The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Vol. 5 (of 9). Томас Джефферсон

I would ask the favor of you to forward by the post of the day, under cover to me. I think a post comes one day from Norfolk by the way of Petersburg, and the next by the way of Hampton. If so, the letters may come every day. I salute you with great and sincere esteem and respect.

      TO COLONEL JOHN TAYLOR

Washington, August 1, 1807.

      Dear Sir,—I received two days ago your letter recommendatory of Mr. Woodford. I knew his father well, and can readily believe that his merits are descended on the son, and especially after what you say of him. If we could always have as good grounds to go upon, it would greatly relieve the terrible business of nominations. But lest you should not have attended to it, I have taken up my pen in the moment of setting out for Monticello, to remind you that whether we receive the militia or volunteers from the States, the appointment of officers will be with them. There therefore should be Mr. Woodford's application. Should we have war with England, regular troops will be necessary; and though in the first moments of the outrage on the Chesapeake I did not suppose it was by authority from their government, I now more and more suspect it, and of course, that they will not give the reparation for the past and security for the future, which alone may prevent war. The new depredations committing on us, with this attack on the Chesapeake, and their calling on Portugal to declare on the one side or the other, if true, prove they have coolly calculated it will be to their benefit to have everything on the ocean fair prize, and to support their navy by plundering all mankind. This is the doctrine of "war in disguise," and I expect they are going to adopt it. It is really mortifying that we should be forced to wish success to Bonaparte, and to look to his victories as our salvation. We expect the return of the Revenge the second week in November, with their answer, or no answer, which will enable Congress to take their course. In the meantime, we will have everything as ready as possible for any course they may prefer. I salute you with friendship and respect.

      TO GENERAL DEARBORNE

Monticello, August 7, 1807.

      I dare say that Purcell's map must be of value, and it would be well if his representatives would publish it, but whether worth your purchase, and at what price, General Wilkinson might perhaps satisfy you. I shall write to Marentille that if you think it worth while to give him fifty thousand dollars for his project, you will inform him. In the contrary case, it may be put away in your pigeon hole of projects. Governor Cabell, after informing me of the orders for the discharge of the militia, except a company of artillery, and one of cavalry, as we directed, adds: "I have, however, in pursuance of the advice of council, done what your letter did not expressly authorize. But when I state to you the reasons which influenced the measure, I hope you will approve it. You relied entirely on the troop of horse for cutting off the supplies. But we have received the most satisfactory information of the insufficiency of cavalry to perform that service, in consequence of the particular nature of the country in which they have to act. It is covered with sandbanks and hills, which, in many places (where supplies are most easily procured), render cavalry incapable of action. So severe has this service been, that it has already almost knocked up as fine a battalion of cavalry as any in the United States, perhaps as any in the world. Influenced by these considerations, which we believe had not presented themselves to your mind, because you had not received the necessary information as to facts, the executive have called into service a company of infantry from the county of Princess Anne, to co-operate with the cavalry in cutting off the supplies. Since giving these orders, I understand that General Mathews has anticipated us by calling into actual service the very force we contemplated." Our object was certainly to prevent supplies, and if the means we thought of are not adequate, we should, had we known all circumstances, have provided what would have been effectual; for I think the point of honor requires we should enforce the proclamation in those points in which we have force sufficient. I shall await your opinion, however, before I answer the Governor's letter. Information as late as August 3d, shows that the squadron was quiet in and near the Bay, and General Thomas Hardy, to whom Tazewell delivered the five men, declared to him that his objection to intercourse by flag, was that the two nations were not in a state of war, which alone required it. He said he expected Barclay, or General Robert Lowrie, in a week to take the command. I salute you with sincere affection and respect.

      TO HIS EXCELLENCY GOVERNOR CABELL

Monticello, August 7, 1807.

      Dear Sir,—Your letters of July 31st and August 5th were received yesterday. The ground taken in conformity with the Act of Congress, of considering as public enemies British armed vessels in or entering our waters, gives us the benefit of a system of rules, sanctioned by the practice of nations in a state of war, and consequently enabling us with certainty and satisfaction to solve the different cases which may occur in the present state of things. With these rules most officers are acquainted, and especially those old enough to have borne a part in the revolutionary war.

      1. As to the enemy within our waters, intercourse, according to the usages of war, can only be by flag; and the ceremonies respecting that are usually a matter of arrangement between the adverse officers commanding in the neighborhood of each other. If no arrangement is agreed on, still the right of sending a flag is inherent in each party, whose discretion will direct him to address it to the proper adverse authority; as otherwise it would be subject to delay or rejection. Letters addressed by flag to persons in authority with the adverse power, may be sent sealed, and should be delivered. But, if to others, or to their own friends happening to be within the limits of the adversary, they must be open. If innocent in the judgment of the receiving officer, courtesy requires their delivery; if otherwise, they may be destroyed or returned by him; but in a case of only suspended amity, as ours, they should be returned. Letters sent from the interdicted vessels to their consul in Norfolk must be open; and the propriety of delivering them judged of by our officer, tempering his judgment however with liberality and urbanity. Those to their minister plenipotentiary here, sealed or unsealed, should be sent to the Secretary of State without any delay. As to the demand of fugitive slaves, it was the custom during the late war, for the owner to apply to our commander for a flag, and to go himself with that, to exhibit his claim and receive the fugitive. And with respect to Americans detained on board their ships, the application should be still, as heretofore, made through the Secretary of State, to whose proper documents are to be furnished. But without waiting for his application, the British officer, knowing them to be Americans and freemen, cannot but feel it a duty to restore them to their liberty on their own demand.