and 15 May 1798. The new surveyor of Short’s Indian Camp land was probably Nicholas Meriwether Lewis, with whom TJ had an exchange of letters, now missing, in March and April 1800 (see Indenture for Land Exchange with Nicholas Meriwether Lewis and Mildred Hornsby Lewis, 1 July 1799). Lewis’s brother, Robert W. Lewis, made the original survey of the property in 1795 (Woods, Albemarle, 252; Vol. 28:334n).
In letters of 6 and 24 Aug. 1798 Short had expressed interest in Robert Morris’s dover tract. James M. marshall, John Marshall’s brother, was Morris’s sonin-law (Marshall, Papers, 6:279n). The lawsuit of John Wayles’s executors against the estate of the senior Richard Randolph was motivated by the judgment against Wayles’s executors for the securityship of their testator on Randolph’s bond to Bivins; Vol. 28:98100n, 289-90n. n. hampshire: the Federalist governor who withstood the Republican surge was John Taylor Gilman (anb). In Massachusetts, federal candidate Caleb Strong narrowly bested Elbridge Gerry for the governorship (George Athan Billias, Elbridge Gerry: Founding Father and Republican Statesman [New York, 1976], 301). new york elections are just decided: see the reports of Edward Livingston and Aaron Burr, received by TJ on 3 and 5 May, respectively. q Two words interlined in place of “over.” r TJ here canceled “beyond.” s TJ Arst ended the paragraph here and began the next paragraph with “Mr. Barnes who has recieved your interest from the beginning of 1799” before canceling that passage and continuing the paragraph as above. t Word interlined in place of “doing.” u Word interlined in place of “invested.” v Preceding word interlined. w Preceding two words interlined; emendation lacking in PrC. x PrC ends here. y TJ here canceled “union.” qz Compare Document ii below, “federal.”
II. Partial Copy from Memory I added to this letter another page, & forgot to take a press-copy. eight hours afterwards I sit down to repeat it as nearly verbally as I can by memory. < 511>
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May. 9. I begun this letter on the day of it’s date and continued it at intervals. being now within 3. days of my departure from this place & that of the Parlementaire, I bring it to a close. since that date some facts of importance have taken place. you doubtless know of the two parties existing here & calling themselves republican & federal. the principles of the former are those of the great body of the people. but the depredns on our commerce by the French, & their rejection of our envoys irritated them so much that they threw their whole weight into the scale of the other party. encouraged by this appearance of popularity a developement of the principles that party ensued, which has occasioned a revulsion of the public sentiment. the people are now returning rapidly to their natural preference of republican principles. this discovered itself suddenly on a late election in N. Hampshire where a federal governor was near being ousted. in an election which followed immediately in Massachusets, Gerry was within 2000. votes of carrying it against a federal candidate for governor, out of 37.000. votes. in an election which has just taken place in N. York, of members for their legislature, the republican tickets have prevailed by a great majority. the legislature there chuse the electors of President. this event, in the understanding of both parties,q decides the fate of the election of President to take place in the ensuing autumn, even should Pensylvania not be able to give a vote (of which there is danger from a disagreement between their two houses.) should Pensylvania vote,r all doubt of the event will be removed. to countervail the loss of the vote of N. York, the federal party are proposing to run a Southern candidates (Genl. Pinckney) in conjunction with the present President, in hopes of taking oC the vote of S. Carolina. but how they are to manage this operation so as not to endanger the present President, I neither know nor can concieve. but be the event of this election what it will, we shall have such a majority on the next election of Representatives as that no administration will venture to pursue measures against the sense of that house supported by the voice of the people. I have said thus much to give you a more accurate idea of the state of things here than you have probably recieved from others. present my respects & attachment to made de la Rochefoucault, & accept yourself assurances of the constant & sincere esteem of Dr. Sir your aCectte. friend. Th:J. the above is substantially, & nearly verbally exact; the very wording of every passage being still entirely fresh in my memory. < 512>
13 APRIL 1800 FC (NNFoM); entirely in TJ’s hand. q TJ here canceled “ensures.” r Canceled: “there [will].”
s TJ here continued “in conjunction” before partially erasing those words and writing Pinckney’s name over the erasure.
III. Statement of Account with William Short 1793. Nov. 22. [1794.] Jan. 1. Apr. 1. July 1. Oct. 1. 1795. Jan. 1. Apr. 1.
William Short in account with Th: JeCerson Cr. By cash of Patrick Kennon By int. on stock recd. from US. (by self.) By do. (J. Ross.) By do. Lownes By do. do.
By do. do. By do. Barnes. 390.62 By nett proceeds 2. certif. of stock sold by do. 3741.60 May. 8. By do. certif. 3. pr. Ct. 2355.01 D @ 11/7 = 1364.52 deferred 2150. @ 14/ = 1505. 2869.52 charges 15.22 July 1. By nett proceeds of certif. for 7504.42 deferrd. stock @ 14/5 5379.53 By int. on stock recd from US. by Barnes 314.55 1796. Mar. 5. By int. for Oct. 1. 95. & Jan. 1. 96. recd. by J. Barnes 10. By dividend of principal now payable. recd by J.B. 306.84 oC 0 p.c. commn. 1.54 Apr. 1. By int. on stock recd from US. by J. Barnes 230.13 By principal of do. now payable 84.42 314.55 oC 0 p.c. commn. 1.55 July 1. By int. & principal recd from US. by J. Barnes Aug. 1. By rent from Charles Lively for 96. Dec. 27. By int. & princip. of stock recd from US. by J. Barnes
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Dollars 109.83 390.62 390.62 390.62 390.62 390.62 4132.22
2854.30
5694.08
625.95
305.30
313. 313. 20. 313.
JEFFERSON’S L ET T E R TO SHORT 1797. Feb. 8.
By do.
621.39 oC commn. 3.11 14. By rent from Price for 96. Apr. 10. By do. from Haden for 96. June. 30. By do. from Cornelius for 96. July 1. By int. &c. for Apr. 1. & July 1. now recd from US. by J.B. 629.10 oC commn. 3.15 Oct. 19. By int. for Oct. 1. now recd. of US. by J. Barnes nett. 1798. Jan. 17. By int. & princ. of stock recd from US. by J.B. 6. p.ct. 536.97 3. p.ct. 84.42 621.39 oC. commn. 3.11 Apr. 4. By int. of stock now recd from US. by J.B. 314.55-1.55 July 3. By do. 6 p.ct. 230.13 + 3 p.ct. 82.42 = 312.55 oC commn. 1.55 27. By rent from Cornelius for 97. Aug. 6. By do. from Lively for 97. 17. By do. from Price for 97.
Brought forward
Cr
618.28 20. 40. 66.67
625.95 313.
618.28 313. 311. 66.67 20. 20. 19,666.63 D 19,666.63
1798. Oct. 3.
By int. on stock recd from US. by J. Barnes 314.55-1.55 Nov. 21. By cash from E. Pendleton for E. Randolph on acct. US. £500 Dec. 31. By do. £300 1798.q Jan. 14. By do. £400 Sep. 29. By Lively’s rent for 98. Oct. 1. By Haden’s do. for 97 7. By Price’s do. for 98.
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313. 1666.67 1000. 1333.33 20. 40. 20. 24,059.63
13 APRIL 1800 1795. Apr. 1. 20. 22. June 3. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 24.
Dr. To pd Pollard for D. Ross for 20. canal shares @ 18/ To pd Wm. C. Carter in part for lands. Indian camp To do. To do. To do. To do. To do. To do. To do. To do. To do. To pd Heron & Pollard for 7. Jas. R. canal shares @ £54. & Pollard’s comn. Aug. 3. To pd W. C. Carter for lands in full 12. To pd Harrison for 6. Jas. R. canal shares @ 18/ and commn. 1796 Dec. 26. To pd Chas. Johnston requisitions on loan for canal shares 1797. Jan. 3. To pd Chas. Johnston do. Aug. 14. To pd Jesse Lewis a Commissioner’s ticket for your land Sep. 1. To pd Charles Johnston 3d. requisition for canal shares
Dollars 3600. 900. 2000 600. 600. 100 100 100 100 100 100. 1272.50 524.83 1090.75
135. 543.18 .40 330. 12,196.66
Brought forward Dr. 1799. Jan. 9. To deposited for you in J. Barnes’s hands, who now opens acct with you Feb. 22. To do. 25. To do. Nov. 21. To paid taxes for your Green sea lands for 93.4.5.7. Balance due W. Short exclusive of interest
12,196.66
1200. 900. 150. 5. 9607.97 24,059.63
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JEFFERSON’S L ET T E R TO SHORT MS (ViW); entirely in TJ’s hand; arranged by TJ with the debit column to the left of the credit column, although without aligning dates in the two columns; both columns carried forward and completed on verso of page. Enclosed in TJ to Short, 13 Apr. 1800. Perhaps in preparation for this statement TJ made extracts of his Anancial memoranda for the payments from Edmund pendleton recorded above under 21 Nov., 31 Dec. 1798, and 14 Jan. 1799. Those transactions appear in TJ’s memorandum books under 8 and 22 Jan. 1799. On the same page of extracts TJ also copied his Anancial memoranda detailing the deposits made to Short’s credit on 9 Jan. and 22, 25 Feb. 1799. In addition he made the notation, “Sep. 16. see an entry of no acct.,” referring to an entry he added to the margin of his Anancial memoranda
at 16 Sep. 1799 regarding two sums he Arst recorded as charged to Short but then changed after hearing from John Barnes (MS in MoSHi: JeCerson Papers; entirely in TJ’s hand; undated; at head of text: “Mm book. 1799. Extracts”; the note about 16 Sep. 1799 follows the extract from 25 Feb. and the 22 Jan. extract comes last; in left margin TJ indicated the appropriate page numbers of his Anancial memoranda; the February 1799 extracts and the reference to 16 Sep. 1799 have been struck through by a single diagonal stroke); see mb, 2:996-8, 1006, and TJ to Barnes, 16 Sep. 1799. According to TJ’s Anancial memoranda it was not to jesse lewis but to James Lewis that he made the payment of 40 cents on 14 Aug. 1797 (mb, 2:968-9). q Thus in MS, but should be “1799.”
IV. Statement of John Barnes’s Account with William Short 1799. Jan. 1. 9. Feb. 22. 25. Apr. 2. July. 2. Oct. 7. 1800. Jan. 2.
Feb. 5.
John Barnes in account with William Short Dr. To int. & princip. of stock now recd. of US. To Th:J.’s draught on G. JeCerson To do. To do. To a quarter’s int. of stock from US. To do. To do. To 2. pr. ct. principal of stock now pd. by US. 306.84 int on 6. p.ct. stock from do. 230.13 do. on 3. p.ct. do. 84.42 621.39 deduct 0 p.ct. commn. 3.10 £ s To Th:J’s order on G. JeCerson for 3 princip. lent Jas. R. co. 74–5 int. on do. to 1st. Jan. 53–11–8 Virga currcy. 127–16–8
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Dollars 620.16 1200. 900. 150. 313. 313. 313.
618.29
13 APRIL 1800 Apr. 1.
equal to 426.1 - 0 p.c. commn. To a quarter’s int. on 6. p.ct. stock of US. on 3. p.ct. do. on 42. shares of 8. p.ct. do. deduct 0 p.ct. commn.
2.10 230.13 84.42 266. 580.55 2.90
Cr. Mar. 1. By pd. 1st. instalment of 42. shares in 8. p.ct. loan. Apr. 1. By 2d. do. May. 1. By 3d. do. June 1. By 4th do. July 1. By 5th. do. Aug. 1. By 6th. do. Sep. 1. By 7th. do. Oct. 1. By 8th. do. By commn. on negociation
MS (ViW); entirely in TJ’s hand, with his calculation at foot subtracting 4,221 from 5,429.10 to yield 1,208.10; arranged by TJ with the debit column to the left of the credit column, without aligning dates. Enclosed in TJ to Short, 13 Apr. 1800. To compile this statement TJ probably drew on two statements by Barnes of his account with Short: one of 7 Oct. 1799, detailing transactions from 25 Feb. to that date, with notations by TJ showing the actual beginning date to be 1 Jan.; and the other a statement of 1 Apr. 1800, endorsed by TJ, noting transactions from 7 Oct. 1799 to 1 Apr. and concluding with the balance of $1,208.10 (MSS in DLC: Short Papers; in Barnes’s hand and signed by him). Barnes also made a run-
424.
577.65 5,429.10 Dollars. 525. 525. 525. 525. 525. 525. 525. 525. 21. 4221.
ning list of the payments of interest and principal he had received from Short’s federal loan certiAcates, 1 Apr. 1795-1 Apr. 1800; above the entry for 3 Jan. 1799, the Arst entry for that year, TJ drew a line and wrote: “here ends my part of these articles. The following enter into account between J. Barnes & W. Short” (MS in same; in Barnes’s hand with notations by TJ; endorsed by TJ: “J. Barnes’s rects. of int. &c. for W. Short. vouching my acct. so far”). On 30 Mch. 1800 TJ requested John Steele to pay Barnes the quarterly payments due 1 Apr. on Short’s U.S. certiAcates (RC in ICHi, endorsed, with instruction by Steele, 1 Apr. 1800, to the cashier of the Bank of the United States to “Make payment”; not recorded in SJL).
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V. Form of Lease Articles of lease & agreement between Th:J. as attorney for W.S. and A.B. It is agreed that the said A.B. shall hold the tenement [here describe it] in lease for one year from the last day of Nov. 1799. and so on from year to year until either party shall give notice to the other that the lease is to be at an end on the 1st. day of December ensuing such notice. that the sd A.B. shall divide the sd farm into Ave equal parts or shifts; that only three of these parts shall be cultivated in any one year, & two of them shall remain at rest and unpastured: that of the three to be cultivated, one only shall be in Indian corn; & that no one of them shall be in Indian corn more than once in Ave years; that when any of the said Ave Aelds shall have been in corn, it shall in the autumn of the same year be sowed in wheat or rye: that each of the said parts or Aelds shall be at rest, uncultivated & unpastured two years out of every Ave; and that anything to the contrary of the preceding course of culture or treatment shall be deemed waste. it is further agreed that the said A.B. shall be free to make reasonable use of the Woodlands of the sd W.S. for the purposes of inclosure, of building & repairing, of making utensils for the farm, for fuel, and for the range of his stock; that he will put & keep the external fence inclosing the said Ave Aelds, which, & which alone, are hereby demised, in good order, and keep the houses built or to be built in good repair, except against the gradual decays of time: that he will pay on the last day of November yearly, during the continuance of this lease a rent of ten shillings per acre for the three Aelds allowed to be cultivated, and no rent for the two Aelds remaining at rest; for which rent, if unpaid when due, the sd W.S. or his agent shall have the right of distress. it is further agreed between the parties that no notice shall be deemed a determination of the lease, unless it be given at least two months before the last day of November whereon it is proposed to determine it, & that the tenant who is to succeed shall be free to enter the grounds in the autumn of the year in which the lease determines to sow small grain, doing therein no damage other than what is usual and unavoidable. In witness whereof the sd Th:J. & A.B. have hereto set their hands & seals this ———— day of ———— MS (ViW); entirely in TJ’s hand, including brackets; undated; in all three references to the term of the lease, TJ Arst speciAed the Arst day of December, then substituted the last day of November. Enclosed in TJ to Short, 13 Apr. 1800.
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To George Jefferson Dear Sir Philadelphia Apr. 15. 1800. A little before I left home I recieved a letter from mr James Brown with his account against mr Short, of which I now inclose you a copy balance in favr. of mr Short £81–13–11 with interest. I should state it thus however. James Brown in account
Dr. £ s d
with William Short. £
1793. Oct. 3. To cash for int. on 1793. Oct. 3 certiAcates 99–5–9 1797. May 31. 1797. May 31. To int. on do. 18–3–6 117–9–3 1797. May . To balance [on certiAcates] £99–17–5 to int. on £99-5-9 [. . .] paid
ç
Cr. s d
By sundry fees paid between these dates 17–11–10 Balance due [W.S.] 99–17– 5 117– 9– 3
The balance not being stated in this form by him, I inclose you an order, not for the [entire] sum, but for the balance which shall be found due on settlement with you. if he has discovered any further paiments of fees, they will of course be deducted: if not, I will pay them whenever he has leisure to search for them. in the mean time be so good as to recieve & remit the money on mr Short’s account to mr Barnes, as we wish to make up a sum of money to subscribe for him to the new loan. on this occasion I shall be glad if you would open an account with him and that it should begin with the £127.16.8 recieved [. . .] from the James river co. and remitted to mr Barnes. I also inclose you three notes recieved from mr Brown at the same time. [1788]. Jan. 1 1784. Dec. 1. 1789. Dec. 23.
Littlebury Moseby John Mayo Richard Randolph
£200. 100. 62–10
ç
for military certiAcates bearing interest @ 6. per cent. cash with interest.
these I will ask the favor of you to collect for mr Short, and if not paid promptly to proceed by legal process if the parties are solvent. I do not know who they are, being an entire stranger to the whole of these transactions. you will of course charge on [these] netting your usual commissions, & remit the money always to mr Barnes who has instructions how to employ it for mr Short; only dropping [me] a short note when a remittance is made him, that I may enter it duly. I am with great esteem Dear Sir Yours aCectionately Th: Jefferson
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15 APRIL 1800 PrC (DLC: Short Papers); faint; at foot of text: “Mr George JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosure: James Brown to TJ, 27 Oct. 1799. Other enclosures not found.
From George Jefferson Dear Sir Richmond 15th. Apl. 1800 I sent you yesterday by a Mr. Monroe, Randolph’s abridgment of the Virginia laws; I would have look’d out for an earlier opportunity but this Gentleman has had it in possession for about 3 weeks, and has been going from day to day ever since. I am Dear Sir Your Very humble servt. Geo. Jefferson RC (MHi); at foot of text: “Thos. JeCerson esqr. Philada.”; endorsed by TJ as received 21 Apr. and so recorded in SJL.
To George Jefferson Dear Sir Philadelphia April 19. 1800. An opportunity occurs of immediately disposing of what ready money can be a raised for mr Short, to great advantage. be so good therefore as to settle without delay the balance with mr Brown & remit it to mr Barnes. I repeat that if any future discoveries of just charges can be made I will undertake that they be repaid. I am with great esteem Dear Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC: Short Papers); at foot of text: “Mr George JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
To Edmund Pendleton Dear Sir Philadelphia Apr. 19. 1800. My duties here require me to possess exact knolege of parliamentary proceedings. while a student I read a good deal, & commonplaced what I read, on this subject. but it is now 20. years since I was a member of a parliamentary body, so that I am grown rusty. so far indeed as books go, my commonplace has enabled me to retrieve. but there are many minute practices, which being in daily use in parliament & therefore supposed known to every one, were never noticed < 520>
19 APRIL 1800
in their books. these practices were I dare say the same we used to follow in Virginia: but I have forgot even our practices. besides these there are minute questions arising frequently as to the mode of amending, putting questions &c which the books do not inform us of. I have from time to time noted these queries, and, keeping them in view, have been able to get some of them satisAed & struck them oC my list. but I have a number of them still remaining unsatisAed. however unwilling to disturb your repose I am so anxious to perform the functions of my ofAce with exact regularity, that I have determined to throw myself on your friendship and to ask your aid in solving as many of my doubts as you can. I have written them down, leaving a broad margin in which I only ask the favor of you to write yea, or nay, opposite to the proposition, which will satisfy me. those which you do not recollect, do not give yourself any trouble about. do it only at your leisure; if this should be before the 9th. of May, your return of the papersq may And me here till the 16th. if after that, be so good as to direct them to me at Monticello. I have no foreign news but what you see in the papers. Duane’s & Cooper’s trials come on to day. such a selection of jurors has been made by the marshal as ensures the event. the same may be said as to Fries &c. and also as to the sheriC and justices who in endeavoring to arrest Sweezy the horsethief, got possession of his papers & sent them to the chief justice & governor, among which papers were mr Liston’s letters to the governor of Canada, printed we know not by whom. we have not yet heard the fate of Holt editor of the Bee in Connecticut. a printer in Vermont is prosecuted for reprinting mr Mc.Henry’s letter to Genl. Darke. be so good as to present my respects to mrs Pendleton, and friendly salutations to mr Taylor, & accept yourself assurances of constant & aCectionate esteem. Th: Jefferson RC (MHi: Washburn Collection); at foot of text: “Honble E. Pendleton”; endorsed by Pendleton. PrC (DLC); endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosure: see enclosure to Pendleton to TJ, 17 June 1800. The U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Pennsylvania had postponed action in William duane’s case during its October 1799 term. In April 1800 the court’s grand jury indicted Duane for libel at the same time that it issued Thomas cooper’s indictment, but the editor was in hiding to avoid the Senate’s warrant.
The court tried Cooper during the April term, but not Duane (Philadelphia Gazette, 14, 16, 19, 21, 24 Apr. 1800; Smith, Freedom’s Fetters, 285-6; Duane to TJ, 27 Mch. 1800). John fries, who during the resistance to the Direct Tax had led a group that liberated prisoners from a federal marshal’s custody in Pennsylvania, had been found guilty during a Arst trial in the federal circuit court in the spring of 1799. Judges James Iredell and Richard Peters reluctantly ordered a new trial after Fries’s counsel demonstrated prejudice on the part of a juror. A second trial during the
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19 APRIL 1800 April 1800 term of court resulted in Fries’s conviction for treason, although a pardon from John Adams saved him from execution. Samuel Chase had taken Iredell’s place before the second hearing of the case, and his handling of the trial was among the charges brought against him during his impeachment in 1804-5 (Jane ShaCer Elsmere, “The Trials of John Fries,” pmhb, 103 [1979], 432-45). The federal grand jury in Philadelphia had indicted Duane and three others for misdemeanor “in opening and publishing letters of a foreign Minister,” charges stemming from the Isaac sweezy incident. Since it appeared that Sweezy had been detained under a valid warrant and there were doubts about the federal court’s jurisdiction in the matter, the case did not come to trial (Philadelphia Gazette, 14 Apr. 1800; Wharton, State Trials, 682-3; Elijah GrifAths to TJ, 4 Aug. 1799). Barzillai Hudson and George Goodwin, editors of the Hartford Connecticut
Courant, Aled the complaint that resulted in the prosecution of Charles holt under the Sedition Act. Holt was indicted for publishing in the New London bee a letter from a Danbury resident who discouraged families from allowing their young men to enlist in an army commanded by the adulterous Alexander Hamilton. At Holt’s trial in the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Connecticut before Justice Bushrod Washington in New Haven in April, the prosecutor, Pierpont Edwards, argued that the editor’s fault was in knowingly publishing the letter with its reference to an inherently corrupt “standing” army when in fact the United States only had a “provisional” military. Holt was found guilty, sentenced to three months in prison, and Aned $200. He suspended publication of the Bee until the completion of his prison term (Smith, Freedom’s Fetters, 375-83). q Canceled: “will.”
From Thomas Mann Randolph Th: M. Randolph to Th: Jefferson [ca. 19 Apr. 1800] Your letter by Cristopher reached me on the 15’th.—those of 7. & 9. March I had before found in Charlottesville whither they had gone by negligence at the Milton ofAce. James Ross did not come to Court: Kitt failed in his material witness who happened to be gone on a journey: the suit was continued: this gives an opportunity to awaken D. Ross’s prudence or rather to rescue his reason from Anger & Pride: P. Carr who has great weight with him, has undertaken to write on the subject and Co’lo. Morris of Louisa will cooperate. The young man his son will be punished smartly by the forfeiture of his recognisance to amount of 2000$. which will inevitably be recovered of him and perhaps the Father will let him bear that himself tho’ he would have taken oC the whole & have reestablished him if he had been completely ruined, the inevitable termination of the aCair if pursued. He is an incorrigible Drunkard & blackguard. Lillie goes on with great spirit and complete quiet at Mont’o.: he is so good tempered that he can get twice as much done without the smallest discontent as some with the hardest driving possible. He will < 522>
19 APRIL 1800
be in time with every thing: which few can hope in his neighbourhood. Milton draws him oC less every day: it never did seriously. The Wheat is Ane beyond my belief till I saw it myself: I feared it had been too late sown. The fruit of every kind is safe at Mont’o. tho’ much destroyed in the Country around by the frosts of 16. 17. 18. Ap. they killed the clover & locust leaves even, here. Your Bock of sheep on Mont’o. is thriving & has increased as much in proportion as any in the Country: it has been an uncommonly favorable season every where for them. Richardson is lathing your own apartment when he is not dressing and galanting: he made a great parade in preparing tools for the Canal and we Atted him up completely without one moments delay but I can see nothing done worth mentioning. Ursula is very near her last: tho’ her case some time since has declared itself desperate I got Bache to visit her upon your desire to have some theory of so extraordinary a fact as has occurred in that family. All her symptoms are the same with her husband & son; but the Dropsy is general in her tho’the Hydrothorax is as manifest and as violent as in either of them. I think I have allways understood that in robust, bulky, middle aged bodies living in a pure & wholsome air, upon strong & plentiful diet with moderate labor; a complete destruction of the tone of the system produces dropsy, when in opposite situations & habits, pulmonary consumption, or atrophy without it, or the bilious declines so common in the low country of Virginia take place. The poisons of the Buckingham Negroe conjuror appear to have a power of unstringing the whole system beyond recovery in a short time; of destroying the elasticity or rather the Vital Virtue of muscular Abre & nervous thread in a few weeks or days as completely in a healthy African slave as the abuse of natural gratiAcations for years in the luxurious rich, or quantities of Ardent Spirit in those who are just above labor. The instances of death (with the symptoms of your Negroe family), among the latter, are numerous in this part of the Country within my knowledge: among the former two immediately in our neighbourhood: R.J. of Charlottesville in 96 & G.G. of the neighbourhood the same year. The poisons of the Conjurer have the most astonishing eCect in producing melancholy & despair—perhaps greatly operative in the catastrophe. Martha incloses to you the specimens of sheeting you desired: 1. your Flanders sheeting. 2. Irish, of a quality next preferable, in her opinion. with most sincere aCection Th: M. Randolph < 523>
19 APRIL 1800 RC (ViU); undated; endorsed by TJ as received 25 Apr. and so recorded in SJL.
your letter by christopher: TJ to Randolph, 4 Apr. 1800.
From James Madison Dear Sir 20. Apl 1800 Since my last I have been favored with yours by Christr: Mcpherson. It brought me the Arst agreeable information of the prospect held out by our Envoys. The posture of Europe, tho’ dreadful to humanity in general, will I trust enforce the disposition of France to come to a proper adjustment with us. And notwithstanding the group of daring experiments presented by our public Councils, I also trust that they will not venture on either a direct refusal, or a palpable evasion of this result. Still however the situation of the party bent on war is such that every stratagem ought to be suspected that may aCord a chance of prolonging their ascendancy. The horrors which they evidently feel at the approach of the Electoral epoch are a sufAcient warning of the desperate game by which they will be apt to characterise the interval. In my next I shall be able to give you some partialq information of the temper of the people here, as it will be shewn by our State election, which takes place on the 23 inst: I And that considerable exertion is used to raise prejudices agst. the measures of the last Session of Assembly, especially the novel mode of appointg. Electors. I am not possessed however of any evidence of their success that deserves attention. I sincerely wish Mr. Dupont may fulAl his promise to you & that I may come in for a participation of the visit. I beg you to make him sensible of the particularr pleasure I shall feel in an opportunity of testifying to him at my own house the high esteem I entertain for his genius & virtues. As your return to Virginia will soon take place & I am anxious to obtain some little remittances due to me from Philada. I must trouble you with the two inclosed draughts, & a request that you will be good eno’ to bring the proceeds with you. That on Lewis, I have not made payable to Barnes, because some personalities would make it unpleasing to him; and no other person occurring, I have left it to you to make use of any one you may And convenient. I wish it not to be put on any footing that may lead to legal proceedings in case he should not comply with the order, altho’ there is not the slightest shadow for his hesitation. May I trouble you also to have the note to < 524>
21 APRIL 1800
the Editor handed to him, and the advance of Ave dollars paid to him. I will write you again by the next post, being much hurried by my being just returned from an absence for some days from home RC (DLC: Madison Papers); endorsed by TJ as received 25 Apr. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosures not found.
William Duane, included payment for a subscription to the Aurora, probably for Isaac Winston (see mb, 2:1018; TJ to Madison, 12 May 1800).
my last: Madison to TJ, 4 Apr. 1800. yours by christr: mcpherson: TJ to Madison, 4 Apr. 1800. Madison’s note to the editor,
q Word interlined. r Word interlined.
From James Thomson Callender Sir Richmond April 21. 1800. I inclose two newspapers. I mean to go to Petersburg in 8 or 10 days to begin printing Part 2d of Prospect. We shall have a long article in The Republican on Thursday next. I hope you will excuse this freedom, and I am Sir Your humble sevt Jas. T. Callender P.S. I thought it but justice to send Mr. Adams, under a blank cover, a copy of my address to the Public RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ as received 26 Apr. but recorded in SJL at 25 Apr. 1800. Enclosures not found. In his address to the public dated 8 Apr., which appeared in the Richmond Examiner on the 8th and 11th, Callender responded to criticism of The Prospect Before Us in the Federalist newspapers and criticized policies of the Adams administration. He centered his attack against Adams around the bill before Congress, which gave the president an allowance to defray the expense of moving his household to Washington, calling it a “swin-
dling, by which the people of America must be robbed of twenty, thirty, or Afty thousand additional dollars.” By posing questions Callender excoriated: “Is it because Mr Adams has heaped so many thousands of dollars upon his own son, that we are to be at such an exorbitant expense about him and his furniture?”; “Is it because his janisaries Bogged Schneider, or is it because JeCerson’s letters are broken up at the post ofAce?”; “Shall we purchase this furniture because the president kept Talleyrand’s mendicant dispatches for peace ninety days in his pocket?”
To Martha Jefferson Carr Dear Sister Philadelphia Apr. 21. 1800. Yours of Mar. 23. came duly to hand, and by the same post a letter of the 24th. from mr Eppes informing me that Maria was so < 525>
21 APRIL 1800
much better that in a few days she would be able to go to Montblanco. I since learn that Patsy is got home, whence I conclude that all is at length well. it has been indeed a most painful and tedious case; and my anxieties have been extreme. mr Eppes proposed to me to go by, and carry Maria home with me for the perfect reestablishment of her health. Congress have determined to rise on the 2d. Monday (12th.) of May. I shall therefore be at Montblanco or Eppington (wherever Maria may be) on the 18th. or 19th. I have thought it best to mention this to you, as you and Maria may have made arrangements to go up together. with a view to this possibility I have ordered my three horses to meet me at Montblanco or Eppington to aid our journey. I shall therefore be in hopes of meeting you there.—on my arrival here in December, I found that the 8. per cent stock had got up 6. per cent above par: that is that for 100.£ you must have paid £106. so that the interest in truth would be only 70 per cent: and as a new loan was to be opened, on the same or better terms as was expected, I concluded it better to take a part of that for you; which we expect will be opened in a few days. in the mean time you shall not lose the interest, as it was more convenient to me and safe to youq to pay the money away in Albemarle & to replace it here, than to have brought it on with me. should the loan not be opened during my stay here, I leave the money in mr Barnes hands who will see to the investing it and getting the certiAcate.—my information from Albemarle is that P. Carr had declined oCering as a delegate. I have not yet heard who was elected. the batteries of slander are fully opened for the campaign which is to decide the Presidential election. the other party have begun it by a furious onset on the printers, that they may have the Aeld to themselves, & allow no means to return their Are. if they would cease to practice on their side, the slanders they punish on the other, we should all rejoice. I hope you have enjoyed good health & that mrs Cary & her family are well. present to her & accept yourself assurances of constant and affectionate attachment from Dear Sister Your’s &c Th: Jefferson PrC (CSmH); at foot of text: “Mrs Carr”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. The letter from TJ’s sister of 23 Mch., recorded in SJL as received 1 Apr. from Williamsburg, has not been found. For the missing letter from John Wayles eppes of 24 Mch., see TJ to Mary JeCerson Eppes, 6 Apr. 1800.
you shall not lose the interest: on 27 May TJ paid his sister $12.50 in interest for six months on her £100 (mb, 2:1020). Francis Walker and Edward Garland were elected to the Virginia House of Delegates from albemarle in 1800. Peter Carr served with Garland in 1801 (Leonard, General Assembly, 219, 223).
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21 APRIL 1800 mrs cary: Martha Carr’s daughter, Jane Barbara, who married Wilson Cary of Richneck in Warwick County, Virginia (Bear, Family Letters, 26; Wilson Miles Cary to TJ, 4 June 1784).
q Preceding four words interlined.
From Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours Good-Stay 21 avril, 1800.
J’ai reçu votre lettre avec reconnaissance, et je ferai le moins mal que je pourrai ce dont vous vous voulez bien me charger. Mais il ne m’est possible de m’en occuper avec la réBexion convenable qu’après le départ du Parlementaire qui doit porter ma correspondance commerciale en Europe. Car je suis obligé d’être un habile Négociant et un bon Directeur de Compagnie, puisque Dieu m’a fait pauvre, et que, n’êtant plus homme public, je ne puis esperer d’être encore utile au Genre humain, et parvenir à de grands et honorables travaux qu’avec les Capitaux d’autrui, par conséquent à la condition de les faire prospérer. Il faut que je gâgne, à la sueur de mon front et au proAt de mes Associés, le droit, la liberté, le pouvoir, de les faire participer, sans qu’ils y pensent, à des institutions avantageuses aux hommes et que Dieu puisse regarder avec bonté. Quant à l’Education nationale, c’est-à-dire à la plus grande des affaires nationales, vous avez parfaitement senti et montré dans vos Notes sur la Virginie, qui contiennent à ce sujet d’excellentes vues, que les Colleges et les Universités ne sont pas pour elle les objets les plus importans. Toute l’instruction véritablement et journalierement usuelle, toutes les sciences pratiques, toute l’activité laborieuse, tout le bon sens, toutes les idées justes, toute la morale, toute la vertu, tout le courage, toute la prospérité, tout le bonheur d’une Nation, et surtout d’une République, doivent partir des Ecoles primaires, des petites Ecoles. Les Pensionats, les Colleges, les Universités, les Sociétés savantes et philosophiques, ne peuvent, ne doivent servir qu’au développement d’un petit nombre de beaux génies, qui eux-mêmes n’ont que deux utilités réelles: la premiere, de pousser en avant les sciences: la seconde de rendre leurs résultats applicables aux arts, propres à entrer dans l’instruction commune, et à faire partie du cours enseigné sans eCort dans les petites Ecoles. Mais, c’est pour celles-ci qu’il est excessivement difAcile de tra< 527>
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vailler. Nous sommes nous mêmes très médiocres: l’homme est un pauvre animal. Nous avons appris, avec assez de peine, comment on parle à ceux qui ont quelque esprit et qu’une éducation savante a perfectionnés. Nous ignorons le langage de la Multitude qui est bête ou inappliquée; nous ignorons comment on pénêtre dans des cerveaux qui n’ont que peu de ressort et d’aptitude; nous ignorons encore plus quelle serait la façon de disposer l’intelligence des enfans à écouter la nôtre. Il y a si longtems que nous ne sommes plus enfans que nous l’avons oublié; et les jeunes hommes dans leur orgueil, dans leurs passions, n’ont pas des pensées [assez?] soutenues pour se rappeller bien, avec une philosophie sufAsamment profonde cette belle et interessante époque de leur vie: d’ailleurs ils sont occupés d’ambition et de plaisirs, un grand travail avec peu de gloire n’est point leur fait. Il faut donc nous reporter à l’âge de notre enfance, chercher avec soin dans notre mémoire comment pourquoi nous comprenions, et de quelle maniere on nous rebutait, aAn de ne pas rebuter cette jeunesse qui nous succede, de la faire comprendre et vouloir, et de la rendre aussi éclairée, aussi heureuse que notre espece moyenne le comporte. On peut élever cette espece moyenne au dessus de ce qu’ont êté, non pas les grands hommes mais les lettrés ordinaires en Allemagne, en Italie, en Angleterre et en France.—On le peut.—[mais] sommes nous capables de le faire?—Il faut au moins le tenter. Ce serait le grand but de mon ambition; et presque son but unique depuis que j’ai eu l’expérience qu’aucune Institution politique n’est durable que par le préjugé, qui est la seule science des sots, ou d’une majorité à peu près inAnie; et combien il est donc nécessaire d’ajouter à la force de la raison même celle du préjugé, en n’occupant l’enfance que d’idées vraies, sensées, utiles, agréables, aimables, naturellement liées l’une à l’autre, qui puissent demeurer sur parole, sans gêne, sans inconvénient dans l’opinion de ceux qui ne sont propres qu’à répeter et à croire, et n’être jamais démenties ensuite par ceux qui sont dignes de penser. C’est dommage que nous ne soyions plus jeunes. Mais j’ai vu Quesnay travailler à quatrevingtun ans, Franklin à quatrevingtdeux,q Voltaire à quatrevingtquatre, d’Aubenton à quatrevingtcinq, et bien travailler. D’ailleurs, s’il plait au Directeur de la Troupe de baisser la toile avant que nous ayions Ani notre rôle, il aura sans doute ses raisons; et ce n’en est pas une pour nous de nous interrompre nous-mêmes, ou de jouer négligemment. Je vous salue avec tendresse et respect. DuPont (de Nemours) < 528>
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Mme. Du Pont est sensible à ce que vous me dites pour elle. Je joins un petit ouvrage sur la premiere éducation des Countrymen que je m’amusais à écrire pendant qu’on me cherchait pour me couper le cou. C’était le Commencement d’un Livre que je n’ai pas eu le tems d’achever. Je n’en ai que cet exemplaire; mais à qui puis-je mieux l’oCrir qu’à vous? Je ferai copier pour vous un second mémoire que j’ai fait à l’Institut sur le même Sujet. e d i t o r s’
t r a n s l a t i o n
Good-Stay 21 April, 1800. I have gratefully received your letter, and I shall do the best within my poor powers to execute your gracious commission. But it is not possible for me to take it up with proper meditation until after the departure of the parlementaire, which is to take my commercial correspondence to Europe. For I am forced to be a skillful merchant and a good corporation director, since God has made me poor, and since, no longer being a public Agure, I can no longer hope to be still useful to the human race and succeed to great and honorable employment except by means of others’ capital, hence on condition of causing them to prosper. I must earn, by the sweat of my brow and for the proAt of my associates, the right, the freedom, the power to make them participate, without their having to think about it, in institutions advantageous for men and that God may look upon with kindness. As for national education, that is, the greatest of national aCairs, you perfectly felt and pointed out in your Notes on Virginia, which contains excellent views on that subject, that colleges and universities are not its most important objects. All instruction truly and daily in use, all the practical sciences, all the laborious activity, all the good sense, all the correct ideas, all the morality, all the virtue, all the courage, all the prosperity, all the happiness of a nation, and especially of a republic, must come forth from the primary schools, the elementary schools. The boarding schools, the colleges, the universities, the learned and philosophical societies can serve, must serve only for the development of a small number of Ane spirits, who themselves have only two real utilities: the Arst to push forward the sciences, the second to render their results applicable to the arts, Atting to enter into the common instruction, and to become eCortlessly a part of the matter taught in the elementary schools. But it is for these latter that it is excessively difAcult to work. We ourselves are very mediocre: man is a poor creature. We have learned, with rather enough difAculty, how one speaks to those who have some wit and whom a learned education have perfected. We do not know the language of the multitude that is stupid or unindustrious; we do not know how to penetrate brains that have little vigor and aptitude; we no longer know what would be the means of disposing children’s intelligence to listen to ours. It has been so long since we have been children that we have forgotten it; and young men, in their pride, in their passions, do not have [sufAciently?] sustained thoughts to
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21 APRIL 1800 remember well, with a sufAciently profound philosophy that beautiful and interesting period of their life: besides, they are busy with ambitions and pleasures, a great endeavor with little glory is of no interest to them. Hence we must take ourselves back to the time of our childhood, to seek carefully in our memory how and why we understood and in what way we were repelled, so as not to repel that youth that is succeeding us, to make it understand and desire, and to make it as enlightened, as happy as our average species allows. One can raise up that average species above what have been, not the great men but the ordinary literate men in Germany, in Italy, in England, and in France.—One can.—[But] are we capable of doing it?—We must at least try. It would be the great goal of my ambition; and almost its only goal since I have had the experience that no political institution is durable save through prejudice, which is the only science of fools, or of an almost inAnite majority; and hence how necessary it is to add to the strength of even reason that of prejudice, by occupying childhood with nothing but ideas that are true, sensible, useful, pleasant, likable, linked naturally one to another, which can remain at face value, unrestrained and without inconvenience, in the opinion of those who are At only to repeat and to believe, and which can never be subsequently impugned by those who are worthy of thinking. It is too bad that we are no longer young. But I have seen Quesnay working at eighty-one years, Franklin at eighty-two, Voltaire at eighty-four, Daubenton at eighty-Ave, and working well. Moreover, if it pleases the Director of the Troupe to lower the curtain before we have Anished our role, he will probably have his reasons; and it is not one for us to interrupt ourselves or to perform negligently. I greet you with aCection and respect. DuPont (de Nemours) Madame Du Pont appreciates what you write for her. I enclose a short work on the primary education of the Country-men, on which I whiled away the time when people were hounding me to cut my head oC. It was the beginning of a book that I have not had the time to complete. I have only this one copy; but to whom could I oCer it better than to you? I shall have a copy made of a second treatise that I did at the Institute on the same subject. RC (DLC); at head of text: “A Mr. Jefferson”; endorsed by TJ as received 24 Apr. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: Probably Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours, Vues sur l’éducation nationale par un cultivateur, ou moyen de simpliAer l’instruction, de la rendre à la fois morale, philosophique, républicaine, civile et militaire, sans déranger les travaux de l’agriculture et des arts, auxquels la jeunesse doit concourir (Paris, ca. 1793); see Gilbert Chinard, The Correspondence of JeCerson and Du Pont de Nemours: With an Introduction on JeCerson and the Physiocrats (Baltimore, 1931; repr., New York, 1979), xciii; Saricks, Du Pont, 433.
votre lettre: TJ to Du Pont de Nemours, 12 Apr. 1800. un bon directeur de compagnie: before emigrating from France, Du Pont had formed Du Pont (de Nemours) Père, Fils et Compagnie and hoped to sell as many as 400 shares for 10,000 francs each. His original intention was to acquire a large quantity of land in the United States and create a proAt-making agricultural community utilizing the latest scientiAc knowledge. To increase the Arm’s capital and establish a footing in the U.S., Du Pont decided that the company should in its initial phase engage in overseas trading ventures and act as a
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21 APRIL 1800 broker and agent for French citizens and commercial interests. His son Victor established a Manhattan ofAce for the Arm and acquired a warehouse in Alexandria, Virginia (Saricks, Du Pont, 269-82). Du Pont composed an extended treatise on national education, which he sent to TJ on 24 Aug. 1800. second mémoire: “Mémoire sur le nombre d’écoles primaires qu’il convient d’établir,”
which advocated the establishment of a primary school in every commune in France. Du Pont, who became a member of the National Institute of France soon after its founding in 1795, read the paper before a public meeting of the Institute in April 1799 (Saricks, Du Pont, 260, 276, 414n). q Preceding three words interlined.
To John Wayles Eppes Dear Sir Philadelphia Apr. 21. 1800. In a letter to Maria, of the 6th. inst. I acknoleged the receipt of yours of Mar. 16. & 24. Anding that Patsy has got home, I am in hopes that the expectations expressed in that of the 24th. that Maria would be well in a few days, have been realised; & that this long & painful scene for us all will be closed with a return of health. the two houses have at length agreed to adjourn on the 2d. Monday (12th. of May) I shall stay to the act of adjournment, and being to stay a day at the Federal city, I imagine I shall be with you on the 19th. or 20th. on which day my horses will also be there from Monticello. in the mean time I hope to learn from you whether I am to And you at Mont blanco or Eppington: and that Maria will be in readiness to set out with me.— Cooper is found guilty under the sedition law for the letter to the President which appeared in the papers in November last. there are 16. or 17. suits & indictments against Duane. we have not yet heard of the fate of Holt editor of the Bee. a printer in Vermont is indicted for having reprinted Mc.Henry’s letter to Genl. Darke. this onset on the presses is to cripple & suppress the republican eCorts during the campaign which is coming on. in the mean time their own batteries are opened, and teaming with every falsehood they can invent for defamation. our campaign will be as hot as that of Europe. but happily we deal in ink only; they in blood.—their judiciary bill has been postponed by a majority of 2. votes to the next session. the bill for the election of Pres. & V.P. will be hard run in the House of R. the rapid progress of public sentiment warnsq them of their danger, & they are passing laws to keep themselves in power. the next election gives an unquestionable majority in the lower house, & such a minority in the Senate as has not been seen since it was broken up by the British treaty. wheat has got to 24/ sterl. in England. I think they must experience a famine there. we count with certainty on an accomodation < 531>
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with France, which will give a spring to tobacco, as it is high there. my warmest love to my ever dear Maria, and aCectionate salutations to yourself. Adieu. RC (NHi); addressed: “John W. Eppes at Mont-blanco near Petersburg”; franked and postmarked. PrC (MHi); endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
q Interlined in place of “convinces.”
From George Jefferson Dear Sir Richmond 21st. April 1800 I was by last post favor’d with yours of the 15th. inclosing Your order on James Brown for the bala. due by him ç to Wm. Short, supposed to be, exclusive of Intert. £81–13–11 from 3d. Octr. ’93. ç Richard Randolph’s note to W. S. on Intert. from 62–10– 23d. Decr. ’89 for Littlebury Mosby’s note to do. on Int. from ç Military Certfs. 1st. Janr. ’88 with a memo. at foot of £18–19–1 Intert. having been paid 5th. May ’90 200— John Mayo’s note to do. on Intert. from the ç 100— 1st. Decr. ’84, with a credit thereon of £37–15–8 the 9th. Apl. 1791. I have to day called at Mr. Browns but was informed he would be engaged at Court all day. I suppose I shall get his balance in a few days. Richard Randolph is dead & it is thought that his estate will not be sufAcient to pay his debts; the sheriC of James City has administered on his estate & advertised for all creditors to carry in their accounts by Monday last—I suppose however that longer time will be allowed. I shall send this bond to Mr. Littleton W. Tazewell by to nights post. I will endeavour to collect from Mayo & from Mosby, but from what I have heard of them am inclined to think that suits will have to be commenced against them. I am Dear Sir Your Very humble servt. Geo. Jefferson RC (DLC: Short Papers); at foot of text: “Thos. JeCerson esqr. Philada.”; endorsed by TJ as received 25 Apr. and so recorded in SJL.
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From John Wayles Eppes Dear Sir, Mont-Blanco April 22d: 1800. Your letter of the 4th. to Maria reached us at this place on the 15th. instant—We are at length Axed here and look forward with much pleasure to the second week in May—Marias health is completely reestablished & with it her spirits—You would not at present judge from her appearance that she had been otherwise than well as she has not I am certain appeared more blooming for two years past— Osbornes is the nearest spot to us on the Stage rode and as I am acquainted with Turner the Tavern keeper I will make some arrangements with him to give you a ready conveyance to this place— Powell has agreed to go to Monticello by the Arst of July—I have informed him of your intention of taking this place in your way home & have promised him an opportunity of seeing you—It will be easy to Ax any time earlier than that for his going up when you see him as calculating on this arrangement he has no views of sufAcient importance to detain him here— Maria talks much of writing to you and has mentioned some reason for not doing it—But as it would not be a sufAcient apology to me under similar circumstances and as I already stand pledged for her both to yourself & Miss Church I have refused to put her excuse in my letter—Accept for your health & happiness our joint wishes— Nothing can give us more real pleasure than the certain prospect we have of seeing you in a short time— adieu Yours aCectionately Jno: W: Eppes P.S. We have reason to suppose Mr. Bolling is dead—He has been conAned for some time dangerously ill & we heard yesterday it was all over—It is not absolutely certain, but I have every reason to suppose the report well founded— RC (ViU: Edgehill-Randolph Papers); addressed: “Thomas JeCerson Vice President of the United States Philadelphia”; franked and postmarked; endorsed by TJ as received 29 Apr. and so recorded in SJL.
To William Hamilton Dear Sir Philadelphia Apr. 22. 1800. A little reBection enabled me to understand the appearance of neglect which you were kind enough to mention to me the other day. it was in March 1797. you did me the honor of calling on me. I had then < 533>
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come up to Philadelphia only to take the oath of ofAce. on that occasion I recieved the visits not only of every one in the city who had known me, but of great numbers who did not. the Senate adjourned Anally the same day; so that being to return immediately, it was impossible to repay the numerous visits I had recieved. I counted therefore on Anding my excuse in the impossibility of the thing. your distance from the town prevented your knowledge of this circumstance, while those who were in the city saw & felt my justiAcation in my departure during the ensuing summer came on the warfever. those who caught it seemed to consider every man as their personal enemy who would not catch their disorder,q and many suCered themselves to think it was a sufAcient cause for breaking oC society with them. I became sensible of this on my next arrival in town, on percieving that many declined visiting me with whom I had been on terms of the greatest friendship & intimacy. I determined, for the Arst time in my life, to stand on the ceremony of the Arst visit even with my friends; because it served to sift out those who chose a separation. I was happy to be informed by yourself that your declining to visit was on a diCerent ground; a ground too, which while it might well appear otherwise to you then, you will now be sensible I hope was involuntary & unavoidable on my part. I never considered a diCerence of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend. during the whole of the last war, which was trying enough, I never deserted a friend because he had taken an opposite side; and those of my own state who joined the British government can attest my unremitting zeal in saving their property, and can point out the laws in our statute books which I drew, and carried through in their favor. however I have seen during the late politicalr paroxysm here, numbers whom I had highly esteemed draw oC from me, insomuch as to cross the street to avoid meeting me. the fever is abating, & doubtless some of them will correct the momentary wanderings of their heart, & return again. if they do, they will meet the constancy of my esteem, & the same oblivion of this as of any other delirium which might happen to them. I am happy to And you as clear of political antipathies as I am: and am particularly obliged by the frankness of your explanation. I owe to it the opportunity of placing myself justly before you, and of assuring you there was no person here to whom I had less disposition of shewing neglect than to yourself. the circumstances of our early acquaintance I have ever felt as binding me in morality as well as in aCection: and there are so many agreeable points in which we are in perfect unison, that I am at no loss to And a justiAcation of my constant esteem. < 534>
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Among the many botanical curiosities you were so good as to shew me the other day, I forgot to ask if you had the Dionaea muscipula, and whether it produces a seed with you. if it does, I should be very much disposed to trespass on your liberality so far as to ask a few seeds of that, as also of the Acacia Nilotica, or Farnesiana whichever you have. I pray you to accept assurances of the sincere attachment & respect of Dear Sir Your most obedt. humble servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); at foot of Arst page: “Mr. Hamilton of the Woodlands.” William Hamilton (1745-1813) was the grandson of Andrew Hamilton, the famed defender of John Peter Zenger. Upon his father Andrew’s death in 1747, William Hamilton inherited the Woodlands, an estate on the western outskirts of Philadelphia. He graduated from the Philosophy School of the College of Philadelphia, now the University of Pennsylvania, in 1762. By 1781, the Woodlands had grown to 600 acres, almost doubling Hamilton’s original 356-acre inheritance. He intended to become a member of the landed gentry with the support of tenant farmers, and thus never pursued a profession but instead read widely in botany and land-
scape design and corresponded on these topics with George Washington, TJ, and others. He traveled to England from 1784 to 1786 to inspect British country houses and gardens and returned to the Woodlands with fresh ideas and eager to resume an occupancy there, which he maintained from 1790 until his death (Patricia L. Heintzelman, “Elysium on the Schuylkill: William Hamilton’s Woodlands” [M.A. thesis, University of Delaware, 1972], 8, 47; Sarah P. Stetson, “William Hamilton and His ‘Woodlands,’” pmhb, 73 [1949], 26-33). q Preceding two words interlined in place of “[the disease?].” r Word interlined.
To Martha Jefferson Randolph My dear Martha Philadelphia Apr. 22. 1800. It is very long since I wrote to you, because I have been uncertain whether you would not have left Eppington before the arrival of my letters there, & the rather as I found them very long getting there. mr Randolph’s letter of the 12th. informs me you had then returned to Edgehill. in a letter of Mar. 24. which is the last I have recieved from Eppington, mr Eppes informed me Maria was so near well that they expected in a few days to go to Mont-blanco. your departure gives me a hope her cure was at length established. a long & a painful case it has been, & not the most so to herself or those about her. my anxieties have been excessive. I shall go by Mont-blanco to take her home with me, which mr Eppes expressed to be their desire. I wrote last week to mr Richardson to send oC my horses to Mont Blanco on the 9th. of May. but both houses having agreed to rise on the 2d Monday (12th. < 535>
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of May) I shall write to him by this post, not to send them oC till Friday the 16th. of May; as I shall be 7. or 8 days from the 12th. getting to Mont Blanco, and near a week afterwards getting home. I long once more to get all together again: and still hope, notwithstanding your present establishment, you will pass a great deal of the summer with us. I would wish to urge it just so far as not to break in on your & mr Randolph’s desires & convenience. our scenes here can never be pleasant. but they have been less stormy, less painful than during the XYZ. paroxysms. our opponents perceive the decay of their power. still they are pressing it, and trying to pass laws to keep themselves in power. mr Cooper was found guilty two days ago, under the Sedition law, and will be Aned & imprisoned. Duane has 16. or 17 suits & indictments against him. the sheriC & justices who got the letters of mr Liston which Sweezy the horse thief abandoned, are indicted. this is all the news I have for mr Randolph. of foreign news we know nothing but what he will see in the papers. I inclose a little story for Anne, and many kisses for Ellen-aroon. present my aCections to mr Randolph. to yourself constant & unbounded love. Adieu my dear dear Martha. RC (NNPM); at foot of text: “Mrs. Randolph.” PrC (MHi); endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosure not found.
For the letter of 24 Mch. from eppington, see TJ to Mary JeCerson Eppes, 6 Apr. i wrote last week: for TJ’s missing letter to Richardson of 15 Apr., see the letter immediately below.
To Richard Richardson Dear Sir Philadelphia Apr. 22. 1800. On the 15th. inst. I wrote to you, desiring you would send oC my horses on Friday the 9th. of May so that they might arrive at mr Eppes’s on the 11th. this was in expectation Congress meant to adjourn on the 5th. of May. but since that they have put oC their adjournment a week longer, that is to say to the 12th. of May. therefore my horses must set oC a week later than I had directed, that is to say on Friday the 16th. of May so that they may arrive at mr Eppes on Sunday the 18th. where they will be pretty sure to And me. for fear my letter should have miscarried I will repeat that the three horses & chair are to go, and my saddle & bridle also on one of them. the harness should be looked to in time & repaired, as also the chair if it wants any thing. if the threenotched road is in order, they had better go along that & cross James river at Goochland courthouse, then by < 536>
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Scotsville, & by Williamson’s at Jenets bridge, Brett Randolph’s & Sapony church. if the three notched road is not in order, they had better go by Dungeoness. mr Randolph will direct the road. I am Dear Sir Your humble servt Th: Jefferson RC (D. C. Everest, Marathon Corporation, Rothschild, Wisconsin, 1950); at foot of text: “Mr. Richard Richardson.” i wrote to you: TJ’s letter to Richardson of 15 Apr., recorded in SJL, has not been found. A letter from Rich-
ardson to TJ of 6 Apr., recorded in SJL as received 11 Apr., is also missing. williamson’s at jenets bridge: tavern kept by Jacob Williamson in southeastern Powhatan County near Genito, Virginia (mb, 2:916).
From James Monroe Dear Sir Richmond April 23. 1800. I have yours of the 13. When your presence ceases to be necessary in Phila., (and I wod. certainly remain while it was) your speedy arrival home is what I very much wish. I will arrange things so, as to be Albemarle as soon as I hear you are there. we have nothing new here except the election of the city & county, the former of wh. continues Copland, the latter has chosen two republicans; that interest being sufAciently strong to prevail in favor of both members excluding Mayo, altho’ it was weaken’d by a 3d. candidate who took 70. or more votes before he declined. we hear nothing yet from the other counties this being the day of election. As I shall see you so soon, especially as it is unsafe to repose too much conAdence in the Adelity of the post ofAce, I defer any inquiry on topics of importance till then. Duane I think ought to have met the censure & judgment of the Senate. As it is they establish the principle & avoid the odium of his prosecution, thro the constitution. He suCers all they can inBict without exciting publick sensibility in his favor. yr. aCectionate friend & servt. RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ as received 29 Apr. and so recorded in SJL. Charles copland retained his seat in the House of Delegates, which he had Arst won in 1799. It was the sole assembly seat representing the city of Richmond. The two republicans elected to the assembly seats for Henrico County were William Price, an incumbent, and Gervas
Storrs. It was the Arst election to the assembly for Storrs, who was a member of the general standing committee headed by Philip Norborne Nicholas. John mayo, a member of a family prominent in the early history of Richmond and the proprietor of a toll bridge that spanned the James River, had represented Henrico County in several sessions of the assembly, most recently in 1796. Later in 1800
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23 APRIL 1800 Mayo tried unsuccessfully to win the seat in Congress vacated by John Marshall (Leonard, General Assembly, 157, 200, 204, 216-17, 220-1; cvsp, 9:77; Cunningham, JeCersonian Republicans, 196; Vir-
ginius Dabney, Richmond: The Story of a City, rev. ed. [Charlottesville, 1990], 12-13, 17-18, 44-5; Marshall, Papers, 4:205n).
From James Monroe My dear Sir Richmd. April 23. 1800 I did not know that I owed you any thing but what I had mentioned before. I had no idea I owed ch: Carter a farthing; or certainly I wod. not have drawn on you. As it is hope you will be able to draw at 20. days sight if no longer, as I am much pushed for money, owing to the payment of the sum referrd to as to other causes. we will adjust every thing when we meet. Price & Storrs both republicans are elected for the county—Copland for the city. we have intelligence from no other quarter, this being the day of the election. Yours Jas. Monroe RC (MHi).
To William Thornton Dear Sir Philadelphia Apr. 23. 1800. The bearer hereof mr John Barnes is a merchant of this city, of a worthy & excellent character. he thinks of removing with the government to the city of Washington, & therefore goes on now to see if he can do it to advantage. I take the liberty of recommending him to you for such information & counsel as may be useful to a stranger in a place where those into whose hands he might otherwise fall by accident, might mislead him into their own views. Are the rooms for the two houses so far advanced as that their interior arrangements are Axed & begun? if they are not, I would suggest some considerations worthy of attention. the preservation of order in a deliberative body depends more than is imagined on the arrangement of the room. when the President’s chair, instead of being Axed against the back of the room as in the Senate chamber where we sit at present, is advanced a little into it, so as to admit members to pass behind it, it prevents their perpetually crossing the house between the president & person speaking. this may be done ornamentally even, by making an alcove &c for the chair, behind which may be the pas< 538>
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sage.—the Senate sit in moveable chairs at circular tables. two rows in a room of size will probably be sufAcient, & is more convenient than three. if the space behind the outermost row is balustraded so as merely to leave room for a single person to walk behind the chairs, it prevents the members from using the vacant space for walking backwards & forwards to the great disturbance of the house. the space without the balustrading would be better with two balustrade cross divisions, so as to form a bar at the door in a kind of pew by itself.— the house of commons has a Speaker’s chamber which is a great convenience. even a closet will do as a substitute. it should be accessible by a door convenient to the chair. it might occupy part of the space behind the Alcove or Stage on which the chair is placed; still leaving a passage between that & the chair. the advancing the chair into the room, abridges the waste space at the opposite end, which waste space is a nuisance. I pray you to consider these hints as written privately to yourself, and as meant to have no other weight than your own judgment may give them. I have no authority to propose anything, and would not have it understood that I presume to interfere, or that any thing from me should have more weight than if suggested by any other bystander or spectator. I am with great esteem Dr. Sir Your most obedt. servt Th: Jefferson RC (DLC: William Thornton Papers); addressed: “Doctr. Thornton Georgetown favd by mr Barnes.”
According to SJL john barnes also carried letters TJ wrote on this day to John Mason and Alexander White. Neither letter has been found.
From George Wythe G.’ Wythe to T’ Jefferson 23 april; 1800. Whenever that egceiridion peri thn snmboulhn nomoqetikhn, which thou art preparing, shall be published, as i anxiously hope it will be, reserve two or three copies for me. Adieu. RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ as received 29 Apr. and so recorded in SJL.
egceiridion peri thn snmboulhn nomoqetikhn: “Manual of the Legislative Counsel,” or, more literally, “Handbook of the Lawmaker’s Advice.”
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From George Jefferson Dear Sir Richmond 24th. April 1800 I called to day on Mr. Brown for the balance due by him to Mr. Short & informed him of what you had written me respecting the fees; he observed that he could not ascertain what they were, and that it was unnecessary to have two settlements: that he had desired Mr. Wiseham the Exr: of Mr. Ronald to bring them in, and so soon as he did it should be settled. I then desired that he would endeavour to get them in the course of a few days, as you had an opportunity of laying out Mr. S’s money to advantage, and had directed me to remit it as soon as possible—to this he replied that the business had remained unsettled for seven years, & that a short time longer surely could not be very material. I should have informed him that his having had the use of this money for 7 years could be no reason why he should not pay it when called on, but he had taken occasion to observe before that he had been at very great trouble in attending to Mr. S’s business, which induced me to be silent. it shall be settled as soon as possible. I have spoken to Mr. Mayo & he promised in a few days to call on me, but I have not the smallest expectation of getting it settled without a suit. Mr. Mosby lives in Powhatan. I am Dear Sir Your Very humble servt. Geo. Jefferson RC (MHi); at foot of text: “Thos. Jefferson esqr. Philada.”; endorsed by TJ as received 30 Apr. and so recorded in SJL.
you had written me respecting the fees: see TJ to George JeCerson, 15 Apr. 1800.
From James Monroe Dear Sir Richmond April 26. 1800. The legislature directed sometime since the building of a foundry for great & small arms, on the canal near this city. This work is now so far advanc’d as to furnish the prospect of its being in a state to commence the manufactory of muskets in the course of the present year, and is on such a scale as to make it probable we shall be able to cast cannon for the union. The attention it is my duty to pay to this interesting object has reminded me of Mr. La Motte, with whose merit and history, as to his introduction into this country, you are ac< 540>
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quainted. I thought it wod. be unpardonable not to avail the state in so great & useful an undertaking, of his skill, so far as it might be practicable, and with that view lately mentioned the subject to the council. The contract of Mr. La Motte with the Executive was for three years which have perhaps expired. If at liberty it is presumed he might be easily prevailed on to come down and aid us for a while. And if in the service of the U. States it cannot be doubted on application to those in ofAce, permission wod. be given him to attend here for a few weeks, to examine what is done & advise as to what ought to be done to complete the building. The council advised that I ascertain by communication with my friends, whether this gentn. is still in America, free, or in the service of the U States; in either case, (in the latter the permission of the govt. being obtained) what he wod. ask beyond his expences, for making us a visit a few weeks, for the purpose abovementioned. If unconnected with the federal Executive he wod. probably be disposed, and it might perhaps be for our interest, to engage him for a longer term. This might be suggested to him, with a view to ascertain what he wod. ask for his service, six or 12. months. Mr. Clarke who is I think known to you, a man of real merit, is undertaker of the building, as aid to whom Mr La Motte is wished. In a certain view I know it wod. be improper to trouble you with this business, and have therefore asked of our Senators to undertake the communication with Mr. La Motte, & the fedl. Executive, supposing him in publick service, & application to it necessary for permission for him to visit us. Still I have thought it adviseable to apprize you of the above facts to request you will be so kind as aid those gent[n.] with yr. council in the business so far as it may be necessar[y.] The elections so far as we have intelligence are almost universally in favor of the republican cause. I think we already know of 25. of the opposit party who are exclud[ed] by republican candidates. Mc.Clurg & Hopkins after voting in the city, & county of Henrico, pushed up to Hanover, as I am told, to throw their mite into the federal scale (as it is called) there. but it was in air before their arrival, and the recorder does not state whether they went forward to condole with their friends in adversity, or skulked home in silence to hide their shame and mortiAcation from the world. I have heard of the death of Mrs. Gilmer, wh. was sudden, the effect as is supposed of an apoplexy RC (DLC); frayed; endorsed by TJ as received 5 May and so recorded in SJL.
