Thomas Jefferson Papers

To Thomas Jefferson from Nicolas Gouin Dufief, 14 February 1803

From Nicolas Gouin Dufief

Le 14 de Février. 1803

Monsieur,

Vous verrez par le Certificat-ci joint que je n’ai pu recevoir qu’aujourd’hui la Lettre dont vous m’avez honoré le 4—Je vous envoie cette piece, d’abord, pour me justifier du Soupçon de manquer d’exactitude à votre égard, vous qui donnez dans la place éminente que vous occupez, un exemple si Glorieux, & en même tems si rare d’une régularité à laquelle rien n’échappe; & ensuite pourque si vous le jugiez à propros, l’on pût faire des recherches dans le Bureau de la poste de Washington, au sujet d’une négligence qui pourrait être quelquefois fatale au service public.

Lorsque Monsieur le Colonel Monroe, passera par Philadelphie, j’irai lui présenter mes respects & remplir la Commission agréable dont vous me chargez auprès de lui—Aussitôt la lecture de votre lettre j’ai fait mettre à part les trois ouvrages de votre choix—Je vous les adresserai à la premiere occasion favorable, avec la philosophie d’Epicure en Latin, par Gassendi—J’augmenterai cet envoi d’un petit Helvetius, en 10 volumes qui me serait parvenu de New York depuis un mois, si la Navigation de notre rivière n’eut eté interceptée par les Glaces—

J’ai cru sentir en lisant votre lettre que vous seriez charmé de posseder les seules Reliques littéraires qui nous restent probablement de l’immortel Franklin, Saint bien plus Grand qu’aucun de ceux du Calendrier du peuple le plus dévot, puisqu’il a contribué par ses miracles à fonder une Nation, où Dieu est adoré suivant la Conscience, & où ses interpretes ne sont que ce qu’ils devraient être partout de simples ministres de la Religion; veuillez donc les accepter malgré le desir religieux de les garder qu’elles m’avaient inspiré, & pour que vous ayez un reliquaire complèt, J’y Joindrai un ouvrage en 3 volumes intitulé Miscellanies of America, ou se trouvent dans le 1er Tome plusieurs notes Marginales au crayon & à la plume, que je crois être du même Grand Homme c’est une offrande que vous fais & qui vous est du puisque vous êtes l’ami & l’un des Collaborateurs de l’illustre mort. Aucun Grec ne fut surpris de voir Philoctète posseder les armes d’Hercule

Recevez avec votre bonté ordinaire l’assurance respectueuse d’une estime profondément sentie

Votre tres devoué Serviteur

N. G. Dufief

Editors’ Translation

14 Feb. 1803

Sir,

You will see from the enclosed certificate that the letter with which you honored me on the 4th did not arrive until today. I am sending you this evidence, first to vindicate myself from any suspicion that I might lack punctuality toward you, who, in your eminent position, give so glorious and at the same time so rare an example of punctuality from which nothing escapes; and second so that, if you judge it appropriate, you can request an investigation of negligence in the Washington post office that could endanger public welfare.

When Colonel Monroe comes through Philadelphia, I will present my respects and render the pleasant service you entrusted to me. Upon receiving your letter, I immediately set aside the three books you chose. I will send them on the first possible occasion, along with Gassendi’s work in Latin on Epicurus’s philosophy. I will include a small Helvetius, in 10 volumes, which would have reached me from New York a month ago if ice had not impeded navigation on our river.

Reading your letter, I sensed that you would enjoy owning what are probably the only remaining literary relics from the immortal Franklin, who was a much greater saint than any of those on the calendar of the most devout believers, since his miracles helped found a nation where God is worshipped by following one’s conscience and where his interpreters are no more than what they should be everywhere: simple ministers of religion. Please accept these books despite my own fervent desire to keep them for myself. For you to have a complete reliquary, I will include a three-volume work entitled Miscellanies on America, whose first volume contains several marginal notes, in pencil and pen, that I believe to be from the same Great Man. This is a gift; it is rightfully yours, since you are the friend and collaborator of the illustrious deceased. No Greek was surprised to see Philoctetes inherit the arms of Hercules—

Receive with your usual kindness the respectful assurance of a deeply felt esteem.

Your devoted servant

N. G. Dufief

RC (DLC); at foot of text: “Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States”; endorsed by TJ as received 19 Feb. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure not found.

For the three works (trois ouvrages) that TJ wanted to purchase from Benjamin Franklin’s library, see TJ to Dufief, 4 Feb.

In March 1802, TJ had asked Dufief to obtain some books from France, including a work by Pierre gassendi on the philosophy of Epicurus and a small-format edition of the works of Claude Adrien Helvétius (Vol. 37:113–14).

reliques littéraires: the pamphlets by Matthew Wheelock and Allen Ramsay from Franklin’s collection; see Dufief’s letter of 31 Jan. and TJ’s reply of 4 Feb.

intitulé miscellanies of america: in three volumes he called Miscellanies on America, Franklin collected 13 printed tracts by various authors that had been published in the period from 1775 to 1781 and related to the colonies’ break from Great Britain. The volumes, which were among the books that TJ sold to the Library of Congress in 1815, contain notations by Franklin (Sowerby, description begins E. Millicent Sowerby, comp., Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson, Washington, D.C., 1952-59, 5 vols. description ends Nos. 3056–3068).

de voir philoctète posseder les armes d’hercule: in Greek mythology, when no one else would light a pyre to put Hercules, who was slowly dying of poison, out of his misery, Philoctetes agreed to do it. In gratitude, Hercules gave Philoctetes his bow and arrows (Richard Stoneman, Greek Mythology: An Encyclopedia of Myth and Legend [London, 1991], 91).

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