Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 3
TextLETTER XVI.—TO MR. NECKER, September 26,1789
TO MR. NECKER.
Paris, September 26,1789.
Sir,
I had the honor of waiting on you at Versailles, the day before yesterday, in order to present my respects on my departure to America. I was unlucky in the moment, as it was one in which you were gone out.
I wished to have put into your hands, at the same time, the enclosed state of the British northern fishery for the years 1788 and 1789, by which you will see that they have lost in one year, one third of that fishery, the effect, almost solely, of the Arrêt which shut the ports of France to their oils.
I wished also to know, whether, while in America, I could be useful towards encouraging supplies of provision to be brought to this country the ensuing year. I am persuaded a considerable relief to the city of Paris might be obtained, by permitting the importation of salted provisions from the United States. Our salted beef, particularly, (which, since the war, we have learned to prepare in the Irish manner, so as to be as good as the best of that country) could be sold out to the people of Paris, for the half of what they pay for fresh meat. It would seem then, that the laborer paying but half the usual price for his meat, might pay the full price of his bread, and so relieve government from its loss on that article. The interest of the gabelles has been an objection, hitherto, to the importation of salted provisions. But that objection is lessened by the reduction of the price of salt, and done away entirely, by the desire of the present government to consider the ease and happiness of the people as the first object. In every country as fully peopled as France, it would seem good policy to encourage the employment of its lands in the cultivation of corn, rather than in pasturage, and consequently to encourage the use of all kinds of salted provisions, because they can be imported from other countries. It may be apprehended, that the Parisian, habituated to fresh provision, would not use salted. Then he would not buy them, and of course they would not be brought, so that no harm can be done by the permission. On the contrary, if the people of Paris should readily adopt the use of salted provisions, the good would result which is before mentioned. Salt meat is not as good as fresh for soups, but it gives an higher flavor to the vegetables boiled with it. The experience of a great part of America, which is fed almost entirely on it, proves it to be as wholesome as fresh meat. The sea scurvy, ascribed by some to the use of salt meat, is equally unknown in America as in Europe. It is the want of vegetables at sea which produces the scurvy. I have thus hastily mentioned reasons and objections, to save you the time and trouble of recollecting them. To you, Sir, it suffices barely to mention them. Mr. Short, chargé des affaires of the United States, will have the honor of delivering you this, and of giving you any further details which you may be pleased to require.
I shall hope, on my return in the spring, to find your health reestablished, and your mind relieved by a perfect settlement of the affairs of the nation; and with my felicitations on those accounts, to express to you those sentiments of profound respect and attachment, with which I have the honor to be, your Excellency’s most obedient and most humble servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER XVII.—TO JOHN JAY, September 30, 1789
TO JOHN JAY.
Havre, September 30, 1789.
Dear Sir,
No convenient ship having offered from any port of France, I have engaged one from London to take me up at Cowes, and am so far on my way thither. She will land me at Norfolk, and as I do not know any service that would be rendered by my repairing immediately to New York, I propose, in order to economize time, to go directly to my own house, get through the business which calls me there, and then repair to New York, where I shall be ready to re-embark for Europe. But should there be any occasion for government to receive any information I can give, immediately on my arrival, I will go to New York on receiving your orders at Richmond. They may probably be there before me, as this goes by Mr. Trumbull, bound directly for New York.
I enclose you herewith the proceedings of the National Assembly on Saturday last, wherein you will perceive that the committee had approved the plan of Mr. Necker. I can add from other sure information received here, that the Assembly adopted it the same evening. This plan may possibly keep their payments alive till their new government gets into motion; though I do not think it very certain. The public stocks lowered so exceedingly the last days of my stay at Paris, that I wrote to our bankers at Amsterdam, to desire they would retain till further orders the thirty thousand guilders, or so much of it as had not yet come on. And as to what might be already coming on, I recommended to Mr. Short to go and take the acceptance himself, and keep the bill in his own hands till the time of payment. He will by that time see what is best to be done with the money.
