TO THOMAS COOPER. J. MSS. WASHINGTON, July 9, '07. DEAR SIR,-Your favor of June 23 is received. I had not before learned that a life of Dr. Priestley had been published, or I should certainly have procured it; for no man living had a more affectionate respect for him. In religion, in politics, in physics, no man has rendered more service. I had always expected that when the republicans should have put down all things under their feet, they would schismatize among themselves. I always expected, too, that whatever names the parties might bear, the real division would be into moderate & ardent republicanism. In this division there is no great evil, not even if the minority obtain the ascendency by the accession of federal votes to their candidate; because this gives us one shade only, instead of another, of republicanism. It is to be considered as apostasy only when they purchase the votes of federalists, with a participation in honor & power. The gross insult lately received from the English has forced the latter into a momentary coalition with the mass of republicans; but the moment we begin to act in the very line they have joined in approving, all will be wrong, and every act the reverse of what it should have been. Still, it is better to admit their coalescence, & leave to themselves their short-lived existence. Both reason & the usage of nations required we should give Gr. Britain an opportunity of disavowing & repairing the insult of their officers. It gives us at the same time an opportunity of getting home our vessels, our property, & our sea men, the only means of carrying on the kind of war we should attempt. The only difference, I believe, between your opinion & mine, as to the protection of commerce, is the forcing the nation to take the best road, & the letting them take the worse, if such is their will. I salute you with great esteem & respect.1 1 1 Jefferson further wrote to Cooper : "MONTICELLO, Sepг. I, '07. "DEAR SIR,-Your favor of the 9th is received, & with it the copy of Dr. Priestley's Memoirs, for which I return you many thanks. I shall read them with great pleasure, as I revered the character of no man living more than his. With another part of your letter I am sensibly affected. I have not here my correspondence with Govr. McKean to turn to, but I have no reason to doubt that the particular letter referred to may have been silent on the subject of your appointment as stated. The facts are these: The opinion I have ever entertained, & still entertain as strongly as ever, of your abilities & integrity, was such as made it my wish, from the moment I came to the administration, that you should be employed in some public way. On a review, however, of all circumstances, it appeared to me that the State of Pensylva had occasions for your service, which would be more acceptable than any others to yourself, because they would leave you in the enjoyment of the society of Dr. Priestley, to which your attachment was known. I therefore expressed my solicitude respecting you to Gov. McKean, whose desires to serve yourself & the public by employing you I knew to be great, & of course that you were an object of mutual concern, and I received his information of having found employment for your talents with the sincerest pleasure. But pressed as I am perpetually by an overflow of business, & adopting from necessity the rule of never answering any letter, or part of a letter, which can do without answer, in replying to his which related to other subjects, I probably said nothing on that, because my former letter had sufficiently manifested how pleasing the circumstance must be to me, and my time & practice did not permit me to be repeating things already said. This is a candid statement of that incident, and I hope you will see in it a silence accounted for on grounds far different from that of a continuance of my estimation & good wishes, which have experienced no change. With respect to the schism among the republicans in your State, I have ever declared to both parties that I consider the general government as bound to take no part in it, and I have carefully kept both my judgment, my affections, & my conduct, clear of all bias to either. It is true, as you have heard, that a distance has taken place between Mr. Clay & myself. The cause I never could learn nor imagine. I had always known him to be an able man, & I believed him an honest one. I had looked to his coming into Congress with an entire belief TO THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY. J. MSS. July 10, 1807. Something now occurs almost every day on which it is desirable to have the opinions of the heads of departments, yet to have a formal meeting every day would consume so much of their time as to seriously obstruct their regular business. I have proposed to them, as most convenient for them, & wasting less of their time, to call on me at any moment of the day which suits their separate convenience, when, besides any other business they may have to do, I can learn their opinions separately on any matter which has occurred, & also communicate the information received daily. Perhaps you could find it more convenient, sometimes, to make your call at the hour of dinner, instead of going so much further to dine alone. You will always find a plate & a sincere welcome. In this way, that