Chapter 13

DEAR SIR,--Your favor of April the 14th, came here during my absence on a journey through the southern parts of France and northern of Italy, from which I am but lately returned. This cause alone has prevented your receiving a more early answer to it. I am glad to find, that among the various branches of science presenting themselves to your mind, you have fixed on that of politics as your principal pursuit. Your country will derive from this a more immediate and sensible benefit. She has much for you to do. For, though we may say with confidence, that the worst of the American constitutions is better than the best which ever existed before, in any other country, and that they are wonderfully perfect for a first essay, yet every human essay must have defects. It will remain, therefore, to those now coming on the stage of public affairs, to perfect what has been so well begun by those going off it. Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, Natural History, Anatomy, Chemistry, Botany, will become amusements for your hours of relaxation, and auxiliaries to your principal studies. Precious and delightful ones they will be. As soon as such a foundation is laid in them, as you may build on as you please, hereafter, I suppose you will proceed to your main objects, Politics, Law, Rhetoric, and History. As to these, the place where you study them is absolutely indifferent. I should except Rhetoric, a very essential member of them, and which I suppose must be taught to advantage where you are. You would do well, therefore, to attend the public exercises in this branch also, and to do it with very particular diligence. This being done, the question arises, where you shall fix yourself for studying Politics, Law, and History? I should not hesitate to decide in favor of France, because you will, at the same time, be learning to speak the language of that country, become absolutely essential under our present circumstances. The best method of doing this, would be to fix yourself in some family where there are women and children, in Passy, Auteuil, or some other of the little towns in reach of Paris. The principal hours of the day, you will attend to your studies, and in those of relaxation, associate with the family. You will learn to speak better from women and children in three months, than from men in a year. Such a situation, too, will render more easy a due attention to economy of time and money. Having pursued your main studies here, about two years, and acquired a facility in speaking French, take a tour of four or five months through this country and Italy, return then to Virginia, and pass a year in Williamsburg, under the care of Mr. Wythe; and you will be ready to enter on the public stage, with superior advantages. I have proposed to you, to carry on the study of the law with that of politics and history. Every political measure will, forever, have an intimate connection with the laws of the land; and he, who knows nothing of these, will always be perplexed, and often foiled by adversaries having the advantage of that knowledge over him. Besides, it is a source of infinite comfort to reflect, that under every chance of fortune, we have a resource in ourselves from which we may be able to derive an honorable subsistence. I would, therefore, propose not only the study, but the practice of the law for some time, to possess yourself of the habit of public speaking. With respect to modern languages, French, as I have before observed, is indispensable. Next to this, the Spanish is most important to an American. Our connection with Spain is already important, and will become daily more so. Besides this, the ancient part of American history is written chiefly in Spanish. To a person who would make a point of reading and speaking French and Spanish, I should doubt the utility of learning Italian. These three languages, being all degeneracies from the Latin, resemble one another so much, that I doubt the probability of keeping in the head a distinct knowledge of them all. I suppose that he who learns them all, will speak a compound of the three, and neither perfectly. The journey which I propose to you need not be expensive, and would be very useful. With your talents and industry, with science, and that steadfast honesty which eternally pursues right, regardless of consequences, you may promise yourself everything--but health, without which there is no happiness. An attention to health, then, should take place of every other object. The time necessary to secure this by active exercises, should be devoted to it, in preference to every other pursuit. I know the difficulty with which a studious man tears himself from his studies, at any given moment of the day. But his happiness, and that of his family, depend on it. The most uninformed mind, with a healthy body, is happier than the wisest valetudinarian. I need not tell you, that if I can be useful to you in any part of this, or any other plan you shall adopt, you will make me happy by commanding my services.

Will you be so good, Sir, as to return my most respectful thanks for the diploma with which I am honored by the society instituted with you, for the encouragement of the study of Natural History? I am afraid it will never be in my power to contribute anything to the object of the institution. Circumstances have thrown me into a very different line of life, and not choice, as I am happy to find in your case. In the year 1781, while confined to my room by a fall from my horse, I wrote some Notes, in answer to the inquiries of M. de Marbois, as to the natural and political state of Virginia. They were hasty and undigested; yet as some of these touch slightly on some objects of its natural history, I will take the liberty of asking the society to accept a copy of them. For the same reason, and because, too, they touch on the political condition of our country, I will beg leave to present you with a copy, and ask the favor of you to find a conveyance for them from London to Edinburgh. They are printed by Stockdale, bookseller, Piccadilly, and will be ready in three or four weeks from this time. I will direct him to deliver two copies to your order.

