TO MR. WYTHE
Dear Sir.—Your favors of January the 10th and February the 10th, came to hand on the 20th and 23d of May. I availed myself of the first opportunity which occurred, by a gentleman going to England, of sending to Mr. Joddrel a copy of the Notes on our country, with a line informing him, that it was you who had emboldened me to take that liberty. Madison, no doubt, informed you of the reason why I had sent only a single copy to Virginia. Being assured by him, that they will not do the harm I had apprehended, but on the contrary, may do some good, I propose to send thither the copies remaining on hand, which are fewer than I had intended. But, of the numerous corrections they need, there are one or two so essential, that I must have them made, by printing a few new leaves, and substituting them for the old. This will be done while they are engraving a map which I have constructed, of the country from Albemarle sound to Lake Erie, and which will be inserted in the book. A bad French translation which is getting out here, will probably oblige me to publish the original more freely; which it did not deserve, nor did I intend. Your wishes, which are laws to me, will justify my destining a copy for you, otherwise I should as soon have thought of sending you a horn-book; for there is no truth in it which is not familiar to you, and its errors I should hardly have proposed to treat you with.
Immediately on the receipt of your letter, I wrote to a correspondent at Florence to inquire after the family of Tagliaferro, as you desired. I received his answer two days ago, a copy of which I now enclose. The original shall be sent by some other occasion. I will have the copper-plate immediately engraved. This may be ready within a few days, but the probability is, that I shall be long getting an opportunity of sending it to you, as these rarely occur. You do not mention the size of the plate, but presuming it is intended for labels for the inside of books, I shall have it made of a proper size for that. I shall omit the word agisos, according to the license you allow me, because I think the beauty of a motto is, to condense such matter in as few words as possible. The word omitted will be supplied by every reader.
The European papers have announced, that the Assembly of Virginia were occupied on the revisal of their code of laws. This, with some other similar intelligence, has contributed much to convince the people of Europe, that what the English papers are constantly publishing of our anarchy, is false; as they are sensible that such a work is that of a people only, who are in perfect tranquillity. Our act for freedom of religion is extremely applauded. The ambassadors and ministers of the several nations of Europe, resident at this court, have asked of me copies of it, to send to their sovereigns, and it is inserted at full length in several books now in the press; among others, in the new Encyclopedie. I think it will produce considerable good even in these countries, where ignorance, superstition, poverty, and oppression of body and mind, in every form, are so firmly settled on the mass of the people, that their redemption from them can never be hoped. If all the sovereigns of Europe were to set themselves to work, to emancipate the minds of their subjects from their present ignorance and prejudices, and that, as zealously as they now endeavor the contrary, a thousand years would not place them on that high ground, on which our common people are now setting out. Ours could not have been so fairly placed under the control of the common sense of the people, had they not been separated from their parent stock, and kept from contamination, either from them, or the other people of the old world, by the intervention of so wide an ocean. To know the worth of this, one must see the want of it here. I think by far the most important bill in our whole code, is that for the diffusion of knowledge among the people. No other sure foundation can be devised, for the preservation of freedom and happiness. If anybody thinks that kings, nobles, or priests are good conservators of the public happiness, send him here. It is the best school in the universe to cure him of that folly. He will see here, with his own eyes, that these descriptions of men are an abandoned confederacy against the happiness of the mass of the people. The omnipotence of their effect cannot be better proved, than in this country particularly, where, notwithstanding the finest soil upon earth, the finest climate under heaven, and a people of the most benevolent, the most gay and amiable character of which the human form is susceptible; where such a people, I say, surrounded by so many blessings from nature, are loaded with misery, by kings, nobles, and priests, and by them alone. Preach, my dear Sir, a crusade against ignorance; establish and improve the law for educating the common people. Let our countrymen know, that the people alone can protect us against these evils, and that the tax which will be paid for this purpose, is not more than the thousandth part of what will be paid to kings, priests and nobles, who will rise up among us if we leave the people in ignorance. The people of England, I think, are less oppressed than here. But it needs but half an eye to see, when among them, that the foundation is laid in their dispositions for the establishment of a despotism. Nobility, wealth, and pomp, are the objects of their admiration. They are by no means the free-minded people we suppose them in America. Their learned men, too, are few in number, and are less learned, and infinitely less emancipated from prejudice, than those of this country. An event, too, seems to be preparing, in the order of things, which will probably decide the fate of that country. It is no longer doubtful, that the harbor of Cherbourg will be complete, that it will be a most excellent one, and capacious enough to hold the whole navy of France. Nothing has ever been wanting to enable this country to invade that, but a naval force conveniently stationed to protect the transports. This change of situation must oblige the English to keep up a great standing army, and there is no King, who, with sufficient force, is not always ready to make himself absolute. My paper warns me it is time to recommend myself to the friendly recollection of Mrs. Wythe, of Colonel Tagliaferro and his family, and particularly of Mr. R. T.; and to assure you of the affectionate esteem with which I am, dear Sir, your friend and servant.
TO DR. FRANKLIN
Dear Sir,—I received your favor of March 20th, and much satisfaction from it. I had been alarmed with the general cry that our commerce was in distress, and feared it might be for the want of markets. But the high price of commodities shows that markets are not wanting. Is it not yet possible, however, that these high prices may proceed from the smallness of the quantity made, and that from the want of laborers? It would really seem as if we did not make produce enough for home consumption, and, of course, had none superfluous to exchange for foreign articles. The price of wheat, for instance, shows it is not exported, because it could not, at such a price, enter into competition at a foreign market with the wheat of any other nation.
I send you some packets which have been put into my hands to be forwarded to you. I cannot send your Encyclopedie by the same conveyance, because it is by the way of England. Nothing worth reading has come from the press, I think, since you left us. There are one or two things to be published soon, which being on the subject of America, may be grateful to you, and shall be sent.
Europe enjoys a perfect repose at present. Venice and the two empires seem to be pecking at the Turks, but only in such a degree as may keep alive certain pretensions for commencing war when they shall see the occasion fit. Whether this will be immediately on the death of the King of Prussia remains to be seen. That event must happen soon. By the little attention paid by this country to their land army, it would seem as if they did not apprehend a war on that element. But to the increase and arrangement of their navy, they are very attentive. There is no longer a doubt but that the harbor of Cherbourg will be completed, will be a most excellent one, and capable of containing the whole navy of France. By having two outlets, vessels may enter and sally with every wind, while in the opposite ports of England particular winds are necessary. Our peace with Morocco is probably signed by this time. We are indebted for it to the court of Spain. Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli, will continue hostile according to present appearances.
Your friends here, within the circle of my acquaintance, are well, and often enquire after you. No interesting change that I recollect has taken place among them. Houdon has just received the block of marble for General Washington's statue. He is married since his return. Trumbul, our young American painter, is come here to have his Death of Montgomery and Battle of Bunker's Hill engraved. I will beg leave to place here my friendly respects to young Mr. Franklin, and assurances of the esteem and regard with which I have the honor to be, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.