TO H. E. J. ADAMS.
Paris, [October 27, 1786.]
Dear Sir,—I formerly had the honor of mentioning to you the measures I had taken to have our commerce with this country put on a better footing, and you know the circumstances which had occasioned the articles of whale oil and tobacco to be first brought forward. Latterly we got the committee, which had been established for this purpose, to take up the other article, and on their report, the King and council have come to the decisions explained in the enclosed letter from M. de Calonnes[A] to me. The abandonment of revenue raised on articles of importation shows a friendly disposition. I have had, through this business, a most zealous and powerful auxiliary in the Marquis de La Fayette, by whose activity it has been sooner and better done than I could otherwise have possibly expected. Though you are free to show the enclosed letter as you please, I would wish it kept out of the public papers two or three months. I am, dear Sir, your affectionate friend and servant.
[TO DR. RAMSAY.]
Paris, October 27, 1786.
Dear Sir,—I mentioned to you in a former letter that as the booksellers in London were afraid to sell your book there, I would have some copies brought here, advertising in the London papers that they could be furnished weekly from hence by the Diligence. Fifty copies are just arrived, and fifty more are on the way. The translation will come from the press in a few days.
Having observed the immense consumption of rice in this country, it became matter of wonder to me why so few ships come here with that article from South Carolina and Georgia. The information I received on my first enquiries was, that little Carolina rice came here, because it was less clean and less good than what is brought from the Levant. Further enquiry, however, has satisfied me of the inexactitude of this information. The case is as follows. About one-half the rice consumed in France is from Carolina, the other half is chiefly from Piedmont. The Piedmont rice is thought by connoisseurs to be the best au gras; the Carolina rice best au lait. Yet the superior whiteness of the latter is so much more pleasing to the eye as to compensate with many purchasers its deficiency in quality. Carolina rice sells at Havre by wholesale at 22, 23, 24 livres the French quintal; the livre being 10d. sterling, and the French quintal 109 lbs. English. At the approach of Lent, it rises to 27 livres. It is retailed in Paris at from 6 to 10 sous the French pound, according to its quality, being sorted. Piedmont rice sells always at 10 sous (5d. sterling) the pound. In the wholesale it is 3 or 4 livres the quintal dearer than Carolina rice. This would supplant that of Piedmont, if brought in sufficient quantities, and to France directly. But it is first carried and deposited in England, and it is the merchant of that country who sends it here, drawing a great profit himself, while the commodity is, moreover, subjected to the expenses of a double voyage. You will perceive by the enclosed letter that the government here is disposed to encourage its importation. I think they will receive it duty free, or under very slight duty, barely sufficient to indicate the quantity imported. When I compared the price of this article here with what it is in London or Charleston, I cannot help hoping the difference will be sufficient to draw to this country immediately what its consumption would call for. It must come to Havre or Rouen, and must arrive there in time to reach Paris by the 1st of February, that is to say a month before the Careme, as most persons lay in their provision of rice during that period. This condition is so indispensable that it certainly loses its sale if it arrives later. I send you some specimens of the different kinds of rice as sold here. If, by making known these details, you think the intercourse between our country and this may be improved, I am sure you will take on yourself the trouble of doing it; nobody being more sensible than you are of the motives both moral and political which should induce us to bind the two countries together by as many ties as possible of interest and affection. I cannot pretend to affirm that this country will stand by us on every just occasion, but I am sure, if this will not, there is no other that will. I am, with very great esteem, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
[A CIRCULAR LETTER.]
Paris, October 29, 1786.
Sir,—I enclose to you the copy of a letter which I have had the honor to receive from his Excellency, M. de Calonne, one of his majesty's ministers, wherein he is pleased to communicate to me sundry regulations lately made for the encouragement of the commerce between France and the United States of America. The favorable footing on which American productions will now be received in the ports of this country will, I hope, occasion a more general introduction of them, when brought hither. I equally hope that motives both of interest and gratitude will combine to induce the importers to take in exchange the productions of this country. A commerce carried on by exchange of productions is the most likely to be lasting and to meet mutual encouragement. You will be pleased to communicate the contents of the enclosed letter to the persons at your port concerned in the American trade, but so that it may not get into the public papers. You will observe that the article of rice and ship duties are still to be provided for. I shall be obliged to you if you will inform me what duties are paid on American rice on its importation into your port, and to give me a distinct detail of the several port duties and ship duties paid by American vessels thither, noting on what or by what name they are payable, the amount, for whose profit they are, by what title they are received, and the laws which authorized them; in order that we may be enabled to get these articles settled also. I have the honor to be, with great esteem, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
[TO M. DE CALONNE.]
Paris, November 2, 1786.
Sir,—I have been honored with your Excellency's letter of October the 22d, wherein you communicate to me the regulations which his majesty, the King, has been pleased lately to establish in favor of the commerce between his subjects and the citizens of the United States. I avail myself of the first occasion of conveying this information to Congress, who will receive with singular satisfaction this new proof of his majesty's friendship and of his willingness to multiply the ties of interest and intercourse between the two nations. Favors are doubly precious which, promoting the present purposes of interest and of friendship, enlarge the foundations for their continuance and increase. The part which your Excellency has been pleased to take in the establishment of these regulations, merits and meets my sincere thanks, and adds a little the more to those sentiments of profound esteem and respect with which I have the honor to be, your Excellency's most obedient, and most humble servant.
[TO M. DE CREVECŒUR.]
Paris, November 6, 1786.
Sir,—Congress have as yet come to no resolution as to the general redemption of paper money. That it is to be redeemed is a principle of which there is no doubt in the mind of any member of Congress, nor of any citizen of the United States. A resolution of Congress taken in a particular case, which stood on the same ground on which the general one will stand, founds a presumption amounting nearly to a certainty that they will pay to the holder of every bill what it cost him, or the person whom he represents at the time of receiving it, with an interest from that time, of six per cent. They have of course established no rule of evidence as to the time of receiving the money. I think, however, that it would be advisable for M. de Lisle, or the representatives of Pileerf, to establish the time at which their money was received by the affidavits of such persons as know it. Those of disinterested persons would be best; but if there is no disinterested person acquainted with the fact, they will do well to take the affidavits of persons interested. It is probable this kind of testimony will be admitted; at any rate it can do no harm, no particular form nor no terms of art are required for these affidavits. It will suffice if they state facts substantially, and that the oath be administered by some person who, by the laws of the country in which it is administered, is authorized to administer an oath. I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient humble servant.
[TO M. DU RIVAL.]
Paris, November 7, 1786.
Sir,—I am honored with your letter of the 1st instant, enclosing inquiries on the subject of the coins of the United States. Some time during the last year, Congress decided that the Spanish milled dollar should be their money unit, and that their coins should be in a decimal progression above or below that. Some intermediate coins will also be doubtless made for convenience, and indeed they determined that their smallest copper coin should be the two-hundredth part of a dollar. They did not determine how much pure silver their money unit should contain, nor establish the proportion between their silver and gold coins. No other resolutions were entered into, nor had anything been done to effectuate these. What is said, therefore, on this subject in the Courier d'Europe is entirely fable, unless the compiler of that paper has received information of a later date than the middle of August. I do expect that Congress will sometime soon complete their system or resolutions on this subject, and carry them into effect.
I have the honor to be, with sentiment of the highest respect, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
P. S. I omitted to observe that most of the gold and silver coins of Europe pass in the several States of America according to the quantity of pure metal they contain.
[TO M. FAMIN.]
Paris, November 11, 1786.
Sir,—This will be handed you by Colonel Blackden, heretofore an officer in the American army—at present engaged in trade. He goes to Honfleur with a view to examine the commercial relations which may be established between that port and the United States. He wishes particularly to see the nature of its harbor, the conveniences already established for commerce, and to know something of the productions which can be taken and given there in exchange. Knowing your desire to assist in drawing the American commerce to that port, I take the liberty of recommending this gentleman to your acquaintance, and of praying you to procure him the information he desires.
Some late regulations of the King and Council in favor of the commerce of the United States having given us room to hope that our endeavors may be successful to remove a good part of it from Great Britain to France, Honfleur presents itself as a more important instrument for this purpose than it had heretofore appeared. We are, therefore, now pressing more earnestly its establishment as a free port, and such other regulations in its favor as may invite the commerce to it.
I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
[TO THE HONORABLE MR. JAY.]
Paris, November 12, 1786.
Sir,—In a letter which I had the honor of writing you on the 26th of September, I informed you that a Dutch company were making propositions to the Minister of Finance here to purchase at a discount, the debt due from the United States to this country. I have lately procured a copy of their memoir which I now enclose. Should Congress think this subject worthy their attention, they have no time to lose, as the necessities of the minister, which alone has made him listen to this proposition, may force him to a speedy conclusion. The effect which a payment of the whole sum would have here, would be very valuable. The only question is, whether we can borrow it in Holland, a question which cannot be resolved but in Holland. The trouble of the trial, and the expense of the transaction, would be well repaid by the dispositions which would be excited in our favor in the King and his ministers. I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect esteem and respect, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
[M. LE ROY DE L'ACADEMIE DES SCIENCES.]
Paris, November 13, 1786.
Sir,—I received the honor of yours of September the 18th, a day or two after the accident of a dislocated wrist had disabled me from writing. I have waited thus long in constant hope of recovering its use. But finding that this hope walks before me like my shadow, I can no longer oppose the desire and duty of answering your polite and learned letter. I therefore employ my left hand in the office of scribe, which it performs indeed slowly, awkwardly and badly.
The information given by me to the Marquis de Chastellux, and alluded to in his book and in your letter was, that the sea breezes which prevail in the lower parts of Virginia during the summer months, and in the warm parts of day, had made a sensible progress into the interior country: that formerly, within the memory of persons living, they extended but little above Williamsburg; that afterwards they became sensible as high as Richmond; and that, at present, they penetrate sometimes as far as the first mountains, which are above an hundred miles further from the sea coast than Williamsburg is. It is very rare, indeed, that they reach those mountains, and not till the afternoon is considerably advanced. A light north-westerly breeze is, for the most part, felt there, while an easterly or north-easterly wind is blowing strongly in the lower country. How far northward and southward of Virginia this easterly breeze takes place, I am not informed. I must, therefore, be understood as speaking of that State only, which extends on the sea coast from 36½ to 38 of latitude.
This is the fact. We know too little of the operations of nature in the physical world to assign causes with any degree of confidence. Willing always, however, to guess at what we do not know, I have sometimes indulged myself with conjectures on the causes of the phenomena above stated. I will hazard them on paper for your amusement, premising for their foundation some principles believed to be true.
