Томас Джефферсон
The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Vol. 5 (of 9)
TO HIS EXCELLENCY GOVERNOR TYLER
Washington, February 16, 1809.
Sir,—I have duly received your favor of the 11th, covering resolutions of the General Assembly of Virginia on our foreign relations, and an address to myself, on my approaching retirement; and I ask leave, through the same channel, to return the enclosed answer. Nothing can give me more sincere satisfaction than this kind and honorable testimony from the General Assembly of my native State,—a State in which I have drawn my first and shall draw my latest breath, and to which I retire with inexpressible pleasure. I am equally sensible of your goodness, in the approving terms in which you have made this communication. The concurrence of a veteran patriot, who from the first dawn of the revolution to this day has pursued unchangeably the same honest course, cannot but be flattering to his fellow laborers. I pray you to accept the assurances of my sincere esteem and respect.
TO MR. STODDART
Washington, February 18, 1809.
Sir,—Your favor of January 25th had been duly received, and I was waiting in the hope I might find a moment of less pressure in which I might answer it somewhat in detail, when that of the 14th inst. came to hand. Finding that, instead of any relaxation of business, it crowds more on me as I approach my departure, I can only indulge myself in a very brief reply. As to the rights of the United States as a neutral power, our opinions are very different, mine being that when two nations go to war, it does not abridge the rights of neutral nations but in the two articles of blockade and contraband of war. But on this subject we have both probably read and thought so much as to have made up our minds, and it is not likely that either can make a convert of the other. With respect to the interests of the United States in this exuberant commerce which is now bringing war on us, we concur perfectly. It brings us into collision with other powers in every sea, and will force us into every war of the European powers. The converting this great agricultural country into a city of Amsterdam,—a mere head-quarters for carrying on the commerce of all nations with one another, is too absurd. Yet this is the real object of the drawback system,—it enriches a few individuals, but lessens the stock of native productions, by withdrawing from them all the hands thus employed; it is essentially interesting to us to have shipping and seamen enough to carry our surplus produce to market; but beyond that, I do not think we are bound to give it encouragement by drawbacks or other premiums. I wish you may be right in supposing that the trading States would now be willing to give up the drawbacks, and to denationalize all ships taking foreign articles on board for any other destination than the United States, on being secured by discriminating duties, or otherwise in the exclusive carryage of the produce of the United States. I should doubt it. Were such a proposition to come from them, I presume it would meet with little difficulty. Otherwise, I suppose it must wait till peace, when the right of drawback will be less valued than the exclusive carryage of our own produce.
No apology was necessary for the letters you were so kind as to write me on this subject. I have always received with thankfulness the ideas of judicious persons on subjects interesting to the public. In the present case, I thought I should better fulfil your objects by communicating your letters to my successor, to whose views I have thought it my duty to give the lead, ever since his designation, as to all matters which he would have to execute. Nothing will probably be done on this subject in the few days between this and my retirement; and in that situation I shall certainly divorce myself from all part in political affairs. To get rid of them is the principal object of my retirement, and the first thing necessary to the happiness which, you justly observe, it is in vain to look for in any other situation. I pray you to accept my salutations, and assurances of respect.
TO JOHN HOLLINS
Washington, February 19, 1809.