By a statute passed in January 1798 the state of Virginia embarked on the creation
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26 APRIL 1800 of an armory and foundry for small arms and artillery. As minister to France in 1796 Monroe had arranged a contract with a French specialist named Delamotte, who crossed the Atlantic to serve as engineer for the casting of cannon for the United States. Virginia native John clarke, known to TJ as an inventive millwright, oversaw the work on the new arms factory near Richmond. On 28 Apr. Monroe inquired of the state’s U.S.
senators about Delamotte, to learn that the engineer had returned to France (Giles Cromwell, The Virginia Manufactory of Arms [Charlottesville, 1975], 1112, 15-16; Preston, Catalogue, 1:58-60; Letter from the Secretary of War, Inclosing a Report and Sundry Statements, Marked A to I Inclusive [Philadelphia, 1798]; Monroe, Writings, 3:176-7; cvsp, 9:11011; Philip Turpin to TJ, 18 July 1796; TJ to Henry Knox, 1 June 1795).
From James Madison Dear Sir Apl. 27. 1800 My last acknowledged yours by Christ: Mcpherson. I have nothing new to add, but the accts. I have from the elections in a few neighboring Counties. In this Davis & Barbour have succeeded: in the adjoing one, Hill & Early: In Louisa Yancy & Garland Anderson Jr—in Culpeper the two former ones. You will probably learn from Albemarle that F. Walker & a Mr. Garland have prevailed agst. Woods & Brown. If the whole state bears any likeness to the above sample of it, the patrons of usurpation & aristocracy will have little encouragement in this quarter. I am sorry that I am not to have the pleasure of seeing you on your way home. I wish nevertheless that you will be good eno’ take charge of the money, if any should be obtained for meq before you set out. Should Mr. W. Nicholas intend me the pleasure of calling, he would be a good hand to hasten its receipt. Yrs. aCey. Js. Madison Jr RC (DLC: Madison Papers); endorsed by TJ as received 2 May and so recorded in SJL. my last: Madison to TJ, 20 Apr. 1800. Madison reported the winners of the elections in a few neighboring Counties in Virginia: in Orange County, Isaac Davis and James Barbour; in Madison County, Henry Hill and
Paschal Earley; in Louisa County, Robert Yancey and Garland Anderson, Jr.; in Culpeper County, Moses Green and John Roberts; in Albemarle County, Francis Walker and Edward Garland prevailed over William Woods and a Mr. Brown, possibly the Federalist Benjamin Brown (Leonard, General Assembly, 215-21; Madison, Papers, 17:383n). q Preceding two words interlined.
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From Aaron Burr Dr. Sir, N,York 28 Ap: 1800 Mr. Alexander Woolcott of Connecticut must be know to you by Reputation—I take the liberty to introduce him to you personally. His patriotism and his talents entitle him to every degree of Respect & consideration, and I persuade myself that you will be gratiAed by the opportunity of cultivating his acquaintance. I am Dr. Sir with very great Respect Your friend &c A. Burr RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ as received 1 May and so recorded in SJL. Alexander Wolcott, a Arst cousin of Oliver Wolcott, Jr., was an attorney in Windsor, Connecticut, and a Republican
leader in the state assembly (Kline, Burr, 1:419). A letter from Burr to TJ, written on 24 Feb. 1800 and received from Albany on 1 Mch., is recorded in SJL but has not been found.
From James Thomson Callender Sir Richmond April 28th. 1800. Inclosed I send a list of the new elections for the assembly, so far as they have Come to hand. Mr Jones assures me that not less than twenty of the aristocracy have been turned out in this list. It is but moderate to guess that at least twenty more will be dismissed, so that in whole they will be reduced to 40 less, and the Republicans will be augmented by an equal number. This amounts almost to the annihilation of their power; 140-20, or so.— If General Mason has not left the City, You will perhaps do him a pleasure by saying that I have just now seen R. Williams here in good health. I am Sir your most obed servt Jas. T. Callender. RC (DLC). Recorded in SJL as received 6 May. Enclosure not found.
To Philip Mazzei Dear Sir April 29. 1800. The last letter I recieved from you was of Dec. 8. 1797. it is still longer since I have written to you. the prohibition by a law of the US. of all intercourse between us and France, the blockade of Amsterdam & Hamburgh, the entire possession of the ocean by the English, and < 543>
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their practice of publishing intercepted letters for political purposes, has prevented my writing a line to any body on the other side of the Atlantic. the desire however to know how you have weathered the storms which have been blowing about you, induces me to hazard a letter. it will be short, contain private news only, nothing of politics, and without my name, as you will be at no loss for that. you can answer me without subscribing your name also, as that lessens risks. but at the time of writing this I do not yet know by what conveyance I am to send it. Anthony has kept us at law about his aCair. I am sure he can get nothing, tho his demands are enormous. I have suCered the proceeds of Colle to lie unsettled & but partly collected, because it can be done at any time, when I may be able to write you the Anal issue of Anthony’s demand. indeed I would not delay it for this; but I wish to mention a matter to you. Derieux, & his wife, with 8. or 10. children have been long since reduced to the utmost poverty. his aunt has abandoned him; and for the last 4. or 5. years, tho’ by considerable advances of money from myself & others, we have endeavored to enable him to try several ways of maintaining his family, at diCerent places, yet all have failed. our last act was to obtain a lease for 20. years of a small farm near the Sweet springs beyond the Blue ridge, where he had been living a year, and to buy him a horse & some other stock, and he is now settled on it, & has no other dependance but by labouring in the Aeld himself. mrs Derieux is become so corpulent that she cannot move about to help him, & none of the children are big enough. they are generally in rags, & often without bread. with all this he preserves the worthiness of his character. is it consistent with your situation to yeild to him what is due for Collé? if it were possible you could concieve his distress, and spare it from yourself, I know you would do it. I will have this matter in such a state, that the moment I recieve your answer to this question, I will Anally call in the Collé money and either remit it to Derieux or to yourself as you shall direct.—I recieved the watches which came by Baltimore and thank you for them. it is vain to attend to your request for more seeds of the Squashq while none but the present circuitous conveyances are open. The list of deaths since my last is long. Beverley Randolph, Colo. Innes, mr Rittenhouse, B. F. Bache the grandson of Dr. Franklin, George Nicholas, Patrick Henry, Genl. Washington, Genl. MifBin, Governr. Edward Rutledge, Doctr. Gilmer are all among the dead, & mrs. Gilmer also. E. Pendleton, George Wythe, Bishop Madisonr John Page, Mann Page and Lomax are living & well. mr Madison of Orange is married. Monroe is Governor of Virginia. my own health was at one time a little deranged; but is now perfect. I say < 544>
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nothing more which may lead an interceptor to trace the writer, were he to think it worth tracing. I wish to hear all particulars which respect yourself, for whom I always cherish a sincere and aCectionate esteem. I have had great anxieties for you during the late revolutions in your country. I hope your seat of science (Pisa) has been respected by all, and that you have been availed of it’s protection. accept assurances of my constant attachment & prayers for your continuance in health & happiness. Adieu. RC (DLC: Mazzei Papers); addressed: “Monsr. Philippe Mazzei à Pisa.”; endorsed by Mazzei as received on 1 Apr. 1802. Mazzei’s last letter to TJ of 8 Dec. 1797, recorded in SJL as received 25 Jan. 1799, has not been found. From TJ’s letter to Mazzei of 31 Jan. 1796, Mazzei had understood that Charles Carter of Blenheim had undertaken the payment for Mazzei’s Virginia estate, colle, which sold in the spring of 1796 at a mere two dollars an acre (see Mazzei to TJ, 6 Dec. 1800; TJ to Monroe, 12 June 1796).
TJ continued to assist Justin Pierre Plumard derieux and his wife, Maria Margarita Martin Derieux, Mazzei’s stepdaughter. Mme. Plumard de Bellanger, Derieux’s aunt, had also repeatedly sent money to her nephew but, in 1795, had announced it as the “dernier sous” (TJ to Mazzei, 30 May 1795; TJ to Monroe, 12 June 1796; TJ to George JeCerson, 14 Jan. 1798). q Preceding three words interlined. r Preceding two words interlined.
Notes on Senate Debates 1800. Apr. 29. Jury bill under considn. Mr. Dexter & Hillhouse & mr Readq insisted in the fullest & most explicit terms that the common law of England is in force in these states and may be the rule of adjudication in all cases where the laws of the US. have made no provision. Mr. Livermore seemed to urge the same, tho’ her seemed to think that in criminal cases it might be necessary to adopt by an express law. Mr. Tracy was more reserved on this occasion. he only said that Congress might by a law adopt the provisions of the Common law on any subject, by a reference to that, without detailing the particulars: as in this bill it was proposed that the Marshals should summon juries ‘accdg to the practice of the Common law.’ MS (DLC: TJ Papers, 107: 18272); entirely in TJ’s hand. For the progress of the jury bill, see note to TJ to Thomas Mann Randolph, 2
Feb. 1800. accdg to the practice of the common law: the committee report brought in on 28 Apr. recommended the addition of a second section to the bill allowing that when it was not practicable
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29 APRIL 1800 for U.S. courts to follow state practices in the selection of juries, jurors “shall be designated and returned pursuant to the rules and practices of the common law, as nearly as the constitution of said courts will permit.” On a printed copy of the committee report an emendation to that section, in TJ’s hand, reads: “Provided that the several courts of the US. shall continue to have all the discretionary powers vested in those courts by the 29th. section of the act to establish the
Judicial courts of the US.” Finally the entire section was canceled. TJ wrote “agreed” adjacent to the modiAcations to the Arst section of the bill, which became the wording of the legislation as it was passed (DNA: RG 46, Senate Records, 6th Cong., 1st sess.; U.S. Statutes at Large, 2:82). q Interlined: “& mr Read.” r Canceled: “spoke more particularly.”
To Richard Richardson Dear Sir Philadelphia Apr. 29. 1800. In my letter of the 15th. I had desired my three horses & chair to set out from Monticello on the 9th. of May to meet me at mr Eppes’s. but in the one which I wrote the last week (Apr. 22d.) I desired they should set out a week later, towit on the 16th. of May, as Congress had determined to rise on the 2d. instead of the 1st. Monday of May. the object of the present letter is, lest my last one of the 22d. should miscarry, to repeat my desire that my horses may set out on the 16th. of May, and they will be pretty sure to And me at mr Eppes’s. as the 16th. is of a Friday, you may still receive a letter from me by the post of the day before, tho’ unless something unexpected happens I shall hardly write again. I am Sir Your humble servt Th: Jefferson RC (ViU); recipient identiAed through SJL and internal evidence.
For TJ’s letter of the 15th, now missing, see TJ to Richardson, 22 Apr. 1800.
To Edward Livingston Dear Sir Philadelphia Apr. 30. 1800. I recieved with great pleasure your favor of the 11th. inst. by this time I presume the result of your labours is known with you, tho’ not here. whatever it may be, & my experience of the art, industry, & resources of the other party has not permitted me to be prematurely conAdent, yet I am entirely conAdent that ultimately the great body of the people are passing over from them. this may require one or two elections more; but it will assuredly take place. the madness & ex< 546>
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travagance of their career is what ensures it. the people through all the states are for republican forms, republican principles, simplicity, economy, religious & civil freedom. I have nothing to oCer you but Congressional news. The Judiciary bill is postponed to the next session. so is the militia bill: so the military academy. the bill for the election of Pres. & V.P. has undergone much revolution. Marshall made a dexterous maneuvre. he declared against the constitutionality of the Senate’s bill, and proposed that the decision of their grand committee should be controulable by the concurrent vote of the two houses of Congress; but to stand good if not rejected by a concurrent vote. you will readily estimate the amount of this sort of controul. the committee of the H. of R. however, took from the committee the right of giving any opinion, requiring them to report facts only, and that the votes returned by the states should beq counted unless rejected by a concurrent vote of both houses. in what form it will pass them or us cannot be foreseen. our jury bill in Senate will pass so as merely to accomodate N. York & Vermont. the H. of R. sent us yesterday a bill for incorporating a company to work Roosevelt’s copper mines in N. Jersey. I do not know whether it is understood that the legislature of Jersey was incompetent to this, or merely that we have concurrent legislation under the sweeping clause. Congress are authorised to defend the nation: ships are necessary for defence: copper is necessary for ships: mines necessary for copper: a company necessary to work mines: andr who can distrust this reasoning who has ever played at ‘this is the house that Jack built?’ under such a process of Aliation of necessities the sweeping clause makes clean work.—we shall certainly rise on the 12th. there is nothing to do now but to pass the ways & means, and to settle some diCerences of opinion of the two houses on the Georgia bill, the bill for dividing the NorthWestern territory, & that for the sale of the Western lands. Salutations & aCectionate esteem. Adieu. Th: Jefferson RC (John Ross DelaAeld, New York City, 1945); at foot of text: “E. Livingston esq.” PrC (DLC). In the House of Representatives in December 1799 Henry Lee had called for a new uniform militia law to limit service to young men 17 to 26 years of age, citing the eCects on families and the potential for “wavering” in battle when fathers and sons served together. On 28 Apr. the House postponed action on Lee’s bill,
which he had introduced in February, until the next session. On that day also the representatives postponed further consideration of Harrison Gray Otis’s bill, introduced in March, for the creation of a military academy and reorganization of the corps of engineers and artillerists (Annals, 10:201; jhr, 3:590, 634, 684-6). On 16 Apr. during House debate on the bill on disputed presidential elections, John marshall questioned the role the
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30 APRIL 1800 bill gave the Senate to name the chairman of the grand committee proposed as a mechanism for certifying electoral votes. He also objected to giving such a committee Anal say in deciding an election. Marshall wanted to amend the bill so that the chairman of the committee would be selected by lot and the committee would have “power to examine and decide Anally, unless such decision be disapproved by a vote of the Senate and House of Representatives.” After some discussion the House gave the bill to a select committee with Marshall at its head, and on the 25th he delivered a report that rewrote the entire bill. In the new version, a “joint committee” would only collect information and report facts to Congress, which by a concurring vote of both houses could reject any disputed electoral votes. The bill died in May when the Senate insisted that the concurring vote should be for acceptance rather than rejection of disputed results and the two houses could not reach agreement (Marshall, Papers, 4:36, 123-4, 128-30, 13845; Annals, 10:179, 713). incorporating a company: in 1796 Nicholas J. Roosevelt and his associates in the New Jersey Copper Mine Association had petitioned unsuccessfully for a thirty-year monopoly on mining and quarrying in the Northwest and Southwest territories. In December 1799 they petitioned the House of Representatives again, asking for an act of incorporation to promote development of the Schuyler copper mine in New Jersey and to acquire mines elsewhere in the country. The House referred the matter to the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures, and on 1 Apr. Samuel Smith of Maryland brought in a bill to incorporate an entity to be called the Mine and Metal Company. John Nicholas and Nathaniel Macon opposed the measure. During debate the House struck out a portion of the bill that would have allowed the secretary of the treasury to subscribe $50,000 in U.S. funds in the company once it had garnered $150,000 in other subscriptions, substituting a provision for a secured loan to buy machinery to manufacture copper sheets. On 22 Apr. a vote to pass the bill failed. Smith, however,
obtained leave to introduce a resolution calling for a committee to write a bill of incorporation “for the purpose of procuring sheet copper, to be manufactured within the United States.” Smith brought in that new bill, for the incorporation of the Passaick Copper Company, on the 25th. The measure still involved the entrepreneurial activities of Roosevelt, who in addition to the mining company was developing the Soho metal works, also in northern New Jersey, and a rolling mill on the Schuylkill River near Philadelphia. He also had the contract to supply copper sheathing for the new 74-gun warships. The new bill passed the House on the 29th. In the Senate on 10 May, after amendment, it failed to pass to a third reading. Roosevelt and his friends tried again without success to obtain an act of incorporation during the second session of the Sixth Congress, but New Jersey granted them incorporation in 1801. As the incorporation measure was pending in Congress in April 1800, New Jersey Congressman Aaron Kitchell sought information from Josiah Hornblower, who had been associated with the Schuyler mine years before. The House committee also received information orally and in writing from Benjamin Latrobe. Latrobe knew something about the New Jersey mine because it secured another of Roosevelt’s contracts, to supply steam engines for the waterworks that Latrobe was building for the city of Philadelphia. Latrobe was also involved himself in Roosevelt’s ventures and acted as the petitioners’ agent in the capital. The business relationship between the two men continued, and in 1808 Roosevelt married one of Latrobe’s daughters. In the information they gave to Congress both Hornblower and Latrobe forecast a constricted supply of copper due to increased demand in Europe and the failure of the great Welsh mine at Anglesey. Copper sheathing protected the hulls of warships from shipworms and barnacles, and at the end of 1798 Great Britain had, in fact, cut oC the supply of copper that had been used on the Arst American frigates. On 16 Apr. 1800 a joint resolution of Congress authorized the president to collect information about
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30 APRIL 1800 potential copper mines on the shore of Lake Superior (jhr, 3:542, 648, 660, 676, 679, 682, 685, 687; js, 3:82-3, 87, 93; Annals, 10:664, 678-9, 681-2; The Soho Company, Incorporated the 27th November, 1801, by the Assembly of the State of New-Jersey [New York, 1802]; Letter from Mr. Hornblower to Mr. Kitchell, on the Subject of Schuyler’s Copper Mine, in New-Jersey: April 18th, 1800 [Philadelphia, 1800]; Benjamin Henry Latrobe, American Copper-Mines [Philadelphia, 1800; Evans, No. 37785]; Van Horne, Latrobe, 1:143n, 166-8, 386n; Palmer, Stoddert’s War, 121; Perkins, First Rapprochement, 96; U.S. Statutes at Large, 2:87; Roosevelt to TJ, 17 Feb. 1801). ways & means: an act appropriating funds for the support of the government during 1800 became law on 7 May (U.S. Statutes at Large, 2:62-6). The georgia bill became law on 10 May as the statute authorizing formation of a legislative assembly in Mississippi Territory; see TJ to Harry Innes, 23 Jan. 1800. It supplemented the 1798 act “for an amicable settlement of limits with the State of
Georgia” that created the territory. The new measure contained a controversial provision that originated in the Senate and required the resolution by March 1803 of any claims stemming from Georgia’s cession of land to the United States (Terr. Papers, 5:95-8). On 7 May a bill to split the northwestern territory and create the Indiana Territory from its western portion on 4 July became law. The measure for the sale of western lands, signed into law on 10 May, established four land ofAces in Ohio and laid down procedures for the survey and sale of lands there (U.S. Statutes at Large, 2:58-9, 73-8). q TJ here canceled “good.” r TJ interlined the passage that follows, from “who can” through “played at,” and also inserted the question mark at the end of the sentence. He made these changes after pressing the PrC, which lacks the conversion of the terminal period to a question mark. TJ added the interlined passage to the PrC in ink, writing “doubt” rather than “distrust.”
To Robert R. Livingston Dear Sir Philadelphia Apr. 30. 1800. Your favor of Feb. 28. never came to my hand till the 17th. inst. this must account for the greater portion of the delay which has attended the acknolegement of it. I thank you for the volume of your Agricultural transactions: and as I percieve you take a great interest in whatever relates to this Arst & most precious of all the arts, I have packed in a small box, a model of a mouldboard of a plough, of my invention, if that term may be used for a mere change of form. it is accompanied by a block, which will shew the form in which the block is to be got for making the mouldboard and the manner of making it. however as this would not explain it’s principles, alone, I accompany it by the late volume of our Philosophical transactions, in which there is a minute description of the principles & construction. the printer having (on his removal from the yellow fever) lost several of the plates belonging to this volume, & among them that relating to the Mouldboard, I have supplied this last by some sketches which may enable you to understand the description. I shall avail myself of the Arst person of my < 549>
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acquaintance whom I shall know to be passing in the stage to NewYork, to forward these to you. the printer will have the lost plates ready to replace shortly. I had before heard of your discovery of the method of making paper from a vegetable, and from the specimen sent have no doubt of it’s great importance. for this article, the creature of art, & but latterly so comparatively, is now interwoven so much into the conveniencies & occupations of men, as to become one of the necessaries of civilized life. We are here engaged in improving our constitution by construction, so as to make it what the majority thinks it should have been. the Senate recieved yesterday a bill from the Representatives incorporating a company for Roosevelt’s copper mines in Jersey. this is under the sweeping clause of the constitution, and supported by the following pedigree of necessities. Congress are authorised to defend the country: ships are necessary for that defence: copper is necessary for ships: mines are necessary to produce copper: companies are necessary to work mines: and ‘this is the house that Jack built.’ I shall be happy to recieve from you, at your leisure, the long letter which you promise. I have been long in the habit of valuing whatever comes from your pen: and my taste, which in 1775. was, like yours, in politics, is now passed over with yours to more tranquilizing studies. accept assurances of my respectful & aCectionate esteem. Th: Jefferson RC (NNMus); addressed: “Chancellor Livingston New York”; endorsed by Livingston. PrC (DLC). mouldboard of a plough: see TJ to Sir John Sinclair, 23 Mch. 1798. TJ’s description of the implement appeared in Volume 4 of the transactions of the American Philosophical Society, printed by Thomas Dobson of Philadelphia in 1799. During the Arst attempt to incorporate
Nicholas roosevelt’s copper mines through an act of Congress, Livingston’s name appeared among the proposed subscribers, and he was a member of the corporation formed in New Jersey the following year (1st April 1800 . . . A Bill To incorporate a Company by the name and stile of “the Mine and Metal Company” [Philadelphia, 1800]; The Soho Company, Incorporated the 27th November, 1801, by the Assembly of the State of New-Jersey [New York, 1802]).
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Recipients of Appendix to the Notes on the State of Virginia [ca. April 1800]
Loganian Appendix C. Thompson all those who gave me informatn G.W. E.P. Madison mr Jackson. Congr. Granger. Conn. J. Dickinson S. Adams. Heath. Gerryq Dyer. Rush Barton Wistar Priestly Cooper A. Stuart Law. 〈Dr. Thornton〉 Monroe White. 〈J. Mason〉 Scott Giles Lear Judge Campbell Hawkins Burr. 〈Chr. Livingston〉 Sullivan Irvine Dowse Langdon Elwees Alexr.r Wolcot P. Edwards. Holt. Howell Govr. Lt. Govr. Bowen.s Dearborne. Govr. Robinson Payne. √ Chr. Livingston < 551>
APRIL 1800
〈Burr.〉 Floyd L’hommedieu Mc.kean Brackenridge Logan. Cox C. Pinckney Butler. J. Mercer. Thornton J. Mason. Ramsay Freneau Tucker Jackson Walton Ogden Linn Miller Gates. Clinton D. Smith. Tenissee Thos. Blount Genl. Mc.Dowell √ E. Livingston 〈Mason.〉t 〈Nichs.〉 〈J. Nichs.〉 〈Gallatin〉 〈E. Livingston〉 Genl Gibson Judge Innes. Breckenridge Dr. Brown Eben. Zane Riddick Heckewelder Wm. Robinson Mann Page John Page Dr. Jones. Jones printer Lewis Willis < 552>
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Mercer Minor Brooke Harvey Currie P. N. Nicholas Tazewell Wickam Bell N. Lewis Lindsay F. Walker Maury F. Maury TMR.u JWE [. . .] [Dr.] [. . .] √ Govr. Mc.kainv √ Tenche Coxe. Genl. Mc.Dowell √ Colo. Burr √ Jarvisw √ S. Adams √ Sullivan. √ Gerry Genl. Wm. Floyd. Brookhavenx Mr. Niles √ Chancellr Livingston Thos. Blount √ Logan. √ L’Hommedieu √ Irving. √ Dallas √ Madison MS (MHi); entirely in TJ’s hand on both sides of a narrow piece of paper, evidently containing two separate but related lists on recto and verso; undated, but supplied on the basis of TJ to Samuel Brown, 10 May, and letters from Tench Coxe, 4 May, and Aaron Burr, [before 5
May], which acknowledged receipt of the Appendix to the Notes on Virginia Relative to the Murder of Logan’s Family (for the publication of which, see note to Statement of John Sappington, 13 Feb. 1800); canceled names shown in italic type within angle brackets in body of
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APRIL 1800 text, other emendations recorded in notes below; at foot of recto, before making the list of names, TJ wrote: “ 275 words in a page 26. pages of evidence 1650 550 7150 207. words in a page of Notes on Virga. 207 / 7150 {34 pages. 621 940 828 112,” evidently an estimate of the printed length of the appendix (112 being the remainder, or number of words that would go onto the 35th page); TJ subsequently rotating the paper to begin the list so that the calculations are upside down at the foot of the page; TJ also using space along the right edge of the recto page to continue the list after running out of room at the foot (see note 4 below); verso is numbered as page 3, perhaps relating to an earlier intended use of the sheet. g.w. means George Wythe, e.p. refers to Edmund Pendleton. Since both David howell and Jabez bowen were of Providence, Rhode Island, the unnamed “Govr.” that TJ listed between them may have been that state’s chief executive from 1790 to 1805, Arthur Fenner (dab; James McLachlan, Princetonians, 17481768: A Biographical Dictionary [Prince-
ton, 1976], 562-7; Richard K. Showman and others, eds., The Papers of General Nathanael Greene, 12 vols. [Chapel Hill, 1976- ], 4:81n). By a similar geographic aDliation payne would appear to have been Elijah Paine: although a Federalist, he was, like Moses Robinson alongside him in the list, of Vermont (dab). If brooke meant Robert Brooke, then TJ composed at least a portion of the lists prior to early March, when he would have learned of Brooke’s death; but his list entry likely refers to Brooke’s brother, Francis Taliaferro Brooke, whom Monroe had deemed a worthy candidate for the Virginia Privy Council in November 1799 (see Madison, Papers, 15:243-4; 17:279; Monroe to TJ, 4 Mch. 1800). q Name interlined in place of “[Sullivan].” r TJ inserted Arst name in margin in place of “T[. . .].” s TJ may have inserted the name sometime after writing “Lt. Govr.” t This name begins the continuation of the list along the right side of the page. TJ canceled this name and the four below it using a pair of diagonal strokes. u TJ added Thomas Mann Randolph’s initials and the three abbreviated names below them in pencil. v List on verso begins with this name. w Name inserted. x TJ Arst wrote “Colo. Floyd,” then reworked the entry to read as above.
From Edward Livingston [before 3 May 1800]
I feel extreme pleasure Sir in having it in my power to remove the impressions you had received unfavorable to our Success. we have completely and triumphantly Succeeded—our member is in by upwards of an hundred—and our Whole ticket for the Assembly by 500. at least—The change is delightful, but yesterday they were arrogant and certain of our defeat—today—there is a most auspicious gloom on the Countenances of every tory, & placeman the fools whom they have frightned with the apprehensions of disorganization &c. look for an Earthquake at least———We have laboured hard but the < 554>
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reward is great. we shall emancipate the people from the bondage of prejudice in which they have been held—Magna Est Veritas et prevalebit— I am with great Respect & the highest Esteem Your Mo Obd Ser— Edw Livingston RC (DLC); undated, but endorsed by TJ as received 3 May and so recorded in SJL.
magna est veritas et prevalebit: “truth is great and will prevail,” from the Vulgate, 3 Esdras 4.41.
To Edmund Pendleton Dear Sir Philadelphia May 3. 1800. The bearer hereof mr Alexander Woolcot proposing to go on to Virginia, and from a great respect for your patriarchal & republican character, expressing a great wish to be made known to you, I take the liberty of giving him a line of introduction. he is himself a strong republican, a man of understanding and of good character; which I aDrm partly on my own knolege of him, but state more on that of others. he will be gratiAed with your notice, as I am with every occasion of repeating to you assurances of the sincere and constant esteem of Dear Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); at foot of text: “The honble E. Pendleton”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
From Tench Coxe Sir Lancaster May 4th. 1800 I had the honor to receive a copy of your evidences relative to the murders of the family of Logan. They are touching to humanity and must wound the feelings of every man concerned for the honest fame of this Country. As they regard the question between you and Mr. Martin, I cannot suppose that any man will expose himself to the censure which must attend one who would pretend to blame you? I am very glad to have received this paper, & will give it an useful circulation here. If I could have a few copies, I am satisAed I could distribute them very usefully thro this state, there being a constant intercourse with every settlement in the middle & frontier Counties. It is among the middle men, too honest & unprejudiced to be misled by any thing < 555>
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reward is great. we shall emancipate the people from the bondage of prejudice in which they have been held—Magna Est Veritas et prevalebit— I am with great Respect & the highest Esteem Your Mo Obd Ser— Edw Livingston RC (DLC); undated, but endorsed by TJ as received 3 May and so recorded in SJL.
magna est veritas et prevalebit: “truth is great and will prevail,” from the Vulgate, 3 Esdras 4.41.
To Edmund Pendleton Dear Sir Philadelphia May 3. 1800. The bearer hereof mr Alexander Woolcot proposing to go on to Virginia, and from a great respect for your patriarchal & republican character, expressing a great wish to be made known to you, I take the liberty of giving him a line of introduction. he is himself a strong republican, a man of understanding and of good character; which I aDrm partly on my own knolege of him, but state more on that of others. he will be gratiAed with your notice, as I am with every occasion of repeating to you assurances of the sincere and constant esteem of Dear Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); at foot of text: “The honble E. Pendleton”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
From Tench Coxe Sir Lancaster May 4th. 1800 I had the honor to receive a copy of your evidences relative to the murders of the family of Logan. They are touching to humanity and must wound the feelings of every man concerned for the honest fame of this Country. As they regard the question between you and Mr. Martin, I cannot suppose that any man will expose himself to the censure which must attend one who would pretend to blame you? I am very glad to have received this paper, & will give it an useful circulation here. If I could have a few copies, I am satisAed I could distribute them very usefully thro this state, there being a constant intercourse with every settlement in the middle & frontier Counties. It is among the middle men, too honest & unprejudiced to be misled by any thing < 555>
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but deceptive misrepresentations, that communications of this paper should be made. I would recommend that some of them be circulated in Maryland, Jersey, New York & New England. For permanent ends I should think, Sir, that the whole might be well added as an appendix to any future copy of your Notes on Virginia. I am greatly impressed with the assurance of support Mr. Gerry’s name has had in Masstts. It seems to be well worth considering what would be the eCect, particularly in Massachusetts, of naming him as Vice President. There is every appearance that he would divide that state, perhaps N. Engd. in some degree. I do not know who is proposed by our friends as vice President. There seems to be no doubt, that the conduct of violent and indiscrete men on the other side has awakened the public anxiety to the dangers of our situation. The recent postponement of the Militia bill till December is considered as a new act of evasion upon that subject. It will be much felt at this Moment in the middle states, especially in this, where we are organizing the Militia anew. I hope that a complete plan of operation on the subject of the ensuing election will be taken before the rising of Congress, and that we shall receive here a full and early account of it for cooperation. United & systematic eCorts are best, and most respectable. We felt it in the last election of Governor in this state. With my best wishes in every view public & private, I have the honor to be with perfect respect Sir, Your most obedt & most hble Servant Tench Coxe RC (DLC); at foot of text: “Mr. JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ as received 6 May and so recorded in SJL. For the postponement of the militia bill, see TJ to Edward Livingston, 30 Apr. 1800. organizing the militia anew: on 23 May the Philadelphia Aurora carried a table outlining the arrangement of the Pennsylvania militia into divisions and brigades under an act that had passed the Pennsylvania General Assembly in April 1799. The law called for free, white, male commonwealth residents between 18 and 45 years of age to be enrolled in the militia (Acts of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania [Philadelphia, 1799], 427-52). plan of operation: in response to the party’s electoral success in New York, Republicans in Philadelphia assigned Al-
bert Gallatin, as congressional leader, the task of acquiring information from New York Republicans on “Who is to be our Vice-President, Clinton or Burr?” Gallatin requested his father-in-law, New York City Republican James Nicholson, to investigate the matter. On 7 May Nicholson reported that New York Republicans placed “universal and unbounded” conAdence in Burr. Burr reportedly had reservations, however, noting that he had been “ill used by Virginia and North Carolina” in the last election. Some of his friends preferred that he run for governor of New York rather than for vice president. But most thought that Burr “ought to be the man for V.P., if there is a moral certainty of success.” On 11 May congressional Republicans met and pledged to support him (Henry Adams, The Life of Albert Gallatin [Philadelphia, 1879;
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6 MAY 1800 repr. New York, 1943], 241-3; Cunningham, JeCersonian Republicans, 162-4). For Nicholson’s report on his interviews
with Clinton and Burr, see Kline, Burr, 1:430-4.
From Aaron Burr Dear Sir. [before 5 May 1800] The enclosed is nearly correct—our Majorities are Something larger than there Stated—Our Three Senators for this district are undoubtedly elected—The Victory is complete and the Manner of it highly honorable—On the part of the Republicans there has been no indecency, no unfairness, no personal abuse—on the other Side, the inBuence and authority of ODce have openly perverted and prostituted and the town has been inundated with Scurrility and ribaldry issuing from federal presses and circulated by federal Runners Accept my thanks for the “Appendix to the Notes on Virginia” Received this Morning—I have a few pages with that lively interest and high Satisfaction which is attendant on every production of your classic pen— I am dear Sir with great attachment & Respect Your friend & St A; Burr I will see you within ten Days if you do not leave Pha. within that time RC (CSmH); undated, but endorsed by TJ as “probably May”; also endorsed by him as received 5 May, and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: not found, but likely the New York Commercial Advertiser of 3 May 1800 (see Kline, Burr, 1:426n).
our three senators: Republican nominees William Denning, Ebenezer Purdy, and Benjamin Hunting won seats in the state senate to represent New York City (same).
To Joseph Anthony May 6. 1800.
I hereby acknolege to have received from mr Anthony two sets of mr Trumbul’s prints of Bunker’s hill and the death of Montgomery, and to have paid him twenty eight dollars for them. if I possess any original subscription reciept it shall be returned; and if I did not then pay a moiety of the subscription (on which subject I cannot say a word by memory) I promise to pay it. Th: Jefferson < 557>
6 MAY 1800 RC (CtY). Joseph Anthony was a Philadelphia goldsmith and jeweler at 94 High Street who also administered the sale of John Trumbull’s prints. TJ recorded in his Anancial records for 6 May that he paid Anthony $28 for two sets of Trumbull’s
“Warren & Montgomery” (James Robinson, Robinson’s Philadelphia Register and City Directory for 1799 [Philadelphia, 1799]; pmhb, 53 [1929], 208-12; mb, 2:1017; Madison to TJ, 14 Feb. 1800; Statement of Account from John Barnes, printed at 12 May below).
From Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours Monsieur, Good Stay near New York 6 May 1800. Je vais à présent m’occuper du travail que vous m’avez imposé. Je voudrais que ce pût être d’une maniere digne de vous et de l’importance du sujet. Mais je n’ôse l’esperer. un plan d’éducation qui ne commence pas par les petites ecoles est ce qu’on appelle en France une charrue devant les boeufs. Mon ami Pusy vous remettra cette Lettre; il est digne de toute votre estime; et dans la multitude de choses pour lesquelles il vaut mieux que moi, il a l’avantage de parler assez bien l’anglais à la française: ce qui est de beaucoup préférable à ne le point parler du tout. Il me semble que vous êtes content des Elections de New York. J’en félicite l’amérique et vous. Salut, respect, bien tendre attachement. DuPont (de Nemours) e d i t o r s’
t r a n s l a t i o n
Sir, Good Stay near New York 6 May 1800 I am now going to busy myself with the work you have assigned to me. I could wish that it might be in a manner worthy of you and of the importance of the subject. But I do not dare to hope so. A plan for education that does not begin in the elementary schools is what we call in France a plow before the oxen. My friend Pusy will deliver this letter to you; he is worthy of your complete esteem; and in the Bock of things in which he is worth more than I, he has the advantage of speaking English quite well, in the French fashion: which is much preferable to not speaking it at all. It seems to me that you are happy with the elections in New York. I congratulate America and you on them. Greetings, respect, and very keen aCection. DuPont (de Nemours)
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7 MAY 1800 RC (DLC); at head of text: “à Mr. JeCerson”; endorsed by TJ as received 8 May and so recorded in SJL.
To Dugnani Philadelphia May 7. 1800
I have recieved, my dear Cardinal, in due time your two letters of May 17. and Sep. 30. from Rome: and it gave me inAnite pleasure to learn that you were in good health. what astonishing things had then taken place! how much more astonishing what has since happened! these latter events too having been immediately in the scene where you are, I am Alled with anxiety to learn how they have aCected you. I recollect with great sensibility the proofs which I recieved of your friendship while we resided at Paris, and feel a tender concern for your safety and happiness. the convulsions of Europe have been felt very sensibly even at this distance. our peaceable & laborious nation has been for a moment alarmed even for their own peace. but we have recovered from this, and shall I hope be permitted to pursue our own views of friendship & commerce with all nations, without taking any part in their broils. we have suCered indeed very great losses by sea. but we class them with the storms which blast our harvests, and other accidents to which we are exposed. perhaps it may help to wean us from sea-faring pursuits and attach us more to the cultivation of our soil. it has excited disagreeable resentments against foreign nations, and conBicting passions among ourselves. but I am happy to see that these are subsiding. I hope you have remained unhurt amidst the convulsions of your country, and that you will give me the pleasure of learning it from yourself. a letter by the way of London directed to the care of the American minister Plenipo. at that place, or by the way of Amsterdam to the care of Messrs. Van Staphorst & Hubbard bankers there, will come safely to me: and will always And me possessing the sincere sentiments of respect & attachment with which I am, my dear Cardinal Your aCectionate humble servt Th: Jefferson PS. accept my thanks for the elegant print you were so kind as to send me. I recieved it in perfect condition from the young gentlemen to whom you conAded it. they called on me on their arrival, and then went to Maryland, since which I have heard nothing from them. PrC (DLC); at foot of text: “H. [Excey.] Cardinal Dugnani, at Rome.”
TJ received Dugnani’s two letters, dated 17 May and 30 Sep. 1797, in June
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7 MAY 1800 1798. elegant print: much later TJ indicated that Dugnani had sent two engravings. One, by Pietro Bettilinie after a painting by Frederic Rehberg, was of the Roman general Belisarius begging for alms, a story popularized in a Jean François Marmontel novel that TJ owned. The other engraving depicted a Spanish general, Francisco de Moncada. The young gentlemen who acted as the nuncio’s couriers were Felix Dougherty and Ralph Smith, seminari-
ans who returned to America from Rome in 1798 (Susan R. Stein, The Worlds of Thomas JeCerson at Monticello [New York, 1993], 179, 449n; Sowerby, No. 4323; Vol. 29:370, 538-9; TJ to Dugnani, 14 Feb. 1818). A letter from Dugnani to TJ of 30 Mch. 1801, received from Milan on 3 Sep. of that year, is recorded in SJL but has not been found. According to SJL it was the last correspondence between the two until 1815.
To Tadeusz Kosciuszko My dear General May 7. 1800. I have duly recieved your letter of Sept. 15. and with that pleasure with which I always hear of your health. mr Barnes remits by this conveyance to Messrs. Van Staphorst & Hubbard for you 1082 Dollars, being the last dividends. I have got your land warrant located and have recieved for you the patent for 500. acres of land on the Scioto river. I am informed they are Ane lands, and I believe it the rather because they were located by a Colo. Armstrong who is well acquainted there, and has done a great deal of business for others in consequence of his knowlege of the country. he refused to recieve any thing for you for this service, saying he had done a great deal of duty with you & under you during our war, and was suDciently rewarded by the pleasure of doing any thing to serve you. I send you a plat of the land.—you know the fever in which you left us. all that is subsiding. the public opinion is running fast back into it’s antient and natural channel; and within one twelvemonth from this time it will be exactly what you & I would wish. our great quadrennial election comes on in about 6. months. even now there would be no question of it’s result but that, from peculiar circumstances, there is danger that Pensylvania will not be able to give any vote. however, independant of that, a victory just obtained by the republican party in the elections of New York is considered by both parties as going far towards deciding the great election, even should Pensylvania not obtain it’s vote. an accomodation with France will entirely tranquilize our aCairs, provid[ed] [. . .] ceases to commit depredations on our commerce. however you and I are to be careful in writing on political subjects. the feelings of friendship furnish a richer & more delicious subject of correspondence. be assured that mine follow you wherever < 560>
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you go, with prayers, as ardent as my aCections, for those events which you wish for. I know that you have not a wish but for the happiness of man. accept the assurances of my constant and sincere aCections. Adieu. PrC (DLC); faint; at foot of text: “General Kosciuzko”; TJ left a blank for the amount of the bill of exchange and subsequently inserted the Agure in ink. Enclosure not found. Enclosed in TJ to Van Staphorst & Hubbard, 8 May 1800. On 4 Apr. John barnes drew up a statement of Kosciuszko’s account with him beginning 23 Mch. 1799, in which the merchant credited the Polish exile with proceeds of sales of linens and other items he had left behind and with dividends paid by the Bank of Pennsylvania, deducting Barnes’s commission and the postage paid for letters from the Van Staphorst & Hubbard Arm in Amsterdam. The balance in Kosciuszko’s favor was $1,092.82, and a note added to the foot of the statement indicated that after deduction of commission the bill of exchange would total $1,082 (MS in MHi,
in Barnes’s hand, endorsed by TJ). Barnes had prepared a similar statement of account on 15 Nov. 1799 that also recorded the transactions from 23 Mch. 1799 to the date of that statement (MS in same). On 11 Feb. 1800 TJ took a receipt for the land warrant, which entitled Kosciuszko to 500 acres for his military service during the American Revolution, and commenced the process of getting the land surveyed and patented (MS in MHi; in an unknown hand; signature torn away; addressed: “Colonel John Armstrong or William Wells Esqr Cincinnati NW Territory”; endorsed by TJ). The John armstrong who located the tract had begun his military service during the Revolutionary War and, after serving along the frontier for several years, became treasurer of the Northwest Territory in 1796 (anb).
To Thomas Mann Randolph Th:J. to TMR. Philadelphia May 7. 1800. Yours of Apr. 26. came to hand the 2d. inst. we have recieved information, not absolutely to be relied on, that our envoys are arrived at Paris and were recieved with peculiar favor. I have seen a letter from a person there of the best information dated in January that the dispositions of the present government were so favorable that a carte blanche would be given to our envoys & that it would not be in their power to avoid a settlement.—the New York city election has resulted in favor of the republican ticket. I inclose you a state of it.q this is considered by both parties as deciding the legislative majority in that state, without taking into account what we shall gain in the country elections. the federalists do not conceal their despair on this event. they held a caucus on Saturday night and have determined on some hocus-pocus maneuvres by running Genl. Charles C. Pinckney with mr Adams to draw oC South Carolina, and to make impression on N. Carolina.—we still count on rising on the 12th. perhaps we may be a < 561>
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day or two later, tho’ it is generally expected otherwise. I shall not set out till the day, or day after we rise. You were not mistaken in your Arst idea that your tobacco was nearly suDcient for the paiment to G. JeCerson. I paid him 1870. D. your Philadelphia tobo. came to 1537.325 and the N. York supposed about 288. D. this when it all comes in will consequently be within a few dollars of what I paid; and as to the delay I have apologised for that to those for whom my money was destined. a little before I left Monticello I attempted a statement of our account. but we had let it run so long that it called for more time than I had left. I therefore brought on the materials here, & have stated it except as to one or two articles which need enquiry. I do not believe there will be a balance of 10. D. either way, including every thing I know of to the present moment. the money therefore in mr JeCerson’s hands which you destined for me, is free for other purposes. I sincerely wish I were able to aid you in the embarrasments you speak of. but tho’ I have been wiping out mr Wayles’s old scores it has been impossible to me to avoid some new ones. the proAts of my Bedford estate have gone for this purpose, and the unproAtable state of Albemarle has kept me in a constant struggle. there is a possible case which might enable me to aid you; and nothing could be so pleasing to me:r but it is only possible. I would wish you however to avoid selling any thing as long as you can, to give time for this possibility. these things however will be better explained in conversation. present my constant love to my dear Martha, & the little ones, and accept assurances of the most aCectionate attachment to yourself. Adieu. RC (DLC); endorsed by Randolph as received 15 May. PrC (MHi); endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosure not found, but probably New York Commercial Advertiser of 3 May (see Aaron Burr to TJ, at 5 May). Randolph’s letter of apr. 26, recorded in SJL as received from Edgehill on 2 May, has not been found. On 7 May the Aurora carried a short piece noting that newspapers from London to 17 Mch. and Glasgow to 20 Mch. had arrived in New York with information that the envoys had arrived at paris and that Bonaparte, as Arst consul, had appointed a commission to confer with them, consisting of his brother Joseph Bonaparte, Pierre Louis Roederer, and Charles Pierre Claret Fleurieu.
On 3 May the Federalist members of Congress held a caucus and, as James McHenry reported, “with very few exceptions, it was determined, that each member in his State, would use his best endeavours to have Mr. Adams and Major General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney run for President, without giving one a preference to the other.” Pickering explained the political strategy behind this decision in a letter to William Loughton Smith on 7 May: “The only chance of a federal President will be by General C. C. Pinckney. It is proposed to run him with Mr. Adams; and as So. Carolina & part of North Carolina will vote for him, if the New England States also keep him on their votes, Mr. Pinckney will be elected. The Carolinians it is supposed will vote for Mr. JeCerson as well as Genl. Pinck-
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7 MAY 1800 ney” (DLC: William Loughton Smith Papers; Gibbs, Memoirs, 2:347; Syrett, Hamilton, 24:446). Upon discovering that not all Federalists supported the plan, Hamilton vowed that he would not give his direct support to Adams “even though the consequence should be the election of JeCerson.” In May 1800 Duane noted that three political parties were contending for power in the U.S. Senate, the Republicans, the “Adamites,” and the
“Pickeronians” or “Pickeroons”—those Federalists who had “leagued with Hamilton.” The Hamiltonian Federalists began holding caucuses at the home of South Carolina Senator Jacob Read (Philadelphia Aurora, 1, 16, 19, 20 May 1800; Cunningham, JeCersonian Republicans, 164-5; Syrett, Hamilton, 24:475). q Sentence interlined. r Preceding eight words interlined.
From William Thornton Dear Sir City of Washington May 7th 1800 I had the honor of your favor of the 23d Ultimo. by Mr Barnes, whose short stay here prevented me from enjoying the gratiAcation of shewing such attentions as I could wish, independent of your friendly recommendation, to which I shall at all times be exceedingly happy to pay particular respect.—Though I believe he is not unfavourably impressed with the Situation & appearance of our new City, yet I am afraid he will think the diDculty of obtaining a suDcient number of houses greater than he perhaps was previously led to imagine.—This inconvenience will however only be temporary, for very great exertions are making on all sides. I am much obliged by your kindness in suggesting several important considerations respecting the Arrangements in the Capitol & I have the satisfaction of informing you that they are so nearly consonant to my Plans that what I had directed will I Batter myself meet with your approbation.—There is however a diCerence in the Closet which will be on one side of the Room, from necessity. It will give me very great pleasure to have the honor of your Company when you return from Philaa. & if you make any stay I solicit that favor, at which time you will be so good as to aid by further Advice. Though much has been done here we still appear in the infancy of our operations & your improved Mind would suggest many things worthy of our attention.— In writing to you I cannot omit a subject which has long been deeply impressed on my mind & to you this will be interesting not only as the President of the Philosophical Society but as a Philanthropist:—I mean that subject of National AEiction the Yellow Fever; on the production of which I entertain many of the opinions of the ingenious & benevolent Dr Rush, tho’ I am not a friend to copious bleeding but would Recommend a reduction of the fever by < 563>
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perspiration produced by the Warm bath, & evacuations, making use of tonics in the latter Stages of the Disease.—The Yellow fever is thought by many to be imported from the West Indies—It may be the Case, but the Type only could by importation be given, the predisposition at least must be generated in the city where it prevails Philaa.—If the fever originates in the West Indies, or in Africa we must enquire into the Causes? and what Causes can we And in those countries that are unknown in our populous Cities? We have in the Summer, Heat, Moisture, frequently a stagnant Air, stagnant Water & its consequent Pests; but in many of our Cities we have Causes which cannot be exceeded in the cities even of Africa.—In Philaa. and other places the inhabitants in preparing their Privies sink very deep Receptacles which in many cases have not been cleansed in thirty or forty years—These are frequently in very conAned yards, & if we calculate the number of these Pits of abomination, & their diameter which is often very large, taking also into consideration how much vapor rises from an acre of ground in a given time:—If we likewise reBect on the quality of this vapour, which is generated not only by the feculent Matter but also by the leaves of Cabbages and other vegetable OCals thrown there especially in the late summer-Months, we need not search for remote or proximate causes.—Perhaps it may be objected that Philada. & other Cities which have lately experienced such calamities have not annually been aEicted by this Disease, & yet the same causes existed.—We know that at various times diCerent parts of this Continent have been subject to similar disorders among the Aborigines as well as their Successors the Whites— Causes, not now generally contemplated might aid the production of putrid fevers previous to the establishment of the White inhabitants. The Indians more actuated by present motives than consequences might have placed their towns in unhealthy Situations & their Althy modes of Life would contribute to give ECect to the noxious exhalations.—We know likewise that in Revolutions of the heavenly bodies relative Situations or Aspects produce ECects on the diCerent Planets to which common Observers do not attend—We learn from the Chaldeans that their discoveries enabled them not from calculation but from mere observation to foretell Eclipses and the changes of Season dependent on the Saros or great Cycle. Modern Philosophers have matured Systems derived from these Observations & have been able to predict the Seasons with tolerable Accuracy—The Seasons whether humid or dry depending on great primary celestial Movements give us reason to imagine that a concomitance of Circumstances is required to produce the ECects under < 564>
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present contemplation; & may not these account for the absence or presence of our general Disorders?—But destroy any of the requisite Agents and the ECect ceases.—Whatever may be the primary, it is certainly reasonable to endeavour to lessen the exciting causes, and we possess the full power of removing what we suppose to be one great agent: I mean the eEuvium of which I have spoken above.— During the sitting of the Grand Convention at Philada. our amiable and enlightened friend Madison, who lodged in the same house with me, asked what I thought was the best mode of correcting the eEuvium. I observed the Servants preparing Ley (a lixivium of Wood Ashes) for making Soap, & some lime Waggons going bye at the same time, I told him the Materials were at hand & he should witness the immediate eCect.—I threw some quick lime into the Ley, & when it was slaked & mixed, the whole, (then become a caustic Alkali) was thrown into the Reservoir of the Privy; & no sooner had it mixed with the fæculent matter, than the vapour was changed & rendered innoxious & without the least smell.—This very simple operation need not be repeated oftener than once in two or three weeks & so small a quantity is requisite that neither the expence nor trouble can be considered.—Some put only lime into their Privies but it produces a Volatile pungent Vapor, still very disagreeable; the Axed Alkali is also requisite. If quick lime & fresh Ashes were thrown into every Reservoir at stated times, by persons appointed by the Magistrates & not depend upon the inhabitants whose negligence might be fatal, & if this were to become a matter of police supported by a very small Tax I hesitate not to say that it would be more eCectual in preventing disease than if the River Delaware were to be distributed thro’ the City—I am nevertheless an advocate for the System of watering now in progression.— There are various other considerations which I must mention as inducements to this Scheme.—As the Abolishment of error is deemed a beneAt to Science, so may the Removal of a nuisance be considered as an acquisition to comfort. It matters not to what the attention is directed if we contemplate Utility.—The Almighty has, in his Providence, ordained, that no natural Evil is without its Remedy. The Bies of Philada. are considered as one of the greatest of Nuisances & the Origin of such Myriads has excited many Enquiries & many false conclusions.—They follow and torment Horses so much that people in general think they breed in the dung of these Animals.—Flies are the Scavengers of Nature, & wherever there is oCensive Animal Matter they deposit their Eggs, & the maggots devour the putrid Mass; for the substances non-appropriate are seldom < 565>
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chosen. The dung of horses dries without corrupting, unless laid in heaps; when, like other vegetable Matters, it ferments & in time decays, but not with the noxious fætor of animal Substances. We accordingly And that Bies do not deposit their Ova in the Dung of horses, but they are often seen to suck the fresh juices of this Substance as well as the blood of the Animal.—When I exhibited the eCects of Quick Lime & Alkali in completely correcting the disagreeable EEuvium that arises from the Privies I observed the whole surface of the fæculent Matter to be alive with Maggots, which at once convinced me of the Origin of such a number of Bies, & I shuddered at the Idea. Although convinced myself it was necessary nevertheless to make an experiment to convince others. After leaving the door & Windows of a privy open for some time, and perceiving the maggots to be very numerous, I ordered it to be kept constantly shut, & the Bies that came forth were in such numbers that every day for some time hundreds or thousands of dead ones were brushed from the Boor, which died for want of water & Sustenance; shewgq that although putrid animal Matter is proper food for maggots, yet it is not At for the sustenance of Bies. The fæculent Matter was not replenished by the Bies it produced, & at last it became destitute of Maggots.—The mixture of Quick lime & Ashes or Ley not only destroys the Smell, arising from the Sewers, but also eCectually destroys the Maggots & consequently the Bies.—It may be observed that when Persons are aEicted with the Yellow fever the putrid bilious matter which is vomited in the last Stages & all the noxious matters otherwise discharged by the Body, are thrown into the general reservoir of Alth & infection, which no doubt would tend essentially to increase & propagate the Fever: all these however would be rendered innoxious by the mixture Recommended, besides which the nightmen, by it, will And no inconvenience in cleansing the Sewers; & this Operation being facilitated will not only tend much to purify the City, but the matter itself will be rendered by the mixture much more valuable, not only as a manure, whose nature is changed, & which greatly exceeds in quality the common Matter, but will serve a still more valuable purpose, as it becomes a perfect Matrix of Nitre, formed of the requisite ingredients for the production of that Substance in the most compleat Manner.— On all these Accounts therefore I cannot forbear requesting your attention to this Subject.—Not only from respect & love to the inhabitants of Philaa. but as a citizen of the United States & still more as a man I think it my duty to make known whatever I conceive may, in any respect, tend to their good, and I cannot commit my Ideas to a < 566>
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bosom that will Participate more in the Wish of promoting the general good than in yours. Accept dear Sir my high Respect & sincere good Wishes for your health & happiness William Thornton FC (Lb in DLC: William Thornton Papers); in hand of Anna Maria Thornton with some emendations by William Thornton (see C. M. Harris, ed., Papers of William Thornton: Volume One, 17811802 [Charlottesville, 1995], 545); at head of text: “To Thomas JeCerson. Vice President of the United States Philadelphia.” Recorded in SJL as received 10 May 1800.
Abbé Toaldo of Padua had piqued Thornton’s interest in the ancient astronomical cycle called the saros. Thornton showed James madison the eCects of lye and lime in the privy of Mary House’s Philadelphia boardinghouse in 1787 (Harris, Thornton, 204-5, 546n). q That is, “shewing.” Anna Maria Thornton Arst wrote “which shews,” William Thornton then altering the phrase.
As early as 1792 the writings of the
From John Dickinson Wilmington the 8th of the 5th Month 1800
John Dickinson presents his Thanks for the appendix, and has been much gratiAed in perusing so complete a Vindication of a Character he has so long and so constantly regarded with high Esteem— RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ as received 10 May and so recorded in SJL.
From Joseph Priestley Dear Sir Northumberland May 8. 1800 I inclose my Thoughts on the subject you did me the honour to propose to me. Your own better judgment will decide concerning their value, or their Atness for the circumstances of your College. This may require a very diCerent distribution of the business from that which I here recommend. I thank you for your care to transmit a copy of my work to Bp Madison. He, as well as many others, speaks of the increasing spread of republican principles in this country. I wish I could see the eCects of it. But I fear we Batter ourselves, and if I be rightly informed, my poor Letters have done more harm than good. I can only say that I am a sincere well wisher to the country, and the purity and stability of its constitution. yours sincerely, J. Priestley < 567>
8 MAY 1800 RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ as received 14 May and so recorded in SJL. TJ had invited Priestley to oCer his thoughts on the subject of education at his convenience; see TJ to Priestley, 18 Jan. 1800.
TJ forwarded a copy of Priestley’s work on ancient institutions to Bishop madison; see TJ to Bishop James Madison, 31 Jan. 1800.
e n c l o s u r e
Thoughts on Education Hints concerning Public Education. Persons educated at public seminaries are of two classes. One is that of professional men, as physicians and divines, who are to be qualiAed for entering upon their professions immediately after leaving the college or university. The other is that of gentlemen, and those who are designed for oDces of civil and active life. The former must be minutely instructed in every thing adding to their several professions; whereas to the latter a general knowledge of the several branches of science is suDcient. To the former, especially that of Medicine, several professors are necessary, as the business must be subdivided, in order to be taught to advantage. For the purpose of the latter fewer professors are wanted, as it is most advisable to give them only the elements of the several branches of knowledge, to which they may afterwards give more particular attention, as they may have a disposition or convenience for it. Lawyers are not supposed to be qualiAed for entering upon their profession at any place of public education. They are therefore to be considered as gentlemen to whom a general knowledge is suDcient. It is advisable, however, that when any subject, as that of Medicine, is much divided, and distributed among a number of professors, lectures of a more general and popular nature be provided for the other classes of students, to whom some knowledge of the subject may be very useful. A general knowledge, for example, of anatomy and of medicine, too, is useful to all persons, and therefore ought not to be omitted in any scheme of liberal education. And if in a regular school of medicine any of the professors would undertake this, it might serve as an useful introduction to that more particular and accurate knowledge which is necessary for practical physicians. The branches of knowledge which are necessary to the teachers of religion are not so many, or so distinct from each other, but that they may all be taught by one professor, as far as is necessary to qualify persons for commencing preachers. To acquire more knowledge, as that of the scriptures, ecclesiastical history, &c must be the business of their future lives. But every person liberally educated should have a general knowledge of Metaphysics, the theory of morals, and religion; and therefore some popular lectures of this kind should be provided for the students in general. One professor of antient languages may be suDcient for a place of liberal education, and I would not make any provision for instruction in the modern languages. For me the knowledge of them, as well as skill in fencing, dancing, and riding, is proper for gentlemen liberally educated. Instruction in
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8 MAY 1800 them may be procured on reasonable terms without burdening the funds of the seminary with them. Abstract Mathematics, and Natural Philosophy, are so distinct, that they require diCerent teachers. One is suDcient for the former, but the latter must be subdivided, one for natural history, another for experimental Philosophy in general and a third for chemistry; in consequence of the great extension of this branch of experimental Philosophy of late years. The botany, mineralogy, and other branches of natural history are suDciently distinct to admit of diCerent professors nothing more than a general knowledge of each of them, and directions for acquiring a more extensive knowledge of them is necessary at any place of education. Two or three schools of Medicine I should think suDcient for all the united states for some years to come. but with respect to these I do not pretend to give any opinion not having suDcient knowledge of the subject. Places of liberal education in general should be much more numerous and for each of these I should think the following professors (if the funds of the society will admit of it) should be engaged, viz 1. for the antient languages. 2 The Belles Lettres, including universal grammar, Oratory, criticism, and bibliography. 3 Mathematics. 4. Natural history. 5. Experimental Philosophy. 6 Chemistry including the theory of Agriculture.q 7 Anatomy and Medicine. 8 Geography, civil history, Law, and general policy. 9. Metaphysics, morals, and theology. A course of liberal education should be as comprehensive as possible. For this purpose a large and well chosen library will be of great use. Not that the students should be encouraged to read many books while they are under tuition, but an opportunity of seeing books, and looking into them, will give them a better idea of the value of them than they could get by merely hearing of them, and they would afterwards better know what books to purchase when they should have the means and the leisure for the perusal of them. A large collection of books will also be useful to the lecturer in bibliography. It would recommend the seminary to the professors in general, and make it desirable place of residence for gentlemen of a studious turn. 2. In order to engage able professors, some Axed salaries are necessary; but they should not be much more than a bare subsistence. They will then have a motive to exert themselves, and by the fees of students their emoluments may be ample. The professorships in the English universities, which are largely endowed, are sinecures; while those in Scotland, to which small stipends are annexed, are Alled by able and active men. 3. It is not wise to engage any persons who are much advanced in life, or of established reputation for eDcient teachers. They will not be so active as younger men who have a character to acquire. They will also better accommodate their lectures to the increasing light of the age, whereas old men will be attached to old systems, tho ever so imperfect. Besides, they are the most expert in teaching who have lately learned, and the minutiæ of science, which are necessary to a teacher, are generally forgotten by good scholars who are advanced in life, and it is peculiarly irksome to relearn them. 4. I would not without necessity have recourse to any foreign country for professors. They will expect too much deference, and the natives will be jealous of them. 5. Three things must be attended to in the education of youth. They must be taught, fed, and governed; and each of these requires very diCerent quali-
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8 MAY 1800 Acations. They who are the best qualiAed to teach are often the most unAt to govern, and it is generally advisable that neither of these have any thing to do with providing victuals. In the English universities all these oDces are perfectly distinct. The tutors only teach, the proctors superintend the discipline, and the cooks provide the victuals. q Preceding Ave words interlined.
RC (DLC); entirely in Priestley’s hand.
To Van Staphorst & Hubbard Gentlemen Philadelphia May. 8. 1800. I take the liberty, as heretofore, of putting under your cover letters to my friends Genl. Kosciuzko & the Baron de Geismar. the General writes so seldom & so cautiously that I know not where he is. he has so many titles to my aCectionate esteem, that I am always anxious to hear of his health and his pursuits. mr Barnes now makes you a remittance for him of 1082. Dollars. I sometime ago paid to mr Ludlow for you 200. Dollars. not having with me a note of the precise amount of the annual interest, I paid a remittance suDcient to cover it. We have hopes of a speedy accomodation with France, and of the resuming our commerce with that country. it gives us too the hope of a peace with all the world. we want nothing but peace, [reasoning] in our government, and a more vigorous attention to the discharge of our national debt & to the contracting no more, to make us a happy & a prosperous people. the agonies of Europe indeed have not been altogether unfelt here: they kindled for a while the most dissocial passions. I am happy however to see that these are rapidly subsiding, and the public temper & principles returning to their habitual state. it is not improbable that some agitation will be produced by the elections of the ensuing season. but we are so thoroughly obedient to the principle of yeilding to the will of the majority, that the declaration of that will, always produces instantaneous acquiescence & calm. so that we have nothing to fear for the solidity of our government. accept assurances of the constant & sincere esteem & attachment of Gentlemen Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); faint; at head of text: “Messrs. Van Staphorst & Hubbard”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosures: (1) TJ to Tadeusz Kosciuszko, 7 May
1800. (2) TJ to Baron von Geismar, 8 May 1800, recorded in SJL but not found.
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10 MAY 1800 According to SJL TJ wrote to Daniel ludlow & Co. on 11 Apr. 1800 “inclosg. 200. D. for V.S. & H.,” and on 15 Apr. he received the Arm’s reply dated the previ-
ous day. Neither letter has been found. The payment was for interest on the bonds TJ owed to Van Staphorst & Hubbard (mb, 2:1016).
