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29.

Apl. 6.

9.

13.

14.

15.

16.

19.

20.

23.

24.

25.

1787.-Mch. 19-23. At Pont St. Esprit, Bagnols, Connault, Valignieres, Remoulins, St. Gervasy, and Nismes.

24.

At Nismes, Arles, Terrasson and St. Remis.

25.

At Orgon, Portroyal, and St. Cannat.

25-28. At Aix.

At Marseilles.

At Marseilles, Aubagne, Cuges, Beausset, Toulon, Hieres,
Cuers, Pignans, and Luc.

At Vidauban, Muy, Frejus, Antibes, and Nice.

At Scarena and Sospello.

At Ciandola and Tende.

At Limone and Coni.

At Centale, Savigliano, Racconigi, Poerino, and Turin.

At Setimo, Chivasco, Ciliano, St. Germans and Vercelli.
At Novara, Buffalora, Sedriano, and Milan.

At Casino, Rozzano, Binasco, and Pavia.

At Voghera, Tortona, and Nevi.

At Voltaggio, Campo-Marone, and Genoa.

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3.

8.

At Luc, Brignolles, Tourves, Poucieux, and La Galiniere.
At Orgon, Avignon, and Vaucluse.

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1787.-June 11.

July
Aug. 29.
Sept.

Oct. I.
Dec.

Sends Piedmont rice and olive tree to America.
Mary Jefferson arrives from America.

Conducts commercial negotiations with new ministry.
Writes letter to Journal de Paris.

[merged small][graphic]

THE WRITINGS OF

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

CORRESPONDENCE.

1784-1785.

TO THE GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA.1

(BENJAMIN HARRISON.)

PARIS, Aug. 20, 1784.

SIR,-A few days after my arrival here Colo. Le Maire, writer of the enclosed letter called & asked me to forward it to you with such explanations as I could give. As to his commission, having lost the original as he therein mentions, he asks an authenticated copy of it, which he thinks will enforce some application he is making to this government. As to lands, I remember the gift of 2000 acres, & think the entry of it will be found in the minutes of the council some time in the summer or autumn of 1779. A letter was written to Colo. Shelby or to Maj Martin, (the Cherokee agent) to locate the war

1 From the original in the possession of Mr. F. J. Dreer, of Philadelphia.

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rant on the best lands possible; and I believe it was meant that every expence should be borne by the state so that Le Maire should receive an actual grant clear of all charges & trouble. But of these things the minutes & letters of the Executive will give more certain information; or if these should have been lost, Mr. Blair will probable recollect the circum

stances.

TO JAMES MADISON.

MAD. MSS.

PARIS, II November, 1784.

I am obliged to you for your information as to the prospects of the present year in our farms. It is a great satisfaction to know it & yet it is a circumstance which few correspondents think worthy of mention. I am also much indebted for your very full observations on the navigation of the Mississippi. I had thought on the subject, & sketched the anatomy of a memorial on it, which will be much aided by your communications.-You mention that my name is used by some speculators in western land jobbing, as if they were acting for me as well as for themselves. About the year 1776 or 1777 I consented to join Mr. Harvey and some others in an application for lands there; which scheme, however, I believe he dropped on the threshold, for I never after heard one syllable on the subject. In 1782 I joined some gentlemen in a project to obtain some lands in the western part of North Carolina. But in the winter of 1782 and 1783, while I was in expectation of going to Europe, and that the title to western lands might

possibly come under the discussion of the ministers, I withdrew myself from this company. I am further assured that the members never prosecuted their views. These were the only occasions in which I ever took a single step for the acquisition of western lands, & in these I retracted at the threshold. I can with truth therefore declare to you, & wish you to repeat it on every proper occasion, that no person on earth is authorized to place my name in any adventure for lands on the western waters, that I am not engaged in any but the two before mentioned. I am one of eight children to whom my father left his share in the loyal company, whose interests, however, I never espoused, and they have long since received their quietus. Excepting these, I never was nor am I now interested in one foot of land on earth off the waters of James river.

ness.

I shall subjoin the few books I have ventured to buy for you. I have been induced to do it by the combined circumstances of their utility and cheapI wish I had a catalogue of the books you would be willing to buy, because they are often to be met on stalls very cheap, and I would get them as occasion should arise. The subscription for the Encyclopædia is still open. Whenever an opportunity offers of sending you what is published of that work (37 vols.) I shall subscribe for you and send it with the other books purchased for you.

Whatever money I may lay out for you here in books, or in anything else which you may desire, may be replaced crown for crown (without bewildering

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