The Writings of Thomas Jefferson Part 17

3. Moral Philosophy. I think it lost time to attend lectures on this branch. He who made us would have been a pitiful bungler, if he had made the rules of our moral conduct a matter of science. For one man of science, there are thousands who are not. What would have become of them? Man was destined for society. His morality, therefore, was to be formed to this object. He was endowed with a sense of right and wrong, merely relative to this. This sense is as much a part of his nature, as the sense of hearing, seeing, feeling; it is the true foundation of morality, and not the [Greek: to kalon], truth, &c., as fanciful writers have imagined. The moral sense, or conscience, is as much a part of man as his leg or arm. It is given to all human beings in a stronger or weaker degree, as force of members is given them in a greater or less degree. It may be strengthened by exercise, as may any particular limb of the body. This sense is submitted, indeed, in some degree, to the guidance of reason; but it is a small stock which is required for this: even a less one than what we call common sense.

State a moral case to a ploughman and a professor. The former will decide it as well, and often better than the latter, because he has not been led astray by artificial rules. In this branch, therefore, read good books, because they will encourage, as well as direct your feelings. The writings of Sterne, particularly, form the best course of morality that ever was written. Besides these, read the books mentioned in the enclosed paper; and, above all things, lose no occasion of exercising your dispositions to be grateful, to be generous, to be charitable, to be humane, to be true, just, firm, orderly, courageous, &c. Consider every act of this kind, as an exercise which will strengthen your moral faculties and increase your worth.

4. Religion. Your reason is now mature enough to examine this object.

In the first place, divest yourself of all bias in favor of novelty and singularity of opinion. Indulge them in any other subject rather than that of religion. It is too important, and the consequences of error may be too serious. On the other hand, shake off all the fears and servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a G.o.d; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear. You will naturally examine first, the religion of your own country. Read the Bible, then, as you would read Livy or Tacitus. The facts which are within the ordinary course of nature, you will believe on the authority of the writer, as you do those of the same kind in Livy and Tacitus. The testimony of the writer weighs in their favor, in one scale, and their not being against the laws of nature, does not weigh against them. But those facts in the Bible which contradict the laws of nature, must be examined with more care, and under a variety of faces. Here you must recur to the pretensions of the writer to inspiration from G.o.d. Examine upon what evidence his pretensions are founded, and whether that evidence is so strong, as that its falsehood would be more improbable than a change in the laws of nature, in the case he relates. For example, in the book of Joshua, we are told, the sun stood still several hours. Were we to read that fact in Livy or Tacitus, we should cla.s.s it with their showers of blood, speaking of statues, beasts, etc. But it is said, that the writer of that book was inspired. Examine, therefore, candidly, what evidence there is of his having been inspired. The pretension is ent.i.tled to your inquiry, because millions believe it. On the other hand, you are astronomer enough to know how contrary it is to the law of nature that a body revolving on its axis, as the earth does, should have stopped, should not, by that sudden stoppage, have prostrated animals, trees, buildings, and should after a certain time have resumed its revolution, and that without a second general prostration. Is this arrest of the earth's motion, or the evidence which affirms it, most within the law of probabilities? You will next read the New Testament.

It is the history of a personage called Jesus. Keep in your eye the opposite pretensions: 1, of those who say he was begotten by G.o.d, born of a virgin, suspended and reversed the laws of nature at will, and ascended bodily into heaven; and 2, of those who say he was a man of illegitimate birth, of a benevolent heart, enthusiastic mind, who set out without pretensions to divinity, ended in believing them, and was punished capitally for sedition, by being gibbeted, according to the Roman law, which punished the first commission of that offence by whipping, and the second by exile, or death _in furea_. See this law in the Digest, Lib. 48. t.i.t. 19. -- 28.3. and Lipsius Lib. 2. de cruce.

cap. 2. These questions are examined in the books I have mentioned, under the head of Religion, and several others. They will a.s.sist you in your inquiries; but keep your reason firmly on the watch in reading them all. Do not be frightened from this inquiry by any fear of its consequences. If it ends in a belief that there is no G.o.d, you will find incitements to virtue in the comfort and pleasantness you feel in its exercise, and the love of others which it will procure you. If you find reason to believe there is a G.o.d, a consciousness that you are acting under his eye, and that he approves you, will be a vast additional incitement; if that there be a future state, the hope of a happy existence in that increases the appet.i.te to deserve it; if that Jesus was also a G.o.d, you will be comforted by a belief of his aid and love. In fine, I repeat, you must lay aside all prejudice on both sides, and neither believe nor reject anything, because any other persons, or description of persons, have rejected or believed it. Your own reason is the only oracle given you by heaven, and you are answerable, not for the rightness, but uprightness of the decision. I forgot to observe, when speaking of the New Testament, that you should read all the histories of Christ, as well of those whom a council of ecclesiastics have decided for us, to be Pseudo-evangelists, as those they named Evangelists. Because these Pseudo-evangelists pretended to inspiration, as much as the others, and you are to judge their pretensions by your own reason, and not by the reason of those ecclesiastics. Most of these are lost. There are some, however, still extant, collected by Fabricius, which I will endeavor to get and send you.