From William Frederick Ast Dear Sir Richmond 10. May 1800. I am honoured with Your very esteemed favour of 17. Septr. l.—extreme hurry of business has hitherto prevented me to answer it sooner. I have now the pleasure to send You herewith the Amendments made at the last General Meeting of the Mutual Assurance Society, as also the New form of the Declarations, and an explanation of the System made for the general Information. The Amendments appear to give general Satisfaction—You will And now that those parts You complained of, are either done away or so amended that no more Objection can be had to it. By the additional Premiums paid now by the Towns puts the Country people upon a much better footing—there is in my opinion much more danger in the Country than there is generally immagined—a certain Class of people who undergo often a severe discipline may, as it often has happened, do a great deal of Mischief—there is seldom water enough near the Dwellinghouses or Barns in the Country and very little Assistance—where an accident doth take place there is in general a Total loss—when on the Contrary a house smoaks in Town people, going generally night and day about, percieve it, and will be put out and particularly now as they have and will still more so have better apparatus and supply of Water to put the Are out. For the Contiguity of other Houses they pay considerably more. As the Principles begin now better to be understood, the Subscriptions increase dayly—last thursday we got in declarations for twenty-one buildings. There being now Agents in each County appointed will make the Insurance more general. Then the Interest of one premium will in my opinion be more than suDcient. The premiums average [. . .] per Cent then there is to each hundred Dollars in Stock three Dollars; which laid out in 6 pCt [. . .] about 8 pCt. Interest [. . .] 24 Cents per Annum—then suppose that 4 Cents go to defray the Expences there remain to each hundred Dollars insured 20 Cents annual Interest: then there must out of every 100 Dols. insured every Year one out of 500. hundred houses burn before it will < 571>
10 MAY 1800
absorb this the Interest—and it is my opinion that on an average in the whole State only one out of Ten thousand burns—some Years more and some less—if You would be so kind to examine this Calculation I think that taking the Average of a Number of Years You will And it pretty just—then there remains only one thing to be done that is to make it general—now if every one who doth understand it did insure and engage his Neighbours to do so, it might easily be eCected—if You would now be so kind as to make a good begining and send in Your declaration and only mention it to Your Neighbours that You have done so will bring in thousands to follow the good Example and thousands will follow them; by which means the whole State will soon be insured and make it one of the best Institutions existing. To succour the unfortunate ought, I think go before any other payment upon this ground the fathers of the Land have granted a Summary process—as each has in general only a small Sum to pay, which is proportioned to his Riches, they can easily raise it: if they are willing—the Law is only for the hard hearted the tender heart will always come forward of his own accord in so laudable a Cause. I have the honour to subscribe myself with sincere respect Dear Sir Your most obedient most humble Servant W. F. Ast RC (MHi); torn; damaged endorsement by TJ. Recorded in SJL as received 29 May. Enclosure: Declaration for the Mutual Assurance Society, 16 Aug. 1800. Other enclosures not found, but see below. At a meeting in Richmond in January 1800 the Mutual Assurance Society adopted amendments to the company’s constitution. Among other things, the new articles allowed subscribers to secure their obligations to the society with property other than the buildings being insured, and a participant could withdraw from the insurance plan at the end of any year by giving prior notice and paying
any money owed to the company. The amendments also speciAed additional premiums for situations that would tend to occur in towns, such as artisans’ workshops deemed to be special hazards and the crowding of structures. As revised, the constitution authorized the employment of agents throughout the state, one per county, to be paid on commission (Constitution, Rules and Regulations Of the Mutual Assurance Society, against Fire on Buildings of the state of Virginia [Richmond, 1804], 7-10; see Shaw-Shoemaker, No. 2720). A letter from Ast to TJ, recorded in SJL as written on 12 Apr. and received on the 18th, has not been found.
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To Samuel Brown Dear Sir Philadelphia May 10. 1800. I am much indebted to you for your aid in procuring evidence on the subject of the murder of Logan’s family. your brother has explained to you what was thought best as to Genl. Clarke’s deposition. I received Sappington’s declaration yesterday. I had already published & sent out the pamphlet which I inclose you. but I am now endeavoring to get this declaration printed to annex it to the remaining copies, & if done in time a copy of it shall accompany this. about three weeks ago you were chosen a member of the Philosophical society here. The diploma is made out & signed, but the secretary who has the care of the seal of the society is absent on a journey so that it cannot yet be sealed. it will be sent to you after my departure. being very near that, I can only add a few words. a great change has taken place in the public sentiment. the fever excited by XYZ has subsided. the expences & other insanities to which that was made subservient are now seen by all, and as much reprobated. the next election will certainly give us a strong majority in the H of Representatives. indeed we may say we have it now: for tho’ at their meeting they counted a majority of 20. against us, yet such an impression has been made by the tide of popular opinion, that the republicans in that house have been able to reject every obnoxious measure, except the bankrupt law which was hardly a party measure. but on these subjects your brother keeps you so well informed that I need not enlarge on them. accept assurances of the sincere esteem of Dear Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); at foot of text: “Dr. Samuel Brown”; endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. Enclosure: Appendix to the Notes on Virginia Relative to the Murder of Logan’s Family. The deposition of George Rogers Clark was actually his letter to Brown, 17 June 1798, enclosed in Brown’s letter to TJ of 4 Sep. 1798. TJ chose to omit Clark’s statement from the Appendix (see Vol. 30:512-15). John sappington’s
declaration appears above in this volume under the date 13 Feb. 1800, where TJ’s eCorts to annex that statement to the already-printed copies of the Appendix are discussed. The American philosophical society had elected Brown to membership on 18 Apr. (aps, Proceedings, 22, pt. 3 [1884], 299). Recorded in SJL, but not found, is a letter from TJ to Brown, 5 Dec. 1798.
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From Oliver Wolcott, Jr. Treasury Department
Sir, May 10th. 1800. A constant pressure of urgent business has delayed my acknowledgment of the Letter which I had the honour of receiving from you, dated the 12th. of April, in which you represent that the following payments have been made by Messrs. Pendleton and Lyons, in pursuance of their assumpsit to Edmund Randolph late Secretary of State, dated Novr. 14th. 1797, vizt. 1798. Novr. 21st. Payment to George JeCerson & Co. £500. " Decr. 31st. ditto ditto 300. 1799. Jany. 14th. ditto ditto 400. Dolls. 4000, or £1200. I recollect perfectly well, the conversation with the Secretary of State, Mr. Pickering, to which you refer. It was admitted that money was due to Mr. Short; and it was also mutually agreed that any sums which you might receive from Mr. Randolph, should not prejudice the claim of Mr. Short against the United States for any balance which might remain unsatisAed.—I am persuaded that no diDculty will arise in the settlement from the agreement above stated, which was dictated by a just regard to the convenience of Mr. Short, and the interests of the United States. As the suit between the United States and Mr. Randolph, will be soon decided, and as the assumpsit of Messrs. Edmund Pendleton and P. Lyons is indeAnite both in respect to the time of payment and the sum demandable, it is not thought adviseable to admit the assignment, which was enclosed in your Letter, to Mr. Randolph’s credit, especially as no inconvenience or uncertainty can arise from leaving the aCair on the footing in which it was placed by the conversation with the Secretary of State, to which I have above referred. I have the honour to enclose the papers which accompanied your Letter of April 12th. and to request that you would continue to receive any future payments which may be tendered, on the conditions already understood between us. I have the honour to be with great respect, Sir, your obedt. servt. Oliv. Wolcott. RC (DLC: Short Papers); in a clerk’s hand, signed by Wolcott; addressed: “The Honble Thomas JeCerson Esquire”; endorsed by TJ as received on the same day as written and so recorded in SJL. Dft (CtHi: Wolcott Papers). Enclosures not found.
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Statement of Account from John Barnes Thomas JeCerson Esqr: In a/c with John Barnes. 1800. Mar 17 " 18 20 " Aprl 1 3d " Mar 22
To Amot due e a/c rendrd: J Birch himself 6 Bank Notes Sloop Sally e a/c himself J Roberts himself Omitted do.
$67.840 5.– 50.– 470.– 15.33 25.– 318.39. 25.– 20. 928.72 996.560
Apl 4th
To Balle due favr: TJ. ç card. to a New a/c
Apr 5th " " " 10 " 17.
To Wm Duane Wm Phillips TJ for N York ç Dr Wardlaw Dr Jackson Dr Everet 14 Sbs Jersey Blue 16 himself 22. J Francis 23. J Hawkins May 6 J Anthony 7 P. Carron 8 himself
247.180 1243.75 25.– 10.50. 200.–
66.25 43.14
109.39 10.25 30.– 100.– 50.– 28.– 8.– 30.– 601.14
May 10 " " 12 " " "
J Letchmore McAllister & Co W Duane J Savage C Cummens J Thompson
15.60 11.33 16.– 23.50. 13.95. 13.33. 694.85. 42.66. 737.51
S H Smith
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12 MAY 1800
10th: 102 half Eagles 5. 12 qr do. 2.50
510. 30. 540. 250.
dimes & 0 dimes ç in 3 Bags— Mr Nicholas in paper 1800 Apl 4th:
450
By Qtr: Compensatn: ending 31 Mar deduct 0 e Ct Coms:
1240. 1977.51.
1250: 6.25 1243.75.
Copy Apl 4th
By Balle e Contra
$247.180
EE:— May 10th. By your Note in my favr a 60 days for pd disct 12th By T. Leipers Balle. of his a/c on 10 hhds Tobo. £48.4.9 Equal to MS (MHi); in Barnes’s hand, with credits arranged alongside debits but without aligning the dates; at head of text: “Rough Copy”; with checkmarks next to amounts of payments made on TJ’s behalf beginning 5 Apr.; endorsed by Barnes and TJ. TJ’s Anancial memoranda give no Arst name or initial for birch but state that the payment on 17 Mch. was “for plates.” The entry may refer to William Russell Birch’s engraved plates of views of Philadelphia, which Birch and his son Thomas published as a set in 1800. TJ was a subscriber to the work, and on 5 May paid $2 “in part subscription to prints of Philada.” (see illustrations; mb, 2:1015, 1017; William Russell Birch, The City of Philadelphia, in the State of Penn-
1250. 13.13
1236.87
128.620 1612.68
sylvania North America; as it appeared in the Year 1800: Consisting of Twenty Eight Plates [Philadelphia, 1800]; see Sowerby, No. 4161; anb). himself: entries so recorded by Barnes in the statement above were cash withdrawals by TJ. Those transactions all appear in TJ’s Anancial memoranda except for the one on 16 Apr. for $30, which he seems not to have recorded. After drawing the $50 on 18 Mch. TJ gave that amount “in charity” to an unspeciAed recipient, and on 5 Apr., two days after receiving $25 from Barnes, he gave a like amount again “in charity” (mb, 2:1015-17). TJ sent the $470 in bank notes, which he actually received from Barnes on 19 Mch., to George JeCerson for Thomas Mann Randolph (TJ to George
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12 MAY 1800 JeCerson, 20 Mch. 1800; TJ to Randolph, 31 Mch.; mb, 2:1015). For Barnes’s shipment of goods to TJ by the sloop sally, see Barnes to TJ, 2, 6 Apr. 1799. The 5 Apr. 1800 payment to William duane covered Ave subscriptions to the Aurora; see TJ to Thomas Mann Randolph, 28 Jan. 1800. The second payment to Duane, recorded by Barnes in the statement above as 10 May and by TJ in his Anancial record under 8 May, was for a four-volume edition of John GiCord’s History of France (Philadelphia, 1796-98). Duane had brought GiCord’s work up to date by continuing the narrative beyond 1793. TJ made the purchase for James Hopkins (mb, 2:1017). According to TJ’s Anancial memoranda the payment to Philadephia saddler William B. Philips (phillips) was “for 2. pr. drawers for paper.” In 1798 Philips had furnished TJ with four cases for drawers (mb, 2:982, 984, 1016). See TJ to Van Staphorst & Hubbard, 8 May 1800, regarding the $200 payment listed by Barnes above under 10 Apr. for transfer to New york. On 17 Apr. TJ wrote an order on Barnes for the payments to David jackson on behalf of William Wardlaw and Charlottesville physician Charles Everett (MS in Sotheby’s, 25 Nov. 1997, Lot 273, written and signed by TJ, with note of receipt signed by Stephen North for Jackson, endorsed; mb, 2:980n, 1016). TJ made the order to pay John francis on 15 Apr. The payment to John Isaac hawkins was for the “Forte piano” TJ had ordered (mb, 2:1016; TJ to Martha JeCerson Randolph, 11 Feb. 1800). Philadelphia blacksmith Peter or Pierre Caron (carron) provided TJ with two locks (mb, 1017; StaCord, Philadelphia Directory, for 1800, 29). letchmore: Philadelphia furniture maker John Letchworth, who made TJ six Windsor or “stick” chairs (TJ to Barnes and to George JeCerson, both 19 July 1800). In Philadelphia the Arm of mcallister & Matthews sold hardware and personal items such as spectacles, canes, and whips (mb, 2:1017). In his Anancial memoranda TJ noted no Arst name for the Mr. savage he paid
on 12 May, which has led to the supposition that the recipient was the artist Edward Savage. In all likelihood he had recently painted TJ’s portrait (see illustration), and sometime prior to January 1802 he made picture frames for Monticello. If in this instance Barnes was accurate in noting the Arst initial, however, the payment on 12 May could have been to a cabinetmaker, a merchant, or a house carpenter, each named John Savage (mb, 2:1018; Bush, Life Portraits, 43-4; Stafford, Philadelphia Directory, for 1800, 108; TJ to Edward Savage, 10 Jan. 1802). TJ recorded the Arst name of cummens as Thomas, and paid him for barbering. An 1801 city directory listed a James Cummens as a hairdresser and perfumer. TJ ordered the payment to James thompson, the proprietor of the Indian Queen tavern, on 10 May. It was for keeping a horse, and on the 11th TJ also gave a dollar to the unidentiAed “horseler” at Thompson’s establishment (mb, 2:986, 1017-18; Cornelius William StaCord, The Philadelphia Directory, for 1801 [Philadelphia, 1801], 63). Samuel Harrison smith had published the Appendix to the Notes on Virginia; see note to Statement of John Sappington, 13 Feb. 1800. On 10 May Barnes discounted TJ’s $1,250 quarterly salary payment at the Bank of the United States. The resulting $1,236.87, rounded to $1,240, produced the $790 in coins—half and quarter eagles, dimes, and half-dimes—and the $450 for Wilson Cary nicholas. The latter transaction was evidently done as a favor to Nicholas to pay a bill that had become due. Nicholas gave TJ a draft on the Arm of Pickett & Pollard for $450, which TJ, in Richmond on 20 May, handed to Gibson & JeCerson for collection (mb, 2:1017-19). For the disposition of some of the coins, see TJ to Madison, 12 May. tobo.: in early March Thomas Leiper gave TJ a note for $720 to purchase the six hogsheads of TJ’s tobacco and the four hogsheads of Thomas Mann Randolph’s crop that TJ had shipped to Henry Remsen’s care in New York. After the tobacco was weighed, Leiper owed
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12 MAY 1800 the additional amount he paid on 12 May, $51.45 of which was for Randolph (mb, 2:1015, 1018). TJ wrote orders on Barnes on 6 and 15 Mch. 1800, the Arst to pay John Bringhurst $5 “for writing 60 4to. sheets” and
the second paying $9 to Philadelphia shoemaker William Young (MSS in MHi, both written and signed by TJ, endorsed by Barnes, receipted by Bringhurst and by a third party for Young; mb, 2:1015).
To Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours Dear Sir Philadelphia May 12. 1800. I am happy in having seen here M. Bureau Pusy. the relation in which he stands to two persons whom I so much esteem as yourself and M. de la Fayette, as well as his own merit ensured him my best wishes. he is now on the wing as well as myself. I have therefore only time to inform you that about three weeks ago you were chosen a member of the American Philosophical society by an unanimous vote. the diploma is made out and signed, but the Secretary who has the seal in possession is absent from Philadelphia, so that it cannot be sealed till his return. it will then be forwarded to you by one of the Secretaries. accept the sincere wishes for your health and happiness of Dear Sir Your aCectionate friend & servt Th: Jefferson P.S. The piece you put into my hands on the relations between animals & vegetables was read to the society and ordered to be printed in their next volume. RC (DeGH: Winterthur MSS); at foot of text: “M. Dupont de Nemours.” PrC (DLC); endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. The american philosophical society elected Du Pont to membership on 18 Apr. At that meeting the society also received his Arst contribution to its scholarship, a piece titled “Sur les Végétaux, les Polypes et les Insectes” (recorded in the society’s proceedings as “On the Analogy between Vegetables, and Polypi and Insects”). The essay was referred to Benjamin Smith Barton, who at the next meeting, 2 May, recommended it for pub-
lication. TJ attended both meetings. Du Pont’s paper appeared, in French, in the next volume of the society’s Transactions, and the author also sent it to Paris, where in August 1800, under the title “Observations et réBexions sur les rapports que les plantes ont avec les insectes en général et avec les polypes en particular,” it was read at a science and mathematics meeting of the National Institute (aps, Proceedings, 22, pt. 3 [1884], 298-9; aps, Transactions, 5 [1802], 104-16; Gustave Schelle, Du Pont de Nemours et L’École Physiocratique [Paris, 1888; repr. Geneva, 1971], 427).
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To James Madison Dear Sir Philadelphia May 12. Congress will rise today or tomorrow. mr Nicholas proposing to call on you, you will get from him the Congressional news. on the whole the federalists have not been able to carry a single strong measure in the lower house the whole session. when they met, it was believed they had a majority of 20. but many of these were new & moderate men, & soon saw the true character of the party to which they had been well disposed while at a distance. the tide too of public opinion sets so strongly against the federal proceedings that this melted oC their majority, & dismayed the heroes of the party. the Senate alone remained undismayed to the last. Arm to their purposes, regardless of public opinion, and more disposed to coerce than to court it, not a man of their majority gave way in the least; and on the electoral bill they adhered to John Marshal’s amendment, by their whole number; & if there had been a full Senate there would have been but 11. votes against it, which includes H. Marshal who has voted with the republicans this session. I have delivered to mr Nicholas 160. dollars for you recieved from mr Lewis, & he will recieve 123. dollars for you from mr Barnes paid by Moylan. I deliver him also 110. D. in gold for your father, part of 160.38. delivered me for him by mr Hurt. mr Hurt had not been able to get it in small money. I therefore made interest at the mint for 50. D. in dimes & half dimes, which mr Nicholas not being able to take, I shall carry with me and have ready to deliver on my arrival at Monticello. Mr. Anthony tells me there is a guinea & a half for every print of J. Trumbul’s to be paid by those subscribers who paid half on subscribing. your prints are not sent here. he supposes them sent to some place in Virginia. I have wished very much to see La Trobe in order to consult him as to a coating for your columns. but it has not been in my power. I spoke on the subject with W. Hamilton of the Woodlands who has skill & experience on the subject. from him I got only that common plaister would not do. he whitewashes his brickwork. in Ld. Burlington’s edition of Palladio he tells us that most of the columns of those Ane buildings erected by Palladio are of brick covered with stucco, & stand perfectly. I know that three fourths of the houses in Paris are covered with plaister & never saw any decay in it. I never enquired into it’s composition; but as they have a mountain of plaister of Paris adjoining the town, I presume it to be of that. I imagine a coat of the thickness of a knife blade would < 579>
12 MAY 1800
do on brick, which would cost little. I presume your plaisterer Wash could do it well. I recieved from J. Bringhurst for mrs Madison a letter which I delivered to mr Nicholas. also a small package containing, I think he said, a watch-chain & other things, and another containing a book. if mr Nicholas can take the former I will send it by him. if not, I will And room for it in my trunk. I am so streightened however that I have been obliged to put the book into a trunk which goes round by sea.— I have this day paid 5. Dollars at the Aurora oDce for Capt Winston, as you desired. I hope I shall see you soon after my return either at your own house or Monticello or both. accept assurances of constant & aCectionate esteem to mrs Madison & yourself from Dear Sir Your sincere friend & servt Th: Jefferson RC (DLC: Madison Papers); addressed: “James Madison junr. Orange”; franked. PrC (DLC). Wilson Cary nicholas must have called on Madison sometime between 12 and 22 May (Madison, Papers, 17:389). For John Marshall’s amendment, see TJ to Edward Livingston, 30 Apr. 1800. On 5 Apr. 1800, James Madison, Sr., gave Reverend John hurt power of attorney to collect interest and the principal due from his U.S. securities (Madison, Papers, 17:388n). For Madison’s request for advice on the use of stucco or plaster for his brick
columns at Montpelier, see Madison to TJ, 4 Apr. 1800. For his own recommendation in this matter, TJ probably consulted one of the several editions he owned of The Architecture of Andrea Palladio, most likely that published in 1738 by Isaac Ware and dedicated to Lord burlington, Richard Boyle, third earl of Burlington (Sowerby, No. 4175; Harold Francis PAster, “Burlingtonian Architectural Theory in England and America,” Winterthur Portfolio, 2 [1976], 134, 151; Richard Charles Cote, “The Architectural Workmen of Thomas JeCerson in Virginia,” [Ph.D. diss., Boston University, 1986], 11-13).
To Samuel A. Otis Dear Sir Philadelphia May 14. 1800. It has been usual for the Vice-president to retire before the close of the session in order to give the Senate an opportunity of appointing a President pro tempore. in conformity with that usage, and this being the last day of the session, I ask the favor of that honorable body to excuse my further attendance, and to accept the homage of my dutiful respects. I am with esteem Dear Sir Your most obedient humble servt Th: Jefferson PrC (DLC); at foot of text: “The honble Saml. A. Otis Secretary of the Senate.”
On 14 May, the last day of the session, the Senate chose Uriah Tracy to serve as president pro tempore (js, 3:96).
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14 MAY 1800 Letters from TJ to Otis of 27 Aug. 1797 and 14 Dec. 1798, recorded in SJL, have not been found. Eight letters from
Otis to TJ, written between 7 July 1797 and 25 May 1800, are also missing.
To Thomas Mann Randolph Dear Sir Philadelphia May 14. 1800. Congress having continued their session to this day, I shall leave this place tomorrow, & expect to pass through Richmond the 20th. or 21st. to mrs Bolling’s & the next day to join mr Eppes & Maria. probably I shall make 4. 5. or 6 days stay in that neighborhood. we have no foreign news. the Feds have determined to run Genl. Pinckney in conjunction with mr Adams, not without hope, by the aid of S. Carolina, to give him the preference. with some at least this is the view. but I think New England cannot be duped. you will see by the papers of this post that Pickering is dismissed & Marshal in his place; Mc.Henry resigned & Dexter in his place. I expect a bill will pass this day to disband the army. they are, on the approach of an election, trying to court a little popularity, that they may be afterwards allowed to go on 4. years longer in deAance of it. the N. York elections give us on the whole a certain majority of 8. to 12. on a joint vote. Jersey is also in a promising temper. kisses to my ever dear Martha & the little ones, & to yourself an aCectionate Adieu. RC (DLC); at foot of text: “T M Randolph”; endorsed by Randolph as received 23 May but with date of letter given as 7 not 14 May. PrC (CSmH); endorsed by TJ in ink on verso. On 12 May Adams nominated John Marshall to serve as secretary of state in place of Timothy pickering, whom the president had dismissed that same day after he refused to resign, and Samuel Dexter, senator from Massachusetts, to serve as secretary of war in place of James McHenry, who resigned at the president’s request on 6 May. The Senate conArmed the appointments of Marshall and Dexter on 13 May and they entered oDce on 6 and 12 June, respectively. William Duane noted in the Aurora: “the Cabinet is not only disjointed but broken to
pieces—Timothy Pickering has been dismissed, James M’Henry has resigned— Alexander Hamilton has received a hint, that his services will be no longer required” (Philadelphia Aurora, 15 May; jep, 1:352-4; Biog. Dir. Cong.; Adams, Works, 9:51-5; Syrett, Hamilton, 24:4768). On 14 May the House agreed to Senate amendments to the bill to disband the army and Adams signed the legislation, which he used to discharge the twelve regiments raised under the act to augment the army of July 1798. The oDcers and soldiers were granted three months’ pay from the time of their discharge, which the legislation speciAed should be on or before 15 June 1800 (js, 3:96; U.S. Statutes at Large, 1:604-5; 2:85-6; Syrett, Hamilton, 24:500-1).
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Statement of Account from John Francis T. JeCerson Esqr. dr. To J. Francis. Board from 28 Decr 1799 till 14 May 1800. 19 Weeks & 5 days at 30 Dolls. $591.50 Wine & porter 40. Candles 8. $639.50 Cash rec’d 400. Ballance due $239.50 Rec’d payment John Francis MS (MHi); in unknown hand, signed by Francis; with note in TJ’s hand at foot of statement: “May 15. gave ord. on J. Barnes”; endorsed by TJ. cash rec’d: on 16 Mch. TJ ordered John Barnes to pay $300 to Francis (MS in MHi; written and signed by TJ; en-
dorsed by Barnes; receipt signed by Francis on 8 Apr.; canceled). In his Anancial memoranda, TJ noted that order and another he gave Francis on Barnes for $100 on 15 Apr. The day he left Philadelphia, TJ gave the hotelkeeper an order on Barnes for $239.50 (mb, 2:1015, 1016, 1019).
From Martha Jefferson Randolph Edgehill May 15 1800
Being prevented by the unexpected arrival of company to day, I have it in my power to write but a few lines to my Dearest Father while the rest of the family sleep. to repeat what he so well knows allready how tenderly loved how anxiously expected he is by every member of the family they are all unwell at present with colds so bad as to create suspicions of the hooping cough particularly the two youngest—Ellen has been very ill we were much disturbed & allarmed for three nights successively being in constant apprehension of her going in to convulsion Ats with which she was seriously threatened she is however better tho extremely weak & languid & Anne is quite well for the other two they have constitutions proof against every thing alltho the little one is at the crisis of the disorder what ever it is and has really a horrid cough she has never even been feverish adieu Dear and respected Father hasten I entreat you, the blest moment which will reunite me to all my heart holds dear in the world give my tenderest aCections to Maria tell her I would have written to her but for the reason above mentioned not forgetting the dear and amiable family < 582>
19 MAY 1800
with whom this will And you I remain with an aCection truly inexpressible your most tenderly M. Randolph RC (MHi); endorsed by TJ as received 21 May and recorded in SJL as received at Mont Blanco on that date.
Mortgage of Slaves and Goods from Edmund Randolph This Indenture made this nineteenth day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred. Between Edmund Randolph of the City of Richmond of the one part, and Thomas JeCerson the friend and trustee of Arriana Randolph, William Foushee, Daniel L. Hylton, William DuVal, Samuel Mc.Craw, Lewis Nicholas, and Philip Norborne Nicholas of the other part: Whereas the said Edmund Randolph stands indebted to the following persons to wit; to the said Arriana Randolph for an annuity of £150 sterling per annum due from January 1784, by virtue of a bond of Peyton Randolph deceased whose residuary legatee the said Edmund is, and in consideration of possessing his estate, devised to him, the said Edmund assumed the payment thereof, of which only 100£ sterling hath been paid; to Mrs. Anne Nicholas’s estate a balance as by account rendered of upwards of 200£ with interest; a balance due to the estate of Daniel Fisher, the same of which is unsettled; a bond due to Joshua Fry, now in the hands of Creed Taylor; a balance on a bond due to Mary Bond of the said city, a bond due to Gilliatt and Kirby of about £90; and a debt for which I gave bond to Mrs. Betty Randolph’s executors for two hundred pounds, and a debt due to William Foushee as physician. Now this Indenture witnesseth that in order to secure the payment of the debts aforesaid more eCectually and the sum of one dollar in hand paid by the persons Arst named, he the said Edmund Randolph hath bargained, sold, aliened, assigned and transfered, and by these presents doth bargain, sell, alien, assign and transfer to the said Thomas JeCerson, Foushee, Hylton, William DuVal, Samuel Macraw, Lewis and Philip Norborne Nicholas their executors, administrators and assigns the following slaves partly in the possession of the said Edmund Randolph, and partly in the possession of Wilson Cary Nicholas on a hire for years, to wit; Dick, Judy and their children Sukey and Lucy and Sam, Aggey and their children, Succordy, Mourning, Edmonia, Lewis, in the said Edmund Randolph’s possession; the following negro slaves hired by the said Edmund Randolph to Wilson C. < 583>
19 MAY 1800
Nicholas for a term of years, and especially Blenheim, and his wife Phillis and children Charles and Moses, Harry and Nanny his wife and children Watt, and Billy and Jemmy and his wife Dolly and child Lydia and Jenny Willard Lewis and their increase present and future all his the said Edmund Randolph’s library of books and especially the law books of which and of some others a list is hereto annexed and which are in the house and ODce occupied by the said Edmund Randolph; all the furniture whether beds, blankets, sheets, house linen or standing or other furniture or movables in either of the said houses; the plate of the said Edmund Randolph consisting of a silver cup, chased, a silver coCee pot Buted, Ave silver waiters of diCerent sizes, six dozen large and small silver spoons; also carpets, bedsteads, china of every discription, one coach, one phaeton, two old bay horses—silver tea pot, silver sugar dish. To have and to hold the aforesaid property and every part thereof to them the said Thomas JeCerson, Foushee, Hylton, William DuVal, Samuel Macraw, Lewis and Philip Norborne Nicholas their executors, administrators and assigns or any of them or a majority of them not dissenting. Upon the following trust and conAdence, that they or any one of them (such majority not dissenting) will at the desire of the said Edmund Randolph or whensoever they shall see proper after the Arst day of January 1802, & default made in payment sell the said property at public or private sale, and discharge the debts aforesaid in due proportion, calculating interest where interest may be proper. But in the mean time the said Edmund Randolph is to keep possession of the premises. In testimony whereof the said Edmund Randolph hath hereunto aDxed his hand and seal, the day and year Arst above written. Edmund Randolph Signed, sealed and delivered Wm. DuVal in the presence of John Mayo—Bentley Anderson, Nat: P. DuVal
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Tr (U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond); in a clerk’s hand, with replicas of seals; at foot of text in same hand, attestation by Wilson Allen, clerk of the General Court, that Edmund Randolph and William DuVal acknowledged the indenture in court, 11 July 1800; additional attestation by Allen that this copy includes only the deed, the schedule of property not being required; endorsed as copy of a deed, “Randolph to JeCerson & ad:.”
TJ acted as trustee of the annuity due to Edmund Randolph’s widowed mother, Ariana Jenings Randolph, who lived in England. Edmund’s uncle, his father’s brother peyton randolph, died without heirs in 1775. mrs. anne nicholas’s estate: Anne Cary Nicholas, the widow of Robert Carter Nicholas, had died late in 1786. Edmund Randolph’s wife, Elizabeth Nicholas Randolph, was one of her daughters, and Lewis Nicholas, Philip Norborne Nicholas, and Wilson Cary Nicholas were three of Anne
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22 MAY 1800 Nicholas’s sons (anb, 16:377-8; 18:121-2, 128-9, 135-6; vmhb, 9 [1901], 108-9; Vol. 15:635; Vol. 16:25; TJ to Philip Ludwell Grymes, 24 July 1800). mrs. betty randolph: Peyton Randolph’s widow, Elizabeth Harrison Randolph. Edmund Pendleton thought that her death in 1783 must have brought Edmund Randolph “a considerable Accession of fortune” (Madison, Papers, 6:176-7, 184, 345; anb, 18:135).
Letters from Edmund Randolph to TJ of 17 Sep. 1799, an unspeciAed date, and 9 Feb. 1800, received respectively on 23 Sep., 24 Oct. 1799, and 17 Feb. 1800, and from TJ to Randolph of 29 Sep., 15 Oct. 1799, and 1 Feb. 1800 are recorded in SJL but have not been found. According to TJ’s notations in SJL, the letters of September 1799 and the one he received on 24 Oct. of that year all concerned his lawsuit against Richard Johnson.
From James Wilkinson Head Quarters on the Mississippi
Sir Fort Adams May 22nd. 1800 I have been obliged by a letter from you, with reference to two Italian Busts, which you Expect to receive by way of New Orleans, and being on the Eve of my departure hence for that City, in my route to the Atlantic States, (probably to land at the City of Washington) I embrace the present occasion to make this acknowledgement, and to oCer you my assurances of attention, to the Commission with which you have been pleased to Honor me— In the Bearer of this letter Mr. P. Nolan, you will behold the mexican traveller, a specimen of whose discoveries, I had the Honor to submit to you in, the Winter 1797. Mr. N–s subsequent excursions have been more extensive, & his observations more accurate, He feels pride in oCering Himself to your investigation, and I am persuaded you will And pleasure, in his details of a Country, the Soil, clime, population, improvements & productions of which are so little known to us.— An acquaintance of many years, from his Early Youth, authorizes me to vouch for Mr. N–s high sense of probity—dare I Sir, I would recommend Him to your kindness, & acknowledge myself obliged, by any Courtesy you may oCer to Him—with profound respect & attachment, I have the Honor to be Sir Your Mo. Obed. Servant Ja Wilkinson Dupl (DLC); at head of text: “duplicate”; at foot of text: “Thos JeCerson Esqr.”; endorsed by TJ as received 3 Nov. 1800 and so recorded in SJL. Enclosed in Wilkinson to TJ, 1 Sep. 1800. letter: TJ to Wilkinson, 16 Jan. 1800. Writing to TJ on 1 Sep., Wilkinson explained his mistake in thinking
that the statues Morgan Brown sent to TJ were italian. In that letter also, Wilkinson reported that Philip nolan had apparently not completed the trip that was to have taken him to Monticello. had the honor to submit to you: probably in Wilkinson’s now-missing letter of 12 Mch. 1797, noted at 16 Jan. above.
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From John Barnes sir Philadelphia 24th. May 1800 On your departure, I set abt. Collecting and Arranging your several items & packages,—all but to dates & tongues. (not to be had.) have now the pleasure handing you particulars—as well a/c to this day. EE.— —Mr SheaC, on whom I called several times, as Often Assured me, his packages—would be ready at an hours notice—to Morrow & to Morrow: seemed to triEe with me, and when I asked to see them— Marks &c. in Order to include in my Bill Lading—inform’d me—I could not; that, himself alone—was Responsible—and would follow your direction—sent his son, to know—the Vessels Name—and to whom I consigned Yrs—I wrote him a Note, Vessel & Capt. and Address Messrs. G & J.—and when my Bills of Lading were compleatly Alled up, his Clerk called to desire I would include them in Mine: I shall see, to their being done properly—(if not so by him—CertiAcate &c) also as to Aning the wine: which he promised to Notice in Inv:— As your several Cases were bulkey & light, of course Measure extravagantly high—I have eCected—by a seperate Written agreemt. with the Capt. (which I shall send, with Bill Lading—to Messrs. G & J.) as the Bills—express, as Usual—“freight for said goods—as Customary,”—an Abatemt: of One third—say 3d: Virga. Curcy: eer foot—on the Measuremt: of said Cases & trunks:—and for the better security of the Oil, China &c. in Case No 4. I got Mr Trump to Cleat down the inside packages—horns &c—and Also Batten the Outside Case—hope they may Remain secure—yet still I am doubtfull—of its perfect safety: from its Bulk and frequent turning Over—in handling. for the rest, I trust, will be free from Risque,—expect to spend a few days at NYork next week.—mean while, hope for the pleasure hearing your safe & happy Arrival at Montocello.— with great Esteem I am sir—Your most Obedt: H servt— John Barnes Called on Mr stewart, twice—both times a Lady setting—He could only Assure me, you had permitted him—to let it remain—when Anished—a Mo—and that he had—3 or 4 Copies bespoke: I intend seeing it however before I leave Town for NY. —Doct Jackson not calling (supposing the a/c a small Ballance I waited on him Yesterday—& there found a Box of Medce: to your Address—of which the inclosed is particulars & receipt—and withal had just time & room to include—in Bill Lading— < 586>
24 MAY 1800
—8 e Ct Stock. keeps looking up say 50 or 6 e Ct above par—while nothing as yet concluded, on—the expected New Loan hope by the time of my Return from NewYork, some thing may be Axed on to govern the intended subscribers— In a Conversation I just now had with Mr G simpson, respecting that Loan, He informed me, it would Commence its Operation soon as the Necessary forms—were compleated—as a Stock—to be purchased— at a small advance (I presume,) in Order to repay—the extra—expences Attending it, I urged as before—my Orders were to subscribe or purchase—on Yrs Mr Shorts & Genl K– a/c to a Considerable Amot.—& hoped I shd: not be disappointed—he hoped not he said? RC (ViU); addressed: “Thomas Jefferson Esqre Monticello—Virginia”; endorsed by TJ as received 9 June and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: List of items shipped to TJ, not found. Other enclosure printed below. ee.: “errors excepted,” a caveat commonly appended to accounts. The schooner Worcester, to go to Norfolk, Petersburg, and Richmond from Philadelphia with William Riley as its master, was the vessel loaded with TJ’s items (see enclosure; Aurora, 21 May 1800). messrs. g & j.: Gibson & JeCerson. stewart: Gilbert Stuart, to whom TJ had paid $100 on 12 May for an oil portrait from life that Stuart completed but TJ never obtained. It is known only through engravings (see illustration; Bush, Life Portraits, 45-7; mb, 2:1018).
George simpson was the cashier of the Bank of the United States (Syrett, Hamilton, 17:329n; asp, Finance, 1:412). genl k–: TJ made the following memorandum on a scrap of paper, dated 10 May: “Mr. Barnes sold 10. of Genl. Kosciuzko’s bank shares @ 23. pr. ct advance, & I transferred them. the money to be invested in the new loan or the 8. pr. cents” (MHi, entirely in TJ’s hand). On 9 May TJ wrote Comptroller John Steele to request that all U.S. dividends and interest that would become due to William Short on a date that TJ left blank should be paid to Barnes (facsimile in Charles Hamilton Galleries, Inc., Auction Number 41, 23 April 1970, item 135; written and signed by TJ, with Steele’s endorsement of 17 June 1800 in expectation of dividends to be paid 1 July).
e n c l o s u r e
Statement of Account 1800 May 13th " " " 15. " "
Thomas JeCerson Esqr. In a/c with John Barnes 1800 To T. S. Parks $7.40. May 12 By Appt Balle Phillips 4. agreed to $305.51. T. Dobson 52.91. 24 By Appt. Balle Mrs Gardner 7.80. favr JB. card. 516.87. Fortune Barnes 10 to New a/c John Francis 239.50. John Trump 17 EE.
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24 MAY 1800 16 " " "
S. T Mason J. Barry J. Webb G. Hyde
25 193 111.55. 43.49 711.65.
24th To Schr:Worcesterç e prest Inve.
Philada 24th. May 1800 John Barnes
110.73. $822.38.
add
" To Appt. Balle in a New a/c " To Doct Jackson
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$822.38.
$516.87. 24.40. 541.27
MS (ViU); in Barnes’s hand; last Agure in left column added in pencil, probably by TJ; endorsed by TJ. In his Anancial memoranda TJ recorded the name parks as Park, noting that the payment was for “petty post.” The payment to Thomas dobson was for books, that to Fortune barnes “in full for service.” TJ, whose dealings tended to be with Daniel, not John, trump, did not record the payment to Trump on 15 May in his Anancial memoranda. Stevens Thomson mason raised money to pay Anes of defendants convicted under the
Sedition Act, and also sought contributions for James T. Callender. TJ paid Joseph B. barry for cabinetry work; John webb was a tailor, George hyde a bookbinder. In his Anancial memoranda TJ recorded several of the entries under slightly diCerent dates from those Barnes used in the statement printed above, TJ probably recording the day on which he made the order and Barnes the day on which payment was made (mb, 2:963n, 964n, 1018-19; Cornelius William Stafford, The Philadelphia Directory, for 1801 [Philadelphia, 1801], 55).
From James Monroe Dear Sir Sunday 27. [i.e. 25] May 1800. I wrote you the day after you left town a letter wh. I gave to Dr. Foushee for Mr. Eppes who promised to breakfast with him on the morning of his departure. It was not till yesterday in council that I heard from the Dr: the letter had not been sent. So much time having elapsed I shod. not now write you on the subject of the former one, reserving it for future communication, if that were the only object. It was found on enquiry, in a way wh compromitted no one, that the aCr. wd. not be made general, but wod. be dissented to, and probably opposed by the principal members of the admn. party. It was feared also that the zeal of some of our friends wh. had been in a peculiar degree excited by yr. presence, had abated by yr. absence, especially as yr. passing thro’ furnished so fair a pretext for not acting. < 588>
25 MAY 1800
It was also probable it might lay the foundation for a like attention by the tories, to our new Secretary, whereby you wod. be involved in a kind of competition with a creature who wod. be beneAted by any occurrence wh. gave birth to the idea alone. under these circumstances the project was abandoned. Chase harangued the G. Jury in a speech said to be drawn with some art, as it inculcated [some] popular doctrines with allusionsq wh. supported by Eastern calumnies he intended for you. He declared solemnly he wod. not allow an atheist to give testimony in court. You have perhaps seen that the circumstance of the dinner in Fredbg. being on a sunday is the foundation for this absurd calumny. The G. Jury of wh. McClurg was for’man presented Calendar under the sedition law, & Chase drew the warrant & dispatched the Marshall instantly in pursuit of him. This was yesterday at 12. since wh. we have not heard of either. If taken I hope the people will behave with dignity on the occasion and give no pretext for comments to their discredit. If I cod. suppose the [contrary] I wod. take proper steps to aid in bringing him forth; I mean to prevent any popular meeting to the contrary. will it not be proper for the Exetive to employ counsel to defend him, and supporting the law, give an eclat to a vindication of the principles of the State? I have only time to add my best wishes for your welfare. Yr. friend & servt Jas. Monroe Thos. Pinckney has been here, & called on me. civilities were reciprocated. Marshall has [called—Chase has not.] RC (DLC); incorrectly dated by Monroe, TJ writing “25” above Monroe’s “27” in dateline; torn; incomplete, Anal portion of postscript being supplied in brackets from Hamilton, Monroe, 3:180; endorsed by TJ as a letter of 25 May received on that date, and so recorded in SJL. TJ left Richmond on 21 May, having arrived there on the 19th. William foushee had become a member of the Virginia Privy council in December 1799 (mb, 2:1019; cvsp, 9:62). new secretary: John Marshall, who was in Richmond for the spring term of the U.S. circuit court (Marshall, Papers, 4:38, 157). fredbg.: TJ took the ferry at Falmouth on 17 May and was in Fredericksburg on sunday the 18th. According to
his Anancial record, in Fredericksburg he paid 25 cents to a barber, 66 cents for gloves, and $1.50 for “entertt.” (entertainment)—probably the dinner that irritated Samuel Chase—before taking a stage to Richmond (mb, 2:1019). Chase, who had received a copy of James Thomson Callender’s The Prospect Before Us from Luther Martin, arrived in Richmond on 21 May to hold circuit court. He delivered his charge to the grand jury two days later, and on the 24th the panel returned a presentment against Callender under the sedition Act for defaming the president and Congress. The writ went to David Meade Randolph, U.S. marshal for the district of Virginia, and on 27 May Callender was arrested in Petersburg, where the Richmond Examiner had reported him to be. Philip Norborne Nicholas, George Hay,
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25 MAY 1800 and William Wirt volunteered their services as counsel for the defendant, who was released on bail until his trial in early June. Chase rejected a defense request for a continuance to collect information and summon witnesses, would not allow John Taylor to testify to the validity of Callender’s statements about Adams, and squashed Wirt’s attempt to argue that the Sedition Act was unconstitutional. Nicholas, Hay, and Wirt Anally refused to continue, and Callender’s trial, prosecuted by Thomas Nelson, concluded with
the defendant unrepresented by legal counsel. He was found guilty on 3 June, and Chase, berating the journalist, sentenced him to nine months in jail, imposed a $200 Ane, and required a bond of $1,200 to guarantee good behavior for two years (dhsc, 3:435-6, 438; Smith, Freedom’s Fetters, 342-56; James Haw and others, Stormy Patriot: The Life of Samuel Chase [Baltimore, 1980], 202-3). q Preceding two words interlined.
To James Monroe Dear Sir Eppington May 26. 1800. I am sorry your servant had such a chase to And me. I came to this place on Saturday. he got here in the night last night. further reBection on the matter which had been proposed in conversation the evening before I left you, convinced me that it could not succeed, that obstacles must arise to it, and that these would give rise to disagreeable incidents. could I have seen you therefore in the morning of my leaving Richmond I should have dissuaded the attempt. however as it has been made it shews who are the Anti-unionists in principle. my only anxiety is that the friends of our principle may take no umbrage at my declining their proCered civility. I will thank you to express my particular respect to Doctr Foushee to whom it happened that I had not an opportunity of doing it suDciently while we were together at your house.—as to the calumny of atheism, I am so broken to calumnies of every kind, from every department of government Executive, Legislative, & Judiciary, & from every minion of theirs holding oDce or seeking it, that I entirely disregard it; and from Chace it will have less eCect than from any other man in the United States. it has been so impossible to contradict all their lies, that I have determined to contradict none; for while I should be engaged with one, they would publish twenty new ones. thirty years of public life have enabled most of those who read newspapers to judge of meq for themselves. I think it essentially just and necessary that Callendar should be substantially defended. whether in the Arst stages by publick interference, or private contribution, may be a question. perhaps it might be as well that it should be left to the legislature who will meet in time, & before whom you can lay the matter so as to bring it before them. it is become peculiarly their cause and may furnish them a Ane < 590>
27 MAY 1800
opportunity of shewing their respect to the union & at the same time of doing justice in another way to those whom they can protect without committing the publickr tranquility. I leave this place tomorrow for Monticello, and shall be three days on the road. I think it possible that in the course of a month or two the Senate may be called to the Federal city by the arrival of a treaty with France. however I presume it will be a very short call. I shall give you notice when Dupont arrives at Monticello, as you may perhaps so time your visits of business to that quarter as to see him. present my friendly respects to mrs Monroe, & accept yourself assurances of constant & aCectionate attachment from Dear Sir Your friend & servt Th: Jefferson RC (DLC: Monroe Papers); at foot of Arst page: “Governor Monroe”; endorsed. TJ retained a note summarizing the contents of this letter (MS in DLC; entirely in TJ’s hand).
matter which had been proposed: TJ wrote in his retained summary of this letter, “expressed my approbation of not attempting the Union dinner of which a project had been conceived.”
TJ reached Eppington on saturday, 24 May, having stopped at Mont Blanco en route from Richmond. He left Eppington on the 27th and arrived at Monticello on the 29th (mb, 2:1019-20).
q Preceding two words interlined. r TJ here canceled “[peace].”
From Gibson & Jefferson Sir Richmond May 27th. 1800 Inclosed are accounts of 16 barrels Herring & 6 loaves Sugar forwarded by A: Rowe as pr Receipt above—Mr: Darmsdatt assures us that the herrings are good—We cannot get any Center at present in town, but understand, that some is expected in a few days—when we shall forward you a dozen bottles— We are respectfully Sir Your obt Servts. Gibson & Jefferson RC (MHi); in Patrick Gibson’s hand; with receipt (see note below) conjoined immediately below dateline; addressed: “Thos. JeCerson Esquire Monticello,” with notation: “Both 16 barrels & 1 bundle pr A Row”; endorsed by TJ as received 21 June and so recorded in SJL. Enclosures not found. pr receipt above: Gibson included, on the same sheet as the letter above, a
copy of the receipt from Anderson Row, indicating that he had received 16 barrels of Ash and a bag containing 6 loaves of sugar from Gibson & JeCerson for delivery to “Thos JeCerson Esqr. at Milton he paying carriage for the same.” Payments for the herring and sugar, along with the transportation costs, are recorded in Statement of Account with Gibson & Jefferson, 15 Jan. 1801.
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From Andrew Ellicott Dear Sir Philadelphia—May 28th. 1800 I arrived in this City a few days ago after an absence of three years and eight months: On my arrival I immediately enquired for you, but had the mortiAcation to And you had been gone some days. You are not unacquainted with the diDculties I had to encounter in executing the trust reposed in me by my country, but owing to a good constitution, and perseverance, have succeeded. My astronomical observations are uncommonly numerous, and generally interesting; the greater part being either made for the determination of the boundary, the geographical positions of important places, or to detect the errors in the Lunar theory, and those of the satellites of Jupiter.—I And that the Lunar theory used by the computers of the Nautical Almanack is so perfect, that with a well regulated time-piece, and a good Hadley’s Sextant, the longitude at land may be determined with as much, if not more accuracy, in one lunation, than by the eclipse of Jupiters satellites in three months.— The report respecting the boundary was handed to the Executive immediately upon my arrival. It is very lengthy, and contains to the best of my recollection upwards of 400 Astronomical observations, with a number of Mathematical deductions, together with plans, charts, &c. I requested Mr. Lee who acts as secretary of State pro. temp. to indulge me with the privilege of copying some parts of the report, with the plans, charts, &c.—Mr. Lee observed “that he could not see what use copies could be of to me”.—Altho I did not consider this answer as a denial, it appeared so much like one that I pushed the request no further: since that time I have heard nothing from the President, or either of the departments of State, which is perhaps owing to their speedy removal to the City of Washington.— I have the honour to be with great respect and esteem your friend and Hbl. Serv. Andw. Ellicott. RC (DLC); at foot of text: “Thomas JeCerson Vice President of the U.S. and President of the Senate”; endorsed by TJ as received 9 June and so recorded in SJL. Ellicott surveyed the boundary between Spanish West Florida and U.S. territory; see Ellicott to TJ, 25 Sep. 1797. He arrived in Philadelphia from Savannah on 18 May (Philadelphia Gazette, 19 May 1800).
nautical almanack: The Nautical Almanac and Astronomical Ephemeris, published annually by the British government. TJ regularly sought to acquire each year’s volume. In 1803, before Meriwether Lewis set oC with the “Corps of Discovery,” TJ called on Ellicott and Robert Patterson to instruct Lewis on how to calculate longitude using astronomical tables and observations of the moon’s position (Silvio A. Bedini, Thomas JeCerson: Statesman of Science [New
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29 MAY 1800 York, 1990], 274, 342, 360; mb, 2:883, 955, 998; Sowerby, No. 3810). President Adams did nothing with Ellicott’s report, thereby blocking any appropriation to pay the surveyor and feeding Ellicott’s belief that he was the victim of political intrigue. He submitted his “Astronomical and Thermometrical Observations” to the American Philosophical Society in August 1800, and those data appeared in the next volume of the society’s Transactions. He published
his detailed record, The Journal of Andrew Ellicott, Late Commissioner on Behalf of the United States during Part of the Year 1796, the Years 1797, 1798, 1799 and Part of the Year 1800, for Determining the Boundary between the United States and the Possessions of His Catholic Majesty in America, in Philadelphia in 1803 (anb; aps, Transactions, 5 [1802], 162-311; aps, Proceedings, 22, pt. 3 [1884], 301; Sowerby, Nos. 657, 4086; Ellicott to TJ, 17 Oct. 1800).
From Daniel Clark Sir New Orleans 29 May 1800 I should have answered before this your letter of the 20th. January, the duplicate of which forwarded by Sea as well as the original by Post having reached me, had I not entertained hopes that Mr. Brown would have forwarded the Busts agreeable to your directions, and that I should have the pleasure of advising you of their reception—I have however heard nothing of them and the Season being already far advanced, am fearful unless you put him in Mind of his promise, they will not reach you as soon as you desire. On their getting to me, you may be assured I shall spare no trouble in procuring a safe & speedy conveyance for them. There is now in the possession of the Bishop of this Place a small stone Image which I believe has formerly served as Bowl to an Indian Pipe, it was found some Years ago in the district of Opelousas a little to the West of the Mississippi buried in an old Indian Mount, and bears a strong resemblance to the Indians of that Country, it is of a very hard Stone, the Agure is kneeling with the hands joined and raised as high as the Breast, in the attitude of a person at Prayer, the workmanship is rude it is true, but it surpasses what I thought such unskilful Carvers as Indians capable of, before the introduction of European Instruments. Those acquainted with the characteristic Marks of the Indians could easily tell what Nation the individual was of whom the Agure was intended to represent, but I think the Idea of a Person kneeling in the attitude of devotion is a strange one to Indians, if it was not meant for a supplicating Posture, the Back of the Agure would be turned to the Person smoking, & the Bowl of the Pipe is either in the head or Shoulders, and the whole Agure from 4 to 6 Inches long, as well as I can recollect, it being some Years since I saw it—if I cannot obtain < 593>
29 MAY 1800
it I will have a drawing of it made and send it to you with an acct. of what kind of Stone it is made of. Mr Nolan has by this time or will shortly set oC for Virginia with a number of Horses and will avail himself of your permission to wait on you, he has with him a Horse such as I hope will suit you and which I intreat you will do me the favor to accept—in your Country where Ane Horses are so common he will be only remarkable for Colour—had I been sooner informed of your desire of having such a Horse I could have sent you a very elegant and uncommonly spotted one, which is unfortunately no longer in my possession—you will I trust take the Will for the deed, and permit me if I should see any one in future that I think worthy your acceptance, to oCer it to you. When in my last I mentioned my intention of sending the Inhabitant of the western Country to the place of your residence, it was with the Idea that you might think it worth while to be among the Arst to acquire particular information of a Country now almost unknown to the U.S., tho destined by nature to have at no remote period a close connexion & great intercourse with them, independent of the information he possesses respecting his own Country & its Inhabitants who are plunged in Ignorance & Want & groaning under despotism civil & religious, in the heart of one of the Anest parts of the World, he is perfectly acquainted with the manners of the Indians to the West of the Mississippi, and as he now accompanies Nolan, you may if you think proper learn from him many particulars, which few but yourself will have any information of, it is but very lately that the people he lives among have heard of the Americans or their Government, and they almost look up to both already with that Veneration & respect with which their own Ancestors were received on their Arst landing in America. I am happy to learn that the few Pacans I sent you are likely to turn to such good account, and sincerely wish your Grove of them may Bourish, if there are any other Trees, Shrubs or any thing else which this Country produces & hitherto either not naturalized or neglected with you I would take pleasure in procuring any you might desire, and forward them in safety to you I remain with respect Sir Your most obedient & most humble Servant Daniel Clark Junr RC (DLC); at foot of text: “Thomas JeCerson Esqr.”; endorsed by TJ as received 7 Aug. and so recorded in SJL.
letter of the 20th. january: TJ to Clark, 16 Jan. 1800. Consecrated as bishop of the Diocese of Louisiana and the Floridas in 1795,
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29 MAY 1800 Luis Peñalver y Cárdenas, a native of Cuba, made a visitation the following year that included opelousas (Glenn R. Conrad, gen. ed., Cross, Crozier, and Crucible: A Volume Celebrating the Bicenten-
nial of a Catholic Diocese in Louisiana [New Orleans, 1993], xxv, 24-6). in my last: Clark to TJ, 12 Nov. 1799.
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Appendix Notations by Jefferson on Senate Documents E D I T O R I A L
N O T E
As vice president of the United States, JeCerson’s primary responsibility was to preside over the Senate (see Vol. 29:633) and rule on procedural issues. The Senate records include an example of JeCerson’s implementation of parliamentary procedures during the third session of the Fifth Congress. On 6 Feb. 1799, while considering a House change to the Senate’s amendment to the bill “respecting balances reported against certain states by the commissioners appointed to settle the accounts between the United States and the several states,” the Senate requested a conference with the House. The following day the House agreed to the conference, which was held on 11 Feb. According to the Senate records on that day the Senate received a memorandum from the House reading: “The Speaker Ands fault with the mode of proceeding on the Bill (State Balances). He says the Senate should have disagreed to the amendt of House, and left them to ask conference.” On the same sheet JeCerson wrote in reply: “The Senate adopt the parliamentary usage, which is that the house which is in possession of the papers, and which is to take the next step, asks the conference.” The Senate agreed with the conference report on 11 Feb. and the House the next day. Neither body reported the procedural question in its journal (MS in DNA: RG 46, Senate Records, 5th Cong., 3d sess., endorsed: “Memorandum Subject of Conference Feb 11th 1799”; js, 2:579-84; jhr, 3:464-5, 472-3). For the parliamentary sources upon which the vice president based his decision, see pw, 412. In early 1800 JeCerson acted upon his desire to leave a guide on parliamentary procedures with the Senate and approached his friends George Wythe and Edmund Pendleton for advice on the preparation of a manual (see TJ to Wythe, 28 Feb., 7 Apr. 1800, and TJ to Pendleton, 19 Apr. 1800). JeCerson did not take an active legislative role in the Senate’s proceedings, but he often did make notes on documents that came before that body. These markings, which reBect less his own thought or opinion than his recording of the deliberations of the senators, give some indication of JeCerson’s involvement in day-to-day proceedings of the Senate. The following list enumerates bills, motions, committee reports, and petitions that came before the Fifth Congress during the Anal weeks of the third session (1 Feb. to 3 Mch. 1799) and the Arst session of the Sixth Congress (2 Dec. 1799 to 14 May 1800) and received some written comment by the vice president. The Editors have grouped JeCerson’s markings on the documents into three categories: (1) “emendation” indicates that JeCerson recorded changes to a bill or motion, from a word or two to several sentences, often incorporating amendments passed; (2) “notation” means that information on action taken by the Senate appears in JeCerson’s hand, most often in a brief entry such as “agreed” or “disagreed” in the margin of the text of the document, but sometimes in longer entries, as for example on “A Bill prescribing the mode of deciding disputed elections of President & V.P. of the US,” which includes his notations “Mr. Mason’s amdmt. Y. & N. not agreed to” and “Mr. Greene’s motion Y. & N. disagreed”; and (3) “endorsement” indicates that JeCerson
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APPENDIX provided one or more entries in the docketing or clerical record of the history of the document. On the documents listed below, JeCerson often provided the title as well as all of the entries on the panel. This was the case with the disputed elections bill, where JeCerson recorded the action taken by the Senate between 14 Feb. and 28 Mch. 1800, Afteen entries in all. The endorsement panel provides inclusive dates for a document; in the absence of such endorsements we have derived the dates from the printed Journal of the Senate and they are supplied in brackets. If the document marked by JeCerson was a motion or bill printed for the Senate’s consideration, that fact is also noted in the description below. Motions are rendered as they appear on the endorsement panel unless clariAcation requires substituting the language of the motion itself. All the documents listed below are from Senate Records, DNA: RG 46, 5th Cong., 3d sess., and the 6th Cong., 1st sess. Fifth Congress, Third Session Bill To alter the stamp duties imposed upon foreign bills of exchange and bills of lading by an act, intituled “An act laying duties on stamped vellum, parchment and paper,” and further to amend the same, 1-25 Feb. 1799; printed; endorsement by TJ. Mr Hillhouse’s motion That the commee to whom was referred the message of the Presidt. of Jan. 28. be authorised to report, [4 Feb. 1799]; in TJ’s hand. Printed in js, 2:578. Bill, vesting the power of retaliation, in certain cases, in the President of the United States, 5 Feb. 1799; endorsement by TJ. Bill, to amend the act, entitled “An Act providing for the sale of the lands of the United States in the territory north-west of the river Ohio, and above the mouth of Kentucky river,” 5 Feb. 1799; endorsement by TJ. Printed copy, 5-12 Feb. 1799; notations and endorsement by TJ. Bill, To amend the act, intituled “An act to provide for the valuation of lands and dwelling houses, and the enumeration of slaves within the United States,” 6-22 Feb. 1799; printed; emendations and endorsement by TJ. Bill making appropriations for defraying the expences which may arise in carrying into eCect certain Treaties between the U. States and several Tribes, or Nations of Indians, 8 Feb. 1799; emendation and endorsement by TJ. Bill to reform the Superior Court of the Territory of the United States north-west of the river Ohio, 11 Feb. 1799; endorsement by TJ. Bill touching the Mode of surrendering a Defendant who has been held to Special Bail in one District and is afterwards arrested in another, 11-12 Feb. 1799; emendation and endorsement by TJ. Bill Authorizing the establishment of Docks, 13-19 Feb. 1799; printed; endorsement by TJ. Bill Authorizing the purchase of Timber for naval purposes, 13-19 Feb. 1799; printed; emendations and endorsement by TJ.
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APPENDIX Bill For the augmentation of the Navy, 13-19 Feb. 1799; printed; endorsement by TJ. Bill allowing James Mathers, compensation for services done for the United States, & expenses incurred in rendering sd. Services; as Serjeant at Arms to the Senate, 14 Feb. 1799; endorsement by TJ. Bill on Connecticut Cessions and amendt proposed by Mr Stockton, 14 Feb. 1799; endorsement by TJ. Motion for committee to report what amendts may be necessary to Act in addition to protection Act of Commerce & c., 14 Feb. 1799; endorsement by TJ. Printed in js, 2:584. Bill Appropriating a certain sum of money to defray the expence of holding a treaty or treaties with the Indians, 14-16 Feb. 1799; printed; endorsement by TJ. Bill For the relief of Joseph Wheaton, 14-26 Feb. 1799; printed; endorsement by TJ. Committee report on Bill, authorizing the acceptance, from the State of Connecticut of a cession of the jurisdiction of the Territory, west of Pennsylvania, commonly called the Western Reserve of Connecticut.—And two amendments proposed to be added to said bill, 15 Feb. 1799; printed; notations and emendations by TJ. Bill Fixing the pay of the Captains and Commanders of Ships and Vessels of War of the United States, 15-21 Feb. 1799; printed; endorsement by TJ. Bill To establish the compensations of the oDcers employed in the collection of the Duties on Imports and Tonnage, 15-27 Feb. 1799; printed; emendations and endorsement by TJ. Bill to augment the Salaries of the principal oDcers of the executive Departments, 19-20 Feb. 1799; endorsement by TJ. Bill for the alteration of an act intitled “an act giving eCect to the Laws of the United States within the state of Vermont,” 20 Feb. 1799; endorsement by TJ. Bill Providing compensation for the marshals, clerks, attornies, jurors and witnesses in the courts of the United States, and to repeal certain parts of the acts therein mentioned, 20-26 Feb. 1799; printed; emendations and endorsement by TJ. Bill concerning French Citizens that have been or may be captured and brought into the United States, 21 Feb. 1799; endorsement by TJ. Committee report on Bill, passed by the House of Representatives, intituled “An Act to amend the act, intituled ‘An Act providing for the valuation of lands and dwelling houses and the enumeration of slaves within the United States,’ ” [21 Feb. 1799]; printed; notations by TJ. Committee report on Bill, to regulate the Medical Establishment, 21 Feb. 1799; emendations and endorsement by TJ. Bill To grant an additional compensation for the year one thousand, seven hundred and ninety-nine, to certain oDcers of the Senate and House of
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APPENDIX Representatives of the United States, 22-27 Feb. 1799; printed; endorsement by TJ. Bill Making appropriations for the support of the military establishment, for the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-nine, 23 Feb. 1799; printed; endorsement by TJ. Amendt to Bill on Surrender of Bail, 25 Feb. 1799; in TJ’s hand. Bill To erect a Beacon on Boon Island, 25-28 Feb. 1799; printed; endorsement by TJ. Bill In addition to the Act for the relief of sick and disabled seamen, 27 Feb. 1799; printed; endorsement by TJ. Bill Authorizing the augmentation of the marine corps, 27-28 Feb. 1799; printed; endorsement by TJ. Bill To regulate and Ax the compensation of clerks, 28 Feb. 1799; printed; endorsement by TJ. Sixth Congress, First Session Bill Providing for the enumeration of the inhabitants of the United States, 1 Jan.-6 Feb. 1800; printed; notations, emendations, and endorsement by TJ. Cocke’s, Tracy’s, and Hillhouses’s amendments to Arst sec. of Bill Providing for the enumeration of the inhabitants of the United States, [1 Jan.-6 Feb. 1800]; notations and emendations by TJ. Petition of Richard Butler dated 5 Oct. 1799 praying the admission of Slaves into Mississippi Territory, 7 Jan. 1800; endorsement by TJ. Bill Providing for Salvage in cases of re-capture, 7 Jan.-1 Mch. 1800; printed; notations, emendations, and endorsement by TJ. Message from the President of U.S. enclosing a letter of Mrs. Martha Washington, relative to resolutions of the Senate, on the death of General G. Washington, 8 Jan. 1800; endorsement by TJ. Bill For the relief of John Vaughan, 8 Jan.-5 Feb. 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Message from the President with Report of Director of the Mint, 8 Jan.12 Feb. 1800; endorsement by TJ. Memorial of the Connecticut Academy of Arts & Sciences, respecting the enumeration Bill, 10 Jan. 1800; endorsement by TJ. Mr Marshalls Motion on Bill for the relief of the legal representative of Saml Lapsley, 10 Jan. 1800; in TJ’s hand. Printed in js, 3:20. Bill For the preservation of Peace with the Indian Tribes, 14-15 Jan. 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Bill for the relief of the legal Representatives of Samuel Lapsley, deceased, 14 Jan. 1800; endorsement by TJ. Printed copy, 14-20 Jan. 1800; endorsement by TJ.
