第34章

Ihavehithertoavoidedpublicnewsinmyletterstoyou，becauseyoursituationinsuredyouacommunicationofmyletterstoMr。Jay。Thiscircumstancebeingchanged，Ishallinfutureindulgemyselfinthesedetailstoyou。TherehadbeensomeslighthopesthatanaccommodationmightbeaffectedbetweentheTurks&twoempiresbutthesehopesdonotstrengthen，andtheseasonisapproachingwhichwillputanendtothemforanothercampaignatleast。TheaccidenttotheKingofEnglandhashadgreatinfluenceontheaffairsofEurope。HismediationjoinedwiththatofPrussia，wouldcertainlyhavekeptDenmarkquiet，andsohaveleftthetwoempiresinthehandsoftheTurks&Swedes。ButtheinactivitytowhichEnglandisreduced，leavesDenmarkmorefree，andshewillprobablygooninoppositiontoSweden。TheK。ofPrussiatoohadadvancedsofarthathecanscarcelyretire。ThisisrenderedthemoredifficultbythetroubleshehasexcitedinPoland。Hecannotwellabandonthepartyhehadbroughtforwardtheresothatitisverypossiblehemaybeengagedintheensuingcampaign。Francewillbequietthisyear，becausethisyearatleastisnecessaryforsettlingherfutureconstitution。TheStateswillmeetthe27thofApril：andthepublicmindwillIthinkbythattimeberipeforajustdecisionoftheQuestionwhethertheyshallvotebyordersorpersons。Ithinkthereisamajorityofthenoblesalreadyforthelatter。Ifso，theiraffairscannotbutgoonwell。Besidessettlingforthemselvesatolerablyfreeconstitution，perhapsasfreeaoneasthenationisyetpreparedtobear，theywillfundtheirpublicdebts。Thiswillgivethemsuchacreditaswillenablethemtoborrowanymoneytheymaywant，&ofcoursetotakethefieldagainwhentheythinkproper。AndIbelievetheymeantotakethefieldassoonastheycan。TheprideofeveryindividualinthenationsuffersundertheignominiestheyhavelatelybeenexposedtoandIthinkthestatesgeneralwillgivemoneyforawartowipeoffthereproach。Therehavearisennewbickeringsbetweenthiscourt&

theHague，andthepaperswhichhavepassedshewthemostbitteracrimonyranklingattheheartofthisministry。TheyhaverecalledtheirambassadorfromtheHaguewithoutappointingasuccessor。TheyhavegivenanotetotheDietofPolandwhichshewsadisapprobationoftheirmeasures。TheinsanityoftheKingofEnglandhasbeenfortunateforthemasitgivesthemtimetoputtheirhouseinorder。

TheEnglishpaperstellyoutheKingiswell：andeventheEnglishministrysayso。Theywillnaturallysetthebestfootforemost：andtheyguardhispersonsowellthatitisdifficultforthepublictocontradictthem。TheKingisprobablybetter，butnotwellbyagreatdeal。1。Hehasbeenbled，andjudiciousphysicianssaythatinhisexhaustedstatenothingcouldhaveinducedarecurrencetobleedingbutsymptomsofrelapse。2。ThePrinceofWalestellstheIrishdeputationhewillgivethemadefinitiveanswerinsomedays；

butifthekinghadbeenwellhecouldhavegivenitatonce。3。

Theytalkofpassingastandinglawforprovidingaregencyinsimilarcases。Theyapprehendthentheyarenotyetclearofthedangerofwantingaregency。4。Theyhavecarriedthekingtochurch；butitwashisprivatechapel。Ifhebewellwhydonottheyshewhimpubliclytothenation，&raisethemfromthatconsternationintowhichtheyhavebeenthrownbytheprospectofbeingdeliveredovertotheprofligatehandsoftheprinceofWales。Inshort，judgingfromlittlefactswhichareknowninspiteoftheirteeththeKingisbetter，butnotwell。Possiblyheisgettingwell，butstill，timewillbewantingtosatisfyeventheministrythatitisnotmerelyalucidinterval。ConsequentlytheycannotinterruptFrancethisyearinthesettlementofheraffairs，&afterthisyearitwillbetoolate。

AsyouwillbeinasituationtoknowwhentheleaveofabsencewillbegrantedmewhichIhaveasked，willyoubesogoodastocommunicateitbyalinetoMr。Lewis&Mr。Eppes?Ihopetoseeyouinthesummer，andthatifyouarenototherwiseengaged，youwillencampwithmeatMonticelloforawhile。

SCIENCEANDLIBERTY

_ToJosephWillard_

_Paris，March24，1789_

SIR，——IhavebeenlatelyhonoredwithyourletterofSeptemberthe24th，1788，accompaniedbyadiplomaforaDoctorateofLaws，whichtheUniversityofHarvardhasbeenpleasedtoconferonme。ConscioushowlittleImeritit，Iamthemoresensibleoftheirgoodnessandindulgencetoastranger，whohashadnomeansofservingormakinghimselfkno