Part 13 (1/2)

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 professors.h.i.+p 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 a.s.sured, 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 embarra.s.sed 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 a.s.sure 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 a.s.surance 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.

The mutual extension of their commerce was among the fairest advantages to be derived to France and the United States, from the independence of the latter. An exportation of eighty millions, chiefly in raw materials, is supposed to const.i.tute the present limits of the commerce of the United States with the nations of Europe; limits, however, which extend as their population increases. To draw the best proportion of this into the ports of France, rather than of any other nation, is believed to be the wish and interest of both. Of these eighty millions, thirty are const.i.tuted by the single article of tobacco. Could the whole of this be brought into the ports of France, to satisfy its own demands, and the residue to be re-vended to other nations, it would be a powerful link of commercial connection. But we are far from this.

Even her own consumption, supposed to be nine millions, under the administration of the monopoly to which it is farmed, enters little, as an article of exchange, into the commerce of the two nations. When this article was first put into Farm, perhaps it did not injure the commercial interests of the kingdom; because nothing but British manufactures were then allowed to be given in return for American tobaccos. The laying the trade open, then, to all the subjects of France, could not have relieved her from a payment in money.

Circ.u.mstances are changed; yet the old inst.i.tution remains. The body to which this monopoly was given, was not mercantile. Their object is to simplify as much as possible, the administration of their affairs. They sell for cash; they purchase, therefore, with cash. Their interest, their principles and their practice, seem opposed to the general interest of the kingdom, which would require, that this capital article should be laid open to a free exchange for the productions of this country. So far does the spirit of simplifying their operations govern this body, that relinquis.h.i.+ng the advantages to be derived from a compet.i.tion of sellers, they contracted some time ago with a single person (Mr. Morris), for three years' supplies of American tobacco, to be paid for in cash. They obliged themselves too, expressly, to employ no other person to purchase in America, during that term. In consequence of this, the mercantile houses of France, concerned in sending her productions to be exchanged for tobacco, cut off, for three years, from the hope of selling these tobaccos in France, were of necessity to abandon that commerce. In consequence of this, too, a single individual, const.i.tuted sole purchaser of so great a proportion of the tobaccos made, had the price in his own power. A great reduction in it took place, and that, not only on the quant.i.ty he bought, but on the whole quant.i.ty made. The loss to the States producing the article, did not go to cheapen it for their friends here. Their price was fixed.

What was gained on their consumption, was to enrich the person purchasing it; the rest, the monopolists and merchants of other countries. The effect of this operation was vitally felt by every farmer in America, concerned in the culture of this plant. At the end of the year, he found he had lost a fourth or a third of his revenue; the State, the same proportion of its subjects of exchange with other nations: the manufactures of this country, too, were either not to go there at all, or go through the channel of a new monopoly, which, freed from the control of compet.i.tion in prices and qualities, was not likely to extend their consumption. It became necessary to relieve the two countries from the fatal effects of this double monopoly. I had the honor of addressing a letter, on the 15th day of August, 1785, to his late excellency, the Count de Vergennes, upon this subject, a copy of which I do myself the honor herein to enclose. The effectual mode of relief was to lay the commerce open. But the King's interest was also to be guarded. A committee was appointed to take this matter into consideration; and the result was, an order to the Farmers General, that no such contract should be made again. And to furnish such aliment as might keep that branch of commerce alive, till the expiration of the present contract, they were required to put the merchants in general, on a level with Mr. Morris, for the quant.i.ty of twelve or fifteen thousand hogsheads a year. That this relief, too, might not be intercepted from the merchants of the two suffering nations by those of a neighboring one, and that the transportation of so bulky an article might go to nourish their own s.h.i.+pping, no tobaccos were to be counted of this purchase, but those brought in French or American vessels. Of this order, made at Bernis, his Excellency, Count de Vergennes, was pleased to honor me with a communication, by a letter of the 30th of May, 1786, desiring that I would publish it as well in America, as to the American merchants in France. I did so; communicating it to Congress at the same time. This order, thus viewed with the transactions which produced it, will be seen to have been necessary; and its punctual and candid execution has been rendered still more so, by the speculations of the merchants, entered into on the faith of it.

