To John Jay from Thomas Jefferson, 3 August 1788
From Thomas Jefferson
Paris Aug. 3. 1788.
Sir
My last letters to you were of the 4th. and 23d. of May, with a postscript of the 27th. since that I have been honoured with yours of Apr. 24. May 16. & June 9.1
The most remarkeable internal occurrences since my last are these. The Noblesse of Bretagne, who had received with so much warmth the late innovations in the government, assembled & drew up a memorial to the king and chose 12. members of their body to come & present it. among these were the Marquis de la Rouerie (Colo. Armand.)2 the king considering the Noblesse as having no legal right to assemble, declined receiving the memorial. the deputies, to give greater weight to it, called a meeting of the landed proprietors of Bretagne, resident at Paris & proposed to them to add their signatures. they did so, to the number of about 60. of whom the Marquis de la Fayette was one. the 12. deputies, for having called this meeting were immediately sent to the Bastille, where they now are, and the Parisian signers were deprived of such favors as they held of the court. there were only four of them however who held any thing of that kind. the Marquis de la Fayette was one of these. they had given him a military command to be exercised in the South of France during the months of Aug. & September of the present year. This they took from him; so that he is disgraced in the antient language of the court, but, in truth, honourably marked in the eyes of the nation. the ministers are so sensible of this that they have had separately private conferences with him, to endeavour thro’ him to keep things quiet. from the character of the province of Bretagne it was much apprehended for some days that the imprisonment of their deputies would have produced an insurrection. but it took another turn. the Cours intermediaires of the Province, acknowledged to be a legal body, deputed 18. members of their body to the king. to these he gave an audience, and the answer, of which I send you a copy. this is hard enough. yet I am in hopes the appeal to the sword will be avoided, and great modifications in the government be obtained, without bloodshed. as yet none has been spilt, according to the best evidence I have been able to obtain, notwithstanding what the foreign newspapers have said to the contrary. the convocation of the States general is now become inevitable. whenever the time shall be announced certainly, it will keep the nation quiet till they meet. according to present probabilities this must be in the course of the next summer. but to what movements their meeting & measures may give occasion cannot be foreseen. should a foreign war take place, still they must assemble the States-general, because they cannot, but by their aid, obtain money to carry it on. Monsieur de Malesherbe will, I believe retire from the king’s council. he has been much opposed to the late acts of authority. the Baron de Breteuil has resigned his secretaryship of the domestic department. certainly not for the same reasons, as he is known to have been of opinion that the king had compromitted too much of his authority. the real reason has probably been an impatience of acting under a principal minister. ^his successor is M. de Villedeuil, lately Comptroller general.^3 The Ambassadors of Tippoo-Saïb are arrived here. if their mission has any other object than that of pomp & ceremony, it is not yet made known, tho’ this court has not avowed that they are in possession of Trincomale, yet the report is believed, and that possession was taken by general Conway in consequence of orders given in the moment that they thought a war certain.4 the dispute with the States general of the United Netherlands on account of the insult to M. de St. Priest, does not tend as yet towards a settlement. he has obtained leave to go to the waters, and perhaps, from thence he may come to Paris to await events.5 Sweden has commenced hostilities against Russia by the taking a little fortress by land. this having been their intention, it is wonderful that when their fleet lately met three Russian ships of 100 guns each, they saluted, instead of taking them. the Empress has declared war against them in her turn. it is well understood that Sweden is set on by England and paid by Turkey. the prospect of Russia has much brightened by some late successes. their fleet of gallies and gunboats, 27. in number having been attacked by 57. Turkish vessels of the same kind commanded by the Captain Pacha, these were repulsed with the loss of three vessels. in this action, which was on the 18th. of June, Admiral Paul Jones commanded the right wing of the Russians, & the prince of Nassau the left. on the 26th. of the same month, the Turkish principal fleet, that is to say their ships of the line, frigates &c. having got themselves near the swash at the mouth of the Boristhenes, the prince of Nassau took advantage of their position, attacked them, while so engaged in the mud that they could not manoeuvre, burnt six, among which was the Admiral’s & Viceadmiral’s, took two, & made between 3. & 4000 prisoners. the first reports gave this success to Admiral Paul Jones; but it is now rendered rather probable that he was not there, as he commands the vessels of war, which are said not to have been there. it is supposed his presence in the affair of the 18th. was accidental. but if this success has been as compleat as it is represented, the Black sea must be tolerably open to the Russians: in which case we may expect, from what we know of that officer, that he will improve to the greatest advantage the situation of things on that sea. the Captain Pacha’s standard was taken in the last action, & himself obliged to make his escape in a small vessel. Prince Potemkin immediately got under march for Oczakow, to take advantage of the consternation into which that place was thrown.6
The Spanish squadron, after cruising off the Western isles & cape St. Vincent, is returned into port.
