Details
JEFFERSON, THOMAS, President. Autograph letter signed ("Th:Jefferson") as U.S. Minister to France, to Mr. [Nathaniel] Cutting in Le Havre; Paris, 10 September 1789. One page, 4to, address leaf preserved separately with panel addressed by Jefferson to "Monsieur Cutting chez M. Wheatcroft negociant au Havre," recipient's docket, extremely minor ink marks at extreme left-hand edge of sheet, otherwise in crisp condition.
JEFFERSON ANXIOUSLY SEEKS A SHIP TO SAIL FROM REVOLUTIONARY FRANCE
An interesting letter, revealing Jefferson's impatience and "inquietude" as he seeks to return to his homeland while violent revolution rises to a crescendo in France. The Bastille had been stormed and demolished in July and at the end of August the National Assembly adopted the famous "Declaration of Rights" (on which Jefferson had exerted some influence, though his friend Lafayette, who introduced the resolution). On August 26 Jefferson had received permission to return to America with his two daughters and two servants, James and Sally Hemming. "I am honoured with your favour of the 3d. and thank you for the information it contained. None of the vessels mentioned in it will suit me, unless that of Mr. Taylor of Norfolk [the Clermont] should be longer receiving its orders than we ought to expect. However this sometimes happens and I do not therefore give up the possibility that she may be here late enough to carry me. Indeed I begin to be anxious now to know of a ship, because the time approaches at which I wish to get off, and because I learn that there is no vessel at Bordeaux, & have no expectation of there being any at Nantes or Lorient, so that my reliance is almost entirely on Havre, and therefore I shall look for your letters with more and more inquietude daily. My baggage left this on Sunday last on board the Diligence d'Eau [ferry] for Havre....I took the liberty of addressing it to you. It consists of 38 boxes, hampers & bales & I will beg the favor of you to have them stored in a good warehouse, convenient to the port. I must also beg the favor of you to advance for the transportation fee, which I will pay here to your order on sight....With many apologies for the trouble I am obliged to give you......"
On the 25th of September Jefferson gave a farewell dinner in Paris. Guests included Robert Morris (in Paris on business), the Marquis de Lafayette (soon to be overwhelmed by the tides of revolution), Condorcet, and La Rouchefoucauld . From Le Havre his party proceeded to Cowes, England, where they learned of the flight and capture of Louis XVI. They embarked for America on October 22. See D. Malone, Jefferson and the Rights of Man, Chapters X and XI.
JEFFERSON ANXIOUSLY SEEKS A SHIP TO SAIL FROM REVOLUTIONARY FRANCE
An interesting letter, revealing Jefferson's impatience and "inquietude" as he seeks to return to his homeland while violent revolution rises to a crescendo in France. The Bastille had been stormed and demolished in July and at the end of August the National Assembly adopted the famous "Declaration of Rights" (on which Jefferson had exerted some influence, though his friend Lafayette, who introduced the resolution). On August 26 Jefferson had received permission to return to America with his two daughters and two servants, James and Sally Hemming. "I am honoured with your favour of the 3d. and thank you for the information it contained. None of the vessels mentioned in it will suit me, unless that of Mr. Taylor of Norfolk [the Clermont] should be longer receiving its orders than we ought to expect. However this sometimes happens and I do not therefore give up the possibility that she may be here late enough to carry me. Indeed I begin to be anxious now to know of a ship, because the time approaches at which I wish to get off, and because I learn that there is no vessel at Bordeaux, & have no expectation of there being any at Nantes or Lorient, so that my reliance is almost entirely on Havre, and therefore I shall look for your letters with more and more inquietude daily. My baggage left this on Sunday last on board the Diligence d'Eau [ferry] for Havre....I took the liberty of addressing it to you. It consists of 38 boxes, hampers & bales & I will beg the favor of you to have them stored in a good warehouse, convenient to the port. I must also beg the favor of you to advance for the transportation fee, which I will pay here to your order on sight....With many apologies for the trouble I am obliged to give you......"
On the 25th of September Jefferson gave a farewell dinner in Paris. Guests included Robert Morris (in Paris on business), the Marquis de Lafayette (soon to be overwhelmed by the tides of revolution), Condorcet, and La Rouchefoucauld . From Le Havre his party proceeded to Cowes, England, where they learned of the flight and capture of Louis XVI. They embarked for America on October 22. See D. Malone, Jefferson and the Rights of Man, Chapters X and XI.