is, successively, I have to-day consulted the other gentlemen on the question whether letters of marque were to be considered as within our interdict. We are unanimously of opinion they are not. We consider them as essentially merchant vessels; that commerce is their main object, and arms merely incidental & defensive. Affectionate salutations. TO THE U. S. MINISTER TO SPAIN. J. MSS. WASHINGTON, July 10, '07. DEAR SIR,-I wrote you on the 10th of July, 06, but supposing, from your not acknoleging the receipt of the letter, that it had miscarried, I sent a duplicate with my subsequent one of Apr. 2. that he would be cordial with the administration, and even before that I had always had him in my mind for a high important vacancy which had been from time to time expected, but is only now about to take place. I feel his loss therefore with real concern, but it is irremediable from the necessity of harmony & cordiality between those who are to manage together the public concerns. Not only his withdrawing from the usual civilities of intercourse with me, (which even the federalists with 2 or 3 exceptions keep up,) but his open hostility in Congress to the administration, leave no doubt of the state of his mind as a fact, altho' the cause be unknown. Be so good as to communicate my respects to Mr. Priestley, and to accept yourself my friendly salutations, & assurances of unaltered esteem." These having gone by the Wasp, you will doubtless have received them. Since that, yours of May 1 has come to hand. You will see by the despatches from the department of State, carried by the armed vessel the Revenge, into what a critical state our peace with Gr. Britain is suddenly brought, by their armed vessels in our waters. Four vessels of war (3. of them two deckers) closely blockade Norfolk at this instant. Of the authority under which this aggression is committed, their minister here is unapprised. You will see by the proclamation of July 2, that (while we are not omitting such measures of force as are immediately necessary) we propose to give Gr. Br. an opportunity of disavowal & reparation, and to leave the question of war, non-intercourse, or other measures, uncommitted, to the Legislature. This country has never been in such a state of excitement since the battle of Lexington. In this state of things, cordial friendship with France, & peace at least with Spain, become more interesting. You know the circumstances respecting this last power, which have rendered it ineligible that you should have proceeded heretofore to your destination. But this obstacle is now removed by their recall of Yrujo, & appointment of another minister, & in the meantime, of a chargé des affaires, who has been received. The way being now open for taking your station at Madrid, it is certainly our wish you should do so, and that this may be more agreeable to you than your return home, as is solicited in yours of May 1. It is with real unwillingness we should relinquish the benefit of your services. Nevertheless, if your mind is decidedly bent on that, we shall regret, but not oppose your return. choice, therefore, remains with yourself. In the meantime, your place in the joint commission being vacated by either event, we shall take the measures rendered necessary by that. We have seen, with real grief, the misunderstanding which has taken place between yourself & Gen. Armstrong. We are neither qualified nor disposed to form an opinion between you. We regret the pain which must have been felt by persons, both of whom hold so high a place in our esteem, and we have not been without fear that the public interest might suffer by it. It has seemed, however, that the state of Europe has been such as to admit little to be done, in matters so distant from them. The The present alarm has had the effect of suspending our foreign commerce. No merchant ventures to send out a single vessel; and I think it probable this will continue very much the case till we get an answer from England. Our crops are uncommonly plentiful. That of small grain is now secured south of this, and the harvest is advancing here. Accept my salutations, & assurances of affectionate esteem & respect. TO BARNABAS BIDWELL. J. MSS. WASHINGTON, July 11, 07. DEAR SIR,-Yours of June 27 has been duly received, and altho' wishing your happiness always, I cannot be altogether unpleased with a transfer of your services to a department more pleasing to yourself, yet I cannot but lament your loss in Congress. You know that talents cannot be more useful anywhere than there; and the times seem to portend that we may have occasion there for all we possess. You have long ago learnt the atrocious acts committed by the British armed vessels in the Chesapeake & it's neighborhood. They cannot be easily accommodated, altho it is believed that they cannot be justified by orders from their government. We have acted on these principles; 1, to give that government an opportunity to disavow & make reparation; 2, to give ourselves time to get in the vessels, property & seamen, now spread over the ocean; 3, to do no act which might compromit Congress in their choice between war, non-intercourse, or any other measure. We shall probably call them some time in October, having regard to the return of the healthy season, and to the receipt of an answer from Great Britain, be |