第52章

Pennsylvania，Jersey&NYorkarecomingmajesticallyroundtothetrueprinciples。InPensylva，13。outof22。countieshadalreadypetitionedonthealien&seditionlaws。Jersey&NYhadbegunthesamemovement，andtho’therisingofCongressstopsthatchannelfortheexpressionoftheirsentiment，thesentimentisgoingonrapidly，&beforetheirnextmeetingthosethreeStateswillbesolidlyembodiedinsentimentwiththesixSouthern&Westernones。TheatrociousproceedingsofFrancetowardsthiscountry，hadwellnighdestroyeditsliberties。TheAnglomenandmonocratshadsoartfullyconfoundedthecauseofFrancewiththatoffreedom，thatbothwentdowninthesamescale。Isincerelyjoinyouinabjuringallpoliticalconnectionwitheveryforeignpower；andthoIcordiallywishwelltotheprogressoflibertyinallnations，andwouldforevergiveittheweightofourcountenance，yettheyarenottobetouchedwithoutcontaminationfromtheirotherbadprinciples。

Commercewithallnations，alliancewithnone，shouldbeourmotto。

Acceptassurancesoftheconstant&unalteredaffectionof，dearSir，yoursincerefriendandservant。

FREEDOMOFMIND

_ToWilliamGreenMunford_

_Monticello，June18，1799_

DEARSIR——IhavetoacknolegetherecieptofyourfavorofMay14inwhichyoumentionthatyouhavefinishedthe6。firstbooksofEuclid，planetrigonometry，surveying&algebraandaskwhetherI

thinkafurtherpursuitofthatbranchofsciencewouldbeusefultoyou。TherearesomepropositionsinthelatterbooksofEuclid，&

someofArchimedes，whichareuseful，&Ihavenodoubtyouhavebeenmadeacquaintedwiththem。Trigonometry，sofarasthis，ismostvaluabletoeveryman。Thereisscarcelyadayinwhichhewillnotresorttoitforsomeofthepurposesofcommonlife。Thescienceofcalculationalsoisindispensibleasfarastheextractionofthesquare&cuberoots；algebraasfarasthequadraticequation&theuseoflogarithmsareoftenofvalueinordinarycases：butallbeyondtheseisbutaluxury；adeliciousluxuryindeed；butnottobeindulgedinbyonewhoistohaveaprofessiontofollowforhissubsistence。InthislightIviewtheconicsections，curvesofthehigherorders，perhapsevensphericaltrigonometry，algebraicaloperationsbeyondthe2ddimension，andfluxions。Thereareotherbranchesofsciencehoweverworththeattentionofeveryman。

Astronomy，botany，chemistry，naturalphilosophy，naturalhistory，anatomy。Notindeedtobeaproficientinthem；buttopossesstheirgeneralprinciples&outlines，soasthatwemaybeabletoamuseandinformourselvesfurtherinanyofthemasweproceedthroughlife&

haveoccasionforthem。Someknowledgeofthemisnecessaryforourcharacteraswellascomfort。Thegeneralelementsofastronomy&ofnaturalphilosophyarebestacquiredatanacademywherewecanhavethebenefitoftheinstruments&apparatususuallyprovidedthere：

buttheothersmaywellbeacquiredfrombooksaloneasfarasourpurposesrequire。Ihaveindulgedmyselfintheseobservationstoyou，becausetheevidencecannotbeunusefultoyouofapersonwhohasoftenhadoccasiontoconsiderwhichofhisacquisitionsinsciencehavebeenreallyusefultohiminlife，andwhichofthemhavebeenmerelyamatterofluxury。

Iamamongthosewhothinkwellofthehumancharactergenerally。Iconsidermanasformedforsociety，andendowedbynaturewiththosedispositionswhichfithimforsociety。Ibelievealso，withCondorcet，asmentionedinyourletter，thathismindisperfectibletoadegreeofwhichwecannotasyetformanyconception。Itisimpossibleforamanwhotakesasurveyofwhatisalreadyknown，nottoseewhatanimmensityineverybranchofscienceyetremainstobediscovered，&thattooofarticlestowhichourfacultiesseemadequate。Ingeometry&calculationweknowagreatdeal。Yettherearesomedesiderata。Inanatomygreatprogresshasbeenmade；butmuchisstilltobeacquired。Innaturalhistorywepossessknowlege；butwewantagreatdeal。Inchemistrywearenotyetsureofthefirstelements。Ournaturalphilosophyisinaveryinfantinestate；perhapsforgreatadvancesinit，afurtherprogressinchemistryisnecessary。Surgeryiswelladvanced；butprodigiouslyshortofwhatmaybe。Thestateofmedecineisworsethanthatoftotalignorance。Couldwedivestourselvesofeverythingwesupposeweknowinit，weshouldstartfromahigherground&withfairerprospects。FromHippocratestoBrownwehavehadnothingbutasuccessionofhypotheticalsystemseachhavingit’sdayofvogue，likethefashions&fanciesofcaps&

gowns，&yieldinginturntothenextcaprice。Yetthehumanframe，whichistobethesubjectofsuffering&tortureundertheselearnedmodes，doesnotchange。Wehaveafewmedecines，asthebark，opium，mercury，whichinafewwelldefineddiseasesareofunquestionablevirtue：buttheresiduarylistofthemateriamedica，longasitis，containsbutthecharlataneriesoftheart；andofthediseasesofdoubtfulform，physicianshaveeverhadafalseknowlege，worsethanignorance。Yetsurelythelistofunequivocaldiseases&remediesiscapableofenlargement；anditisstillmorecertainthatintheotherbranchesofscience，greatfieldsareyettobeexploredt