Air resting on a heated and reflecting surface, becomes warmer, rarer and lighter? it ascends therefore, and the circumjacent air, which is colder and heavier, flows into its place, becomes warmed and, lightened in its turn, ascends, and is succeeded as that which went before. If the heated surface be circular, the air flows to it from every quarter, like the rays of a circle to its centre. If it be a zone of determinate breadth and indefinite length, the air will flow from each side perpendicularly on it. If the currents of air flowing from opposite sides, be of equal force, they will meet in equilibrio, at a line drawn longitudinally through the middle of the zone. If one current be stronger than the other, the stronger one will force back the line of equilibrium towards the further edge of the zone, or even beyond it: the motion it has acquired causing it to overshoot the zone, as the motion acquired by a pendulum in its descent causes it to vibrate beyond the point of its lowest descent.
Earth, exposed naked to the sun's rays, absorbs a good portion of them; but, being an opaque body, those rays penetrate to a small depth only. Its surface, by this accumulation of absorbed rays, becomes considerably heated. The residue of the rays are reflected into the air resting on that surface. This air, then, is warmed, 1, by the direct rays of the sun; 2, by its reflected rays; 3, by contact with the heated surface. A forest receiving the sun's rays, a part of them enters the intervals between the trees, and their reflection upwards is intercepted by the leaves and boughs. The rest fall on the trees, the leaves of which being generally inclined towards the horizon, reflect the rays downwards. The atmosphere here, then, receives little or no heat by reflection. Again, these leaves having a power of keeping themselves cool by their own transpiration, they impart no heat to the air by contact. Reflection and contact, then, two of the three modes before-mentioned of communicating heat, are wanting here; and of course, the air over a country covered by forest must be colder than that over cultivated grounds.
The sea being pellucid, the sun's rays penetrate it to a considerable depth. Being also fluid, and in perpetual agitation, its parts are constantly mixed together; so that, instead of its heat being all accumulated in its surface, as in the case of a solid opaque body, it is diffused through its whole mass. Its surface, therefore, is comparatively cool, for these reasons, to which may be added that of evaporation. The small degree of reflection which might otherwise take place, is generally prevented by the rippled state of its surface. The air resting on the sea, then, like that resting on a forest, receives little or no heat by reflection or contact, and is therefore colder than that which lies over a cultivated country.
To apply these observations to the phenomena under consideration. The first settlements of Virginia were made along the sea coast, bearing from the south towards the north, a little eastwardly. These settlements formed a zone, in which, though every point was not cleared of its forest, yet a good proportion was cleared and cultivated. The cultivated earth, as the sun advances above the horizon in the morning, acquires from it an intense heat, which is retained and increased through the warm parts of the day. The air, resting on it, becomes warm in proportion, and rises. On one side is a country still covered with forest, on the other is the ocean. The colder air from both of these then rushes towards the heated zone to supply the place left vacant there by the ascent of the warm air. The breeze from the west is light and feeble, because it traverses a country covered with mountains and forests, which retard its current. That from the east is strong, as passing over the ocean, wherein there is no obstacle to its motion. It is probable, therefore, that this easterly breeze forces itself far into or perhaps beyond the zone which produces it. This zone is, by the increase of population, continually widening into the interior country. The line of equilibrium between the easterly and westerly breezes is, therefore, progressive.
Did no foreign causes intervene, the sea breeze would be a little southwardly of the east, that direction being perpendicular to our coast. But within the tropics, there are winds which blow continually and strongly from the east. This current affects the course of the air, even without the tropics. The same cause, too, which produces a strong motion of the air from east to west, between the tropics, to wit, the sun, exercises its influence without those limits, but more freely, in proportion as the surface of the globe is there more obliquely presented to its rays. This effect, though not great, is not to be neglected when the sun is in, or near our summer solstice, which is the season of these easterly breezes. The northern air, too, flowing towards the equatorial parts, to supply the vacuum made there by the ascent of their heated air, has only the small rotatory motion of the polar latitudes from which it comes. Nor does it suddenly acquire the swifter rotation of the parts into which it enters. This gives it the effect of a motion opposed to that of the earth, that is to say, of an easterly one. And all these causes together, are known to produce currents of air in the Atlantic, varying from east to north-east, as far as the fortieth degree of latitude. It is this current which presses our sea breeze out of its natural south-easterly direction, to an easterly, and sometimes almost a north-easterly one.
We are led naturally to ask, where the progress of our sea breezes will ultimately be stopped? No confidence can be placed in any answer to this question. If they should ever pass the mountainous country which separates the waters of the ocean from those of the Mississippi, there may be circumstances which might aid their further progress, as far as the Mississippi. That mountainous country commences about two hundred miles from the sea coast, and consists of successive ranges passing from north-east to south-west, and rising the one above the other to the Alleghany Ridge, which is the highest of all. From that, lower and lower ridges succeed one another again, till having covered in the whole, a breadth of two hundred miles from southeast to northwest, they subside into a plain, fertile country, extending four hundred miles to the Mississippi, and probably much further on the other side, towards the heads of the western waters. When this country shall become cultivated, it will, for the reasons before explained, draw to it winds from the east and west. In this case, should the sea breezes pass the intermediate mountains, they will rather be aided than opposed in their further progress to the Mississippi. There are circumstances, however, which render it possible that they may not be able to pass those intermediate mountains. 1. These mountains constitute the highest lands within the United States. The air on them must consequently be very cold and heavy, and have a tendency to flow both to the east and west. 2. Ranging across the current of the sea breezes, they are in themselves so many successive barriers opposed to their progress. 3. The country they occupy is covered with trees, which assist to weaken and spend the force of the breezes. 4. It will remain so covered; a very small proportion of it being capable of culture. 5. The temperature of the air, then, will never be softened by culture.
Whether in the plain country between the Mississippi and Alleghany mountains, easterly or westerly winds prevail at present, I am not informed. I conjecture, however, that they must be westerly; and I think with you, Sir, that if those mountains were to subside into plain country, as their opposition to the westerly winds would then be removed, they would repress more powerfully those from the east, and of course would remove the line of equilibrium nearer to the sea coast for the present.
Having had occasion to mention the course of the tropical winds from east to west, I will add some observations connected with them. They are known to occasion a strong current in the ocean, in the same direction. This current breaks on that wedge of land of which Saint Roque is the point; the southern column of it probably turning off and washing the coast of Brazil. I say probably, because I have never heard of the fact, and conjecture it from reason only. The northern column having its western motion diverted towards the north, and reinforced by the currents of the great rivers Orinoko, Amazons and Tocantin, has probably been the agent which formed the Gulf of Mexico, cutting the American continent nearly in two, in that part. It re-issues into the ocean at the northern end of the Gulf, and passes by the name of the Gulf Stream, all along the coast of the United States, to its northern extremity. There it turns off eastwardly, having formed by its eddy at this turn the Banks of Newfoundland. Through the whole of its course, from the Gulf to the Banks, it retains a very sensible warmth. The Spaniards are, at this time, desirous of trading to the Philippine islands, by the way of the Cape of Good Hope; but opposed in it by the Dutch, under authority of the treaty of Munster, they are examining the practicability of a common passage through the Straights of Magellan or round Cape Horn. Were they to make an opening through the Isthmus of Panama, a work much less difficult than some even of the inferior canals of France, however small this opening should be in the beginning, the tropical current, entering it with all its force, would soon widen it sufficiently for its own passage, and thus complete, in a short time, that work which otherwise will still employ it for ages. Less country, too, would be destroyed by it in this way. These consequences would follow: 1. Vessels from Europe or the western coast of Africa, by entering the tropics, would have a steady wind and tide to carry them through the Atlantic, through America and the Pacific ocean, to every part of the Asiatic coast, and of the eastern coast of Africa; thus performing with speed and safety the tour of the whole globe, to within about twenty-four degrees of longitude, or one fifteenth part of its circumference; the African continent, under the line, occupying about that space. 2. The Gulf of Mexico, now the most dangerous navigation in the world on account of its currents and movable sands, would become stagnant and safe. 3. The Gulf Stream on the coast of the United States would cease, and with that those derangements of course and reckoning, which now impede and endanger the intercourse with those States. 4. The fogs on the Banks of Newfoundland,[B] supposed to be the vapors of the Gulf Stream, rendered turbid by cold air, would disappear. 5. Those Banks ceasing to receive supplies of sand, weeds, and warm water, by the Gulf Stream, it might become problematical what effect changes of pasture and temperature would have on the fisheries. However, it is time to relieve you from this long lecture. I wish its subject may have been sufficiently interesting, to make amends for its details. These are submitted with entire deference to your better judgment. I will only add to them, by assuring you of the sentiments of perfect esteem and respect with which I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
[TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.]
Paris, November 14, 1786.
Sir,—The house of Le Coulteux, which for some centuries has been the wealthiest of this place, has it in contemplation to establish a great company for the fur trade. They propose that partners interested one half in the establishment, should be American citizens, born and residing in the United States. Yet if I understood them rightly, they expect that that half of the company which resides here, should make the greatest part, or perhaps the whole of the advances, while those on our side the water should superintend the details. They had, at first, thought of Baltimore as the centre of their American transactions. I have pointed out to them the advantages of Alexandria for this purpose. They have concluded to take information as to Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York, for a principal deposit, and having no correspondent at Alexandria, have asked me to procure a state of the advantages of that place, as also to get a recommendation of the best merchant there, to be adopted as partner and head of the business there. Skill, punctuality and integrity are the requisites in such a character. They will decide on their whole information, as to the place for their principal factory. Being unwilling that Alexandria should lose its pretensions, I have undertaken to procure them information as to that place. If they undertake this trade at all, it will be on so great a scale as to decide the current of the Indian trade to the place they adopt. I have no acquaintance at Alexandria or in its neighborhood; but, believing you would feel an interest in the matter, from the same motives which I do, I venture to ask the favor of you to recommend to me a proper merchant for their purpose, and to engage some well-informed person to send me a representation of the advantages of Alexandria, as the principal deposit of the fur trade.