Dear Sir,—A little transaction of mine, as innocent a one as I ever entered into, and where an improper construction was never less expected, is making some noise, I observe, in your city. I beg leave to explain it to you, because I mean to ask your agency in it. The last year, the Agricultural Society of Paris, of which I am a member, having had a plough presented to them, which, on trial with a graduated instrument, did equal work with half the force of their best ploughs, they thought it would be a benefit to mankind to communicate it. They accordingly sent one to me, with a view to its being made known here, and they sent one to the Duke of Bedford also, who is one of their members, to be made use of for England, although the two nations were then at war. By the Mentor, now going to France, I have given permission to two individuals in Delaware and New York, to import two parcels of Merino sheep from France, which they have procured there, and to some gentlemen in Boston, to import a very valuable machine which spins cotton, wool, and flax equally. The last spring, the Society informed me they were cultivating the cotton of the Levant and other parts of the Mediterranean, and wished to try also that of our southern States. I immediately got a friend to have two tierces of seed forwarded to me. They were consigned to Messrs. Falls and Brown of Baltimore, and notice of it being given me, I immediately wrote to them to re-ship them to New York, to be sent by the Mentor. Their first object was to make a show of my letter, as something very criminal, and to carry the subject into the newspapers. I had, on a like request, some time ago, (but before the embargo,) from the President of the Board of Agriculture of London, of which I am also a member, to send them some of the genuine May wheat of Virginia, forwarded to them two or three barrels of it. General Washington, in his time, received from the same Society the seed of the perennial succory, which Arthur Young had carried over from France to England, and I have since received from a member of it the seed of the famous turnip of Sweden, now so well known here. I mention these things, to show the nature of the correspondence which is carried on between societies instituted for the benevolent purpose of communicating to all parts of the world whatever useful is discovered in any one of them. These societies are always in peace, however their nations may be at war. Like the republic of letters, they form a great fraternity spreading over the whole earth, and their correspondence is never interrupted by any civilized nation. Vaccination has been a late and remarkable instance of the liberal diffusion of a blessing newly discovered. It is really painful, it is mortifying, to be obliged to note these things, which are known to every one who knows anything, and felt with approbation by every one who has any feeling. But we have a faction, to whose hostile passions the torture even of right into wrong is a delicious gratification. Their malice I have long learned to disregard, their censure to deem praise. But I observe that some republicans are not satisfied (even while we are receiving liberally from others) that this small return should be made. They will think more justly at another day; but, in the meantime, I wish to avoid offence. My prayer to you, therefore, is, that you will be so good, under the enclosed order, as to receive these two tierces of seed from Falls and Brown, and pay them their disbursements for freight, &c., which I will immediately remit you on knowing the amount. Of the seed, when received, be so good as to make manure for your garden. When rotted with a due mixture of stable manure or earth, it is the best in the world. I rely on your friendship to excuse this trouble, it being necessary I should not commit myself again to persons of whose honor, or the want of it, I know nothing.
Accept the assurances of my constant esteem and respect.
TO M. GREGOIRE, EVEQUE ET SENATEUR A PARIS
Washington, February 25, 1809.
Sir,—I have received the favor of your letter of August 17th, and with it the volume you were so kind as to send me on the "Literature of Negroes." Be assured that no person living wishes more sincerely than I do, to see a complete refutation of the doubts I have myself entertained and expressed on the grade of understanding allotted to them by nature, and to find that in this respect they are on a par with ourselves. My doubts were the result of personal observation on the limited sphere of my own State, where the opportunities for the development of their genius were not favorable, and those of exercising it still less so. I expressed them therefore with great hesitation; but whatever be their degree of talent it is no measure of their rights. Because Sir Isaac Newton was superior to others in understanding, he was not therefore lord of the person or property of others. On this subject they are gaining daily in the opinions of nations, and hopeful advances are making towards their re-establishment on an equal footing with the other colors of the human family. I pray you therefore to accept my thanks for the many instances you have enabled me to observe of respectable intelligence in that race of men, which cannot fail to have effect in hastening the day of their relief; and to be assured of the sentiments of high and just esteem and consideration which I tender to yourself with all sincerity.
TO M. RUELLE, ANCIEN AGENT DIPLOMATIQUE, RUE D'ARGENTINE, NO. 38, A PARIS
Washington, February 25, 1809.
Sir,—I have duly received your favors of May 29th and July 11th, and with this last a copy of your Constitution with the new augmentations. Our usages not permitting me to present it formally to the Legislature of the nation, I have deposited it in their library, where all its members will have an opportunity of profiting of its truths, and it will be, as you desire, in a depôt beyond the reach of violence. No interests are dearer to men than those which ought to be secured to them by their form of government, and none deserve better of them than those who contribute to the amelioration of that form. The consciousness of having deserved well of mankind for your endeavors to be useful to them in this line, will be itself a high reward, to which will be added the homage of those who shall have reaped the benefits of them. I ask permission on my part to tender you the assurances of my esteem and great respect.
