Томас Джефферсон
The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Vol. 1 (of 9)
TO WILLIAM CARMICHAEL
Paris, May 5, 1786.
Dear Sir,—A visit of two months to England has been the cause of your not hearing from me during that period. Your letters of February 3d, to Mr. Adams and myself, and of February 4th, to me, had come to hand before my departure. While I was in London, Mr. Adams received the letters giving information of Mr. Lambe's arrival in Algiers. In London, we had conferences with a Tripoline ambassador, now at that court, named Abdrahaman. He asked us thirty thousand guineas for a peace with his court, and as much for Tunis, for which he said he could answer. What we were authorized to offer, being to this but as a drop to a bucket, our conferences were repeated, only for the purpose of obtaining information. If the demands of Algiers and Morocco should be in proportion to this, according to their superior power, it is easy to foresee that the United States will not buy a peace with money. What principally led me to England was, the information that the Chevalier del Pinto, Portuguese minister at that court, had received full powers to treat with us. I accordingly went there, and, in the course of six weeks, we arranged a commercial treaty between our two countries. His powers were only to negotiate, not to sign. And as I could not wait, Mr. Adams and myself signed, and the Chevalier del Pinto expected daily the arrival of powers to do the same. The footing on which each has placed the other, is that of the most favored nation. We wished much to have had some privileges in their American possessions; but this was not to be effected. The right to import flour into Portugal, though not conceded by the treaty, we are not without hopes of obtaining.
My journey furnished us occasion to renew our overtures to the court of London; which it was the more important to do, as our powers to that court were to expire on the 12th of this month. These overtures were not attended to, and our commission expiring, we made our final report to Congress; and I suppose this the last offer of friendship which will ever be made on our part. The treaty of peace being unexecuted on either part, in important points, each will now take their own measures for obtaining execution. I think the King, ministers, and nation are more bitterly hostile to us at present, than at any period of the late war. A like disposition on our part has been rising for some time. In what events these things will end, we cannot foresee. Our countrymen are eager in their passions and enterprises, and not disposed to calculate their interests against these. Our enemies (for such they are, in fact) have for twelve years past followed but one uniform rule, that of doing exactly the contrary of what reason points out. Having, early during our contest, observed this in the British conduct, I governed myself by it in all prognostications of their measures; and I can say, with truth, it never failed me but in the circumstance of their making peace with us. I have no letters from America of later date than the new year. Mr. Adams had, to the beginning of February. I am in hopes our letters will give a new spur to the proposition, for investing Congress with the regulation of our commerce.
This will be handed you by a Baron Waltersdorf, a Danish gentleman, whom, if you did not already know, I should take the liberty of recommending to you. You were so kind as to write me that you would forward me a particular map, which has not come to hand. I beg you to be assured of the respect and esteem with which I have the honor to be, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
TO MR. DUMAS
Paris, May 6, 1786.
Sir,—Having been absent in England, for some time past, your favors of February the 27th, March the 28th, and April the 11th, have not been acknowledged as soon as they should have been. I am obliged to you, for assisting to make me known to the Rhingrave de Salm and the Marquis de la Coste, whose reputations render an acquaintance with them desirable. I have not yet seen either, but expect that honor from the Rhingrave very soon. Your letters to Mr. Jay and Mr. Van Berkel, received in my absence, will be forwarded by a gentleman who leaves this place for New York, within a few days. I sent the treaty with Prussia, by a gentleman who sailed from Havre, the 11th of November. The arrival of that vessel in America is not yet known here. Though the time is not long enough to produce despair, it is sufficiently so to give inquietude lest it should be lost. This would be a cause of much concern to me; I beg the favor of you to mention this circumstance to the Baron de Thulemeyer, as an apology for his not hearing from us. The last advices from America bring us nothing interesting. A principal object of my journey to London was to enter into commercial arrangements with Portugal. This has been done almost in the precise terms of those of Prussia. The English are still our enemies. The spirit existing there, and rising in America, has a very lowering aspect. To what events it may give birth, I cannot foresee. We are young and can survive them; but their rotten machine must crush under the trial. The animosities of sovereigns are temporary, and may be allayed; but those which seize the whole body of a people, and of a people, too, who dictate their own measures, produce calamities of long duration. I shall not wonder to see the scenes of ancient Rome and Carthage renewed in our day; and if not pursued to the same issue, it may be because the republic of modern powers will not permit the extinction of any one of its members. Peace and friendship with all mankind is our wisest policy; and I wish we may be permitted to pursue it. But the temper and folly of our enemies may not leave this in our choice. I am happy in our prospect of friendship with the most estimable powers of Europe, and particularly with those of the confederacy, of which yours is. That your present crisis may have a happy issue, is the prayer and wish of him who has the honor to be, with great respect and esteem, Sir, your most obedient humble servant.