The author of the political part of the Encyclopedie Methodique desired me to examine his article, "Etats Unis." I did so. I found it a tissue of errors; for, in truth, they know nothing about us here. Particularly, however, the article "Cincinnati" was a mere philippic against that institution; in which it appeared that there was an utter ignorance of facts and motives. I gave him notes on it. He reformed it, as he supposed, and sent it again to me to revise. In this reformed state, Colonel Humphreys saw it. I found it necessary to write that article for him. Before I gave it to him, I showed it to the Marquis de La Fayette, who made a correction or two. I then sent it to the author. He used the materials, mixing a great deal of his own with them. In a work, which is sure of going down to the latest posterity, I thought it material to set facts to rights as much as possible. The author was well disposed; but could not entirely get the better of his original bias. I send you the article as ultimately published. If you find any material errors in it, and will be so good as to inform me of them, I shall probably have opportunities of setting this author to rights. What has heretofore passed between us on this institution, makes it my duty to mention to you, that I have never heard a person in Europe, learned or unlearned, express his thoughts on this institution, who did not consider it as dishonorable and destructive to our governments; and that every writing which has come out since my arrival here, in which it is mentioned, considers it, even as now reformed, as the germ whose development is one day to destroy the fabric we have reared. I did not apprehend this, while I had American ideas only. But I confess that what I have seen in Europe has brought me over to that opinion; and that though the day may be at some distance, beyond the reach of our lives perhaps, yet it will certainly come, when a single fibre left of this institution will produce an hereditary aristocracy, which will change the form of our governments from the best to the worst in the world. To know the mass of evil which flows from this fatal source, a person must be in France; he must see the finest soil, the finest climate, the most compact State, the most benevolent character of people, and every earthly advantage combined, insufficient to prevent this scourge from rendering existence a curse to twenty-four out of twenty-five parts of the inhabitants of this country. With us, the branches of this institution cover all the States. The southern ones, at this time, are aristocratical in their dispositions; and, that that spirit should grow and extend itself, is within the natural order of things. I do not flatter myself with the immortality of our governments; but I shall think little also of their longevity, unless this germ of destruction be taken out. When the society themselves shall weigh the possibility of evil, against the impossibility of any good to proceed from this institution, I cannot help hoping they will eradicate it. I know they wish the permanence of our governments, as much as any individuals composing them.
An interruption here, and the departure of the gentleman by whom I send this, oblige me to conclude it, with assurances of the sincere respect and esteem with which I have the honor to be, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
[TO MONSIEUR CHAS.]
Paris, December 7, 1786.
Sir,—I should with great pleasure have perused your manuscript of the history of the American Revolution, but that it comes to me in the moment of my setting out on a journey into the south of France, where I am to pass the winter. In the few moments of leisure which my preparations for that journey admitted, I have read some detached parts, and find that it would have been very interesting to me. In one of these (page 60), I have taken the liberty of noting a circumstance which is not true, and to which I believe M. d'Aubertueil first gave a place in history. In page 75, I observe it says that Congress removed to Hartford, but this is a misinformation. They never sat there. In general, I would observe to you, that where there is no other authority for a fact than the history of D'Aubertueil, it will not be safe to hazard it. These authors have been led into an infinitude of errors, probably by trusting to the English papers, or to the European ones, copied from them. It is impossible to resort to a more impure source. I am much pleased to find, that you concur in the justice of the principles which produced our revolution, and have only to wish that I could have been able to go through the whole work. I have the honor to be, with much respect, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
[TO M. DULER.]
Paris, December 8, 1786.
Sir,—The circumstance escaped me of my having had the honor of being made known to you by Mr. Walker at Charlottesville. However, I should not have been the less ready, had it been in my power, to have aided you in procuring employment in some bureau here. But a stranger as I am, unconnected and unacquainted, my solicitations on your behalf would be as ineffectual as improper. I should have been happy to have been able to render you this service, as I am sincerely concerned at the circumstance which has placed you in need of it.
As to the paper money in your hands, the States have not yet been able to take final arrangements for its redemption. But, as soon as they shall get their finances into some order, they will surely pay for it what it was worth in silver at the time you received it, with interest. The interest on loan-office certificates is, I think, paid annually in all the States; and, in some of them, they have begun to make payments of the principal. These matters are managed for foreigners by the consul of their nation in America, where they have not a private friend to attend for them. I have the honor to be, Sir, with much respect, your most obedient humble servant.
[TO MESSRS. WILT, DELMESTRE AND CO.]
Paris, December 11, 1786.
Gentlemen,—Your favor of the 6th instant is duly come to hand, as had done that also of the 8th of November. I was much obliged to you for your observations and information on the late regulations. I have received and am still receiving from other quarters, other hints for its improvement. I cannot propose these to the minister as they arrive, because, besides the perpetual fatigue to him, the business would not be so well done in the end. As soon as all the defects of the new arrangement shall be discovered by a little experience, as well as by their being submitted to the gentlemen concerned in the commerce, I shall be able, by bringing all the amendments necessary into a single proposition, to submit them at once to the consideration of the minister. It will probably be yet some months before this can be done. In the meantime, we must be contented to submit a little longer to those remnants of burthen which still rest on our commerce. In this view, I will still thank you for any new hints of amendment which may occur to you in experience, assuring you they shall be put to good use, when the occasion shall serve. I have the honor to be, with much respect, Gentlemen, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
[TO JAMES MADISON.]
Paris, December 16, 1786.
Dear Sir,—After a very long silence, I am at length able to write to you. An unlucky dislocation of my right wrist, has disabled me from using that hand, three months. I now begin to use it a little, but with great pain; so that this letter must be taken up at such intervals as the state of my hand will permit, and will probably be the work of some days. Though the joint seems to be well set, the swelling does not abate, nor the use of it return. I am now, therefore, on the point of setting out to the south of France, to try the use of some mineral waters there, by immersion. This journey will be of two or three months.
I enclose you herein a copy of the letter from the minister of finance to me, making several advantageous regulations for our commerce. The obtaining this has occupied us a twelve month. I say us, because I find the Marquis de La Fayette so useful an auxiliary, that acknowledgments for his co-operation are always due. There remains still something to do for the articles of rice, turpentine, and ship duties. What can be done for tobacco, when the late regulation expires, is very uncertain. The commerce between the United States and this country being put on a good footing, we may afterwards proceed to try if anything can be done, to favor our intercourse with her colonies. Admission into them for our fish and flour, is very desirable; but, unfortunately, both those articles would raise a competition against their own.
I find by the public papers, that your commercial convention failed in point of representation. If it should produce a full meeting in May, and a broader reformation, it will still be well. To make us one nation as to foreign concerns, and keep us distinct in domestic ones, gives the outline of the proper division of powers between the general and particular governments. But, to enable the federal head to exercise the powers given it to best advantage, it should be organized as the particular ones are, into legislative, executive, and judiciary. The first and last are already separated. The second should be. When last with Congress, I often proposed to members to do this, by making of the committee of the States, an executive committee during the recess of Congress, and, during its sessions, to appoint a committee to receive and despatch all executive business, so that Congress itself should meddle only with what should be legislative. But I question if any Congress (much less all successively) can have self-denial enough to go through with this distribution. The distribution, then, should be imposed on them. I find Congress have reversed their division of the western States, and proposed to make them fewer and larger. This is reversing the natural order of things. A tractable people may be governed in large bodies; but, in proportion as they depart from this character, the extent of their government must be less. We see into what small divisions the Indians are obliged to reduce their societies. This measure, with the disposition to shut up the Mississippi, gives me serious apprehensions of the severance of the eastern and western parts of our confederacy. It might have been made the interest of the western States to remain united with us, by managing their interests honestly, and for their own good. But, the moment we sacrifice their interests to our own, they will see it better to govern themselves. The moment they resolve to do this, the point is settled. A forced connection is neither our interest, nor within our power.
The Virginia act for religious freedom has been received with infinite approbation in Europe, and propagated with enthusiasm. I do not mean by the governments, but by the individuals who compose them. It has been translated into French and Italian, has been sent to most of the courts of Europe, and has been the best evidence of the falsehood of those reports which stated us to be in anarchy. It is inserted in the new Encyclopedie, and is appearing in most of the publications respecting America. In fact, it is comfortable to see the standard of reason at length erected, after so many ages, during which the human mind has been held in vassalage by kings, priests, and nobles; and it is honorable for us, to have produced the first legislature who had the courage to declare, that the reason of man may be trusted with the formation of his own opinions.
* * * * * * * * *
I thank you for your communications in Natural History. The several instances of trees, &c., found far below the surface of the earth, as in the case of Mr. Hay's well, seem to set the reason of man at defiance.
I am, dear Sir, with sincere esteem, your friend and servant.
[TO CHARLES THOMPSON.]
Paris, December 17, 1786.
Dear Sir,—A dislocation of my right wrist has for three months past, disabled me from writing except with my left hand, which was too slow and awkward to be employed often. I begin to have so much use of my wrist, as to be able to write, but it is slowly, and in pain. I take the first moment I can, however, to acknowledge the receipt of your letters of April the 6th, July the 8th and 30th. In one of these, you say, you have not been able to learn, whether, in the new mills in London, steam is the immediate mover of the machinery, or raises water to move it? It is the immediate mover. The power of this agent, though long known, is but now beginning to be applied to the various purposes of which it is susceptible. You observe that Whitehurst supposes it to have been the agent, which bursting the earth, threw it up into mountains and valleys. You ask me what I think of his book? I find in it many interesting facts brought together, and many ingenious commentaries on them. But there are great chasms in his facts, and consequently in his reasoning. These he fills up by suppositions, which may be as reasonably denied as granted. A sceptical reader therefore, like myself, is left in the lurch. I acknowledge, however, he makes more use of fact, than any other writer on a theory of the earth. But I give one answer to all these theorists. That is as follows. They all suppose the earth a created existence. They must suppose a creator then; and that he possessed power and wisdom to a great degree. As he intended the earth for the habitation of animals and vegetables, is it reasonable to suppose, he made two jobs of his creation, that he first made a chaotic lump and set it into rotatory motion, and then waited the millions of ages necessary to form itself? That when it had done this, he stepped in a second time, to create the animals and plants which were to inhabit it? As the hand of a creator is to be called in, it may as well be called in at one stage of the process as another. We may as well suppose he created the earth at once, nearly in the state in which we see it, fit for the preservation of the beings he placed on it. But it is said, we have a proof that he did not create it in its present solid form, but in a state of fluidity; because its present shape of an oblate spheroid is precisely that which a fluid mass revolving on its axis would assume.