Repeating, constantly, the proffer of my services, I shall only add assurances of the esteem and attachment with which I am, dear Sir, your friend and servant.

TO EDWARD RUTLEDGE, ESQ.

PARIS, July 14, 1787.

DEAR SIR,--I received your favor of the 14th of October in the moment I was setting out on a tour of the sea port towns of this country, from which I have been not long returned. I received it, too, with that kind of heartfelt pleasure which always attends the recollection of ancient affections. I was glad to find that the adaptation of your rice to this market was considered worth attention, as I had supposed it. I set out from hence impressed with the idea the rice-dealers here had given me, that the difference between your rice and that of Piedmont proceeded from a difference in the machine for cleaning it. At Marseilles I hoped to know what the Piedmont machine was; but I could find nobody who knew anything of it. I determined, therefore, to sift the matter to the bottom, by crossing the Alps into the rice country. I found their machine exactly such a one as you had described to me in Congress in the year 1783. There was but one conclusion then to be drawn, to wit, that the rice was of a different species, and I determined to take enough to put you in seed; they informed me, however, that its exportation in the husk was prohibited, so I could only bring off as much as my coat and surtout pockets would hold. I took measures with a muleteer to run a couple of sacks across the Apennines to Genoa, but have not great dependence on its success. The little, therefore, which I brought myself, must be relied on for fear we should get no more; and because, also, it is genuine from Vercilli, where the best is made of all the Sardinian Lombardy, the whole of which is considered as producing a better rice than the Milanese. This is assigned as the reason for the strict prohibition. Piedmont rice sold at Nice, (the port of its exportation,) when I was there, at seventeen livres French, the French hundred weight. It varies from time to time as the price of wheat does with us. The price of Carolina rice at Bordeaux, Nantes, L'Orient and Havre, varies from sixteen florins to twenty-four florins the French quintal, which is equal to one hundred and nine pounds our weight. The best ports to send it to are Bordeaux and Havre, (or Rouen, which is the same thing as Havre,) but it is essential that it arrive here a month before the commencement of Lent, when the principal demand is made for it. Carolina rice, after being sorted here into several qualities, sells from six sols to ten sols the French pound, retail, according to the quality. Unsorted and wholesale about thirty florins the French quintal. Piedmont rice is of but one quality, which sells at retail at ten sous the French pound, and wholesale is about three or four livres dearer than yours. In order to induce your countrymen to ship their rice here directly, I have proposed to some merchants here to receive consignments, allowing the consigner to draw in the moment of shipping for as much as he could sell on the spot, and the balance when it should be sold. But they say this is impossible. They are to consider and inform me what are the most favorable terms on which they can receive it. I am told that freight, insurance, and commission are about four livres the French quintal to a sea-port town. I have written so long a letter on the subject of rice to Mr. Drayton for the Society of Agriculture, that I will trouble you with no further particulars, but refer you to that. Indeed, I am sensible I have written too much on the subject. Being absolutely ignorant of it myself, it was impossible for me to know what particulars merited communication. I thought it best, therefore, to communicate everything. After writing that letter, I received one from Mr. Izard, by which I found that he had examined the rice-process in Lombardy. He was so much more capable than myself of giving the details, that I had at one moment determined to suppress my letter. However, observing that he considered the rice at Piedmont to be of the same species with yours, and suspecting myself certainly that it is not, I determined to hazard my letter and all those criticisms which fall justly on an ignorant person writing on a subject to those much more learned in it than himself. A part of my letter, too, related to the olive tree and caper, the first of which would surely succeed in your country, and would be an infinite blessing after some fifteen or twenty years. The caper would also probably succeed, and would offer a very great and immediate profit. I thank you for your obliging mention of my worthless Notes on Virginia. Worthless and bad as they are, they have been rendered more so, as I am told, by a translation into French. That I may have neither merit nor demerit not my own, I have consented to their publication in England. I advised the bookseller to send two hundred copies to Philadelphia, and two hundred to Richmond, supposing that number might be sold in the United States; but I do not know whether he will do it. If you will give me leave, I will send you a copy of the original impression. I congratulate you, my dear friend, on the law of your State, for suspending the importation of slaves, and for the glory you have justly acquired by endeavoring to prevent it forever. This abomination must have an end. And there is a superior bench reserved in heaven for those who hasten it. The distractions of Holland thicken apace. They begin to cut one another's throats heartily. I apprehend the neighboring powers will interfere; but it is not yet clear whether in concert or by taking opposite sides. It is a poor contest, whether they shall have one, or many masters. Your nephew is arrived here in good health. My first interview with him has impressed me much in his favor. Present me very respectfully to Mrs. Rutledge, as well as to your brother and his house. Accept yourself assurances of the sincere esteem and respect with which I am, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.