A dispute has arisen between the Papal see and the king of Naples which may in it’s progress enable us to estimate what degree of influence that see retains at the present day. the kingdom of Naples, at an early period of it’s history, became feudatory to the see of Rome, and in acknolegement thereof has annually paid a hackney to the Pope in Rome, to which place it has been always sent by a splendid embassy. the hackney has been refused by the king this year, and the Pope, giving him three months to return to obedience, threatens, if he does not, to proceed seriously against him.
About three weeks ago a person called on me, & informed me that Silas Deane had taken him in for a sum of 120 guineas, & that, being unable to obtain any other satisfaction, he had laid hands on his account book, & letter book, and had brought them off to Paris, to offer them first to the United States, if they would repay him his money, and, if not, that he should return to London & offer them to the British minister. I desired him to leave them with me four & twenty hours that I might judge whether they were worth our notice. he did so. they were two volumes. one contained all his accounts with the U.S. from his first coming to Europe, to Jan. 10. 1781. presuming that the Treasury board was in possession of this account till his arrival in Philadelphia Aug. 1778. and that he had never given in the subsequent part, I had that subsequent part copied from the book, & now inclose it, as it may on some occasion or other perhaps, be useful in the Treasury office. the other volume contained all his correspondencies from Mar. 30. to Aug. 23. 1777. I had a list of the letters taken, by their dates & addresses, which will enable you to form a general idea of the collection. on perusal of many of them I thought it desireable that they should not come to the hands of the British minister, and from an expression dropped by the possessor of them, I believe he would have fallen to 50. or 60. guineas. I did not think them important enough however to justify my purchasing them without authority; though, with authority, I should have done it. indeed I would have given that sum to cut out a single sentence which contained evidence of a fact not proper to be committed to the hands of enemies. I told him I would state his proposition to you and await orders. I gave him back the books, & he returned to London without making any promise that he would await the event of the orders you might think proper to give.7
News of the accession of nine states to the new form of federal government has been received here about a week. I have the honour to congratulate you sincerely on this event. of it’s effect at home you are in the best situation to judge. on this side the Atlantic it is considered as a very wise reformation. in consequence of this, speculations are already begun here to purchase up our domestic liquidated debt. indeed I suspect that orders may have been previously lodged in America to do this as soon as the new constitution was accepted effectually. if it is thought that this debt should be retained at home, there is not a moment to lose; and I know of no means of retaining it but
those I suggested to the Treasury board in my letter to them of March 29.8 the transfer of these debts to Europe will excessively embarrass, & perhaps totally prevent, the borrowing any money in Europe till these shall be paid off. this is a momentous object, and in my opinion should receive instantaneous attention. The gazettes of France to the departure of my letter will accompany it, & those of Leyden to the 22d. of July, at which time their distribution in this country was prohibited. how long the prohibition may continue I cannot tell. as far as I can judge it is the only paper in Europe worth reading. since the suppression of the packet boats, I have never been able to find a safe conveiance for a letter to you, till the present by mrs Barclay. whenever a confidential person shall be going from hence to London I shall send my letters for you to the care of mr Trumbul, who will look out for safe conveiances.9 this will render the epochs of my writing very irregular. there is a proposition under consideration for establishing packet boats on a more economical plan from Havre to Boston. but it’s success is a^in^certain, & still more it’s duration. I have the honour to be with sentiments of the most perfect esteem & respect, Sir your most obedient & most humble servant
Th: Jefferson10
The honble J. Jay
ALS, DNA: PCC, item 87, 2: 183–90. PrC, DLC: Jefferson (EJ: 10174). Enclosures: (1) “Response du Roi aux Deputés et Commissaires des Etats de Brétagne,” C, in French, in William Short’s hand accompanied by newspaper clipping of English translation, DNA: PCC, item 87, 2: 191–93, (2) “Extract from Silas Deane’s Account against Congress,” 1779–Jan. 1781, C, in Short’s hand, DNA: PCC, item 87, 2: 195–97; PrC, DLC. This and a translation of enclosure (1) are printed in , 2: 178–80. (3) “List of the letters of Silas Deane contained in his letter-book,” 30 Mar. 1777–23 Aug. 1777, C, in Short’s hand, DNA: PCC, No. 87, 2: 199–202; PrC, DLC: Jefferson.
1. See TJ to JJ, 4 May, , 4: 709–12; and 23 May, PrC, DLC: Jefferson (EJ: 10171); and JJ to TJ, 24 Apr., , 4: 698–99; 16 May, LbkC, , 300 (EJ: 02527); and 9 June 1788, Dft, NNC (EJ: 05837), and LbkC, Foreign Letters, 300–302 (EJ: 02528); and , 13: 164, 188–96, 247–49.