TO THOMAS MANN RANDOLPH
Washington, February 28, 1809.
My Dear Sir,—By yesterday's mail I learn that it would be the desire of many of the good citizens of our country to meet me on the road on my return home, as a manifestation of their good will. But it is quite impossible for me to ascertain the day on which I shall leave this. The accumulated business at the close of a session will prevent my making any preparation for my departure till after the 4th of March. After that, the arrangement of papers and business to be delivered over to my successor, the winding up my own affairs, and clearing out from this place, will employ me for several days, (I cannot conjecture even how many,) so as to render the commencement, and consequently the termination of my journey, altogether uncertain. But it is a sufficient happiness to me to know that my fellow-citizens of the country generally entertain for me the kind sentiments which have prompted this proposition, without giving to so many the trouble of leaving their homes to meet a single individual. I shall have opportunities of taking them individually by the hand at our court-house and other public places, and of exchanging assurances of mutual esteem. Certainly it is the greatest consolation to me to know, that in returning to the bosom of my native country, I shall be again in the midst of their kind affections: and I can say with truth that my return to them will make me happier than I have been since I left them. Nothing will be wanting on my part to merit the continuance of their good will. The House of Representatives passed yesterday, by a vote of 81 to 40, the bill from the Senate repealing the embargo the 4th of March, except against Great Britain and France and their dependencies, establishing a non-intercourse with them, and having struck out the clause for letters of marque and reprisal, which it is thought the Senate will still endeavor to reinstate. I send you a paper containing the last Spanish news. Yours affectionately.
TO MESSRS. GREGG AND LEIB, SENATORS OF PENNSYLVANIA.—MR. SMILIE
Washington, March 2, 1809.
Gentlemen,—I have just received the enclosed with a request that I would lay it before both Houses of Congress. But I have never presumed to place myself between the Legislative Houses and those who have a constitutional right to address them directly. I take the liberty therefore of enclosing the paper to you, that you may do therein what in your judgment shall best comport with expediency and propriety.
I pray you to be assured of my high consideration.
TO M. DUPONT DE NEMOURS
Washington, March 2, 1809.
Dear Sir,—My last to you was of May 2d; since which I have received yours of May the 25th, June the 1st, July the 23d, 24th, and September the 5th, and distributed the two pamphlets according to your desire. They are read with the delight which everything from your pen gives.
After using every effort which could prevent or delay our being entangled in the war of Europe, that seems now our only resource. The edicts of the two belligerents, forbidding us to be seen on the ocean, we met by an embargo. This gave us time to call home our seamen, ships and property, to levy men and put our seaports into a certain state of defence. We have now taken off the embargo, except as to France and England and their territories, because fifty millions of exports, annually sacrificed, are the treble of what war would cost us; besides, that by war we should take something, and lose less than at present. But to give you a true description of the state of things here, I must refer you to Mr. Coles, the bearer of this, my secretary, a most worthy, intelligent and well-informed young man, whom I recommend to your notice, and conversation on our affairs. His discretion and fidelity may be relied on. I expect he will find you with Spain at your feet, but England still afloat, and a barrier to the Spanish colonies. But all these concerns I am now leaving to be settled by my friend Mr. Madison. Within a few days I retire to my family, my books and farms; and having gained the harbor myself, I shall look on my friends still buffeting the storm with anxiety indeed, but not with envy. Never did a prisoner, released from his chains, feel such relief as I shall on shaking off the shackles of power. Nature intended me for the tranquil pursuits of science, by rendering them my supreme delight. But the enormities of the times in which I have lived, have forced me to take a part in resisting them, and to commit myself on the boisterous ocean of political passions. I thank God for the opportunity of retiring from them without censure, and carrying with me the most consoling proofs of public approbation. I leave everything in the hands of men so able to take care of them, that if we are destined to meet misfortunes, it will be because no human wisdom could avert them. Should you return to the United States, perhaps your curiosity may lead you to visit the hermit of Monticello. He will receive you with affection and delight; hailing you in the meantime with his affectionate salutations and assurances of constant esteem and respect.