TO WILLIAM DRAYTON
Paris, May 6, 1786.
Sir,—Your favor of November the 23d came duly to hand. A call to England, soon after its receipt, has prevented my acknowledging it so soon as I should have done. I am very sensible of the honor done me by the South Carolina society for promoting and improving agriculture and other rural concerns, when they were pleased to elect me to be of their body; and I beg leave, through you, Sir, to convey to them my grateful thanks for this favor. They will find in me, indeed, but a very unprofitable servant. At present, particularly, my situation is unfavorable to the desire I feel, of promoting their views. However, I shall certainly avail myself of every occasion which shall occur, of doing so. Perhaps I may render some service, by forwarding to the society such new objects of culture, as may be likely to succeed in the soil and climate of South Carolina. In an infant country, as ours is, these experiments are important. We are probably far from possessing, as yet, all the articles of culture for which nature has fitted our country. To find out these, will require abundance of unsuccessful experiments. But if, in a multitude of these, we make one useful acquisition, it repays our trouble. Perhaps it is the peculiar duty of associated bodies, to undertake these experiments. Under this sense of the views of the society, and with so little opportunity of being otherwise useful to them, I shall be attentive to procure for them the seeds of such plants, as they will be so good as to point out to me, or as shall occur to myself as worthy their notice. I send at present, by Mr. McQueen, some seeds of a grass, found very useful in the southern parts of Europe, and particularly, and almost solely cultivated in Malta. It is called by the names of Sulla, and Spanish St. Foin, and is the Hedysarum coronarium of Linnæus. It is usually sown early in autumn. I shall receive a supply of fresher seed, this fall, which I will also do myself the honor of forwarding to you. I expect, in the same season, from the south of France, some acorns of the cork oak, which I propose for your society, as I am persuaded they will succeed with you. I observed it to grow in England, without shelter; not well, indeed, but so as to give hopes that it would do well with you. I shall consider myself as always honored by the commands of the society, whenever they shall find it convenient to make use of me, and beg you to be assured, personally, of the sentiments of respect and esteem with which I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
TO W. T. FRANKLIN
Paris, May 7, 1786.