TO HIS EXCELLENCY MR. ADAMS.

PARIS, July 17, 1787.

DEAR SIR,--I have been duly honored with yours of the 10th instant, and am happy to hear of the success of your journey to Amsterdam. There can be no doubt of its ratification by Congress. Would to heaven they would authorize you to take measures for transferring the debt of this country to Holland, before you leave Europe. Most especially is it necessary to get rid of the debt to the officers. Their connections at Court are such as to excite very unfavorable feelings there against us, and some very hard things have been said (particularly in the Assemblée des Notables) on the prospect relative to our debts. The payment of the interest to the officers would have kept them quiet; but there are two years now due to them. I dare not draw for it without instructions, because in the instances in which I have hitherto ventured to act uninstructed, I have never been able to know whether they have been approved in the private sentiments of the members of Congress, much less by any vote. I have pressed on them the expediency of transferring the French debts to Holland, in order to remove everything which may excite irritations between us and this nation. I wish it may be done before this ministry may receive ill impressions of us. They are at present very well disposed. I send you by Mr. Appleton some pamphlets, and have the honor to be, with sentiments of very cordial esteem, your affectionate and humble servant.

TO MR. JOSEPH FENWICK.

PARIS, July 21, 1787.

SIR,--I am this moment honored with your letter of the 16th, and wish it was in my power to give you the information desired on the subject of tobaccos.

The complaint has been universal that the Farmers General have not complied with the order of government. I have, therefore, desired that they may be called on to report precisely what tobacco they have purchased on the terms prescribed by the order, that if it shall appear they have not bought the whole quantity, they may be compelled to do it immediately. It is impossible to foresee whether any new regulations will be made to take place on the expiration of the contract of Mr. Morris. I shall certainly press for something to be done by way of antidote to the monopoly under which this article is placed in France. The moment anything is decided which may be interesting to our commerce, I shall take great care to communicate it to them through Mr. Bondfield; though I do not expect anything interesting to take place very soon. I am, with much regard, Sir, your most obedient humble servant.

TO STEPHEN CATHALAN, JUNIOR.

PARIS, July 21, 1787.

SIR,--I received your favor of May the 9th just as I was stepping into the barge on my departure from Cette; which prevented my answering it from that place. On my arrival here, I thought I would avail myself of the opportunity of paying your balance, to make a little acquaintance with Sir John Lambert. One or two unsuccessful attempts to find him at home, with the intermediate procrastinations well known to men of business, prevented my seeing him till yesterday, and have led me on to this moment, through a perpetual remorse of conscience for not writing to you, and to the constant belief that it would be to-morrow and to-morrow. At length, I have seen him, paid him the eighty-five livres which you have been so kind as to advance for me, and am actually at my writing-table, returning you thanks for this kindness, and to yourself and the family for the thousand others I received at their hands, at Marseilles. My journey, after leaving you, wanted nothing but the company of Madame Cathalan and yourself, to render it perfectly agreeable. I felt the want of it peculiarly on the Canal de Languedoc, where, with society, the mode of travelling would have been charming. I was much indebted to M. Minaudier for a good equipment from Agde, and unceasing attentions to that place; for which I was indebted to your recommendations as well as to his goodness.