I suppose that the same equilibrium between gravity and centrifugal force, which would determine a fluid mass into the form of an oblate spheroid, would determine the wise creator of that mass, if he made it in a solid state, to give it the same spheroidical form. A revolving fluid will continue to change its shape, till it attains that in which its principles of contrary motion are balanced. For if you suppose them not balanced, it will change its form. Now, the same balanced form is necessary for the preservation of a revolving solid. The creator, therefore, of a revolving solid, would make it an oblate spheroid, that figure alone admitting a perfect equilibrium. He would make it in that form, for another reason; that is, to prevent a shifting of the axis of rotation. Had he created the earth perfectly spherical its axis might have been perpetually shifting, by the influence of the other bodies of the system; and by placing the inhabitants of the earth successively under its poles, it might have been depopulated; whereas, being spheroidical, it has but one axis on which it can revolve in equilibrio. Suppose the axis of the earth to shift forty-five degrees; then cut it into one hundred and eighty slices, making every section in the plane of a circle of latitude, perpendicular to the axis: every one of these slices, except the equatorial one, would be unbalanced, as there would be more matter on one side of its axis than on the other. There could be but one diameter drawn through such a slice, which would divide it into two equal parts. On every other possible diameter, the parts would hang unequal. This would produce an irregularity in the diurnal rotation. We may, therefore, conclude it impossible for the poles of the earth to shift, if it was made spheroidically; and that it would be made spheroidical, though solid, to obtain this end. I use this reasoning only on the supposition that the earth has had a beginning. I am sure I shall read your conjectures on this subject with great pleasure, though I bespeak, beforehand, a right to indulge my natural incredulity and scepticism. The pain in which I write awakens me here from my reverie, and obliges me to conclude with compliments to Mrs. Thompson, and assurances to yourself of the esteem and affection with which I am sincerely, dear Sir, your friend and servant.
P. S. Since writing the preceding, I have had a conversation on the subject of the steam mills, with the famous Boulton, to whom those of London belong, and who is here at this time. He compares the effect of steam with that of horses, in the following manner: Six horses, aided with the most advantageous combination of the mechanical powers hitherto tried, will grind six bushels of flour in an hour; at the end of which time they are all in a foam, and must rest. They can work thus, six hours in the twenty-four, grinding thirty-six bushels of flour, which is six to each horse, for the twenty-four hours. His steam mill in London consumes one hundred and twenty bushels of coal in twenty-four hours, turns ten pair of stones, which grind eight bushels of flour an hour each, which is nineteen hundred and twenty bushels in the twenty-four hours. This makes a peck and a half of coal perform exactly as much as a horse, in one day, can perform.
[TO COLONEL MONROE.]
Paris, December 18, 1786.
Dear Sir,—Your letters of August the 19th and October the 12th, have come duly to hand. My last to you was of the 11th of August. Soon after that date I got my right wrist dislocated, which has, till now, deprived me of the use of that hand; and even now, I can use it but slowly, and with pain. The revisal of the Congressional intelligence contained in your letters, makes me regret the loss of it on your departure. I feel, too, the want of a person there, to whose discretion I can trust confidential communications, and on whose friendship I can rely against the unjust designs of malevolence. I have no reason to suppose I have enemies in Congress; yet it is too possible to be without that fear. Some symptoms make me suspect, that my proceedings to redress the abusive administration of tobacco by the Farmers General have indisposed towards me a powerful person in Philadelphia, who was profiting from that abuse. An expression in the enclosed letter of M. de Calonnes, would seem to imply, that I had asked the abolition of Mr. Morris's contract. I never did. On the contrary, I always observed to them, that it would be unjust to annul that contract. I was led to this, by principles both of justice and interest. Of interest, because that contract would keep up the price of tobacco here, to thirty-four, thirty-six, and thirty-eight livres, from which it will fall when it shall no longer have that support. However, I have done what was right, and I will not so far wound my privilege of doing that, without regard to any man's interest, as to enter into any explanations of this paragraph with him. Yet I esteem him highly, and suppose that hitherto he had esteemed me. You will see by Calonnes' letter, that we are doing what we can, to get the trade of the United States put on a good footing. I am now about setting out on a journey to the south of France, one object of which is to try the mineral waters there, for the restoration of my hand; but another is, to visit all the seaports where we have trade, and to hunt up all the inconveniences under which it labors, in order to get them rectified. I shall visit, and carefully examine too, the canal of Languedoc. On my return, which will be early in the spring, I shall send you several livraisons of the Encyclopedie, and the plan of your house. I wish to heaven, you may continue in the disposition to fix it in Albemarle. Short will establish himself there, and perhaps Madison may be tempted to do so. This will be society enough, and it will be the great sweetener of our lives. Without society, and a society to our taste, men are never contented. The one here supposed, we can regulate to our minds, and we may extend our regulations to the sumptuary department, so as to set a good example to a country which needs it, and to preserve our own happiness clear of embarrassment. You wish not to engage in the drudgery of the bar. You have two asylums from that. Either to accept a seat in the Council, or in the judiciary department. The latter, however, would require a little previous drudgery at the bar, to qualify you to discharge your duty with satisfaction to yourself. Neither of these would be inconsistent with a continued residence in Albemarle. It is but twelve hours' drive in a sulky from Charlottesville to Richmond, keeping a fresh horse always at the half-way, which would be a small annual expense. I am in hopes that Mrs. M. will have in her domestic cares, occupation and pleasure, sufficient to fill her time, and insure her against the tedium vitæ: that she will find, that the distractions of a town, and the waste of life under these, can bear no comparison with the tranquil happiness of domestic life. If her own experience has not yet taught her this truth, she has in its favor the testimony of one who has gone through the various scenes of business, of bustle, of office, of rambling, and of quiet retirement, and who can assure her, that the latter is the only point upon which the mind can settle at rest. Though not clear of inquietudes, because no earthly situation is so, they are fewer in number, and mixed with more objects of contentment, than in any other mode of life. But I must not philosophise too much with her, lest I give her too serious apprehensions of a friendship I shall impose on her. I am with very great esteem, dear Sir, your sincere friend and servant.
[TO HIS EXCELLENCY MR. ADAMS.]
Paris, December 20, 1786.
Dear Sir,—Colonel Franks will have the honor of delivering you the treaty with the Emperor of Morocco, and all its appendages. You will perceive, by Mr. Barclay's letter, that it is not necessary that any body should go back to Morocco to exchange ratifications. He says, however, that it will be necessary that Fennish receive some testimony that we approve the treaty; and as, by the acts of Congress, our signature is necessary to give validity to it, I have had duplicates of ratifications prepared, which I have signed, and now send you. If you approve and sign them, send one back to me to be forwarded to Fennish, through Mr. Carmichael. Perhaps a joint letter should be written to Fennish; if you think so, be so good as to write and sign one and send it with the ratification, and I will sign and forward it. The other ratification is to go to Congress. Colonel Franks wishes to proceed with the papers to that body. He should do it, I think, immediately, as Mr. Jay, in a letter to me of October 26th, says that Congress have heard through the French Chargé des Affaires, that the treaty was signed, and they wonder they have not heard it from us.
I enclose you a copy of a letter from Mr. Lambe, by which you will perceive he does not propose to quit Alicant. I will forward the resolution of Congress to Mr. Carmichael, which was enclosed in yours of November 30th, to see if that will move him. As the turn of this resolution admits a construction that Congress may think our original appointment of him censurable, I have, as in justice I ought, in a letter to Mr. Jay, taken on myself the blame of having proposed him to you, if any blame were due. I have enclosed him a copy of my letter to you of September 24, 1785. Mr. Barclay has proposed to go to Alicant to settle Lambe's accounts, and asked to be strengthened with our authority. If Lambe will obey the resolve of Congress, it will be better to let him go and settle his account there. But if he will not go back, perhaps it might not be amiss for Mr. Barclay to have instructions from us to require a settlement, those instructions to be used in that case only. If you think so, be so good as to write a joint letter and send it to me. But this, if done at all, should be done immediately. How much money has Lambe drawn? I have suggested to Mr. Jay the expediency of putting the Barbary business into Carmichael's hands, or sending somebody from America, in consideration of our separate residence and our distance from the scene of negotiation.
I had seen, without alarm, accounts of the disturbances in the East. But Mr. Jay's letter on the subject had really affected me. However, yours sets me to rights. I can never fear that things will go far wrong where common sense has fair play. I but just begin to use my pen a little with my right hand, but with pain. Recommending myself, therefore, to the friendship of Mrs. Adams, I must conclude here with assurances of the sincere esteem of, dear Sir, your friend and servant.
P. S. Should a Mr. Maury, of Virginia, but now a merchant of Liverpool, present himself to you, I recommend him to your notice, as my old school-fellow, and a man of the most solid integrity.
[TO MR. HOPKINSON.]
Paris, December 23, 1786.
Dear Sir,—My last letter to you was dated August 14th. Yours of May 27th and June 28th, were not then received, but have been since. I take the liberty of putting under your cover another letter to Mrs. Champis, as also an inquiry after a Dr. Griffiths. A letter to M. le Vieillard, from the person he had consulted about the essence L'Orient, will convey to you the result of my researches into that article. Your spring-block for assisting a vessel in sailing cannot be tried here, because the Seine, being not more than about forty toises wide, and running swiftly, there is no such thing on it as a vessel with sails. I thank you for the volume of the Philadelphia transactions, which came safely to hand, and is, in my opinion, a very valuable volume, and contains many precious papers. The paccan-nut is, as you conjecture, the Illinois nut. The former is the vulgar name south of the Potomac, as also with the Indians and Spaniards, and enters also into the Botanical name which is Juglano Paccan. I have many volumes of the Encyclopedie for yourself and Dr. Franklin; but, as a winter passage is bad for books, and before the spring the packets will begin to sail from Havre to New York, I shall detain them till then. You must not presume too strongly that your comb-footed bird is known to M. de Buffon. He did not know our panther. I gave him the stripped skin of one I bought in Philadelphia, and it presents him a new species, which will appear in his next volumes. I have convinced him that our deer is not a Chevreuil, and would you believe that many letters to different acquaintances in Virginia, where this animal is so common, have never enabled me to present him with a large pair of their horns, a blue and red skin stuffed, to show him their colors, at different seasons. He has never seen the horns of what we call the elk. This would decide whether it be an elk or a deer. I am very much pleased with your project on the Harmonica, and the prospect of your succeeding in the application of keys to it. It will be the greatest present which has been made to the musical world this century, not excepting the Piano-forte. If its tone approaches that given by the finger as nearly only as the harpsichord does that of the harp, it will be very valuable. I have lately examined a foot-bass newly invented here, by the celebrated Krumfoltz. It is precisely a piano-forte, about ten feet long, eighteen inches broad, and nine inches deep. It is of one octave only, from fa to fa. The part where the keys are, projects at the side in order to lengthen the levers of the keys. It is placed on the floor, and the harpsichord or other piano-forte is set over it, the foot acting in concert on that, while the fingers play on this. There are three unison chords to every note, of strong brass wire, and the lowest have wire wrapped on them as the lowest in the piano-forte. The chords give a fine, clear, deep tone, almost like the pipe of an organ. Have they connected you with our mint? My friend Monroe promised me he would take care for you in that, or perhaps the establishment of that at New York may have been incompatible with your residence in Philadelphia. A person here has invented a method of coining the French ecu of six livres, so as to strike both faces and the edge at one stroke, and makes a coin as beautiful as a medal. No country has ever yet produced such a coin. They are made cheaper too. As yet, he has only made a few to show the perfection of his manner. I am endeavoring to procure one to send to Congress as a model for their coinage. They will consider whether, on establishing a new mint, it will be worth while to buy his machines, if he will furnish them. A dislocation of my right wrist, which happened to me about a month after the date of my last letter to you, has disabled me from writing three months. I do it now in pain, and only in cases of necessity, or of strong inclination, having as yet no other use of my hand. I put under your cover a letter from my daughter to her friend. She joins me in respects to your good mother, to Mrs. Hopkinson and yourself, to whom I proffer assurances of the esteem with which I am, dear Sir, your sincere friend and servant.
