Europe is, at this
moment, without the appearance of a cloud. The death of the King of
Prussia, daily expected, may raise one. My paper admonishes me, that,
after asking a continuance of your favors, it is time for me to conclude
with assurances of the esteem with which I am,
Dear Sir, your friend and servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER XIV.--TO T. PLEASANTS, May 8,1786
TO T. PLEASANTS.
Paris, May 8,1786.
Dear Sir,
At the time of the receipt of your favor of October the 24th, the
contract between the Farmers General and Mr. Morris, for tobacco, was
concluded, and in a course of execution. There was no room, therefore,
to offer the proposals which accompanied your letter. I was, moreover,
engaged in endeavors to have the monopoly, in the purchase of this
article, in this country, suppressed. My hopes on that subject are not
desperate, but neither are they flattering. I consider it as the most
effectual means of procuring the full value of our produce, of diverting
our demands for manufactures from Great Britain to this country, to a
certain amount, and of thus producing some equilibrium in our commerce,
which at present lies all in the British scale.
Pages:
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51