In taking leave of Monsieur de Montmorin, I asked him whether their West India ports would continue open to us a while. He said they would be immediately declared, open till February, and we may be sure they will be so till the next harvest. He agreed with me, that there would be two or three months’ provision for the whole kingdom wanting for the ensuing year. The consumption of bread for the whole kingdom, is two millions of livres tournois, a day. The people pay the real price of their bread every where, except at Paris and Versailles. There the price is suffered to vary very little as to them, and government pays the difference. It has been supposed that this difference for some time past has cost a million a week. I thought the occasion favorable to propose to Monsieur de Montmorin the free admission of our salted provisions, observing to him, particularly, that our salted beef from the eastern States could be dealt out to the people of Paris for five or six sols the pound, which is but half the common price they pay for fresh beef; that the Parisian paying less for his meat, might pay more for his bread, and so relieve government from its enormous loss on that article. His idea of this resource seemed unfavorable. We talked over the objections of the supposed unhealthiness of that food, its tendency to produce scurvy, the chance of its taking with a people habituated to fresh meat, their comparative qualities of rendering vegetables eatable, and the interests of the gabelles. He concluded with saying the experiment might be tried, and with desiring me to speak with Mr. Necker. I went to Mr. Necker, but he had gone to the National Assembly. On my return to Paris, therefore, I wrote to him on the subject, going over the objections which Monsieur de Montmorin had started. Mr. Short was to carry the letter himself, and to pursue the subject.
Having observed that our commerce to Havre is considerably on the increase, and that most of our vessels coming there, and especially those from the eastward, are obliged to make a voyage round to the neighborhood of the Loire and Garonne for salt, a voyage attended with expense, delay, and more risk, I have obtained from the Farmers General, that they shall be supplied from their magazines at Honfleur, opposite to Havre, at a mercantile price. They fix it at present at sixty livres the muid, which comes to about, fifteen sous, or seven and a half pence sterling our bushel; but it will vary as the price varies at the place from which they bring it. As this will be a great relief to such of our vessels coming to Havre, as might wish to take back salt, it may perhaps be proper to notify it to our merchants. I enclose herewith Mr. Necker’s discourse to the Assembly, which was not printed till I left Paris: and have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect esteem and respect, Sir, your most obedient and most humble servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER XVIII.—TO THE PRESIDENT, December 15,1789
TO THE PRESIDENT.
Chesterfield, December 15,1789.
Sir,
I have received at this place the honor of your letters of October the 13th and November the 30th, and am truly flattered by your nomination of me to the very dignified office of Secretary of State; for which permit me here to return you my humble thanks. Could any circumstance seduce me to overlook the disproportion between its duties and my talents, it would be the encouragement of your choice. But when I contemplate the extent of that office, embracing as it does the principal mass of domestic administration, together with the foreign, I cannot be insensible of my inequality to it; and I should enter on it with gloomy forebodings from the criticisms and censures of a public, just indeed in their intentions, but sometimes misinformed and misled, and always too respectable to be neglected. T cannot but foresee the possibility that this may end disagreeably for me, who, having no motive to public service but the public satisfaction, would certainly retire the moment that satisfaction should appear to languish. On the other hand, I feel a degree of familiarity with the duties of my present office, as far at least as I am capable of understanding its duties. The ground I have already passed over, enables me to see my way into that which is before me. The change of government too, taking place in the country where it is exercised, seems to open a possibility of procuring from the new rulers some new advantages in commerce, which may be agreeable to our countrymen. So that as far as my fears, my hopes, or my inclination might enter into this question, I confess they would not lead me to prefer a change.
But it is not for an individual to choose his post. You are to marshal us as may best be for the public good; and it is only in the case of its being indifferent to you, that I would avail myself of the option you have so kindly offered in your letter. If you think it better to transfer me to another post, my inclination must be no obstacle; nor shall it be, if there is any desire to suppress the office I now hold, or to reduce its grade. In either of these cases, be so good only as to signify to me by another line your ultimate wish, and I shall conform to it cordially. If it should be to remain at New York, my chief comfort will be to work under your eye, my only shelter the authority of your name, and the wisdom of measures to be dictated by you and implicitly executed by me. Whatever you may be pleased to decide, I do not see that the matters which have called me hither, will permit me to shorten the stay I originally asked; that is to say, to set out on my journey northward till the month of March. As early as possible in that month, I shall have the honor of paying my respects to you in New York. In the mean time, I have that of tendering you the homage of those sentiments of respectful attachment, with which I am, Sir, your most obedient and most humble servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER XIX.—TO HENRY LAURENS, ESQUIRE, March 31, 1790
TO HENRY LAURENS, ESQUIRE.