Otherwise, it would become the instrument of their ruin instead of their relief. A twelve month has elapsed some time since; and it is questioned whether the Farmers General have purchased, within that time, the quant.i.ty prescribed, and on the conditions prescribed. It would be impossible for the merchants to prove the negative; it will be easy for the Farmers General to show the affirmative, if it exists. I hope that a branch of commerce of this extent will be thought interesting enough to both nations, to render it the desire of your Excellency to require, as I deem it my duty to ask, a report of the purchases they have made, according to the conditions of the order of Bernis, specifying, in that report, 1, the quant.i.ties purchased; 2, the prices paid; 3, the dates of the purchase and payment; 4, the flag of the vessel in which imported; 5, her name; 6, her port of delivery; and 7, the name of the seller. The four first articles make part of the conditions required by the order of Bernis; the three last may be necessary for the correction of any errors which should happen to arise in the report.

But the order of Bernis was never considered but as a temporary relief.

The radical evil will still remain. There will be but one purchaser in the kingdom, and the hazard of his refusal will damp every mercantile speculation. It is very much to be desired, that before the expiration of this order, some measure may be devised, which may bring this great article into free commerce between the two nations. Had this been practicable at the time it was put into Farm, that mode of collecting the revenue would probably never have been adopted; now that it has become practicable, it seems reasonable to discontinue this mode, and to subst.i.tute some of those practised on other imported articles, on which a revenue is levied, without absolutely suppressing them in commerce. If the revenue can be secured, the interests of a few individuals will hardly be permitted to weigh against those of as many millions, equally subjects of his Majesty, and against those, too, of a nation allied to him by all the ties of treaty, of interest and of affection. The privileges of the most favored nation, have been mutually exchanged by treaty. But the productions of other nations, which do not rival those of France, are suffered to be bought and sold freely within the kingdom. By prohibiting all his Majesty's subjects from dealing in tobacco, except with a single company, one third of the exports of the United States are rendered uncommerciable here. This production is so peculiarly theirs, that its shackles affect no other nation. A relief from these shackles, will form a memorable epoch in the commerce of the two nations. It will establish at once a great basis of exchange, serving like a point of union to draw to it other members of our commerce. Nature, too, has conveniently a.s.sorted our wants and our superfluities, to each other. Each nation has exactly to spare, the articles which the other wants. We have a surplus of rice, tobacco, furs, peltry, potash, lamp oils, timber, which France wants; she has a surplus of wines, brandies, esculent oils, fruits and manufactures of all kinds, which we want. The governments have nothing to do, but _not to hinder_ their merchants from making the exchange.

The difference of language, laws and customs, will be some obstacle for a time; but the interest of the merchants will surmount them. A more serious obstacle is our debt to Great Britain. Yet, since the treaty between this country and that, I should not despair of seeing that debt paid, in part, with the productions of France, if our produce can obtain here, a free course of exchange for them. The distant prospect is still more promising. A century's experience has shown, that we double our numbers every twenty or twenty-five years. No circ.u.mstance can be foreseen, at this moment, which will lessen our rate of multiplication for centuries to come. For every article of the productions and manufactures of this country, then, which can be introduced into the habit there, the demand will double every twenty or twenty-five years. And to introduce the habit, we have only to let the merchants alone. Whether we may descend, by a single step, from the present state, to that of perfect freedom of commerce in this article, whether any, and what, intermediate operation may be necessary to prepare the way to this, what cautions must be observed for the security of his Majesty's revenue, which we do not wish to impair, will rest with the wisdom of his ministers, whose knowledge of the subject will enable them to devise the best plans, and whose patriotism and justice will dispose them to pursue them. To the friendly dispositions of your Excellency, of which we have had such early and multiplied proofs, I take the liberty of committing this subject, particularly trusting that some method may be devised, of reconciling the collection of his Majesty's revenues, with the interests of the two nations; and have the honor of a.s.suring you, of those sincere sentiments of esteem and respect, with which I am your Excellency's most obedient, and most humble servant.

