第38章

Thishasenabledmetoengagesomanypersonsintheexperimentastobetolerablysureitwillbefairlymadebysomeofthem。ItwillfurnishalsoacomparisonwiththatfromTimor。Ihavethesuccessofthisspeciesofriceatheart，becauseitwillnotonlyenableotherstatestocultivatericewhichhavenotlandssusceptibleofinundationbutbecausealsoifthericebeasgoodasissaid，itmaytakeplaceofthewetriceintheSouthernstates，&bysupersedingthenecessityofoverflowingtheirlands，savethemfromthepestilential&mortalfeversbroughtonbythatoperation。

WehavelatelyhadintroducedaplantoftheMelonspecieswhich，fromit’sexternalresemblancetothepumpkin，wehavecalledapumpkin，distinguishingitspecificallyasthe_potatoe-pumpkin_，onaccountoftheextremeresemblanceofit’stastetothatofthesweet-potatoe。Itisasyetbutlittleknown，iswellesteemedatourtable，andparticularlyvaluedbyournegroe’s。Comingmuchearlierthantherealpotatoe，wearesomuchthesoonerfurnishedwithasubstituteforthatroot。Iknownotfromwhenceitcame；sothatperhapsitmaybeoriginallyfromyourislands。InthatcaseyouwillonlyhavethetroubleofthrowingawaythefewseedsI

encloseyouherewith。Ontheotherhand，ifunknownwithyou，I

thinkitwillprobablysucceedintheislands，andmayaddtothecatalogueofplantswhichwilldoassubstitutesforbread。Ihavealwaysthoughtthatifintheexperimentstointroduceortocommunicatenewplants，onespeciesinanhundredisfounduseful&

succeeds，theninetyninefoundotherwisearemorethanpaidfor。Mypresentsituation&occupationsarenotfriendlytoagriculturalexperiments，howeverstronglyIamledtothembyinclination。I

willaskpermissiontoaddressmyselftoyouforsuchseedsasmightbeworthtryingfromyourquarter，freelyofferingyoureciprocalservicesinthesameoranyotherlineinwhichyouwillbesogoodastocommandthem。Ihavethehonortobewithgreatrespect&

esteem，SirYourmostobedt。&mosthumbleservt，”ASCOLDINGLETTER”

_ToMarthaJeffersonRandolph_

_Philadelphia，Dec。23，1790_

MYDEARDAUGHTER——Thisisascoldingletterforyouall。I

havenotrecievedascripofapenfromhomesinceIleftitwhichisnowelevenweeks。Ithinkitsoeasyforyoutowritemeonelettereveryweek，whichwillbebutonceinthreeweeksforeachofyou，whenIwriteoneeveryweekwhohavenotonemoment’sreposefrombusinessfromthefirsttothelastmomentoftheweek。Perhapsyouthinkyouhavenothingtosaytome。Itisagreatdealtosayyouareallwell，orthatonehasacold，anotherafever&c。，besidesthatthereisnotasprigofgrassthatshootsuninterestingtome，noranythingthatmoves，fromyourselfdowntoBergereorGrizzle。

Writethenmydeardaughterpunctuallyonyourday，andMr。RandolphandPollyontheirs。Isuspectyoumayhavenewstotellmeofyourselfofthemosttenderinteresttome。Whysilentthen?

Iamstillwithoutahouse，andconsequentlywithoutaplacetoopenmyfurniture。ThishaspreventedmysendingyouwhatIwastosendforMonticello。Inthemeantimetheriverisfrozenupsoasthatnovesselcangetout，norprobablywillthesetwomonths：sothatyouwillbemuchlongerwithoutthemthanIhadhoped。Iknowhowinconvenientthiswillbeandamdistressedatit；butthereisnohelp。IsendapamphletforMr。Randolph。Mybestaffectionstohim，Pollyandyourself。Adieumydear，AHERETICALSECT

_ToGeorgeMason_

_Philadelphia，Feb。4，1791_

DEARSIR，——IamtomakeyoumyacknowledgmentsforyourfavorofJan。10，&theinformationfromFrancewhichitcontained。ItconfirmedwhatIhadheardmorelooselybefore，andaccountsstillmorerecentaretothesameeffect。IlookwithgreatanxietyforthefirmestablishmentofthenewgovernmentinFrance，beingperfectlyconvincedthatifittakesplacethere，itwillspreadsoonerorlateralloverEurope。Onthecontraryachecktherewouldretardtherevivaloflibertyinothercountries。Iconsidertheestablishmentandsuccessoftheirgovernmentasnecessarytostayupourown，andtopreventitfromfallingbacktothatkindofHalf-wayhouse，theEnglishconstitution。Itcannotbedeniedthatwehaveamongusasectwhobelievethattocontainwhateverisperfectinhumaninstitutions；thatthemembersofthissecthave，manyofthem，names&officeswhichstandhighintheestimationofourcountrymen。

Istillrelythatthegreatmassofourcommunityisuntaintedwiththeseheresies，asisit’shead。OnthisIbuildmyhopethatwehavenotlabouredinvain，andthatourexperimentwillstillprovethatmencanbegovernedbyreason。Youhaveexcitedmycuriosityinsaying”thereisaparticularcircumstance，littlea