Memoir, Correspondence, and Miscellanies, From the Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 2

by Thomas Jefferson

TO JOHN JAY.

Paris, August 3, 1788.

Sir,

My last letters to you were of the 4th and 23d of May, with a Postscript of the 27th. Since that, I have been honored with yours of April the 24th, May the 16th, and June the 9th.

The most remarkable internal occurrences since my last are these. The Noblesse of Bretagne, who had received with so much warmth the late innovations in the government, assembled, and drew up a memorial to the King, and chose twelve members of their body to come and present it. Among these was the Marquis de la Rouerie (Colonel Armand). The King, considering the Noblesse as having no legal right to assemble, declined receiving the memorial. The deputies, to give greater weight to it, called a meeting of the landed proprietors of Bretagne, resident at Paris, and proposed to them to add their signatures—They did so, to the number of about sixty, of whom the Marquis de la Fayette was one. The twelve deputies, for having called this meeting, were immediately sent to the Bastile where they now are, and the Parisian signers were deprived of such favors as they held of the court. There were only four of them, however, who held any thing of that kind. The Marquis de la Fayette was one of these. They had given him a military command, to be exercised in the south of France, during the months of August and September of the present year. This they took from him; so that he is disgraced, in the ancient language of the court, but in truth, honorably marked in the eyes of the nation. The ministers are so sensible of this, that they have had, separately, private conferences with him, to endeavor, through him, to keep things quiet. From the character of the province of Bretagne, it was much apprehended, for some days, that the imprisonment of their deputies would have produced an insurrection. But it took another turn. The Cours intermédiaire of the province, acknowledged to be a legal body, deputed eighteen members of their body to the King. To these he gave an audience, and the answer, of which I send you a copy. This is hard enough. Yet I am in hopes the appeal to the sword will be avoided, and great modifications in the government be obtained without bloodshed. As yet none has been spilt, according to the best evidence I have been able to obtain, notwithstanding what the foreign newspapers have said to the contrary. The convocation of the States General has now become inevitable. Whenever the time shall be announced certainly, it will keep the nation quiet till they meet. According to present probabilities, this must be in the course of the next summer; but to what movements their meeting and measures may give occasion, cannot be foreseen. Should a foreign war take place, still they must assemble the States General, because they cannot, but by their aid, obtain money to carry it on. Monsieur de Malesherbes will, I believe, retire from the King’s Council. He has been much opposed to the late acts of authority. The Baron de Breteuil has resigned his secretaryship of the domestic department; certainly not for the same reasons, as he is known to have been of opinion, that the King had compromitted too much of his authority. The real reason has probably been, an impatience of acting under a principal minister. His successor is M. de Villedeuil, lately Comptroller General.

The ambassadors of Tippoo Saib have arrived here. If their mission has any other object than that of pomp and ceremony, it is not yet made known. Though this court has not avowed that they are in possession of Trincomale, yet the report is believed, and that possession was taken by General Conway, in consequence of orders given in the moment that they thought a war certain. The dispute with the States General of the United Netherlands, on account of the insult to M. de St. Priest, does not tend as yet towards a settlement. He has obtained leave to go to the waters, and perhaps from thence he may come to Paris, to await events. Sweden has commenced hostilities against Russia, by the taking a little fortress by land. This having been their intention, it is wonderful, that when their fleet lately met three Russian ships of one hundred guns each, they saluted instead of taking them. The Empress has declared war against them in her turn. It is well understood, that Sweden is set on by England, and paid by the Turks. The prospect of Russia has much brightened by some late successes. Their fleet of galleys and gun-boats, twenty-seven in number, having been attacked by fifty-seven Turkish vessels of the same kind, commanded by the Captain Pacha, these were repulsed, with the loss of three vessels. In the action, which was on the 18th of June, Admiral Paul Jones commanded the right wing of the Russians, and the Prince of Nassau the left. On the 26th of the same month, the Turkish principal fleet, that is to say, their ships of the line, frigates, &c, having got themselves near the swash, at the mouth of the Borysthenes, the Prince of Nassau took advantage of their position, attacked them while so engaged in the mud that they could not manoeuvre, burnt six, among which were the admiral’s and vice-admiral’s, took two, and made between three and four thousand prisoners. The first reports gave this success to Admiral Paul Jones; but it is now rendered rather probable that he was not there, as he commands the vessels of war which are said not to have been there. It is supposed, that his presence in the affair of the 18th was accidental. But if this success has been so complete as it is represented, the Black Sea must be tolerably open to the Russians: in which case, we may expect, from what we know of that officer, that he will improve to the greatest advantage the situation of things on that sea. The Captain Pacha’s standard was taken in the last action, and himself obliged to make his escape in a small vessel. Prince Potemkin immediately got under march for Oczakow, to take advantage of the consternation into which that place was thrown.

The Spanish squadron, after cruising off the Western Isles and Cape St. Vincent, has returned into port.

A dispute has arisen between the Papal See and the King of Naples, which may, in its progress, enable us to estimate what degree of influence that See retains at the present day. The kingdom of Naples, at an early period of its history, became feudatory to the See of Rome, and in acknowledgment thereof, has annually paid a hackney to the Pope in Rome, to which place it has always been sent by a splendid embassy. The hackney has been refused by the King this year, and the Pope, giving him three months to return to obedience, threatens, if he does not, to proceed seriously against him.

About three weeks ago a person called on me, and informed me, that Silas Deane had taken him in for a sum of one hundred and twenty guineas, and that being unable to obtain any other satisfaction, he had laid hands on his account book and letter book, and had brought them off to Paris, to offer them first to the United States, if they would repay him his money, and if not, that he should return to London, and offer them to the British minister. I desired him to leave them with me four and twenty hours, that I might judge whether they were worth our notice. He did so. They were two volumes. One contained all his accounts with the United States, from his first coming to Europe to January the 10th, 1781. Presuming that the treasury board was in possession of this account till his arrival in Philadelphia, August, 1778, and that he had never given in the subsequent part, I had that subsequent part copied from the book, and now enclose it, as it may on some occasion or other, perhaps, be useful in the treasury office. The other volume contained all his correspondences from March the 30th to August the 23d, 1777. I had a list of the letters taken by their dates and addresses, which will enable you to form a general idea of the collection. On perusal of many of them, I thought it desirable that they should not come to the hands of the British minister, and from an expression dropped by the possessor of them, I believe he would have fallen to fifty or sixty guineas. I did not think them important enough, however, to justify my purchasing them without authority; though, with authority, I should have done it. Indeed, I would have given that sum to cut out a single sentence, which contained evidence of a fact, not proper to be committed to the hands of enemies. I told him I would state his proposition to you, and await orders. I gave him back the books, and he returned to London without making any promise, that he would await the event of the orders you might think proper to give.

News of the accession of nine States to the new form of federal government has been received here about a week. I have the honor to congratulate you sincerely on this event. Of its effect at home, you are in the best situation to judge. On this side the Atlantic, it is considered as a very wise reformation. In consequence of this, speculations are already begun here, to purchase up our domestic liquidated debt. Indeed, I suspect that orders may have been previously lodged in America to do this, as soon as the new constitution was accepted effectually. If it is thought that this debt should be retained at home, there is not a moment to lose; and I know of no means of retaining it, but those I suggested to the treasury board, in my letter to them of March the 29th. The transfer of these debts to Europe will excessively embarrass, and perhaps totally prevent the borrowing any money in Europe, till these shall be paid off. This is a momentous object, and, in my opinion, should receive instantaneous attention.