To Thomas Jefferson from John and Lucy Ludwell Paradise, 10 October 1788
From John and Lucy Ludwell Paradise
Bergamo, 10 Oct. 1788. Is grateful for TJ’s favors to himself and his family; their trip was “prosperous” and they found their “friends in perfect health and completely happy.” Awaits the arrival of William Short. Was “under a necessity of using Mr. Grand’s letter to the banker at Lyons,” and is thus accountable on demand to TJ for thirty Louis d’or. [Beneath Paradise’s signature, in the hand of Lucy Ludwell Paradise:] Thanks TJ for his attentions; when Short arrives, he “will learn things from the Count that will be of great service to Virginia” sends “affectionate Love” to TJ’s daughters; asks that their letters be forwarded in care of the Count Barziza.
RC (DLC); 2 p.; endorsed; printed in Shepperson, John Paradise and Lucy Ludwell, Richmond, 1942, p. 341–2. Although there is no mention of an enclosure, Paradise must have enclosed the letter mentioned in TJ to Trumbull, 1 Nov. 1788, as being addressed on the first page to William Anderson and on the second page to TJ; from TJ’s remarks to Trumbull it is also evident that the substance of this joint letter must have been concerned with Paradise’s indebtedness to TJ for the thirty Louis d’or.