5. Travelling. This makes men wiser, but less happy. When men of sober age travel, they gather knowledge, which they may apply usefully for their country; but they are subject ever after to recollections mixed with regret; their affections are weakened by being extended over more objects; and they learn new habits which cannot be gratified when they return home. Young men, who travel, are exposed to all these inconveniences in a higher degree, to others still more serious, and do not acquire that wisdom for which a previous foundation is requisite, by repeated and just observations at home. The glare of pomp and pleasure is a.n.a.logous to the motion of the blood; it absorbs all their affection and attention, they are torn from it as from the only good in this, world, and return to their home as to a place of exile and condemnation. Their eyes are forever turned back to the object they have lost, and its recollection poisons the residue of their lives.

Their first and most delicate pa.s.sions are hackneyed on unworthy objects here, and they carry home the dregs, insufficient to make themselves or anybody else happy. Add to this, that a habit of idleness, an inability to apply themselves to business is acquired, and renders them useless to themselves and their country. These observations are founded in experience. There is no place where your pursuit of knowledge will be so little obstructed by foreign objects, as in your own country, nor any, wherein the virtues of the heart will be less exposed to be weakened. Be good, be learned, and be industrious, and you will not want the aid of travelling, to render you precious to your country, dear to your friends, happy within yourself.

I repeat my advice, to take a great deal of exercise, and on foot.

Health is the first requisite after morality. Write to me often, and be a.s.sured of the interest I take in your success, as well as the warmth of those sentiments of attachment with which I am, dear Peter, your affectionate friend.

TO DR. GEORGE GILMER.

PARIS, August 11, 1787.

DEAR DOCTOR,--Your letter of January the 9th, 1787, came safely to hand in the month of June last. Unluckily you forgot to sign it, and your handwriting is so Protean, that one cannot be sure it is yours. To increase the causes of incert.i.tude, it was dated _Pen-park_, a name which I only know, as the seat of John Harmer. The handwriting, too, being somewhat in his style, made me ascribe it hastily to him, indorse it with his name, and let it lie in my bundle to be answered at leisure. That moment of leisure arriving, I set down to answer it to John Harmer, and now, for the first time, discover marks of its being yours, and particularly those expressions of friendship to myself and family, which you have ever been so good as to entertain, and which are to me among the most precious possessions. I wish my sense of this, and my desires of seeing you rich and happy, may not prevent my seeing any difficulty in the case you state of George Harmer's wills; which as you state them, are thus:

1. A will, dated December the 26th, 1779, written in his own hand, and devising to his brother the estates he had received from him.

2. Another will, dated June the 25th, 1782, written also in his own hand, devising his estate to trustees, to be conveyed to such of his relations. I. H. I. L. or H. L. as should become capable of acquiring property, or, on failure of that, to be sold and the money remitted them.

3. A third will, dated September the 12th, 1786, devising all his estate at Marrowbone, and his tracts at Horse-pasture and Poison-field to you; which will is admitted to record, and of course, has been duly executed.

You say the learned are divided on these wills. Yet I see no cause of division, as it requires little learning to decide, that "the first deed and last will must always prevail." I am afraid, therefore, the difficulty may arise on the want of words of inheritance in the devise to you; for you state it as a devise to "George Gilmer" (without adding "and to his heirs,") of "all the _estate_ called Marrowbone," "the _tract_ called Horse-pasture," and "the _tract_ called Poison-field."

If the question is on this point, and you have copied the words of the will exactly, I suppose you take an estate in fee simple in Marrowbone, and for life only in Horse-pasture and Poison-field; the want of words of inheritance in the two last cases, being supplied as to the first, by the word "estate," which has been repeatedly decided to be descriptive of the quantum of interest devised, as well as of its locality. I am in hopes, however, you have not copied the words exactly, that there are words of inheritance to all the devises, as the testator certainly knew their necessity, and that the conflict only will be between the different wills, in which case I see nothing which can be opposed to the last. I shall be very happy to eat at Pen-park, some of the good mutton and beef of Marrowbone, Horse-pasture and Poison-field, with yourself and Mrs. Gilmer, and my good old neighbors.

