PART13.TXT

        A NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY









        _To Sir John Sinclair_



        _Washington, June 30, 1803_









        DEAR SIR, -- It is so long since I have had the pleasure of



writing to you, that it would be vain to look back to dates to



connect the old and the new.  Yet I ought not to pass over my



acknowledgments to you for various publications received from time to



time, and with great satisfaction and thankfulness.  I send you a



small one in return, the work of a very unlettered farmer, yet



valuable, as it relates plain facts of importance to farmers.  You



will discover that Mr. Binns is an enthusiast for the use of gypsum.



But there are two facts which prove he has a right to be so: 1. He



began poor, andhas made himself tolerably rich by his farming alone.



2. The county of Loudon, in which he lives, had been so exhausted and



wasted by bad husbandry, that it began to depopulate, the inhabitants



going Southwardly in quest of better lands.  Binns' success has



stopped that emigration.  It is now becoming one of the most



productive counties of the State of Virginia, and the price given for



the lands is multiplied manifold.









        We are still uninformed here whether you are again at war.



Bonaparte has produced such a state of things in Europe as it would



seem difficult for him to relinquish in any sensible degree, and



equally dangerous for Great Britain to suffer to go on, especially if



accompanied by maritime preparations on his part.  The events which



have taken place in France have lessened in the American mind the



motives of interest which it felt in that revolution, and its amity



towards that country now rests on its love of peace and commerce.  We



see, at the same time, with great concern, the position in which



Great Britain is placed, and should be sincerely afflicted were any



disaster to deprive mankind of the benefit of such a bulwark against



the torrent which has for some time been bearing down all before it.



But her power and powers at sea seem to render everything safe in the



end.  Peace is our passion, and the wrongs might drive us from it.



We prefer trying _ever_ other just principles, right and safety,



before we would recur to war.









        I hope your agricultural institution goes on with success.  I



consider you as the author of all the good it shall do.  A better



idea has never been carried into practice.  Our agricultural society



has at length formed itself.  Like our American Philosophical



Society, it is voluntary, and unconnected with the public, and is



precisely an execution of the plan I formerly sketched to you.  Some



State societies have been formed heretofore; the others will do the



same.  Each State society names two of its members of Congress to be



their members in the Central society, which is of course together



during the sessions of Congress.  They are to select matter from the



proceedings of the State societies, and to publish it; so that their



publications may be called _l'esprit des societes d'agriculture_, &c.



The Central society was formed the last winter only, so that it will



be some time before they get under way.  Mr. Madison, the Secretary



of State, was elected their President.









        Recollecting with great satisfaction our friendly intercourse



while I was in Europe, I nourish the hope it still preserves a place



in your mind; and with my salutations, I pray you to accept



assurances of my constant attachment and high respect.















        PEACE FOUNDED ON INTEREST









        _To the Earl of Buchan_



        _Washington, July 10, 1803_









        MY LORD, -- I received, through the hands of Mr. Lenox, on his



return to the United States, the valuable volume you were so good as



to send me on the life and writings of Fletcher, of Saltoun.  The



political principles of that patriot were worthy the purest periods



of the British Constitution; they are those which were in vigor at



the epoch of the American emigration.  Our ancestors brought them



here, and they needed little strengthening to make us what we are.



But in the weakened condition of English whigism at this day, it



requires more firmness to publish and advocate them than it then did



to act on them.  This merit is peculiarly your Lordship's; and no one



honors it more than myself.  While I freely admit the right of a



nation to change its political principles and constitution at will,



and the impropriety of any but its own citizens censuring that



change, I expect your Lordship has been disappointed, as I



acknowledge I have been, in the issue of the convulsions on the other



side the channel.  This has certainly lessened the interest which the



philanthropist warmly felt in those struggles.  Without befriending



human liberty, a gigantic force has risen up which seems to threaten



the world.  But it hangs on the thread of opinion, which may break



from one day to another.  I feel real anxiety on the conflict to



which imperious circumstances seem to call your nation, and bless the



Almighty Being, who, in gathering together the waters under the



heavens into one place, divided the dry land of your hemisphere from



the dry lands of ours, and said, at least be there peace.  I hope



that peace and amity with all nations will long be the character of



our land, and that its prosperity under the Charter will react on the



mind of Europe, and profit her by the example.  My hope of preserving



peace for our country is not founded in the greater principles of



non-resistance under every wrong, but in the belief that a just and



friendly conduct on our part will procure justice and friendship from



others.  In the existing contest, each of the combatants will find an



interest in our friendship.  I cannot say we shall be unconcerned



spectators of this combat.  We feel for human sufferings, and we wish



the good of all.  We shall look on, therefore, with the sensations



which these dispositions and the events of the war will produce.









        I feel a pride in the justice which your Lordship's sentiments



render to the character of my illustrious countryman, Washington.



The moderation of his desires, and the strength of his judgment,



enabled him to calculate correctly, that the road to that glory which



never dies is to use power for the support of the laws and liberties



of our country, not for their destruction; and his will accordingly



survives the wreck of everything now living.









        Accept, my lord, the tribute of esteem, from one who renders it



with warmth to the disinterested friend of mankind, and assurances of



my high consideration and respect.















        PHILOSOPHY AND BLASTED HOPES









        _To Pierre J. G. Cabanis_



        _Washington, July 12, 1803_









        DEAR SIR, -- I lately received your friendly letter of 28



Vendem. an. 11, with the two volumes on the relations between the



physical and moral faculties of man.  This has ever been a subject of



great interest to the inquisitive mind, and it could not have got



into better hands for discussion than yours.  That thought may be a



faculty of our material organization, has been believed in the gross;



and though the "modus operandi" of nature, in this, as in most other



cases, can never be developed and demonstrated to beings limited as



we are, yet I feel confident you will have conducted us as far on the



road as we can go, and have lodged us within reconnoitering distance



of the citadel itself.  While _here_, I have time to read nothing.



But our annual recess for the months of August and September is now



approaching, during which time I shall be at the Montrials, where I



anticipate great satisfaction in the presence of these volumes.  It



is with great satisfaction, too, I recollect the agreeable hours I



have past with yourself and M. de La Roche, at the house of our late



excellent friend, Madame Helvetius, and elsewhere; and I am happy to



learn you continue your residence there.  Antevil always appeared to



me a delicious village, and Madame Helvetius's the most delicious



spot in it.  In those days how sanguine we were! and how soon were



the virtuous hopes and confidence of every good man blasted! and how



many excellent friends have we lost in your efforts towards



self-government, _et cui bono_?  But let us draw a veil over the



dead, and hope the best for the living.  If the hero who has saved



you from a combination of enemies, shall also be the means of giving



you as great a portion of liberty as the opinions, habits and



character of the nation are prepared for, progressive preparation may



fit you for progressive portions of that first of blessings, and you



may in time attain what we erred in supposing could be hastily seized



and maintained, in the present state of political information among



your citizens at large.  In this way all may end well.









        You are again at war, I find.  But we, I hope, shall be



permitted to run the race of peace.  Your government has wisely



removed what certainly endangered collision between us.  I now see



nothing which need ever interrupt the friendship between France and



this country.  Twenty years of peace, and the prosperity so visibly



flowing from it, have but strengthened our attachment to it, and the



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