Dear Sir,—On my return from a two months' visit to England, I found here your favor of January the 18th. This contains the latest intelligence I have from America. Your effects not being then arrived gives me anxiety for them, as I think they went in a vessel which sailed from Havre the 11th of November. In this vessel, went also the two Mr. Fitzhughs of Virginia, with the Prussian treaty, our papers relative to the Barbary States, with the despatches for Congress, and letters which I had been writing to other persons in America for six weeks preceding their departure. I am obliged to you for the information as to Dr. Franklin's health, in which I feel a great interest. I concur in opinion with you, that in the present factious division of your State, an angel from heaven could do no good. I have been sorry, therefore, from the beginning, to see such time as Dr. Franklin's wasted on so hopeless a business. You have formed a just opinion of Monroe. He is a man whose soul might be turned wrong side outwards, without discovering a blemish to the world. I wish with all my heart, Congress may call you into the diplomatic line, as that seems to have attracted your own desires. It is not one in which you can do anything more than pass the present hour agreeably, without any prospect to future provision. Perhaps, the arrangements with Portugal, by adding to the number of those appointments, may give Congress an opportunity of doing justice to your own, and to Dr. Franklin's services. If my wishes could aid you, you have them sincerely. My late return to this place scarcely enables me to give you any of its news. I have not yet called on M. La Veillard, or seen any of your acquaintances. The marriage of the ambassador of Sweden with Miss Neckar, you have heard of. Houdon is about taking a wife also. His bust of the General has arrived, and meets the approbation of those who know the original. Europe enjoys a perfect calm, at present. Perhaps it may be disturbed by the death of the King of Prussia, which is constantly expected. As yet, we have no information from the Barbary States, which may enable us to prognosticate the success of our endeavors to effect a peace in that quarter. Present me respectfully and affectionately to Dr. Franklin, and accept assurances of the esteem with which I am, dear Sir, your friend and servant.
TO ELBRIDGE GERRY
Paris, May 7, 1786.
Dear Sir,—My last to you, was of the 11th of October. Soon after that, your favor of the 12th September came to hand. My acknowledgment of this is made later than it should have been, by my trip to England. Your long silence I ascribe to a more pleasing cause, that of devoting your spare time to one more capable of filling it with happiness, and to whom, as well as to yourself, I wish all those precious blessings which this change of condition is calculated to give you.
My public letters to Mr. Jay will have apprised you of my journey to England, and of its motives; and the joint letters of Mr. Adams and myself, of its effects. With respect to Portugal, it produced arrangements; with respect to England and Barbary, only information. I am quite at a loss what you will do with England. To leave her in possession of our posts, seems inadmissible; and yet to take them, brings on a state of things for which we seem not to be in readiness. Perhaps a total suppression of her trade, or an exclusion of her vessels from the carriage of our produce, may have some effect; but I believe not very great. Their passions are too deeply and too universally engaged in opposition to us. The ministry have found means to persuade the nation, that they are richer than they were while we participated of their commercial privileges. We should try to turn our trade into other channels. I am in hopes this country will endeavor to give it more encouragement. But what will you do with the piratical States? Buy a peace at their enormous price; force one; or abandon the carriage into the Mediterranean to other powers? All these measures are disagreeable. The decision rests with you. The Emperor is now pressing a treaty with us. In a commercial view, I doubt whether it is desirable; but in a political one, I believe it is. He is now undoubtedly the second power in Europe, and on the death of the King of Prussia, he becomes the first character. An alliance with him will give us respectability in Europe, which we have occasion for. Besides, he will be at the head of the second grand confederacy of Europe, and may, at any time, serve us with the powers constituting that. I am pressed on so many hands to recommend Dumas to the patronage of Congress, that I cannot avoid it. Everybody speaks well of him, and his zeal in our cause. Anything done for him will gratify this court, and the patriotic party in Holland, as well as some distinguished individuals. I am induced, from my own feelings, to recommend Colonel Humphreys to your care. He is sensible, prudent, and honest, and may be very firmly relied on, in any office which requires these talents. I pray you to accept assurances of the sincere esteem and respect with which I am, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
TO MR. OTTO
Paris, May 7, 1786.
