1. For William Short’s letter, see Jefferson, Papers description begins The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Julian P. Boyd, Charles T. Cullen, John Catanzariti, Barbara B. Oberg, and others, Princeton, N.J., 1950–. description ends , 8:358–359.

2. Although given here as “Roan,” Jefferson means Louis René Edouard, Cardinal de Rohan, then imprisoned in the Bastille and awaiting trial for his part in the Diamond Necklace Affair, a scandal that bolstered criticism of the court’s decadence. After Marie Antoinette refused to purchase a 2,800-carat rivière necklace, Rohan’s mistress Jeanne de La Motte connived to acquire it, supposedly on the queen’s behalf, in order to enhance her wealth and increase their influence at Versailles, and even forged a letter from Marie Antoinette to Rohan approving the sale. While Rohan made illusory promises to pay, La Motte sold the stones in and around Paris, using the money to buy a luxurious estate. By summer the scheme unraveled, and Louis XVI ordered Rohan’s arrest on 15 August. Popularly depicted as a martyr of royal absolutism, Rohan brought his private library and servants to jail, where he entertained visitors with oysters and champagne. At the resulting trial, Rohan was acquitted and La Motte was flogged, branded, and imprisoned (Schama, Citizens description begins Simon Schama, Citizens:A Chronicle of the French Revolution, New York, 1989. description ends , p. 203–210). Jefferson wrote to AA on 4 Sept. that “there results from this two consequences not to his [Rohan’s] honour, that he is a debauchee, and a booby” (AFC description begins Adams Family Correspondence, ed. L. H. Butterfield, Marc Friedlaender, Richard Alan Ryerson, Margaret A. Hogan, and others, Cambridge, 1963–. description ends , 6:333).