[TO HIS EXCELLENCY DR. FRANKLIN.]
Paris, December 23, 1786.
Dear Sir,—I have received your favor of October 8, but the volume of transactions mentioned to come with it, did not; but I had received one from Mr. Hopkinson. You also mention the diplomas it covered for other persons, and some order of the society relative to myself, which I supposed were omitted by accident, and will come by some other conveyance. So far as relates to myself, whatever the order was, I beg leave to express to you my sense of their favor, and wish to merit it. I have several livraisons of the Encyclopædie for yourself and Mr. Hopkinson, which shall be sent in the spring, when they will be less liable to injury. Some books also which I received from Baron Blome must await that conveyance. I receive some discouraging accounts of the temper of the people in our new government, yet were I to judge only from the accounts given in the public papers, I should not fear their passing over without injury. I wish you may have given your opinion of them to some of your friends here, as your experience and knowledge of men would give us more confidence in your opinion. Russia and the Porte have patched up an accommodation through the mediation of this court. The coolness between Spain and Naples will remain, and will occasion the former to cease intermeddling with the affairs of the latter. The Dutch affairs are still to be settled. The new King of Prussia is more earnest in supporting the cause of the slaveholder than his uncle was, and in general an affectation begins to show itself of differing from his uncle. There is some fear of his throwing himself into the Austrian scale in the European division of power. Our treaty with Morocco is favorably concluded through the influence of Spain. That with Algiers affords no expectation. We have been rendered anxious here about your health, by hearing you have had a severe attack of your gout. Remarkable deaths are the Dutchess of Chabot, of the House of Rochefoucault, Beaujon, and Peyronet, the architect who built the bridge of Neuilly, and was to have begun one the next spring from the place Louis XV. to the Palais Bourbon. A dislocated wrist not yet re-established, obliges me to conclude here with assurances of the perfect esteem and respect with which I have the honor to be, your Excellency's most obedient, and most humble servant.
P. S. Will you permit my respects to your grandson, Mr. Franklin, to find their place here?
[TO MR. STILES.]
Paris, December 24, 1786.
Sir,—I feel myself very much honored by the degree which has been conferred on me by the Senatus Academicus of Yale College, and I beg leave, through you, Sir, to express to them how sensible I am of this honor, and that it is to their and your indulgence, and not to any merit of my own, that I am indebted for it.
The commotions that have taken place in America, as far as they are yet known to me, offer nothing threatening. They are a proof that the people have liberty enough, and I could not wish them less than they have. If the happiness of the mass of the people can be secured at the expense of a little tempest now and then, or even of a little blood, it will be a precious purchase. "Malo libertatem periculosam quam quietem servitutem." Let common sense and common honesty have fair play, and they will soon set things to rights.
The bickerings between Russia and the Porte are quieted for the moment. The coolness between the Kings of Spain and Naples will remain, but will have no other consequence than that of the former withdrawing from interference with the affairs of the latter. The present King of Prussia pushes the interest of the Stadtholder more zealously than his uncle did. There have been fears that he might throw himself into the Austrian scale, which would greatly derange the European balance. This country is firm in support of the patriotic party in the United Netherlands.
We have made an advantageous treaty with Morocco, but with Algiers nothing is done. From what I learn from the temper of my countrymen and their tenaciousness of money, it will be more easy to raise ships and men to fight these pirates into reason than money to bribe them. I wish that something could be done in some form or another to open the Mediterranean to us. You will have seen that France is endeavoring to relieve and encourage our commerce with her.
The arts and sciences offering nothing new at this moment worth communicating to you, I shall only add assurances of the respect and esteem with which I have the honor to be, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
[TO M. DUMAS.]
Paris, December 25, 1786.
Sir,—A dislocation of my right wrist has for upwards of three months prevented my writing to you. I begin to use it a little for the pen; but it is with great pain. To this cause alone I hope you will ascribe that I have acknowledged at one time the receipt of so many of your letters. Their dates are September 12, 26, October 6, 17, 19, 23, November 3, 17, December 1, and there is one without date. They were communicated to the Marquis de La Fayette according to your desire, and those to Mr. Jay have been forwarded from time to time as private conveyances occurred, except some of the last for which no such conveyance has occurred till now. A gentleman is setting out for London, and from thence for New York.
We receive news from America of collections of the people in three or four instances in the Eastern States, demanding delays in the proceedings of the courts of justice. Those States, as you know, depended before the war chiefly on their whale oil and fish. The former was consumed in London, but, being now loaded with heavy duties, cannot go there. Much of their fish went up the Mediterranean, now shut to us by the piratical States. Their debts, therefore, press them, while the means of payment have lessened. The mobs, however, separated without a single injury having been offered to the person or property of any one, nor did they continue twenty-four hours in any one place. This country has opened a market for their whale oil, and we have made a good treaty of peace with Morocco. But with Algiers we can do nothing. An American paper has published a letter, as from me to the Count de Vergennes, on the subject of our productions of tobacco and rice. It is surreptitious and falsified; and both the true and untrue parts very improper for the public eye. How a newswriter of America got at it, is astonishing, and with what views it had been altered. I will be much obliged to you if you will endeavor to prevent its publication in the Leyden Gazette.
The following question I take the liberty of proposing to you confidentially. This country wants money in its treasury. Some individuals have proposed to buy our debt of twenty-four millions at a considerable discount. I have informed Congress of it, and suggested to them the expediency of borrowing this sum in Holland, if possible, as well to prevent loss to this country as to draw all their money transactions to one point. But could they borrow the money in Holland? I would be obliged to you for your opinion on this question, as it would decide me in pressing this matter further on Congress, or letting it drop. It will readily occur to you that the answer should come through the hands of your ambassador here alone. The pain in which I write obliges me, after many thanks for the interesting details of transactions in your country, to assure you of the esteem and respect with which I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
[TO MR. CARMICHAEL.]
Paris, December 26, 1786.
Dear Sir,—A note from me of the 22d of September, apprised you it would be some time before I should be able to answer your letters. I did not then expect it would have been so long.
I enclose herein a resolution of Congress, recalling Mr. Lambe, which I will beg the favor of you to have delivered him. I have written to Mr. Adams on the subject of directing him to settle with Mr. Barclay, and attend his answer. In the meantime, I am not without hopes Mr. Barclay has done the business. I send also a note desiring Mr. Lambe to deliver you his cypher; and a copy of a letter from the minister of finance here, to me, announcing several regulations in favor of our commerce.
My Notes on Virginia, having been hastily written, need abundance of corrections. Two or three of these are so material, that I am reprinting a few leaves to substitute for the old. As soon as these shall be ready, I will beg your acceptance of a copy. I shall be proud to be permitted to send a copy, also, to the Count de Campomanes, as a tribute to his science and his virtues. You will find in them that the Natural Bridge has found an admirer in me also. I should be happy to make with you the tour of the curiosities you will find therein mentioned. That kind of pleasure surpasses much, in my estimation, whatever I find on this side the Atlantic. I sometimes think of building a little hermitage at the Natural Bridge (for it is my property) and of passing there a part of the year at least.
I have received American papers to the 1st of November. Some tumultuous meetings of the people have taken place in the eastern States; i.e. one in Massachusetts, one in Connecticut, and one in New Hampshire. Their principal demand was, a respite in the judiciary proceedings. No injury was done, however, in a single instance, to the person or property of any one, nor did the tumult continue twenty-four hours in any one instance. In Massachusetts, this was owing to the discretion which the malcontents still preserved; in Connecticut and New Hampshire, the body of the people rose in support of government, and obliged the malcontents to go to their homes. In the last-mentioned State, they seized about forty, who were in jail for trial. It is believed this incident will strengthen our government. Those people are not entirely without excuse. Before the war, these States depended on their whale oil and fish. The former was consumed in England, and much of the latter in the Mediterranean. The heavy duties on American whale oil, now required in England, exclude it from that market; and the Algerines exclude them from bringing their fish into the Mediterranean. France is opening her ports for their oil, but in the meanwhile, their ancient debts are pressing them, and they have nothing to pay with. The Massachusetts Assembly, too, in their zeal for paying their public debt, had laid a tax too heavy to be paid in the circumstances of their State. The Indians seem disposed, too, to make war on us. These complicated causes, determined Congress to increase their forces to two thousand men. The latter was the sole object avowed, yet the former entered for something into the measure. However, I am satisfied the good sense of the people is the strongest army our government can ever have, and that it will not fail them. The commercial convention at Annapolis, was not full enough to do business. They found, too, their appointments too narrow, being confined to the article of commerce. They have proposed a meeting in Philadelphia in May, and that it may be authorized to propose amendments of whatever is defective in the federal constitution.
When I was in England, I formed a portable copying press, on the principles of the large one they make here, for copying letters. I had a model made there, and it has answered perfectly. A workman here has made several from that model. The itinerent temper of your court will, I think, render one of these useful to you. You must, therefore, do me the favor to accept of one. I have it now in readiness, and shall send it by the way of Bayonne, to the care of Mr. Alexander there, unless Don Miguel de Lardizabal can carry it with him.
My hand admonishes me it is time to stop, and that I must defer writing to Mr. Barclay till to-morrow.
I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the highest esteem and respect, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
[TO MR. VAUGHAN.]
Paris, December 29, 1786.
