第73章

SIR，——YourletterofJuly29thcametohandsometimesince，butIhavenotsoonerbeenabletoacknowledgeit。Inanswertoyourpropositionforpublishingacompleteeditionofmydifferentwritings，Imustobservethatnowritingsofmine，otherthanthosemerelyofficial，havebeenpublished，excepttheNotesonVirginiaandasmallpamphletunderthetitleofaSummaryViewoftherightsofBritishAmerica。TheNotesonVirginia，Ihavealwaysintendedtoreviseandenlarge，andhave，fromtimetotime，laidbymaterialsforthatpurpose。Itwillbelongyetbeforeotheroccupationswillpermitmetodigestthem，andobservationsandinquiriesarestilltobemade，whichwillbemorecorrectinproportiontothelengthoftimetheyarecontinued。Itisnotunlikelythatthismaybethroughmylife。Icouldnot，therefore，atpresent，offeranythingnewforthatwork。

TheSummaryViewwasnotwrittenforpublication。ItwasadraughtIhadpreparedforapetitiontotheking，whichImeanttoproposeinmyplaceasamemberoftheconventionof1774。Beingstoppedontheroadbysickness，IsentitontotheSpeaker，wholaiditonthetablefortheperusalofthemembers。Itwasthoughttoostrongforthetimes，andtobecometheactoftheconvention，butwasprintedbysubscriptionofthemembers，withashortprefacewrittenbyoneofthem。Ifithadanymerit，itwasthatoffirsttakingourtrueground，andthatwhichwasafterwardsassumedandmaintained。

IdonotmentiontheParliamentaryManual，publishedfortheuseoftheSenateoftheUnitedStates，becauseitwasamerecompilation，intowhichnothingenteredofmyownbutthearrangement，andafewobservationsnecessarytoexplainthatandsomeofthecases。

Idonotknowwhetheryourviewextendstoofficialpapersofminewhichhavebeenpublished。Manyofthesewouldbelikeoldnewspapers，materialsforfuturehistorians，butnolongerinterestingtothereadersoftheday。Theywouldconsistofreports，correspondences，messages，answerstoaddresses；afewofmyreportswhileSecretaryofState，mightperhapsbereadbysomeasessaysonabstractsubjects。Suchasthereportonmeasures，weightsandcoins，onthemint，onthefisheries，oncommerce，ontheuseofdistilledsea-water，&c。ThecorrespondenceswiththeBritishandFrenchministers，HammondandGenet，werepublishedbyCongress。ThemessagestoCongress，whichmighthavebeeninterestingatthemoment，wouldscarcelybereadasecondtime，andanswerstoaddressesarehardlyreadafirsttime。

Sothatonareviewofthesevariousmaterials，Iseenothingencouragingaprintertoare-publicationofthem。TheywouldprobablybeboughtbythoseonlywhoareinthehabitofpreservingStatepapers，andwhoarenotmany。

Isaynothingofnumerousdraughtsofreports，resolutions，declarations，&c。，drawnasaMemberofCongressoroftheLegislatureofVirginia，suchastheDeclarationofIndependence，ReportontheMoneyMintoftheUnitedStates，theactofreligiousfreedom，&c。，&c。；thesehavingbecometheactsofpublicbodies，therecanbenopersonalclaimtothem，andtheywouldnomorefindreadersnow，thanthejournalsandstatutebooksinwhichtheyaredeposited。

Ihavepresentedthisgeneralviewofthesubjectswhichmighthavebeenwithinthescopeofyourcontemplation，thattheymightbecorrectlyestimatedbeforeanyfinaldecision。Theybelongmostlytoaclassofpapersnotcalculatedforpopularreading，andnotlikelytoofferprofit，orevenindemnificationtothere-publisher。

Submittingittoyourconsideration，Itenderyoumysalutationsandrespects。

INDIANVOCABULARIES

_ToDr。BenjaminS。Barton_

_Monticello，September21，1809_

DEARSIR，——Ireceivedlastnightyourfavorofthe14th，andwouldwithallpossiblepleasurehavecommunicatedtoyouanypartorthewholeoftheIndianvocabularieswhichIhadcollected，butanirreparablemisfortunehasdeprivedmeofthem。IhavenowbeenthirtyyearsavailingmyselfofeverypossibleopportunityofprocuringIndianvocabulariestothesamesetofwords：myopportunitieswereprobablybetterthanwilleveroccuragaintoanypersonhavingthesamedesire。Ihadcollectedaboutfifty，andhaddigestedmostofthemincollateralcolumns，andmeanttohaveprintedthemthelastyearofmystayinWashington。ButnothavingyetdigestedCaptainLewis’scollection，norhavingleisurethentodoit，IputitofftillIshouldreturnhome。Thewhole，aswelldigestasoriginals，werepackedinatrunkofstationary，andsentroundbywaterwithaboutthirtyotherpackagesofmyeffects，fromWashington，andwhileascendingJamesriver，thispackage，onaccountofitsweightandpresumedpreciouscontents，wassingledoutandstolen。Thethiefbeingdisappointedonopeningit，threwintotheriverallitscontents，ofwhichhethoughthecouldmakenouse。

Amongthesewerethewholeofthevocabularies。Someleavesfloatedashoreandwerefoundinthemud；butthesewereveryfew，andsodefacedbythemudandwaterthatnogeneralusecaneverbemadeofthem。OnthereceiptofyourletterIturnedtothem，andwasveryhappytofind，thattheonlymorselofanoriginalvocabularyamongt