TO MR. SKIPWITH.

PARIS, July 28, 1787.

DEAR SIR,--A long journey has prevented me from writing to any of my friends, for some time past. This was undertaken with a view to benefit a dislocated and ill-set wrist, by the mineral waters of Aix, in Provence. Finding this hope vain, I was led from other views to cross the Alps as far as Turin, Milan, Genoa; to follow the Mediterranean as far as Cette, the ca.n.a.l of Languedoc, the Garonne, etc., to Paris. A most pleasing journey it proved; arts and agriculture offering something new at every step, and often things worth our imitation. But the accounts from our country give me to believe that we are not in a condition to hope for the imitation of anything good. All my letters are filled with details of our extravagance. From these accounts, I look back to the time of the war as a time of happiness and enjoyment, when amidst the privation of many things not essential to happiness, we could not run in debt, because n.o.body would trust us; when we practised by necessity the maxim of buying nothing but what we had money in our pockets to pay for; a maxim which, of all others, lays the broadest foundation for happiness. I see no remedy to our evils, but an open course of law. Harsh as it may seem, it would relieve the very patients who dread it, by stopping the course of their extravagance, before it renders their affairs entirely desperate. The eternal and bitter strictures on our conduct which teem in every London paper, and are copied from them into others, fill me with anxiety on this subject. The state of things in Europe is rather threatening at this moment. The innovations of the Emperor in his dominions have excited a spirit of resistance. His subjects in Brabant and Flanders are arming, and he has put forty-five thousand troops in motion towards that country. I believe they will come to blows. The parties in Holland have already spilt too much blood to be easily stopped. If left to themselves, I apprehend the Stadtholderians will be too strong; and if foreign powers interfere, the weight is still on their side. England and Prussia will be too much for France. As it is certain that neither of these powers wish for war, and that England and France are particularly averse to it, perhaps the matter may end in an armed mediation. If the mediators should not agree, they will draw their negotiations into length, and trust to the chapter of accidents for their final solution. With respect to our country, it stands well with the present ministry here.

The non-payment of our debt is against us. We are occupied in procuring favorable terms of reception for our produce.

Adieu, my dear Sir, and be a.s.sured of the sentiments of sincere esteem of your affectionate friend and servant.

TO J. W. EPPES.

PARIS, July 28, 1787.

DEAR JACK,--The letter which you were so kind as to write to me the 22d of May, 1786, was not delivered to me till the 3d of May, 1787, when it found me in the neighborhood of Ma.r.s.eilles. Before that time, you must have taken your degree, as mentioned in your letter. Those public testimonies which are earned by merit, and not by solicitation, may always be accepted without the imputation of vanity. Of this nature is the degree which your masters proposed to confer on you. I congratulate you sincerely on it. It will be a pleasing event to yourself; it will be the same to your parents and friends, and to none more than myself.

Go on deserving applause, and you will be sure to meet with it; and the way to deserve it is, to be good, and to be industrious. I am sure you will be good, and hope you will be industrious. As to your future plan, I am too distant from you to advise you on sure grounds. In general, I am of opinion, that till the age of about sixteen, we are best employed on languages; Latin, Greek, French, and Spanish, or such of them as we can. After this, I think the College of William and Mary the best place to go through the courses of Mathematics, Natural Philosophy in its different branches, and Law. Of the languages I have mentioned, I think Greek the least useful. Write me word, from time to time, how you go on. I shall always be glad to a.s.sist you with any books you may have occasion for, and you may count with certainty on every service I can ever render you, as well as on the sincere esteem of, dear Jack, yours affectionately.