Sir,—When I had the honor of seeing you in London, you were so kind as to permit me to trouble you sometimes with my letters, and particularly on the subject of mathematical or philosophical instruments. Such a correspondence will be too agreeable to me, and at the same time, too useful, not to avail myself of your permission. It has been an opinion pretty generally received among philosophers, that the atmosphere of America is more humid than that of Europe. Monsieur de Buffon makes this hypothesis one of the two pillars whereon he builds his system of the degeneracy of animals in America. Having had occasion to controvert this opinion of his, as to the degeneracy of animals there, I expressed a doubt of the fact assumed, that our climates are more moist. I did not know of any experiments which might authorize a denial of it. Speaking afterwards on the subject with Dr. Franklin, he mentioned to me the observations he had made on a case of magnets, made for him by Mr. Nairne in London. Of these you will see a detail, in the second volume of the American Philosophical Transactions, in a letter from Dr. Franklin to Mr. Nairne, wherein he recommends to him to take up the principle therein explained, and endeavor to make an hygrometer, which, taking slowly the temperature of the atmosphere, shall give its mean degree of moisture, and enable us thus to make with more certainty, a comparison between the humidities of different climates. May I presume to trouble you with an inquiry of Mr. Nairne, whether he has executed the Doctor's idea? and if he has, to get him to make for me a couple of the instruments he may have contrived. They should be made of the same piece, and under like circumstances, that sending one to America, I may rely on its indications there, compared with those of the one I shall retain here. Being in want of a set of magnets also, I would be glad if he would at the same time send me a set, the case of which should be made as Dr. Franklin describes his to have been, so that I may repeat his experiment. Colonel Smith will do me the favor to receive these things from Mr. Nairne, and to pay him for them.
I think Mr. Rittenhouse never published an invention of his in this way, which was a very good one. It was of an hygrometer which, like the common ones, was to give the actual moisture of the air. He has two slips of mahogany about five inches long, three-fourths of an inch broad, and one-tenth of an inch thick, the one having the grain running lengthwise, and the other crosswise. These are glued together by their faces, so as to form a piece five inches long, three-fourths of an inch broad, and one third of an inch thick, which is stuck by its lower end into a little plinth of wood, presenting their edge to the view. The fibres of the wood you know are dilated, but not lengthened by moisture. The slip, therefore, whose grain is lengthwise, becomes a standard, retaining always the same precise length. That which has its grain crosswise, dilates with moisture, and contracts for the want of it. If the right hand piece be the cross grained one, when the air is very moist, it lengthens, and forces its companion to form a kind of interior annulus of a circle on the left. When the air is dry, it contracts, draws its companion to the right, and becomes itself the interior annulus. In order to show this dilatation and contraction, an index is fixed on the upper end of two of the slips; a plate of metal or wood is fastened to the front of the plinth, so as to cover the two slips from the eye. A slit, being nearly the portion of a circle, is cut in this plate, so that the shank of the index may play freely through its whole range. On the edge of the slit is a graduation. The objection to this instrument is, that it is not fit for comparative observations, because no two pieces of wood being of the same texture exactly, no two will yield exactly alike to the same agent. However, it is less objectionable on this account, than most of the substances used. Mr. Rittenhouse had a thought of trying ivory; but I do not know whether he executed it. All these substances not only vary from one another at the same time, but from themselves at different times. All of them, however, have some peculiar advantages, and I think this, on the whole, appeared preferable to any other I had ever seen. Not knowing whether you had heard of this instrument, and supposing it would amuse you, I have taken the liberty of detailing it to you.
I beg you to be assured of the sentiments of perfect esteem and respect with which I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
[TO JOHN JAY.]
Paris, December 31, 1786.
Sir,—I had the honor of addressing you on the 12th of the last month; since which, your favor of October the 12th has been received, enclosing a copy of the resolution of Congress for recalling Mr. Lambe. My letter by Mr. Randall informed you that we had put an end to his powers, and required him to repair to Congress. I lately received a letter from him, dated Alicant, October the 10th, of which I have the honor to enclose you a copy; by which, you will perceive that the circumstance of ill health, either true or false, is urged for his not obeying our call. I shall immediately forward the order of Congress. I am not without fear, that some misapplication of the public money may enter into the causes of his declining to return. The moment that I saw a symptom of this in his conduct, as it was a circumstance which did not admit the delay of consulting Mr. Adams, I wrote to Mr. Carmichael, to stop any moneys which he might have in the hands of his banker. I am still unable to judge whether he is guilty of this or not, as by the arrangements with Mr. Adams, who alone had done business with the bankers of the United States, in Holland, Mr. Lambe's drafts were to be made on him, and I know not what their amount has been. His drafts could not have been negotiated, if made on us both, at places so distant. Perhaps it may be thought, that the appointment of Mr. Lambe was censurable in the moment in which it was made. It is a piece of justice, therefore, which I owe to Mr. Adams, to declare that the proposition went first from me to him. I take the liberty of enclosing you a copy of my letter to Mr. Adams, of September the 24th, 1785, in which that proposition was made. It expresses the motives operating on my mind in that moment, as well as the cautions I thought it necessary to take. To these must be added, the difficulty of finding an American in Europe fit for the business, and willing to undertake it. I knew afterwards, that Dr. Bancroft (who is named in the letter) could not, on account of his own affairs, have accepted even a primary appointment. I think it evident, that no appointment could have succeeded without a much greater sum of money.
I am happy to find that Mr. Barclay's mission has been attended with complete success. For this we are indebted, unquestionably, to the influence and good offices of the court of Madrid. Colonel Franks, the bearer of this, will have the honor to put into your hands the original of the treaty, with other papers accompanying it. It will appear by these, that Mr. Barclay has conducted himself with a degree of intelligence and of good faith, which reflects the highest honor on him.
A copy of a letter from Captain O'Bryan to Mr. Carmichael, is also herewith enclosed. The information it contains will throw farther light on the affairs of Algiers. His observations on the difficulties which arise from the distance of Mr. Adams and myself from that place, and from one another, and the delays occasioned by this circumstance, are certainly just. If Congress should propose to revive the negotiations, they will judge whether it will not be more expedient to send a person to Algiers, who can be trusted with full powers; and also whether a mission to Constantinople may not be previously necessary. Before I quit this subject, I must correct an error in the letter of Captain O'Bryan. Mr. Lambe was not limited, as he says, to one hundred, but to two hundred dollars apiece for our prisoners. This was the price which has been just paid for a large number of French prisoners, and this was our guide.
I have the honor to be, with the most perfect esteem and respect, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
[TO SAMUEL OSGOOD.]
Paris, January 5, 1787.
Dear Sir,—I am desired to forward to you the enclosed queries, and to ask the favor of you to give such an answer to them, as may not give you too much trouble. Those which stand foremost on the paper, can be addressed only to your complaisance; but the last may possibly be interesting to your department, and to the United States. I mean those which suggest the possibility of borrowing money in Europe, the principal of which shall be ultimately payable in land, and in the meantime a good interest. You know best whether the suggestion can be turned to any profit, and whether it will be worth while to introduce any proposition to Congress thereon. Among the possible shapes into which a matter of this kind may be formed, the following is one: Let us suppose the public lands to be worth a dollar, hard money, the acre. If we should ask of a moneyed man a loan of one hundred dollars, payable with one hundred acres of land at the end of ten years, and in the meantime carrying an interest of five per cent., this would be more disadvantageous to the lender than a common loan, payable ultimately in cash. But if we should say, we will deliver you the one hundred acres of land immediately, which is in fact an immediate payment of the principal, and will nevertheless pay your interest of five per cent., for ten years, this offers a superior advantage, and might tempt money holders. But what should we in fact receive, in this way, for our lands? Thirty-seven dollars and one-fourth, being left in Europe, on an interest of five per cent., would pay annually the interest of the one hundred dollars for ten years. There would remain then only sixty-two dollars and three-quarters, for the one hundred acres of land, that is to say, about two thirds of its price. Congress can best determine, whether any circumstance in our situation, should induce us to get rid of any of our debts in that way. I beg you to understand, that I have named rates of interest, term of payment, and price of land, merely to state the case, and without the least knowledge that a loan could be obtained on these terms. It remains to inform you from whom this suggestion comes. The person from whom I receive it, is a Monsieur Claviere, connected with the moneyed men of Amsterdam. He is, on behalf of a company there, actually treating with the Comptroller General here, for the purchase of our debt to this country, at a considerable discount. Whether he has an idea of offering a loan to us, on terms such as I have above spoken of, I know not; nor do I know that he is authorized to make the suggestion he has made. If the thing should be deemed worthy the attention of Congress, they can only consider it as a possibility, and take measures to avail themselves of it, if the possibility turns out in their favor, and not to be disappointed if it does not. Claviere's proposition not being formal enough for me to make an official communication of it, you will make what use of it you see best. I am, with very sincere esteem and attachment, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
[TO M. DE CALONNES.]
Paris, January 7, 1787.
Sir,—I had the honor, on the 2d of November last, to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency's letter of October the 22d, wherein you are so good as to communicate to me the arrangements which the King had been pleased to make for the encouragement of the commerce of the United States of America with his subjects. I immediately made known the same to the agents of the United States in the several seaports of this kingdom, that they might give information thereof to the persons concerned in that commerce. Unacquainted with the forms in which his Majesty usually declares his will in cases of this kind, and the manner in which it is communicated to the officers of the customs at the seaports, I am unable to answer those agents who inform me that the officers of the customs and farms do not as yet consider themselves bound to conform to the new regulations. I take the liberty, therefore, of soliciting your Excellency's interposition for the issuing such orders as may be necessary for carrying into effect the gracious intentions of the King, and of repeating the assurances of those sentiments of perfect respect and esteem, with which I have the honor to be your Excellency's most obedient, and most humble servant.
[TO JOHN JAY.]
Paris, January 9, 1787.
Sir,—My last of December the 31st, acknowledged the receipt of yours of October the 12th, as the present does those of October the 3d, 9th, and 27th, together with the resolution of Congress of October the 16th, on the claim of Shweighauser. I will proceed in this business on the return of Mr. Barclay, who, being fully acquainted with all the circumstances, will be enabled to give me that information, the want of which might lead me to do wrong on the one side or the other.
Information of the signature of the treaty with Morocco has been long on its passage to you. I will beg leave to recur to dates, that you may see that no part of it has been derived from me. The first notice I had of it, was in a letter from Mr. Barclay, dated Daralbeyda, August the 11th. I received this on the 13th of September. No secure conveyance offered till the 26th of the same month, being thirteen days after my receipt of it. In my letter of that date, which went by the way of London, I had the honor to enclose you a copy of Mr. Barclay's letter. The conveyance of the treaty itself is suffering a delay here at present, which all my anxiety cannot prevent. Colonel Franks' baggage, which came by water from Cadiz to Rouen, has been long and hourly expected. The moment it arrives, he will set out to London, to have duplicates of the treaty signed by Mr. Adams, and from thence he will proceed to New York.
The Chevalier del Pinto, who treated with us on behalf of Portugal, being resident at London, I have presumed that causes of the delay of that treaty had been made known to Mr. Adams, and by him communicated to you. I will write to him by Colonel Franks, in order that you may be answered on that subject.