I am as happy nowhere else, and in no other society, and all my wishes end, where I hope my days will end, at Monticello. Too many scenes of happiness mingle themselves with all the recollections of my native woods and fields, to suffer them to be supplanted in my affection by any other. I consider myself here as a traveller only, and not a resident. My commission expires next spring, and if not renewed, I shall, of course, return then. If renewed, I shall remain here some time longer. How much, I cannot say; yet my wishes shorten the period.

Among the strongest inducements will be, that of your society and Mrs.

Gilmer's, which I am glad to find brought more within reach, by your return to Pen-park. My daughters are importunate to return also. Patsy enjoys good health, and is growing to my stature. Maria arrived here about a month ago, after a favorable voyage, and in perfect health. My own health has been as good as ever, after the first year's probation.

If you knew how agreeable to me are the details of the small news of my neighborhood, your charity would induce you to write frequently. Your letters lodged in the post office at Richmond (to be forwarded to New York) come with certainty. We are doubtful yet, whether there will be war or not. Present me with warm affection to Mrs. Gilmer, and be a.s.sured yourself of the unvarying sentiments of esteem and attachment, with which I am, dear Doctor, your sincere friend and servant.

TO COLONEL T. M. RANDOLPH.

PARIS, August 11, 1787.

DEAR SIR,--Mr. Ammonett sent me your favor of May 7, which you expected he would have brought. He furnished me with the name of the family to whose property he supposes himself ent.i.tled, and the name of the town where it lies. I have endeavored to have them searched out, but as yet neither family nor town is discovered. If they can be found, the estate will then have to be searched for; the laws for limitation of actions will form the next opposition to him, and probably the laws of forfeiture against the Protestants, who were the subject of the revocation of the edict of Nantes, which laws have never been repealed, nor probably ever will be, even should the future condition of Protestants here be mitigated. I shall proceed in the enquiry for him, and let him know the result.

Your son Thomas, at Edinburgh, has done me the favor to open a little correspondence with me. He has sometimes asked my advice as to the course of his studies, which I have given to him the more freely as he informed me he was not tied down to any particular plan by your instructions. He informed me in his last letter that you proposed he should come to Paris this fall, stay here the winter, and return to Virginia in the spring. I understand him as proposing to study the law, so that probably, on his return, you will place him at Williamsburg for that purpose. On this view of his destination I venture to propose to you another plan. The law may be studied as well in one place as another; because it is a study of books alone, at least till near the close of it. Books can be read equally well at Williamsburg, at London, or Paris. The study of the law is an affair of three years, the last of which should be spent in attending Mr. Wythe's lectures. Upon the plan he has now in expectation, his residence here six months as a traveller, must cost him two hundred guineas, and three years' study at Williamsburg, four hundred and fifty guineas more, making five hundred and fifty guineas in the whole. My proposition is that he shall pa.s.s his two first years of legal study in some one of the villages within an hour's walk of Paris, boarded with some good family, wherein he may learn to speak the language, which is not to be learned in any other way. By this means he will avoid the loss of time and money which would be the consequence of a residence in the town, and he will be nigh enough to come to dine, to make acquaintances, see good company, and examine the useful details of the city. With very great economy he may do this on one hundred guineas a year, but at his ease for one hundred and fifty guineas. At the end of two years I would propose him a journey through the southern parts of France, thence to Genoa, Leghorn, Florence, Rome, Naples, Venice, Milan, Turin, Geneva, Lyons and Paris.

This will employ him seven months, and cost him three hundred and thirty guineas, if he goes alone, or two hundred and thirty guineas if he finds a companion. Then he should return to Virginia, and pa.s.s his third year of legal study in attending Mr. Wythe's lectures. This whole plan would take three years and seven months, and cost from seven hundred to seven hundred and fifty guineas, which would be one month longer, and one hundred and fifty or two hundred guineas dearer than the one proposed. The advantages of this would be his learning to speak French well, his acquiring a better acquaintance here with men and things, and his having travelled through the most interesting parts of Europe, advantages which he will forever think cheaply purchased for one hundred and fifty or two hundred guineas, even were a deduction of that sum to be made from the establishment you mean to give him. But in every case, whether you decide that he shall return to study in Virginia, or remain here for that purpose, I would recommend that he should not be tied down to quit Edinburgh this fall precisely, but only when he shall have finished his courses of lectures in those sciences with which he should not be unacquainted. I have taken the liberty of noting these to him. I perceive by his letters that he has a good genius, and everybody bears witness to his application, which is almost too great. It would be a pity, therefore, he should miss of giving them full encouragement. I must beg your pardon for thus intruding myself into a business belonging to yourself alone, and hope you will find its excuse in the motives from which it proceeds, friendship for yourself, Mrs. Randolph and your son. I wish to see you gratified, and to be gratified myself in seeing him act the advantageous part, which will naturally result from his talents, his merit, and the favorable ground from which he will start; a fear of seeing this endangered by a too early return to our own country where the example of his cotemporaries may soon possibly lead him from the regular pursuits his friends may chalk out for him, all these considerations have impelled me to take this liberty, and to rely for pardon on the a.s.surance of the sincere attachment and respect with which I am, dear Sir, your affectionate friend and servant.