2. Charles Armand Tuffin, marquis de la Rouërie (1751–93), known in the United States as Colonel Armand, served as a cavalry officer in the United States army during the Revolution. He had returned to France in 1784.
3. Guillaume Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes (1721–94), a prominent French lawyer, intellectual, and former minister, was called from retirement to serve as minister in 1787 and resigned in 1788. After unsuccessfully defending Louis XVI during his trial in 1792, Malesherbes was arrested and guillotined, with all his family. Louis Charles Auguste le Tonnelier, baron de Breteuil, baron de Preuilly, minister of the king’s household, resigned on 24 July 1788. In 1789 he was appointed chief minister immediately before the fall of the Bastille, whereupon he fled into exile. Pierre Charles Laurent Villedeuil, served as comptroller general for four months in 1787, and replaced Breteuil as minister of the king’s household on 25 July 1788.
4. Tippoo Sahib or Tipu Sahib, 1749–99, sultan of Mysore (1782–99) was the son and successor of Hyder Ali. He fought in his father’s campaigns but made peace with the British in 1784. His invasion (1789) of Travancore, a state under British protection, provoked war anew. He was defeated by the British in 1792 and again in 1799, when he was killed in battle. Thomas Conway, an Irish-born French officer who had served in the Continental Army, was governor-general of the French colonies in India from 1787 to 1789.
5. François Emmanuel Guignard, comte de Saint-Priest, ambassador to the Netherlands, became a member of the French ministry in December 1788.
6. Captain Pasha was the title of the admiral of the Ottoman navy. Holding the post at this time was Cezayirli Gazi Hasan Pasha or Hasan Pasha of Algiers (1713–90), a Georgian who served as admiral from 1770 to 1790. He commanded during the Russo-Turkish Wars of 1768–74 and 1787–92. John Paul Jones received a commission as rear admiral in the Russian navy in April 1788 (see TJ to JJ, 4 May 1788, , 4: 711, 712n8). He was given command of a Russian fleet on the Black Sea that successfully engaged Captain Pasha’s forces in June and July 1788, in conjunction with a Russian flotilla commanded by Charles Henry, Prince of Nassau-Siegen (, 4: 260n3), another rear admiral who was given most of the credit for victories at Liman and Ochakov. Jones operated under orders from and was commended by Gregori Aleksandrovich, Prince Potemkin (1739–91), chief adviser of Catherine the Great. Jones relinquished command of the fleet in October 1788 and returned to St. Petersburg.
7. For the purchase of these letter books (not found) from one M. Foulloy, see JJ to TJ, 25 Nov. 1788, Dft, NNC (EJ: 05851); LbkC, , 312–14 (EJ: 02536); and TJ to JJ, 12 Mar. 1789, and notes, below. Only a few of the letters on Short’s list of the letter books’ contents have been found; most of the correspondence appears to relate to supply ventures, naval operations, and prizes. The single sentence within Silas Deane’s letter books that TJ noted with alarm was an extract from Deane’s letter to Robert Morris of 11 Apr. 1777, relating to the involvement of Edward Bancroft with the incendiary James Aitken in the plot to burn British shipyards: “The affair of John the Painter who came nigh finishing the whole affair at one blow and his known attachment to America as well as correspondence with Dr. Franklin and my self obliges him to fly and take refuge with me here.” See , 13: 468; and 515–28. On John the Painter, see , 2: 242n3. JJ was aware of Silas Deane’s activities during that period because of his early membership on the Committee of Secret Correspondence and his subsequent role in deciphering and conveying to Congress letters Deane wrote in invisible ink. See , 1: 172, 294–98, 300–302, 310–11, 313–18, 358, 359n2, 424–25, 425n4, 431–32, 469n1, 472–73, 499, 500n1, 501. See also Deane’s letter to Morris of 11 Apr. 1777, RC, DLC: Robert Morris, and his previous letter of 16 Mar. 1777, , 2: 24–25.
8. See TJ to the Commissioners of the Treasury, 29 Mar. 1788, , 12: 598–600.
9. Painter John Trumbull had met TJ in London in the summer of 1785. The two maintained contact, and Trumbull stayed with TJ in Paris in the summer of 1786 and the fall of 1787. He forwarded some of TJ’s letters safely to the United States following the suspension of the French packets to New York. , 92, 95–121, 152. Mary Hoops Barclay (1750–c. 1834), wife of Thomas Barclay, was returning to America with her family and also conveyed some of TJ’s correspondence. Priscilla H. Roberts and Richard S. Roberts, Thomas Barclay (1728–1793) Consul in France, Diplomat in Barbary (Bethlehem, Pa., 2008), 254, 274.
10. For JJ’s reply, see his letter of 25 Nov. 1788, below.