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APPENDIX Bill To repeal part of an act, entitled, “An act to provide for mitigating or remitting the forfeitures, penalties, and disabilities accruing in certain cases therein mentioned,” 14 Jan.-4 Feb. 1800; printed; notations, emendations, and endorsement by TJ. Committee report on amendts to bill, mitigating forfeitures &c. in certain cases, [16 Jan. 1800]; notation by TJ. Committee report on Bill entitled, “An act providing for salvage in cases of recapture,” 16-21 Jan. 1800; notation by TJ. Committee report on bill, entitled, “An act providing for the enumeration of the inhabitants of the United States,” 21 Jan. 1800; printed; notations by TJ. Committee Report on Memorial of Daniel Smith, of the State of Tennessee, 23 Jan. 1800; endorsement by TJ. Committee Report on Petition of Samuel Glass and Others—of Blount County in the State of Tennessee, 23 Jan. 1800; endorsement by TJ. Mr. Ross’s motion That a Committee be appointed to consider, whether any, and what provisions ought to be made by law, for deciding disputed Elections, of President and Vice President, 23-24 Jan. 1800; emendations and endorsement by TJ. Printed in js, 3:23. Resolution authorizing and directing the Secretary of State, to procure and transmit to the Governor of North Carolina, a number of copies of the laws of the United States, 24-26 Jan. 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Bill To suspend in part, an act, entitled “An act to augment the army of the United States,” 24 Jan.-11 Feb. 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Committee Report on Treaty with Prussia, 28 Jan.-18 Feb. 1800; endorsement by TJ. Printed in jep, 1:340. Bill To establish an uniform mode of drawing Jurors by lot, in all the Courts of the United States, 31 Jan.-11 Mch. 1800; emendations and endorsement by TJ. Committee Report on bill providing for the enumeration of the inhabitants of the United States, 3 Feb. 1800; printed; notations and emendation by TJ. Amendment proposed to the Constitution of the United States by Mr. Pinckney, 3 Feb.-4 Mch. 1800; emendation and endorsement by TJ. Printed in js, 3:26. Bill To discharge Robert Sturgeon from his imprisonment, 3 Feb.-31 Mch. 1800; printed; emendation and endorsement by TJ. Committee Report on bill entitled, “An act to suspend, in part, an act, entitled An act to augment the army of the United States,” 7 Feb. 1800; printed; notations and emendations by TJ. Printed in js, 3:29. Petition of George Isham and others, 7 Feb. 1800; endorsement by TJ. Bill for augmenting the Compensation of the Senators, and Members of the House of Representives, of the United States, 7 Feb. 1800; endorsement by TJ. Printed copy, 7-13 Feb. 1800; emendations and endorsement by TJ.
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APPENDIX Bill Giving further time to the holders of military warrants, to register and locate the same, 10-11 Feb. 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Motion to request of the President of the United States the instructions on Prussian treaty, 10-12 Feb. 1800; emendation and endorsement by TJ. Printed in jep, 1:338. Resolution for altering a Resolution of Senate requiring certain Returns from Secretary of the Treasury, 10-12 Feb. 1800; notation and endorsement by TJ. Printed in js, 3:28. Bill In addition to an act entitled “An act regulating the grants of land appropriated for military services and for the Society of the United Brethren for propagating the Gospel among the Heathen,” 10-21 Feb. 1800; printed; emendations and endorsement by TJ. Bill For the relief of James Yard, 10-22 Feb. 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Bill Declaring the assent of Congress to certain acts of the States of Maryland and Georgia, 10 Feb.-6 Mch. 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Bill Respecting the mint, 10 Feb.-21 Apr. 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Committee report on Bill giving further time to the holders of Military Warrants, to Register and Locate the same, [11 Feb. 1800]; notations by TJ. Bill for the relief of Ithamar CanAeld, 11-17 Feb. 1800; endorsement by TJ. Printed copy, 11 Feb.-1 Apr. 1800; emendations and endorsement by TJ. Committee Report on bill entitled “An act to discharge Robert Sturgeon from his imprisonment,” 12 Feb. 1800; printed; notation by TJ. Bill Prescribing the mode of deciding disputed elections of President and Vice President, 14 Feb.-28 Mch. 1800; printed; notations, emendations, and endorsement by TJ. Committee Report on Bill, entitled, “An act in addition to the act, entitled An act regulating the grants of land appropriated for military services, and for the Society of the United Brethren for propagating the Gospel among the Heathen,” 17 Feb. 1800; printed; notations and emendations by TJ. Committee Report on Bill for the relief of Ithamar CanAeld, 17 Feb. 1800; printed; notations by TJ. Report of Secretary of War, Secretary and Comptroller of the Treasury on Claim of Seth Harding, 17 Feb. 1800; endorsement by TJ. Motion by Mr Greene on Weights & measures, 17-28 Feb. 1800; endorsement by TJ. Printed in js, 3:31. Bill To extend the time of payment of bonds given for duties of impost in certain cases, 18 Feb.-17 Mch. 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Petition of Jeremiah Yellot, 18 Feb.-17 Mch. 1800; endorsement by TJ. Memorial of the Executors of Elias Hasket Derby of 11 Feb. 1800, in respect to the valuation of his Mansion House, 20 Feb. 1800; endorsement by TJ.
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APPENDIX Bill Further to suspend the commercial intercourse between the United States and France, and the dependencies thereof, 21-26 Feb. 1800; printed; notations and endorsement by TJ. Bill To establish an uniform system of Bankruptcy throughout the United States, 21 Feb.-28 Mch. 1800; printed; notations and endorsement by TJ. Bill To allow a drawback of duties on goods exported to New-Orleans, and therein to amend the act intituled “An act to regulate the collection of duties on imports and tonnage,” 24 Feb.-2 Apr. 1800; printed; emendation and endorsement by TJ. Bill authorizing Seth Harding to locate certain lands in the territory of the United States north-west of the River Ohio, 24 Feb.-1 Apr. 1800; emendation and endorsement by TJ. Printed copy, 24 Feb.-12 Apr. 1800; emendations and endorsement by TJ. Motion for a standing committee of privileges, 25-26 Feb. 1800; emendation and endorsement by TJ. Printed in js, 3:36, 37. Mr. Anderson’s motion relative to unappropriated lands in the State of Tennessee, 25-28 Feb. 1800; notation and endorsement by TJ. Printed in js, 3:36. Bill To continue in force an act concerning certain Asheries of the United States, and for the regulation and government of the Ashermen employed therein, 25 Feb.-7 Apr. 1800; printed; emendation and endorsement by TJ. Mr. Tracy’s motion, authorizing the Committee of Privileges to enquire relative to the Editor of the Aurora, 26 Feb.-8 Mch. 1800; endorsement by TJ. Printed copy, 26 Feb.-6 Mch. 1800; emendations, extending to handwritten amendments on separate sheets, and endorsement by TJ. Printed in js, 3:37 and as amended in same, 45. Mr. Bingham’s amendment proposed to the bill, disputed elections President & V. Presidt., [28] Feb. 1800; notation and emendations by TJ. Printed copy, 28 Feb. 1800; notations and emendations by TJ. Printed as amended in js, 3:40-1. Mr. Baldwin’s amendment to Sectn. 10. of bill prescribing the mode of deciding disputed elections of President and Vice President, 3 Mch. 1800; notations by TJ. Printed in js, 3:41. Mr Hillhouse’s amendment to [second section of] bill prescribing the mode of deciding disputed elections of President and Vice President, 3 Mch. 1800; in TJ’s hand; notations by TJ. Printed in js, 3:41. Bill For the relief of Thomas Arnold, 3-31 Mch. 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Bill To establish a general Stamp-ODce, 3 Mch.-4 Apr. 1800; printed; emendations and endorsement by TJ. Mr. Greene’s motion to bill prescribing the mode of deciding disputed elections of President and Vice President, 4 Mch. 1800; in TJ’s hand; notations by TJ. Printed in js, 3:42.
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APPENDIX Bill for the relief of Lyon Lehman, 5-6 Mch. 1800; emendation and endorsement by TJ. Bill further to amend the Act entitled an Act to establish the judicial courts of the United States (forbids dual appointments for judges), 5-6 Mch. 1800; endorsement by TJ. Committee Report on bill declaring the assent of Congress to certain acts of the states of Maryland and Georgia, 5-6 Mch. 1800; printed; notation by TJ. Amendment to motion that an inquiry be had relative to a publication in a newspaper called the Aurora, [6 Mch. 1800]; fragment; notations and emendation by TJ. Printed in js, 3:44. Mr. Cocke’s Motion to amend the Resolution relative to the newspaper called the Aurora, 8 Mch. 1800; notations by TJ. Printed in js, 3:45. Bill Prescribing the mode of deciding disputed elections of President and Vice-President, 10 Mch. 1800; printed; emendations by TJ. Bill To establish an uniform mode of drawing Jurors by lot, in all the Courts of the United States, 10 Mch. 1800; printed; notations and emendations by TJ. Petition dated 7 Mch. 1800 of Robinson & Hartshorne, and others, Merchants of New York, 11 Mch. 1800; endorsement by TJ. Motion to appoint a committee to enquire relative to the Judicial Courts of the U.S., 11-12 Mch. 1800; notation and endorsement by TJ. Printed in js, 3:47. Resolution for rescinding the Resolution of Senate of the 10th of Feby 1796 in respect to imports & exports, [12] Mch. 1800; notation and emendation by TJ. Printed in js, 3:47. Bill For the relief of Campbell Smith, 12-22 Mch. 1800; printed; emendation and endorsement by TJ. Bill To alter the times of holding the District Court in North-Carolina, 1417 Mch. 1800; printed; emendation and endorsement by TJ. Report of the Committee of Privileges, on the Measures It will be Proper to Adopt, Relative to a Publication in the General Advertiser, or Aurora, Of the 19th of February last, 14-20 Mch. 1800; printed; notations, emendations, and endorsement by TJ. Printed in js, 3:52-4. Committee Report on the Mint, 14 Mch.-2 Apr. 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Bill To prevent the interference of any military force in certain elections, 14 Mch.-4 Apr. 1800; printed; emendation and endorsement by TJ. Committee report on bill, entitled “A bill prescribing the mode of deciding disputed elections of President and Vice-President,” 17 Mch. 1800; printed; notations by TJ. Mr. Mason’s amdmt to Bill to Establish an Uniform System of Bankruptcy, 17 Mch. 1800; notation by TJ. Printed in js, 3:50.
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APPENDIX Mr. Nicholas’s Motion to amend Bankrupt bill, 17 Mch. 1800; notation by TJ. Printed in js, 3:50. Bill To Ax the compensation of the Paymaster-General and Assistants to the Adjutant-General, 17 Mch.-17 Apr. 1800; printed; emendations and endorsement by TJ. Resolution on the Resignation of Mr. Watson, 19 Mch. 1800; endorsement by TJ. Printed in js, 3:51. Bill To extend the privilege of obtaining patents for useful discoveries and inventions, 19 Mch.-10 Apr. 1800; printed; emendations and endorsement by TJ. Bill Supplemental to the act, entitled “An act for an amicable settlement of limits with the state of Georgia, and authorizing the establishment of a government in the Mississippi Territory, 19 Mch.-16 Apr. 1800; printed; emendations and endorsement by TJ. Bill To enable the President of the United States, to borrow money for the public service, 19 Mch.-30 Apr. 1800; printed; notations, emendations, and endorsement by TJ. Bill For the relief of John Collet, 20 Mch.-7 Apr. 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Motion for proceedings against Wm. Duane, 21 Mch. 1800; endorsement by TJ. Printed in js, 3:55. Rules, reported by the committee of Privileges, in the case of Duane, 22 Mch. 1800; notations and emendation by TJ. Copy of same, 22-24 Mch. 1800; endorsement by TJ. Printed in js, 3:55. Mr. Dexter’s Motion to amend motion allowing Duane to be heard by Counsel, 24 Mch. 1800; notations by TJ. Printed in js, 3:56. Mr. Mason’s motion to allow Duane to be heard by Counsel, 24 Mch. 1800; notation by TJ. Printed in js, 3:56. Mr Mason’s Motion to amend Motion, allowing Duane to be heard by Counsel, 24 Mch. 1800; in TJ’s hand; notations by TJ. Printed in js, 3:56. Motion ordering that Duane be furnished with a copy of Resolution allowing him to be heard by counsel, 24 Mch. 1800; notation and emendation by TJ. Printed in js, 3:57. Bill For the relief of the Corporation of Rhode-Island College, 24 Mch.-14 Apr. 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Bill Supplementary to the act to regulate trade & intercourse with the Indian tribes & to preserve peace on the frontiers, 24 Mch.-15 Apr. 1800; printed; emendations and endorsement by TJ. Mr. Nicholas’s Amendments to the Bill Supplementary to the act prescribing the mode of deciding disputed elections of President and VicePresident, [25 Mch. 1800]; printed; notations and emendation by TJ. Printed in js, 3:57-8. Report of the Committee of Privileges on a form of proceedings in the case
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APPENDIX of William Duane, 25-[26] Mch. 1800; printed; notations and emendations by TJ. Printed, in part, in js, 3:59. Bill To alter the form of certain oaths and aDrmations directed to be taken by the act, entituled “An act providing for the second census or enumeration of the inhabitants of the United States,” 25 Mch.-8 Apr. 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Resolution in consequence of the non-appearance of Wm. Duane, 26 Mch. 1800; notation by TJ. Printed in js, 3:59. Report of the Committee of Privileges on the Letter of Wm. Duane, 27 Mch. 1800; notations and endorsement by TJ. Printed in js, 3:59-61. Resolns of H. of R. concerning Capt. Truxton, 27 Mch. 1800; printed; notations and endorsement by TJ. Committee report on bill, entitled “An act to extend the privilege of obtaining patents for useful discoveries and inventions,” 28 Mch. 1800; printed; notations by TJ. Committee report on bill, authorizing Seth Harding to locate certain lands in the territory north-west of the river Ohio, 31 Mch. 1800; printed; notations and emendations by TJ. Bill Fixing the rank and pay of the commanding oDcer of the corps of marines, 31 Mch.-18 Apr. 1800; printed; emendations and endorsement by TJ. Bill To divide the Territory of the United States north-west of the Ohio, into two separate governments, 31 Mch.-21 Apr. 1800; printed; emendation and endorsement by TJ. Order that the Secretary of the Treasury lay before the Senate the amount of duty collected upon Salt & ca., 1 Apr. 1800; notation and emendation by TJ. Printed in js, 3:65. Resolution Respecting the copper mines on the south side of Lake Superior, 1-14 Apr. 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Motion, for the appointment of a committee to enquire into the present establishment of the Mint, 2 Apr. 1800, endorsement by TJ. Printed in js, 3:65. Committee Report on bill to establish a general stamp-oDce, 2-3 Apr. 1800; printed; notations by TJ. Bill To amend the act entitled “An act providing for the sale of the lands of the United States, in the Territory North-West of the Ohio, and above the mouth of Kentucky river,” 2 Apr.-6 May 1800; printed; notations, emendations, and endorsement by TJ. Bill Supplementary to the Act to suspend part of an act intituled “An act to augment the army of the United States,” 3-29 Apr. 1800; endorsement by TJ. Committee Report on bill, entitled “An act to alter and establish sundry post-roads,” 4 Apr. 1800; printed; notations and emendations by TJ.
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APPENDIX Bill For the better government of the navy of the United States, 4-17 Apr. 1800; printed; emendations and endorsement by TJ. Committee Report on Petn. of Thomas Burling and others Inhabitants of the Mississippi Territory, 7-8 Apr. 1800; endorsement by TJ. Bill Permitting the exportation of some gun powder, also a number of muskets and cutlasses, 7-8 Apr. 1800; endorsement by TJ. Printed copy, 715 Apr. 1800; endorsement by TJ. Bill To continue in force the act, entitled “An act to authorize the defence of the merchant vessels of the United States against French depredations,” 715 Apr. 1800; printed; emendation and endorsement by TJ. Bill To make further provision for the removal and accommodation of the Government of the United States, 7-17 Apr. 1800; printed; notation, emendations, and endorsement by TJ. Bill To repeal the act laying duties on mills and implements employed in the manufacture of snuC, 7-19 Apr. 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Bill to amend the Act intituled an act to establish the Judicial Courts of the United States, 8 Apr. 1800; emendation and endorsement by TJ. Printed copy, 8-30 Apr. 1800; endorsement by TJ. Motion, directing Sec’y of War to make return of oDcers who have or have not accepted appointments, 8-9 Apr. 1800; emendations and endorsement by TJ. Printed in jep, 1:348. Committee Report on bill, entitled “An act supplemental to the act, entitled ‘An act for an amicable settlement of limits with the state of Georgia, and authorizing the establishment of a government in the Mississippi Territory,’ ” 9 Apr. 1800; printed; notations and emendations by TJ. Petition dated 26 Mch. 1800 of Benjamin G. Bulcke, 9-10 Apr. 1800; endorsement by TJ. Committee Report on Petition of Elijah Brainard, 10 Apr. 1800; endorsement by TJ. Committee Report on Bill, authorizing Seth Harding to locate certain lands in the territory north west of the river Ohio, [10-12 Apr. 1800]; notations by TJ. Bill To authorize the President of the United States, to accept for the United States, a cession of jurisdiction of the Territory west of Pennsylvania, commonly called the Western Reserve of Connecticut, 12-23 Apr. 1800; printed; emendation and endorsement by TJ. Committee Report on bill entitled “An act supplementary to the act to regulate trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes, and to preserve peace on the frontiers,” 12 Apr. 1800, notations and emendations by TJ. Committee report on bill, entitled “An Act to make further provision for the removal and accommodation of the government of the United States,” 12 Apr. 1800; printed; notations by TJ. Mr. Livermore’s amendment to bill providing for an amicable settlement of limits with the state of Georgia, 12 Apr. 1800; emendations and endorse-
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APPENDIX ment by TJ. Printed copy, 12 Apr. 1800; notation and emendations by TJ. Printed in js, 3:74. Committee report on Bill, To continue in force the Act, entitled “an Act to Authorise the defense of the Merchant Vessels of the United States against French depredations,” [12-14 Apr. 1800]; notation by TJ. Bill To continue in force for a limited time, an act, entitled “An act to prescribe the mode of taking evidence in cases of contested elections for Members of the House of Representatives of the United States, and to compel the attendance of witnesses,” 14-17 Apr. 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Bill in addition to the act, intituled “An Act to prohibit the carrying on the Slave trade from the United States to any foreign place or country,” 14 Apr. 1800; emendations and endorsement by TJ. Printed copy, 14-19 Apr. 1800; emendations and endorsement by TJ. Bill To provide for re-building the light-house, at New-London; for the support of a light-house at Clark’s Point; and for the erection and support of a light-house at Wigwam Point, 14-19 Apr. 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Bill To authorize the sale and conveyance of lands in certain cases, by the Marshals of the United States, and to conArm former sales, 14 Apr.-1 May 1800; printed; emendations and endorsement by TJ. Bill Making appropriations for the support of Government for the year 1800, 14 Apr.-3 May 1800; printed; emendations and endorsement by TJ. Bill To make approprations for the Navy of the United States, during the year one thousand eight hundred, 14 Apr.-9 May 1800; printed; emendation and endorsement by TJ. Committee Report on bill, entitled “An act for the better government of the navy of the United States,” 15 Apr. 1800; printed; notations by TJ. Report of the Managers at the Conference on the Amendments to the Stamp ODce bill, 15 Apr. 1800; notations by TJ. Bill To continue in force the act in addition to the act for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States, 15-21 Apr. 1800; printed; emendation and endorsement by TJ. Committee Report on bill, entitled “An act Axing the rank and pay of the commanding oDcer of the corps of marines,” 16 Apr. 1800; printed; notation and emendation by TJ. Committee Report on bill, entitled “An act to divide the territory of the United States north-west of the Ohio river into two separate governments,” 16 Apr. 1800; printed; notation and emendations by TJ. Committee Report on bill, entitled “An Act to Ax the compensation of the Paymaster General and Assistants to the Adjutant General,” [16-17 Apr. 1800], notations by TJ. Bill For the regulation of public arsenals and magazines, 16-29 Apr. 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Bill Supplementary to the laws now in force, Axing the compensations of
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APPENDIX the ODcers of the Senate and House of Representatives, 17-24 Apr. 1800; printed; emendations and endorsement by TJ. Bill Making appropriations for the military establishment of the United States, in the year one thousand eight hundred, 17 Apr.-7 May 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Bill supplementary to an Act to alter and to establish sundry postroads, 18-24 Apr. 1800; emendation and endorsement by TJ. Committee Report on bill, entitled “An act to amend the act, entitled An act providing for the sale of the lands of the United States, in the territory north-west of the Ohio, and above the mouth of Kentucky river,” 19 Apr. 1800; printed; notations and emendations by TJ. Bill To continue in force an act laying an additional duty on salt imported into the United States, 21 Apr.-1 May 1800; printed; emendation and endorsement by TJ. Additional amendment to bill, entitled “An act to amend the act, entitled An act providing for the sale of the lands of the United States, in the territory north-west of the Ohio, and above the mouth of Kentucky river,” 22 Apr. 1800; notation by TJ. Committee Report on bill, supplementary to the laws now in force Axing the compensations of the oDcers of the Senate and House of Representatives, 22 Apr. 1800; printed; notations and emendation by TJ. Committee Report on Petition of Benjamin G. Bulcke, 22 Apr. 1800; notation by TJ. Mr Ross’s motion Bill Connecticut Cession, 22 Apr. 1800; notation and emendation by TJ. Committee report on bill supplementary to the act to suspend part of an act entitled “An act to augment the army of the United States,” 23 Apr. 1800; printed; notation by TJ. Printed in js, 3:80. Motion to amend the bill Connecticut Cession, 23 Apr. 1800; notation by TJ. Printed in js, 3:79. Bill To establish the district of Kennebunk, and to annex Lyme to NewLondon; and to alter the district of Bermuda Hundred and City-point; and therein to amend the act entitled “An act to regulate the collection of duties on imports and tonnage,” 23 Apr.-6 May 1800; printed; emendations and endorsement by TJ. Bill To provide for equalizing the valuations of unseated lands, 23 Apr.-6 May 1800; printed; emendation and endorsement by TJ. Amdmts of H. of R. to Bill, entitled “An act supplemental to the act, entitled An act for an amicable settlement of limits with the state of Georgia, and authorizing the establishment of a government in the Mississippi Territory,” [28] Apr. 1800; printed; notation by TJ. Committee Report on bill entitled “An act to authorize the sale and conveyance of lands, in certain cases, by Marshals of the United States, and to conArm former sales,” 28 Apr. 1800; printed; notation by TJ.
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APPENDIX Committee Report on bill to amend an act, entitled “An act to establish the judicial courts of the United States,” 28 Apr. 1800; printed; notation and emendations by TJ. Motion for a Committee to enquire into alteration in the Act establishing the Treasury Department, 28 Apr. 1800; notation by TJ. Printed in js, 3:82. Bill To authorize the allowance of a credit to William Tazewell, 28 Apr.-2 May 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Bill Directing the payment of a detachment of the militia, under the command of Major Thomas Johnson, in the year 1794, 28 Apr.-10 May 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Bill To authorize the issuing certain patents, 28 Apr.-10 May 1800; printed; emendations and endorsement by TJ. Bill To provide for the sale of certain lands between the great and little Miami Rivers, 28 Apr.-10 May 1800; printed; emendation and endorsement by TJ. Amendment to act to establish the judicial courts of the United States, [29 Apr. 1800]; emendations by TJ. Printed in js, 3:83. Mr. Tracy’s motion for a Committee to enquire into the expenditure of public money, 29 Apr. 1800; endorsement by TJ. Printed in js, 3:82. Committee report on Bill intitled an Act to continue in force an Act laying an additional duty on Salt imported into the United States, [29-30 Apr. 1800]; notation by TJ. Bill To promote the manufacture of sheet-copper within the United States, by the incorporation of a company, 29 Apr.-10 May 1800; printed; emendations and endorsement by TJ. Motion to amend bill, entitled “An act to enable the President of the United States to borrow money for the public service,” [30 Apr. 1800]; notation and emendations by TJ. Printed in js, 3:83. Bill supplementary to the act, entitled “An Act to establish the Treasury department,” 1-3 May 1800; endorsement by TJ. Printed copy, 1-3 May 1800; emendations and endorsement by TJ. Bill supplementary to the Act establishing the Mint and regulating the Coins of the United States, 2-3 May 1800; emendation and endorsement by TJ. Printed copy, 2-6 May 1800; emendations and endorsement by TJ. Senate consideration of Amendmt. of H. of Represent to “Act prescribing the mode of deciding disputed elections of Pres. & V.P. of the US.,” 2-8 May 1800; printed; emendations and endorsement by TJ. Motion for a Committee to enquire relative to the next meeting of Congress, 3 May 1800; endorsement by TJ. Printed in js, 3:85. Bill Supplementary to an act entitled “An act to establish the compensation of the oDcers employed in the collection of the duties on Impost and Tonnage,” 5-8 May 1800; printed; notation, emendation, and endorsement by TJ.
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APPENDIX Committee Report on bill, entitled “An Act to establish the district of Kennebunk, and to annex Lyme to New London; and to alter the district of Bermuda Hundred and City Point; and therein to amend the act, intituled ‘An Act to regulate the collection of duties on imports and tonnage,’ ” [6 May 1800]; notation by TJ. Bill To ascertain the compensation of Public Ministers, 6-9 May 1800; printed; with notation by TJ on handwritten amendment; endorsement by TJ. Bill To enlarge the powers of Surveyors of the Revenue, 6-9 May 1800; printed; emendations and endorsement by TJ. Bill To appropriate a certain sum of money, to defray the expense of holding a treaty, or treaties with the Indians, 6-13 May 1800; endorsement by TJ. Bill In addition to the act, entitled “An act for granting land to the inhabitants and settlers at Vincennes and the Illinois country, in the Territory North-West of the Ohio,” 6-14 May 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Committee Report on amendment of the House of Representatives to the bill, entituled “An Act in addition to the act, intituled ‘An act to prohibit the carrying on the Slave trade from the United States to any foreign place or country,’ ” [7 May 1800]; notations by TJ. Printed copy of House amendment, [7 May] 1800; emendations by TJ. Committee Report on bill, entitled “An Act supplementary to an Act entitled ‘An Act to establish the compensation of the oDcers employed in the collection of the duties on impost and tonnage,’ ” [7 May 1800]; notation by TJ. Committee Report on bill, entitled “An Act to enlarge the powers of Surveyors of the Revenue,” 7 May 1800; notation by TJ. Mr Ross reports from the conference on Bill on Georgia Limits, 7 May 1800; notations by TJ. Bill appointing the time, & directing the place of the next meeting of Congress, 7-9 May 1800; endorsement by TJ. Amendments to bill, entitled “An Act supplementary to an act, entitled ‘An Act to establish the compensation of the oDcers employed in the collection of the duties on impost and tonnage,’ ” 8 May 1800; emendations by TJ. Committee report on amendments proposed by the house of representatives to the Bill sent From the Senate entituled, An Act prescribing the mode of deciding disputed Elections of President and Vice President, 8 May 1800; notations by TJ. Joint resolutions for memorials to George Washington, 8 May 1800; printed; emendation by TJ. Committee report on amendment to Act making appropriations for the Navy of the U. States for the year 1800, [8-9 May 1800]; notation by TJ. Bill To lay additional duties on certain articles imported, 8-12 May 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Bill To retain a further sum on drawbacks for the expenses incident to the
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APPENDIX allowance and payment thereof, and in lieu of stamp duties on debentures, 812 May 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Bill To make further provision for the children of Colonel John Harding and Major Alexander Trueman deceased, 8-13 May 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Motion for an allowance of compensation to Hugh M’Kinley, 9 May 1800; notation by TJ. Printed in js, 3:90. Amendments to bill for issuing warrants [certain patents], [9-10 May 1800]; notations and emendations by TJ. Bill To authorize certain expenditures and to make certain appropriations for the year one thousand eight hundred, 9-13 May 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Bill To make provision relative to rations for Indians, and to their visits to the seat of government, 9-13 May 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Resolution Repealing certain laws passed by the Governor and Judges of the Mississippi Territory, 9-13 May 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Bill To permit, in certain cases, the bringing of slaves into the Mississippi Territory, 9-14 May 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Amendment to bill to authorize certain expenditures, and to make certain appropriations for the year 1800, [10-12 May 1800]; notation and emendation by TJ. Bill For erecting a Mausoleum for George Washington, 10-12 May 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Bill Regulating the grants of land appropriated for the refugees from the British provinces of Canada and Nova Scotia, 10-12 May 1800; printed; endorsement by TJ. Motion respecting votes for President and Vice President of the United States, 10-13 May 1800; endorsement by TJ. Printed in js, 3:93. Preamble and amendments to resolution repealing certain laws passed by the Governor and Judges of the Mississippi Territory, [13 May 1800]; notations by TJ. Report on amendments to bill to augment the Army, [13 May 1800]; notations by TJ.
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INDEX abolition: in N.Y., 4-5 Abraham (Abram, TJ’s slave), 271 Abridgment of the Public Permanent Laws of Virginia (Edmund Randolph), 406, 407n, 520 acacia, 535 Accomack Co., Va., 32-3 Acts Passed at a General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia: Begun and Held at the Capitol, in the City of Richmond, on Monday, the Third Day of December, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Ninety-Eight, 117, 122, 136-7 Adams, Abigail: and husband’s visit to Trenton, 297n; TJ has conversation with, 429 Adams, Fort, 585 Adams, John Minister to Great Britain and negotiation with Algiers, 200, 202n Opinions on progress of knowledge, 128, 129n; said to favor former Loyalists, 493n Personal ACairs portrait by G. Stuart, xlv; addressed by millennialist, 476n Politics relations with Federalists, 45, 46n, 48, 50, 63-4, 290, 297, 301-2, 337-8, 509, 512, 562-3n, 581; watched for political errors, 133; relations with Hamilton, 297, 337-8, 563n, 581n; patronage, 419; identiAed as author of Davila, 429, 430n; late-term appointments, 434n; as candidate for reelection, 464-5, 509, 512, 561, 562-3n, 581 President inauguration, xlii; power over expanded army, 11, 33, 44, 97-8, 227; and retaliatory act against French citizens, 12-13, 23, 30, 34; 28 Jan. 1799 message to Congress, 13n, 598; sends correspondence, papers to Congress, 13n, 23, 30, 34, 37, 47, 49, 306-7n, 323n; and M. Lyon’s petition, 17-18n, 72-4; 8 Dec. 1798 annual message to Congress, 19;
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XYZ aCair, 19, 44, 46, 47, 50, 129n; and Saint-Domingue, 22; and suspension of trade with France, 24, 29, 190n, 315n; makes appointments, 24n, 31, 34, 37-8, 45-50, 635, 67, 144n; and French policy in W. Indies, 44, 45n; accused of withholding information, 45, 47, 48, 50; opens new negotiation with France, 45-50, 63-5, 67, 133, 279, 297, 3012, 338, 525n; cabinet politics, 63-4, 297, 301-2, 419, 562-3n, 581; conBict with J. Ogden, 72-4; criticized, 74n, 181n, 219, 289-90, 410n, 452n, 492, 493n, 525, 531, 58990n; and organization of new regiments, 98n, 481, 483, 581n; at Quincy, Braintree, 98n, 133, 301-2, 338; relations with Liston, 153n; and Supreme Court, 166n; and Robbins case, 181n, 408, 410n, 421; and Judiciary Act of 1801, 263n, 434n; in Trenton, 297, 301-2; as commander in chief, 305, 306-7n; and J. Randolph incident, 305, 3067n, 314; and proposed military academy, 323n; threat of lifetime term for, 324; toasted, 337-8; and loans, 422, 456n, 605, 610; and military commissions, 424, 481; Dec. 1799 annual message to Congress, 434n; signs legislation, 443n, 581n; sends Portsmouth, dispatches to France, 455, 456n, 461, 463, 473, 476, 480, 483; and medal for Truxton, 456n; receives intelligence from frontiers, 468; dispatches from Ellsworth, Murray, Davie, 475-6, 477n, 480, 483, 492; appointment of Brooks rejected, 481, 483; and prosecution of sedition trials, 493n; accused of “delirious dreams” of monarchy, 495; pardons Fries, 522n; and bill to cover expense of moving household, 525n; and search for sources of copper, 5489n; removes Pickering, McHenry, 581; and Ellicott, 592-3; message on death of Washington, 600; miscellaneous messages, 600; and negotiations with Prussia, 601; and Western Reserve, 607
INDEX Adams, John (cont’d) Relations with JeCerson correspondence, 500 Vice President attendance, 280-3 Writings Discourses on Davila, 429-30 Adams, John Quincy, 74n, 326n, 525n Adams, Samuel: letter to, 395; letters from, 265-6, 349; introduces travelers, 265-6, 349, 395, 461; receives Appendix, 551, 553 Adams, Thomas, 491 Adamson, Mr., 90 Addison, Alexander: asserts principles of common law, 232-3; Liberty of Speech, 233n Address to the Congress of the United States, on the Utility and Justice of Restrictions upon Foreign Commerce (Charles Brockden Brown), 276n Address to the Government of the United States, on the Cession of Louisiana to the French (Charles Brockden Brown), 276n Adet, Pierre Auguste, 469n Africa: and yellow fever, 564 Aggey (E. Randolph’s slave), 583 Agnes (ship), 133, 134n agriculture: crop rotation, 197, 198n, 506-7, 518; farm laborers as proposed census category, 294; in college curricula, 321, 569; innovations in, 326n, 387-8n, 530n; societies for promoting, 387-8n, 397; as basis of political economy, 395; and debt, bankruptcy, 443, 471; Du Pont plans agricultural settlement, 530n Albany, N.Y.: printing at, 346, 347n; newspapers, 425, 426n Albany Gazette (Albany, N.Y.), 425, 426n Albemarle Co., Va.: and TJ’s petition on jurors, 41-2; commerce with Richmond, 82; courts, court days, 83, 173, 177, 191, 196, 475, 476, 477n, 482, 522; and American Revolution, 100n; land transactions, 140-3; and Are insurance, 187; land prices, 189, 190n, 503, 508; rain damages crops in, 189; commerce with Philadelphia, 199n, 502; Nicholas family of, 205n; churches, 209n; elections, 241, 274, 526, 542; surveyors, 253-8; criticism
of TJ from, 268n; legislative representation, 290n; French residents of, 464; consumption by wealthy, 523 alcoholism, 245, 249, 360, 523 Aldridge, William J., 271, 273n Alexander, William: makes payment, 109; letter from cited, 110n Alexandria, Va.: custom house, 353; residents of, 463; potential home for Du Pont, 481, 483, 531n Algiers: ransom of U.S. captives in, 33; U.S. treaty with, 194, 200-1, 202n Alien Friends Act (1798): opposition to, 23n, 35, 36, 77, 117, 137, 266, 268n, 279-80n, 289, 299, 326n, 344, 345n, 446; defended, 42n; House refuses to debate, 64-5; as part of Federalist program, 169; House receives petitions on, 173, 174n; unconstitutionality of, 173, 278, 280n, 295 Allegheny Co., Pa., 435 Allegheny Mountains, 468-9 Allen, Richard H., 20 Allen, Wilson, 584n Almon, John, 454n Altona, Germany, 132 American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 294-5n American Philosophical Society: TJ presides over, viii, 294-5n, 563; and U.S. census, viii, 293-5; and Priestley portraits, xli; publishes Transactions, 56, 57n, 61, 139n, 549-50, 578, 593n; and Livingston’s steam apparatus, 56-7; TJ’s report on megalonyx, 61-2, 162n, 317, 318n; and information about American west, 135-6, 138, 203; elects members, 139n, 189n, 266n, 291n, 311n, 312-13n, 387n, 573, 578; committees, 291n, 295n, 313n, 434n; meetings, 294-5n; oDcers, 295n; papers by members, 308n, 578n; receives communications, specimens, 313n, 593n; TJ serves on committees of, 313n; and N.C. stone formation, 317, 318n; collects data on languages, 434n; as clearinghouse for information, 443, 445, 448; and TJ’s moldboard plow, 549-50 American Revolution: Italian émigrés volunteer in, 100n; destruction of laws, records during, 117; fading of generation that created, 128, 550; as preservation, not innovation, 129n; principles of extolled, 150; eCect on state laws, 169-70, 171n; as origin of
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INDEX U.S. sovereignty, 170; France’s participation in, 175n, 469n; in Va., 180; Alings for land grants, 253-5; Wilkinson’s service in, 312n; political principles of, 395; former Loyalists, 462-3n, 493n; nonimportation agreements, 491; treatment of Loyalists during, 534 American Universal Geography (Jedidiah Morse), 317, 318n “Americanus” (pseudonym): attacks TJ, 241n Ames, Fisher, 429-30 Amherst Co., Va., 240, 248 Amsterdam: and Kosciuszko’s funds, 512, 87; as tobacco market, 112; British hope to capture, 221n; blockade of, aCects correspondence, 543-4; letters sent through, 559. See also Van Staphorst & Hubbard anatomy: importance of study of, 127; in college curricula, 291n, 321 Anderson, Bentley, 584 Anderson, David: business, 474, 475n; letter to cited, 475n Anderson, Garland, Jr., 542 Anderson, Joseph: in Senate, 408, 411n, 603 Andrews, Robert, 278, 280n Anglesey, Wales: supplies copper, 548n Annapolis, Md., 86n Anthony, Joseph (Philadelphia): letter to, 557-8; sells Trumbull’s prints, 5578, 575, 579 Anthony, Joseph (Richmond), 361-2, 385, 393 Anthony, Joseph, & Son (Philadelphia), 107-8 Antichristian Conspiracy (Augustin Barruel), 351n Antimonarchical Conspiracy (Augustin Barruel), 351n Antisocial Conspiracy (Augustin Barruel), 349, 351n Appeal to the Candid upon the Present State of Religion and Politics in Connecticut (John C. Ogden), 17n Appendix to the Notes on Virginia Relative to the Murder of Logan’s Family: documents printed in, 71n, 263-4n, 373n, 393, 399n, 479-80n; as revision of Notes on Virginia, 131, 335-6, 44950, 556; printing of, 373n, 449-50, 553-4n, 573, 575, 577n; Sappington statement added to, 373n, 573; TJ’s “historical statement” for, 373n; dis-
tribution, 551-4, 555-7, 567, 573; Clark statement omitted from, 573 Appomattox River, 244 Archimedes, 126 architecture. See JeCerson, Thomas: Architecture Architecture of Andrea Palladio, 579, 580n Argall, Sir Samuel, 412-13 Argus (New York), 493n Armistead, B. D.: letter to, 448; letter from, 443-5; oCers treatise, 443-5, 448 Armstrong, John (1755-1816), 560, 561n Arnold, Thomas, 603 art: in college curricula, 321; role of luxury in study of, 340 artisans: and proposed census categories, 294 Asia: wild horses of, 237, 309-10 asparagus: grown at Monticello, 92 Ast, William Frederick: letter to, 186-8; letter from, 571-2; Are insurance program, 186-8, 571-2; letter from cited, 572n astronomy: education in, 127, 321; Dunbar studies, 139n, 203n; orreries, 424; and study of the earth, 444; in France, 465n; and saros, 564, 567n; cycles of seasons, disease, 564-5; and calculation of longitude, 592 attorneys: and Federalist power in New England, 97, 492; as proposed census category, 294; in Va., 326n; in Philadelphia, 335; in Md., 387n; in Pittsburgh, 468n; and Federalist inBuence in N.C., 485 Augusta Co., Va. See Staunton, Va. Augustine (Eppes’s slave), 274 Aurora (Philadelphia): publishes political essays, 10, 19, 98n, 228n; reaches New England, 16; J. Ogden writes for, 17-18n, 72-3, 351n; reports foreign news, rumors, 134n, 334n, 343, 474n, 562n; and Fries Rebellion, 151, 1523n; as Republican source of information, 151; prints letters, documents, 153n, 153-62, 165n, 231, 383n, 453n, 454n, 458-9n, 467n, 556; reprints item from Porcupine’s Gazette, 161-2n; Callender’s relationship with, 163-4; subscriptions to, 342, 343n, 524-5, 575, 577n, 580; commentary by, 382n, 581n; advertises pamphlets, 417n; prints Ross election bill, 453n, 491; later history of, 454n; management of, 454n; TJ supplies information to,
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INDEX Aurora (cont’d) 457-61; criticizes Adams administration, 493n; Hamilton accused of scheme to suppress, 493n; and prosecution of Haswell, 493n, 521; and publication of Liston’s dispatches, 522n. See also Duane, William Austria: imprisons Lafayette, 94-6, 265n; in coalition against France, 1334, 218-19, 221n, 358; military victories, 134n, 223, 227, 232-3, 248-9, 279; and French peace overtures, 404, 405-6n Avery, Billy Haley, 225-6, 249, 348 Avery, Mrs. Billy Haley, 225-6, 249 Avery, Edward, 226, 249 Avery, Elizabeth, 226, 249 Avery, Lucy, 226, 249 Avery, Mary Ann, 226, 249 Avery, William, 226, 249 Azanza, Miguel José de: viceroy of New Spain, 236 Babylon, 564, 567n Bache, Benjamin Franklin: as editor of Aurora, 10, 154, 159; death of, 189n, 454n, 544; family, 189n Bache, Catharine Wistar: moves to Va., 92, 354; TJ sends regards to, 189, 245, 354; correspondence with TJ, 245; letter from cited, 246n Bache, Margaret. See Duane, Margaret Bache Bache, Richard, 189, 246n Bache, Sarah Franklin, 189, 246n Bache, William: letters to, 188-90, 2456, 353-5; carries correspondence, 89, 112, 132, 133n; household goods shipped, 89, 92, 93, 96, 104; stays at Monticello, 92, 112, 123; purchases farm, 123, 188-90, 245-6, 286, 342, 353-4, 355n, 414; identiAed, 189-90n; TJ appoints to oDce, 189n; health of, 245; as physician, 389-90, 523 bacon: from Poplar Forest, 270, 384, 474; storage, preservation, 384 Bacon’s Rebellion, 180 Baden, 355, 380n Baer, George, Jr., 303 Bainbridge, William: commands Retaliation, 24-5, 30-1, 34, 35-6n, 37 Baker, George A., 396n Baker, Joshua: role in Logan aCair, 70, 260, 263n, 371, 449-50, 479; family, 371
Baldwin, Abraham, 10, 603 Baltimore, Md.: as port, 24, 90, 238, 544; business failures, 305, 306, 333, 358-9, 407, 414, 455; books published at, 373n; mentioned, 435, 378-80 Ban (slave): hires himself to TJ, 302n Bank of the United States: as source for government loans, 76n, 81n, 587; act concerning frauds on, 169; and U.S. revenues, 277; deposits, 286; employees, 307n, 587; bank notes, 428, 430, 431; and Ames’s stock speculations, 430n; rechartering of, 454n; and U.S. securities, 517n; and TJ’s salary, 577n Bankruptcy Act (1800): criticized, 443, 470-1; passage, 443, 455, 470, 491, 603, 604-5; follows British model, 471; printed, 472n; Republicans oppose, 573 banks: bankers as proposed census category, 294; proposed tax on stocks of, 306, 342, 358; political aDliations, 307n, 495; support Federalists, 343; use of bank notes, 423, 425, 428, 430, 431, 448, 575, 576-7n; absence of, in south, 470-1 Banks, Henry, 147 Banneker, Benjamin: TJ’s letter to, 156, 161n Baptists, 152n Barbour, James: letter from, 325-6; reports political news, 325-6; and Barboursville, 326n; identiAed, 326n; and Madison, 326n; elected to assembly, 542 bark: as medicine, 127-8 Barker, Jeremiah, 477, 479 barley: recommended for the ill, 108 Barnes, Fortune: TJ’s servant, 392; paid, 587, 588n Barnes, John: letters to, 114-15, 123-4, 166-7, 185-6, 212-13, 392; letters from, 75-7, 81, 87-8, 89-90, 90, 102, 115-16, 130, 586-8; obtains items, handles shipments, xliv, 58, 68, 75-6, 879, 102, 166-7, 177, 365, 575-8, 586, 587n, 588; handles Anancial transactions, xlv, 58, 69n, 77n, 81n, 82, 87, 88n, 115, 123-5, 146, 147-8, 185-6, 212-13, 245, 285, 286, 342n, 353-4, 366n, 392, 414, 417n, 575-8, 582n; and Madison’s aCairs, 19, 319, 409, 411n, 524-5, 579; and Kosciuszko, 513, 55, 76, 87, 90, 184, 212, 560-1, 570; manages U.S. loan investments, 75-6, 81, 87, 102, 166, 185-6, 359, 504-5,
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INDEX 517, 519, 526, 587; and Short’s aCairs, 75-6, 81, 87, 102, 166-7, 185-6, 298, 302, 318, 329, 361, 392n, 406, 414, 418, 420, 502-5, 508, 511n, 513-17, 519, 520, 587; letters from cited, 81n, 88n, 130n, 152n, 167n, 185n, 213n, 392n; letters to cited, 81n, 116n, 123n, 130n, 167n, 246n, 392n; forwards letters, 90, 102, 246; correspondence with TJ, 100n; performs miscellaneous services, 114-15, 130, 312; accounts with TJ, 115, 123, 185-6, 575-8, 586, 587-8; and sale of TJ’s tobacco crop, 115-16, 120, 121, 123, 235, 305, 383, 388, 415; temporarily removes to Trenton, 392n; described, 504; carries letters, 538, 539n; relocates to Georgetown, 538, 563 Barnes, Joseph: letters from, 218-21, 403-6, 426-7; sends news from Europe, 218-21, 403-6; seeks consulship, 220, 221n, 405, 426-7; and patents, 220-1n; Treatise, 220-1n; Remarks on Mr. John Fitch’s Reply, 220n; letters from cited, 221n Barruel, Augustin: Mémoires pour servir à l’histoire du jacobinisme, 349-52; translations of work, 351n Barry, John: commands United States, 475-6, 477n, 480, 482-3 Barry, Joseph B., 588 Barton, Benjamin Smith: letter to, 402; and natural history, 291n, 578n; studies American Indians, languages, 402, 412; letter to cited, 402n; receives Appendix, 551 Bartram, William, 89 Batavian Republic: and U.S.-French relations, 55; Lafayette in, 94-5, 328, 329; invaded by British, Russians, 218-19, 221n, 251, 328, 329, 358; Beet, 219, 221n; republican sentiments in, 251; potential restoration of stadtholder, 297n; tobacco market, 339. See also Hague, The; Murray, William Vans; Pichon, Louis André Batture case. See JeCerson, Thomas: Law Bavaria: suppresses Illuminati, 351n Bayard, James A.: asserts principles of common law, 357n; supports Adams, 408, 410n; and Judiciary Act of 1801, 434n Baylor, Robert: rental of Elk Hill, 66, 77; letters from cited, 67n, 78n; letter to cited, 78n
Baynham, William, 92 Beckley, John: receives appointments, 296, 419-20; and legislative procedures, 401n Bedford. See Poplar Forest (TJ’s estate) Bedford Co., Va.: congressional representation, 110-11; TJ sells land in, 210, 211n, 457, 459n; land prices, 503 Bee (New London, Conn.): J. Ogden writes for, 73-4n; and Callender, 432, 433n; editor prosecuted, 521, 522n, 531; publication suspended, 522n Bee, Thomas: and Robbins case, 181-2n, 227, 410n beef: curing of, 270; from Poplar Forest, 270, 384; runs short at Monticello, 384 Belin, Auguste: letters to, 396, 417; and eulogies of Washington, 396, 417; identiAed, 396n Belisarius, 560n Bell, Thomas: transmits, stores various goods for TJ, 172, 177; handles Anancial transactions for TJ, 197; buys nails, 383, 384-5n; expected at county court, 475, 476, 482; letter to cited, 477n; and TJ’s mortgages, 503, 511n; receives Appendix, 553 Bellini, Carlo: letter to, 98-100; letter from, 85-6; oCers picture of wife, 856, 98-9; friends from Italy, 86, 99-100 Bellini, Gaspara FarolA, 85-6, 98-9 Belmont (Randolph estate): Martha and T. M. Randolph moving from, 20, 75; Randolphs in residence at, 54, 66n Bengal Journal (Calcutta), 454n Benjamin Franklin (ship): bound for France under Bag of truce, 464, 4656n, 509, 512; carries letters, 510n, 527, 529 Bergen Point, N.J.: Du Ponts at, 314n, 326-9 Berkeley, William: treasurer of Va., 225 Bermuda Hundred (Eppes estate, ChesterAeld Co., Va.): J. W. Eppes seeks to sell land at, 139, 508; J. W. Eppes at, 274, 286, 333, 368; TJ hopes to visit, 368, 481 Bermuda Hundred, Va.: customs district, 359, 609, 611 Bethune & Smith (New York), 124-5n, 148, 418, 428 Bett. See Brown, Betty Bettilinie, Pietro, 560n Bible: Du Pont cites, 386; Vulgate, 555n Billy (E. Randolph’s slave), 584
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INDEX Bing, Mr. (wagoner), 177 Bingham, William: W. Birch’s ties to, xlii; seeks to amend election bill, 407, 409-10n, 439, 603 Binney, Horace, 145n Birch, Thomas, xlii, 576n Birch, William Russell: engraves views of Philadelphia, xlii-xliv, 368 (illus.), 575, 576n Birmingham, England, 322n Bivins, James, 503, 511n Blaine, Alexander, 477 Blair, John (1732-1800), 258n Blenheim (E. Randolph’s slave), 584 Blight, Peter, 358 Bloody Buoy (William Cobbett), 158, 161n Blount, Thomas, 552, 553 Blount, William: Cobbett criticizes, 159; impeachment, trial of, 452, 453n Bolling, John (TJ’s brother-in-law): death, 533 Bolling, Mary JeCerson (Mrs. John Bolling, TJ’s sister): visits Hot Springs, 151, 197; TJ visits, 581 Bolling, Robert, 199 Bonaparte, Joseph, 562n Bonaparte, Napoleon: Egyptian campaign, 132, 133, 134n; returns to France, 219, 221n, 403; coup of 18 Brumaire, 221n, 333, 334n, 336-7, 341, 342n, 343-5, 351, 354, 357-8, 360, 403; Bureaux de Pusy and, 265n; rumors of death of, 336; intentions unclear, 345, 354, 369, 395, 414, 416; and ancient Roman government, 357-8, 386; as model for an American usurper, 358; has conAdence of nation, 403; seeks peace, 403-4, 405-6n, 4734; at head of French army, 404; reliance on army, 489; and negotiation with American envoys, 562n Bond, Mary, 583 Bordeaux, France: news from, 408, 414, 415, 443; destination of Benjamin Franklin, 465n, 510n Borden, Elizabeth Rogers, 420n Borden, Joseph, 420n Bordley, John Beale: letter to, 387-8; and agricultural innovations, 387-8; identiAed, 387-8n; publications, 3878n; letters from cited, 388n Bordley, Sarah Fishbourne MiEin, 387n Boston: artists, xlv; Notes on Virginia printed in, xlv; home port for captured ships, 24; news from, 97, 98n;
newspapers, 98n, 134n, 342n; Federalists in, 134n; merchants, 266n; learned societies, 294-5n botany, 127, 291, 321, 439n, 468, 535, 569 bottles: ordered by TJ, 246, 269, 276 Boudinot, Elias, 3n Boudinot, Elisha: letters to, 60, 355; letter from, 3-4; and N.J. copper mine, 3-4, 60, 355, 378, 380, 381n; identiAed, 3n; letters from cited, 60n, 355n Bowen, Jabez, 551, 554n Bowles, Davy: hired to travel with TJ, 360, 363, 474, 483 Bowling Green, Va., 442 Boyd, Julian P.: on TJ’s letter to W. G. Munford, 129n Boyle, Richard, third earl of Burlington, 579, 580n Bracken, John, 317-18n Brackenridge, Hugh Henry: on sentiments in western Pa., 467-9; identiAed, 468n; Incidents of the Insurrection, 468n; Modern Chivalry, 468n; receives Appendix, 552 Braddick & Butler (Richmond), 124 Brainard, Elijah, 607 Braintree, Mass.: Adams at, 133, 301-2, 338 Bran. See Brend, Thomas Brand, Joseph, 114-15, 130 brandy, French, 148 Breckenridge, James, 205n Breckinridge, John: letter to, 344-5; letter from, 266-8; and Ky. Resolution of 1799, 266, 268n, 344; speaker of Ky. House, 266, 268n; on proposed judicial reorganization, 266-7, 344; TJ sends news to, 344-5; receives Appendix, 552 Brend, Thomas, 117 Brent, Richard, 110n bricks: made at Monticello, 270; wood for making, 272; plastering, stuccoing of, 482, 579-80 Bringhurst, John, 578n, 580 Brison (Breson), James, 435 Bristol, England: presents silver to Kosciuszko, 53n, 55 British Treaty (Charles Brockden Brown), 276n Brooke, Francis Taliaferro: and brother’s estate, 413; receives Appendix, 553, 554n; and Va. politics, 554n Brooke, Robert: death of, 413, 554n; debts, 413, 463
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INDEX Brooks, John, 481, 483 Brown, Andrew: death of, 322n. See also Philadelphia Gazette Brown, Andrew, Jr.: Cobbett’s “federal” heir, 320; publishes Philadelphia Gazette, 320, 322n, 342 Brown, Benjamin, 542 Brown, Betty (TJ’s slave), 272 Brown, Charles Brockden: letter to, 308; letter from, 275-6; sends novel, 275-6, 308; identiAed, 276n; letter from cited, 276n; novels, magazines of, 276n Brown, Clement C., 212-13 Brown, Coleman, 398, 399n Brown, J., 296n Brown, James: letter to, 213; letter from, 221-2; and Short’s business aCairs, 144-5, 213, 221-2, 501-2, 505, 508, 510n, 519-20, 532, 540; and Donald & Burton, 145n; 1790 tobacco purchases by, 209; letters from cited, 213n, 222n. See also Brown & Burton (Richmond) Brown, John (Ky.): and federal courts in west, 262, 263n; and TJ’s account of Logan’s speech, 263-4n, 479-80n, 573; TJ records information from, 451; in Senate, 453n Brown, John (Scottish physician): inBuence on medicine, 127, 129n; Elementa Medicinae, 129n Brown, Morgan: letter to, 309; letter from, 195-6; gives TJ Indian statuary, viii, 195-6, 309, 310, 312, 585, 593; identiAed, 196n Brown, Rives & Co., 475n Brown, Samuel: letter to, 573; and TJ’s account of Logan’s speech, 69-71, 373n, 573; receives Appendix, 552, 553n, 573; elected to APS, 573; letter to cited, 573n Brown & Burton (Richmond): purchase tobacco, 93. See also Brown, James Brownsville (Redstone), Pa., 372-3, 478 Brumaire. See France: Politics and Government Brune, Guillaume Marie Anne: protects Batavian Republic, 218-19, 221n; suppresses Chouans, 406n Brutus, 333, 336 Bryan, Anderson: protégé of TJ, 253; and TJ’s land dispute with Harvie, 253-8 Brydie, Alexander: and tobacco shipment, 235; and Anancial transactions, 245, 286, 298, 318
Brydie, Brown & Co. (Richmond): letters from cited, 286n; letters to cited, 286n; factor in Milton, 343n; and Anancial transactions, 353-4 Buckingham Co., Va., 348n, 523 Bucks Co., Pa.: Liston’s letters stopped in, 153n; manufacturing in, 455-6 BuCon, Georges Louis Leclerc, Comte de: TJ criticizes, 62; TJ uses information from, 295n Bulcke, Benjamin G., 607, 609 Bull, Jonathan, 74n Bullen, Joseph, 247n Bullock, David, 162 Bureaux de Pusy, Jean Xavier: letter to, 292; letter from, 264-5; career, 94-6, 265n; introduced, 94-6, 104, 292; family, 95-6, 292n, 305, 314n; brings letters from France, 264-5; identiAed, 265n; assists Du Pont, 313-14, 315, 326-9, 331, 558; calls on TJ, 578 Bureaux de Pusy, Julienne Poivre: Du Pont’s daughter-in-law, 95-6, 305; detained in Europe, arrives in U.S., 292n, 314n, 331; qualities of, 327, 329 Bureaux de Pusy, Maurice, 314n, 331 Bureaux de Pusy, Sara, 95, 292, 331 Burgos, Spain, 475-6, 477n, 480, 483 Burke, Edmund, 322n Burling, Thomas, 607 Burlington, Lord. See Boyle, Richard, third earl of Burlington Burr, Aaron: letters to, 22-3, 367; letters from, 4-5, 543, 557; as political leader, manager, vii, 455, 495, 511n, 557; and Currie’s claim, 4, 22, 367; judgments against R. Morris’s property, 4, 367; sends, receives reports on politics, public aCairs, 4-5, 22-3; and Wilkinson, 29n, 312n; meets with TJ, 300; TJ conceals identity of, 300, 301n; on political prospects in N.Y., 300-1, 409; and Manhattan Company, 307; political allies, 338n; introduces A. Wolcott, 543; letter from cited, 543n; receives Appendix, 551, 552, 553, 557; vice-presidential prospect, 556-7n; distrusts Va., N.C., 556n Burrall, Charles: letter from cited, 79-80 Burwell. See Colbert, Burwell Burwell, Lewis, 4 Bustleton (Bustletown), Pa.: Cobbett at, 153, 161n, 322n Butler, Pierce, 552 Butler, Richard, 600 Butt, Wilson, 218, 234, 506
< 619>