Sir,—My absence in England, for some time past, has prevented my acknowledging so soon as I should have done, the receipt of your favor of January 15. In that you speak of having written other letters, but no other has ever come to my hands. I thank you for the intelligence that contained, several articles of which never came to me through any other channel. On this side of the water everything is quiet. But the death of the King of Prussia is daily expected, and I think it very possible this event may bring on a disturbance of the peace of Europe, as the elastic spirit of the Emperor will feel itself restrained by one pressure the less. This possibility excepted, Europe never had a more pacific appearance. Among the Dutch, the republican party seems to be quite triumphant. The misunderstanding between Spain and Naples cannot produce any immediate consequences; and that between France and Portugal, we are told, is amicably settled. It is said that the Elector of Bavaria is in an ill state of health. His death, with that of the King of Prussia, would hazard the tranquillity of Europe. I have not heard from the Chevalier de La Luzerne since my return. Count Adhemer is again in England. A change in the ministry here is more talked of and expected than at any time since my coming to this place. It is said the Baron de Breteuil will go out; that M. de Calonnes will be transferred to this place, and a Monsieur Maillan succeed him. But the public know too little and talk too much of these things to command our belief. The marriage of the Swedish ambassador with the daughter of Mr. Neckar, you have known long ago. The Cardinal de Rohan and Cagliotho remain where they did, in the Bastile; nor does their affairs seem as yet to draw towards a conclusion. It has been a curious matter, in which the circumstances of intrigue and detail have busied all the tongues, the public liberty none. I have been laboring with the ministry to get the trade between this country and the United States put on a better footing, by admitting a free importation and sale of our produce, assuring them that we should take their manufactures at whatever extent they would enable us to pay for them. The importation of our whale oil is, by the successful endeavors of M. de La Fayette, put on a good footing for this year. Mine, for emancipating the tobacco trade, have been less successful. I still continue to stir, however, this and all other articles. I think myself happy in the prospect of a correspondence with you, and am with sincere respect and esteem, Sir, your most obedient humble servant.
TO COLONEL HUMPHREYS
Paris, May 7, 1786.
Dear Sir,—My stay in London having been considerably longer than I had expected, I did not arrive in this place till the last day of April. I found here your kind letter of the 4th of that month, acknowledging, much more than they deserved, my little attentions to you. Their only merit was their being faithful testimonies of a sincere regard for you. The obligations have, in fact, been on my side, and I shall ever consider it as such. I sincerely wish that on your arrival in America, your own preference may be gratified by an appointment on that side of the water, to which your inclinations lead you. I have received the books and papers you mention, and will undertake to have finished what you left undone of the medals, or at least will proceed in it, till the matter shall be put into better hands. My principal object in my journey to London was accomplished by arrangements with Portugal. They are almost exactly in the terms of those with Prussia; except that the general license to trade is restrained to those places where any foreign nation is admitted. The Tripoline offered peace for 30,000 guineas for Tripoli, and as many for Tunis. Calculating on this scale, Morocco should ask 60,000, and Algiers 120,000. England declines all arrangements with us. They say their commerce is so necessary to us, that we shall not deny it to ourselves for the sake of the carrying business, as the only trade they leave us is that with Great Britain immediately, and that is a losing one. I hope we shall show them we have sense and spirit enough to suppress that, or at least to exclude them from any share in the carriage of our commodities. Their spirit towards us is deeply hostile, and they seem as if they did not fear a war with us. Should such an event become necessary, we have need of but only one resolution to place us on sure ground. That is, to abandon that element where they are strong and we nothing; and to decide the contest on terra firma, where we have all to gain, and can lose nothing. The death of the King of Prussia is constantly expected. Perhaps that event may bring on a general broil. I am too lately returned here to be able to give you any of the news of the place. I shall hope to hear from you soon and often, and am, with sincere esteem, dear Sir, your friend and servant.
TO JAMES ROSS
Paris, May 8, 1786.
Dear Sir,—I have duly received your favor of October the 22d, and am much gratified by the communications therein made. It has given me details, which do not enter into the views of my ordinary correspondents, and which are very entertaining. I experience great satisfaction at seeing my country proceed to facilitate the intercommunications of its several parts, by opening rivers, canals and roads. How much more rational is this disposal of public money, than that of waging war.
