第57章

Onourwestern&southernfrontiers，Spainholdsanimmensecountry，theoccupancyofwhich，however，isintheIndiannatives，exceptafewinsulatedspotspossessedbySpanishsubjects。Itisveryquestionable，indeed，whethertheIndianswouldsell?whetherSpainwouldbewillingtoreceivethesepeople?andnearlycertainthatshewouldnotalienatethesovereignty。Thesamequestiontoourselveswouldrecurherealso，asdidinthefirstcase：shouldwebewillingtohavesuchacolonyincontactwithus?Howeverourpresentinterestsmayrestrainuswithinourownlimits，itisimpossiblenottolookforwardtodistanttimes，whenourrapidmultiplicationwillexpanditselfbeyondthoselimits，&coverthewholenorthern，ifnotthesoutherncontinent，withapeoplespeakingthesamelanguage，governedinsimilarforms，&bysimilarlaws；norcanwecontemplatewithsatisfactioneitherblotormixtureonthatsurface。Spain，France，andPortugalholdpossessionsonthesoutherncontinent，astowhichIamnotwellenoughinformedtosayhowfartheymightmeetourviews。Buteitherthereorinthenortherncontinent，shouldtheconstitutedauthoritiesofVirginiafixtheirattention，ofpreference，Iwillhavethedispositionsofthosepowerssoundedinthefirstinstance。

TheWestIndiesofferamoreprobable&practicableretreatforthem。Inhabitedalreadybyapeopleoftheirownrace&color；

climatescongenialwiththeirnaturalconstitution；insulatedfromtheotherdescriptionsofmen；natureseemstohaveformedtheseislandstobecomethereceptacleoftheblackstransplantedintothishemisphere。WhetherwecouldobtainfromtheEuropeansovereignsofthoseislandsleavetosendthitherthepersonsunderconsideration，Icannotsay；butIthinkitmoreprobablethantheformerpropositions，becauseoftheirbeingalreadyinhabitedmoreorlessbythesamerace。ThemostpromisingportionofthemistheislandofSt。Domingo，wheretheblacksareestablishedintoasovereignty_defacto_，&haveorganizedthemselvesunderregularlaws&

government。Ishouldconjecturethattheirpresentrulermightbewilling，onmanyconsiderations，toreceiveeventhatdescriptionwhichwouldbeexiledforactsdeemedcriminalbyus，butmeritorious，perhaps，byhim。Thepossibilitythattheseexilesmightstimulate&conductvindicativeorpredatorydescentsonourcoasts，&facilitateconcertwiththeirbrethrenremaininghere，lookstoastateofthingsbetweenthatisland&usnotprobableonacontemplationofourrelativestrength，andofthedisproportiondailygrowing；anditisoverweighedbythehumanityofthemeasuresproposed，&theadvantagesofdisembarrassingourselvesofsuchdangerouscharacters。Africawouldofferalast&undoubtedresort，ifallothersmoredesirableshouldfailus。WhenevertheLegislatureofVirginiashallhavebroughtit’smindtoapoint，sothatImayknowexactlywhattoproposetoforeignauthorities，I

willexecutetheirwisheswithfidelity&zeal。Ihope，however，theywillpardonmeforsuggestingasinglequestionfortheirownconsideration。Whenwecontemplatethevarietyofcountries&ofsovereignstowardswhichwemaydirectourviews，thevastrevolutions&changesofcircumstanceswhicharenowinacourseofprogression，thepossibilitiesthatarrangementsnowtobemade，withaviewtoanyparticularplan，may，atnogreatdistanceoftime，betotallyderangedbyachangeofsovereignty，ofgovernment，orofothercircumstances，itwillbefortheLegislaturetoconsiderwhether，aftertheyshallhavemadeallthosegeneralprovisionswhichmaybefixedbylegislativeauthority，itwouldbereposingtoomuchconfidenceintheirExecutivetoleavetheplaceofrelegationtobedecidedonby_them_。Theycouldaccommodatetheirarrangementstotheactualstateofthings，inwhichcountriesorpowersmaybefoundtoexistattheday；andmaypreventtheeffectofthelawfrombeingdefeatedbyinterveningchanges。This，however，isforthemtodecide。Ourdutywillbetorespecttheirdecision。

LIMITSOFTHEPRACTICABLE

_ToP。S。DupontdeNemours_

_Washington，Jan。18，1802_

DEARSIR，——ItisrareIcanindulgemyselfintheluxuryofphilosophy。Yourlettersgivemeafewofthosedeliciousmoments。

Placedasyouareinagreatcommercialtown，withlittleopportunityofdiscoveringthedispositionsofthecountryportionsofourcitizens，Idonotwonderatyourdoubtswhethertheywillgenerallyandsincerelyconcurinthesentimentsandmeasuresdevelopedinmymessageofthe7thJany。Butfrom40。yearsofintimateconversationwiththeagriculturalinhabitantsofmycountry，Icanpronouncethemasdifferentfromthoseofthecities，asthoseofanytwonationsknown。Thesentimentsoftheformercaninnodegreebeinferredfromthoseofthelatter。Youhavespokenaprofoundtruthinthesewords，”Ilyadanslesetatsunisunbonsenssilencieux，unespritdejusticefroide，quilorsqu’ilestquestiond’emettreun_vote_

commelesbavardagesdeceuxquifontleshabiles。”Aplaincountryfarmerhaswrittenlatelyapamphletonourpublicaffairs。Histe