INDEX butter: from Poplar Forest, 270 Byrd, Elizabeth Hill. See Skipwith, Elizabeth Hill Byrd Farley Dunbar Byrd, Francis Otway: customs collector, 353-4, 364; letter from cited, 355n; letter to cited, 355n Byrd, William, III, 215n Cabell, Nicholas, 289, 290n Cadiz, Spain: as convenient port, 61; rendezvous of French, Spanish Beets, 132-3 Caesar, Julius, 354 Cairo, 134n Calcutta, 154, 160, 161n, 454n Call, Daniel: letters to, 165-6, 193, 217; letters from, 176, 190, 205-8; and suit against B. Henderson’s heirs, 165-6, 167, 176, 190, 193, 205-8, 217; connections to John Marshall, 166n; identiAed, 166n; TJ misidentiAes, 176 Call, Richard, 176 Callaghan, David, 54 Callender, James Thomson: letters to, 179-82, 200-2; letters from, 163-5, 194-5, 203-4, 238-9, 268, 376-7, 4278, 432-3, 525, 543; criticizes Duane, Aurora, 163-4; writes in Va., 163-5, 194-5, 268, 427-8, 432-3, 525; children of, remain in Philadelphia, 164; seeks, receives Anancial assistance from TJ, 164, 179-81, 182; Prospect Before Us, 164-5, 179-81, 182, 194-5, 200-2, 203-4, 238, 268, 376-7, 427, 432, 433n, 589n; criticizes Adams, supporters, 165n, 525; defends TJ, 165n; threatened, 165n; publishes, circulates TJ’s letters, 180-1n; and Examiner, 194, 268, 376-7, 432, 525; asks TJ for information, 194-5, 200-2; letter from cited, 195n; pseudonyms of, 268n; second volume of Prospect, 376, 525; and TJ’s debt to Farell & Jones, 427-8, 458-60n; “Address to the Public,” 525; reports election results, 543; sedition trial, 589-91 Callender, Robert, 478 Campbell, Andrew, 74n Campbell, David: letter to, 433-4; letter from, 475; records Cherokee vocabulary, 433-4, 475; receives Appendix, 551 Campbell, Robert, 319, 322n Canada: Liston corresponds with oDcial
of, 153n, 287-8, 521; potential French invasion of, 287; Acadia, 413n; refugees from, 612 canals: Fulton’s innovations, 144-5, 501; for TJ’s mill, 270-1, 523. See also James River Company candles: TJ’s bill for, in Philadelphia, 69, 582 cane: in lower Mississippi Valley, 203 CanAeld, Ithamar, 602 Cannibals’ Progress (William Cobbett), 22 Capitol, U.S.: design of House, Senate chambers, 538-9, 563. See also Washington, District of Columbia Captina (Capteener) Creek, 370, 372 Carey, James: publishes pamphlets, 13n, 16, 417n, 462n Carlisle, Pa., 468n Carlisle College, 452n Carolina Gazette (Charleston, S.C.), 438n Caroline County, Va.: E. Pendleton’s address to freeholders of, 59n; political representation, 67n Caron (Carron), Peter (Pierre), 575, 577n Carondelet, Francisco Luis Hector, Baron de, 469n Carr, Mrs., 20 Carr, Dabney (TJ’s nephew): in TJ’s accounts, 251-2; correspondence with, 315; letter from cited, 316n Carr, Eleanor Carr (Nelly, Mrs. Samuel Carr), 92 Carr, Hester Smith Stevenson (Hettie, Mrs. Peter Carr), 92, 476 Carr, JeCerson, 92 Carr, John (b.1753): letter from, 84; education of sons, 84 Carr, Martha JeCerson (Mrs. Dabney Carr, TJ’s sister): letter to, 525-7; family news, 525-7; invests in U.S. loan, 526; letter from cited, 526n Carr, Mary Jane, 92 Carr, Peter (TJ’s nephew): letter to, 475-7; TJ sends news of public aCairs to, 50, 475-7; family, 92; forwards request, 102; runs for legislature, 241, 274, 526; TJ asks favor of, 475, 482, 522 Carr, Samuel (TJ’s nephew), 92 Carr, Thomas, Jr., 384n carriage tax: revenues from, 33, 277 Carter, Charles (of Blenheim), 545n
< 620>
INDEX Carter, Edward (d. 1792), 142 Carter, John, 141-2 Carter, William Champe, 92, 463, 515, 538 Carter’s mountain (Albemarle Co.), 143n Cary, Archibald, 492n Cary, Jane Barbara Carr (Jenny, TJ’s niece), 526, 527n Cary, Robert, & Co.: and settlement of Wayles estate debt, 229-31, 503; TJ’s account with, 491, 492n; and Cary, Moorey & Welch, 492n Cary, Wilson, 527n Case of Jonathan Robbins (Charles Pinckney), 226-7, 228n, 438 Castlereagh, Robert Stewart, second Viscount of, 165n Cathalan, Eulalie (Stephen Cathalan, Jr.’s daughter), 108 Cathalan, Stephen, Jr.: letter from, 1078; business aCairs, family, 107-8 Cathalan, Stephen, Sr., 108 Cathalan, Mme Stephen, Sr., 108 Catholic Church: American students in Rome, 559-60; in Louisiana, 593, 594-5n. See also Vatican census: data collected for, 293-5; legislation authorizing, 295n, 600, 601, 606 center. See lemon juice Ceracchi, Giuseppe: busts of Washington, 304; bust of TJ, 423 chains: manufactured at Monticello, 384 Chaldeans, 564, 567n charcoal: as fuel for Areplaces, 103, 272; prepared, used at Monticello, 270-2, 384 Charles (E. Randolph’s slave), 584 Charles, Archduke of Austria, 133, 134n Charles Frederick, margrave of Baden, 355, 380n Charleston, S.C.: Robbins incident, 1812n; C. B. Brown at, 276n; newspapers and politics in, 438 Charlottesville, Va.: social life, 20, 437; postal service at, 79-80, 196-7, 522; petitioning, 108; roads, 141; Bell receives shipments at, 172; and Callender’s Prospect Before Us, 194; Federalists at, 240-1; sales of TJ’s nails at, 271, 384n; merchants, 384n; courts held in, 475, 476, 482; physicians, 577n Chase, Samuel: W. Birch’s ties to, xlii; students learn law from, 468n; and
trial of Cooper, 493n; impeachment of, 522n; and trial of Fries, 522n; attacks TJ, 589, 590; and Monroe, 589; presides at Callender’s trial, 589-90; TJ scorns, 590 Chaudron, Simon: eulogizes Washington, 396, 417 Cheat River, 478 cheese: making of Parmesan, 208 chemistry: need for progress in, 127; research in, 291; in college curricula, 291-2, 316, 321, 452n, 472, 569; Chemical Society of Philadelphia, 291n; analysis of water from Sweet Springs, 317; and geology, 317, 444; TJ studies, 322n; and agriculture, 569 Cherokee Indians: language, 433-4, 436, 437n, 475; relations with U.S., 434n cherries: at Monticello, 92 Chester Co., Pa., 152 ChesterAeld. See Bermuda Hundred (Eppes estate, ChesterAeld Co., Va.) Chestnut Street Theatre (New Theatre; Philadelphia): J. Randolph confronted at, xlii, 305, 306n, 314; view of, xliixliii, 368 (illus.) Chickasaw Indians: language, 138, 436; visit Va., 246-8; U.S., Va. treaties with, 247n children: books, reading, 20-1, 536; illnesses of, 109n, 333, 582; slave, work in nailery, 271, 363; births, 286, 330n; deaths of, in infancy, 286n, 347, 360, 366; gifts for, 331, 536. See also Randolph, Anne Cary (TJ’s granddaughter); Randolph, Cornelia JeCerson (TJ’s granddaughter); Randolph, Ellen Wayles, II (TJ’s granddaughter); Randolph, Thomas JeCerson (TJ’s grandson) Chillicothe (Chelicothe), treaty of, 372, 373n Chipman, Nathaniel: Sketches of the Principles of Government, 68; TJ praises, 68; and common law, 430-1, 447; in Senate, 453n Choctaw Indians: language, 138, 436, 437n cholera, 454n Christian Advocate (Philadelphia), 353n Christianity: TJ’s views on, 285n; and political, philosophical outlooks, 350, 365; Washington’s views on, 352-3; and observance of sabbath, 589
< 621>
INDEX Church, Angelica Schuyler (Mrs. John Barker Church): letter to, 330; TJ’s friendship with, 330, 332 Church, Catherine (Kitty): letter to, 332; TJ’s aCection for, 330, 332; and TJ’s daughters, 330, 332, 333, 422, 533; letter from cited, 332n cider: made at Monticello, 360, 365 Cincinnati, 561n Cincinnati, Society of, 402n ciphers: for political correspondence, vii, 300, 301n Cisalpine Republic, 132 citizenship: and Robbins case, 181-2n City Gazette and Daily Advertiser (Charleston, S.C.), 438n City of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania North America (William Russell Birch): TJ subscribes to, xlii, 576n; views of city, xlii-xliv, 576n; TJ uses, values, xliv Claiborne, William C. C., 29n Clarinda (slave), 476n Clark, Bowling: sends tobacco to Richmond, 14; letter from cited, 15n; sends produce to Monticello, 270; sells tobacco, 497 Clark, Daniel: letters to, 135-6, 309-11; letters from, 27-9, 236-8, 593-5; intermediary for Nolan, 27-8, 135-6, 236-8, 309-10, 311, 594; identiAed, 29n; TJ’s correspondence with, 137; and shipments for TJ, 309, 310, 312, 593-4 Clark (Clarke), George Rogers, 573 Clarke, John, 541-2 Clarke, Samuel: letter to, 83; account with TJ, 35, 83, 191-2, 240, 248, 2689; letter from cited, 191n Clay, Mr., 501 Clay, Charles: letter to, 208-9; requests information on Parmesan cheese, 2089; letter from cited, 209n Clay, Henry, 326n Clay, Joseph (1769-1811), 184n Clay, Matthew, 184n Claypoole’s American Daily Advertiser (Philadelphia), 114n clergy: political inBuence in New England, 10, 17n, 72-4, 97; as proposed census category, 294; and science, 318n; Anglican, 369-70n; eulogizes Washington, 411; education of, 568 Clinton, George: role in election of 1800, 409, 455, 494-5; receives Appendix, 552; vice-presidential prospect, 556-7n clover: in TJ’s crop rotation plan, 197,
507; red, grown in Albemarle Co., Va., 507; killed by frost, 523 clover seed: ordered by, sent to TJ, 14, 42-3, 75; obtained in Philadelphia, 406, 420, 423 coal. See charcoal Coalter, John: letters to, 192, 240, 2689; letter from, 248-9; collects payments, 83, 109, 191-2, 240, 248-9, 268-9; identiAed, 192n; letter from cited, 240n Cobbett, William: letter from, 153-62; allusions to Cannibals’ Progress, 22; advocates war with France, Spain, 32; as P. Porcupine, 32, 320; Porcupine’s Political Censor, 32n; translation by, 39n; Life and Adventures, 153-4, 157, 161n; introduced to TJ, 153-5; conBict with TJ, 153-62; accused of desertion, 155, 161n; teaches English to émigrés, 156; early republican sentiments of, 157-9; Bloody Buoy, 158, 161n; on French Revolution, 161n; closes newspaper, leaves U.S., 320, 322n; criticizes Priestley, 320 Cocke, William, 600, 604 cod: tongues and sounds of, 76, 586 coCee: on TJ’s grocery lists, 76, 87, 89; varieties, 76, 89; Philadelphia coCee house, 90; obtained from Higginbotham, 270 Cointeraux, François: École d’Architecture Rurale, 144-5, 501; acquaintance with TJ, 501, 510n Colbert, Burwell (TJ’s slave): duties, 271, 363 Colle (Mazzei’s Va. estate), 544, 545n Collection of All Such Public Acts of the General Assembly, and Ordinances of the Conventions of Virginia, Passed since the year 1768, 255, 257n Collet, John, 605 Collot, Georges Henri Victor: collects intelligence, 468-9 Columbia, Va., 270, 474 commerce: as topic of college study, 321. See also United States: Economy Commercial Advertiser (New York), 557n, 562n common law: as political issue, 168-71, 179, 227, 232-3, 280n, 288, 295-6, 319, 325, 356, 357n, 447, 545; and Va. law, 169-70, 207; and Sedition Act, 171n, 233n, 357n; TJ urges test case of, 232; Va. legislature asserts position on, 280n, 288, 295-6, 299-300, 319,
< 622>
INDEX 325, 356; potential refutation of, by declaratory act, 356, 485; asserted in Senate debates, 416, 447, 545; relationship of English common law, natural law, 416, 447; and Senate proceedings against Duane, 416, 447; applied in states, 430-1, 447, 492-3; and selection of juries, 430-1, 447; and criminal law, 447, 545 Communications from Several States, on the Resolutions of the Legislature of Virginia: TJ receives, 446, 461 Comparison of the Institutions of Moses with Those of the Hindoos and Other Ancient Nations (Joseph Priestley), 349, 351n, 364, 472, 567, 568n Conard, Mr., 148 Condorcet, Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, Marquis de: Esquisse d’un tableau, 68; TJ concurs with views of, 127; philosophy of, 365 Condy, Elizabeth Hopkinson, 420n Condy, Jonathan W., 419-20 Conestoga, Pa.: murder of Indians at, 71 conferva, 397, 550 Congress Hall (Philadelphia), xlii-xliii, 368 (illus.) Connaissance des temps: ordered by TJ, 465, 466n, 510 Connecticut: Republicans in, vii, 16-18, 72, 74n, 455, 543; “bigotry” of, 10; boundary dispute with Pa., 25-6; charter claims to western lands, 25-6, 599, 607, 609; responds to Va. Resolutions, 174n; selection of presidential electors, 201; selection of jurors, 431n; Callender’s Prospect in, 432, 433n; prosecution of editor in, 521, 522n, 531; federal courts in, 522n; attorneys, 543; legislature, 543n Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, 294-5n, 600 Connecticut Courant (Hartford), 522n Connecticut Land Company, 25-6 Connolly, John, 370, 373n Constellation (U.S. frigate), 408, 410n, 456n Constitutional Convention: Madison’s notes on, 18; and bills regulating commerce, 408, 410n; Madison attends, 565, 567n Constitutional Gazette; and Republican Courier (Philadelphia), 114n Constitutional Telegraphe (Boston), 342 Constitution of the United States: TJ forecasts threats to, 36, 77, 97, 110,
227, 243, 358; preservation depends on peace, 55; and Alien and Sedition Acts, 173, 178, 278, 280n, 295, 590n; as compact of states, 173-4, 178-9, 288-9, 295, 495; principles of, aDrmed, 173-4, 178-9, 485; role of courts, states in determining constitutionality of laws, 174n; recommended changes to, 219; and elements of common law, 299-300; proposed amendments to, 300n, 407, 410n, 601; and selection of presidential electors, 300n, 324, 419; French coup demonstrates importance of, 354; and circumscription of common law by declaratory act, 356, 485; and Ross election bill, 382n, 439-40, 547-8; and independence of judiciary, 410n, 421; and privileges of Congress, 422, 453n, 453-4, 466-7n, 537; amendment v. legislative changes to, 439-40; need for declaration of rights, 485; general welfare (sweeping) clause, 547, 550 Conyngham & Nesbit (Philadelphia), 331, 334 Cooper, Thomas: letter from, 451-3; Political Essays, 319-20, 322n, 325, 443, 470, 485, 492; settles in Pa., 320, 322n; “On the Propriety and Expediency of Unlimited Enquiry,” 322n; defends Duane, 451-3, 466-7, 492-3; convicted of libel, 452n, 492-3, 521-2, 531, 536; identiAed, 452n; Political Arithmetic, 455, 456n, 481, 485; writing style criticized, 470; “Propositions” on civil government, 485, 486n; seeks position with Adams administration, 492n; receives Appendix, 551 Copland, Charles, 537-8 copper: mined in N.J., 3-4, 60, 355, 378-81, 547, 548n, 550; and federal incorporation, monopoly rights, 547, 548-9n, 610; for ships’ hulls, 547, 548n, 550; shortage of, 548-9n; sought in western territories, 548-9n, 606; corporations to mine, produce, 548n corks: ordered by TJ, 81, 82, 85, 93, 145, 246, 269, 276 corn: TJ buys, 80-3, 273n, 303n; for Pantops, 92, 119; for horses, 119; price of, 119; in TJ’s crop rotation plan, 197, 506-7, 518; harvested, 229; stored, 363; exhausts soil, 507, 518 Cornelius, William, 514 Cornstalk (Shawnee Indian), 479
< 623>
INDEX Correspondence between George Nicholas, Esq. of Kentucky, and the Hon. Robert G. Harper (George Nicholas), 204-5, 232-3 Coruña, Spain: U.S. envoys at, 475-6, 480, 482-3 Country Habitations (John Beale Bordley), 388n Coxe, Daniel W., 238 Coxe, Tench: letters to, 36, 112-14, 137, 285; letters from, 100-2, 132-4, 555-7; intermediary for D. Clark, 28, 136n, 137, 309, 310; hopes to establish Republican paper, 36, 100-2, 112-14, 132; prefers large, armed militia, 101; letters forwarded by Barnes, 102; and Forman, 114n, 285; sends foreign news, 132-4; and Pa. Land ODce, 285n; business ties to Pickering, 287, 288n; reports gossip, intelligence, 287-8; and Beckley, 296n; receives Appendix, 552, 553, 555-6; and Republican strategy, 556-7 Craven, John H., 222-3, 273n Creek Indians: government program to transform, 334-5, 437n; Hawkins describes, 335, 436; language, 335, 436 Cresap, Michael: and attacks on Indians, 69-71, 130-1, 260, 263n, 335-6, 370-3, 393, 449-50, 478-80; Logan addresses letter to, 398-9 Cresap, Thomas, 479 Crèvecoeur, Michel Guillaume St. John de: letter from cited, 144n Crew, Robert, 218 Cribs (Liston’s courier), 287 Cromwell, Oliver, 369, 395 Crowell, Capt. (Polly), 242 Cuba: white Havana sugar, 172, 178; bishop of La. from, 595n Culpeper Co., Va., 111n, 542 Cumberland Co., Va.: business aCairs in, 12, 210, 211n, 457, 459n Cumberland River: antiquities discovered along, viii, 195-6, 309; availability of lands on, 7 Cummens, James, 575, 577n Cummens, Thomas, 575, 577n Cuningham & Nesbitt. See Conyngham & Nesbit (Philadelphia) Curles (Randolph estate), 501, 503, 5078, 510n Currie, James: asks TJ’s help in recovering debt, 4, 22, 367; assists with arbitration, 209; letter from cited, 367n;
letters to cited, 367n; receives Appendix, 553 “Curtius.” See Thomson, John Cushing, William: charge to Va. grand jury, 41, 42n; on circuit, 465n Cuvier, Georges, 61-2 Daily Advertiser (New York), 341, 342n, 343 Dallas, Alexander J.: represents Duane, 451-3, 466-7; as Blount’s attorney, 453n; receives Appendix, 553 Dana, Samuel W.: in House debates, 64, 65n Danbury, Conn., 522n dancing: study of, 496, 568 Daniel, Chesley, 188, 245 Dares Phrygius, 340, 341n Darke, William, 492, 493n, 521, 531 Darlington (horse), 273n Darmsdatt, Joseph: supplies Ash for Monticello, 112, 116, 126n, 149-50, 591 dates, 586 Daubenton, Louis Jean Marie, 528, 530 Daveiss, Joseph Hamilton, 264n Davenport, William: and renovation of Monticello, 20, 148, 272; letter to cited, 149n Davie, William R.: appointed envoy to France, 46n, 144, 212, 279, 338; political ambitions, 302; returns to U.S., 456n; forwards letters, 465n; in France, 465n; arrives in Europe, 4756, 477n, 480, 482-3; secretary for, 475-6, 480, 482-3; arrives in Paris, 561. See also France: U.S. Relations with Davis, Augustine: and TJ’s letters to Callender, 180-1n, 202n; publishes Federalist newspaper, 181n Davis, Cornelius, 351n Davis, Isaac, 542 Davis, Thomas T., 262, 263n Davis’s tavern (Fredericksburg, Va.), 361n Davy. See Hern, David Dawson, John: has Madison’s conAdence, 279, 299 Day, Thomas: History of Sandford and Merton, 20-1 Dayton, Jonathan: stiBes debate in House, 64; in Senate, 453n deafness: and sign language, 311
< 624>
INDEX Dearborn, Henry, 551 Debates in the House of Delegates of Virginia, upon Certain Resolutions before the House, upon the Important Subject of the Acts of Congress Passed at their Last Session, Commonly Called, the Alien and Sedition Laws, 117, 122, 137 debt: N.Y. legislation on, 4-5; imprisonment for, 281, 282n Declaration of Independence, 156, 170 Dedham, Mass., 429 De la Grange, Joseph E. G. M., 396n Delamotte, M.: engineer, 540-2 Delamotte, F. C. A.: and TJ’s Anancial transactions, 40; forwards letters, 1445; letter to cited, 442n Delaware: Cobbett’s residence in, 153-6; responds to Va. Resolutions, 174n; selection of presidential electors, 201; businesses, 396n; Indians of, 411 Delaware Indians: language, 393; missionaries among, 393 Delaware River: freezes over, 51, 75, 376 De La Warr, Thomas West, fourth Baron: governor of Va., 412 Denning, William, 557 De Paw. See Pauw, Cornelius de Derby, Elias Hasket, 602 Derieux, Justin Pierre Plumard: misfortunes of, 544, 545n; TJ gives Anancial assistance to, 544 Derieux, Maria Margarita Martin (Mme Justin Pierre Plumard Derieux), 544, 545n Desaix, Louis Charles, 134n Desfourneaux, Edmé Etienne Borne: commissioner to W. Indies, 24, 30-1, 34, 37; letter to Adams, 44, 45n, 48 Dexter, Samuel: on president’s term of oDce, 324; in Senate, 382n, 454n, 605; asserts principles of common law, 447, 545; named secretary of war, 581 Dick (E. Randolph’s slave), 583 Dickey, Capt. (Little Sam), 239 Dickinson, John: letter to, 417; letters from, 445, 567; receives pamphlet, 417, 445; political opinions, 445; receives Appendix, 551, 567; regard for TJ, 567 Dickinson College, xli, 452n Didot, Pierre and Firmin: develop printing process, 145n Dinsmore, James: witnesses indenture, 199; housejoiner at Monticello, 270, 272-3n, 354, 364; terms of employ-
ment, 272-3n; letter to cited, 355n; letter from cited, 364n Dionaea muscipula: venus Bytrap, 535 Direct Tax (1798): opposition to, vii; needed to pay for defense measures, 5; anticipated revenue from, 33; need to augment, 306, 358; amendment of, 598, 599, 609; and valuation of houses, 602. See also Fries Rebellion Discourses on Davila (John Adams), 429-30 dishes, 586 Dismal Swamp: Green Sea land investments, 216, 218, 234, 235, 239, 506, 508, 511n, 515 Divers, George: resides in Albemarle Co., 108, 109n, 323; letters from cited, 109n; letters to cited, 109n Divers, Martha Walker (Mrs. George Divers), 20 Dixon, John, 165n Dobson, Thomas: books purchased from, 87, 587, 588n; prints APS Transactions, 549-50 dogs, 271 Dolly (E. Randolph’s slave), 584 Donald & Burton: and Short’s business aCairs, 145n Donald & Fraser (Petersburg), 226 Dorsey, Mr., 102 Dougherty, Felix, 559-60 Dover (Goochland Co., Va.): T. M. Randolph’s land at, 390-1 Dover tract (Va.): Short considers buying, 507, 511n Dowse, Edward, 429-30, 551 Duane, Margaret Bache, 454n, 493n Duane, William: letters from, 453-4, 466-7; and J. Ogden, 72-3; assaulted, 152-3n; and Cobbett, 153-62; publishes Liston’s letters, 153n; imprisonment at Calcutta, 154, 160, 161n; and Callender, 163-4; receives payment, 342n, 575, 577n; Senate prosecution of, 408, 410-11n, 416, 422, 447, 451-4, 466-7, 476, 481, 483, 491, 492, 493n, 521n, 537, 603-6; identiAed, 453-4n; and TJ’s statement for Aurora, 458n, 460n; goes into hiding, 466-7, 476, 483, 492, 521n; indictments against, 521, 522n, 531, 536; and Madison, 524-5; comments on Federalists, 563n, 581n; updates, sells GiCord’s work, 575, 577n. See also Aurora (Philadelphia)
< 625>
INDEX Dublin, Ireland: political activities in, 134n, 381-2; O’Connor imprisoned in, 165n. See also Trinity College (Dublin) Ducos, Pierre Roger, 336-7, 344-5 dueling, 376-7 Dugnani, Antonio: letter to, 559-60; correspondence with TJ, 510n; acquaintance with TJ, 559-60; letter from cited, 560n Dumfries, Va.: TJ stops at, 186 Dumouriez, Charles François Du Périer, 88n Dunbar, Rev. John, 215n Dunbar, William: letters to, 137-9, 311; letter from, 203; source of information about west, 28-9, 136, 236-7, 311; TJ opens correspondence with, 136, 1379; identiAed, 138-9n; scientiAc pursuits, 138-9n, 203, 311; letter from cited, 139n; records sign language, 310, 311 Dungeness (Randolph estate), 537 Dunmore, John Murray, fourth Earl of: and Logan’s speech, 70, 130, 372, 373n, 393, 435n; imposes peace on Shawnees, 373n, 399, 479 Dunmore’s War: causes, beginning of, 370, 373n, 477-80 Du Ponceau, Peter Stephen, 434n du Pont, Gabrielle Joséphine de la Fite de Pelleport: wife of V. du Pont, 327, 329 du Pont, Victor Marie: returns to U.S., 313-15, 331; family, 314n, 327, 329, 331; part of family enterprise, 327-9, 531n Du Pont (de Nemours), Père, Fils et Compagne, 530-1n du Pont de Nemours, E. I., & Co., 396n du Pont de Nemours, Éleuthère Irénée: arrives in U.S., 314n; family, 314n, 327, 329; part of family enterprise, 327-9 Du Pont de Nemours, Françoise Robin Poivre: relation to Bureaux de Pusy, 95-6; precedes husband to U.S., 292n, 305, 314n, 331; qualities of, 327, 329; TJ hopes to see, 481, 483, 496; sends regards to TJ, 529, 530; mentioned, 315 Du Pont de Nemours, Pierre Samuel: letters to, 313-14, 495-6, 578; letters from, 326-9, 385-6, 527-31, 558-9; on education, ix, 495-6, 527-31, 558; plans to settle in Va., 92, 327, 328,
481, 483, 531n; marriages, 95, 96n; moves to U.S., 95-6, 104, 264-5, 292, 305-6, 313-15, 321, 326-9, 331, 340; carries letters, news of friends, 175, 328, 329; family, 264-5, 305, 314n, 327-8, 329; TJ praises, 292, 340-1, 481, 495; does not speak English, 313, 327, 328; career in France, 327, 328; expected in Philadelphia, 327, 328, 362, 385-6; departure from Paris, 328, 329; political views, 386; sees TJ, 481, 483; association with National Institute of France, 496, 529, 530, 531n, 578n; invited to Monticello, 496, 524, 591; founds company, 527, 529, 530-1n; “Mémoire” on primary schools, 529, 530, 531n; Vues sur l’éducation nationale, 529, 530; treatise on national education, 531n; and APS, 578; essay on plants, polyps, and insects, 578 du Pont de Nemours, Sophie Madeleine Dalmas: wife of E. I. du Pont de Nemours, 327, 329 DuVal, N. P., 584 DuVal, William, 583-4 Dwight, Timothy, 294n Dyer, Mr., 551 Earley, Paschal, 542 eastern states. See New England East India Company, 454n Eclogues (Virgil), 496n École d’Architecture Rurale (François Cointeraux), 144-5, 501 Eden, William, 155, 161n Edgehill (Randolph estate): TJ disputes title of land near, 257n; renovated, 323, 368; Randolphs at, 389, 406, 415, 535, 582-3 Edmonds, Elizabeth Short, 215n, 259, 501, 510n Edmonia (E. Randolph’s slave), 583 education: TJ assesses state of knowledge, learning, viii, 126-9, 341; as foundation of republicanism, 21; of Va. planters’ sons, 84-6; respective roles of schools, self-education, 127, 496; importance of printing, freedom of press to, 128, 351; for physicians, 152n, 291-2, 568-9; universal, 219; college, university curricula, 291-2, 316, 320-1, 495-6, 567-70; teachers as proposed census category, 294; uselessness of “Oriental” learning, lan-
< 626>
INDEX guages (Hebrew), 320, 496; and European learning, 320-1, 346, 496, 528, 530, 569; TJ proposes new university, 320-1, 346, 496, 567-70; proposed military academy, 321, 323n, 547; primary schools, 340, 527-31, 558; academies and secondary schools, 381, 496; role of colleges, learned societies, 527, 529; national systems of, 527-30; as weapon against prejudice, 528, 530; of clergy, 568; British universities, 569, 570; college seeks congressional aid, 605. See also William and Mary, College of Edwards, Pierpont: changing political aDnities of, 74n; prosecutes Holt, 522n; receives Appendix, 551 Edwin, David, xli, xlv Egypt: French expedition to, occupation of, 132, 133, 134n, 219, 221n, 403 election of 1796: Cobbett’s role in, 160; charges against TJ, 162n; method of choosing electors, 194-5, 201; Burr’s dissatisfaction, 556n election of 1800: prosecution of press and, vii, 492, 526, 531; role of N.Y., vii, 301, 409, 455, 482, 494-5, 499500, 509, 511n, 512, 546, 554-5, 557, 558, 560, 561, 581; Republican prospects, vii-viii, 152, 408-9, 455, 482, 490, 494-5, 499-500, 560, 581; method of choosing electors, 299-301, 319, 324-6, 354, 356-7, 455, 509, 512, 524; constitutional issues, 324, 43940; Republicans fear Federalist maneuvers, 324-5; in Pa., 325n, 419, 560; and postponement of new taxes, 343; Callender works toward, 376-7; anticipated, 405; compared to 1796, 409; TJ shuns ceremony, attention in Va., 462, 489-90, 499, 588-90, 591n; campaign of slander and defamation, 464-5, 526, 531; issue said to be executive v. legislative power, 465; people will accept will of majority, 465; uncertainty of outcome, 465; bill to prohibit troops at polls, 476, 477n, 480-1, 483, 491, 499, 604; in Va., 482, 490; potential C. C. Pinckney candidacy, 509, 512, 561, 562-3n, 581; Federalists fear results of, 524, 531, 536; Republican vice-presidential candidates, 5567; Senate motion respecting votes, 612. See also Ross, James Elementa Medicinae (John Brown), 129n
Elements of the Philosophy of the Human Mind (Dugald Stewart), 68 Elguezábal, Juan Bautista de, 236-7, 238n Elizabeth City Co., Va., 33n Elk Hill (TJ’s estate): rental of, 66-7, 77; purchase of by Banks, T. Taylor, 146-7, 162-3; tobacco crop, 209-10 Elk Island, Va., 163n Ellicott, Andrew: letter from, 592-3; source of information about west, 28; recommends D. Clark, 29n; astronomical research, 592; and Adams, 592-3; boundary survey, 592-3; Journal, 593n Elliott, Matthew, 477, 479 Ellsworth, Oliver: appointed envoy to France, 45-6n, 64, 65, 67, 144, 212, 279, 338; J. Ogden applies to work for, 72; asserts principles of common law, 171n, 227; political ambitions, 302; returns to U.S., 456n; arrives in Europe, 475-6, 477n, 480, 482-3; secretary for, 475-6, 480, 482-3; arrives in Paris, 561. See also France: U.S. Relations with Ellsworth, Oliver, Jr.: secretary to American envoys, 475-6, 480, 482-3 Elwes (Elwees), Mr., 551 Engleterre (ship), 378, 379 Enniscorthy (Coles estate, Albemarle Co.), 174n Epicurus: TJ studies, 284-5 Episcopal Church, 17n, 340, 369-70n Eppes, Mr., 588 Eppes, Betsy, 147 Eppes, Elizabeth Wayles (Mrs. Francis Eppes, TJ’s sister-in-law): TJ’s aCection for, 14, 92, 147, 315, 484; TJ invites to Monticello, 147; TJ’s regards to, 274, 334, 368, 422; M. Randolph’s aCection for, 582-3 Eppes, Francis (TJ’s brother-in-law): and politics, 12; and TJ’s Anances, 12; TJ’s aCection for, 14, 92, 147, 315, 484; recommends lowland Va., 13940; and Wayles estate, 146-7, 229, 231n, 375, 457-9, 470; TJ invites to Monticello, 147; manages TJ’s aCairs, 255; TJ’s regards to, 274, 334, 368, 422; M. Randolph’s aCection for, 582-3 Eppes, John Wayles (TJ’s son-in-law): letters to, 12-13, 119, 146-7, 274, 3334, 421-3, 531-2; letters from, 286, 362, 377, 386-7, 440-1, 533; death of daughter, ix, 286n, 347, 360, 366,
< 627>
INDEX Eppes, John Wayles (cont’d) 367; and sale of land, 12, 139, 508; as slaveholder, 12, 274; TJ sends news, papers to, 12-13, 315, 333-4, 531-2; business, plantation aCairs, 14, 75, 76n, 81n, 92, 119, 139, 274, 315; correspondence with TJ, 14, 331, 367-8, 368, 369, 393-4, 484; and wife’s health, 54, 362, 377, 386-7, 389, 4212, 440-1, 525-6, 533, 535; TJ’s aCection for, 75, 92, 315, 368; health of, 91-2, 119; and TJ’s business aCairs, 146-7, 333, 364, 387, 533; invited to, visits Monticello, 147; letters from cited, 147n, 274n, 286, 334n, 361n, 423n, 484n; orders herring, 149; and TJ’s support of Callender, 181n; property in Albemarle Co., 190n, 508; birth of daughter, 286, 324, 331, 333; at Eppington, 286; travels, 440; at Mont Blanco, 531, 535-7, 546, 581; receives Appendix, 553. See also Pantops Eppes, Mary JeCerson (Maria, Polly, Mrs. John Wayles Eppes, TJ’s daughter): letters to, 13-14, 75, 91-2, 314-16, 367-9, 484; letters from, 78-9, 139-40; death of daughter, ix, 286n, 347, 360, 366, 367, 389; inBammation of breasts, ix, 362, 366, 368, 377, 386-7, 389-90, 394, 413, 415, 422, 440; piano for, xliv; correspondence with TJ, 12, 139, 147, 274, 333, 368, 369, 421, 531, 533; TJ hopes to visit, 1314, 75, 92; relationship with sister, 14, 54, 75, 78-9, 140, 347, 366, 368, 38990, 394, 413, 441, 473, 484, 526, 531, 535-6, 582; health of, 54, 55n, 78, 912, 119, 139, 286, 315, 324, 331, 333, 415, 473, 483-4, 525-6, 531, 533, 535; manages household, 78; aCection for T. M. Randolph, 78-9; TJ’s aCection for, 119, 147, 274, 315, 367-8, 422, 484, 532; invited to, visits Monticello, 140, 147, 368, 481, 483, 484, 526, 531, 535-6; letters from cited, 147n, 274n, 315n; birth of daughter, 286, 324, 330, 332, 333; TJ sends news of politics, government to, 314-16; and C. Church, 330, 332, 333, 422, 533; and Albemarle Co. society, 354; TJ consoles, 367-8; aCection for TJ, 377, 441; tables for, from Philadelphia, 484; at Mont Blanco, 533, 536-7, 581. See also Pantops Eppington, Va.: as Eppes family seat, 14, 147, 368, 422n; birth of TJ’s
granddaughter at, 286; TJ hopes to visit, 315, 462, 473, 474, 483, 484, 526, 531; postal service to, 333; M. J. Eppes ill at, 389-90, 413, 415, 526, 531, 535; Randolphs visit, 390-1, 403, 406, 414; TJ visits, 590-1 Erving, George W.: introduced to TJ, 349, 395, 461; and Monroe, 461-3, 489, 490, 499; TJ appoints to position, 463n Esquisse d’un tableau historique des progrès de l’esprit humain (Marquis de Condorcet), 68 Essay on Ophthalmia, or InBammation of the Eyes (Elijah GriDths), 152n Essays and Notes on Husbandry and Rural ACairs (John Beale Bordley), 387-8 ethics. See philosophy Euclid, 126 Eulogium, On the Character of General Washington (William Jackson), 402 Evans, Cadwalader, 338 Evans, Oliver: Young Mill-Wright, 117, 122 Evans, Thomas: wins, holds seat in Congress, 33n; Arm Federalist, 113, 114n, 306n Evans, Thomas (agent of Farell & Jones), 210-11 Everett, Charles, 575, 577n Examination of the Connecticut Claim to Lands in Pennsylvania (William Smith), 26 Examiner (Richmond): prints Republican essays, 98n; begins publication, 163, 165n; threatened, 165n, 180; Callender contributes to, 194, 268, 376-7, 432, 525; defends TJ, 211n; TJ subscribes to, 376; and TJ’s debt to Farell & Jones, 427-8, 458-60n; and Callender’s arrest, 589n extradition. See Robbins, Jonathan Fagg, John: supplies planking, 270, 272, 273n, 474 Fairlamb, Mr., 150 Farell & Jones: and Wayles estate, 147n, 210-11, 234-5, 239, 242, 250, 457-61, 503, 511n Faris, George, 148n Faris, H., 149 Faris, John, 148n Faris, R., 148 Faris, William, 136
< 628>
INDEX Farley, Elizabeth Hill Byrd. See Skipwith, Elizabeth Hill Byrd Farley Dunbar Farley, James Parke, 215n Farmington, Va., 109n Fauquier Co., Va., 111n feathers: for bedding, 352, 375 Federal Carolina Gazette (Charleston, S.C.), 438n Federal District. See Washington, District of Columbia Federal Gazette and Philadelphia Evening Post. See Philadelphia Gazette Federalists: and Ky. and Va. resolutions, 4-5, 40; in N.Y., 5, 554, 557; in New England, 10, 72, 134n, 351n, 492, 509-12, 554n; losing their dominance, 12, 546-7, 573, 579; in Va., 15n, 164, 165n, 180, 181n, 205n, 240-1, 250-1, 289, 381, 432-3, 490, 541-3; characterized as Illuminati, 17n, 351n; called tories, British party, 36, 57, 77-8, 243, 320, 432, 438, 445, 485, 554, 589; excessive expenses, taxes of, 36, 41, 77, 110, 201, 290, 306, 343, 358, 439, 471, 546-7, 573; referred to as war party, 36, 55, 64, 77; measures backed by military power, 41; divisions within, 45, 46n, 48, 50, 63-4, 243-4, 290, 296-7, 301-2, 320, 337-8, 509, 512, 562-3n, 581; hold caucuses, 45n, 296-7, 303, 561, 562-3n; and France, 49, 297, 343; and military proAteering, 77; and XYZ aCair, 77-8; still powerful in Sixth Congress, 97; prowar, pro-British wing of, 101, 243, 290, 297, 301-2, 524; restrained, cautious element of, 101, 297, 301-2; successes in Va., 110-11, 113-14, 499; views of progress of knowledge, 128, 129n, 341, 350-1; fear Lafayette, 134n; and election of 1796, 162n; champion common law, 168-71, 227, 356, 357n, 545-6; manipulate public opinion, 180, 279, 462, 509, 512, 554-5, 557; and Callender, 181n, 525n; newspapers, 181n, 320, 322n, 438; discredited by British actions, 223, 227, 233; strive for monarchy, 227, 243, 250-1, 320, 324, 430, 495; excluded from oDce, 243, 250-1, 266; exclude Republicans from oDces, 243; in western states, 266; in N.C., 279, 485; swayed by Madison, 289; consider war against France, 296-7, 303, 454-5; and changes in selection of presidential
electors, 300n, 324-5, 326; in House of Representatives, 306-7n, 343, 407; and potential dismemberment of union, 324; some prefer lifetime term for president, 324; thought to promote, capitalize on political disruption, 324; and election of 1800, 324-5, 408-9; in Pa., 324-5, 358; and St. Andrew’s Society, 337; supposed bigotry of, 341; foresee restoration of monarchy to France, 343, 345; supported by banks, 343; and Illuminati, 350-1; and Robbins case, 358; associated with British citizens, 381; in Senate, 408, 411n, 416, 563n, 579; in S.C., 438; some rue U.S. independence from Britain, 469; favor merchants, speculators over farmers, manufacturers, 471; opposition to France as touchstone of, 493n, 524, 534; form, promote electoral tickets, 494-5; John Marshall as Va. leader of, 499, 588-9; and C. C. Pinckney candidacy, 509, 512, 561, 562-3n, 581; called Federalist party, 509, 512; misled by temporary opinions against France, 509, 512; desperate to hold power, 524, 531, 536, 556, 581; scorn public opinion, 579, 581 Feldkirch, battle of, 133, 134n fencing, 496, 568 Fennell, James, xlii Fenner, Arthur, 551, 554n Fenno, John: death of, 322n Fenno, John Ward: publishes Gazette of the United States, 320, 322n Fenwick, Joseph: letter to cited, 442n Ags: on TJ’s grocery lists, 75 Ares: measures to prevent, combat, 56-7, 183; insurance against, 186-8, 571-2; in Va. cities, 188n; at Philadelphia Gazette, 322n Fischer. See Fiszer, Stanislaw Ash: cod tongues and sounds, 76, 586; barreled herring, 112, 116, 149n, 149, 383-4, 591; barreled shad, 112, 116; TJ settles accounts for, 149, 150n; Ashing in Va., 315 Fisher, Daniel, 583 Asheries: legislation, 603 Fiszer, Stanislaw, 60 Fitch, John, 220-1n FitzSimons, Thomas: serves on Jay Treaty commission, 39, 161n Flanders: linens from, 523 Bax, 399n
< 629>
INDEX Fleming, John: TJ’s account with, 82, 124, 125n, 145; letters from cited, 125n; letter to cited, 125n Fleurieu, Charles Pierre Claret, 562n Florence, Italy, 134n, 304 Florida, West, 139n, 592n, 594 Bour: price, sales of, 124, 125, 136, 1456; in accounts with Fleming, 125n, 145 Floyd, Catherine (Kitty), 439n Floyd, William: letter from, 438-9; and Republican politics, 438-9; and Madison, 439n; receives Appendix, 552, 553, 554n Fluvanna Co., Va., 476n fodder: damaged by rain, 189 Folwell, Richard, 392n Forman, Ezekiel: publishes newspapers, 113, 114n, 132, 133n; association with Coxe, 114n, 285n Fossett, Joseph (TJ’s slave): assumes some of Jupiter’s duties, 363; works in forge, 384, 385n Fourcroy, Antoine François de, 317 Foushee, John H., 290n, 357n Foushee, William: E. Randolph debt to, 583-4; conveys letter, 588, 590; on Va. Council, 589n Fowler, John, 214, 262, 263n, 501 Fragments sur Paris (Friedrich Johann Lorenz Meyer), 87-8
Economy market for U.S. tobacco, 105, 167, 189, 408, 413-15, 443, 489, 532; and 30 Prairial, 223n; market for wheat, 489; Du Pont’s company, 530-1n Foreign Relations Saint-Domingue independence movement, 9-11; and Russia, 13n; and Louisiana, 32n; with Spain, 32n; and Irish insurgents, 133, 220, 221n; with Hamburg, 220, 221n National Assembly relations with TJ, U.S., 265n; mourns Franklin, 396n National Institute of Arts and Sciences sends Du Pont de Nemours to U.S., 496; papers delivered before, 529, 530, 531n, 578n
Constitution subverted, 344-5, 354; of the Year VIII, 403, 405n; prospect of new, representative, 403-4
Politics and Government Madison on, 19n; and phases of French Revolution, 94-6; elections, 95, 96n; Council of Five Hundred, 134n, 344-5; continuity of sovereignty, 169, 171n; coup of 18 Brumaire, 221n, 333, 334n, 336-7, 341-5, 351, 354, 357-8, 360, 374, 403, 405n, 488-9; legislative councils, 221n, 223n; coup of 30 Prairial, 223n; potential restoration of monarchy, 297, 343, 345, 374; Louis XVIII claimant to throne, 336; Council of Elders, 344-5; suppression of Chouans, 404, 406n; Conservative Senate, 405n; Legislative Body, 405n; Tribunate, 405n
Consuls and Lafayette, 357-8, 386; Roman model for, 357-8, 386; as triumverate, 381, 416; form of government under, 405n
Society search for ruins of Thebes, 132, 134n; memorialization of Franklin, 396; Bureau des Longitudes, 465n; education and literacy, 527-31
Directory decrees on treatment of American, neutral sailors, 13n, 23, 30, 31, 34, 37, 49; replaces Hugues in W. Indies, 24, 30-1, 34, 37; disposed to negotiate with U.S., 44, 46-7, 50, 67, 302; and elections, 96n; overthrown, 221n, 343, 344-5; powers limited, 223n; as failed model of plural executive, 336-7; members, 337n; and factional divisions, 3445; new government claims continuity with, 476, 480, 483
U.S. Relations with U.S. suspension of trade, ix, 9-10, 22, 24, 32, 105-6, 111, 189, 190n, 209, 212, 216, 218, 230, 280n, 288, 299, 314, 315-16n, 331, 333, 339, 343, 359, 383, 408, 413-15, 441-3, 543-4, 603; and Saint-Domingue, 9, 32; retaliatory act by U.S., 12-13, 23, 24, 30, 31, 34, 598; treatment of captured seamen, 12-13; diminished prospect of war, 18-19, 21, 22, 34, 37, 39, 44-50, 77; news biased by British, Germans, 19n; interference
France
< 630>
INDEX France (cont’d) with U.S. shipping, commerce, 24, 30, 31, 34, 38, 132, 343, 509, 512, 559, 560, 608; and return of Retaliation, 24-5, 30-1, 34, 37; machinations of British government, 32, 153n; provocations by U.S., 32, 38, 65, 101; and Jay Treaty, 34; cartels, exchanges of prisoners, 34-6, 37, 39, 44, 48-9, 464, 465-6n; and law of nations, 38, 47, 64, 67; and U.S. public opinion, 38, 49, 66, 509; new U.S. envoys appointed, 44-6, 47, 95, 338; France seeks new negotiation, 44-50, 52, 55, 63-4, 65, 67, 95, 132, 195, 525n; bill to encourage capture of French privateers, 65n; U.S. not central object of French policy, 101; lessened potential of U.S. alliance with enemies of France, 133; and maritime insurance rates, 133-4n; expectations for new envoys, 144, 212, 219, 279, 302, 305, 315, 331, 339, 358, 375-6, 381, 404, 413, 415, 443, 531-2, 560, 561, 570; consuls, 144-5n; U.S. debt, 156, 161n; U.S. recognizes continuity of French sovereignty, 169, 171n; treaties, 175-6n; and French aid to American Revolution, 175n; may provoke Britain, 219-20, 492; before French Revolution, 265n; reduced need for U.S. military augmentation, 279, 280n; Federalists and, 296-7, 303, 454-5, 493n; cabinet divided over new negotiation, 301-2; and trade by neutral vessels, 315n; and U.S. consul for French colonies, 315n; U.S. safe from eCects of potential French political collapse, 345, 489; potentially fatal example of Bonaparte’s seizure of power, 354, 358, 374, 481-2, 4889; and values of U.S. government securities, 375-6; resistance to a new treaty, 381, 409, 415, 422; U.S. craves news after Brumaire coup, 381, 383, 408, 414, 422, 433, 455; arrival of Ellsworth, Murray, and Davie in Paris, 404, 475-6, 477n, 480, 483, 561; envoys reported in Lisbon, 408, 409, 413, 415, 422, 475, 480, 482; warships engage, 408, 410n, 456n; TJ writes letters for travelers, 442; Portsmouth, dispatches sent to envoys, 455, 456n,
461, 463, 473, 476, 480, 483; and prospects of British-French peace, 461; Benjamin Franklin sails under Bag of truce, 464, 465-6n, 509, 512, 527, 529; schemes for French control of Mississippi Valley, 467-9; news of envoys awaited, 473, 499, 521, 524, 536; dispatches from Ellsworth, Murray, Davie, 475-6, 477n, 480, 483, 492; and commerce, 489; Americans alienated by French depredations, 509, 512; renewed war in Europe to bring U.S.French accommodation, 524; negotiations opened, 561, 562n; prospects for new treaty, 591; bill on captured French citizens, 599. See also Gerry, Elbridge; Talleyrand-Périgord, Charles Maurice de (Bishop of Autun); XYZ aCair War with Britain and Second Coalition treatment of neutral nations, commerce, 12-13, 38, 101; composition of coalition, 30, 31, 34, 38, 95, 133; naval movements, 132-3; in Egypt, 132-4, 219, 221n, 403; battleAeld losses to Austria, 133, 134n, 223, 227, 232-3, 248-9, 279; and papacy, 133, 134n; Prussian neutrality, 133, 134n, 249; in Switzerland, 134n, 218, 221n; French victories, 218-19, 221n, 358; sailors in Dutch Beet, 219, 221n; French invasion of Canada feared, 287; and governance of France, 297, 405n; and Brumaire coup, 333, 343; prospects of peace, 333, 336, 354, 358; Bonaparte’s peace overtures, 403-4, 405-6n, 461, 473-4; prospects of renewed warfare, 404, 492 Francis (Italian émigré), 99, 100n Francis, John: account with, 69, 575, 577n, 582, 587 Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, 406n Francis’s hotel: TJ stays at, 69, 417n, 582; residents at, 184n Frank (Hop’s slave): hiring of, 270, 273n Frank (TJ’s slave): prepares charcoal, 272 Franklin, Benjamin: family of, 189n, 544; acquaintances of, 228; and American science, 308n; memorialized, 396; productive later years of, 528, 530
< 631>
INDEX Fredericksburg, Va.: and TJ’s trips to, from Philadelphia, ix, 11, 13, 31, 50, 305, 360, 361n, 363, 474; newspapers at, 37, 164, 165n; postal service at, 7980, 382, 383; Ares in, 188n; inns, taverns, 360, 361n; residents of, 413n; controversial dinner in, 589; mentioned, 480 Frederick William III, King of Prussia, 133, 134n Freemasons: and Illuminati, 350-1; in Pa., 396n, 417 Freire, Cipriano Ribeiro: letter from, 54; interested in tobacco cultivation, 54; identiAed, 54n French, Mr., 146 French language, 88n, 220, 335n, 381, 427 French Originals of All the Documents, Translations of Which Accompanied the Message of the President of the United States, of the 18th January, 1799, 24, 30 French Revolution: feared, condemned by Federalists, 42n; Lafayette on, 945; Terror condemned, 161n; and continuity of law, 169, 171n; counterrevolutionary movements, 404, 406n; declared at an end, 405n; Cooper, Duane support, 452n, 454n Freneau, Peter, 438, 552 Freneau, Philip, 438n, 468n Friendly Remarks to the People of Connecticut Upon their College and Schools (John C. Ogden), 73n Friend of the People (Richmond): established, 238-9, 289-90; TJ subscribes to, 388; publication interrupted, 432, 433n Fries, John, 152n, 521-2 Fries Rebellion: militia assaults journalists reporting on, 151, 152-3n, 525n; characterized, 153n; trials, 521-2 Frothingham, David, 492-3 fruit trees: at Monticello, 92, 323, 523 Fry, Joshua, 583 Fulton, Robert: experiments, inventions, 144-5, 501; in France, 144-5; Treatise on the Improvement of Canal Navigation, 144-5, 501 Funeral Oration on Brother George Washington (Simon Chaudron), 396, 417 furniture: made in Philadelphia, 484, 577n, 588 furs: Kosciuszko’s appraised, 51
Gahn, Henry, 60 Gales, Joseph, 39n Gallatin, Albert: Speech . . . Upon the Foreign Intercourse Bill, 16-17; Substance of Two Speeches, 37, 39n; attacks Alien Friends Act, 64-5, 117, 137, 346, 347n; supports Republican measures, 357n, 408, 410n; receives Appendix, 552; Republican liaison, 556-7n Gallego, Joseph, 124, 125, 136 Gamble, Robert, 305 Gamble & Grattan, 109 gardening: classiAed as an art, 340 Gardner, Henrietta, 392, 587 Gardner, William, 392n Garland, Edward, 526n, 542 Garrett, Alexander: and postal service at Charlottesville, 12n, 79-80; letter from cited, 79n Garth, Thomas, 143n Gates, Horatio: role in election of 1800, 409, 455, 494-5; receives Appendix, 552 Gayoso de Lemos, Manuel, 236-7, 238n Gazette of the United States (Philadelphia): reports news, 35n; Fenno the younger publishes, 320, 322n; publishes Adams’s Davila, 430n Geismar, Baron von: letter from, 378-81; business aCairs, 3-4, 60, 355, 378-81; letters from cited, 4n, 355n; as prisoner of war, 378, 379; letters to cited, 380n, 570 General Advertiser (London), 454n Genesee River Valley, N.Y., 7 Genet, Edmond Charles, 468-9 Genius of Liberty (Fredericksburg, Va.), 164, 165n geography: in college curricula, 321, 340, 569; in primary schools, 340 geology: mineralogy, 291n, 452n, 569; stone formation in N.C., 317; in college curricula, 321, 452n; and earth science, 444 George (1730-1799, TJ’s slave): death, 347, 348n, 523; overseer at Monticello, 348n George (1759-1799, TJ’s slave): illness, 54, 83, 109, 110; manages nailery, 83, 109, 110, 385n; death, 347, 348n, 523 George III, King of Great Britain: signs act of union, 134n; toasted, 158, 3378; rumored death of, 331, 332n, 333, 336; Bonaparte appeals to, 404, 4056n, 473n
< 632>
INDEX Georgetown, Md., 244, 290n Georgia: availability of lands in, 7; politics in, 10; price of tobacco, 106n, 115, 338-9; selection of presidential electors, 201; Indians, Indian agencies in, 334-5; selection of jurors, 431n; land cessions, 547, 549n, 607-8, 611; and Miss. Terr., 547, 549n, 605, 607, 609; Congress assents to acts of, 602, 604 Gérard, Conrad Alexandre, 175-6n Gérard de Rayneval, Joseph Mathias: letter from, 175-6; presses claim of brother’s family, 175-6 German language, 220, 427 Germany: adulterates news about France, 19n; English-language newspapers in, 132; and Illuminati, 350-1; associated with secrecy, mysticism, 351; technological experimentation in, 397; education and literacy, 528, 530. See also Austria; Hamburg, Germany; Prussia Gerry, Elbridge: correspondence with Talleyrand published, 18-19, 21-2, 24, 30, 34, 40, 52; departure from France, 44, 47; delivers items, respects from Americans in France, 51, 145n, 501, 510n; and J. Ogden, 72; Cobbett criticizes, 159; candidate for governor, 464, 494n, 509, 511n, 512, 556; relationship with TJ, 464; envoy to France, 509; receives Appendix, 551, 553. See also XYZ aCair Giannini, Antonio, 99, 464, 544 Gibson, Alexander, 247-8 Gibson, John: letter to, 449-51; letter from, 435; translates Logan’s speech, 130, 372; ties to Logan’s family, 372; and Logan aCair, 435, 449-51, 47780, 552; seeks clerkship, 435, 450-1; deposition of, 477-80; family, 478; letter from cited, 479n; letter to cited, 479n Gibson, Patrick: G. JeCerson’s business associate, 85, 150, 179-80, 591; and T. M. Randolph, 403, 428. See also JeCerson, George, & Co. Gibson & JeCerson: letter from, 591; handle TJ’s business aCairs in Richmond, 577n; handle shipments for TJ, 586, 591 GiCord, John: History of France, 575, 577n Giles, Martha Peyton Tabb, 437 Giles, William Branch: in Va. legislature, 250-1, 280n; letter to cited,
251n; introduces instructions to Va. senators, 278, 280n, 288, 295-6, 299300, 319, 325; supports Va. Resolutions, 289; presidential elector, 357n; marriage, 437; receives Appendix, 551 Gillette, Edward (Ned, TJ’s slave): loses house and contents, 363 Gilliatt & Kirby, 583 Gilman, John Taylor, 510, 511n, 512 Gilmer, Dr. George, 244, 544 Gilmer, Lucy Walker (Mrs. George Gilmer), 541, 544 Glasgow: TJ’s tobacco shipped to, 106, 121, 122n, 458n; merchants, 229n; source of news, 562n Glass, Samuel, 601 Gloucester Co., Va., 32-3 Godwin, William, 276n, 350-1, 365 gold: U.S. coins, 197-8, 576, 577n, 579 Goochland Co., Va.: land transactions, 162-3; on route to Mont Blanco, 536 Goode, Mr., 124, 125 Goode, Samuel: Federalist in Congress, 113, 114n, 306n Goodhue, Benjamin, 13n Goodrich, Chauncey, 434n Goodwin, George, 522n Gordon, Thomas: and Anancial transactions, 298, 329, 361; letters from cited, 298n; letters to cited, 298n Gore, Christopher, 132, 134n, 429 government: as topic of college study, 321; potential for progress in study of, 341 grains: TJ grows, 119, 200n; and overseas trade, 216, 333, 415; subordinate to tobacco, 216; supplant tobacco, 387n; winter, 440; in crop rotation plans, 506-7, 518. See also rye; wheat Granger, Gideon: promotes Republican cause, 16-18, 74n; writes for Impartial Herald, 17-18; receives Appendix, 551 grasses: in TJ’s crop rotation plan, 197 Grave Creek, 449-50 Gray, Edwin, 113, 114n Great Britain Economy and American tobacco, 11, 105-6, 11112, 218, 415, 443; eCects of paper money, 11, 133; relationship of taxation, exports, 33; TJ compares to U.S., 33; stocks, 133; commercial ties to Va., 218; and Hamburg failures, 305, 333, 343; high price of wheat, 531
< 633>
INDEX Great Britain (cont’d) Foreign Relations and Saint-Domingue, 9-11; with Russia, 23-4, 30, 34 Ireland insurgency, reform, dissent in, 132, 158, 165n, 220, 221n, 381, 382n; act of union, 133, 134n; French, Spanish intervention feared, 133; administration of, 165n Laws and claims to western lands, 25; admiralty courts and rights of neutrals, 231; and U.S. bankruptcy act, 471. See also common law Navy mutiny of Hermione, 181-2n; Nautical Almanac, 592 Politics and Government prospects for changes in, 101, 158; liberties compared to those in U.S., 157-9; seditious libel, treason, 165n, 492; Parliament as model for legislative procedures, 400-1; public opinion favors peace, 404; exemplar of corruption, 426; speaker’s chamber in Commons, 539 Society evidence of Roman era, 129n; education and literacy, 528, 530; universities, 569, 570 U.S. Relations with role of debts, 5; interference with U.S. shipping, 24, 30, 31, 34, 38, 228n, 343; and Pitt, 32, 94, 156, 249; prospects for alliance or new treaty, 32, 404; undue inBuence of British in U.S., 36, 97, 243, 290, 320, 469, 471; resolution of debt claims, 39, 210-11, 457-61; and interception, publication of Liston’s dispatches, 151, 153n, 287-8; relations between Liston and Adams, 153n; and U.S. relations with France, 153n, 219-20, 404, 492; Cobbett accused of being British agent, 155-6; and conAscation of property, 171n; Robbins case, 180, 181-2n, 227, 228n, 358, 408, 410n, 421; Callender remarks on, 195; British actions discredit Federalists, 223, 227, 233; peace crucial to, 243; potential U.S. assis-
tance to Canada, 287; English investment in U.S. loan, 455; and interest on prerevolutionary debts, 458-60n, 491, 492n; as counter to French, Spanish in North America, 467-8; prospect of armed conBict, 473; British dominance at sea aCects correspondence, 543-4; and supply of copper, 548n. See also Jay Treaty; King, Rufus War with France and W. Indies trade, 9-10; adulterates news of France in U.S., 19n; composition of coalition, 30, 31, 34, 38, 133; treatment of neutral nations, commerce, 38, 231, 473; naval blockades, 94; Britain, allies oppose liberty, 95; French, Spanish Beet movements, 132-3; invasion of Batavian Republic, 218-19, 221n, 251, 328, 329, 358; coalition weakens, 221n, 358; and Prussian neutrality, 249; invasion of Canada feared, 287; potential restoration of French monarchy, 297, 405n; and Brumaire coup, 333; prospects of peace, 333, 336, 354, 358; Bonaparte’s peace overtures, 403-4, 4056n, 461, 473-4; prospects of renewed warfare, 404, 492. See also Egypt Greathouse, Daniel: and murder of Logan’s kin, 70, 130, 263n, 370-2, 449-50 Greathouse, Herman, 70 Greathouse, Isaac, 70 Greece: classical philosophy, 284-5; literature, 340, 341n Greek language: in curricula, 291n, 33940, 381, 469n, 496, 568-9; Wythe uses, 539 Green, Ashbel, 352-3 Green, Capt. (Nymph), 220n Green, Moses, 542 Greenbrier Co., Va.: lands in, mortgaged to TJ, 146-7 Greene, Ray, 597, 602, 603 Greenhow, Mr. (Williamsburg), 68 Greenleaf, Anne, 493n Greenleaf, Thomas, 425, 493n Greenleaf’s New York Journal, & Patriotic Register (New York), 425 Green’s Almanack and Register, for the State of Connecticut, 16-17
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INDEX Green Sea. See Dismal Swamp Grenville, William Wyndham, Lord: and French peace overtures, 473-4 GriDn, Cyrus, 465n GriDn, John Tayloe: debt to Short, 2212, 502, 510n GriDth, Thomas Waters: visits TJ, 144, 464, 466n, 501; letter from cited, 144n; writings, 144n GriDths, Elijah: letter from, 151-3; comments on politics, 151-3; Essay on Ophthalmia, 152n; identiAed, 152n; TJ corresponds with, 212; letter to cited, 212n groceries: sent by TJ from Philadelphia, 58, 75-6, 87, 88, 91, 93 Guadeloupe, W.I.: France imposes control on privateering from, 24, 30-1, 34, 37, 44, 45n, 49; British capture of, 469n; Collot in, 469n Gunn, James, 324, 424, 487 gunpowder: exportation of, 607 guns: telescopic sights for, 203n habeas corpus, 452 Habersham, Joseph: and postal service to, from Va., 12n, 79-80 Haden, George, 514 Haden, John, 246-8 Hague, The: as channel for French diplomatic overture, 44, 46, 47, 49, 50, 67; Short’s service at, 153; British embassy at, 155, 161n “Hail Columbia” (Joseph Hopkinson), xlii Halifax, N.C., 227, 228n Hall, John, 492, 493n Hamburg, Germany: and correspondence between U.S., Europe, 87, 90, 132, 133n, 144-5, 543-4; as tobacco market, 112; newspapers, 132; Americans at, 218-21, 337-8, 403-6, 426-7; consul at, 220, 405, 427; economic diDculties, 220, 305, 331, 333-4, 342, 343, 473; punished by French, 220, 221n, 328, 329; Bureaux de Pusy at, 265n; Lafayette in, 328, 329 Hamilton, Alexander: report on vacant lands, 7, 8n; and relations with SaintDomingue, 45n; and Federalist divisions, 46n, 64, 297, 337-8, 563n; and command of provisional army, 97-8; newspaper attacks on TJ, 161n; relations with Adams, 297, 337-8, 563n,
581n; rumored toast to George III, 337-8; political inBuence, 430n, 581n; and TJ, 430n, 563n; accuses Argus of libel, 493n; rumored collusion with Liston, 493n; E. Livingston comments on, 495; Reynolds aCair, 522n Hamilton, Andrew (Pa.), 535n Hamilton, William (of the Woodlands): letter to, 533-5; acquaintance with TJ, 533-5; identiAed, 535n; advice on plastering masonry, 579 Hancock, George, 110-11 Hanover Co., Va., 541 Hanson, Richard: TJ’s payments to, 146, 147n, 235, 239, 242, 250, 511n; as agent of Farell & Jones, 457-61, 503 Harding, John, 612 Harding, Seth, 602, 603, 606, 607 Hardware River (Albemarle Co.), 273n Harper, Robert Goodloe: correspondence with G. Nicholas published, 204-5; scorns Adams, 338; chairs ways and means committee, 410n; and Judiciary Act of 1801, 434n Harris, J. (Albemarle Co.), 93 Harris, James, 505-6 Harrison, Benjamin (1726-1791), 492n Harrison, Benjamin (of Brandon), 224 Harrison, Benjamin, Jr.: and Short’s aCairs, 144-5, 213-15, 502, 515; executors of estate of, 213-15, 224, 234, 510-11n Harrison, Carter Bassett: letter to, 21314; and Short’s business aCairs, 21314, 224, 502; identiAed, 214n; on Republican ticket, 357n Harrison, Mary Allen, 249 Harrison, Nickolls & Co., 224 Harrison, William Henry, 214n, 282n Harry (E. Randolph’s slave), 584 Hartford, Conn. See Connecticut Courant (Hartford) Harvard College, 265, 266n, 424 Harvie, John: letter to, 252; subscribes to insurance plan, 186; family of, 252, 357; land dispute with TJ, 252-9; as land oDce register, 255, 257n; letters from cited, 257-8n; letters to cited, 257-8n; and Short’s business aCairs, 506, 511n; receives Appendix, 553 Haswell, Anthony, 492, 493n, 521, 531 hats: TJ orders, 124, 136, 148 Hawkins, Benjamin: letter to, 435-7; letter from, 334-5; reports on Indian aCairs, 334-5; Sketch of the Creek
