war will take place immediately; but they may go off without a settlement, and leave us in constant bickering about indemnification for Spoliations, the navigation of the Mobille, and the Limits of Louisiana.

Burr's enterprise is the most extraordinary since the days of Don Quixot. It is so extravagant that those who know his understanding would not believe it if the proofs admitted doubt. He has meant to place himself on the throne of Montezuma, and extend his empire to the Allegany seizing on N Orleans as the instrument of compulsion for our Western States. I think his undertaking effectually crippled by the activity of Ohio. Whether Kentucky will

give him the coup de grace is doubtful; but if he is able to descend the river with any means we are sufficiently prepared at New Orleans. I hope however Kentucky will do its duty & finish the matter for the honour of popular govmt and the discouragement of all arguments for standing armies. Accept my friendly salutations & assurances of great esteem & respect.

TO THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.
(ALBERT GALLATIN.)

J. MSS.

January 13, 1807. an innovation for Shall we appoint

The appointment of a woman to office is which the public is not prepared, nor am I. Springs, or wait the further recommendations spoken of by Bloodworth? Briggs has resigned, and I wish to consult with you when convenient on his successor, as well as on an Attorney-General. Affectionate salutations.

TO JOHN DICKINSON.

J. MSS.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 13, 1807.

MY DEAR AND ANCIENT FRIEND,-I have duly received your favor of the 1st inst., and am ever thankful for communications which may guide me in the duties which I wish to perform as well as I am able. It is but too true that great discontents exist in the territory of Orleans. Those of the French inhabitants have for their sources, 1, the prohibition of importing slaves. This may be partly removed by Congress permitting them to receive slaves from the other States, which, by dividing that evil, would lessen its danger; 2, the administration of justice in our forms, principles, & language, with all of which they are unacquainted, & are the more abhorrent, because of the enormous expense, greatly exaggerated by the corruption of bankrupt & greedy lawyers, who have gone there from the Ud S. & engrossed the practice; 3, the call on them by the land commissioners to produce the titles of their lands. The object of this is really to record & secure their rights. But as many of them hold on rights so ancient that the title papers are lost, they expect the land is to be taken from them wherever they cannot produce a regular deduction of title in writing. In this they will be undeceived by the final result, which will evince to them a liberal disposition of the government towards them. Among

the American inhabitants it is the old division of federalists & republicans. The former are as hostile there as they are everywhere, & are the most numerous & wealthy. They have been long endeavoring to

batter down the Governor, who has always been a firm republican. There were characters superior to him whom I wished to appoint, but they refused the office: I know no better man who would accept of it, and it would not be right to turn him out for one not better. But it is the 2d. cause, above mentioned, which is deep-seated & permanent. The French members of the Legislature, being the majority in both Houses, lately passed an act declaring that the civil, or French laws, should be the laws of their land, and enumerated about 50 folio volumes, in Latin, as the depositories of these laws. The Governor nega

tived the act. One of the houses thereupon passed a vote for self-dissolution of the Legislature as a useless body, which failed in the other House by a single vote only. They seperated, however, & have disseminated all the discontent they could. I propose to the members of Congress in conversation, the enlisting 30,000 volunteers, Americans by birth, to be carried at the public expense, & settled immediately on a bounty of 160 acres of land each, on the west side of the Mississippi, on the condition of giving two years of military service, if that country should be attacked within 7 years. The defence of the country would thus be placed on the spot, and the additional number would entitle the territory to become a State, would make the majority American, & make it an American instead of a French State. This would not sweeten the pill to the French; but in making that acquisition we had some view to our own good as well as theirs, and I believe the greatest good of both

will be promoted by whatever will amalgamate us together.

I have tired you, my friend, with a long letter. But your tedium will end in a few lines more. Mine has yet two years to endure. I am tired of an office where I can do no more good than many others, who would be glad to be employed in it. To myself, personally, it brings nothing but unceasing drudgery & daily loss of friends. Every office becoming vacant, every appointment made, me donne un ingrat, et cent ennemis. My only consolation is in the belief that my fellow citizens at large give me credit for good intentions. I will certainly endeavor to merit the continuance of that good-will which follows well-intended actions, and their approbation will be the dearest reward I can carry into retirement.

God bless you, my excellent friend, and give you yet many healthy and happy years.

SIR, time.

TO WILLIAM WALLER HENING.'

J. MSS.

WASHINGTON, January 14, 1807.

Your letter of Dec. 26th, was received in due The only object I had in making my collection of the laws of Virginia, was to save all those for the

' Hening was just undertaking his well known Statutes at large of Virginia. On Feb. 28, Jefferson further wrote him :

"SIR,-It has not been in my power sooner to acknolege your letter of Feb. 4. After repeating that my printed collection of laws which are in strong bound volumes, are at your service, I must observe as to the manuscript volumes, that several of them run into one another in point of time, so that the same act will be found in several volumes, and will require a good deal of collating. But what presents a greater difficulty is, that some of these volumes seem to

public which were not then already lost, in the hope that at some future day they might be republished. Whether this be by public or private enterprise, my end will be equally answered. The work divides itself into two very distinct parts; to wit, the printed and the unprinted laws. The former begin in 1682, (Purvis' collection.) My collection of these is in strong volumes, well bound, and therefore may safely be transported anywhere. Any of these volumes. which you do not possess, are at your service for the purpose of republication, but the unprinted laws are dispersed through many MS. volumes, several of them so decayed that the leaf can never be opened but once without falling into powder. These can never bear removal further than from their shelf to a table. They are, as well as I recollect, from 1622 downwards. I formerly made such a digest of their order, and the volumes where they are to be found, that, under my own superintendence, they could be copied with once handling. More they would not bear. Hence the impracticability of their being copied but at Monti

have been records of the council, and to contain interspersed copies of some laws. These volumes are in a black letter, illegible absolutely but to those habituated to it and far beyond the competence of an ordinary scribe. I have never myself searched up the acts which these volumes contain. I have always expected they would fill up some of the lacunæ in the list I sent to Mr. Wythe. As this compilation can be made but once, because in doing it the originals will fall to pieces, my anxiety that justice shall be done it obliges me to say that it cannot be done till I become resident at Monticello. There I will superintend it myself, freely giving my own labour to whoever undertakes to copy & publish, whether on public or private account. The copyist must probably live with me during the work, & of course, I must take some part in his choice. Seeing no inconvenience in publishing first the edited & secondly the inedited laws, I am in hopes that you may think the former may at once be entered on. Accept my salutations & assurances of great esteem & respect."