To Thomas Jefferson from Sir John Sinclair, 6 June 1800
From Sir John Sinclair
London 29 Parliament Street 6 June 1800.
Dear Sir,
Permit me to recommence our correspondence together, by requesting your Acceptance, of the Copy of a Work, in which, I am persuaded, you will feel yourself, in various respects, deeply interested. Being on the Eve of setting out for Scotland, I hope you will excuse me for using a borrowed hand, & for writing you a short letter. I cannot however avoid requesting your particular attention, to one point, respecting which I had the pleasure of corresponding with General Washington, namely the establishment of a Board of Agriculture in America, respecting which I have also taken the Liberty of writing Mr. Adams. Hoping by your united efforts, to see this important Object accomplished, I beg to subscribe myself,
With much respect & regard, Dear Sir, Your faithful and Obedient Servant
John Sinclair
RC (DLC); in clerk’s hand, signed by Sinclair; endorsed by TJ as received 29 Nov. but recorded in SJL at 28 Nov. 1800. Enclosure: probably Letters from His Excellency George Washington, President of the United States of America, to Sir John Sinclair, Bart. M.P. on Agricultural, and Other Interesting Topics (London, 1800).
For Sinclair’s previous correspondence with Washington and TJ on the establishment of a board of agriculture in America, see Sinclair to TJ, 15 July 1797. A facsimile of Washington’s letter to Sinclair of 6 Mch. 1797 was included in Sinclair’s Letters from His Excellency George Washington. In it Washington noted that Congress had made no decision on a board of agriculture but he hoped the next Congress would “bring this matter to maturity” (same, 41–2). Liberty of writing Mr. Adams: Sinclair to John Adams, 5 June 1800, in which Sinclair enclosed another copy of the publication he sent TJ and urged the president to use his influence to erect a board of agriculture as recommended by his predecessor (MHi: Adams Family Papers).