TO THE REVEREND JAMES MADISON.

PARIS, August 13, 1787.

DEAR SIR,--I have been long, very long, without answering your favor of March 27, 1786, and since that I have received those of December 28, and by Mrs. Oster. The reason of this has been that the genius of invention and improvement in Europe seems to be absolutely taking a nap. We have nothing to communicate to you but of the small kind, such as making the axletree turn with the wheel, which has been proposed here, adopted by some, and thought to be proved best by experiment, though theory has nothing to urge in its favor. A hydrostatic waistcoat is lately announced, which a person puts on either above or below his clothes in a minute, and fills with air by blowing with the mouth in twelve seconds. It is not yet shown, however, so I cannot tell you either the manner or matter of its construction. It may be useful when the loss of a vessel is foreseen. Hersch.e.l.l's discovery of two satellites to his planet, you have heard of ere this. He first saw them in January last. One revolves round its princ.i.p.al in about a week; the other in about a fortnight. I think your conjecture that the periodical variation of light in certain fixed stars proceeds from Maculae, is more probable than that of Maupertius, who supposes those bodies may be flat, and more probable also than that which supposes the star to have an orbit of revolution so large as to vary sensibly its degree of light. The latter is rendered more difficult of belief from the shortness of the period of variation. I thank you for the sh.e.l.ls you sent me. Their ident.i.ty with marine sh.e.l.ls and their vicinity to the sea, argue an ident.i.ty of cause. But still the sh.e.l.ls found in the mountains are very imperfectly accounted for. I have lately become acquainted with a memoire on a petrification mixed with sh.e.l.ls by a Monsieur de La Sauvagere, giving an exact account of what Voltaire had erroneously stated in his questions Encyclopediques, article Coquilles, from whence I had transferred it into my notes. Having been lately at Tours, I had an opportunity of enquiring into de La Sauvagere's character, and the facts he states. The result was entirely in his and their favor. This fact is so curious, so circ.u.mstantially detailed, and yet so little like any known operation of nature, that it throws the mind under absolute suspense. The memoir is out of print. But my bookseller is now in search of it, and if he can find it I will put a copy of it into a box of books I shall send by the September packet, addressed to Mr. Wythe. In the same box I will put for you the Bibliotheque Physico-economique, for 1786, 1787, the connoissance des tems, Fourcroy's Chemistry, wherein all the later discoveries are digested, and a number of my notes on Virginia, of a copy of which you will be pleased to accept. It is a poor crayon, which yourself and the gentlemen which issue from your school must fill up. We are doubtful here whether we are to have peace or war. The movements of Prussia and England indicate war; the finances of England and France indicate peace. I think the two last will endeavor to accommodate the Dutch differences. Be pleased to present me respectfully to Mrs. Madison, and after repeating the recommendation of my nephew to you, I take the liberty of a.s.suring you of that esteem with which I am, dear Sir, your friend and servant.

TO THE HONORABLE J. BLAIR.

PARIS, August 13, 1787.

