Thomas Jefferson to Mathew Carey, 11 April 1820
To Mathew Carey
Monticello Apr. 11. 20
I thank you, Sir, for the copy of your New Olive branch, which you have been so kind as to send me. you have taken the right road to solve the great question which is the subject of it, by bringing it to the test of figures. age and ill health have obliged me to abandon all such speculations, and to resign myself to the care of the authorities of the day, which I do with equal chearfulness and confidence. they, I hope and trust, will conclude what is best, and I give honor and thanks to those who, like yourself, endeavor to lighten their path.
Will you permit me to return the 4to edition of Haines you sent me some time ago, in exchange for your 8vo edition? a Quarto is too burthensome for my enfeebled muscles. both are unbound, and their weight beyond what is proper for the mail. they must be past therefore by water, under address to the care of Capt Bernard Peyton of Richmond. I salute you with friendship and respect.
Th: Jefferson
RC (ViU: TJP); endorsed by Carey as received 16 Apr. RC (photocopy in TJ Editorial Files); address cover only; addressed: “Mr Matthew Carey Philadelphia”; franked; postmarked Charlottesville, 13 Apr. PoC (DLC); on verso of reused address cover of Henry M. Brackenridge to TJ, 5 Feb. 1820; endorsed by TJ.
TJ’s copy of Carey, The New Olive Branch: or, an attempt to establish an identity of interest between Agriculture, Manufactures, and Commerce (Philadelphia, 1820; , 11 [no. 708]), is in ViU, with Carey’s inscription: “Presented to Thos Jefferson Esqr as a mark of respect By the Author.” The book includes quotes excerpted from TJ to Carey, 9 Feb. 1815 (unpaginated front matter), and TJ to Benjamin Austin, 9 Jan. 1816 (p. 54). Carey’s new edition of the work by Edward Baines (haines) was History of the Wars of the French Revolution, from the breaking out of the war, in 1792, to the restoration of a general peace, in 1815; comprehending The Civil History of Great Britain and France, during that period, 4 vols. (Philadelphia, 1819; , 4 [no. 89]; TJ’s copy in MWiW-C).
Index Entries
- Austin, Benjamin (of Boston); correspondence with TJ published search
- Baines, Edward; History of the Wars of the French Revolution search
- Carey, Mathew; and publication of books on history search
- Carey, Mathew; letters to search
- Carey, Mathew; The New Olive Branch: or, an attempt to establish an identity of interest between Agriculture, Manufactures, and Commerce search
- French Revolution; works on search
- History of the Wars of the French Revolution (E. Baines) search
- Jefferson, Thomas; Books & Library; packing and shipping of search
- Jefferson, Thomas; Books & Library; preferred physical characteristics search
- Jefferson, Thomas; Books & Library; receives works search
- Jefferson, Thomas; Correspondence; publication of papers search
- Jefferson, Thomas; Health; debility search
- Peyton, Bernard; and goods for TJ search
- The New Olive Branch: or, an attempt to establish an identity of interest between Agriculture, Manufactures, and Commerce (M. Carey) search