New York, March 31, 1790.
Sir,
Encroachments being made on the eastern limits of the United States, by settlers under the British government, pretending that it is the western and not the eastern river of the bay of Passamaquoddy, which was designated by the name of St. Croix in the treaty of peace with that nation, I have to beg the favor of you to communicate any facts which your memory or papers may enable you to recollect, and which may indicate the true river, the commissioners on both sides had in their view to establish as the boundary between the two nations. It will be of some consequence to be informed by what map they traced the boundary.
I have the honor to be, with the greatest respect, Sir, your most obedient and most humble servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER XX.—TO MR. VANDERKEMP, March 31, 1799
TO MR. VANDERKEMP.
New York, March 31, 1799.
Sir,
The letter has been duly received which you addressed to th© President of the United States, praying his interference with the government of the United Netherlands, on the subject of property you left there on coming to America. I have it in charge to inform you that the United States have at present no minister at the Hague, and consequently no channel through which they could express their concern for your interests. However willing, too, we are to receive and protect all persons who come hither, with the property they bring, perhaps it may be doubted, how far it would be expedient to engage ourselves for what they leave behind, or for any other matter retrospective to their becoming citizens. In the present instance, we hope, that no confiscation of the residuum of your property left in the United Netherlands having taken place, the justice of that government will leave you no occasion for that interference which you have been pleased to ask from this.
I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient and most humble servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER XXI.—TO GEORGE JOY, March 31, 1790
TO GEORGE JOY.
New York, March 31, 1790.
Sir,
I have considered your application for sea-letters for the ship Eliza, and examined into the precedents which you supposed might influence the determination. The resolution of Congress, which imposes this duty on the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, provides expressly, ‘that it be made to appear to him by oath or affirmation, or by such other evidence as shall by him be deemed satisfactory, that the vessel is commanded by officers, citizens of the United States.’ Your affidavit satisfies me that one of the officers is a citizen of the United States; but you are unacquainted with the others, and without evidence as to them, and even without a presumption that they are citizens, except so far as arises on the circumstances of the captain’s being an American, and the ship sailing from an American port. Now, I cannot in my conscience say, that this is evidence of the fact, satisfactory to my mind. The precedents of relaxation by Mr. Jay, were all between the date of the resolution of Congress (February the 12th, 1788) and his public advertisement, announcing the evidence which must be produced. Since this last, the proceedings have been uniform and exact. Having perfect confidence in your good faith, and therefore without a suspicion of any fraud intended in the present case, I could have wished sincerely to grant the sea-letter; but besides the letter of the law which ties me down, the public security against a partial dispensation of justice, depends on its being dispensed by certain rules. The slightest deviation in one circumstance, becomes a precedent for another, that for a third, and so on without bounds. A relaxation in a case where it is certain no fraud is intended, is laid hold of by others, afterwards, to cover fraud. I hope, therefore, you will be sensible of the necessity of my adhering to the rules which have been published and practised by my predecessor; and that I am with great respect, Sir, your most obedient and most humble servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER XXII.—TO THE COUNT DE MONTMORIN, April 6, 1790
TO THE COUNT DE MONTMORIN.
New York, April 6, 1790.
Sir,
The President of the United States having thought proper to assign to me other functions than those of their Minister Plenipotentiary near the King, I have the honor of addressing to your Excellency my letters of recall, and of beseeching you to be so good as to present them, with the homage of my respectful adieus, to his Majesty.
It is with great satisfaction that I find myself authorized to conclude, as I had begun my mission, with assurances of the attachment of our government to the King and his people, and of its desire to preserve and strengthen the harmony and good understanding, which has hitherto so happily subsisted between the two nations.