DEAR SIR,--I received the letter with which you were pleased to honor me, by Mrs. Oster, and immediately waited on her with a tender of my services. She had, however, so far got her matters arranged as to be no longer in fear of any disagreeable measure, and is since gone to establish herself with her friends in Lorraine. I wish she may not there have alarms of a different nature. We have hitherto been in hopes that the desperate state of the finances of France and England would indispose those powers to war, and induce them, by an armed mediation, to quiet the affairs of Holland. The actual march, however, of the Prussian troops, the departure of the British squadron somewhere westwardly, and the preparations for a naval armament at Brest, and a land one in the neighborhood of the Netherlands, render war at present more expected than it has been. Still we look to the necessities of the two princ.i.p.al powers as promising efficacy to the negotiations not yet broken off. Though we shall be neutrals, and as such shall derive considerable pecuniary advantages, yet I think we shall lose in happiness and morals by being launched again into the ocean of speculation, led to overtrade ourselves, tempted to become sea-robbers under French colors, and to quit the pursuits of agriculture, the surest road to affluence and best preservative of morals. Perhaps, too, it may divert the attention of the States from those great political improvements, which the honorable body, of which you are a member, will, I hope, propose to them. What these may be, I know not, but I am sure they will be what they should be. My idea is that we should be made one nation in every case concerning foreign affairs, and separate ones in whatever is merely domestic; that the Federal government should be organized into Legislative, Executive and Judiciary, as are the State governments, and some peaceable means of enforcement devised for the Federal head over the States. But of all these things you are a better judge. I have delivered your message to Mr. Mazzei, who is still here. Be so good as to present me respectfully to Mrs. Blair, and to be a.s.sured yourself of the sentiments of esteem and respect with which I have the honor to be, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.

TO JOSEPH JONES.

PARIS, August 14, 1787.

DEAR SIR,--I have never yet thanked you, but with the heart, for the act of a.s.sembly confirming the agreement with Maryland, the pamphlet and papers I received from you a twelve month ago. Very soon after their receipt, I got my right wrist dislocated, which prevented me long from writing, and as soon as that was able to bear it, I took a long journey, from which I am but lately returned. I am anxious to hear what our federal convention recommends, and what the States will do in consequence of their recommendation. * * * * With all the defects of our const.i.tution, whether general or particular, the comparison of our governments with those of Europe, is like a comparison of heaven and h.e.l.l. England, like the earth, may be allowed to take the intermediate station. And yet, I hear there are people among you, who think the experience of our governments has already proved, that republican governments will not answer. Send those gentry here, to count the blessings of monarchy. A king's sister, for instance, stopped on the road, and on a hostile journey, is sufficient cause for him to march immediately twenty thousand men to revenge this insult, when he had shown himself little moved by the matter of right then in question.

From all these broils we are happily free, and that G.o.d may keep us long so, and yourself in health and happiness, is the prayer of, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.

TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.

PARIS, August 14, 1787.

DEAR SIR,--I am happy to find, by the letter of August the 1st, 1786, which you did me the honor to write to me, that the modern dress for your statue would meet your approbation. I found it strongly the sentiment of West, Copley, Trumbull, and Brown, in London; after which, it would be ridiculous to add, that it was my own. I think a modern in an antique dress as just an object of ridicule as a Hercules or Marius with a periwig and a chapeau bras.

I remember having written to you, while Congress sat at Annapolis, on the water communication between ours and the western country, and to have mentioned particularly the information I had received of the plain face of the country between the sources of Big Beaver and Cayohoga, which made me hope that a ca.n.a.l of no great expense might unite the navigation of Lake Erie and the Ohio. You must since have had occasion of getting better information on this subject, and if you have, you would oblige me by a communication of it. I consider this ca.n.a.l, if practicable, as a very important work.

I remain in hopes of great and good effects from the decision of the a.s.sembly over which you are presiding. To make our States one as to all foreign concerns, preserve them several as to all merely domestic, to give to the federal head some peaceable mode of enforcing its just authority, to organize that head into legislative, executive, and judiciary apartments, are great desiderata in our federal const.i.tution.

Yet with all its defects, and with all those of our particular governments, the inconveniences resulting from them, are so light in comparison with those existing in every other government on earth, that our citizens may certainly be considered as in the happiest political situation which exists.

The a.s.semblee des Notables has been productive of much good in this country. The reformation of some of the most oppressive laws has taken place, and is taking place. The allotment of the State into subordinate governments, the administration of which is committed to persons chosen by the people, will work in time a very beneficial change in their const.i.tution. The expense of the trappings of monarchy, too, is lightening. Many of the useless officers, high and low, of the King, Queen, and Princes, are struck off. Notwithstanding all this, the discovery of the abominable abuses of public money by the late Comptroller General, some new expenses of the court, not of a piece with the projects of reformation, and the imposition of new taxes, have, in the course of a few weeks, raised a spirit of discontent in this nation, so great and so general, as to threaten serious consequences. The parliaments in general, and particularly that of Paris, put themselves at the head of this effervescence, and direct its object to the calling the States General, who have not been a.s.sembled since 1614. The object is to fix a const.i.tution, and to limit expenses.

The King has been obliged to hold a bed of justice, to enforce the registering the new taxes; the parliament, on their side, propose to issue a prohibition against their execution. Very possibly this may bring on their exile. The mild and patriotic character of the new ministry, is the princ.i.p.al dependence against this extremity.