Thomas Jefferson Papers
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Thomas Jefferson to Madame de Tessé, 8 December 1813

To Madame de Tessé

Dec. 8. 13.

While at war, my dear madam and friend, with the Leviathan of the ocean, there is little hope of a letter’s escaping his thousand ships; yet I cannot permit myself longer to withold the acknolegement of your letter of June 28. of the last year, with which came the Memoirs of the Margrave of Bareuth. I am much indebted to you for this singular morsel of history which has given us a curtain view of kings, queens & princes disrobed of their formalities. it is a peep into the stable of the Egyptian god Apis. it would not be easy to find grosser manners, coarser vices, or more meanness in the poorest huts of our peasantry. the princess shews herself the legitimate sister of Frederic, cynical, selfish, and without a heart. notwithstanding your wars with England, I presume you get the publications of that country. the Memoirs of mrs Clarke and of her Darling prince, and the Book, emphatically so called, because it is the Biblia Sacra Deorum et Dearum sub-caelestium, the Prince regent, his Princess and the minor deities of his sphere,1 form a worthy sequel to the memoirs of Bareuth; instead of the vulgarity and penury of the court of Berlin giving us the vulgarity & profusion of that of London, and the gross stupidity and profligacy of the latter, in lieu of the genius and misanthropism of the former. the whole might be published as a Supplement to M. de Buffon, under the title of the ‘Natural history of kings & Princes,’ or as a separate work & called ‘Medecine for Monarchists.’ the ‘Intercepted letters’ a later English publication of great wit and humor, has put them to their proper use by holding them up as butts for the ridicule and contempt of mankind. yet by such worthless beings is a great nation to be governed, & even made to deify their old king because he is only a fool and a maniac, and to forgive and forget his having lost to them a great & flourishing empire, added 900. Millions sterling to their debt, for which the fee simple of the whole island would not sell, if offered farm by farm at public auction, and increased their annual taxes from 8. to 70 millions sterling, more than the whole rent-roll of the island. what must be the dreary prospect from the son when such a father is deplored as a national loss. but let us drop these odious beings and pass to those of an higher order the plants of the field. I am afraid I have given you a great deal more trouble than I intended by my enquiries for the Maronnier or Castanea Sativa, of which I wished to possess my own country, without knowing how rare it’s culture was even in yours. the two plants which your researches have placed in your own garden, it will be all but impossible to remove hither. the war renders their safe passage across the Atlantic extremely precarious, and, if landed any where but in the Chesapeak, the risk of the additional voyage along the coast to Virginia is still greater. under these circumstances it is better they should retain their present station, and compensate to you the trouble they have cost you. I learn with great pleasure the success of2 your new gardens at Aulnay. no occupation can be more delightful or useful. they will have the merit of inducing you to forget those of Chaville. with the botanical riches which you mention to have been derived to England from New Holland, we are as yet unacquainted. Lewis’s journey across our continent to the Pacific has added a number of new plants to our former stock, some of them are curious, some ornamental, some useful, and some may by culture be made acceptable on our tables. I have growing, which I destine for you, a very handsome little shrub, of the size of a currant bush. it’s beauty consists in a great produce of berries, of the size of currants, and literally as white as snow, which remain on the bush thro’ the winter after it’s leaves have fallen, and make it an object as singular as it is beautiful. we call it the Snow-berry bush, no botanical name being yet given to it, but I do not know why we might not call it Chionicoccos, or Kallicoccos. all Lewis’s plants are growing in the garden of mr McMahon a gardener3 of Philadelphia to whom I consigned them, and from whom I shall have great pleasure, when peace is restored, in ordering for you any of these, or of our other indigenous plants. the port of Philadelphia has great intercourse with Bordeaux and Nantes, and some little perhaps with Havre. I was mortified not long since by recieving a letter from a merchant in Bordeaux, apologising for having suffered a box of plants addressed by me to you, to get accidentally covered in his warehouse by other objects, and to remain three years undiscovered when every thing in it was found to be rotten. I have learnt occasionally that others rotted in the warehouses of the English pyrates. we are now settling that account with them. we have taken their Upper Canada, and shall add the Lower to it when the season will admit; and hope to remove them fully and finally from our continent. and what they will feel more, for they value their colonies only for the bales of cloth they take from them, we have established manufactures, not only sufficient to supercede our demand from them, but to rivalise them in foreign markets. but for the course of our war I will refer you to M. de la Fayette to whom I state it more particularly. our friend mr Short is well. he makes Philadelphia his winter quarters and New york, or the country, those of the summer. in his fortune he is perfectly independant and at ease, and does not trouble himself with the party politics of our country. will you permit me to place here for M. de Tessé the testimony of my high4 esteem and respect, and accept for yourself an assurance of the warm recollections I retain of your many civilities & courtesies to me, and the homage of my constant and affectionate attachment and respect.

