David Bailie Warden to Thomas Jefferson, 15 May 1823
From David Bailie Warden
Paris, 15 may. 23.
Dear Sir,
I seize the opportunity of mr. gallatins’ return to the united States to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, of the 30th of oct. last, and to inform you that he has taken charge of five small parcels for you containing Vols and Brochures. Baron Humboldt sends you a copy of his last publication and Bishop gregoire a copy of his manuel de Piété. your Parisian friends are glad to hear of the recovery of your health—Professor Thouin regrets, that a vessel on board of which he had forwarded a collection of seeds for you has been driven ashore near the port of her departure and the Seeds injured. mr Tracy bids me inform you, that the last letter which he received from you, is dated the 26 Dec. 20. He wishes to know whether you received his of the 24 Nov. 20 and 22 feb. 21., and also whether the article amour is inserted in the american Translation of his Work.
Mr gallatin will no doubt give you information concerning the present state of Europe. The fate of Spain is not yet decided. If the Spaniards accept the proposed arrangement after the arrival of the french Troops at Madrid, they will be finally subjugated. If they resist, by retiring to the mountains, and defending themselves as they have always done on the guerrilla system, the struggle may continue several years, but they will finally triumph, if England and Russia continue neutral: if either should interfere, their jealousies are now so great, that they will probably kindle a general war in Europe. notwithstanding1 the prevailing opinion, that the Spaniards encouraged by the measures of the English Cabinet, will continue to fight in support of their Independence, the french funds, which are considered as the true Index of public opinion, have remained for several days at 87:
The Trustees of the College of Harvard have purchased my Collection of Books relating to north america for the sum of 25.000 Francs.
I pray you to present my respects to mr and mrs Randolph.2 I am, dear Sir, with great esteem and respect,
D B. Warden
| PS. | By some division among the members of the Linnæan society, twenty eight of the most distinguished, among whom is the President, have given in their dismission and the society will of course lose much of its eclat. |
RC (DLC: TJ Papers, 224:40037); adjacent to postscript: “The Honbl Thomas Jefferson”; endorsed by TJ as a letter of 13 May 1823 received 8 July and so recorded in SJL; with notations by TJ beneath endorsement similar to those on verso of RC of de Bure Frères to TJ, 27 Aug. 1823. Enclosed in Albert Gallatin to TJ, 29 June 1823.
Henri gregoire sent TJ his Manuel de Piété a l’usage des Hommes de Couleur et des Noirs (2d ed., Paris, 1822; , 10 [no. 550]). Warden’s collection of books, which arrived at Harvard University in August 1823, consisted of “about 1300 volumes, chiefly on American History, and a collection of 300 choice Maps, illustrative of the same” (Boston Daily Advertiser, 27 Aug. 1823). The president of the Société Linnéenne de Paris was Lacépède.
Among TJ’s papers is an undated note from the artist Julien (Jules) Léopold Boilly to Warden: “Mr Jul. Boilly, auteur de la Collection des Portraits des membres de l’institut de france, est Venu de la part de Mr grégoire Pour avoir l’honneur de Voir Monsieur Warden, et lui demander s’il pourrait lui prêter le portrait de Jefferson, associé étranger de l’institut” (“Mr. Jul. Boilly, the creator of the collection of portraits of the members of the Institut de France, has been sent by Mr. Grégoire in order to have the honor of seeing Mr. Warden and asking him if he could lend him the portrait of Jefferson, a foreign member of the Institut”) (RC in DLC: TJ Papers, 221:39493).
1. Manuscript: “notwhstanding.”
2. Omitted period at right margin editorially supplied.
Index Entries
- boats; run aground search
- Boilly, Julien (Jules) Léopold; and portrait of TJ search
- books; on history search
- books; sent by D. B. Warden search
- Destutt de Tracy, Antoine Louis Claude; De l’Amour search
- France; and invasion of Spain search
- France; public opinion in search
- France; seeds from search
- Gallatin, Albert; and European politics search
- Gallatin, Albert; conveys letters and parcels search
- Great Britain; and French invasion of Spain search
- Grégoire, Henri; and portrait of TJ search
- Grégoire, Henri; Manuel de Piété a l’usage des Hommes de Couleur et des Noirs search
- Harvard University; books for search
- Humboldt, Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander, Baron von; sends books to TJ search
- Institut de France; members of search
- Jefferson, Thomas; Books & Library; works sent to search
- Jefferson, Thomas; Health; good health of search
- Jefferson, Thomas; Portraits; mentioned search
- Lacépède, Bernard Germain Étienne de La Ville-Sur-Illon, comte de; and Société Linnéenne de Paris search
- Manuel de Piété a l’usage des Hommes de Couleur et des Noirs (H. Grégoire) search
- maps; of U.S. search
- Randolph, Martha Jefferson (Patsy; TJ’s daughter; Thomas Mann Randolph’s wife); and D. B. Warden search
- Randolph, Thomas Mann (1768–1828) (TJ’s son-in-law; Martha Jefferson Randolph’s husband); greetings sent to search
- Russia; and French invasion of Spain search
- schools and colleges; Harvard University search
- seeds; sent to TJ search
- Société Linnéenne de Paris; loss of members search
- Spain; invaded by France search
- Thoüin, André; sends seeds to TJ search
- Warden, David Bailie; and Destutt de Tracy letters search
- Warden, David Bailie; and European affairs search
- Warden, David Bailie; and portrait of TJ search
- Warden, David Bailie; and seeds from A. Thoüin search
- Warden, David Bailie; and Société Linnéenne de Paris search
- Warden, David Bailie; and TJ’s health search
- Warden, David Bailie; letters from search
- Warden, David Bailie; library of search
- Warden, David Bailie; sends greetings to Randolphs search
- Warden, David Bailie; sends publications to TJ search