The publication of the enclosed extract from my letter of May the 27th, 1786, will, I fear, have very mischievous effects. It will tend to draw on the Count de Vergennes the formidable phalanx of the Farms; to prevent his committing himself to me in any conversation which he does not mean for the public papers; to inspire the same diffidence into all other ministers, with whom I might have to transact business; to defeat the little hope, if any hope existed, of getting rid of the Farm on the article of tobacco; and to damp that freedom of communication which the resolution of Congress of May the 3d, 1784, was intended to re-establish.
Observing by the proceedings of Congress, that they are about to establish a coinage, I think it my duty to inform them, that a Swiss, of the name of Drost, established here, has invented a method of striking the two faces and the edge of a coin, at one stroke. By this, and other simplifications of the process of coinage, he is enabled to coin from twenty-five thousand to thirty thousand pieces a day, with the assistance of only two persons, the pieces of metal being first prepared. I send you by Colonel Franks three coins of gold, silver and copper, which you will perceive to be perfect medals; and I can assure you, from having seen him coin many, that every piece is as perfect as these. There has certainly never yet been seen any coin, in any country, comparable to this. The best workmen in this way, acknowledge that his is like a new art. Coin should always be made in the highest perfection possible, because it is a great guard against the danger of false coinage. This man would be willing to furnish his implements to Congress, and if they please, he will go over and instruct a person to carry on the work: nor do I believe he would ask anything unreasonable. It would be very desirable, that in the institution of a new coinage, we could set out on so perfect a plan as this, and the more so, as while the work is so exquisitely done, it is done cheaper.
I will certainly do the best I can for the reformation of the consular convention, being persuaded that our States would be very unwilling to conform their laws either to the convention, or to the scheme. But it is too difficult and too delicate, to form sanguine hopes. However, that there may be room to reduce the convention, as much as circumstances will admit, will it not be expedient for Congress to give me powers, in which there shall be no reference to the scheme? The powers sent me, oblige me to produce that scheme, and certainly, the moment it is produced, they will not abate a tittle from it. If they recollect the scheme, and insist on it, we can but conclude it; but if they have forgotten it (which may be), and are willing to reconsider the whole subject, perhaps we may get rid of something the more of it. As the delay is not injurious to us, because the convention, whenever and however made, is to put us in a worse state than we are in now, I shall venture to defer saying a word on the subject, till I can hear from you in answer to this. The full powers may be sufficiently guarded, by private instructions to me, not to go beyond the former scheme. This delay may be well enough ascribed (whenever I shall have received new powers) to a journey I had before apprised the minister that I should be obliged to take, to some mineral waters in the south of France, to see if, by their aid, I may recover the use of my right hand, of which a dislocation, about four months ago, threatens to deprive me in a great measure. The surgeons have long insisted on this measure. I shall return by Bourdeaux, Nantes and L'Orient, to get the necessary information for finishing our commercial regulations here. Permit me, however, to ask as immediately as possible, an answer, either affirmative or negative, as Congress shall think best, and to ascribe the delay on which I venture, to my desire to do what is for the best.
I send you a copy of the late marine regulations of this country. There are things in it, which may become interesting to us. Particularly, what relates to the establishment of a marine militia, and their classification.
You will have seen in the public papers, that the King has called an assembly of the Notables of this country. This has not been done for one hundred and sixty years past. Of course, it calls up all the attention of the people. The objects of this assembly are not named: several are conjectured. The tolerating the Protestant religion; removing all the internal Custom houses to the frontier; equalizing the gabelles on salt through the kingdom; the sale of the King's domains, to raise money; or, finally, the effecting this necessary end by some other means, are talked of. But in truth, nothing is known about it. This government practises secrecy so systematically, that it never publishes its purposes or its proceedings, sooner or more extensively than necessary. I send you a pamphlet, which, giving an account of the last Assemblée des Notables, may give an idea of what the present will be.
A great desire prevails here of encouraging manufactures. The famous Boulton and Watts, who are at the head of the plated manufactures of Birmingham, the steam mills of London, copying presses and other mechanical works, have been here. It is said also, that Wedgewood has been here, who is famous for his steel manufactories, and an earthen ware in the antique style; but as to this last person, I am not certain. It cannot, I believe, be doubted, but that they came at the request of government, and that they will be induced to establish similar manufactures here.
The transferring hither those manufactures, which contribute so much to draw our commerce to England, will have a great tendency to strengthen our connections with this country, and loosen them with that.
The enfranchising the port of Honfleur at the mouth of the Seine, for multiplying the connections with us, is at present an object. It meets with opposition in the ministry; but I am in hopes it will prevail. If natural causes operate, uninfluenced by accidental circumstances, Bourdeaux and Honfleur, or Havre, must ultimately take the greatest part of our commerce. The former by the Garonne and canal of Languedoc, opens the southern provinces to us; the latter, the northern ones and Paris. Honfleur will be peculiarly advantageous for our rice and whale oil, of which the principal consumption is at Paris. Being free, they can be re-exported when the market here shall happen to be overstocked.
The labors of the ensuing summer will close the eastern half of the harbor of Cherbourg, which will contain and protect forty sail of the line. It has from fifty to thirty-five feet of water next to the cones, shallowing gradually to the shore. Between this and Dunkirk, the navigation of the channel will be rendered much safer in the event of a war with England, and invasions on that country become more practicable.
The gazettes of France and Leyden, to the present date, accompany this.
I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect respect, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
[TO JOHN ADAMS.]
Paris, January 11, 1787.
Dear Sir,—Mr. Jay, in his last letter to me, observes they hear nothing further of the treaty with Portugal. I have taken the liberty of telling him that I will write to you on the subject, and that he may expect to hear from you on it, by the present conveyance. The Chevalier del Pinto being at London, I presume he has, or can inform you why it is delayed on their part. I will thank you also for the information he shall give you.
There is here an order of priests called the Mathurins, the object of whose institution is, the begging of alms for the redemption of captives. About eighteen months ago, they redeemed three hundred, which cost them about fifteen hundred livres a piece. They have agents residing in the Barbary States, who are constantly employed in searching and contracting for the captives of their nation, and they redeem at a lower price than any other people can. It occurred to me, that their agency might be engaged for our prisoners at Algiers. I have had interviews with them, and the last night, a long one with the General of the order. They offer their services with all the benignity and cordiality possible. The General told me, he could not expect to redeem our prisoners as cheap as their own, but that he would use all the means in his power to do it on the best terms possible, which will be the better, as there shall be the less suspicion that he acts for our public. I told him I would write to you on the subject, and speak to him again. What do you think of employing them, limiting them to a certain price, as three hundred dollars for instance, or any other sum you think proper? He will write immediately to his instruments there, and in two or three months we can know the event. He will deliver them at Marseilles, Cadiz, or where we please, at our expense. The money remaining of the fund destined to the Barbary business, may, I suppose, be drawn on for this object. Write me your opinion, if you please, on this subject, finally, fully and immediately, that, if you approve the proposition, I may enter into arrangements with the General, before my departure to the waters of Aix, which will be about the beginning of February.
I have the honor to be, with very sincere esteem and respect, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
[TO COLONEL FRANKS.]
January 11, 1787.
My anxiety, my dear Sir, on the detention of the Morocco treaty is inexpressible. However cogent and necessary the motives which detain you, I should be deemed inexcusable were I to let such a safe opportunity as that by Colonel Blackden pass without sending the papers on to London. Mr. Jay complained that a treaty signed in June was not ratified in October. What will they say when they shall observe that the same treaty does not reach them till March, nine months? In the meantime, our whole commerce is paying a heavy tax for insurance till its publication. Can you fix a day as early as Monday or Tuesday for your departure, whether your baggage arrives or not? or would you rather decline the going with the papers? In the former case, if your baggage does not arrive before your departure, any orders you may think proper to leave respecting it, shall be punctually executed. I can send it to Mr. Simonson at Havre, so that it may go to America in the February packet. I shall see you at the Marquis's to-day, and we will speak about this matter.
[TO MONSIEUR OTTO.]
Paris, January 14, 1787.
Sir,—I have been honored with your letter of October 15, and thank you for the intelligence it contained. I am able to make you but an unequal return for it, your friends here being so much more in condition to communicate to you interesting intelligence. With respect to the affairs of Holland, they do not promise arrangement. The interest which the King of Prussia takes in the affairs of the Stadtholder, seem to threaten an interruption of his cordiality with the country. The misunderstanding between the Kings of Spain and Naples, and a projected visit of the latter to Vienna, with the known influence of his Queen over him, are matter for some jealousy.
As to domestic news, the Assembly des Notables occupies all conversation. What will be the subjects of their deliberation is not yet declared. The establishment of provincial assemblies, tolerating the Protestant religion, removing the internal barriers to the frontiers, equalizing the Gabelles, sale of the King's domains, and, in short, every other possible reformation, are conjectured by different persons. I send you a pamphlet on the last Assembly of Notables, from which ideas are formed as to what this will be. Possibly you may receive the same from some of your friends. I send you, also, what it is less likely you should get from them, because it is next to impossible to get it at all—that is, a late memoire by Linquet, which has produced his perpetual exile from this country. To these I add a report written by M. Bailly, on the subject of the Hotel-Dieu of Paris, which has met a very general approbation. These are things for the day only. I recollect no work of any dignity which has been lately published. We shall very soon receive another volume on Mineralogy from M. de Buffon; and a third volume of the Cultivator Americaine is in the press. So is a History of the American War, by a Monsieur Soulés, the two first volumes of which, coming down to the capture of Burgoyne, I have seen, and think better than any I have seen. Mazzei will print soon two or three volumes 8vo, of Recherches Historiques and Politiques sur les Etats Unis d'Amerique, which are sensible. We are flattered with the hopes that the packet boats will hereafter sail monthly from Havre, the first being to sail on the 10th of the next month. This is very desirable indeed, as it will furnish more frequent opportunities of correspondence between the two countries. If I can be made useful to you in any line whatever here, it will make me very happy. Being with sincere esteem and respect, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
[TO MONSIEUR LE DUC D'HARCOURT, GOVERNEUR DU DAUPHIN.]
Paris, January 14, 1787.
Sir,—In the conversation with which you were pleased to honor me, a few days ago, on the enfranchisement of the port of Honfleur, I took the liberty of observing, that I was not instructed by my constituents to make any proposition on that subject. That it would be agreeable to them, however, I must suppose, because it will offer the following advantages:
1. It is a convenient entrepôt for furnishing us with the manufactures of the northern parts of France, and particularly of Paris, and for receiving and distributing the productions of our country in exchange.