Th: Jefferson

RC (NNPM). PoC (DLC); at foot of first page: “Mde de Tessé.” Enclosed in TJ to David Bailie Warden, 29 Dec. 1813, and TJ to John Graham, 6 Jan. 1814.

The leviathan of the ocean was Great Britain. When a new bull was selected as the manifestation of the egyptian god apis, during the first forty days when only women were permitted to see him, they lifted their garments and exposed themselves to him (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, 1.85, in Diodorus of Sicily, trans. Charles H. Oldfather and others, Loeb Classical Library [1933–67; repr. 1989], 1:290–1; for editions of this author owned by TJ, see Sowerby, description begins E. Millicent Sowerby, comp., Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson, 1952–59, 5 vols. description ends nos. 37–8). The memoirs of Mary Anne clarke, the mistress of her darling prince, Frederick, duke of York, were contained in Evidence and Proceedings upon the Charges preferred against the Duke of York, in 1809 (London, 1809; Sowerby, description begins E. Millicent Sowerby, comp., Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson, 1952–59, 5 vols. description ends no. 409). For the book, see TJ to Samuel Pleasants, 11 Aug. 1813, and note. biblia sacra deorum et dearum sub-caelestium: “holy book of the gods and goddesses under Heaven.” prince regent George was married to Caroline Amelia Elizabeth, princess of Wales, while the old king was his father, George III. SJL does not record receipt in 1813 of a single letter from a merchant in bordeaux, and none has been found.

1Word interlined in place of “court and government.”

2TJ here canceled “our.”

3Preceding two words interlined.

4Word interlined.

Index Entries

  • Apis (Egyptian god) search
  • Buffon, Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de; mentioned search
  • Canada; TJ anticipates American conquest of search
  • Canada; U.S. invasion of search
  • Canada; Upper search
  • Caroline Amelia Elizabeth, Princess of Wales search
  • chestnut; European search
  • Clarke, Mary Anne; Evidence and Proceedings upon the Charges preferred against the Duke of York, in 1809 search
  • Egypt; deities of search
  • Evidence and Proceedings upon the Charges preferred against the Duke of York, in 1809 (M. A. Clarke) search
  • Frederick Augustus, Duke of York and Albany search
  • Frederick II (“the Great”), king of Prussia; Mémoires de Frédérique Sophie Wilhelmine de Prusse, Margrave de Bareith search
  • Frédérique Sophie Wilhelmine, margravine de Bayreuth; Mémoires de Frédérique Sophie Wilhelmine de Prusse, Margrave de Bareith (included in Book of Kings compiled by TJ;see also Book of Kings) search
  • George, Prince Regent (later George IV, king of Great Britain); as Prince of Wales search
  • George III, king of Great Britain; TJ on search
  • Great Britain; TJ on war with search
  • Intercepted Letters; or, the Twopenny Post Bag (T. Moore) search
  • Jefferson, Thomas; Books & Library; receives books search
  • Jefferson, Thomas; Opinions on; domestic manufacturing search
  • Jefferson, Thomas; Opinions on; George III search
  • Jefferson, Thomas; Opinions on; war with Great Britain search
  • Lafayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, marquis de; and Madame de Tessé search
  • Lewis, Meriwether; Lewis and Clark Expedition search
  • Lewis and Clark Expedition; plants from search
  • manufacturing, household; TJ on search
  • McMahon, Bernard; and seeds of Lewis and Clark Expedition search
  • Mémoires de Frédérique Sophie Wilhelmine de Prusse, Margrave de Bareith (Frédérique Sophie Wilhelmine, margravine de Bayreuth; included in Book of Kings compiled by TJ) search
  • Moore, Thomas (1779–1852); Intercepted Letters; or, the Twopenny Post Bag search
  • Perceval, Spencer; “The Book!” or, The Proceedings and Correspondence upon the subject of the Inquiry into the Conduct of Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales (included in Book of Kings compiled by TJ;see also Book of Kings) search
  • plants; sent by TJ search
  • plants; specimens from Lewis and Clark Expedition search
  • Short, William; TJ on search
  • snowberry search
  • Tessé, Adrienne Catherine de Noailles de; and European chestnuts search
  • Tessé, Adrienne Catherine de Noailles de; and Lafayette search
  • Tessé, Adrienne Catherine de Noailles de; garden of search
  • Tessé, Adrienne Catherine de Noailles de; letters to search
  • Tessé, René Mans Froulay, comte de; TJ sends greetings to search
  • trees; chestnut, European search
  • women; letters to; Madame de Tessé search
  • “The Book!” or, The Proceedings and Correspondence upon the subject of the Inquiry into the Conduct of Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales (S. Perceval; included in Book of Kings compiled by TJ) search