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INDEX Hawkins, Benjamin (cont’d) Country, 335; records Indian vocabularies, 435-7; receives Appendix, 551 Hawkins, John Isaac: designs, builds pianos, 365-6, 575, 577n Hawkins, William, 334-5, 435-6 Hay, George: and batture case, 231n; and Va. attorney generalship, 432-3; defends Callender, 589-90n Heath, William: and Mass. politics, 97, 98n; receives Appendix, 551 Hebrew: TJ criticizes “Oriental” learning in universities, 320, 496; as metaphor for arcane language, 436 Heckewelder, John: letter from, 393; and TJ’s account of Logan’s speech, 373n, 393, 552 Hellen, Thomas, 398, 399n Hemings, Critta (1769-1850), 272 Hemings, Elizabeth (Betty): family, 385n Hemings, Harriet (1795-1797), 274n Hemings, John: carpentry work, 271, 273n Hemings, Peter: cooks at Monticello, 270; receives Arewood, 272 Hemings, Robert: in Richmond, 118; purchases goods for TJ, 135, 148-9 Hemings, Sally: receives Arewood, 272; birth of daughter, 274; as M. J. Eppes’s maid, 274 Hemings, Thenia, 274 Henderson, Bennett (d. 1793): TJ’s suit against heirs of, 165-6, 176, 190, 193, 199n, 205-8, 217; TJ buys property of, 199n Henderson, Bennett Hillsborough, 208 Henderson, Charles, 208 Henderson, Eliza (Elizabeth), 208 Henderson, Elizabeth Lewis (Mrs. Bennett Henderson), 193n Henderson, Frances, 208 Henderson, Isham, 208 Henderson, James, 208 Henderson, John: transports goods, 104, 148, 178; administers father’s estate, 176, 208, 217 Henderson, Lucy, 208 Henderson, McCaul & Co.: TJ indebted to, 105, 441, 460n; purchaser of TJ’s tobacco, 122n; successor to Kippen & Co., 460n Henderson, Nancy Crawford, 208 Henderson, Sally (Sarah), 208 Henderson, William, 208 Hendrick, John, 302
Hening, William Waller: New Virginia Justice, 117, 122, 136-7; clerk of, 476n Henrico Co., Va.: early settlement, 507; elections, 537-8, 541 Henry, Patrick: named to, declines mission to France, 46n, 64, 65, 67; TJ on character of, 110, 114; elected to assembly, 110-11, 114; death of, 111n, 133, 134n, 509, 544; Green Sea land speculation, 216, 506 Hephaestus, 341n Hermione (ship), 181-2n Hern, David (Davy, TJ’s slave): tasks of, 271 Heron, James, 515 Heron, William, 74n Heth, Mr., 302 Heth (Heath), William, 507 Hickman, Mr., 323, 359 Hickman, James, 252, 258n Higby, Mr., 58 Higginbotham, David: furnishes groceries, supplies at Milton, 149, 172, 270, 271; TJ’s account with, 252n; receives wheat, 272, 414 High Mountain. See Montalto Hill, Henry, 542 Hillhouse, James: and TJ’s letters to Callender, 180-1n, 202n; asserts principles of common law, 545; in Senate, 598, 600, 603 Hindustan. See India Hippocrates, 127, 390 history: in college curricula, 321 History of France (John GiCord), 575, 577n History of Sandford and Merton (Thomas Day), 20-1 History of the Administration of John Adams (John Wood), 460n History of the First Discovery and Settlement of Virginia (William Stith), 41213 Hite, Isaac, Jr., xliii, 232n Hite, James Madison, 232n Hite, Nelly Conway Madison (Mrs. Isaac Hite, Jr.), 232n Hockhocking River, 478 Hodgdon, Samuel, 287, 288n Holcomb, Hezekiah, 74n Holland. See Batavian Republic Holmes, David, 113 Holstein, 328, 329 Holt, Charles: publishes Bee, 74n, 433n; prosecuted, 521, 522n, 531; receives Appendix, 551
< 636>
INDEX Homer, 129n, 340, 341n Homes. See Holmes, David Hooe, James, 463 Hoomes, John, Jr., 442 Hoomes, John, Sr., 442 Hop, Richard, 273n Hopkins, James, 577n Hopkins, John, Jr., 181n, 541 Hopkinson, Ann Borden, 420n Hopkinson, Emily MiEin, 420n Hopkinson, Francis, 420n Hopkinson, Joseph, xlii, 419-20 Hornblower, Josiah, 548n Hornsby, Joseph, 142n horses: to be sent for TJ’s trip home, 11, 31, 50, 473, 474, 483, 484, 497, 526, 531, 535-7, 546; of trans-Mississippi west, 27, 135-6, 236-7, 309-11, 594; feed for, 119; of Siberia, Tatary, 237, 309-10; forage for, 272, 363; sale of TJ’s Darlington, 273n; TJ seeks to buy mustang, 310-11, 594; Indian, presumed stolen by whites, 478; and Bies, maggots in cities, 565-6; stabled in Philadelphia, 577n; mortgaged, 584 Hot Springs, W. Va., 151 Hotze, Friedrich, 133, 134n Houdon, Jean Antoine, 303-4 House, Mary, 567n Howell, David, 551, 554n Hudson, Barzillai, 522n Hudson, Christopher, 142 Hudson River, 397, 412 Hughes, William, 193n Hughes, Wormley (TJ’s slave): assumes some of Jupiter’s duties, 363 Hugues (Hughes), Victor, 24, 30-1, 34, 37 Hull, Andrew, 74n Hundred. See Bermuda Hundred (Eppes estate, ChesterAeld Co., Va.) Hunting, Benjamin, 557 Hurt, John, 73, 74n, 579, 580n Hyde, George, 588 Hyde’s ordinary (Orange County, Va.), 360 Hylton, Daniel L., 461n, 583-4 Iliad (Homer), 340, 341n Illinois: availability of lands in, 7, 611 Illuminati: as political characterization, 17n, 351n; origins, thought of, 349-51, 364-5; feared, attacked, 349-52 Impartial Herald (SuColk, Conn.), 17 impeachment, 522n
Incidents of the Insurrection in the Western Parts of Pennsylvania, in the Year 1794 (Hugh Henry Brackenridge), 468n Independence Hall, xlii, xliii Independent Chronicle (Boston): prints Republican essays, 98n; subscriptions to, 342 India: British-French rivalry in, 132, 163; Duane in, 154, 160, 161n, 454n Indiana: availability of lands in, 7, 175n Indiana Company, 253 Indiana Territory: created, 547, 549n, 606, 608 Indian Camp. See Short, William Indian Field. See Tufton (TJ’s estate) Indian Queen: Philadelphia tavern, 577n Indians: art, antiquities of, viii, 195-6, 309, 310, 312, 585, 593-4; languages, viii, 137-8, 139n, 203n, 247n, 311, 335, 393, 402, 412n, 433-7, 475, 479; depicted as savages, 6; compared to Tartars, 27; interaction with whites in Ohio Valley, 69-71, 260, 263n, 370-4, 397-9, 449-50, 477-80; killed at Conestoga, 71; origins of, 137-8; lack of knowledge of western tribes, 138, 311, 594; sign languages, 203n, 237, 310, 311, 594; of colonial Va., 225; and Christian missionary activity, 247n, 393, 602; white prejudice against, 260; scalped by whites, 373; taken prisoner, 398, 449; treatment of prisoners, 398-9; of middle colonies, 41112; in Notes on Virginia, 411-12; and disease, 564. See also Chickasaw Indians; Creek Indians; United States: Indian ACairs Innes, Harry: letters to, 130-1, 335-7; letters from, 69-71, 260-4; on Logan’s speech, 69-71, 130-1, 260, 263-4n, 335-6, 398; recommends judiciary changes, 260-3, 336; forwards letters, 309n, 311n, 312n, 336, 345; receives news, 336-7; receives Appendix, 552 Innes, James, 544 insurance: maritime, and war, 24, 38, 134n; of tobacco crops, 116; against Are, 186-8, 571-2; insurers as proposed census category, 294 Introduction to Natural Philosophy (William Nicholson), 68 Iredell, James: asserts principles of common law, 171n, 227; and Wayles estate suits, 458; and Fries prosecution, 521-2n
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INDEX Ireland: aftermath of uprising, 132-3, 220, 221n; British act of union, 133, 134n; parliament of, 134n, 165n; political movements in, 158, 165n, 381, 382n; newspapers, 165n; source of news from Britain, Europe, 248-9, 336; Irish linens, 523 Irigoyen, Joseph, 238n Irujo, Carlos Fernando Martínez de, 61 Irvine (Irving, Irwin), Gen. William, 551, 553 Isham, George, 601 Italy: formation of republics in, 132, 545; and pope’s exile, 134n; in war against coalition, 134n, 404; Parmesan cheese, 208; military actions in, 219; Americans in, 405, 427; education and literacy, 528, 530; science, learning in, 545, 567n Jack (Mallory slave): leaves, 112, 118; hiring of, 270, 273n Jackson, Andrew, 205n, 454n Jackson, David: Anancial transactions, 123, 342, 343n, 575, 577n; supplies medicines, 586, 588 Jackson, George, 551 Jackson, James, 159, 552 Jackson, William: letter to, 402; eulogizes Washington, 402 Jamaica, 11n, 182n James (TJ’s slave), 271 James City Co., Va., 532 James River: boat transport on, xliv, 82, 91, 104, 135, 148, 176, 423; bounds Elk Hill, 162; low water in, 167; fork of, 227, 228n; toll bridges, 537n James River Company: Short’s shares in, 144-5, 215, 224-5, 235-6, 284, 298, 302, 318, 329, 361, 418, 420, 504-6, 508, 511n, 515, 519; prospects, operations of, 224-5, 233-4, 284, 505; borrows from investors, 504, 511n, 516; canal reaches Richmond, 505, 540 Jarvis, William, 553 Jay, John: governor of N.Y., 5n; and negotiation with Algiers, 200, 202n Jay Treaty: as ongoing political issue, 17n, 531; costs of, 33; and U.S. relations with France, 34; and claims of British creditors, 39, 159-62, 228n, 458-9; and U.S. claims, 134n; breakup of claims commission, 15962; debt claims as political issue, 159-
62, 268n, 457-61; and separation of powers, 169; and extradition, 181-2n, 421; pretexts for abrogating, 219-20, 404; and sentiments in west, 467-8 JeCerson, Anne Lewis JeCerson (Mrs. Randolph JeCerson), 20 JeCerson, George: letters to, 14-15, 57-8, 63, 80-1, 88-9, 93, 111-12, 117, 120, 124-5, 135, 145-6, 148-9, 149-50, 167, 172, 182, 209-10, 210-11, 215, 234-5, 246, 251-2, 269, 286, 297-8, 361-2, 369, 388, 406-7, 418, 423, 428, 431, 448-9, 519-20, 520; letters from, 42-3, 43, 82, 86-7, 90-1, 96, 116, 118-19, 122, 126, 136-7, 147-8, 149, 177, 178, 204, 224-5, 233-4, 235-6, 239, 242-3, 250, 276-7, 284, 318, 329-30, 361, 385, 393-4, 428-9, 437-8, 467, 520, 532, 540; handles shipments for TJ, xliv, 42-3, 89, 90-1, 93, 96, 116, 11819, 120, 135, 136, 145-6, 148-9, 167, 172, 177, 178, 204, 234, 269, 270, 276, 297-8, 361-2, 369, 385, 449, 484; handles TJ’s business aCairs in Richmond, 12, 14, 58, 80-2, 112, 120, 126n, 146, 147-9, 185-6, 216n, 251-2, 286, 298, 318, 329, 363, 388; seeks clover seed, 14, 42-3; sends pamphlets, newspapers, books, 14, 117, 136-7; and sale of TJ’s tobacco, 14-15, 43, 57-8, 63, 86-7, 88, 111-12, 120-6, 135, 211, 235, 239, 242, 250, 383, 388, 407, 428-9, 437-8, 448-9; arranges bookbinding, 117-18, 122; receives commissions, 120; and payments to Callender, 164, 179-80, 182; and lawsuits, arbitrations, 166, 167, 176, 209-10, 225; visits Monticello, 179; conveys information to, from Callender, 195, 202n, 238; letters to cited, 202n, 474n; and TJ’s Wayles estate debts, 210-11, 234-5, 239, 242, 250; letters from cited, 210n, 385n, 467n; and Short’s canal stock, 215, 224-5, 233-4, 236, 284, 298, 302, 318, 329-30, 361, 414, 418, 420, 516; miscellaneous errands, services, 234, 239, 246, 349, 376, 393-4, 406, 520; TJ’s account with, 277, 298; forwards letters, 368, 369, 393-4, 406-7, 421, 425, 440; assists T. M. Randolph, 390, 403, 406, 413-15, 418, 420-1, 423, 425, 428, 430, 431, 438, 448, 467, 473, 482, 483n, 562, 575, 5767n; agent in New York, 418n; collects payments, handles transactions for
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INDEX Short, 501-2, 510n, 519-20, 532, 540; described, 502 JeCerson, George, & Co.: letters to, 82, 302-3; letters from, 85, 104-5, 125-6, 150; handles TJ’s business aCairs in Richmond, 58n, 82, 85, 104, 123, 124n, 125, 150, 176, 179-80, 302-3; payments to, 123, 302; and T. M. Randolph’s mortgage payment, 403, 428; handles transactions for Short, 498-9, 574. See also Gibson & JeCerson JeCerson, Martha (Patty) Wayles Skelton (Mrs. Thomas JeCerson), 163n JeCerson, Peter (TJ’s father), 208 JeCerson, Randolph (TJ’s brother): gives medicine to slave, 347; at Monticello, 347; Jupiter dies at home of, 360, 363 Jefferson, Thomas Agriculture describes tobacco cultivation, 54; crop failures, diseases, 119; wheat harvest, 147; devotes much of day to farming, 182; rains damage crops, 189; crop rotation plans, 197, 198n, 506-7, 518; Ands farming too subject to “long avocation,” 222; seeks tenants, 222-3, 507; speciAcations for cart wheels, 229; moldboard plow, 387, 455-6, 549-50; values farming over commerce, 559; Albemarle properties unproAtable, 562. See also clover seed; corn; Bour; Monticello; rye; Shadwell (TJ’s estate); tobacco Architecture plans for Rumford Areplaces, 102-3; and pisé construction, 144-5, 501; relationship of city design, health, 183-4; design for Barboursville, 326n; role of luxury in study of, 340; donates window sashes to W. Bache, 354, 355n; Madison asks about stuccoing brick, 482, 579-80; interest in French buildings, 501; advice on design of Capitol chambers, 538-9, 563; cites Palladio, 579, 580n. See also Monticello Business and Financial ACairs uses A. Key’s funds, ix, 414; uses Short’s funds, ix, 58n, 80, 414, 418, 502-4; in Cumberland Co., 12; pressed for funds, 35, 80-3, 191, 196; and Delamotte, 40; with Mon-
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roe, 40, 538; land rentals, 66-7, 197-200, 222-3, 273n, 323, 359; account with J. Francis, 69, 582; and U.S. loan, 75-6; debt to Henderson, McCaul & Co., 105, 441; needs nailery income for ready money, 110, 191-2, 270, 271, 502; possible use of tobacco proceeds to buy clothing, 115-16; use of credit, 115-16; strategy for sales in rising, falling markets, 124; land transactions, 140-3, 162-3, 210, 211n, 2529, 457, 459n; draws plats, 143n, 256, 257n; debts to British Arms become political issue, 159-62, 268n, 457-61; mill at Shadwell, 165-6, 193, 199n, 208, 217, 270, 271; insurance, 186-8, 571-2; speciAes specie payment in contract, 197-8; account with D. Ross arbitrated, 209-10, 225; arranges draft for W. Bache, 245-6, 286, 298, 342, 353-4, 355n, 414; dispute with Harvie, 252-9; aCected by absences on public service, 255-6; instructions for work in his absence, 2703, 363-4, 383-4; Tufton property, 271, 273n; employs Dinsmore, 2723n; smiths to produce chains for sale, 384; draws cash, 392n, 575-6; Monroe and R. Brooke’s debts, 413, 463; standing credit and debt tied to tobacco crop, 432; opposes wartime interest on debts to Britain, 458-60n, 491; debt to Kippen & Co., 458n, 459n; debt to W. Welch, 470; keeps Anancial memoranda, 502; provisions of will, 503; mortgages slaves, land, 503-4, 511n; drafts form of lease for Short, 506-7, 518; draws up statements of account, 513-17; makes extracts from Anancial memoranda, 516n; notations on Barnes-Short statement of account, 517n; account with T. M. Randolph, 562; Poplar Forest proAtable, Monticello not, 562; Statement of Account from John Barnes, 575-8; makes donations “in charity,” 576n. See also Barnes, John; Gibson & JeCerson; JeCerson, George; JeCerson, George, & Co.; Monticello; Richardson, Richard; Shadwell; Short, William; Stamp Act (1797); Van Staphorst & Hubbard; Varina; Wayles estate
INDEX Jefferson, Thomas (cont’d) Character called a liar, 155; charged with misrepresenting aid to Callender, 1801n, 202n; eschews arrogance, 321; praised, 403, 567; called philanthropist, 563; Chase maligns, 589, 590 Correspondence and interception of mail, vii, 19, 33, 40, 52, 57, 201, 228, 240-1, 244, 246, 388, 485, 525n, 544, 545; uses ciphers, vii, 300, 301n; “Mazzei letter,” viii, 154, 156, 159; delays in delivery of post, 11-12, 79-80, 179, 367-8, 369; avoids writing letters, 33, 57, 201, 241, 244, 315, 333, 341, 407, 465; merchants refuse to carry political letters, 90; delays in overseas mail, 94, 543-4; identiAes nonpolitical letters, 137; uncertain of post rider’s integrity, 196-7; withholds frank, signature from letters, 201, 228, 544, 561; uses private means to send letters, 300, 408, 485; misses post days, 304-5; to New Orleans by river, sea, 311n, 593; diDculty of conveying parcels, 349; sends letters by Portsmouth, 463, 465n; sends letters by Benjamin Franklin, 464; copies letters from memory, 500, 511-13; fails to retain press copies, 500; aCected by international events, 543-4; restricts his overseas correspondence, 544 Educational Theories and William and Mary, viii-ix, 291, 316, 317-18n, 320, 323n, 340; seeks to create new Va. university, ix, 320-1, 323n, 339-40, 346, 495-6, 527-31, 567-70; plan of education praised, 21; state of learning in science, mathematics, 126-9; dismisses study of “Oriental” learning, languages (Hebrew), 320, 496; and European learning, 320-1, 496; and proposed military academy, 320-1; economic factors, 321; role of classical languages, 339-40; Bill for the More General DiCusion of Knowledge, 340, 341n; some subjects require no teacher, 496; plan for system of schools in Va., 527, 529
Health complains of sore eyes, 79; improved, 544 Law on distribution of debtors’ property, 23n; and Wayles estate suits, 23n, 457-9; studies colonial charter claims to western lands, 25-6; collects and preserves Va. laws, 117-18, 122, 150; R. Johnson lawsuit, 148n, 171n, 343, 585n; suit against B. Henderson’s heirs, 165-6, 176, 190, 193, 205-8, 217; on common law, 168-71, 179, 227, 232, 416; and procedure for insurance company liens, 187; advises, assists W. Bache, 188-9, 190n; Batture case, 231n; and reorganization of chancery courts, 241, 344; and land dispute with Harvie, 252-9; legal commonplace books, 400, 520; desires E. Randolph’s abrigment of laws, 406, 407n, 520; on selfpreservation of public bodies, 416, 422; as law student, 520 Library prepares course of reading for W. G. Munford, viii, 68, 99; and Birch’s City of Philadelphia, xlii, xliv, 576n; 1815 sale of books to Congress, xliv; cites literature, 13; books obtained for, 40, 75, 87-8, 117, 122, 136-7, 275-6, 308, 322n, 387-8, 392n, 406, 407n, 465, 466n, 510, 520, 576n, 587, 588n; bookbinding, 11718, 122, 588; sends collection of Va. laws to bindery, 117-18, 122, 150; Short sends new printing of Virgil to, 144-5, 501; and renovation, expansion of Monticello, 273n; and works of Action, 275-6, 308; studies Epicurus, 284-5; newspapers for, 339, 425; reads Homer in Greek, English, 340, 341n Minister to France and disposition of U.S. debt, 156, 161n; Algiers negotiation, 194; absence from Va., 255-6; returns to U.S., 457; acquaintance with Dugnani, 559 Nailery nailrod and iron stock for, xliv, 42, 43, 93, 96, 112, 118-20, 130, 135, 146,
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INDEX Jefferson, Thomas (cont’d) 148, 166, 173, 185, 204, 234, 269, 272, 276, 363, 384, 502; accounts with S. Clarke, McDowell, 35, 80, 83-4, 92-3, 109-11, 191-2, 196-7, 200, 240, 248, 268-9, 352, 375; and extension of credit to purchasers, 35, 110, 191-2, 502; labor requirements, productivity of, 83, 109-10, 146, 271, 502; management of workforce at, 83, 348n, 363, 384, 497n; Madison orders nails from, 146, 172-3, 174n, 319; sizes, types of nails, 172, 200, 384-5n; nailrod purchases require ready money, 192, 502; nailrod returned to supplier, 270, 298, 361-3, 369, 384, 385, 393, 474; to provide income for groceries, 270; miscellaneous sales of nails, 271, 273n, 383, 384-5n; nails sold in Milton, Charlottesville, 271; will take feathers in payment, 352, 375; management, recording of sales, 363, 384-5n; nailrod for T. M. Randolph, 384; account with Richardson, 385n; loss of nailrod at sea, 407, 428, 449; to Anance farm operations, 502; proAts, 502; uses Short’s funds to buy nailrod, 502. See also Powell, Mr. Opinions on waning Federalist strength, 12, 321; fears inBuence of SaintDomingue, 29-30; on dangers of backlash to insurrection, 35-7, 243; sees nation at critical juncture, 36; on threat of constitutional abuse, 36, 77-8, 97, 110, 227, 243, 354, 358, 485; on Adams’s potential use of army for political purposes, 44, 97-8, 227, 354; on prospects of relations with France, 52-3, 211-12, 415-16, 489; war would unify nation, threaten republicanism, 52-3; on rising spirit, progressive mind of American people, 53, 77, 128, 321, 341; U.S. as asylum of liberty, goodness, 53, 341; on debt, interest rates, debtors, 55, 191; men more bloodthirsty than tigers, 62, 492; favors exclusion of armed vessels from U.S. ports, 97; favors internal commerce, 97; on burden of public life, 99; pessimism, 99; on freedom of speech, press, 110, 128, 351; on
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natural basis of human society, 127; on perfectibility of humankind, 127; rejects idea that progress of knowledge has stopped, 128, 129n, 341; hopes that man will And favor with heaven, 131; on violation of constitution, 173, 178; on force in opposition to law in Va., 180; on ambition, 183; on dreams, 183; on stages of life, 183; on cities, 183-4; on eCects of property liens on farmers, 187; on mutual insurance societies, 187; on selection of presidential electors, 194-5, 300-1; on prudence in face of yellow fever, 212; fears Federalists intend a monarchy, 227; on candidacy for president, 301; U.S. must return to republican principles, 301; on morality, vice in works of Action, 308; warns against speculation in money, land, 313; low opinion of Va. Tidewater region, 320; nation “navigation-mad,” “commercemad,” “navy-mad,” 320; in praise of Va., 320; optimism, 330; on rumored death of George III, 331, 333, 336; on Bonaparte, Brumaire coup, 333, 336-7, 341, 343-5, 351, 354, 357-8, 360, 369, 395, 414, 488-9; distrusts merchants, credit, 334; criticizes form of territorial government, 336; on absence of rule of majority in France, 344-5; positive eCects of U.S. distance from European problems, 345, 395, 489, 559, 570; on Illuminati, their critics, 349-52; on restrictions of German society, 351; on Washington, adulation of Washington, 394, 417; opposes standing armies, 395, 489; on medical treatments, 415; on extent of change in U.S., 436; dislikes being “Mannequin” of ceremony, 462; on potential armed conBict with Britain, 473; on proxy war by privateers, 473; never allowed diCerences in politics, religion, or philosophy to aCect friendship, 488, 534; asks only peace, prosperity from France and world, 489, 492, 570; bellicosity of Europeans, 492, 531; on importance of paper to civilization, 550; U.S. peaceful, hard-working, 559; aversion to national debt, 570
INDEX specting rights of minority, 354, 570; and American Revolution, 395; paper speculation, commerce v. agriculture, 395, 559; innate American spirit of order, acceptance of rule of law, 465, 570; on need for a declaration of rights, 485; faith in democracy, 489; ceremony creates gulf between citizen and oDceholder, 499; and design of legislative chambers, 538-9; Americans’ republican creed, 547; on use of general welfare clause to incorporate companies, 547, 550
Jefferson, Thomas (cont’d) Personal ACairs receives Indian statues, viii, 195-6, 309, 310, 312, 593; death of baby granddaughter, ix, 286n, 360, 366, 367; collects art, xlii, 374-5, 557-60, 576n, 577n; subscribes to Birch’s views of Philadelphia, xlii, 576n; aids Geismar, 3-4, 60, 355, 378-81; longs for home, family, 13, 301, 315, 331, 366, 368, 484, 535-6; declines taking on secretaries, students, 99; and Strobia, 100n; helps neighbor with land claim, 114-15; orders hat, 124, 136, 148; employment of time during day, 182; receives armor relic, 225; purchases apparel, 269, 276, 589n; birth of granddaughters, 286, 324, 330n, 331; wishes to own mustang mare, 310, 594; advises Du Pont de Nemours, 313, 327, 328-9; unhappy in Philadelphia, 331; shuns the rich In Philadelphia, 366; special regard for daughter, 368; recommends Irish republican, 381-2; pays washerwoman, 392; interest in history, historical records, 412; writes letters for travelers to France, 442; aids artist, 446-7; assists with land survey, 506; writes to, visits sister, 525-7, 581; taste now runs to contemplation more than politics, 550; barbering, 575, 577n, 589n; buys book for James Hopkins, 577n; pays shoemaker, 578n; favors, errands for Madison, 580; trustee of Ariana Randolph, 583-5; pays tailor, 588. See also Bache, William; Eppes, Mary JeCerson; Kosciuszko, Tadeusz; Randolph, Martha JeCerson Political Theories relationship of freedom, order, 53; on peace as foundation of economic, political prosperity, 55; on entangling foreign alliances, American isolation, 78, 97, 559; relationship of despotism, ignorance, 128; on assertion of moral, political rights, 131; on national sovereignty and continuity of law, 169; “earth belongs in usufruct to the living” letter, 295n; danger of too much conAdence in a single leader, 354; importance of majority rule, re-
Politics enciphers Burr’s name, vii, 300; Republican leader, vii; sends pamphlets to Va., vii, 12-13, 23-4, 30, 35, 319-20, 322n, 325, 439, 443, 455, 456n, 470, 485, 492; urges support for Republican press, 10; wishes to sway the unconvinced, 35; supports Republican newspaper ventures, 36, 40, 48, 50, 100-2, 112-14, 132, 269, 285, 289-90; refers to Federalists as tories, 57, 485; tires of writing warnings, 57; receives list of Conn. Republicans, 74n; optimistic for Republican cause, 110, 201; strives to avoid publicity, 113, 168, 201, 241, 244, 429, 462, 465, 489-90, 499, 561, 588-9, 590, 591n; consoles himself with statements of support, 131; attacked by Cobbett in print, 153-62; and TJ’s debts to British Arms, 15962, 210-11, 225, 268n, 457-61; and election of 1796, 162n; aids Callender, 164, 179-82, 194-5, 200-2, 238, 590-1; Callender defends, promotes, 165n, 376-7; measures to support Va. and Ky. Resolutions, 172-4; importance of Pa., 211, 223, 227, 232, 354, 408-9; supporters want him as president, 220, 377n, 405, 426-7, 452n; likens inBuence of oDceholders to gangrene, canker, 223; distrusts Federalist J. Nicholas, 240-1; endorses Wirt, 243, 244, 246; goals for Republicans, 243, 244, 301; and patronage, 243, 450-1; gathers gossip, intelligence, 287-8, 296-7, 3012, 303, 324-5, 337-8, 420, 429-30, 451, 454-5, 467-9, 469; asked to intercede with McKean, 296, 418-20, 435, 450-1; endorses Beckley, 296;
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INDEX Jefferson, Thomas (cont’d) meets with Burr, 300-1; has Madison’s Report published, distributed, 300n, 362, 417, 445; sends pamphlets to J. W. Eppes, 315, 333, 367-8; buys pamphlets for distribution, 322n; and Philadelphia Gazette, 322n; subscribes to newspapers, 342, 376, 388, 575, 577n; eCorts to counterbalance New England, 358; and state appointments, 391; details Republican situation, prospects for 1800, 408-9, 455; sends pamphlets to other states, 417, 438-9, 445; relations with Knox, 423-4; and S.C. newspapers, 438; and parties’ stances on bankruptcy law, 443, 573; anonymously supplies information for publication, 457-61; slander, mudslinging in presidential election, 464-5, 526, 531; expectations for Republican majorities in Congress, 485, 491, 509-10, 512; special attention for N.C., 485; some have deserted him because of politics, 488, 534; views public misunderstanding as temporary paroxysm, fever, 488, 534, 536, 560; welcomes relations with those of diCering views, 488; cautious about N.Y. elections, 500, 546; calls parties by name, 509, 512; and social protocol, 534; treatment of Loyalists, 534; and publication of intercepted letters, 544; distributes copies of Appendix to the Notes on Virginia, 551-4; support for, in Carolinas, 562n; disregards calumnies, 590; refuses to respond to charges in newspapers, 590 Portraits by Polk, vii-viii, xliii, 368 (illus.), 2312; by R. Peale, vii-viii, xli, xlv, 368 (illus.); by Savage, vii-viii, xlv, 368 (illus.), 577n; by Stuart, vii-viii, xliv-xlv, 368 (illus.), 586, 587n; in Notes on Virginia, xlv; bust by Ceracchi, 423 Religion views on Christianity, 285n, 352-3; accused of atheism, 589, 590 ScientiAc Interests comparative studies of languages, viii, 137-8, 203n, 247n, 402, 433-4, 436-7; trans-Mississippi west, viii,
27-9, 135-6, 138, 309-10, 585; western horses, 27, 135-6, 309-10; R. Livingston’s steam apparatus, 56-7; and megalonyx, mammoth, 61-2, 155, 156, 161n, 317, 318n; and BuCon, 62, 295n; importance of science, mathematics, medicine, 126-8; Cobbett mocks, 155, 156, 161; prevention of yellow fever, 183-4; reports he has no news of, 291; and college curricula, professorships, 291-2, 339-40; recommends T. P. Smith, 291-2, 316; census and demographics, 293-5; longs to observe, record water temperatures, 308; admires Priestley, 322n; socializes with scientists, 366; “botanizing” on Long Island, 439n; orders Connaissance des temps, 465, 466n, 510; horticulture, 535; concern for fate of Pisa, 545. See also American Philosophical Society; Notes on the State of Virginia Secretary of State criticized, 159-60; aDrms continuity of French sovereignty, 171n; aids Philadelphia Gazette, 322n; and proposed assistance for Cointeraux, 501, 510n Slaveholder relations with Jupiter, ix, 11, 92, 2702, 305, 347-8, 360, 363, 365, 368, 474; hires slave labor, 12, 112, 118, 270-1, 273n, 302n, 323; and food provisions for slaves, 80-3, 92, 112, 116, 119, 383-4, 591; and discipline of workforce, 112; hired slave disappears, 112, 118; clothing for slaves, 115-16; Ands it diDcult to farm using current labor system, 222; assigns tasks to slaves, 270-3, 360, 363-4; medical treatment for slaves, 347-8; does not want slave boys idle, 502; mortgages slaves, 503, 511n; value of slaves, 503 Travels between Monticello and Philadelphia, vii, 18n, 31, 50, 58, 66, 69n, 233, 245, 251, 268, 269, 274, 278n, 305, 314, 333, 462, 581, 582-3; by stage, ix, 484, 533, 589n; arranges horses for, 11, 31, 50, 473, 474, 483, 484, 497, 526, 531, 535-7, 546; condition of weather, roads, 274, 305, 314; with W. C. Nicholas, 274; cannot
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INDEX Fields at Shadwell, 197-200; Notes of a Tour into the Southern Parts of France, &c., 208-9; Notes on Sir William Scott, 231; index to periodical literature, 231n; Notes on ACairs of State, 231n; Safe Conduct for Three Chickasaw Indians, 2467; Statement for Arbitrators in Land Dispute with John Harvie, 252-9; Notes on Treasury Statement, 277-8; Memorandum on Attendance of the Vice President, 280-3; Notes on the Doctrine of Epicurus, 284-5; “Syllabus” of Epicurus, 285n; notes on conversations, 287-8, 296-7, 301-2, 303, 324-5, 337-8, 352-3, 429-30, 438, 454-5, 467-9, 469; American Philosophical Society Memorial to U.S. Congress, 293-5; “historical statement” on Logan-Cresap aCair, 373n; amanuensis for Statement of William Robinson, 397-400; Queries on Parliamentary Procedure, 400-1, 487, 494n, 521; Notes on Senate Debates, 416, 430-1, 447, 545-6; notes on John Marshall, 421, 451; letter for Parkyns cited, 447n; Statement for the Aurora, 457-61; description of moldboard plow, 549-50; Recipients of Appendix to the Notes on the State of Virginia, 551-4. See also Notes on the State of Virginia
Jefferson, Thomas (cont’d) go to N.Y. to see Du Pont, 313; engages with Bowles to accompany him, 360, 363; expects to travel through Eastern Shore, 462; through Washington, 531; through Richmond, 589n, 590, 591n; between Eppington and Monticello, 590-1; to Mont Blanco, 591n Vice President prepares manual of parliamentary procedure, viii, 400-1, 486-7, 494, 5202, 539, 597; presides over Senate, viii, xlii, 8n, 313, 314, 414, 451-4, 466-7, 597-612; attendance, 8n, 280-3; discouragement with oDce, 13; at end of session, 60, 282n; resides at Francis’s hotel, 69, 417n, 582; Cobbett criticizes conduct as, 160; salary payments, 185, 576, 577n; misses opening of session, 233, 245, 278n; makes notations on Senate documents, 316n, 359n, 382n, 431n, 443n, 453n, 454n, 477n, 546n, 597-612; observes, notes debates in Senate, 416, 430-1, 447, 545-6; excluded from executive department communications, 436; and Senate proceedings against Duane, 451-4, 466-7; cannot reveal details of Senate business, 488; takes oath of oDce, 534; describes arrangement of Senate chamber, 538-9; departure from Philadelphia before end of session, 580 Writings Manual of Parliamentary Practice, viii, 401n, 486-7, 539; Notes on the Connecticut Cession, 25-7; Petition to the General Assembly of Va., 412, 241n; Memoir on the Megalonyx, 61-2, 162n, 317, 318n; Notes on Postal Service between Philadelphia and Charlottesville, 79-80; letter to W. G. Munford assessed, 129n; Indenture for Land Exchange with Nicholas Meriwether Lewis and Mildred Hornsby Lewis, 140-3; Declaration of Independence, 156, 170; letter to Banneker, 156, 161n; Indenture for the Sale of Elk Hill, 162-3; characteristics of, labeled as French, 181n; land documents for W. Bache, 190n; Indenture with Craven Peyton for the Lease of
Jemmy (E. Randolph’s slave), 584 Jenny (E. Randolph’s slave), 584 Jerry (TJ’s slave), 272 Jersey Blue (newspaper), 575 Jesuits, 351n, 413n Jesus: Illuminati relate doctrines to, 350 Joe. See Fossett, Joseph John (b. 1753, TJ’s slave): tends garden at Monticello, 20, 271, 363, 364; prepares meat, 270; performs manual labor, 271; TJ on character of, 360, 363 Johnson, Joshua, xlv Johnson, Richard, 148n, 171n, 343, 585n Johnson, Maj. Thomas, 610 Johnson, William (waterman): transports goods, 93, 96, 104, 111, 116, 149n; transports tobacco, 120, 126, 150n Johnston, Charles: sells Bour, 136; and Short’s aCairs, 515 Jones, Meriwether: publishes Examiner,
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INDEX 163-5, 290n; founds Press, 289-90; as political observer, 543; receives Appendix, 552 Jones, Walter, 110n, 552 Jones, William: and Wayles estate, 211n; TJ’s letter to published, 427-8, 457-61 Jouett, John, Sr., 187 Jourdan, Jean Baptiste, 133, 134n Journal of Andrew Ellicott, Late Commissioner . . . for Determining the Boundary between the United States and the Possessions of His Catholic Majesty in America (Andrew Ellicott), 593n Journals of Congress (Richard Folwell), 392n Judd, William, 74n Judy (E. Randolph’s slave), 583 Juno (ship), 87 Jupiter (TJ’s slave): illness, death, ix, 305, 347-8, 360, 363, 365, 368; expected to meet TJ at Fredericksburg, 11, 474; aCection of TJ’s family for, 92; to safeguard main house, 270-1; receives Arewood and forage, 272; expenses for trip, 361n Jupiter (planet), 592 juries: selection, use of, 41-2, 261, 358, 359n, 430-1, 491, 499, 545-7, 601, 604; and courts of chancery, 241, 261, 344; in U.S. courts, 358, 359n, 374, 430-1, 491, 499, 545-7, 601, 604; in Va., 374; marshals select, 492, 493n, 521, 545; potential executive interference in sedition trials, 493n; tainted, 521n; compensation, 599 juries, grand: charges to, 171n, 589; return indictments, 521-2n Kanawha River: and TJ’s account of Logan aCair, 450; settlement on, 478 Kelly, John: receives, stores goods, 272; buys nails, 383, 384-5n; letter to cited, 385n Kennan (Kennon), Patrick, 513 Kenney. See Kinney (Kenney), Jacob Kennon (lawsuit), 171n Kentucky: relocation of Virginians to, 142-3n, 373-4n; political leadership in, 172, 179; boundary with Va., 192; and Va. legal processes, 193; selection of presidential electors, 201; Short’s family in, 214-15, 259, 501, 510n; federal courts in, 260-3, 266-7, 336, 344; slavery in, 261; land law in, 262, 267; Federalist minority in legislature, 266;
Republicans in, 266; use of patronage powers in, 266; legislature, 266-8; potential separation from U.S., 312n, 468-9; postal service, 336, 345 Kentucky, Governor of, 468-9 Kentucky Resolution of 1799: and nulliAcation principle, 266, 268n; passed, 266, 268n, 344 Kentucky Resolutions of 1798: rebuCed by other states, 4-5, 174n, 178; Ky. responses to reaction against, 13n; and Fries Rebellion, 153n; eCorts to support, 172-4, 177, 178-9, 266, 268n, 344; TJ suspected author of, 179 Ker, Samuel, 182n Kerr, James, 143n, 323 Kerr, John R., 323, 359-60 Key, Ann: TJ uses funds of, ix, 414; tobacco crop sold with TJ’s, ix, 58, 121, 122n, 235, 236n, 239, 242, 250, 388 Key, James: sells land to W. Bache, 92, 188-9, 190n, 245, 286, 298, 318, 342, 353, 414; letters from cited, 190n; letters to cited, 190n; sells corn to TJ, 303n Key, John, 193n Key, Martin, 252, 258n Key, Mary (Polly) Daniel, 190n, 245 Key, Walter, 235 King, Rufus: sends information to State Department, 11n, 13n, 23, 30, 37; to negotiate with Russia, 23-4, 30, 31, 34, 38; suspected of negotiating alliance with Britain, 32; and U.S. neutrality, 473; forwards letters, 559 Kinney (Kenney), Jacob: and Anancial transactions, 92, 109, 248; and Monroe, 413, 463 Kippen & Co.: purchaser of TJ’s tobacco, 122n; TJ’s debt to, 458-60n. See also Henderson, McCaul & Co. Kitchell, Aaron, 548n Kleinwort, Henry, 133-4n Knight, John, 69 Knox, Henry: letter to, 487-8; letter from, 423-4; his, TJ’s mutual regard, 423, 488; hurt by treatment of son, 423-4, 487-8; provides information on windmills, 423-4; declines commission, 481n; family, 488; Anancial distress, 488 Knox, Henry Jackson: character and career of, 424, 487-8 Knox, Lucy Flucker (Mrs. Henry Knox), 488 Knoxville, Tenn., 434n, 475
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INDEX Kosciuszko, Tadeusz: letters to, 51-3, 60, 560-1; letter from, 184; delays in correspondence with, 51; business aCairs, 51-2, 55, 60, 76, 87, 184, 212, 560-1, 570, 587; possessions, 51-2, 53n, 55, 60, 76, 87, 90, 184; silver service from Bristol, 51-2, 53n, 55; paid for U.S. service, 52, 53n, 55, 184; Whig Club commissions saber for, 52, 53n, 55; power of attorney to TJ, 184; letter to cited, 184n; military land grant, 5601; correspondence forwarded to, 570 Kray, Paul, 133, 134n labor: and proposed census categories, 294 Laertius, Diogenes, 285n Lafayette, George Washington Louis Gilbert du Motier de, 96n, 328, 329 Lafayette, Marie Adrienne Françoise de Noailles, Marquise de: accompanies husband, 94-6, 315; daughters of, 96n; sends son to U.S., 96n; Anancial assets, 328, 329 Lafayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de: letter from, 94-6; in Holland, Hamburg, 945, 328, 329; and Bureaux de Pusy, 946, 104, 264-5, 305, 331, 578; departure from France, imprisonment, 94-6, 265n; regard for U.S., 95; family, 96n; expected in U.S., 132, 134n, 292, 305, 313, 315, 328, 329, 331; TJ’s regard for, 292; Anancial situation, 328, 329; and new French government, 357-8, 386 La Fontaine, Jean de: “Le Singe et Le Chat,” 408, 410n Lake Superior, 549n, 606 lampblack, 135, 149 Lancaster Co., Pa.: political sentiments of, 22, 36, 152; French prisoners in, 39; militia assaults journalist in, 152n, 525n; Coxe in, 285n; McKean in, 296n; legislature meets in, 331, 332n land companies: in Ohio, 6-8, 253; western, 7, 175n; in Pa., 287, 288n; and speculation, 313 Langdon, John, 551 languages: American Indian, 137-8, 203n, 247n, 393, 402, 412n, 433-7, 475, 479; TJ’s vocabulary form, 138, 139n, 402, 433-4, 436; sign languages, 203n, 237, 310, 311, 594;
classical, 291n, 339-41, 568-9; signing by deaf, 311; Hebrew and other “Oriental,” 320, 436, 496; taught in Va. schools, 340. See also French language; German language; Greek language; Latin Lapsley, Samuel, 600 La Rochefoucauld, Alexandrine Charlotte Sophie de Rohan-Chabot, Duchesse de: and Short’s plans, 1445; TJ sends respects to, 465, 510, 512 La Rochefoucauld d’Enville, Louis Alexandre, Duc de La Roche-Guyon et de, 94 La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, François Alexandre Frédéric, Duc de: letter from, 104; introduces Bureaux de Pusy, 104, 264-5; TJ’s regard for, 292 Latimer, Henry, 453n Latin: in curricula, 291n, 339-40, 381, 467, 468-9n, 496, 568-9; quotations, 341, 496, 555 Latour-Maubourg, Marie Charles César Fay, Comte de, 94, 96n Latrobe, Benjamin Henry: family, 548n; and N.J. copper company, 548n; works as engineer, architect, 548n; TJ wishes to consult, 579 Latrobe, Lydia Sellon, 548n Laurance, John, 295n, 382n, 416 law: in college curricula, 86n, 321, 452n, 568, 569; study of, 335n, 467, 468n, 520; distinction between natural and common, 416; lex talionis, 419, 420n; E. Randolph mortgages law books, 584. See also attorneys; common law; JeCerson, Thomas: Law; Virginia: Laws Law, Thomas, 551 law of nations: and French treatment of American envoys, 38, 47, 64, 67; and piracy, 421 Law of Nations, or, Principles of the Law of Nature (Emmerich de Vattel), 68 Leak, Elisha, 163 Leak, Walter, 257n Lear, Tobias, 551 Le Blanc, Régis, 44, 48 Lee, Charles, 302n, 592 Lee, Henry: eulogy of Washington, xliii; elected to Congress, 110, 113, 114n; votes in House, 306n; militia bill, 547, 556 Lego (TJ’s estate): lease of Aelds at, 323, 359-60, 361n
< 646>
INDEX Le Havre, France: consulship at, 1445n; Portsmouth sails to, 456n Lehman, Lyon, 604 Leiper, Elizabeth Coultas Gray, 446, 447n Leiper, Thomas: and TJ’s tobacco crops, 121, 305, 334, 341, 383, 406, 414, 415, 576, 577-8n; Duane’s informant, 153n; advances funds, 406; assists Callender, 433; assists Parkyns, 446 lemon juice: TJ orders, 135, 145, 148-9, 167, 177, 591 LeRoy, Herman: holds Varina mortgage, 390-1, 403, 406, 418, 423, 428, 467 LeRoy & Bayard (N.Y.): market tobacco, 106; and Varina mortgage, 406, 428 Letchworth, John, 575, 577n Letter, to the Rev. Jedidiah Morse (St. George Tucker), 317, 318n, 365 Letter from George Nicholas, of Kentucky, to His Friend, in Virginia (George Nicholas): TJ distributes, 12-13, 23-4, 30, 35; circulation of, 16-17 Letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, Accompanied with a Report and Estimates of the Sums Necessary to be appropriated for the Service of the Year 1800, 277-8 Letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, Transmitting a Statement of Goods, Wares and Merchandize Exported from the United States, 30-1 Letter from the Secretary of the Treasury Transmitting Two Statements . . . for One Year Prior to the First of October 1797, 30-1 Letter from the Secretary of the Treasury Transmitting Two Statements . . . for one Year prior to the First of October 1798, 481, 482n Letters of Curtius, Addressed to General Marshall (John Thomson): sought by TJ, 14-15 Letters to the Inhabitants of Northumberland and its Neighborhood, on Subjects Interesting to the Author, and to them (Joseph Priestley), 288, 319-20, 322n, 567 Lewis (TJ’s slave): works as carpenter, 271 Lewis (E. Randolph’s slave), 583, 584 Lewis, Mr., 524, 579 Lewis, Charles Lilburne (TJ’s brotherin-law), 199n
Lewis, James (Charlottesville), 515, 516n Lewis, Jane JeCerson. See Peyton, Jane JeCerson Lewis Lewis, Lilburne, 163 Lewis, Lucy JeCerson (Mrs. Charles Lilburne Lewis, TJ’s sister), 199n Lewis, Meriwether, 592n Lewis, Mildred Hornsby: land transaction with TJ, 140-3; identiAed, 1423n; M. J. Randolph comments on, 142n Lewis, Nicholas: deeds land to son, 141, 142n; manages TJ’s aCairs, 255; TJ sends regards to, 476; receives Appendix, 553 Lewis, Nicholas Meriwether: land transactions, 140-3, 188; identiAed, 1423n; surveys land, 142n, 384, 474, 506, 511n; letters from cited, 143n; letters to cited, 143n Lewis, Randolph, 162 Lewis, Robert Warner, 506, 510n, 511n L’Hommedieu, Ezra, 552, 553 libel: eCect of prosecutions on newspapers, vii, 492, 526, 531; seditious libel in Ireland, 165n; prosecuted under common law, 171n, 492-3. See also Sedition Act (1798) liberty: younger generation as potential threat to, 128; as natural state, 350 Liberty of Speech, and of the Press (Alexander Addison), 233n libraries: for colleges, 569. See also JeCerson, Thomas: Library Life and Adventures of Peter Porcupine, with a Full and Fair Account of all his Authoring Transactions (William Cobbett), 153-4, 157, 161n lighthouses: expenditures for, 277, 608 Lilly, Gabriel: overseer, 497, 522-3 lime: for Monticello, 270, 273n, 423; for sanitation, 565-7 Lincoln, Benjamin, 489n Lindsay, Reuben, 553 linens: bedsheets, 365, 523 Linn, William: and missionary activity, 247n; receives Appendix, 552 Linnaeus, Carolus, 291 linseed oil, 75 lions: megalonyx associated with, 61 Lisbon: European news received from, 134n; envoys to France land at, 408, 409, 413, 415, 422, 475, 480, 482 Lisle, John, Jr., 463n
< 647>
INDEX Liston, Robert: letters intercepted and published, 151, 153n, 287-8, 521, 522n, 536; on Fries Rebellion, 153n; and U.S. relations with France, 153n; suspected of collusion with Hamilton, 493n LitchAeld, Conn.: J. Ogden jailed at, 73-4 Little Jim (ship), 75, 89, 91, 93 Littlejohn, Joseph B.: secretary to American envoys, 475-6, 480, 482-3 Little Sam (ship), 42, 239 Lively, Charles, 513, 514 Livermore, Samuel: reelected to Senate, 10; in Senate, 382n, 545, 607; mentioned, 8n Lives of Eminent Philosophers (Diogenes Laertius), 285n livestock: at Shadwell, 198; sheep, 363, 523; to range in woodlands, 518 Livingston, Brockholst, 494-5 Livingston, Edward: letter to, 546-9; letters from, 494-5, 554-5; in Congress, 64, 495; and proposed newspaper, 102n, 112-13; Batture case, 231n; and Priestley, 346; and Robbins case, 408, 410n; Republican leader in N.Y., 409, 494-5, 511n, 546-9, 554-5; receives Appendix, 552 Livingston, Robert R.: letters to, 56-7, 549-50; letter from, 397; and steam power, 56-7, 380-1n; makes paper, 397, 550; TJ sends moldboard plow, 549-50; in copper company, 550n; receives Appendix, 551, 553 Logan (Mingo Indian): uses of speech, xlii; accuses Cresap, 69-71, 130-1, 3356, 393, 398-9, 479; authenticity of speech, 69-71, 130-1, 263-4n, 372, 393, 435n, 450, 479; relatives killed at Yellow Creek, 69-71, 260, 263n, 3703, 393, 398-9, 449-50, 479, 573; Cobbett refers to TJ’s publication of speech of, 156, 161n; address to Dunmore, 373n; character defended, 393; aids white prisoner, 398-9; TJ summarizes information on Logan-Cresap incident, 449-50; identiAed with appendix to Notes on Virginia, 551, 555 Logan, George: mission to France, 22; thought to be TJ’s agent, 156; and C. B. Brown, 276n; receives Appendix, 552, 553 Loge Française L’Aménité (Philadelphia), 396n, 417
Lomax, John Tayloe, 85-6 Lomax, Lunsford, 163n Lomax, Thomas: letter to, 77-8; letter from, 66-7; and Elk Hill, 66-7; identiAed, 67n; and national political situation, 77-8; sons of, 85-6; and Mazzei, 544 Lomax, Thomas Lunsford, 85-6 Lombardy, 208 London: art, artists, xliv-xlv, 446n; prints of TJ portraits issued in, xlivxlv; site of Russian-U.S. negotiation, 23-4, 30, 31, 34, 38; as tobacco market, 105-6, 111-12, 121, 415; SpitalAelds section, 128, 129n; Roman era, 129n; news from, 132, 134n, 562n; window sashes imported from, 354; newspapers, 454n longitude: calculation of, 592 L’Orient (Lorient), France: envoys bound for, 475, 480, 483 Loudon, Samuel, 426n Louis XVI, King of France: aided by Lafayette, Bureaux de Pusy, 95-6n, 265n; advised by Du Pont, 327, 328; mentioned, 175n Louis XVIII, King of France, 297, 336 Louisa Co., Va., 542 Louisiana: TJ’s contacts in, 29n, 1389n, 309-10, 312; ownership of, 32n, 467-9; governors of, 236, 312n; oranges from, 237-8, 309; pecans from, 238, 309, 364, 594; Catholic bishop of, 593, 594-5n Louis of Parma: letter to, 61-2; seeks natural history specimens, 61-2 Louisville, Ky., 336, 345 Lownes, Caleb, 391, 486, 513 Loyal Company, 253 Loyalists. See American Revolution Lucy (E. Randolph’s slave), 583 Ludlow, Daniel, & Co. (New York): and TJ’s bonds to Van Staphorst & Hubbard, 55-6, 570-1, 575, 577n; letter from cited, 571n; letter to cited, 571n lumber. See wood Lumsden, William: plasterer, 173; letter from cited, 174n; letter to cited, 174n Lydia (E. Randolph’s slave), 584 lye, 565-7 Lyle, James: letters to, 105, 441; and TJ’s debt to Henderson, McCaul & Co., 105, 441; and TJ’s bond to Kippen & Co., 459-60n Lyman, Samuel, 296-7
< 648>
INDEX Lynchburg, Va.: postal service at, 7980; residents of, 209n; tobacco prices at, 497 Lyon, James: publishes National Magazine, 164-5, 194, 204, 388, 427; founds Friend of the People, 238-9, 289-90, 388; collaborates with Press, 289-90, 432, 433n; moves Friend of the People, 290n; publishes Political Mirror, 376-7, 428n; paid for subscriptions, 388; letter to cited, 388n; establishes Republican, 427 Lyon, Mrs. James, 194 Lyon, Matthew: supported by J. Ogden, 16-17, 72-4; petition for remittance of Ane, 72-4; Cobbett criticizes, 159 Lyons, France, 501 Lyons, Peter: and Short’s salary, 497-9, 504, 574 McAllister & Matthews (Philadelphia), 575, 577n McClenachan, Blair, 159, 161n McClurg, James: teaches science, medicine, 291-2, 316; Federalist, 541, 589 MacConnor, Arthur. See O’Connor, Arthur McCorkle, Samuel Eusebius, 317, 318n McCraw, Samuel, 583-4 McDonald, Angus, 478 McDowell, John: letters to, 83, 109, 151, 196-7, 352; letters from, 84, 92-3, 111, 200, 375; sells nails for TJ, 83-4, 923, 109-11, 196-7, 200, 352, 375; TJ expects to draw on account with, 151, 197 McDowell, Joseph, 552, 553 McGee (McGehee), James: works at Monticello, 20; and Madison’s nail orders, 146, 173 McGoDn, Joseph: and TJ’s Anancial transactions, 125n, 185-6; letter to cited, 185n McGruder, William, & Co., 305, 306n McHenry, James: letter to provisional army, 97-8; delays action for Va. election, 98n; and TJ’s letters to Callender, 180-1n, 202n; opposes new negotiation with France, 301-2; reports on proposed military academy, 321, 323n; and Indian aCairs, 335; letter to Darke printed, 492, 493n, 521, 531; political opinions, 493n; and Federalist caucus, 562n; resigns from cab-
inet, 581; and land claims, 602; and appointment of oDcers, 607 McIntire, Samuel, 303-4n Mack, Karl Freiherr von Leiberich, 133 McKean, Mary Borden, 420n McKean, Thomas: letter to, 296; letter from, 418-20; elected governor, 132, 151-2, 205n, 223, 227, 232, 452n; Cobbett criticizes, 159; appointments as governor, 296, 418-20, 435, 450-1, 468n; and Pa. legislature, 324-5; and election of 1800, 409, 419; as chief justice of Pa., 521; receives Appendix, 552, 553 McKee, Samuel, Jr., 372-3 McKee, William, 263-4n McKinley, Hugh, 612 McKnight, James, 305-7 McNeill, Daniel, 456n Macon, Nathaniel, 315n, 357n, 548n McPherson, Charles, 476n McPherson, Christopher: suit against J. D. Ross, 475, 476-7n, 482, 522; letter from cited, 477n; carries letters, books, 480, 482, 524, 542 McRae, Alexander, 290n Madison, Dolley Payne Todd: TJ sends regards to, 10, 45, 241, 243, 409, 455, 481; visits Monticello, 173, 174n; carries letters, 177; at Montpelier, 482; letter for, 580; mentioned, 437 Madison, James: letters to, 9-11, 2931, 44-7, 63-5, 172-4, 240-1, 243-4, 407-11, 455-6, 480-1, 579-80; letters from, 18-19, 231-2, 233, 278-80, 288-9, 295-6, 299-300, 319, 374-5, 439-40, 481-2, 524-5, 542 Constitutional Convention notes, 18; and bills regulating commerce, 410n; attends, 565, 567n Opinions on federalism, 19; on France, 19, 524; on war, standing armies, 19; on changes in French government, 374, 481-2; on amendment of Constitution, 439-40; conAdent in triumph of republican principles over political “malady,” 481 Personal ACairs Anancial transactions, 19, 524-5, 542, 579; orders glass cutter, 19; family, 232n; health, 278, 437; frees slave, 392n; and R. Brooke’s debts, 413n;
< 649>
INDEX Madison, James (cont’d) and Floyd, 439n; contemporaries at Princeton, 468n; books for, 480; renovates Montpelier, 482, 579-80; hopes to see Du Pont, 524; marriage, 544; and Thornton’s demonstrations of privy sanitation, 565, 567n; buys Trumbull prints, 579; transactions for father, 579, 580n Politics national issues and Republican cause, 9-11, 407-11; urged to write for press, 10; distrusts postal service, 18; sends, receives comments on news, events, 18-19, 29-31, 44-6, 635, 243, 278-80, 374-5, 407, 439-40, 455-6, 480-2, 524, 579; importance to state politics, 41; and projected establishment of Republican newspaper, 45; and Monroe, 205n, 233, 240, 301; persuades Federalists, 289; and Wilkinson, 312n; hoped Cooper, Priestley would choose Va., 320; patron to Barbour, 326n; as presidential elector, 357n; criticizes Ross election bill, 439-40; presidency, 454n; and Duane, 524-5; reports election results, 542 Relations with JeCerson TJ postpones visit to, vii, 240; introduces Polk, xliii, 231-2; TJ visits, 10, 580; urged to publish debates from Federal Convention, 18; TJ sends newspapers, other publications to, 30, 241, 288, 296, 439; places orders from TJ’s nailery, 146, 172-3, 174n, 319, 409, 411n; visits Monticello, 173, 177, 178-9, 481, 580; correspondence, 240-1, 500; and TJ’s “earth belongs in usufruct to the living” letter, 295n; publication, distribution of Report, 300n, 362, 417, 445; Long Island travels, 439n; seeks advice on renovating Montpelier, 482, 579-80; receives Appendix to the Notes on Virginia, 551, 553; miscellaneous favors, 580 Virginia House of Delegates supports Va. Resolutions, vii, 172-4, 177, 178-9, 278-80, 288-9, 295-6, 299-300, 319, 325, 417, 446; joins legislature, 227; TJ advises, 241, 243; on committees, 278, 279n, 300n; asks for opinions from
Philadelphia, 279; casts votes, 280n; leaves session, 299, 319 Writings “Foreign InBuence,” 10; “Political ReBections,” 19; W. G. Munford refers to address by, 168; on common law, 171n. See also Report of the Committee to Whom was Committed the Proceedings of Sundry of the Other States Madison, Bishop James: letters to, 67-8, 291-2, 349-52; letters from, 21-2, 31618, 364-5, 472; and politics, public events, 21-2, 67, 349-52, 364-5, 567; and W. G. Munford, 67-8, 86; president of William and Mary, 291-2, 316, 472; and scientiAc research, 317; and Mazzei, 544 Madison, James, Sr., 232n, 579, 580n Madison, Nelly Conway, 232n Madison Co., Ky., 372, 374n Madison Co., Va., 542 Madrid, Spain, 498 Magaw, Samuel, 396n Magnano, battle of, 133, 134n Maine, 413n Maitland, Thomas, 9, 10n Malbone, Evan, 74n Mallory, Lydia, 112, 273n Malsburg, Baron Ferdinand von der, 355, 378-80 mammoth: as object of scorn, 155, 156, 161n Manchester, Va.: price of wheat, Bour at, 124; as tobacco market, 125; QuarrierPreston duel, 376-7; merchants, 459n, 460n Manhattan Company, 307n, 495 Manual of Parliamentary Practice. For the Use of the Senate of the United States (Thomas JeCerson), viii, 401n, 486-7, 539 Maria (ship), 231 Marines, U.S. See United States: Navy Mark, Jacob, 380n Marks, James: and TJ’s land dispute with Harvie, 253-8 Marks, Peter, 463 Marmontel, Jean François, 560n Marseilles, France, 107-8 Marshall, Humphrey: in Ky., 179; lone Federalist representing Ky., 263n, 408, 411n; votes with Republicans, 579; in Senate, 600
< 650>
INDEX Marshall, James M., 507, 511n Marshall, John: in Congress, 15n, 230n, 306n, 408, 410n, 421, 434n, 538n; as target of “Curtius” letters, 15n; creates XYZ aCair, says TJ, 97; as Federalist stalwart, 113, 114n, 499, 589; ties to D. Call, 166n; relations with TJ, 391, 421, 451, 486; supports nonintercourse bill, 408, 410n; and Robbins case, 421; saved from penury by envoyship, 451; as attorney in Wayles estate cases, 458; as attorney for Va. debtors, 461n; as envoy to France, 509; brother, 511n; changes election bill, 547-8, 579, 580n; named secretary of state, 581; and Monroe, 589; attends court in Va., 589n. See also XYZ aCair Martens, Georg Friedrich von: Summary of the Law of Nations, 38 Martin, James (Albemarle Co., Va.), 163 Martin, Luther: challenges TJ’s account of Logan’s speech, xlii, 69, 131, 264n, 435, 450, 555; political motives condemned, 435, 450; and Chase, 589n Martin, Maria Cresap (Mrs. Luther Martin), 450 Maryland: charter claims to western lands, 25; price of tobacco, 106n; selection of presidential electors, 201; attorneys, 387n; Eastern Shore, 387n; and election of 1800, 408; and TJ’s Appendix, 556; Congress assents to acts of, 602, 604 Mason, George: revision of Va. land law, 253, 257n; in constitutional convention, 408, 410n Mason, John: letter to cited, 539n Mason, John Thomson, 551, 552 Mason, Jonathan, Jr., 429 Mason, Stevens Thomson: letter to, 222-3; Cobbett criticizes, 159; and TJ’s search for tenants, 222-3; letters from cited, 223n; letter to cited, 223n; in Senate, 227, 280n, 316n, 454n, 541, 542n, 597, 604, 605; assists Callender, 427, 543, 588; relates gossip, 451; and TJ’s statement in Aurora, 457; addressed by millennialist, 476n; communication with Va. Republicans, 490; receives Appendix, 552; aids accused seditionists, 588 masons. See Freemasons Massachusetts: politics in, 10, 97, 98n,
266n; favors trade, strong navy, 97; inBuence of established order in, 97; responds to Va. Resolutions, 174n; opposition to TJ in, 181n; selection of presidential electors, 201; erects memorials to G. Washington, 303-4; Republicans in, 342n, 454-5, 509, 511n, 512, 556; selection of jurors, 431n; courts, 455n; legislature, 455n; gubernatorial election, 464, 492, 494n, 499, 509, 511n, 512, 556; Republican printers intimidated, 492 Massena, André, 133, 134n, 218, 221n mathematics: study of, 126-7, 321, 381, 496, 569; teachers of, 280n; in primary schools, 340 Mathers, James: as Senate sergeant at arms, 452, 599 Mathews Co., Va., 32-3 Matthiessen & Sillem (Selem) (Hamburg), 144-5 Maury, Fontaine, 480, 553 Maury, James: teaches TJ, 340, 341n Maury, Matthew, 553 Maxims of Political Arithmetic, applied to the Case of the United States of America (Joseph Priestley), 319-20, 322n, 346, 347n Mayo, John: debt to Short, 222, 501, 510n, 519, 532, 540; business, political career, 537-8; witnesses document, 584 Mazzei, Philip: letter to, 543-5; TJ’s letter of 24 Apr. 1796, viii, 154, 156, 159; friends in U.S., 86, 99-100; TJ’s correspondence with, 543-4; aCairs in Va., 543-5; Anances of, 544; requests squash seeds, 544; letter from cited, 545n Meade, Everard: letter to, 488-9; TJ sends news to, 488-9; identiAed, 489n; letter from cited, 489n Meade, George: letter to, 432; and Anancial transactions, 432; letter from cited, 432n; letter to cited, 432n medicine: state of knowledge, skill in, 127-8; and bloodletting, 129n, 563; “Brunonian” system of, 129n; physicians, 150-1, 152n, 189n, 303n, 586, 588; medical schools, education, 152n, 291-2, 321, 568-9; doctors as proposed census category, 294; AfricanAmerican, 347-8, 523; treatments criticized, 389-90, 415; debilitating disorders associated with economic
< 651>