P. S. If you return to us, bring a couple of pair of true-bred shepherd's dogs. You will add a valuable possession to a country now beginning to pay great attention to the raising sheep.
TO GENERAL ARMSTRONG
Washington, March 5, 1809.
Dear Sir,—This will be handed you by Mr. Coles, the bearer of public despatches, by an aviso. He has lived with me as Secretary, is my wealthy neighbor at Monticello, and worthy of all confidence. His intimate knowledge of our situation has induced us to send him, because he will be a full supplement as to all those things which cannot be detailed in writing. He can possess you of our present situation much more intimately than you can understand it from letters. The belligerent edicts rendered our embargo necessary to call home our ships, our seamen, and property. We expected some effect too from the coercion of interest. Some it has had; but much less on account of evasions, and domestic opposition to it. After fifteen months' continuance it is now discontinued, because, losing $50,000,000 of exports annually by it, it costs more than war, which might be carried on for a third of that, besides what might be got by reprisal. War therefore must follow if the edicts are not repealed before the meeting of Congress in May. You have thought it advisable sooner to take possession of adjacent territories. But we know that they are ours the first moment that any war is forced upon us for other causes, that we are at hand to anticipate their possession, if attempted by any other power, and, in the meantime, we are lengthening the term of our prosperity, liberating our revenues, and increasing our power. I suppose Napoleon will get possession of Spain; but her colonies will deliver themselves to any member of the Bourbon family. Perhaps Mexico will choose its sovereign within itself. He will find them much more difficult to subdue than Austria or Prussia; because an enemy (even in peace an enemy) possesses the element over which he is to pass to get at them; and a more powerful enemy (climate) will soon mow down his armies after arrival. This will be, without any doubt, the most difficult enterprise the emperor has ever undertaken. He may subdue the small colonies; he never can the old and strong; and the former will break off from him the first war he has again with a naval power.
I thank you for having procured for me the Dynamometer which I have safely received, as well as the plough. Mr. Coles will reimburse what you were so kind as to advance for me on that account. The letters which will be written you by the new Secretary of State (Mr. Smith) will say to you what is meant to be official. For although I too have written on politics, it is merely as a private individual, which I am now happily become. Within two or three days I retire from scenes of difficulty, anxiety, and of contending passions, to the elysium of domestic affections, and the irresponsible direction of my own affairs. Safe in port myself, I shall look anxiously at my friends still buffeting the storm, and wish you all safe in port also. With my prayers for your happiness and prosperity, accept the assurances of my sincere friendship and great respect.
TO M. LE BARON HUMBOLDT
Washington, March 6, 1809.
Dear Sir,—I received safely your letter of May 30th, and with it your astronomical work and Political essay on the kingdom of New Spain, for which I return you my sincere thanks. I had before heard that this work had begun to appear, and the specimen I have received proves that it will not disappoint the expectations of the learned. Besides making known to us one of the most singular and interesting countries on the globe, one almost locked up from the knowledge of man hitherto, precious additions will be made to our stock of physical science, in many of its parts. We shall bear to you therefore the honorable testimony that you have deserved well of the republic of letters.
You mention that you had before written other letters to me. Be assured I have never received a single one, or I should not have failed to make my acknowledgments of it. Indeed I have not waited for that, but for the certain information, which I had not, of the place where you might be. Your letter of May 30th first gave me that information. You have wisely located yourself in the focus of the science of Europe. I am held by the cords of love to my family and country, or I should certainly join you. Within a few days I shall now bury myself in the groves of Monticello, and become a mere spectator of the passing events. On politics I will say nothing, because I would not implicate you by addressing to you the republican ideas of America, deemed horrible heresies by the royalism of Europe. You will know before this reaches you, that Mr. Madison is my successor. This ensures to us a wise and honest administration. I salute you with sincere friendship and respect.