Give me leave to place here, also, my acknowledgments to your Excellency, personally, for the facilities you have been pleased always to give in the negotiation of the several matters I have had occasion to treat with you during my residence at your court. They were ever such as to evince, that the friendly dispositions towards our republic which you manifested even from its birth, were still found consistent with that patriotism of which you have continued to give such constant and disinterested proofs. May this union of interests for ever be the patriot’s creed in both countries. Accept my sincere prayers that the King, with life and health, may be long blessed with so faithful and able a servant, and you with a Prince, the model of royal excellence; and permit me to retain, to my latest hours, those sentiments of affectionate respect and attachment, with which I have the honor to be your Excellency’s most obedient and most humble servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER XXIII.—TO THE COUNT DE MONTMORIN, April 6,1790
TO THE COUNT DE MONTMORIN
New York, April 6,1790.
Sir,
The President of the United States having been pleased, in the month of June last, to give me leave of absence for some time from the court of France, and to appoint Mr. William Short chargé des affaires for the United States during my absence, and having since thought proper to call me to the office of Secretary of State, comprehending that of Foreign Affairs, I have now the honor of requesting you to give credence to whatever Mr. Short shall say to you on my part. He knows the interest which our republic takes in the prosperity of France, our strong desire to cultivate its friendship, and my zeal to promote it by whatever may depend on my ministry, and I have no doubt he will so conduct himself as to merit your confidence. I avail myself of this occasion of tendering you assurances of the sentiments of respect and esteem, with which I have the honor to be your Excellency’s most obedient and most humble servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER XXIV.—TO WILLIAM SHORT, April 6, 1790
TO WILLIAM SHORT.
New York, April 6, 1790.
Sir,
My last to you was of March the 28th. Since that, yours of the 2nd and 6th of January have come to hand, together with the ratification of the consular convention.
I send you herewith a letter from the President to the King, notifying my recall, with a letter of leave to Monsieur de Montmorin, and another of credence for you to the same, all of which you will be pleased to deliver to him. Copies of them are enclosed for your information.
We are extremely mortified at the prospect there is, that the act of justice and gratitude to the court of France, which Congress, in the first moment it ever was in their power, have been, and still are preparing, may arrive too late, to save that court from the necessity of parting with our debt to a disadvantage. The Secretary of the Treasury, having by order of Congress reported a plan for funding both our foreign and domestic debts, they thought it necessary, by a re-commitment, to subject that part of it which concerned the domestic debt, to maturer discussion. But the clause ‘for making such adequate provision for fulfilling our engagements in respect to our foreign debt,’ was not re-committed, because not susceptible of any abridgment or modification. On the contrary, it was passed without a dissenting voice, and only waits till the residue of that system of which it makes a part, can be digested and put into the form of a law. I send you a copy of the resolution, to be communicated to Monsieur de Montmorin and Monsieur Necker, and anxiously wish it may arrive in time to prevent a disadvantageous alienation, by satisfying these ministers that we are exerting ourselves to repay to that country, in her hour of difficulty, what she generously advanced for us, in ours.
You may remember, I purchased some officer’s fusils, had them packed in my presence, and sent with my own baggage to Havre. When they arrived here, the plates and other principal parts of the locks were no longer in the box. It is necessary, therefore, that the workman send you six new locks, which may be applied to the stocks and barrels we have, and that you be so good as to forward these by the first safe conveyance.
Press the negotiation for our captives, in the line and on the terms I had fixed, not binding us further without further advice, and be pleased to apprize us of its present situation and future progress, as being a subject we have at heart.
The Leyden gazettes furnishing so good information of the interesting scenes now passing in Europe, I must ask your particular attention to the forwarding them as frequently as it is possible to find conveyances. The English papers bring their lies very fresh, and it is very desirable to be provided with an authentic contradiction in the first moment.
You will receive, herewith, the newspapers and other interesting papers, as usual.
I have the honor to be, with the most perfect esteem, Sir, your most obedient and most humble servant,
Th: Jefferson.