I am honored with your father's letter of June the 30th; and, as he does not read English, and I cannot write French, I must beg leave to answer him through you. I thank him for his hints on the subject of tobacco. I am now pressing for arrangements as to that article, to take place on the expiration of Mr. Morris' contract, and the order of Bernis. What form this business will take, or what will be the nature of the arrangements, or whether there will be any, I am as yet unable to say. I will take care to inform you the moment there is a decision.

The public business with which Mr. Barclay has been charged rendering it necessary for him to repair to Congress, and the interest of his creditors, his family and himself requiring his return to America, he has departed for that country. I know nothing of Mr. Barclay's affairs in this country. He has good possessions in America, which, he assured me, were much more than sufficient to satisfy all the demands against him. He went, determined to convert those immediately into money, and to collect the debts due to him there, that he might be enabled to pay his debts. My opinion of his integrity is such, as to leave no doubt in my mind, that he will do everything in his power to render justice to his creditors, and I know so well his attachment to M. Cathalan, as to be satisfied, that if he makes any difference among his creditors, he will be among the most favored. Mr. Barclay is an honest and honorable man, and is more goaded towards the payment of his debts by his own feelings, than by all the processes of law which could be set on foot against him.

No arrangements having ever been made as yet, for cases like that of the carpenter of the American ship Sally, I am unable to answer on that subject. I am in hopes, his money will last till he recovers his senses, or till we can receive instructions what to do in that and similar cases.

Mr. Cathalan wishes a copy of my Notes on Virginia. If you will be so good as to advise me by what channel they will go safely, I will do myself the honor of sending a copy, either of the original or of the translation. Present me affectionately to Mrs. Cathalan, the mother and daughter; tell the latter I feed on the hopes of seeing her one day at Paris. My friendly respects wait also on your father; and on yourself, assurances of the esteem and consideration with which I have the honor to be, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.

TO THE DELEGATES OF RHODE ISLAND.

PARIS, July 22, 1787.

GENTLEMEN,--I was honored, in the month of January last, with a letter from the honorable the Delegates of Rhode Island in Congress, enclosing a letter from the corporation of Rhode Island College to his most Christian Majesty, and some other papers. I was then in the hurry of preparation for a journey into the south of France, and therefore unable, at that moment, to make the inquiries which the object of the letter rendered necessary. As soon as I returned, which was in the last month, I turned my attention to that object, which was the establishment of a professorship of the French language in the College, and the obtaining a collection of the best French authors, with the aid of the King. That neither the College nor myself might be compromitted uselessly, I thought it necessary to sound, previously, those who were able to inform me what would be the success of the application. I was assured, so as to leave no doubt, that it would not be complied with; that there had never been an instance of the King's granting such a demand in a foreign country, and that they would be cautious of setting the precedent: that, in this moment, too, they were embarrassed with the difficult operation of putting down all establishments of their own, which could possibly be dispensed with, in order to bring their expenditures down to the level of their receipts. Upon such information I was satisfied, that it was most prudent not to deliver the letter, and spare to both parties the disagreeableness of giving and receiving a denial. The King did give to two colleges in America copies of the works printing in the public press. But were this to be obtained for the College of Rhode Island, it would extend only to a volume or two of Buffon's works, still to be printed, Manilius' Astronomicon, and one or two other works in the press, which are of no consequence. I did not think this an object for the College, worth being pressed. I beg the favor of you, gentlemen, to assure the corporation, that no endeavors of mine should have been spared, could they have effected their wish; and that they have been faithfully used in making the preliminary enquiries which are necessary, and which ended in an assurance that nothing could be done. These papers having been transmitted to me through your delegation, will, I hope, be an apology for my availing myself of the same channel, for communicating the result.

I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect esteem and respect, Gentlemen, your most obedient, and most humble servant.

TO THE COUNT DE MONTMORIN.

PARIS, July 23, 1787.

SIR,--I had the honor, a few days ago, of putting into the hands of your Excellency, some observations on the other articles of American produce, brought into the ports of this country. That of our tobaccos, from the particular form of their administration here, and their importance to the King's revenues, has been placed on a separate line, and considered separately. I will now ask permission to bring that subject under your consideration.