Before the receipt of your letter, Morris's contract for sixty thousand hogsheads of tobacco was concluded with the Farmers General. I have been for some time occupied in endeavoring to destroy the root of the evils, which the tobacco trade encounters in this country, by making the ministers sensible, that merchants will not bring a commodity to a market, where but one person is allowed to buy it; and that so long as that single purchaser is obliged to go to foreign markets for it, he must pay for it in coin, and not in commodities. These truths have made their way to the minds of the ministry, insomuch, as to have delayed the execution of the new lease of the Farms, six months. It is renewed, however, for three years, but so as not to render impossible a reformation of this great evil. They are sensible of the evil, but it is so interwoven with their fiscal system, that they find it hazardous to disentangle. The temporary distress, too, of the revenue, they are not prepared to meet. My hopes, therefore, are weak, though not quite desperate. When they become so, it will remain to look about for the best palliative this monopoly can bear. My present idea is, that it will be found in a prohibition to the Farmers General, to purchase tobacco anywhere but in France. You will perceive by this, that my object is to strengthen the connection between this country and my own, in all useful points. I am of opinion that twenty-three thousand hogsheads of tobacco, the annual consumption of this country, do not exceed the amount of those commodities which it is more advantageous to us to buy here than in England, or elsewhere; and such a commerce would powerfully reinforce the motives for a friendship from this country towards ours. This friendship we ought to cultivate closely, considering the present dispositions of England towards us.
I am lately returned from a visit to that country. The spirit of hostility to us has always existed in the mind of the King, but it has now extended itself through the whole mass of the people, and the majority in the public councils. In a country, where the voice of the people influence so much the measures of administration, and where it coincides with the private temper of the King, there is no pronouncing on future events. It is true they have nothing to gain, and much to lose by a war with us. But interest is not the strongest passion in the human breast. There are difficult points, too, still unsettled between us. They have not withdrawn their armies out of our country, nor given satisfaction for the property they brought off. On our part, we have not paid our debts, and it will take time to pay them. In conferences with some distinguished mercantile characters, I found them sensible of the impossibility of our paying these debts at once, and that an endeavor to force universal and immediate payment, would render debts desperate, which are good in themselves. I think we should not have differed in the term necessary. We differed essentially in the article of interest. For while the principal, and interest preceding and subsequent to the war, seem justly due from us, that which accrued during the war does not. Interest is a compensation for the use of money. Their money, in our hands, was in the form of lands and negroes. Tobacco, the produce of these lands and negroes (or as I may call it, the interest of them), being almost impossible of conveyance to the markets of consumption, because taken by themselves in its way there, sold during the war, at five or six shillings the hundred. This did not pay taxes, and for tools and other plantation charges. A man who should have attempted to remit to his creditor tobacco, for either principal or interest, must have remitted it three times before one cargo would have arrived safe; and this from the depredations of their own nation, and often of the creditor himself; for some of the merchants entered deeply into the privateering business. The individuals, who did not, say they have lost this interest; the debtor replies, that he has not gained it, and that it is a case, where a loss having been incurred, every one tries to shift it from himself. The known bias of the human mind from motives of interest should lessen the confidence of each party in the justice of their reasoning; but it is difficult to say, which of them should make the sacrifice, both of reason and interest. Our conferences were intended as preparatory to some arrangement. It is uncertain how far we should have been able to accommodate our opinions. But the absolute aversion of the government to enter into any arrangement prevented the object from being pursued. Each country is left to do justice to itself and to the other, according to its own ideas, as to what is past; and to scramble for the future, as well as they can; to regulate their commerce by duties and prohibitions, and perhaps by cannons and mortars; in which event, we must abandon the ocean, where we are weak, leaving to neutral nations the carriage of our commodities; and measure with them on land, where they alone can lose. Farewell, then, all our useful improvements of canals and roads, reformations of laws, and other rational employments. I really doubt whether there is temper enough, on either side, to prevent this issue of our present hatred. Europe is, at this moment, without the appearance of a cloud. The death of the King of Prussia, daily expected, may raise one. My paper admonishes me, that after asking a continuance of your favors, it is time for me to conclude with assurances of the esteem with which I am, dear Sir, your friend and servant.