INDEX medicine (cont’d) strata, 523; medications purchased, 586, 588; regulation of, 599 megalonyx: TJ’s report to APS, 61-2, 161n; confused with mammoth, 155, 156, 161n; S. H. Smith publishes TJ’s report, 317-18 megatherium, 61-2 Mémoires pour servir à l’histoire du jacobinisme (Augustin Barruel), 349-52 Mercer, Hugh (son of Gen. Mercer), 553 Mercer, John Francis: drafts resolutions for Va. General Assembly, 169-70, 171n; TJ’s appraisal of, 171n; and R. Brooke’s debts, 413n; receives Appendix, 552 Mercer, Robert, 165n merchants: as proposed census category, 294; petition Congress, 604. See also United States: Economy mercury: as medicine, 127-8 Meriwether, Nicholas, 141, 142n Merlin de Douai, Philippe Antoine, 96n Message from the President of the United States, Communicating to the House Such Information as He Has Received Touching a Suspension of the Arrete of the French Republic, 13n, 49 Mexico, 312n Meyer, Friedrich Johann Lorenz: Fragments sur Paris, 87-8 Miami Purchase, 5-8, 610 Michaux (Michaud), André: western expedition, 387n, 468-9; as botanist, 468 Michilimackinac, 313n middle states: growing Republican strength in, 67, 77, 151-2, 223, 227, 485; wavering political course of, 358; and election of 1800, 408-9 MiEin, Sarah Fishbourne. See Bordley, Sarah Fishbourne MiEin MiEin, Thomas: Cobbett scorns, 159; death of, 331, 332n, 509, 544; family, 420n; as governor, 521 military academy: proposed, 321, 323n; Otis’s bill for, 547 militia: U.S. volunteer army as, 44, 978; as preferred means of defense, 101, 219, 278, 306n; and Fries Rebellion, 151, 152-3n, 525n; as constitutional, political threat, 354; Lee’s bill to limit service in, 547, 556; reorganized in Pa., 556; payment for a detachment of, 610. See also Virginia: Militia
Miller, Isaac, 150 Miller, Samuel: letter to, 394; letters from, 370, 411-13; eulogizes Washington, 370, 394, 411; historical research, 394, 411-13; receives Appendix, 552 Miller, W., 163n mills: Evans’s Young Mill-Wright, 117, 122; Henderson mill, milldam, 165-6, 190, 193, 199n, 205-8, 217; at Shadwell, 165-6, 193, 199n, 208, 217; canal for Shadwell mill, 270, 271, 523; on T. M. Randolph’s property, 390; windmills, 423-4; millwrights, 542n Milton, Va.: river port, xliv, 43, 54, 58, 91, 93, 111, 167, 423; postal service for, 80n, 179, 321, 405n, 522; petitioning, 108; roads, 141; shipments received at, 172, 591n; business activities at, 199n, 240, 302, 343n, 474, 475n; TJ acquires property in, 199n; sales of TJ’s nails at, 271; Lilly and, 523; mentioned, 20 Mims, Martin, 391n Minchin, John, 77n Mine and Metal Company, 548n, 550n mineralogy. See geology mining. See copper Minor, John, Jr., 553 Mint, U.S.: expenditures for, 277; director’s report, 600; bills regarding, 602, 604, 606, 610; and coinage, 610 Minzies, Ninian, 298 Mississippi Company, 253 Mississippi River: U.S. right to navigate, 32n; Collot gathers intelligence along, 469n Mississippi Territory: general assembly, 336, 337n, 547, 549n, 605, 607, 609; petitions Congress, 336, 337n, 607; slaves in, 600, 612; laws, 612 Missouri Compromise, 454n Modern Chivalry (Hugh Henry Brackenridge), 468n molasses: for Monticello, 43, 269, 276, 297-8, 384 Molina (Molini), Anthony, 99, 100n Moncada, Francisco de, 560n Monford. See Munford, William G. (d. 1804) Monongahela River, 397 Monroe, Mr., 520 Monroe, Elizabeth Kortright (Mrs. James Monroe): TJ sends regards to, 48, 381, 462, 500, 591; birth of son, 108-9
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INDEX Monroe, James: letters to, 23-5, 47-8, 108-9, 300-1, 362, 381-2, 461-3, 499500, 590-1; letters from, 40, 289-90, 413, 446, 463, 489-90, 537-8, 538, 540-2, 588-90; consulted on political issues, vii, 177, 300-1, 499-500, 590; receives news of current events, 23-5, 47-8, 381-2; distributes pamphlets, 24, 446, 461; elected governor, 40, 204-5, 227, 269n, 544; Anancial aCairs, 40, 48, 538; handles transactions for TJ, 40; supports Republican newspapers, 40, 48, 269, 289-90; family, 108-9; Cobbett criticizes, 159; and Ky. and Va. Resolutions, 177; appoints P. Nicholas attorney general, 205n; and Madison, 205n, 233, 240, 301; as minister to France, 205n, 4612; political attacks on, 205n; visits Monticello, 240, 290, 591; warns TJ of Federalist spying, 240; begins term as governor, 247n, 248n, 251n; criticizes Adams, 289-90; reports political news, 289-90, 537-8, 588-90; responds to assembly, 289-90; social relationships, 354; as Va. Republican leader, 356, 462, 489-90, 554n; supplies information, documents, 362; as governor, 377n, 480, 540-2; and appointments, 391, 486; Albemarle Co. property, 413, 537; and R. Brooke’s debts, 413, 463; and Erving, 461-3, 489, 490, 499; View, 461-3; and TJ’s desire to avoid ceremonies, 462, 48990, 499, 588-90, 591n; on Duane’s case, 537; receives Appendix, 551; and Callender’s trial, 589, 590-1; and Chase, 589; and John Marshall, 589 Monroe, James Spence, 108-9 Monroe, John: as attorney in Staunton, 191 Monroe’s Embassy (Charles Brockden Brown), 276n Montalto: in land exchange, 140-3; relationship to Monticello, 143n Mont Blanco: as Eppes residence, 14, 54, 78, 139, 333, 526, 531, 532n, 535; TJ visits, 315, 483, 484, 526, 531, 533, 535-7, 546, 581, 583n, 591n; M. J. Eppes at, 533, 536-7 Monthly Magazine, and American Review, 276n Monthly Register, and Review of the United States, 276n Monticello: Native American art, viii,
195-6, 309, 310, 312, 593; Polk visits, xliii, 231-2, 233n, 240; piano for, xliv, 365-6, 575, 577n; art displayed at, xlv, 196n, 577n; TJ longs for, plans return to, 13-14, 301, 315; various visitors to, 18n, 92, 112, 123, 124, 173, 174n, 179; garden at, 20, 271, 363; renovation and expansion of, 20, 75, 92, 150n, 173, 189, 270-3, 474-5, 523; chimney piece for, 43, 58, 87, 88, 90-1, 102; groceries and supplies for, 43, 58, 756, 87, 88, 91, 93, 112, 116, 135, 145, 148-9, 172, 177, 178, 246, 269, 270, 276, 383-4, 586; sashes for, 75, 354, 491, 492n; TJ invites family to, 75, 119, 147, 368, 481, 483, 484, 531, 5356; plants, trees for, 87, 89, 474, 535; woodworking tools for, 87, 89; fruit trees, 92, 323, 523; Areplaces and chimneys, 102-3; clothing for workers, 115-16; grains grown at, 119; problems with crops at, 119; doors for, 130, 148n, 167, 185-6; paint for, 167, 177; Madison visits, 173, 177, 178-9, 481, 580; healthy climate of, 185, 245; insurance of, 186-8, 571-2; TJ invites friends to, 227, 321, 496, 524, 591; wagons, carts at, 229, 270-2; Monroe visits, 240; bricks, lime for, 270, 273n; plastering, 270, 474, 523; smokehouse and meat preparation, 270; security measures, locks, 270-1, 272, 363, 577n; workshops and service buildings, 270-2, 363; planking for, 270-3, 474; stonework, 270-3; tasks to be performed at, 270-3; carpentry, 271, 272-3n, 474-5; fences, 271; Franklin barn, 271; Randolphs at, 271; blacksmithing, 271-2, 274, 363-4, 384, 387, 422, 533; heavy snow at, 274; pecan trees, 309, 364, 594; TJ invites Nolan to, 310, 311, 585, 594; apple orchard, 323; slaves as overseers, managers, 348n; sheep Bock, 363, 523; furnishings for, 365, 577n; linens, 365, 523; sale of chains made at, 384; overseers at, 497, 522-3; lack of proAtability, 562; china, 586. See also corn; Bour; JeCerson, Thomas: Nailery; JeCerson, Thomas: Slaveholder; Montalto; Richardson, Richard; rye Montpelier: TJ postpones visit, vii, 240; renovation of, 482, 579-80; TJ visits, 580; mentioned, 174n Moodie, Benjamin, 181-2n
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INDEX moon: and calculation of longitude, 592 Moran, Joseph: payments to, 126n, 14950; letter to cited, 150n Moravians, 602 Morgan, Thomas, 165-6, 190, 193, 208 Morris, Gouverneur: as minister to France, 169, 171n; Oration, Upon the Death of General Washington, 339; on Washington’s religious beliefs, 353; in Senate, 455, 456n, 461 Morris, Richard (Va.), 522 Morris, Robert: debt to Currie, 4, 22, 367; disposition of assets of, 22, 507; Va. land speculations, 507, 511n Morse, Jedidiah: American Universal Geography, 317, 318n; opposes Illuminati, 350-1; criticized, 365 Morton, Perez: relates information, 4545; identiAed, 455n Mosby, Littleberry: debt to Short, 222, 501, 510n, 519, 532, 540; residence, 540 Moses, 419 Moses (E. Randolph’s slave), 584 Moses (Hendrick’s slave): hired, 302n Moses (TJ’s slave): work performed by, 271-2, 384 Moultrie, Alexander, 182n Mount Vernon, viii, xliii Mourning (E. Randolph’s slave), 583 Moylan, Stephen, 579 Mullins, Henry, 66, 67n Mumford, Mr. (New York), 60 Munford, William (1775-1825), 129n Munford, William G. (d. 1804): letters to, 68-9, 126-30, 168; TJ’s course of reading for, viii, 68, 99; Bishop Madison and, 67-8; character, 85-6; TJ advises, praises, 99, 126-30; letters from cited, 128-9n, 168n; and William and Mary, 129n; to send writings, 168 Muñoz, Manuel, 236-7, 238n Murad Bey, 134n Murray, William Vans: receives overtures from France, 44-7, 49-50, 52, 55; named envoy to France, 45-6, 48, 50, 57, 63-5, 67, 144, 212, 279, 338; and XYZ envoys’ instructions, 46; as envoy to Batavian Republic, 55; arrives in Paris, 476, 480, 483, 561. See also France: U.S. Relations with museums, xlv, 61-2 music: instruments, 365-6, 575, 577n; study of, 496 Muskingum River: settlement on, 6; Delaware Indians on, 393
Mutual Assurance Society: terms of insurance, 186-8, 571-2; legislation to authorize, 187-8; county agents, 571-2 Nancy (ship), 239 Nanny (E. Randolph’s slave), 584 Naples: under French control, 132; in war against coalition, 134n Nash, Thomas. See Robbins, Jonathan Natchez, 7, 28, 138-9, 196 National Institute of Arts and Sciences. See France: National Institute of Arts and Sciences National Magazine; or a Political, Historical, Biographical, and Literary Repository: established, 164-5, 194, 204; and Callender’s Prospect, 204, 427, 432; and Friend of the People, 388 natural history: museums, specimens of, 61-2; education in, 127, 291, 321, 569; and natural philosophy, 127, 321, 452n; of west, 138, 203, 237, 585; Rush on animal life, 150-1, 182-3; APS seeks information, specimens on North America, 313n; mysterious stone wall in N.C., 317, 318n; earth science, 443-5, 448. See also American Philosophical Society; Royal Society of London Nautical Almanac and Astronomical Ephemeris, 592 Nava, Pedro de, 236-7, 238n Ned. See Gillette, Edward Nelson, Hugh, Jr., 278 Nelson, Thomas (d. 1803), 465n, 590n Netherlands: and U.S. debt to France, 156, 161n; North American colonies, 411-13. See also Batavian Republic neutrality: theories of, 231; potential shift in British policy toward, 473. See also France: War with Britain and Second Coalition; Great Britain: War with France New England: relationship of religion, politics, 10, 17n, 72-4, 97, 350, 351n, 492; and general tickets for presidential electors, 300, 300n, 324; prefers longer congressional sessions, 314, 331, 366, 368, 381, 409, 422; could break from union, 324; economic motives for politics of, 324-5; unwavering politics of, 358; does not desire new treaty, commercial arrangements with France, 381, 409; recovering from
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INDEX XYZ excesses, 485, 491-2; and TJ’s Appendix, 556; and election of 1800, 562n, 581 New Hampshire: politics in, 10, 37, 455, 509, 511n, 512; responds to Va. Resolutions, 174n; selection of presidential electors, 201; selection of jurors, 431n New Haven, Conn.: collectorship at, 18n, 74n; Republicans in, 74n; Holt’s trial, 522n New Jersey: and election of 1800, vii, 408-9, 581; copper mining, manufacturing in, 4n, 60, 355, 378-81, 547, 548n, 550n; strengthening Republican prospects in, 35, 36, 67, 77, 151-2, 357, 409, 455; selection of presidential electors, 201, 301, 408-9; Du Pont settles in, 314n, 481, 483; Indians of, 411; prominent families, 420n; land prices, 508; incorporates copper company, 547, 548n, 550n; and TJ’s Appendix, 556 New Jersey, College of (Princeton), 335n, 353n New Jersey Copper Mine Association: operates Schuyler mine, 4n, 378-81; investors and management, 60, 355, 378-81; seeks federal incorporation, monopoly rights, 547, 548-9n, 550. See also Soho Company New Kent Co., Va., 68 Newland, Jacob: and attacks on Indians, 70, 131, 260, 263n New London, Conn.: lighthouse, 608; customs district, 609, 611. See also Bee (New London, Conn.) New Mexico, 236 New Netherlands, 411 New Orleans: and shipments to U.S., 196, 309, 310, 312, 585, 593; postal service to, 311n, 593; under Spanish administration, 312n, 469n; and French control of Mississippi Valley, 468; and customs duties, 603 Newport, R.I., 313-14n New Spain, 236-7, 238n newspapers: establishment of Republican, 10, 36, 40, 48, 50, 100-2, 112-14, 132; news of France biased by British, Germans, 19n; in Va., 37, 59, 98n, 163-5, 181n, 194, 238-9; British, inBuential in Mass., 97; in Germany, 132; German, in Pa., 152n; equipment, supplies for, 163; in Ireland, 165n; and political opinion in west, 262; in New England, 342n; man-
aged by editors’ widows, 454n, 493n; Aurora and freedom of the press, 467n. See also Lyon, James New Theatre. See Chestnut Street Theatre (New Theatre; Philadelphia) Newton, Thomas: letter to, 216-17; letter from, 218; TJ’s contact in Norfolk, 216, 218, 234; letters from cited, 216n; letters to cited, 216n; oDces held, 216n; on Republican ticket, 357n Newton, Thomas, Sr., 216n New Views of the Origin of the Tribes and Nations of America (Benjamin Smith Barton), 412 New Virginia Justice (William Waller Hening), 117, 122, 136-7 New York: importance of spring elections in, vii, 301, 408-9, 455, 499-500, 509, 511n, 512, 546, 558, 560, 561, 581; and Ky. and Va. Resolutions, 4-5, 174n; legislation, 4-5; party politics, 4-5, 338n, 409, 455, 494-5; boundary settlement, 26; strengthening Republican prospects in, 35, 36, 67, 77, 152, 300-1, 357, 455, 554-5, 557; selection of presidential electors, 201, 301, 4089, 455, 509, 512; Society for the Promotion of Agriculture, Arts, and Manufactures, 397, 549; Indians of, 411-12; history of, 411-13; newspapers, 425, 426n; TJ sends pamphlets, 4389; common law prosecutions for seditious libel, 492-3; courts, 493n; land prices, 508; selection of juries, 547; results of elections, 554-5, 557, 558, 560; and TJ’s Appendix, 556; and Republican vice-presidential selection, 556-7n; senate, 557 New York City: key role in presidential election, vii, 301, 409, 455, 482, 4945, 499-500, 558, 560, 561, 581; home port for captured ships, 24; as market for tobacco, 88, 105-7, 111, 120-5, 135, 149-50, 167, 211, 235, 239, 242, 307, 338-9, 341-2, 359, 383, 406, 414, 415, 562, 578n; yellow fever in, 211, 493n; banks, 307n, 495; water supply, 307n; TJ is unable to visit, 313; Du Pont resides near, 314n, 314-15, 481, 483; last home of Porcupine’s Gazette, 322n; business failures, 334, 342, 358, 407, 414; St. Andrew’s Society, 337; merchants, 338, 604; source for news, 341, 342n; and Anancial transactions, 390; commercial, Anancial relations
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INDEX New York City (cont’d) with Va., 418, 423, 428; newspapers, 425, 426n, 493n; Argus as lone Republican voice in, 493n; Du Pont company oDce, 531n; stagecoaches between Philadelphia and, 550; results of elections, 554-5, 557, 558, 560, 561 New York Missionary Society, 247n New York Packet, 425, 426n New-York Price-Current (New York), 105-6, 339 Nicholas, Anne Cary: family, 205n, 5845n; estate of, 583-4 Nicholas, George: Letter from George Nicholas, 12-13, 16-17, 24, 30, 35; death of, 172, 179, 509, 544; Correspondence, 204-5, 232-3; family of, 205n Nicholas, John (brother of W. C. Nicholas): writes for publication, 37; attacks Sedition Act, 64-5, 117, 137, 346, 347n; reelected to Congress, 11011; and proposed newspaper, 112-13; family of, 205n; reports gossip, intelligence, 303; introduces resolution, 306n; in House, 357n, 408, 410n, 548n; and R. Brooke’s debts, 413n; receives Appendix, 552 Nicholas, John, Jr. (clerk of Albemarle County Court): attestations by, 142n; suspected of political espionage, 240, 241; as “Americanus” criticizes TJ, 241n Nicholas, Lewis, 583-4 Nicholas, Philip Norborne: letters to, 232-3, 485-6; letters from, 204-5, 356-7; chairs Republican state committee, vii, 356-7, 485, 537n; and politics, 204-5, 232-3, 485-6; attorney general of Va., 205n; identiAed, 205n; receives Appendix, 553; and mother’s estate, 583-5; relationship to Edmund Randolph, 584n; defends Callender, 589-90n Nicholas, Robert Carter, 205n, 584n Nicholas, Wilson Cary: letters to, 102-3, 177, 178-9; letter from, 172; and Va. politics, 40, 250; asks for Areplace design, 102-3; and Ky. and Va. Resolutions, 172, 173, 177, 178-9; letter from cited, 179n; family of, 205n; in Senate, 227, 241n, 280n, 316n, 431n, 443n, 476, 541, 542n, 605; vacates assembly seat, 241; and Anancial transactions, 248n, 463n, 576, 577n;
travels with TJ, 274; reports political intelligence, 324-5; and Ross election bill, 382n, 407, 410n, 455, 456n, 461, 481, 605; and R. Brooke’s debts, 413n; and TJ’s statement in Aurora, 457, 458n; addressed by millennialist, 476n; communication with Va. Republicans, 490; carries papers, letters, 542, 579-80; receives Appendix, 552; hires slaves from Edmund Randolph, 583-4; relationship to Edmund Randolph, 584n Nicholson, James, 556-7n Nicholson, William: Introduction to Natural Philosophy, 68 Nickolls, James B., 224 Nicolls, Richard, 26 Nicolson, George, 428 Niemcewicz, Julian Ursin, 51, 60 Niles, Nathaniel, 553 Nolan, Philip: and trans-Mississippi west, 27-8, 135-6, 236-8, 309-11, 585, 594; suspected by Spanish oDcials, 236-8; expected in Va., 585, 594 Norfolk, Va.: goods shipped through, 75, 196n, 364; Ares in, 188n; oDceholders, 216n; attorneys, 230n; custom house, 353-4, 355n, 364; TJ expects to pass through, 462; as port, 587n Norfolk Canal Company, 505-6 Norfolk Co., Va.: Short’s Green Sea investments in, 216, 218, 234, 235, 239, 506, 508, 511n, 515 North, Stephen, 577n Northampton Co., Pa. See Fries Rebellion Northampton Co., Va., 32-3 North Carolina: price of tobacco, 106n, 115; selection of presidential electors, 201; and federal court circuits, 261-2, 266-7, 336, 344; manipulation of public opinion within, 279; and Va. Resolutions, 279; votes in Congress, 305, 306n; mysterious stone wall formation, 317, 318n; governors, 335n; wavering political course of, 358, 485; and election of 1800, 408, 561, 563n; Burr distrusts Republicans of, 556n; support for TJ in, 562n; receives U.S. statutes, 601; federal courts, 604 northern states. See eastern states Northumberland, Pa.: residence of Priestley, Cooper, 320, 322n, 346-7, 452n Northwest Ordinance of 1787, 337n
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INDEX Northwest Territory: development, sale of land, 5-8, 25-6, 262, 547, 549n, 560-1, 598, 603, 606, 607, 609, 610, 611; jurisdictional claims, 25-6; laws, 262; legislature meets, 262; and federal judicial circuits, 262-3, 267, 336, 344, 598; representation in Congress, 281, 282n; government of, 337n; Indians in, 393; divided, 547, 549n, 606, 608; as source of copper, 548-9n; oDcers of, 561n Notes on the State of Virginia: Boston edition of 1802, xlv; frontispiece portraits, xlv; Trenton edition of 1803, xlv; and Logan’s speech, 69-71, 131, 156, 161n, 263-4n, 335-6, 449-50, 479; Cobbett mocks, 156, 161n; potential revision of, 335-6, 556; Baltimore edition of 1800, 373n; depiction of Indians in, 411-12; TJ’s plan for education, 527, 529; TJ calculates words per page, 554n. See also Appendix to the Notes on Virginia Relative to the Murder of Logan’s Family Nottnagel, Montmollin & Co. (Philadelphia), 358 nulliAcation: and Ky. Resolutions, 153n, 266, 268n; and tariC, 452n Nymph (ship), 220n Observations upon the Origin of the Malignant Bilious, or Yellow Fever in Philadelphia, and upon the Means of Preventing It: Addressed to the Citizens of Philadelphia (Benjamin Rush), 150-1, 182-4 O’Connor, Arthur, 164, 165n Ogden, John C.: letters from, 16-18, 724; as political writer, publicist, vii, 1618, 72-4, 351n; Appeal to the Candid, 17n; identiAed, 17n; View of the NewEngland Illuminati, 17n, 351n; meets with TJ, 18n; seeks position, 72-3; jailed, 72-4; conBict with Adams, 734; sons of, 73-4; Short History, 73-4n; Friendly Remarks, 73n; View of the Calvinistic Clubs, 73n; letters from cited, 74n; letter to cited, 74n; provides list of Conn. Republicans, 74n; receives Appendix, 552 Ogden, Mary Wooster, 73 Ogden, Uzal: letter to, 369-70; Two Discourses, 369-70; identiAed, 369-70n; letter from cited, 370n
Ohio. See Northwest Territory Ohio Company, 253 Ohio Company of Associates (Scioto Company), 6, 8n Ohio River: Indian-white interactions along, 69-71, 370-3, 477-80; Collot gathers intelligence along, 469n oil, cooking, 75, 586 Old, James, 392n Oliphant, Capt. (Nancy), 239 Oliver, Benjamin Lynde, 303 Oliver, Julius, 107-8 On Monies, Coins, Weights, and Measures Proposed for the United States of America (John Beale Bordley), 388n Onondaga Indians, 393 “On the Propriety and Expediency of Unlimited Enquiry” (Thomas Cooper), 322n Opelousas, La., 593, 595n opium: as medicine, 127-8 Oraison Funèbre, du Frère George Washington (Simon Chaudron), 396, 417 Oram, James, 106n, 339 Orange Co., Va.: residents of, 326n; elections in, 542 oranges: of La., 237-8, 309 Oration, Upon the Death of General Washington (Gouverneur Morris), 339 Oration Commemorative of the Virtues and Greatness of General Washington (Samuel Magaw), 396n Oration on the Death of Lieutenant-General George Washington (David Ramsay), 439, 440n, 455 Orme, Edward, xlv Ormond; or, The Secret Witness (Charles Brockden Brown), 276n Ormrod, John, 396n Osborne’s (ChesterAeld Co., Va.), 533 Ossian: TJ paraphrases, 13 Oswald, Alexander, 228 Oswald, James: travels to U.S., 228-9 Oswald, Richard, 228 Otis, Harrison Gray: TJ notes comments by, 303; recommends that army enlistments cease, 306n; introduces military academy bill, 547n Otis, Samuel A.: letter to, 580-1; as secretary of the Senate, 580-1; letters from cited, 581n; letters to cited, 581n Ottoman Empire: relations with U.S., 24-5, 30, 31, 34, 38, 194, 200-1, 202n; and coalition against France, 30, 31,
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INDEX Ottoman Empire (cont’d) 34, 38, 133; opposes France in Egypt, 134n, 219; relations with Algiers, 201 Outlines of a Plan for Establishing a State Society of Agriculture in Pennsylvania (John Beale Bordley), 388n Padua, 567n Page, John: letter from, 32-3; To the Citizens, 32-3; on relations with France, 32-3; runs for Congress, 32-3; and Mazzei, 544; and TJ’s account of Logan’s speech, 552 Page, Mann, 544, 552 Page, Robert, 113, 114n, 306n Page, William: manages Pantops, 92, 119, 147; payments to, 302, 303n; cabins occupied by, 323 Paine, Elijah, 551, 554n Paine, Seth, 438n paint, 167, 177 Palladio, Andrea: Architecture, 579, 580n Palmyra, Tenn., 195-6, 310, 312 Pantops (Eppes estate, Albemarle Co., Va.): lands cleared at, 92; crops at, 119, 147; M. J. Eppes hopes to live at, 139; mentioned, 361n paper: innovations in manufacture of, 397, 550; a necessity of civilization, 550 Parent, Peter, 87-8 Paris: English school at, 108; art, artists of, 304; Du Pont de Nemours leaves, 328, 329; U.S. diplomatic mission arrives in, 475-6, 477n, 480, 482-3, 561; architecture, 579; and plaster of paris, 579 Parker, Josiah: letter to, 304; letter from, 303-4; Va. Federalist, 113, 114n, 306n; and Washington memorial, 303-4 Parks, T. S., 587, 588n Parkyns, George Isham: letter from, 446-7; paintings of, 446-7; identiAed, 446-7n; TJ writes letter for, 447n Parlementaire. See Benjamin Franklin (ship) Parmesan cheese, 208 Parrott, J., 456n Paschke (Paskie), Frederick, 144-5, 214, 259, 501, 510n Passaick Copper Co., 548n, 610 Pasteur, William, 477n patents: on steamboats, 220-1n; and
U.S. revenues, 277; on papermaking, 397n; legislation concerning, 605, 606, 610, 612 Paterson, William, 458 patronage: partisan awarding of oDces, 243, 250-1, 266; in Pa., 296, 419-20; political “delicacies” of, 450-1 Patterson, Robert: letter from, 456-7; and APS, 56, 57n; mentor to T. P. Smith, 291n; and U.S. census, 295n; and TJ’s moldboard plow, 456-7; instructs M. Lewis, 592n Pauw, Cornelius de, 62 peach trees: at Monticello, 92 Peale, Charles Willson: family, xli; museum, xli, 61; uncle, mentor to Polk, xliii, 231-2; portraits by, xlv; and exchanges of specimens, 61, 62n Peale, Rembrandt: portrait of TJ, viiviii, xli, xlv, 368 (illus.); portrait of Priestley, xli, 368 (illus.) peas: in TJ’s crop rotation plan, 197; cowpeas, 305, 348 pecans: D. Clark sends, 238, 309, 594; at Monticello, 309, 364, 594 Pechin, William, 373n Peirce, Benjamin, 426-7 penal institutions: in Va., 391, 486 Peñalver y Cárdenas, Luis Ignacio María de, 593, 594-5n Pendleton, Edmund: letters to, 36-9, 489, 96-8, 520-2, 555; letters from, 58-9, 442; authority on parliamentary procedure, viii, 520-2, 597; TJ urges to write political tracts, 36-9, 58-9, 96-8; reluctant to publish essays, 41; receives news of public events, 48-9; political essays by, 59n, 97, 98n; and Short’s salary, 80-1, 82, 497-9, 504, 514, 516n, 574; and dispute over common law, 171n; and reorganization of chancery courts, 241n; as presidential elector, 356-7; assists Hoomes, 442; and Mazzei, 544; receives Appendix, 551, 554n; A. Wolcott introduced to, 555; on E. Randolph, 585n Pendleton, John: acting governor of Va., 246-8 Pendleton, Sarah Pollard, 521 Penn, John (1729-1795), 26 Penn, Richard, 26 Pennsylvania: and election of 1800, vii, 408-9, 419, 509, 560; German population of, 22, 36, 152n; political sentiments in, 22-3, 35, 36, 67, 77, 132,
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INDEX 151-2, 211, 227, 301, 452n, 455; charter claims to western lands, 25, 599, 607; boundary disputes, 25-6; fear of upheaval, insurrection in, 35, 36-7; state elections, 132, 151-2, 204-5, 211, 223, 227, 232; selection of presidential electors, 201, 301, 324-5, 354, 357, 358, 440, 512; patterns of speech in, 202n; holds political balance between north and south, 211, 223, 227, 232; views of Robbins case, 227; and Sedition Act, 233n; state courts, 233n, 454n, 468n, 492-3; federal courts in, 281, 493n, 521-2n; Land ODce, 285n; land companies in, 287, 288n; political patronage, 296, 419-20, 450-1; legislative sessions, 301, 332n, 455; needs new election law, 301, 354, 357, 358, 408-9, 419, 455, 560; Priestley, Cooper in, 320, 322n, 346-7; partisan split in legislature, 324-5, 455, 509, 512; speakership of House, 338; currency, 342; and Ross election bill, 382n; agricultural societies, 387-8n; Freemasons, 396n, 417; Society of the Cincinnati, 402n; Indians of, 411; constitution, 419; iron manufacturing, 455-6; separatist plots on frontier, 467-9; Whiskey Insurrection, 467-9; newspapers, 492n; land prices, 508; tenant farmers in, 535n; and TJ’s Appendix, 555-6; militia reorganization, 556; uniAed Republican action in, 556. See also Fries Rebellion Pennsylvania, Bank of: stock, dividends, 51-3, 81, 184, 212, 560-1, 587n; bank notes, 428, 430, 431, 448 Pennsylvania, University of, 152n, 189n, 452n, 535n Perry, Reuben: carpenter, 474-5 Peters, Richard (judge), 493n, 521-2n Petersburg, Va.: price of tobacco, 106n; mail service at, 119n, 139, 333, 334, 348, 368, 369, 393-4, 422n, 440-1, 484n; merchants, 226, 298; Irish émigrés in, 382n; newspapers, 427, 525; TJ expects to pass through, 462; printing in, 525; as port, 587n; Callender arrested in, 589n Peyroux de la Coudrèniere, Henri, 468, 469n Peyton, Craven: leases Shadwell Aelds, 197-200, 222-3, 271, 323, 360; identiAed, 199-200n; overseer of, 323 Peyton, Jane JeCerson Lewis, 199n
Peyton, John, 126n, 149-50 Phelps, Frederick, 74n Philadelphia: artists, vii-viii, xli-xlv, 575, 576n, 577n, 586, 587n; ceases to be seat of federal government, xlii, 310; Birch’s pictures of, xlii-xliv, 368 (illus.), 576n; markets, xliii-xliv; procession mourns Washington, xliii-xliv, 368 (illus.); ferries, xliv; iron, nailrod ordered from, xliv, 42-3, 130, 135, 1456, 166, 173, 185, 204, 363, 502; pianos built in, xliv, 365-6, 575, 577n; as source for books, xliv, 87-8, 99; source of furniture, xliv, 484, 577n, 588; waterfront, xliv, 368 (illus.); mail service to Va., 11-12, 79-80; printers, 21n, 322n, 417n, 549-50; home port for captured ships, 24; prospective Republican newspaper in, 36, 100-2, 112-14, 132; as source of seed, 42-3, 406, 420, 423; interruption of market, travel due to ice on Delaware R., 51, 75, 376; yellow fever in, 61, 184, 185, 189n, 212-13, 297n, 322n, 549, 563-7; hotels, boarding houses, 69, 184n, 392n, 417n, 567n, 582; as Republican center, 72, 490; commercial, Anancial relationships with Va., 82, 185-6, 199n, 245, 286, 298, 342, 353-4, 359, 406, 414, 448, 502, 524, 586-8; as market for tobacco, 88, 105-7, 111, 11516, 120, 123, 149-50, 167, 212, 230, 235, 239, 242, 298, 305, 307, 334, 341, 359, 383, 390, 415, 441, 442, 449, 562; French-language publishing in, 88n; coCee house, 90; merchants in, 107-8, 238, 276n, 331, 373n; scarcity of cash at, 115-16; as source for cloth, clothing, 115-16, 269; and XYZ petitions, addresses, 129n; Frankford district, 130; physicians, 150-1, 152n, 189n, 586, 588; militia of, and Fries Rebellion, 151, 152-3n; almshouse, 152n; hospitals, 152n; political atmosphere in, 158; Chemical Society, 189n, 291n; Chickasaws intend to visit, 2468; Federalist newspapers in, 320, 322n; business failures, 331, 334, 342, 358-9, 407, 414, 455; mild winter at, 334; sickness in, 334; attorneys, 335; churches, ministers, 352-3; as source for window sashes, 354; center for learning, science, 366; Society for Promoting Agriculture, 387n; émigrés from France, Saint-Domingue, 396n;
< 659>
INDEX Philadelphia (cont’d) jewelers, goldsmiths, watchmakers, 396n, 558n; masonic lodges, 396n, 417; U.S. revenue collection, 402n; price of wheat and Bour at, 414; courts, 419; W. Hamilton resides near, 535n; manufacturing near, 548n; waterworks, 548n, 565; stagecoaches between New York and, 550; sanitation, 564-7; control of Bies, maggots, 565-6; sewers, 566; barbers, 575, 577n; hardware dealers, 575, 577n; smiths, 575, 577n; leatherworkers, 577n; taverns, 577n; shoemakers, 578n; as source of medicines, 586, 588; bookbinding, 588; tailors, 588; postal service, 588n. See also American Philosophical Society Philadelphia Gazette: news on foreign aCairs in, 45n, 134n, 337n, 342n, 4734n, 477n; prints prices current, 123; criticizes Priestley, 320, 322-3n; A. Brown, Jr., assumes editorship of, 322n; fatal Are at, 322n; TJ’s relationship with, 322n; prints news, 332n, 447n; criticizes Cooper, 493n Philips (Phillips), William B., 575, 577n, 587 Phill (TJ’s slave): and garden at Monticello, 20; tasks of, 271, 272 Phillis (E. Randolph’s slave), 584 philosophy: and neutral rights, 231; of Epicurus, 284-5; in college curricula, 321, 568-9; ethics, 321, 496; natural morality, 350-1 pianos: fortepiano for Monticello, xliv, 365-6, 575, 577n Pichon, Louis André: communicates diplomatic overtures, 44-50, 55 Pickering, Timothy: letter from, 62-3; and Saint-Domingue issue, 11n; and French decrees, 13n, 23, 30, 34, 37; reports on Gerry-Talleyrand correspondence, 18-19, 21-2; and Short’s salary, 62-3, 464, 498, 504, 574; and Jay Treaty commissioners, 161n; and TJ’s letters to Callender, 180-1n, 202n; Robbins case, 181-2n; business ties to Coxe, 287, 288n; and Liston’s intercepted dispatches, 287; opposes new negotiation with France, 301-2; relations with Adams, 301-2, 419; and government printing contracts, 438; allies with Hamilton, 562-3n; Federalist faction named for, 563n; dismissed
from cabinet, 581; performs routine functions, 601 Pickett, George: LeRoy’s agent, 390, 403, 406, 418, 423, 428, 467 Pickett, Pollard & Johnston, 242, 251-2, 577n Piedmont, Italy, 132 Pinckney, Charles: letter to, 226-8; Case of Jonathan Robbins, 226-8, 438; letters from cited, 228n; on relations with Britain, 228n; Three Letters, 228n; introduces jury bill, 358, 359n, 431n, 545-6, 601, 604; and Ross election bill, 382n; seeks to prohibit oDceholding by judges, 407, 410n, 439, 476, 480, 483, 491, 499, 601, 604; in constitutional convention, 410n; in Senate, 453n; receives Appendix, 552 Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth: as envoy to France, 72, 509; potential presidential candidacy, 509, 512, 513n, 561, 562-3n, 581. See also XYZ aCair Pinckney, Thomas, 589 Pinckney Treaty, 33 Pisa, Italy, 545 pisé construction, 144-5, 501, 510n Pitcairn, Joseph, 220, 405, 427 Pitt, William: conspires for U.S. war with France, 32; and British policy, 94, 249; accused of funding Cobbett, 156 Pittsburgh, Pa., 468n, 479 Pius VI, Pope, 133, 134n plaster of paris, 474, 579-80 Pleasants, Samuel: publishes paper, pamphlets, 15n, 164, 165n. See also Virginia Argus (Richmond) plow, moldboard: models of, 387, 455, 549-50; alternative designs for, 455-6; TJ’s description of, 549-50 Plumard de Bellanger, Mme, 544, 545n Plymouth Company, 25 Poindexter, George, 142 Polacca (steamboat), 381n Poland, 404 Political Arithmetic (Thomas Cooper): TJ distributes, 455, 456n, 481, 485. See also Maxims of Political Arithmetic, applied to the Case of the United States of America (Joseph Priestley) Political Essays (Thomas Cooper), 31920, 322n, 443, 470, 485, 492 Political Mirror (Staunton, Va.), 376-7, 432 Polk, Charles Peale: portrait of TJ, vii-
< 660>
INDEX viii, xliii, 368 (illus.), 231-2; visits Monticello, xliii, 231-2, 233n, 240 Polke, Charles: and attacks on Indians, 70, 260, 263n Polke, Thomas, 70 Pollard, Robert: and James River Co., 225, 233-4, 284, 318, 329, 361, 515 Polly (schooner), 242 Pope, Alexander, 340, 341n Pope, Joseph, 423-4, 487 Poplar Forest (TJ’s estate): sale of tobacco from, 15n, 81, 86-7; furnishes staples for Monticello, 270, 384; mortgage on, 503-4; income used to pay debts, 562 Porcupine’s Gazette (Philadelphia): publishes Cobbett’s attack on TJ, 161; at Bustleton, 161n, 322n; and Aurora, 162n; criticizes Priestley, 320; decline, end of, 320, 322n. See also Cobbett, William Porcupine’s Political Censor, For November 1796 (William Cobbett), 32n porter, 582 Portsmouth (U.S. frigate): sent to France, 455, 456n, 461, 463, 473, 476, 480, 483; aborted mutiny aboard, 456n; carries letters, 463, 465n Port Tobago. See Lomax, Thomas Portugal: relations with U.S., 24n, 54 postal service: distrusted, vii, 18, 33, 40, 57, 196-7, 201, 228, 240-1, 244, 246, 336, 345, 388, 485, 525n, 537; schedules, eDciency of, 11-12, 79-80, 179, 333, 334, 359, 367-8, 369, 382, 383, 393-4, 484, 546; and roads, 244, 606, 609; and U.S. revenues, 277; to New Orleans, 311n, 593; from, to frontier, 336, 345, 433, 436-7; mail robberies, 353; payments for, 588n Potomac Canal Company, 505-6 Potomac River, 310 Potter, Edmund, 87, 89, 111 Potter, Jared, 74n Pouncey’s tract (TJ’s property), 148n poverty: paupers as proposed census category, 294 Powell, Mr.: blacksmith, 274; expected at Monticello, 323, 333, 363-4, 368, 384, 387, 422, 533 Powell, Leven: elected to Congress, 110, 113, 114n; votes in House, 306n Power, Thomas, 468, 469n Powhatan Co., Va., 537n, 540 Prato, Giovanni da, 99, 100n
Prato, Italy, 100n Presbyterians, 318n, 353n, 370n, 468n Press (Richmond), 289-90, 432, 433n press, freedom of: editors intimidated by prosecutions, vii, 492, 526, 531; safeguard of republicanism, 110; as foundation of improvement of society, 128; W. G. Munford promises essay on, 168. See also libel; Sedition Act (1798) Preston, William, 71, 376-7 Price, Joseph, 514 Price, Richard, 350 Price, William, 537-8 Prichard, William: sells books to TJ, 117 Priddy, John, 148, 149n Priestley, Harry, 322n Priestley, Joseph: letters to, 319-23, 33941; letters from, 346-7, 567-70; on higher education, ix, 320-3, 339-41, 346, 496, 567-70; portrait by R. Peale, xli, 368 (illus.); Letters to the Inhabitants of Northumberland, 288, 319-20, 322n, 346, 347n, 567; as chemist, 291, 322n; Political Arithmetic, 31920, 322n, 346, 347n; attacked for religious, political views, 320, 322-3n, 346, 364; identiAed, 322n; leaves England for U.S., 322n; and plan for new college, 346, 347n; Comparison of the Institutions, 349, 351n, 364, 472, 567, 568n; belief in perfectibility of man, 350; assessed, 364; Memoirs, 452n; receives Appendix, 551; pessimistic, 567 Priestley, Joseph, Jr., 322n Priestley, Mary, 322n Priestley, William, 322n Prince George Co., Va.: artifacts, 225; residents of, 225-6, 249, 348-9 Prince of Wales (ship), 457-9 Princeton, N.J., 335n, 353n, 468n Princeton Theological Seminary, 353n printing: ensures progress of knowledge, 128 prisons. See penal institutions privies: sanitary measures for, 564-7 Proceedings of the House of Representatives of the United States with Respect to the Petitions Praying for a Repeal of the Alien and Sedition Laws: Including the Report of a Select Committee, and the Speeches of Messrs. Gallatin and Nicholas, Thereon, 117, 122, 136-7, 346, 347n
< 661>
INDEX Proceedings of the Virginia Assembly, on the Answers of Sundry States to Their Resolutions: TJ distributes, 417, 445, 461, 462n. See also Report of the Committee to Whom was Committed the Proceedings of Sundry of the Other States proclamation of 1763, 25 Proofs of a Conspiracy Against All the Religions and Governments of Europe, Carried on in the Secret Meetings of Free Masons, Illuminati, and Reading Societies (John Robison), 351-2n Prospect Before Us (James Thomson Callender): plans, subscriptions for, 164-5, 179-81, 182, 194; criticizes Washington, Adams, 181n; TJ sees early pages, supplies information, 1945, 200-2, 203-4, 238, 268, 427; published and distributed, 376, 432; second volume of, 376, 427, 525; reactions to, 377n, 525n, 589n; extracts in Bee, 432, 433n Providence, R.I., 554n Providence Gazette (Providence, R.I.), 425, 426n Prussia: does not join coalition, 133, 134n, 249; U.S. relations with, 601 Pryor, John, 377n Publius Virgilius Maro. Bucolica, Georgica, et Aeneis (Virgil), 144-5, 501 Purdy, Ebenezer, 557 Pusy. See Bureaux de Pusy, Jean Xavier Quarrier, Alexander, 268, 376-7 Quesnay, François, 528, 530 Quincy, Mass.: Adams at, 98n quinine. See bark raisins: on TJ’s grocery lists, 75 Ramsay, David, 439, 440n, 455, 552 Randolph, Mr., 300 Randolph, Anne Cary (TJ’s granddaughter): TJ’s aCection for, 12, 50, 66, 306, 359, 361, 366, 414, 562, 581; health of, 324, 348, 497, 582; TJ sends mementos to, 331, 536; visits Eppington, 389; mentioned, 21, 330, 473 Randolph, Ariana Jenings: annuity of, 583-4; mother of Edmund Randolph, 584n Randolph, Beverley (d. 1797), 544 Randolph, Brett, 537
Randolph, Cornelia JeCerson (TJ’s granddaughter): TJ’s aCection for, 306, 331, 359, 361, 366, 414, 562, 581; health of, 324, 348, 582; birth, 330n; visits Eppington, 389; mentioned, 473 Randolph, David Meade, 589 Randolph, Edmund: letter to, 168-71; and Short’s salary, 62-3, 144-5, 464, 465-6n, 498-9, 504-5, 514, 574; sued by government, 62-3, 464, 465-6n, 498, 504, 511n, 574; TJ employs as attorney, 148, 171n; Cobbett criticizes, 159; writes “Notes on the Common law,” 168-71; letters from cited, 171n, 585n; letters to cited, 171n, 585n; Abridgment of the Laws, 406, 407n, 520; mortgages slaves, personal property, 583-5; books, household items, 584 Randolph, Elizabeth Harrison, 583, 585n Randolph, Elizabeth Nicholas, 584n Randolph, Ellen Wayles, II (TJ’s granddaughter): TJ’s aCection for, 12, 50, 66, 306, 331, 359, 361, 366, 414, 536, 562, 581; aCection for TJ, 20-1, 54, 366; aCection for family, 92; health of, 324, 348, 582; sends greetings to TJ, 348; visits Eppington, 389; mentioned, 330, 473 Randolph, John (of Roanoke): confronted by oDcers, xlii, 305-7, 314; and TJ’s support of Callender, 181n; criticizes military, 305-7, 314, 331; enters Congress, 306n Randolph, Martha JeCerson (Patsy, Mrs. Thomas Mann Randolph, TJ’s daughter): letters to, 11-12, 331-2, 365-6, 535-6; letters from, 20-1, 54-5, 347-8, 582-3; cares for TJ’s aCairs, 1112, 360, 365, 523; TJ sends news to, 11-12, 331-2, 366, 535-6; relationship with sister, 14, 54, 75, 78-9, 140, 347, 365-6, 386, 389-90, 394, 413, 441, 473, 484, 526, 531, 535-6, 582; manages household, 20-1, 347-8, 582-3; correspondence with TJ, 31, 357, 382, 484; TJ’s aCection for, 50, 66, 306, 315, 334, 359, 361, 383, 483, 562, 581; awaits TJ’s return, 54; criticizes Lewises, 142n; husband sends news to, 251; invited to, at Monticello, 2712, 536; health of, 324, 348, 497; and C. Church, 330, 332; children of, 330; gives birth to daughter, 330; answers
< 662>
INDEX Randolph, Martha JeCerson (cont’d) for husband, 348; and Albemarle Co. society, 354; and Varina, 391n; travels, 425, 526, 531, 535; aCection for TJ, 441 Randolph, Peyton: estate of, 583, 584-5n Randolph, Richard (d. 1786): and Wayles estate, 23n, 457-9; suit against heirs of, 458-9n, 507, 510n, 511n; and Bivins bond, 503, 507, 511n; mentioned, 501 Randolph, Richard (d. ca. 1799): debt to Short, 222, 501, 519, 532; insolvency of, 510n, 532 Randolph, Thomas Eston, 324 Randolph, Thomas JeCerson (TJ’s grandson): TJ’s aCection for, 12, 50, 66, 306, 331, 359, 361, 366, 414, 562, 581; education, reading, 20-1; health of, 324, 348, 582; mentioned, 330, 473; 1829 edition of TJ’s papers, 353n Randolph, Thomas Mann (TJ’s son-inlaw): letters to, 31-2, 50-1, 65-6, 146, 304-7, 341-2, 357-9, 359-61, 382-3, 413-15, 420-1, 425, 430, 472-4, 482-3, 561-3, 581; letters from, 250-1, 323-4, 389-91, 403, 497, 522-4; memorandum to, 229; TJ sends news on Congress, politics, and foreign aCairs to, 11, 31-2, 50, 65-6, 304-7, 342, 343, 357-9, 413-14, 472-4, 482-3, 536, 5613, 581; and TJ’s business aCairs, 12, 176; TJ sends regards to, 12, 331, 366, 536; cares for TJ’s aCairs at Monticello, Shadwell, 20-1, 54, 58, 271-2, 323-4, 348, 359-61, 387, 497, 522-4, 537; and sale of tobacco, 32, 57-8, 120, 121, 125, 212, 235, 341-2, 382-3, 388, 390, 403, 406, 414, 473, 497, 562, 576, 577-8n; and projected establishment of Republican newspaper, 50; letters from cited, 66n, 146n, 403n, 473n, 562n; and U.S. loan, 76n, 81n, 359; relationship with M. J. Eppes, 78-9, 386, 389-90, 413, 415; near failure of crop of, 119; travels, 119, 124, 389-91, 406, 414-15, 425; and TJ’s Anancial transactions, 125n; and TJ’s nailery, 146; has abundant wheat harvest, 147; renovation, construction of buildings, 189; oversees construction of cart wheels, 229; carries letters, 241n, 243-4n, 245n, 246, 250-1; reports news, 250-1; obtains items in Richmond, 269, 276; business, plantation aCairs, 270, 384, 422,
562; health of, 324, 342, 348, 497; and correspondence with TJ, 331, 347, 365, 368, 422, 484, 535; subscribes to newspapers, 342; receives nailrod, 384, 385; gives medical advice, 389-90, 523; attends Albemarle Co. court, 475, 482, 522; brother, 483; expects to move to Albemarle Co., 508; receives Appendix, 553, 554n. See also Varina (Randolph estate) Randolph, Thomas Mann, Sr.: and TJ’s land titles, 252-9 Randolph, Virginia (sister of Thomas Mann Randolph), 20 Randolph, William, 483 Read, Jacob: in Senate, 416, 430, 545; hosts caucuses, 563n Reading, Pa., 152n, 492n Readinger Adler (Reading, Pa.), 152n Recorder (Richmond), 181n Redick, David, 552 Redman, Judge, 159 Redstone Old Fort. See Brownsville (Redstone), Pa. Rehberg, Frederic, 560n religion: despotism resists progress of knowledge in, 128; and William and Mary, 291n, 340; potential for progress in study of, 341; and Illuminati, 350; Cooper and, 452n; and politics, 589. See also Christianity; clergy Remarks on Mr. John Fitch’s Reply to Mr. James Rumsey’s Pamphlet (Joseph Barnes), 220n Remsen, Henry: letters to, 105-6, 121-2, 211-12, 307, 415-16, 425-6; letter from, 338-9; to sell TJ’s tobacco, 1056, 120-3, 166-7, 211-12, 307, 338-9, 414-16, 425-6, 577-8n; letters from cited, 122n, 307n, 426n; bank cashier, 307n; TJ orders newspapers from, 339, 425 Report of the Committee to Whom was Committed the Proceedings of Sundry of the Other States: TJ distributes, vii, 367; debated and approved, 278, 27980n, 288-9, 295-6, 299-300, 319, 325; amended, 299-300n, 362; TJ has published, 300n, 362, 417, 461, 462n; superseded, 446n. See also Communications from Several States, on the Resolutions of the Legislature of Virginia; Proceedings of the Virginia Assembly, on the Answers of Sundry States to Their Resolutions
< 663>
INDEX Report of the Committee To whom were referred . . . Memorials & Petitions Complaining of the Act, Intituled “An Act Concerning Aliens,” 65n Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Court of Appeals of Virginia (Bushrod Washington), 117, 122, 136-7 Republican (Petersburg, Va.), 427, 432, 525 republicanism: tied to education, 21; depends on states countering federal power, 41, 59, 495; endangered by war, 52-3; said to be triumphant in Europe, 110, 251, 291; in Spain, 132; Cobbett and, 157-9; diCerences in U.S., France, 336-7, 345, 354, 360, 488-9; and Irish radicalism, 381; Du Pont and, 386; U.S. as last refuge of liberty, 481-2; state of, in U.S., 567 Republicans: create committee structure in Va., vii, 356-7, 485, 537n; editors intimidated by libel prosecutions, vii, 492, 526, 531; TJ’s leadership of, vii; in middle states, vii-viii, 67, 77, 151-2, 223, 227, 301, 332n, 357, 358, 408-9, 455, 485; prospects, strategy for 1800 election, vii-viii, 408-9, 485, 490, 499500, 556-7, 560, 581; called Jacobins, 10; in New England, 10, 16-18, 72, 74n, 266n, 342n, 454-5, 509, 511n, 512, 543, 556; and newspapers, public opinion, 10, 36, 40, 48, 50, 97, 98n, 100-2, 112-14, 132, 163-5, 227, 238-9, 285, 289-90, 342n, 427-8, 438; improving public opinion of, 16, 35, 531, 554-5; characterized as Illuminati, 17n; importance of printing, information, 59, 439; stymied in House debates, 64-5; Philadelphia as hub of, 72, 490; called Democrats, whigs, 74n, 154, 156; regional strengths of, 77, 358; represent true sentiments of nation, 110, 201, 509, 512, 547; succeed in Va. state elections, 110-11, 11314, 228, 250-1, 541, 542, 543; suspect Liston, 153n; called a faction, 155; defend Richmond Examiner, 165n; in S.C., 182n; in Staunton, 192n; in Pa., 211, 223, 227, 232, 452n, 556; in upland Va., 223; and Robbins case, 227, 358; and distribution of oDces in Va., 243, 250-1; strategy in face of splits among Federalists, 243, 244; TJ outlines goals of, 243; in west, 262, 266-7; in Va. assembly, 289-90, 299,
325-6; on at-large selection of presidential electors, 300-1, 300n, 324-5, 326, 440; and N.Y. state elections, 301, 408-9, 455, 494-5, 499-500, 509, 554-5; outvoted in House, 306-7n; found bank in N.Y., 307n, 495; distrust Federalist maneuvers in 1800, 324-5; control Pa. House, 325n; distrust accounts of Brumaire coup, 343; Monroe as key Agure in Va., 356; rally on common law issue, 356; form, promote tickets in states, 356-7, 494-5, 512, 554, 561; inconsistent strength of, 358; and selection of juries, 431n; oppose medal for Truxton, 456n; and manipulation of opinion, 462; and control of Congress, 485, 491, 509-10; in N.C., 485; Va. as example for other states, 485, 490; and Argus, 493n; called Republican party, 509, 512; election of Pa. governor, 556; consider vice-presidential candidates, 556-7; coordination among states, 556-7; importance of N.Y. leaders, 556-7n; hold caucuses, 556n; conduct in N.Y. elections, 557; in Senate, 563n; and bankruptcy law, 573; hold their ground in House, 573, 579; and TJ’s visit to Richmond, 588-9 Retaliation (ship): returned by France to U.S., 24-5, 30-1, 34, 35-6n, 37, 44, 45n, 48-9; original French crew of, 39 Reynolds, Michael, 305-7 Rhode Island: politics in, 10, 455; responds to Va. Resolutions, 174n; selection of presidential electors, 201; Du Pont arrives in, 313-14n; newspapers, 425, 426n; residents, 426, 554n; governors, 554n; college in, seeks congressional aid, 605 rice: on TJ’s grocery lists, 76, 87, 89; recommended for the ill, 108 Richardson, Richard: letters to, 363-4, 383-5, 474-5, 536-7, 546; memorandum to, 270-3; performs miscellaneous services, 82, 85, 86, 87n, 93; and TJ’s Anancial transactions, 82, 88; witnesses indenture, 199; superintends work at Monticello, 270-3, 342, 360, 363-5, 383-5, 387, 422, 473-5, 483, 523, 535-7, 546; hires slaves, laborers, 271, 302, 323; letters from cited, 273n, 342n, 364n, 384n, 474n, 537n; TJ’s accounts with, 273n, 363; letters to cited, 303n, 474n, 537n; nailery account, 385n; criticized, 523
< 664>
INDEX Richmond, Va.: portraits of TJ sold in, xliii; TJ’s groceries sent by way of, xliv, 58, 75, 87-9, 91, 93; and TJ’s travel to, from Philadelphia, 13, 581; as source for books, printed materials, 14, 117, 122, 136-7; as source for clover seed, 14, 42-3; newspapers, 37, 59, 98n, 163-5, 181n, 194, 238-9, 28990, 388; federal courts in, 41, 42n, 63n, 465n, 589n; price of tobacco at, 43, 57-8, 82, 85, 87-8, 93, 105-7, 11516, 120-5, 135, 149-50, 204, 429, 4412, 449; postal service at, 79-80, 180n, 382, 383; commerce with Albemarle Co., 82; commercial, Anancial relationships with Philadelphia, 82, 1856, 245, 286, 298, 342, 353-4, 359, 406, 414, 448, 586-8; grocers, 99; slaves, slavery in, 112, 118; as Anancial, banking center, 120, 123, 124; price of wheat, Bour at, 124, 125, 136, 145, 204, 414; as source of apparel, 124, 136, 148, 269, 276; bakeries, 136; political conBict in, 164, 165n, 180, 194; Federalist associators, 165n, 180; Ares in, 188n; banks, 205n; tobacco warehousing, 239; Chickasaws visit, 246-8; Rocketts Landing, 250; printing, publishing in, 269; Houdon’s statue of Washington, 3034; Republican state committee, 356-7, 485; merchants, 361, 502; as Federalist center, 381, 499, 588-9; proposed academy, 381-2; taverns, 389, 391n; diDculty of obtaining credit at, 390; state oDces, institutions in, 391, 5402; commercial, Anancial relationships with New York, 418, 423, 425, 428; J. Eppes visits, 440; TJ avoids attention, ceremony in, 462, 489-90, 499, 588-90, 591n; nailrod returned to, 474; as port, 485; James River Canal reaches, 505; elections, 537-8, 541; representation in assembly, 537-8; bridges, 537n; stagecoach travel to, 589n. See also Examiner (Richmond); JeCerson, George riding: part of liberal education, 568 Rigaud, André, 9-11, 133, 134n Riley, William, 586, 587n Rising Sun (sloop), 96, 118 Rittenhouse, David, xlv, 544 Rivanna River: boat transport on, xliv; mills on, 165-6, 190, 193, 199n, 205-8, 217; land along, 190n; fork of James R. and, 228n
roads: on TJ’s property, 198, 359-60; recommended for C. Pinckney’s journey, 226-7; for postal service, 244, 606, 609; in western states, 262 Robbins, Jonathan: extradition, 180, 181-2n, 227, 228n, 421; also known as T. Nash, 181-2n; continuing political eCects of case, 358, 408, 410n, 421, 422, 438 Roberts, John, 542 Roberts, Joseph, Jr.: payments to, 89, 115, 185-6, 212; letters to cited, 116n, 130n, 185n, 212-13n; supplies nailrod, 130, 135, 166, 204, 361-2, 363, 575; letters from cited, 130n, 212-13n; TJ returns load of nailrod to, 270, 298 Robertson (western settler), 71 Robertson, Dr. William, 62 Robespierre, Maximilien François Marie Isidore de, 354 Robinson, Moses, 551, 554n Robinson, Thomas (of Ireland and Va.), 381-2 Robinson, William (western Va.): statement on Logan-Cresap aCair, 397400, 552; identiAed, 399n Robinson & Hartshorne (New York), 604 Robison, John: criticizes Illuminati, 350-2; Proofs of a Conspiracy, 351-2n Rochambeau, Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, Comte de, 469n Rocketts (Richmond, Va.), 250 Roederer, Pierre Louis, 562n Rogers, Maurice, 392n Rohde, George, 378-81 Rohde, Lewis, 378-81 Rome: classical, 129n, 560n; joined with Naples, 132; art, artists of, 304; as model for Bonaparte, 357-8, 386; Americans study for priesthood in, 560n Ronald, Andrew, 221, 510n, 540 Roosevelt, Nicholas J.: and N.J. copper mine, 60, 378, 380, 381n, 547, 550; and steam power, 380-1n, 548n; connections to Latrobe, 548n; develops metal works, 548n Ross, Andrew, 51 Ross, David: employee of, 124; lands of, 162; arbitration with TJ, 209-10, 225; letters from cited, 210n; letters to cited, 210n; and Christopher McPherson, 475, 476-7n, 480, 482, 522; family, 476n; sells James River Co. shares, 515
< 665>
INDEX Ross, James: bill for deciding disputed elections, viii, 381-3, 407, 409-10n, 414, 419, 439-40, 453n, 455, 456n, 461, 481, 491, 499, 531, 547-8, 579, 597, 598, 601-5, 610, 611; gubernatorial candidate, 204-5, 382n, 468; Senate president pro tem, 282n; in Senate, 295n, 609, 611; prefers extended presidential term, 324; career, 467-9; and political sentiments in west, 467-9 Ross, James (Va.), 475, 476-7n Ross, James D., 476-7n, 482, 522 Ross, John, 513 Rossi, Vincenzo, 99-100 Row (Roe, Rowe), Anderson, 126, 148, 149n, 591 Royal Society of London, 265, 266n RuDn, Edmund (1745-1807), 226 RuDn, Edmund (1794-1865), 226n RuDn, George: letter to, 225-6; letter from, 249; sends armor relic, 225; as TJ’s contact in Prince George Co., 225-6, 249, 348-9; identiAed, 226n RuDn, Jane Lucas, 226n RuDn, Rebecca Cocke, 226n Rumford, Count. See Thompson, Benjamin (Count Rumford) Rumsey, James, 220-1n Rush, Benjamin: letter to, 182-4; letter from, 150-1; and Brown’s medical theories, 129n; Observations upon . . . Yellow Fever, 150-1, 182-4, 563; scientiAc, medical research and theories, 150-1, 182-4; Three Lectures, 150-1, 182-3; teaches medicine, 152n; interested in Christianity, 285n, 352-3; and U.S. census, 295n; reports political intelligence, 296-7, 469; letter from cited, 469n; receives Appendix, 551 Russell, Peter: administrator of Upper Canada, 153n, 287-8, 521 Russell’s Gazette (Boston), 134n Russia: target of French edict of 29 Oct. 1798, 13n; potential treaty with U.S., 23-4, 30, 31, 34, 38; in coalition against France, 30, 31, 34, 38, 133, 218-19, 221n, 358; relations with Prussia, 134n; as example of despotism, 157, 169; invades Batavian Republic, 218-19, 221n, 251; wild horses of Siberia, Tatary, 237, 309-10; withdraws from coalition, 404, 406n Rutherfoord (Rutherford), Thomas, 209 Rutledge, Edward: death, 331, 332n, 509, 544
rye: as crop at Monticello, 119; at Pantops, 147; in crop rotation plans, 5067, 518 St. Andrew’s Society, 337 St. Croix, W.I., 45n Saint-Domingue, W.I.: internal conBict, 9, 10-11n, 133, 134n; independence for, 9-10; U.S. trade with, 9-10, 22, 24, 29-30, 32, 190n, 216, 218; as potential “American Algiers,” 10; inBuence on American slaves feared, 22, 29-30; U.S. appoints consul for, 44, 45n, 49; émigrés from, 88n, 396n Ste. Genevieve, 468, 469n St. John’s College, Annapolis, 86n St. Thomas, W.I., 334n Salem, Mass.: memorializes Washington, 303-4 Salimberi, Madame de (Bruni), 331 Sally (sloop), 87, 89, 111, 575, 577n salt: duties on, 606, 609, 610 Salter, Samuel, 77n saltpeter: and preservation of fossils, 317 Sam (Perkins slave): as doctor, 347-8, 523 Sam (E. Randolph’s slave), 583 San Antonio, 236 sanitation: in cities, 564-7 Sappington, John: and murder of Logan’s kin, 70; statement on LoganCresap incident, 370-4, 573; role in attacks on Indians, 372, 373n Saunders, Robert, 278, 280n Savage, Edward: portrait of TJ, vii-viii, xlv, 368 (illus.), 577n; makes frames, xlv, 577n; possible mention of, 575 Savage, John, 575, 577n Schérer, Barthelemy Louis Joseph, 133, 134n Schneider, Jacob, 152n, 525n Schuyler, Arent, 4n, 355, 548n Schuyler, John, 4n Schuyler, Philip A., 380n sciences: state of learning, importance of education in, 127-8, 316; in college curricula, 291-2, 316, 320-1, 339-40, 496, 569; role of Europe in study of, 320-1; role of luxury in study of, 340; Illuminati and, 350; in Italy, 545. See also American Philosophical Society; JeCerson, Thomas: ScientiAc Interests; natural history Scioto Company. See Ohio Company of Associates (Scioto Company)
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INDEX Scioto River, 477-9, 560 Scotland: town planning, 91; tobacco market, 106, 121, 122n, 229n; pastoral literary work mentioned, 194; merchants, 228-9; manufacturing, 229n; Scots in America, 337, 476n; universities, 351n, 569 “Scots Correspondent” (pseudonym), 268n Scott, Gustavus, 551 Scott, William Lord Stowell, 231 Scourge of Aristocracy. See Political Mirror (Staunton, Va.) Secretary’s ford (Rivanna River), 140-1, 143n Sedgwick, Theodore: in Senate, 30, 45n; relations with Hamilton, 46n; in House, 278n sedition: common law and British model, 171n, 233n, 290, 356, 357n Sedition Act (1798): prosecutions under, vii, 492-3, 521-2, 531, 536, 588n, 589-91; opposition to, 23n, 35, 36, 77, 117, 137, 266, 268n, 279-80n, 289, 299, 326n, 344, 345n, 439, 446; defended, 42n; House refuses to debate, 64-5; as part of Federalist program, 169, 290, 471; House receives petitions on, 173, 174n; unconstitutionality of, 173, 278, 280n, 295, 590n; eCort to amend, 356, 357n; oppressiveness of, 471; bill to continue act in force, 608 seeds: of varieties of squash, 544. See also clover seed Semiramis (ship), 426 Senger, G. A., 397n Sermon, Delivered December 29, 1799; Occasioned by the Death of General George Washington (Samuel Miller), 370, 394, 411 servants: as proposed census category, 294 Settle (Bache farm), 246n Sewall, Samuel, 434n sextants, 592 Seymour, Samuel, xlii Shackleford, Tom (TJ’s slave), 272 Shadwell (TJ’s estate): work performed at, 146; mill at, 165-6, 193, 199n, 208, 217; use of Aelds at, 197, 198n; woodlands at, 197; lease of Aelds at, 197200, 222, 223n, 323, 359-60; fences, 198, 271; livestock, 198; crops at, 200n; excavation of mill canal, 270-1, 523