2. Cowes, on the opposite side of the channel, has heretofore been the deposit for a considerable part of our productions, landed in Great Britain in the first instance, but intended for re-exportation. From thence, our rice, particularly, has been distributed to France and other parts of Europe. I am not certain whether our tobaccos were deposited there, or carried to London to be sorted for the different markets. To draw this business from Cowes, no place is so favorably situated as Honfleur.
3. It would be a convenient deposit for our whale oil, of which, after the supply of Paris, there will be a surplus for re-exportation.
4. Should our fur trade be recovered out of the hands of the English, it will naturally come to Honfleur, as the port of Paris.
5. Salt is an important article in all our return cargoes; because, being carried as ballast, its freight costs nothing. But, on account of some regulations, with which I am not well acquainted, it cannot, at present, be shipped to advantage from any port on the Seine.
6. Our vessels being built sharp, for swift sailing, suffer extremely in most of the western ports of France, in which they are left on dry ground at every ebb of the tide. But at Honfleur, I am told, they can ride in bold water, on a good bottom and near the shore at all times.
These facts may, perhaps, throw some light on the question in which, for the good of both countries, you are pleased to interest yourself. I take the liberty, therefore, of barely mentioning them, and with the more pleasure, as it furnishes me an occasion of assuring you of those sentiments of respect and esteem with which I have the honor to be, your most obedient, humble servant.
[TO MONSIEUR DE CREVE-COEUR.]
Paris, January 15, 1787.
Dear Sir,—I see by the Journal of this morning, that they are robbing us of another of our inventions to give it to the English. The writer, indeed, only admits them to have revived what he thinks was known to the Greeks, that is, the making the circumference of a wheel of one single piece. The farmers in New Jersey were the first who practised it, and they practised it commonly. Dr. Franklin, in one of his trips to London, mentioned this practice to the man now in London, who has the patent for making those wheels. The idea struck him. The Doctor promised to go to his shop, and assist him in trying to make the wheel of one piece. The Jersey farmers do it by cutting a young sapling, and bending it, while green and juicy, into a circle; and leaving it so until it becomes perfectly seasoned. But in London there are no saplings. The difficulty was, then, to give to old wood the pliancy of young. The Doctor and the workman labored together some weeks, and succeeded; and the man obtained a patent for it, which has made his fortune. I was in his shop in London, he told me the whole story himself, and acknowledged, not only the origin of the idea, but how much the assistance of Dr. Franklin had contributed to perform the operation on dry wood. He spoke of him with love and gratitude. I think I have had a similar account from Dr. Franklin, but cannot be quite certain. I know, that being in Philadelphia when the first set of patent wheels arrived from London, and were spoken of by the gentleman (an Englishman) who brought them, as a wonderful discovery, the idea of its being a new discovery was laughed at by the Philadelphians, who, in their Sunday parties across the Delaware, had seen every farmer's cart mounted on such wheels. The writer in the paper, supposes the English workman got his idea from Homer. But it is more likely the Jersey farmer got his idea from thence, because ours are the only farmers who can read Homer; because, too, the Jersey practice is precisely that stated by Homer: the English practice very different. Homer's words are (comparing a young hero killed by Ajax to a poplar felled by a workman) literally thus: "He fell on the ground, like a poplar, which has grown smooth, in the west part of a great meadow; with its branches shooting from its summit. But the chariot maker, with the sharp axe, has felled it, that he may bend a wheel for a beautiful chariot. It lies drying on the banks of the river." Observe the circumstances which coincide with the Jersey practice. 1. It is a tree growing in a moist place, full of juices and easily bent. 2. It is cut while green. 3. It is bent into the circumference of a wheel. 4. It is left to dry in that form. You, who write French well and readily, should write a line for the Journal, to reclaim the honor of our farmers. Adieu. Yours affectionately.
[TO COLONEL EDWARD CARRINGTON.]
Paris, January 16, 1787.
Dear Sir,—Uncertain whether you might be at New York at the moment of Colonel Franks' arrival, I have enclosed my private letters for Virginia under cover to our delegation in general, which otherwise I would have taken the liberty to enclose particularly to you, as best acquainted with the situation of the persons to whom they are addressed. Should this find you at New York, I will still ask your attention to them.
In my letter to Mr. Jay, I have mentioned the meeting of the Notables, appointed for the 29th instant. It is now put off to the 7th or 8th of next month. This event, which will hardly excite any attention in America, is deemed here the most important one which has taken place in their civil line during the present century. Some promise their country great things from it, some nothing. Our friend de La Fayette was placed on the list originally. Afterwards his name disappeared, but finally was reinstated. This shows that his character here is not considered as an indifferent one, and that it excites agitation. His education in our school has drawn on him a very jealous eye from a court whose principles are the most absolute despotism. But I hope he has nearly passed his crisis. The King, who is a good man, is favorably disposed towards him, and he is supported by powerful family connections and by the public good will. He is the youngest man of the Notables except one whose office placed him on the list.
The Count de Vergennes has within these ten days had a very severe attack of what is deemed an unfixed gout. He has been well enough, however, to do business to-day. But anxieties for him are not yet quieted. He is a great and good minister, and an accident to him might endanger the peace of Europe.
The tumults in America I expected would have produced in Europe an unfavorable opinion of our political state. But it has not. On the contrary, the small effect of these tumults seems to have given more confidence in the firmness of our governments. The interposition of the people themselves on the side of government has had a great effect on the opinion here. I am persuaded myself that the good sense of the people will always be found to be the best army. They may be led astray for a moment, but will soon correct themselves. The people are the only censors of their governors; and even their errors will tend to keep these to the true principles of their institution. To punish these errors too severely would be to suppress the only safeguard of the public liberty. The way to prevent these irregular interpositions of the people, is to give them full information of their affairs through the channel of the public papers, and to contrive that those papers should penetrate the whole mass of the people. The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers, and be capable of reading them. I am convinced that those societies (as the Indians) which live without government, enjoy in their general mass an infinitely greater degree of happiness than those who live under the European governments. Among the former, public opinion is in the place of law, and restrains morals as powerfully as laws ever did anywhere. Among the latter, under pretence of governing, they have divided their nations into two classes, wolves and sheep. I do not exaggerate. This is a true picture of Europe. Cherish, therefore, the spirit of our people, and keep alive their attention. Do not be too severe upon their errors, but reclaim them by enlightening them. If once they become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, Judges and Governors, shall all become wolves. It seems to be the law of our general nature, in spite of individual exceptions; and experience declares that man is the only animal which devours his own kind; for I can apply no milder term to the governments of Europe, and to the general prey of the rich on the poor. The want of news has led me into disquisition instead of narration, forgetting you have every day enough of that. I shall be happy to hear from you sometimes, only observing that whatever passes through the post is read, and that when you write what should be read by myself only, you must be so good as to confide your letter to some passenger, or officer of the packet. I will ask your permission to write to you sometimes, and to assure you of the esteem and respect with which I have honor to be, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
[TO M. DU RIVAL.]
Paris, January 17, 1787.
Sir,—You were pleased, in behalf of a friend, to ask information of me on the subject of the money of the United States of America, and I had the honor of informing you, by letter of November 7, that no regulations of their coin had then been made by Congress, as far as I knew. They had, however, entered into resolutions on that subject, which have since come to hand. A translation of these will be found in the Leyden Gazette of some few weeks ago. But it will be necessary to make the following corrections in the Gazette:
The Gazette dates the resolutions October 10; but they were of August 8. It gives only 365.64 grains of pure silver to the dollar; it should be 375.64. It states the pound of silver, with its alloy, to be worth 9.99 dollars only, whereas it is fixed at 13.777 dollars; and the pound of gold, with its alloy, being worth 209.77 dollars, gives the proportion of silver to gold as 1 to 15.225. These corrections being made, the resolutions as stated in the Leyden Gazette may be confided in.
I have the honor to be, with much respect, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
[TO MESSRS. S. AND J. H. DELAP.]
Paris, January 17, 1787.
Gentlemen,—I am honored this day by the receipt of your letter of the 6th instant. Having nothing to do with the matters of account of the United States in Europe, it is out of my power to say anything to you as to the payment of the balance due to you. Yet I think it would be proper for you to write to the "Commissioners of the Treasury," at New York, on this subject. They are the persons who are to pay it; and as their Board has been created since the debt was contracted, they may possibly need information on the subject.
As to your loan office certificates, you would do well to commit them to some correspondent in America. They will be settled by the table of depreciation at their true worth in gold or silver at the time the paper dollars were lent. On that true value the interest has been paid, and continues to be paid to the creditors annually in America. That the principal will also be paid, is as sure as any future fact can be. The epoch is not fixed. It is expected that the State of New York will shortly accede to the impost which has been proposed. When that shall be done, that impost will suffice to pay the interest, and sink the principal in a very few years. I have the honor to be, with much respect. Gentlemen, your most obedient humble servant.
[TO M. SOULÉS.]
Paris, January 19, 1787.
Sir,—I have the honor of enclosing to you the sheets on the subject of Wyoming. I have had a long conversation with M. Creve-coeur on them. He knows well that canton. He was in the neighborhood of the place when it was destroyed, saw great numbers of the fugitives, aided them with his wagons, and had the story from all their mouths. He committed notes to writing at the moment, which are now in Normandy, at his father's. He has written for them, and they will be here in five or six days, when he promises to put them into my hands. He says there will be a great deal to alter in your narration, and that it must assume a different face, more favorable both to the British and Indians. His veracity may be relied on, and I told him I was sure your object was truth; and, to render your work estimable by that character, that I thought you would wait, and readily make any changes upon evidence which should be satisfactory to you. The moment I receive his notes I will communicate them to you, and have the honor to be, with much respect, Sir, your most obedient humble servant.
[TO M. HILLIARD D'AUBERTEUIL.]
Paris, January 27, 1787.
Sir,—I duly received the letter you did me the honor to write, and the verses therein enclosed on the subject of M. de La Fayette. I have taken measures to present the public with this acceptable present; but the newspapers here are slow in complying with the applications addressed to them. It is not for a stranger to decide on the merits of poetry in a language foreign to him. Were I to presume to do it in this instance, I should certainly assign to this composition a high degree of approbation.
I wish it were in my power to furnish you with any materials for the history on which you are engaged, but I brought no papers of that kind with me from America. In a letter you did me the honor of writing me sometime ago, you seemed to suppose you might go to America in quest of materials. Should you execute this idea, I should with great pleasure give any assistance in my power to obtain access for you to the several deposits of materials which are in that country. I have the honor to be, with great respect, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.