Shawnee Indians, 373n, 477-9 SheaC, Henry: letter from cited, 373n; and shipments, 586 sheep: at Monticello, 363, 523 Shelby, Isaac: as governor of Ky., 468-9 Shepard, Samuel: auditor of Va., 218, 234, 506 Shepherd (b. 1782, TJ’s slave), 384 Shirley, Va., 508 shoes, 578n shoe thread, 273n Short, Peyton: letter to, 214-15; letter from, 259; and brother’s business aCairs, 144, 214-15, 259, 464, 501-2; correspondence with W. Short, 144, 259, 464; sisters of, 214-15, 259; letter from cited, 215n Short, William: letters to, 463-6, 501-13; letter from, 144-5; TJ draws on funds of, ix, 58n, 80-1, 406, 414, 418, 420, 502-4, 510n; seeks to buy land, 12, 13n, 139, 507-8; salary due to, 62-3, 80-2, 144-5, 464, 465-6n, 497-9, 5045, 511n, 514, 574; business aCairs, 756, 81, 87, 102, 144-5, 166, 213-14, 221-2, 259, 463-6, 500-20, 532, 540; investment in $5 million loan, 75-6, 81, 87, 102, 166, 185-6, 504-5, 517, 587; and investments of T. M. Randolph, J. W. Eppes, 76n, 81n; powers of attorney, 76n, 215, 225, 236n, 392n, 504, 518; U.S. securities, 76n, 222n, 392n, 502, 504-5, 508, 513-17, 519, 587n; and brother, 144, 214-15, 464, 501; anticipates marriage, 144-5; canal shares of, 144-5, 215, 224-5, 233-6, 284, 298, 302, 318, 329, 361, 414, 418, 420, 504-6, 508, 511n, 515, 519; Indian Camp Quarter, 144-5, 504, 506-7, 508, 510n, 511n, 515; and Madame de La Rochefoucauld, 144-5, 465, 510, 512; tenants, 144-5, 506-7, 513-14, 518; epistolary record, 144n, 215n; letter from cited, 144n; introduces William Cobbett to TJ, 153-61; western lands, 214, 259, 464, 501; sisters of, 214-15, 259, 501, 510n; Green Sea lands, 216, 218, 234, 235, 239, 506, 508, 511n, 515; and TJ’s study of Epicurus, 285n; lands surveyed, 384, 474, 506, 510n, 511n; forwards letters, 464, 510; service in Spain, 498; receives political news, 500; TJ mortgages land, slaves to, 503-4, 511n; TJ’s debt to, 503-4, 510n; invests in $3.5 million loan, 505, 508, 519, 587;
< 667>
INDEX Short, William (cont’d) statements of account, 513-17; purchases land from W. C. Carter, 515 Short History of Late Ecclesiastical Oppressions in New-England and Vermont (John C. Ogden), 73-4n Siberia. See Russia Sicily, 221n Siéyès, Emmanuel Joseph, Abbé: and Brumaire coup, 336-7, 344-5, 357; honors Franklin, 396n; and new constitution, 405n silver: English presentation set for Kosciuszko, 51-2, 53n, 55; U.S. money in, 197-8, 576, 577n, 579; E. Randolph table service, 584 Simpson, George, 81n, 125n, 587 Sinclair, Sir John: letter from, 91; plans town, 91 “Singe et Le Chat” (La Fontaine), 408, 410n Sisyphus, 472 Sitgreaves, Samuel, 39, 161n Sjoerds, Heer, 87 Skelton, James, 162-3 Sketches of the Principles of Government (Nathaniel Chipman), 68 Sketch of the Creek Country, in the Years 1798 and 1799 (Benjamin Hawkins), 335 Sketch of the Revolutions in Chemistry (Thomas Peters Smith), 291n Skipwith, Anne Wayles (Mrs. Henry Skipwith, TJ’s sister-in-law): TJ purchases Elk Hill from, 162-3; death, 214n, 508 Skipwith, Elizabeth Hill Byrd Farley Dunbar: marries H. Skipwith, 214-15, 259, 508 Skipwith, Fulwar: forwards letters, 465n Skipwith, Henry (TJ’s brother-in-law): and Short’s business aCairs, 144-5, 213-14, 222n, 224, 259, 464, 501-2, 510n; TJ purchases Elk Hill from, 162-3; remarries, 214-15, 259, 508; delivers artifact, 225; and Wayles estate, 229, 231n, 375, 457-9, 470 slavery: and tenancy, 145n; in Ky., 261; Cooper and, 452n; in Miss. Terr., 600, 612; prohibitions on slave trade, 608, 611. See also abolition slaves: hiring of, 12, 112, 118, 270-1, 273n, 302n, 323, 583-4; illness of, 54, 83, 109, 110, 274, 305, 347-8, 360, 473, 497, 523; escape, 112, 118; fami-
lies, marriages of, 112, 347; punishment of, 112; sources of clothing for, 115-16; work in tobacco warehouse, 239; tasks detailed, 270-2, 360, 3634; boys work in nailery, 271, 363, 502; use blasting powder, 271; receive medical care from other African Americans, 347-8, 523; suspected poisonings of, 347-8, 523; as managers, overseers, 348n, 360; and alcoholic beverages, 360; housing of, 363; roam at night, 363; allocation of food staples to, 384; sold in Va., 457-9; bear children of white fathers, 476n; mortgaged, 503, 511n, 583-4; value of TJ’s, 503; enumeration of, 598, 599. See also JeCerson, Thomas: Slaveholder sloths, 61-2 Smith, Mr. (Hamburg): oCers news, gossip, 337-8 Smith, Mr. (wagoner), 149 Smith, Adam: Wealth of Nations, 68 Smith, Campbell, 604 Smith, Daniel: receives Appendix, 552; memorial to Senate, 601 Smith, Edward, 162-3 Smith, Joseph (Bucks Co., Pa.), 455-6 Smith, Judith, 163n Smith, Larkin, 250-1, 290n Smith, Ralph, 559-60 Smith, Reuben, 162-3 Smith, Robert (Bucks Co., Pa.), 455-6 Smith, Sally, 163n Smith, Samuel (Maryland): conveys gossip, intelligence, 301-2; brother of Hester Carr, 476; promotes incorporation of copper companies, 548n Smith, Samuel Harrison: prints TJ’s megalonyx report, 317-18; prints Appendix to the Notes on Virginia, 373n, 575, 577n; prints TJ’s Manual, 401n Smith, Thomas Peters: career, 291, 316, 349, 472; letters from cited, 291n; letter to cited, 291n; Sketch of the Revolutions in Chemistry, 291n; visits R. R. Livingston, 397 Smith, William (1727-1803): Examination of the Connecticut Claim, 26 Smith, William Loughton: envoy to Ottoman Empire, 24-5, 30, 31, 34, 38; and Federalist politics, 562n snuC: Va. upland tobacco used for, 121; customs duties on equipment for, 607 soap: from Poplar Forest, 270
< 668>
INDEX Society, Instituted in the State of NewYork, for the Promotion of Agriculture, Arts, and Manufactures: Transactions, 397, 549 Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, 369n Soho Company, 548n, 550n Sophia (schooner), 167 South America: megatherium discovery, 61-2; Duane visits, 454n; independence movements, 454n South Carolina: fear of black insurrection, 29-30; price of tobacco, 106n; Robbins incident, 181-2n, 227, 228n, 410n; Republicans in, 182n; selection of presidential electors, 201; political leadership, 331, 332n; selection of jurors, 431n; politics in, 438; and nulliAcation, tariC, 452n; and election of 1800, 509, 512, 561, 562-3n, 581; support for TJ in, 562n South Carolina, University of, 452n “South Carolina Planter”: C. Pinckney pseudonym, 228n South-Carolina State Gazette (Charleston, S.C.), 438n southern states: and continuing suspension of trade with France, ix, 314, 315n, 331, 333, 343, 408; fear inBuence of Saint-Domingue, 29-30; and political power, parties, 77, 152; prefer shorter congressional sessions, 314; hurt by bankruptcy act, 470-1; scarcity of money, Anancial institutions, 470-1 Southwest Territory, 548n Spain: Cobbett advocates war with, 32; and control of Louisiana, 32n, 467-9; relations with France, 32n; scientiAc studies in, 61-2; Anancial situation, 132; republican sentiments in, 132; Beet joins with French, 132-3; and Ireland, 133; North American possessions of, 139n; protective of North American territories, 236-7, 238n; potential seizure of Ky., 312n; American envoys travel through, 475-6, 477n, 480, 482-3; U.S. diplomats in, 498; U.S.-West Florida boundary, 592-3. See also Pinckney Treaty specie: speciAed for contract payment, 197-8; coins, 576, 577n, 579 Speech of Albert Gallatin, . . . on the First of March 1798, Upon the Foreign Intercourse Bill, 16-17
Speech of the Hon. John Marshall, Delivered in the House of Representatives, 421 Speed, James, Jr., 264n Sprage, Samuel, 77n Stadt Hamburgh (ship), 87, 90 StaCord Co., Va., 111n Stamp Act (1797): anticipated revenue from, 33, 277; TJ’s transactions aCected by, 123-4, 146, 225, 236; objections to, 169; alteration of stamp duties, 598; bill for general stamp oDce, 603, 606, 608 State House. See Independence Hall states: as counter to federal power, 41, 59, 495; rights of, to protest federal measures, 288-9, 295; accounts with U.S., 597 Staunton, Va.: postal service at, 79, 1967; sales of TJ’s nails in, 83-4, 92-3, 109-10, 111; scarcity of bank notes at, 84; attorneys, 191-2; Chickasaws travel through, 246-8; newspapers, 376-7, 427, 428n, 432 steam power, 56-7, 220-1n, 380-1n, 548n Steele, John (comptroller of treasury): and E. Randolph’s accounts, 63n, 465n; letters from cited, 76-7n; letters to cited, 76-7n; and Anancial transactions, 392n, 587n; and land claims, 602; mentioned, 76n Steele, John (stonemason), 150n Stevens, Dr. Edward: consul to SaintDomingue, 44, 45n, 49 Stevensburg, Va., 244 Stewart, David, & Sons, 306 Stewart, Dugald: letter from, 228-9; Elements of the Philosophy of the Human Mind, 68; introduces J. Oswald, 228-9 Stewart, John: clerk of House of Delegates, 250-1; newspaper editor, 268n Stith, William, 412-13 Stockach, battle of, 133, 134n stocks: brokers as proposed census category, 294; proposed tax on, 306, 342, 358 Stockton, Richard: TJ seeks information from, 3; in Senate, 30, 599 Stoddert, Benjamin: source of information about cabinet split, 302; supports Adams, 302; and naval expenditures, 410n; and Portsmouth, 456n stone: limestone quarried, 270, 273n; for paving, Booring, walls, 270, 272,
< 669>
INDEX stone (cont’d) 273n; for building, cut, quarried, 270-2 Storrs, Gervas, 537-8 Stow, John, 129n Strobia, Giavanni, 99-100 Strong, Caleb, 509, 511n, 512 Stuart (Stewart), Archibald: letters to, 33-6, 109-11, 191; monitors public events, 33-5; letters from cited, 36n, 111n; letter to cited, 36n; and TJ’s business aCairs, 109-10, 191; and Va.Ky. boundary, 192; and reorganization of chancery courts, 241n; speaker of Va. Senate, 241n, 290n; on Republican ticket, 357n; receives Appendix, 551 Stuart (Stewart), Mrs. Archibald, 35 Stuart, Gilbert: portrait of TJ, vii-viii, xliv-xlv, 368 (illus.), 586, 587n Stuart, house of, 445 Sturgeon, Robert, 601, 602 Substance of Two Speeches of Mr. Gallatin, on the Bill for Augmenting the Navy Establishment of the United States (Albert Gallatin), 37, 39n Succordy (E. Randolph’s slave), 583 sugar, 172, 177, 178, 229n, 270, 591 Sukey (E. Randolph’s slave), 583 Sullivan, James, 551, 553, 554n Summary of the Law of Nations, Founded on the Treaties and Customs of the Modern Nations of Europe (Georg Friedrich von Martens), 38, 39n Summary View of the Courses of Crops in the Husbandry of England and Maryland (John Beale Bordley), 387n Sumner, Increase, 98n surveying: importance of learning, 126; notes, plats of, 190n; and TJ’s land titles, 252-9; in college curricula, 340; of Short’s lands, 384, 474, 506, 510n, 511n; by TJ, 506 Suvorov, Alexander, 219, 221n, 358 Swan, Mr., 273n Swan, James, 377n Swartwout (Schwarthouse), John, 338 Sweden: bankers, 60; and seizure of neutral vessels, 231 Sweet Springs (Greenbrier Co.): analysis of water from, 317; Derieux resides near, 544 Sweezy, Isaac: Liston’s courier, 151, 153n, 287-8, 521, 522n, 536
Switzerland: military movements, battles in, 134n, 218, 221n Symmes, John Cleves: letter from, 5-8; land company, 5-8 Symonds, Richard: letter to, 348-9; asks TJ for assistance, 225-6, 249, 348-9; letter from cited, 226n Sysiphus. See Sisyphus Taliaferro, Francis, 193 Talleyrand-Périgord, Charles Maurice de (Bishop of Autun): correspondence with Gerry, 18-19, 21-2, 24, 30, 34, 52; makes diplomatic overture, 44-50, 63-4, 195, 525n; and new French government, 357; corresponds with Grenville, 473-4n; opens communication with U.S. envoys, 475-6, 477n, 480, 483 tallow: from Poplar Forest, 270 Tandy, James Napper, 220, 221n Tartars, 27, 237 Tattnall, Josiah, 10 taxes: N.Y. legislation on, 4-5; federal excise, 33, 277; resistance to, checks Federalist power, 110; expected revenues from federal, 277-8; driven up by military spending, 280n; proposed, on stocks, banks, 306, 342, 358; avoided in election year, 343; ad valorem, on Va. land, 506. See also carriage tax; Direct Tax (1798); Stamp Act (1797) Taylor, Creed, 583 Taylor, George Keith, 250, 391, 433 Taylor, John: letter to, 244-5; letter from, 40-2; supports Monroe, 40, 205n; on politics, political parties, 402; prefers agriculture to politics, 42; and Va. Assembly, 67n, 244, 250, 300n; TJ sends regards to, 98, 521; in Senate, 230-1n; letter from cited, 245n; supports Va. Resolutions, 289; and Callender’s trial, 590n Taylor, Thomas Augustus: and purchase of Elk Hill, 146-7, 162-3; letter from cited, 147n Tazewell, Dorothea Elizabeth Waller, 230n Tazewell, Henry: successor in Congress for, 8-9, 40, 227, 241n; death a regrettable loss, 21, 66; TJ’s long acquaintance with, 230, 376 Tazewell, Littleton W.: letters to, 229-
< 670>
INDEX 31, 442-3, 491-4; letters from, 375-6, 470-2; as agent for Welch, 229-31, 375-6, 442-3, 470, 491, 492n; in Congress, 230-1n; identiAed, 230-1n; attorney in Batture case, 231n; exchanges views on politics, 443, 4702, 491-4; and collection of money owed Short, 532; receives Appendix, 553 Tazewell, William, 610 Temple, William, 165n, 305 tenancy: in Va., 144, 506-7, 513-14, 518; as alternative to slave labor, 145n; TJ seeks farm tenants, 222-3, 507; sharecropping, 507; in Pa., 535n Tennessee: availability of lands in, 7; Indians, antiquities of, 195-6, 309, 310, 312, 433-4; settlement in, 196n; selection of presidential electors, 201; and federal court circuits, 261-3, 267, 336, 344; land law in, 262; courts, 434n; citizens of, petition Senate, 601; unappropriated lands, 603 Tennessee River, 196n Testard, Monsieur, 510n Texas, 236-7, 238n Thacher, George, 454-5 Thebes, 132, 134n Thermometrical Navigation. Being a Series of Experiments and Observations (Jonathan Williams), 308 Thomas, Philemon, 267 Thompson, Benjamin (Count Rumford), 102-3 Thompson, James (Philadelphia), 575, 577n Thomson, Charles, 412, 551 Thomson, John: Letters of Curtius, 1415; death, 15n, 20 Thornton, Mr., 168 Thornton, Anna Maria, 567n Thornton, William: letter to, 538-9; letter from, 563-7; and design of U.S. Capitol, 538-9, 563; receives Appendix, 551, 552; recommendations for sanitation, controlling disease, 563-7 Three Lectures upon Animal Life, Delivered in the University of Pennsylvania (Benjamin Rush), 150-1, 182-3 Three Letters (Charles Pinckney), 228n threshing machines, 271 Throop, John, 74n Thurso, Scotland, 91 Tiebout, Cornelius, xli Timothy, Benjamin Franklin, 438n
Tinsley, Peter, 208, 343 Toaldo, Giuseppe, 567n tobacco: proceeds used to block Varina foreclosure, ix, 390-1, 403, 406, 473, 497, 562; shipment, sale of TJ’s, ix, 14-15, 21, 32, 43, 54, 57-8, 63, 81-2, 86-8, 93, 104-7, 111-12, 121-2, 124-6, 135, 149n, 149-50, 167, 211-12, 230, 239, 242, 298, 305, 307, 334, 338-9, 341-2, 359, 382-3, 388, 414-15, 425-6, 441-3, 449, 576, 577-8n; and suspension of intercourse with France, ix, 105-6, 111, 189, 209, 212, 216, 230, 280n, 288, 299, 314, 315-16n, 331, 333, 339, 343, 359, 383, 408, 413-15, 442-3; and Britain, 11, 105-6, 111-12, 218; overseas markets, 11, 82, 85, 878, 93, 105-7, 111-12, 115-16, 167, 189, 209, 218, 229n, 338-9, 408, 413-15, 443, 489, 532; price in England, 11, 111; as crop at Monticello, Poplar Forest, 14, 119, 120, 121; TJ provides information about, 54; TJ sells neighbor’s crop with his, 58, 235, 236n, 239, 242, 250, 388; at Pantops, 92, 147; stories of falling prices “fabrications,” 93; storage and inspection of, 104, 239, 407, 428-9, 437-8, 448-9; quality of TJ’s, 106, 121, 124, 167, 189, 235, 338, 429, 437-8; problems with crop, 119, 147, 167, 189, 440; sales of TJ’s before Revolution, 122n, 491; TJ’s strategy for sales in rising, falling markets, 124, 230; market is “in the dust,” 189; at Shadwell, 200n; from Elk Hill, 209-10; in settlement of account with D. Ross, 209-10; favored over grains, 216; and Wayles estate debt, 230, 231n, 442-3; storage house, at Tufton, 271; almost not worthwhile to produce, 331, 333, 343; domestic manufacture of, 338-9; costs of marketing, 383, 497; supplanted by grains, 387n; losses at warehouse, 407, 428-9, 437-8, 448-9; proceeds of crops obligated, 432, 497, 503, 562; collapse of prices in Va., 497; sharecropping, 507; falling prices aCect land values, 508; price of, and relations with France, 532. See also New York City; Philadelphia; Richmond, Va.; snuC Tom. See Shackleford, Tom (TJ’s slave) Tomlinson, Nathaniel, 449 tongues and sounds. See cod tools, 87, 89
< 671>
INDEX To the Citizens of Accomack, Northampton, Elizabeth-City, Warwick and York (John Page), 32-3 Toulon, France, 133 Toussaint-Louverture: vies with Rigaud, 9, 10-11n, 133, 134n; relations with U.S., 9-10, 22, 24, 29-30, 32, 44, 45n, 49 town planning: Sinclair’s design, 91; and disease, health, 183-4 Tracy, Uriah: introduces legislation, 26n; and census bill, 295n, 600; in Senate, 416, 453n, 545, 603, 610; elected president pro tem, 580n treason: under British law, 165n; Fries convicted of, 521-2n treasury, secretary of. See Wolcott, Oliver, Jr. Treatise on the Improvement of Canal Navigation (Robert Fulton), 144-5, 501 Treatise on the Justice, Policy, and Utility of Establishing an ECectual System for Promoting the Progress of Useful Arts (Joseph Barnes), 220-1n trees: of Southwest, 203; pecan, at Monticello, 309, 594; hurt by frost, 523. See also fruit trees Trenton, N.J.: Notes on Virginia printed in, xlv; as refuge from yellow fever, 297, 301-2, 392n Trigg, Abram, 113 Trigg, John, 110-11, 113 Trinity College (Dublin), 381-2 Trist, Elizabeth House: herring shipped to, 116; in Charlottesville, 437; mentioned, 20 Trist, Hore Browse: travels to, plans to settle in Albemarle Co., 93, 96, 188-9, 354, 368; family of, 212-13; carries letters, items, news, 241n, 305, 342, 348, 408, 481; in Charlottesville, 437 Trist, Mary Brown: death of father, 21213; in Charlottesville, 437 Trist, Nicholas P., 174n Troy, 341n Trueman, Alexander, 612 Trumbull, John: subscriptions to prints of, 374-5, 557-8, 575, 579; Battle of Bunker Hill, 375n, 557-8; Death of General Montgomery, 375n, 557-8 Trumbull, Jonathan (1710-1785), 26 Trumbull family: and Conn. political elite, 18n Trump, Daniel: supplies tools, 89; carpentry, 130, 586; payments to, 587, 588n
Trump, John, 587, 588n Truxton, Thomas: commands Constellation, 408, 410n; awarded medal, 455, 456n, 606 tuberculosis, 276n Tucker, St. George: and dispute over common law, 171n; and reorganization of chancery courts, 241n, 375; Letter, to the Rev. Jedidiah Morse, 317, 318n, 365; receives Appendix, 552 Tufton (TJ’s estate): Indian Field, 271, 273n; tobacco barn, 271 Turkey. See Ottoman Empire Turner, Mr. (tavern keeper), 533 Turpin, Philip (TJ’s cousin), 362, 389 Two Discourses, Occasioned by the Death of General George Washington, at Mount-Vernon, December 14, 1799 (Uzal Ogden), 369-70 Unitarians, 322n United Brethren, 602 United Irishmen, Society of, 165n, 381, 382n United States Army appropriations, expenditures for, 5, 23, 33, 77, 277, 600, 609; augmentation of, 9, 11, 12, 22, 23, 29, 33, 38-9, 44, 65n; views on standing army, 19n, 36, 243, 290, 306n, 395, 489, 522n; organization of new regiments, 97-8, 132, 481, 607; potential illicit use of, 97-8, 227, 243, 354; strength of eventual, provisional, volunteer, 97-8; militia preferred over, 101, 278, 306n; sentiments against, 219, 278, 331; calls for reduction of, 278-80, 299, 305, 306n, 331; and deAcit, as political issue, 278n; and defense of Canada, 287; proposals to suspend enlistments, 305, 306n, 407, 414, 422, 601; military academy proposed, 321, 323n, 547; and intelligence from western frontiers, 468; enlistments discouraged, 522n; “provisional,” not “standing,” 522n; manufacture of cannons for, 540-2; Lee’s uniform militia service bill, 547, 556; reorganization of engineers, artillery, 547n; regiments disbanded, 581, 606, 609, 612; compensation of paymaster general,
< 672>
INDEX 410n, 413, 415, 603; and proposed military academy, 321, 323n, 547; prospects for adjournment, 331, 334, 364, 366, 368, 381, 409, 415, 422, 450, 455, 462, 473-4, 476, 480, 483-4, 486, 491, 499, 509, 512, 521, 526, 531, 535-6, 546, 547, 5612; act concerning government of Miss. Terr., 336, 337n, 547, 549n, 605, 607; petitioned, 336, 337n, 548n, 601, 602, 604, 607, 609; criticized, 346, 589n; and Sedition Act, 356, 357n; bill for uniform mode of drawing jurors by lot, 358, 359n, 374, 430-1, 545-6, 601, 604; authorizes loan, 407, 410n, 414, 422, 455, 456n, 605; and regulation of judges’ oDceholding, 407, 410n, 476, 480, 483, 491, 499, 604; assertion of privileges of, 416, 422, 447n, 451-4, 603-6; act to amend Judiciary Act, 430-1, 491, 499, 547; act to establish uniform system of bankruptcy, 443, 455, 470-2, 491, 573, 603, 604-5; powers of, as electoral issue, 465; adjournment, 467n, 579, 580, 581; pro-British sentiments in, 469; bill to prevent interference of military in elections, 476, 477n, 480-1, 483, 491, 499, 604; bill to defray president’s moving expenses, 525n; authorizes Ohio land sales, 547, 549n, 598, 606, 609; companies seek federal incorporation, 547, 548n, 550, 610; divides Northwest Terr., 547, 549n, 606, 608; militia bill, 547, 556; ways and means act, 547, 549n, 608, 612; seeks copper supply, 5489n, 606; Republicans caucus, 556n; Federalists caucus, 561, 562-3n; act to discharge regiments, 581, 606, 609, 612; miscellaneous bills, 60012; and military land grants, 602; navy bills, 606, 607; accepts Conn. cession of Western Reserve, 607, 609; and arming of merchant vessels, 607, 608; provides for relocation to Washington, 607; and prohibition of slave trade, 608, 611; preparation for second session, 610, 611
United States (cont’d) assistants to adjutant general, 605, 608; arsenals, 608 Congress, Fifth (4 Mch. 1797-3 Mch. 1799) act to increase and equip navy, 5, 22, 23, 29, 31-2, 37, 38-9, 65n, 599; act giving eventual authority to president to augment army, 9, 11, 12, 22, 23, 29, 33-4, 38-9, 44, 65n, 97-8, 306n; act to continue suspension of intercourse with France, 9-10, 22, 24, 29-30, 32, 105, 189, 190n; act vesting power of retaliation against French, 12-13, 23, 24, 30, 31, 34, 37, 39n, 598; and Conn. cession of Western Reserve, 25-6, 599; and western land titles, 25-6; and pressures for war with France, 32; petitioned, 35, 36, 64-5, 67, 77; prospects for adjournment, 39; criticized, 204; miscellaneous bills, 281, 597-600; and Northwest Terr., 281, 598; Federalist caucus, 296-7, 303; chaplain, 353n; and Indian treaties, 598, 599; judiciary bills, 598; navy bills, 598, 599, 600; bill on captured French citizens, 599; army appropriations, 600 Congress, Sixth (4 Mch. 1799-3 Mch. 1801) authorizes census, viii, 293-5, 600, 601, 606; Ross election bill, viii, 381-3, 407, 409-10n, 414, 453n, 455, 456n, 461, 481, 491, 499, 5478, 579, 597, 598, 601-5, 610-11; J. Randolph incident, xlii, 305-7, 314; and western land titles, 5-8, 610, 611; elected during XYZ inBuence on policy, 97, 223; elections, 110-11, 113; party strengths in, 113, 114n, 573, 579; judiciary bills, 2613, 266-7, 433-4, 455, 462, 491, 531, 547, 604, 607, 610; act to provide for the more convenient organization of the courts of the United States, 263n, 336; receives treasury report, 277-8; suspends augmentation of army, 305, 306n, 407, 414, 601; prospects of new taxes, 306; relations with president, 306-7n; last to meet in Philadelphia, 310; act further to suspend commercial intercourse between U.S. and France, 314, 315-16n, 331, 333, 343, 408,
Congress, Seventh (4 Mch. 1801-3 Mch. 1803) Republican majorities expected, 485, 491, 509-10, 512, 531, 573
< 673>
INDEX United States (cont’d)
342, 343, 473; disrupted state of commerce, 306, 313, 320, 331, 3334, 343, 359, 407-8, 455; speculation in paper, lands, 313; of eastern states, and politics, 324-5, 381, 409, 415; use of custom house drafts for payment in Va., 353-4, 359; foreign capital, 408; use of bank notes, 423, 425, 428, 430, 431, 448; creditors tend to be foreigners, merchants, speculators, 443, 471; debtors tend to be farmers, manufacturers, 443, 471
Continental Congress journals published, 392n; procedures of, 400 Courts charges to juries, 41, 42n, 589; Supreme Court and politics, 41, 42n; suit against E. Randolph, 623, 464, 465-6n, 498, 504, 511n, 574; appointments to, membership of Supreme Court, 166n, 465n; and common law, 168-71, 227, 232, 299, 447; and constitutionality of legislation, 174n; Robbins extradition, 180, 181-2n, 227, 228n, 410n, 421; rules for testimony in chancery suits, 260-1, 267; organization of circuits, 261-3, 266-7, 336, 344, 433-4, 598; in Pa., 281; and state court procedures, 344, 345n; Judiciary Act of 1789, 345n, 431n, 546n; role of chief justice in deciding disputed elections, 381; judges’ oDceholding, 407, 410n, 439, 476, 480, 483, 491, 499, 601, 604; Judiciary Act of 1801, 433-4, 455, 462, 491, 531, 547, 604, 607, 610; expenditures, 455, 462, 491; Wayles estate suits, 457-9; and interest on British debts, 459-61n; Ware v. Hylton, 461n; marshals, 492, 493n, 521, 545, 589, 599, 608, 609; potential executive inBuence on sedition trials, 493n; Chase impeachment, 522n; jurisdiction, 522n; in Va., 589n; compensation for oDcers, jurors, 599; in N.C., 604. See also juries; Sedition Act (1798) Economy eCects of selective repeal of suspension of trade with France, ix, 189, 216, 218, 280n, 288, 299, 314, 315n, 331, 333, 343, 359, 408, 415; trade with Saint-Domingue, 9-10; and Britain, 11; exports, 30-1, 33; relationship of peace, prosperity, 55; values of securities, currency, 81, 87, 90n, 442; role of European tobacco markets, 105-6, 189, 212, 441; scarcity of cash, 115-16; role of grain in overseas trade, 216, 415; businesses fail, 305, 306, 331, 333-4, 342, 358-9, 407, 414, 455; and Hamburg failures, 305, 331, 333-4,
Executive power over augmented army, 11, 33, 44; role in retaliatory act, 12-13, 23; opposition to discretionary powers of, 36; and continuity of law, 169, 171n; address to open sessions of Congress, 280; act controlling presidential succession, 281, 283; presidential term of oDce, 324; as model of single, elective executive, 336-7; and independence of judiciary, 421; vice president not part of, 436; and Ross election bill, 440; powers of, as key political issue, 465; salaries, 599 Foreign Relations projected treaty with Russia, 23-4, 30, 31, 34, 38; projected treaty with Ottoman Empire, 24-5, 30, 34, 38; with Portugal, 24n, 54; diplomatic expenses, 33, 277; diplomatic relations with Saint-Domingue, 44, 45n, 49; dangers of entangling alliances, 78; calls for abolishment of diplomatic establishment, 97; Algiers negotiation, 194, 200-1, 202n; and Canada, 287; with Prussia, 601. See also France: U.S. Relations with; Great Britain: U.S. Relations with Government origins of national sovereignty, 170; selection of presidential electors, 194-5, 201, 299-301, 324-5; relocates to Washington, 310, 525n, 538-9; printing of laws, 322n; forms of territorial government, 336, 337n; and example of Bonaparte’s seizure of power, 354, 358, 374; Bonaparte as model for potential usurper, 358
< 674>
INDEX members, 601; resolution of contested elections in, 608; and Miss. Terr. bill, 609; and slave trade prohibition, 611
United States (cont’d) House of Representatives uses TJ’s parliamentary manual, viii, 401n; meets in Congress Hall, xlii; action on land grants, 6-8; and Conn. land cession, 26n, 607; and Alien and Sedition Acts, 64-5, 117, 137, 173, 174n, 178, 356, 357n; Federalist majority in, 64-5, 343, 481, 495; bill to encourage capture of French privateers, 65n; as check to Federalist usurpations, 97; and judiciary bills, 261, 336, 434n, 455, 462, 491, 531; receives information from Wolcott, 278n; Ways and Means Committee, 278n, 407, 410n, 439; business of, early and late in sessions, 280-3; approval process for bills, 282; census bill, 295n; and curtailment of military increases, 305, 306n; committees, 306-7n, 331, 410n, 434n, 547-8, 548n; J. Randolph aCair, 306-7n, 314, 331; privileges, 306-7n, 314; and further suspension of intercourse, 315-16n; receives Trumbull prints, 375n; role in disputed elections, 381, 419, 547-8; and Ross election bill, 382n, 414, 455, 491, 499, 531, 547-8, 610, 611; procedures, 400, 401n; proposed reduction of military expenditures, 407, 410n; and Robbins case, 408, 410n, 422; clerks, 419-20, 476n; approves jury bill, 431n; and bankruptcy bill, 443n, 470, 472n, 491; speakers, 443n; approves loans, 456n; approves medal for Truxton, 456n, 606; expected adjournment, 473, 480; and bill to prohibit troops at polls, 476, 477n, 480-1, 483, 491; Republicans hold ground, expect majority, 485, 491, 509-10, 512, 531, 573, 579; design of chamber for, 538-9, 563; and incorporation of companies, 547, 548-9n, 550; and Lee’s militia bill, 547n; and proposed military academy, 547n; Committee of Commerce and Manufactures, 548n; petitioned, 548n; Federalists weaker than anticipated, 573, 579; and bill to discharge regiments, 581n; amendment of Direct Tax, 599; compensation of oDcers, 599-600, 608-9; compensation of
Indian ACairs appropriations and expenditures for, 33, 277, 598, 599, 611, 612; relations with Chickasaws, 247n; treaties, negotiations, 247n, 598, 599, 611; administration of, 334-5, 437n; economic program for Creeks, 335; boundary with Cherokees, 434n; channels of communication, 436; regulation of trade, 600, 605, 607; lands for Moravians, 602 Navy marines confront J. Randolph, xlii, 305-7, 314; augmentation of, 5, 22, 23, 29, 31-3, 37-9, 65n, 599; expenditures for, 23, 33, 37, 77, 277, 407, 410n, 414, 422, 608, 611; supported in Massachusetts, 97; sentiments against, 219; calls for reduction of, 280n; nation “navymad,” 320; proposed postponement of ship construction, 407, 410n, 414, 422; oDcers and commissions, 424; mutinies, 456n; copper sheathing for frigates, 548n; timber for, 598; oDcers’ pay, 599; Marine Corps, 600, 606, 608; bill for better government of, 607, 608. See also Stoddert, Benjamin Politics and federal military power, 41; U.S. as asylum of liberty, 53, 341, 481-2; in crisis, 59; merchants refuse to carry political letters, 90; patronage and, 243; and government’s claim to “self-preservation,” 416, 422 Public Finance military expenditures as political issue, vii, 23, 277-8n, 280n, 290, 306, 358, 407, 410n; $5 million loan, 23, 33, 39, 75-6, 81, 87, 102, 133, 504-5, 517, 526, 587; import, export data published, 30-1; expected revenues and expenditures, 32, 33, 277-8; expenses of civil list, 33, 277; interest on public debt, 33, 277; proposed $2 million loan, 33, 39; revenue from prize captures, 277; value of public lands, 277;
< 675>
INDEX United States (cont’d) expected $5 million deAcit, 306, 314, 331, 343; taxation of stocks, banks proposed, 306, 342, 358; peace with France aCects value of U.S. securities, 375-6; $100 million debt, 395; anticipated $3.5 million loan, 407, 410n, 414, 422; suggested reduction of military expenditures, 407, 410n, 414, 422, 439; commerce bills and constitutional convention, 408, 410n; and Hamilton, 430n; enormity of national debt, 439; English investment in U.S. loan, 455; expenditures for courts, 455, 462; $3.5 million loan, 455, 456n, 505, 519, 526, 587, 605, 610; ways and means act, 547, 549n, 608, 612; proposed subscription to copper company, 548n; Senate examines expenditures, 610. See also Bank of the United States; Direct Tax (1798); Stamp Act (1797) Public Opinion turning against Federalists, for Republicans, vii, 12, 16, 22, 34-7, 52, 57, 67, 77-8, 97, 211-12, 223, 481, 488, 509, 512, 531, 534, 546-7, 554-5, 560, 570, 573, 579; on relationship of British debts, military measures, taxation, 5; on France and French, 38, 49, 509; said to be oblivious to tyranny, 41; rising spirit of American people, 53; favors peace, 55; must not foster insurrection, 59, 243; and XYZ aCair, 66, 485, 509, 512; changing in middle states, 67, 77, 223, 227; spirit of 1776 not dead, 77; deceptions of people are temporary, 110, 341; Federalists manipulate, 178-9, 279, 462, 509, 512, 554-5, 557; and Robbins case, 227; political opinion in west, 262; Republicans seek to nurture, 289; Priestley worries about state of, 346; Republicans losing battle for, 439, 462; slander, defamation in election campaign, 464-5, 526, 531; Federalist measures will alienate the people, aid Republicans, 481; and handling of Duane’s case, 537; Federalists scorn, 579, 581 Senate and Ross election bill, viii, 381-3, 407, 409-10n, 414, 453n, 455, 456n, 461,
< 676>
481, 491, 547-8, 579, 597, 598, 6015, 610-11; meets in Congress Hall, xlii; action on land grants, 7, 8n; and retaliatory act, 24, 30, 31, 34, 37; Conn. cession of Western Reserve, 25-6, 599, 607, 609; and executive appointments, 25n, 31, 34, 38, 45-50, 64, 424, 487-8, 581n; and new envoys to France, 45-6, 48, 50, 64; and organization of new regiments, 98n, 481, 483; and judiciary bills, 261, 336, 491, 499, 531, 547; instructions to senators, 278, 280n, 288, 295-6, 299-300, 319, 325, 356, 417, 446; committees of, 280, 295n, 382n, 431n, 453n, 5989, 601-11; response to president’s annual address, 280; attendance of vice presidents, 280-3, 313; business of, early and late in sessions, 280-3, 314; miscellaneous bills, 281; duties, role of president pro tem, 281-3; approval process for bills, 282; and census legislation, 295n, 600, 601, 606; and curtailment of military increases, 305, 306n; and further suspension of intercourse, 315-16n; bills for selection of jurors, 358, 359n, 430-1, 545-6; receives Trumbull prints, 375n; role in disputed elections, 381, 419, 547-8; procedures, 400-1; and TJ’s parliamentary manual, 401n, 486, 597; in opposition to House, 407; and proposed constitutional amendments, 407, 410n; proceedings against Duane, 408, 410-11n, 422, 451-4, 466-7, 476, 481, 483, 492, 493n, 521n, 537, 603-6; assertion of power of “selfpreservation,” 416, 422; assertions of common law in, 416, 430-1; doctrines advocated by Federalists in, 416; and H. J. Knox, 424, 487-8; and bankruptcy bill, 443n, 491; sergeant at arms, 452, 599; approves loans, 456n; approves medal for Truxton, 456n, 606; expected adjournment, 473, 480; and bill to prohibit troops at polls, 476, 477n, 480-1, 483, 491, 499, 604; and regulation of judges’ oDceholding, 480, 483, 491, 499; Federalist tendencies, majority in, 481, 579; rejects appointment of Brooks, 481n, 483; Republican majority expected,
INDEX United States (cont’d) 485, 491, 531; design of chamber for, 538-9, 563; and incorporation of companies, 548n, 550; Republicans vie with divided Federalists, 563n; elects president pro tem, 580; and bill to discharge regiments, 581n; potential for special session in Washington, 591; prospect of new treaty with France, 591; responds to 28 Jan. 1799 message, 598; compensation of oDcers, 599-600, 6089; and death of Washington, 600; resolutions, 600, 601, 602, 604, 605, 606; compensation of members, 601; petitioned, 601, 602, 604, 607, 609; motion respecting votes in presidential election, 612. See also JeCerson, Thomas: Vice President Society demographics and census, 293-5 Treasury report on imports, 481, 482n; customs oDcers’ compensation, 599, 610, 611; Senate receives information from, 602; customs duties, 603, 606, 607, 609, 610, 611-12; customs districts, 609, 611; alteration of act establishing, 610; surveyors of revenue, 611 United States (U.S. frigate): brings news of envoys, 475-6, 477n, 480, 482-3 Universal Gazette (Philadelphia), 317-18 Ursula (TJ’s slave): cures meat, 270; receives Arewood, 272; illness, death of, 347-8, 473, 497, 523; bottles cider, 360; family, 523
Vandalia Company, 253 Van Staphorst & Hubbard: letters to, 556, 570-1; and Kosciuszko’s funds, 513, 55, 87, 90, 212, 560-1; TJ’s bonds to, 55, 570-1, 575, 577n; TJ’s correspondence with, 510n; handle correspondence, 559, 570 Varina (Randolph estate): mortgage on, ix, 390-1, 403, 406, 414, 418, 420, 423, 425, 428, 430-1, 438, 448, 467, 473, 482, 497, 562, 575, 576-7n; workers of, 422; T. M. Randolph
hopes to sell, 507-8; as longtime Randolph property, 508 Varnum, Joseph Bradley, 342n Vatican: territories, 132; pope’s exile, 133, 134n; Dugnani as papal nuncio, 559-60 Vattel, Emmerich de: Law of Nations, or, Principles of the Law of Nature, 68 Vaughan, John, xli, 600 vehicles: TJ’s chair, 536-7, 546; E. Randolph’s coach, phaeton, 584 Venable, Abraham B.: and proposed newspaper, 102n, 112-13; letter from cited, 114n; letter to cited, 114n Vengeance (French frigate): battles Constellation, 408, 410n, 456n Venice: as example of oligarchy, 169 venus Bytrap (Dionaea muscipula), 535 Vergennes, Charles Gravier, Comte de, 194, 200-1, 202n Vermont: Chipman represents, 68, 4301, 447; political sentiments in, 72, 455; religious situation in, 73-4n; responds to Va. Resolutions, 174n; J. Lyon moves from, 194; selection of presidential electors, 201; and common law, 430-1, 447, 492, 493n; and selection of juries, 430-1, 547; newspapers, 492, 493n, 521; prosecutions for libel in, 492, 493n, 521; political leaders, 554n; and federal law, 599 Vermont Gazette, 493n, 521, 531 Vernor and Hood (engravers), xliv-xlv View of the Calvinistic Clubs in the United States (John C. Odgen), 73n View of the Conduct of the Executive (James Monroe), 461-3 View of the New-England Illuminati (John C. Ogden), 17n, 73n, 351n Vincennes, 611 Virgil: Publius Virgilius Maro, 144-5, 501; new French edition of works of, 145n; Eclogues, 496n Virginia Agriculture tobacco in, 54; quality, quantity of wheat harvest, 147, 189, 523; rains aCect crops, 189; pecans, 238, 309; snow beneAts grains, 440; “bottom lands” elsewhere called “low grounds” in Va., 508 Claim to Western Land and Conn. claim, 25; and land companies, 253
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INDEX Virginia (cont’d) Council of State selection of Tazewell’s successor, 8-9; members, 67n, 554n, 589n; prerevolutionary orders of council, 253-6; makes appointments, 391n Courts courts of chancery, 165-6, 176, 190, 205-8, 241, 343, 344, 476n; TJ’s suit against Henderson heirs, 165-6, 176, 190, 193, 205-8, 217; case reports, 166n; Court of Appeals, 166n, 192n, 207, 458-9n, 510n; and insurance company liens, 187-8; judges of, 192n, 205n; attorney generalship, 205n, 432-3; and juries, 241, 344, 374; and Wayles estate, 458-9n; General Court, 584n Description springs, 151; by Morse, 318n; Tidewater region, 320, 523; TJ extols virtues of, 320; artists’ views of, 446-7n; roads, 536-7 Economy losses due to suspension of trade with France, ix, 106, 111, 189, 209, 212, 216, 218, 280n, 288, 299, 314, 315n, 331, 333, 343, 383, 408, 443; relationships with Philadelphia, 82, 185-6, 199n, 245, 286, 298, 342, 353-4, 524; and farm tenancy, 144, 145n, 222-3, 506-7, 513-14, 518; personal debts to British Arms, 15962, 268n, 457-61; transactions in Va. currency, 162, 498, 505, 508, 516, 586; insurance, 186-8, 571-2; Green Sea land investments, 216, 218, 234-5, 239, 506, 508, 511n, 515; commercial ties to Britain, 218; market for horses, 310, 311; diDculty of negotiating drafts, obtaining credit, 342, 353-4, 359, 390, 406, 414, 502; commercial, Anancial relations with New York, 418, 423, 428; European trade, 442; and nonimportation agreements during Revolution, 491; role of credit, 502; prospects for manufacturing cannon, 540 Education and Science TJ seeks to create new university, ix, 320-1, 323n, 339-40, 346, 495-6, 567-70; common schools, 340,
341n; and religious diCerences, 340; TJ’s education bill, 340, 341n. See also William and Mary, College of General Assembly supports Va. Resolutions, vii, 172-4, 177, 278-80, 295-6, 299-300, 319, 367, 417, 446, 461; and selection of successor for Tazewell, 8-9; and TJ’s petition on jurors, 41-2; elections, 110-11, 113-14, 227-8; and Alien and Sedition Acts, 117, 137, 278, 279-80n, 289, 299; and conAscation of British property, 169-70, 171n; acts concerning Mutual Assurance Society, 187-8; and gubernatorial election, 204-5, 269n; and James River Co., 224-5; Republican strength in, 228, 299; sessions of, 233, 251n, 319, 325; and projected roads, 244; acts pertaining to land, 253-5, 257n; instructs its U.S. senators, 278, 280n, 288, 295-6, 299-300, 319, 325, 356, 417, 446; seeks reduction, disbanding of standing army, 278-80, 299; members’ pay as political issue, 279, 319; protests federal application of English common law, 280n, 288, 295-6, 299-300, 319, 325, 356; act for atlarge selection of presidential electors, 299-300, 325-6; and reform of William and Mary, 323n; jury bill not introduced, 374; prints Madison’s Report, 446n; potential defense of Callender, 590-1 House of Delegates members, 67n, 110, 111n, 114, 214n, 226n, 227, 230n, 241, 274, 280n, 326n, 489n, 526n, 537-8, 542; clerks, 129n, 243, 244, 246, 250; and changes in chancery courts, 241; speakers, 250-1, 290n, 326n; committees, 278, 279n, 300n, 446; considers instructions to senators, 280n, 295-6, 299-300, 319, 325; Republican majority in, 288-9, 299; addresses Monroe, 289-90; parliamentary procedures, 521. See also Madison, James: Virginia House of Delegates Indians in colonial period, 225; relations with Chickasaws, 246-8
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INDEX Virginia (cont’d) Laws published, 117, 122, 136-7; TJ collects and preserves, 117-18, 122, 150; common law, 169-70, 207; continuity of, 169-70; categories of, 170; and Ky. statehood, 192; Sequestration Act, 211n; on land oDce, land titles, 252-9; as basis for Ky. laws, 267; similarities to English laws, 503 Militia power aDliated with command of, 401; arming of, as political issue, 41-2; and federal volunteer force, 44; and Dunmore’s War, 263n; arms evaluated, 377n; oDcers, 489n; for political display, 490 Politics Republicans create committees, form ticket, vii, 356-7, 537n; TJ sends pamphlets, vii, 12-13, 23-4, 30, 35, 319-20, 322n, 325, 333, 443, 455, 456n, 470, 485, 492; elections, 323, 110-11, 113-14, 227-8, 274, 278, 280n, 524, 537-8, 541-3; TJ encourages Republican publicists, 367; importance of governorship, 40-1; state as counter to federal despotism, 41; in crisis, 59; elections aCect administration policy, 98n; Federalists in Congress, 113, 114n, 305, 306n; Richmond associators equated to Bacon’s Rebellion, American Revolution, 180; Republicans, 192n, 243, 244, 246, 250-1, 289, 299; selection of presidential electors, 201, 299-300, 319, 325-6, 356-7, 440, 524; election of governor, 204-5, 227; and patronage, 243, 250-1; instructions to senators, 278, 280n, 295-6, 299-300, 325, 356; partisan divisions in assembly, 278-9; Republicans laud Monroe, 290n; votes in Congress, 305, 306n; would be haven for Cooper, Priestley, 320, 346; need for united front with other states, 358; and valuation of militia arms, 377n; newspapers, 427-8; contention for attorney generalship, 432-3; TJ seeks to avoid gatherings, 462, 489-90, 499, 588-90, 591n; election of 1800, 482, 490, 499; Republi-
cans show way for other states, 485; Federalists discouraged, 490; John Marshall key to Federalist support, 499; Monroe distrusts post oDce, 537; and Burr’s distrust, 556n; and TJ dinner in Fredericksburg, 589; and Callender’s trial, 590-1 Public Finance depreciated payments to treasury, 21011, 225, 234-5, 239, 459n, 460-1n; composition money, 255, 257n Public Opinion newspapers, 37, 59, 98n, 163-5, 181n, 194, 238-9; understanding of true federal-state relationship, 59; Federalist, Republican sentiments, 113-14, 223; Republicans seek to nurture, 289, 356-7; partisan manipulation of, 462 Senate members, 67n, 278, 280n, 290n, 489n; speakers, 241n, 290n; political balance within, 278-9, 288-9, 295, 299; supports Va. Resolutions, 279n, 319; considers instructions to senators, 280n, 299-300n, 319, 325; addresses Monroe, 289-90; and selection of presidential electors, 319 Society stagecoach travel, ix, 349, 406, 480, 484, 533, 589n; postal service in, 11-12, 79-80, 179, 196-7, 321, 333-4, 348, 367-8, 369, 382-3, 393-4, 422n, 440-1, 484, 537, 546; prospective home for Du Pont de Nemours, 92, 327-8, 481, 483, 531n; health, 139-40, 194, 245, 320; Callender skeptical of, 194; armor relic unearthed, 225; Indians, 225; Houdon statue of Washington, 303-4; religious diCerences, 340; duels, 376-7; colonial history, 41213, 507-8; physicians, 577n, 583 State Institutions penitentiary, 391, 486; armory, 540-2 Weather and healthiness, unhealthiness of regions, 139-40, 320, 523; aCects crops, 189, 440, 523; disastrous rains, 189; snow, 274, 374, 389, 440; frosts, 523
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INDEX Virginia, auditor of, 218, 234, 254, 506 Virginia, Governor of. See De La Warr, Thomas West, fourth Baron; Dunmore, John Murray, fourth Earl of; Monroe, James; Pendleton, John; Wood, James Virginia, treasurer of, 225, 254, 256 Virginia, University of: owns portraits, xliii; faculty, 86n, 452n; funding of, 326n. See also Virginia: Education and Science Virginia Argus (Richmond): publishes “Curtius” letters, 15n; and Callender, 164, 165n Virginia Federalist (Richmond), 165n, 268n Virginia Gazette and General Advertiser (Richmond): Federalist sympathies of, 181n; attacks TJ, 268n Virginia Resolutions: reaDrmed by Va. assembly, vii, 41, 278-80, 288-9, 2956, 299-300, 325, 326n, 417, 446, 461; rebuCed by other states, 4-5, 174n, 178, 279, 289; government measures in reaction to, 40; eCorts to support, 172-4, 177, 178-9; opposition to, in Va. assembly, 289, 299 Volney, Constantin François Chasseboeuf: travels, 71, 131; and new French government, 357 Voltaire, François Marie Arouet, 528, 530 Voyages aux Peuples Samœides, 237 Vues sur l’éducation nationale par un cultivateur, ou moyen de simpliAer l’instruction (Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours), 529, 530 Wabash Company, 7, 175n wagons: cart wheels for Monticello, 229 Wailes, Benjamin Leonard Covington, 203n Walker, Francis, 413n, 526n, 542, 553 Walker, Thomas, 142n Waller, Benjamin, 230n Walton, George, 552 Wannerquist (Stockholm), 60 Wardlaw, William: letter to, 342-3; Anancial transactions, 123n, 186, 342, 343n, 575, 577n; TJ sends news to, 341, 343; correspondence with TJ, 342; letter from cited, 343n Wardrop, John: and Anancial transactions, 298, 302, 329; letter from cited, 298n; letters to cited, 298n
Ware, Isaac, 580n Ware v. Hylton, 461n Warre (Ware), John Tyndale, 461n Warwick Co., Va., 33n, 527n Wash (plasterer), 580 Washington, Bushrod: Reports of Cases, 117, 122, 136-7; retires from law practice, 165-6, 176; on Supreme Court, 166n; and common law, 227; represents Wayles estate, 458; circuit court trials, 522n Washington, District of Columbia: government relocates to, xlii, 310, 525n, 538-9, 591, 592, 607, 610, 611; TJ to visit, 531, 563; design of Capitol, 5389, 563; availability of land in, 563 Washington, George American Revolutionary War retirement from army, 352-3 Commander in Chief, 1798-1799 and organization of new regiments, 97-8 Death and Memorialization death, viii, 509, 544; mourning observance in Philadelphia, viii, xliii-xliv, 368 (illus.); eulogies, xliii, 339, 369-70, 394, 396, 402, 411, 417, 439, 440n, 455; Houdon, Ceracchi statues as models, 303-4; Salem memorial, 303-4; noted in Europe, 404; congressional resolutions, 600, 611; and Martha Washington, 600; federal memorials, 611, 612 Personal ACairs portraits, xli, xlv; religious beliefs, 352-3; Mount Vernon depicted, 446n; addressed by millennialist, 476n; interest in horticulture, 535n Politics and J. Odgen, 74n; praised as model leader, 369, 395, 402, 404 President and Symmes land grant, 8n; relations with France, 169, 171n; criticized, 181n; Farewell Address, 353n; and Whiskey Insurrection, 469n; and proposed assistance for Cointeraux, 501, 510n Relations with JeCerson TJ does not attend memorial service, viii, xliii; and TJ’s letter to Mazzei,
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INDEX Washington, George (cont’d) viii; TJ praises, 369, 395, 402, 417; TJ criticizes eulogies, 394 Washington, Martha Dandridge Custis, 600 watches, 214-15, 259, 501, 510n, 544 Watson, James, 455, 456n, 461, 605 Watson, John: letter from cited, 80n; handles shipments for TJ, 136; and Anancial transactions, 302, 303n, 342, 343n; letter to cited, 303n; factor for Brydie Arm, 343n Watson, William, 252, 258n Watt (E. Randolph’s slave), 584 Wayles, John (TJ’s father-in-law): landholdings of, 163n; employs Bryan, 253; as security for R. Randolph bond, 503, 511n Wayles estate: suit against heirs of R. Randolph, 23n, 507, 511n; claim of Farell & Jones, 147n, 210-11, 234-5, 239, 242, 250, 457-61, 503, 511n; debts of, as political issue, 159-62, 210-11, 225, 268n, 457-61; and Elk Hill, 162-3; and Prince of Wales case, 457-9; TJ retiring his share of debt, 457-61, 503, 511n, 562; and Bivins suit, 503, 511n. See also Welch (Welsh), Wakelin, Jr. Wayne, Anthony, xlv, 312n Wealth of Nations (Adam Smith), 68 weather: and health, 139-40; observed, recorded, 139n, 203, 311, 313n; destroys crops, 189, 523; aCects travel, 274, 374, 389 Webb, Conrad, 165n Webb, John, 588 Webster, Daniel, 181n Weekly Magazine of Original Essays, Fugitive Pieces, and Interesting Intelligence (Philadelphia), 114n, 276n weights and measures, 388n Weishaupt, Adam, 350-1, 364-5 Welch (Welsh), Wakelin, Jr.: and Wayles estate debt, 107, 229-31, 3756, 442-3, 470, 491, 503; and TJ’s debt to Cary & Co., 470, 471n, 491, 492n Welch (Welsh), Wakelin, Sr.: TJ’s debt to, 470, 491, 492n; and Cary, Moorey & Welch, 492n Wells, William, 561n West, Benjamin, xlii West Augusta, District of (Va.), 398 Western Reserve, 25-6, 598, 599, 607, 609
western states: in national politics, 77; federal courts in, 260-3, 266-7, 336, 344; broad Republican support in, 262, 266-7; diDculty of travel in, 262; fear eastern political inBuence, 262 West Indies: and yellow fever, 564 West Indies, British: news comes from Europe via, 333, 334n, 336 West Indies, French: change of oDcials, policy in, 24, 30-1, 34, 37, 44, 45n, 49; threatened, 32n; privateering against American ships, 38, 44, 49; American trade with, 415. See also Guadeloupe, W.I. Whately (Whaley), Mr., 112, 118 wheat: quality, quantity in Va., 147, 189, 523; price of, 204, 414; and Wayles estate debt, 231n; implements, 271; sale of TJ’s, 272; supplants tobacco, 387n; European demand for, 414, 489; winter, aided by snows, 440; in crop rotation plans, 506-7, 518; shortage of, in Britain, 531. See also Bour Wheaton, Joseph, 599 Wheeling, Fort, 370, 449, 479-80n whiskey: for Monticello labor force, 270 Whiskey Insurrection, 467-9 White, Alexander: letter to cited, 539n; receives Appendix, 551 whooping cough, 582 Wiatt (Wyatt), William, 80n Wickham, John: letters to, 107; handles TJ’s payments to Welch, 107, 229-31, 442, 470, 491; instructs L. Tazewell, 230n; receives Appendix, 553 Wiegleb, Johann Christian, 317 Wieland; or, The Transformation (Charles Brockden Brown), 276n Wiley. See Wylie (Wiley), Alexander Wilkins, Jane (Jenny) Short, 214-15, 259, 501, 510n Wilkinson, Fort, 334-5, 436 Wilkinson, James: letter to, 312-13; letter from, 585; TJ’s support for, 29n, 312n; travels to Philadelphia, Washington, 310, 312, 585; member of APS, 312-13n; and Burr conspiracy, 312n; court-martialed, 312n; identiAed, 312n; letter from cited, 313n; and Nolan, 585 Willard (E. Randolph’s slave), 584 William and Mary, College of: TJ’s assessment of, viii-ix, 320; Bellini at, 85-6, 99n; students, 85-6, 129n, 192n, 205n, 215n, 226n, 230n; political sen-
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INDEX William and Mary, College of (cont’d) timents at, 128; curriculum, faculty, 280n, 291-2, 316, 317-18n, 472; Board of Visitors, 291, 316, 317n, 323n, 472; reform of, 291-2, 323n, 340; Episcopal inBuence, 340 Williams, Jonathan: letter to, 308; Thermometrical Navigation, 308; and APS, 308n; relationship to Franklin, 308n Williams, R., 543 Williams, Timothy, 181n Williamsburg, Va.: Tucker pens as “citizen of,” 318n; college board drawn from vicinity of, 472; TJ’s sister lives at, 526n Williamson, Jacob, 537 William V, Prince of Orange (stadtholder of Netherlands), 297n Willink, Van Staphorst & Hubbard. See Van Staphorst & Hubbard Willis, Lewis, 552 Wilmington, Del.: Cobbett’s residence in, 153-6 Wilson, Thomas, 165n windmills, 423-4 wine: in TJ’s accounts, 69, 582; Philadelphia supplier of, 373n; shipped from Philadelphia, 586 Winston, Isaac, 525n Winston, Isaac, Sr., 580 Winthrop, John (1st Governor of Massachusetts Bay), 265 Winthrop, John (1714-1779), 265, 266n Winthrop, John (1747-1800), 266n Winthrop, John (1778-1819): introduced to TJ, 265-6, 349, 395 Wirt, Mildred Gilmer (Mrs. William Wirt), 244 Wirt, William: witnesses document, 142; and Batture case, 231n; TJ endorses for clerkship of Va. House, 243, 244, 246; wins clerkship, 250-1; defends Callender, 589-90n Wise, John: loses speakership of Va. House, 250-1 Wiseham, William, 215n, 224, 234, 540 Wistar, Caspar: owns portrait of Priestley, xli; and U.S. census, 295n; and W. Bache, 354; receives Appendix, 551 Wolcott, Alexander: introduced to, by TJ, 543, 555; Republican, 543n, 555; receives Appendix, 551 Wolcott, Frederick, 74n Wolcott, Oliver, Jr.: letter to, 497-9; letter from, 574; and Symmes land
grant, 6; and payments to Kosciuszko, 52, 53n, 55; and Short’s salary, 62-3, 465n, 497-9, 504, 574; dispute with J. Ogden, 74n; and U.S. loans, bonds, 76n; and TJ’s letters to Callender, 180-1n, 202n; sends reports, statements to Congress, 277-8; opposes new negotiation with France, 301-2; relations with Adams, 301-2, 419; report on imports, 481, 482n; relatives, 543; and land claims, 602; prepares returns for Senate, 602; reports duties on salt, 606 Wolcott family: dispute with J. Ogden, 18n, 73n Wollstonecraft, Mary, 276n women: and pregnancy, childbirth, 1089, 286, 324, 330n, 331, 333; duties of enslaved, 271; and 1800 census, 295n; qualities of, in Du Pont family, 327, 329; illness, death, of enslaved, 347-8, 473, 497, 523; illness, 362, 366, 368, 377, 386-7, 389-90; edit newspapers, 454n, 493n wood: TJ’s bill for, in Philadelphia, 69; use as fuel aCects Areplace design, 103; use of timber at Shadwell, 197; planking for Monticello, 270-2, 474; lumber kiln-dried, 271, 272, 474; Arewood at Monticello, 272; timber for Navy, 598. See also charcoal Wood, James: letter to, 247-8; letter from, 8-9; appointment of Tazewell’s successor, 8-9; Republicans seek to unseat, 40; political intentions, 41; as governor, 42n, 246-8; letter from cited, 248n Wood, John: History of the Administration, 460n Woods (Wood), Dr., 478 Woods, William, 241n, 274, 542 Woodson, Mr., 270 Wooster, David, 17-18, 73 Wooster, Mary Clap: and political conBicts in Conn., 17-18, 74n Worcester (schooner), 586, 587n, 588 Wormely. See Hughes, Wormley Wren, Woodson G., 264n Wylie (Wiley), Alexander, 255, 256, 257n Wyoming Valley, Pa.: Conn.-Pa. dispute over, 26; land companies, 287, 288n Wythe, George: letters to, 118, 400-1, 486-7; letters from, 391, 494, 539; authority on parliamentary procedure,
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INDEX viii, 400-1, 486-7, 494, 539, 597; and TJ’s collection of Va. laws, 117-18, 122; TJ’s esteem for, 118; letter from cited, 118n; hears TJ’s chancery suits, 190, 206; as teacher, 230n; and reorganization of chancery courts, 241n; compiles Va. laws, 255, 257n; as presidential elector, 356-7; praises Callender, 376-7; inBuence, 391; and Mazzei, 544; receives Appendix, 551, 554n XYZ aCair: depicted as fever, delusion, vii, 34-6, 52, 97, 534, 536, 560, 573; eCects wearing away, vii, 485, 509, 512, 534, 536, 560, 573; Talleyrand encourages negotiation, 18-19, 21, 34; and law of nations, 38; instructions to envoys, 44, 46, 47, 50; causes political damage, threat to liberties, 66, 74n, 77-8; inBuence to be felt through Sixth Congress, 97, 223; allusions to, 155, 296; taints subsequent negotiations, 279 Yancey, Robert, 542 Yard, James, 10, 602
Yellot, Jeremiah, 602 Yellow Creek. See Logan (Mingo Indian) yellow fever: in Philadelphia, 61, 184, 185, 189n, 212-13, 322n, 549, 563-7; theories concerning, 150-1, 183-4; in New York, 211, 339, 493n; deaths from, 212-13, 322n; forces relocations, 297, 301-2, 392n; newspapers suspend publication due to, 339; ruins tobacco market, 339; treatment, 563-4; causes of, 563-7 York Co., Pa.: political sentiments of, 22, 36, 151-2; and congressional districts, 33n Young, William (Philadelphia publisher), 21n Young, William (Philadelphia shoemaker), 578n Young Mill-Wright & Miller’s Guide (Oliver Evans), 117, 122 Zane, Ebenezer: and Logan-Cresap aCair, 479-80n, 552; identiAed, 480n Zeisberger, David, 393 Zenger, John Peter, 535n zoology, 321 Zurich, 221n
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A comprehensive index of Volumes 1-20 of the First Series has been issued as Volume 21. Each subsequent volume has its own index, as does each volume or set of volumes in the Second Series.