Chickasaw bluffs, and which Pernier (Governor Lewis servant) says contain his private property, I write to Captain Russel, at the request of Mr. Marks, to forward to Mr. Brown at New Orleans, to be sent on to Richmond under my address. Pernier says that Governor Lewis owes him $240 for his wages. He has received money from Neely to bring him on here, and I furnish him to Washington, where he will arrive penniless, and will ask for some money to be placed to the Governor's account. He rides a horse of the Governor's, which, with the approbation of the administration, I tell him to dispose of and give credit for the amount in his account against the Governor. He is the bearer of this letter, and of my assurances of constant and affectionate esteem. TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (JAMES MADISON). MONTICELLO, November 30, 1809. DEAR SIR, I received last night yours of the 27th, and rode this morning to Colonel Monroe's. I found him preparing to set out to-morrow morning for London, from whence he will not return till Christmas. I had an hour or two's frank conversation with him. The catastrophe of poor Lewis served to lead us to the point intended. I reminded him that in the letter I wrote to him while in Europe, proposing the Government of Orleans, I also suggested that of Louisiana, if fears for health should be opposed to the other. I said something on the importance of the post, its advantages, etc.-expressed my regret at the curtain which seemed to be drawn between him and his best friends, and my wish to see his talents and integrity engaged in the service of his country again, and that his going into any post would be a signal of reconciliation, on which the body of republicans, who lamented his absence from the public service, would again rally to him. These are the general heads of what I said to him in the course of our conversation. The sum of his answers was, that to accept of that office was incompatible with the respect he owed himself; that he never would act in any office where he should be subordinate to anybody but the President himself, or which did not place his responsibility substantially with the President and the nation; that at your accession to the chair, he would have accepted a place in the Cabinet, and would have exerted his endeavors most faithfully in support of your fame and measures; that he is not unready to serve the public, and especially in the case of any difficult crisis in our affairs; that he is satisfied that such is the deadly hatred of both France and England, and such their self-reproach and dread at the spectacle of such a government as ours, that they will spare nothing to destroy it; that nothing but a firm union among the whole body of republicans can save it, and therefore that no schism should be indulged on any ground; that in his present situation, he is sincere in his anxieties for the success of the administration, and in his support of it as far as the limited sphere of his action or influence extends; that his influence to this end had been used with those with whom the world had ascribed to him an interest he did not possess, until, whatever it was, it was lost, (he particularly named J. Randolph, who, he said, had plans of his own, on which he took no advice;) and that he was now pursuing what he believed his properest occupation, devoting his whole time and faculties to the liberation of his pecuniary embarrassments, which, three years of close attention, he hoped, would effect. In order to know more exactly what were the kinds of employ he would accept, I adverted to the information of the papers, which came yesterday, that General Hampton was dead, but observed that the military life in our present state, offered nothing which could operate on the principle of patriotism; he said he would sooner be shot than take a command under Wilkinson. In this sketch, I have given truly the substance of his ideas, but not always his own words. On the whole, I conclude he would accept a place in the Cabinet, or a military command dependent on the Executive alone, and I rather suppose a diplomatic mission, because it would fall within the scope of his views, and not because he said so, for no allusion was made to anything of that kind in our conversation. Everything from him breathed the purest patriotism, involving, however, a close attention to his own. honor and grade. He expressed himself with the utmost devotion to the interests of our own country, and I am satisfied he will pursue them with honor and zeal in any character in which he shall be willing to act. I have thus gone far beyond the single view of your letter, that you may, under any circumstances, form a just estimate of what he would be disposed to do. God bless you, and carry you safely through all your difficulties. TO MR. CHARLES F. WELLES. MONTICELLO, December 3, 1809. SIR, I received, within a few days past, your favor of February 29th, (for September, I presume,) in either case it has been long on the way. It covered the two pieces of poetry it referred to. Of all the charges brought against me by my political adversaries, that of possessing some science has probably done them the least credit. Our countrymen are too enlightened themselves, to believe that ignorance is the best qualification for their service. If Mr. M. solicits a seat in Congress, I am sure he will be more just to himself, and more respectful to his electors, than to claim it on this ground. Without pretending to all the merits so kindly ascribed by the more friendly and poetical answer, I feel the right of claiming that of integrity of motives. Whether the principles of the majority of our fellow citizens, or of the little minority still opposing them, be most friendly to the rights of man, posterity will judge; and to that arbiter I submit my own conduct with cheerfulness. It has been a great happiness to me, to have received the approbation of so great a portion of my fellow citizens, and particularly of those who have opportunities of inquiring, reading and deciding for themselves. It is on this view that I owe you especial acknowledgments, which I pray you to accept with the assurances of my respect. TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (JAMES MADISON). MONTICELLO, December 7, 1809. DEAR SIR,-The enclosed letter is from Father Richard, the Director of a school at Detroit. Being on a subject in which the departments both of the Treasury and War are concerned, I take the liberty of enclosing it to yourself as the centre which may unite these two agencies. The transactions which it alludes to took place in the months of December and January preceding my retirement from office, and as I think it possible they may not have been fully placed on the records of the War Office, because they were conducted verbally for the most part, I will give a general statement of them as well as my recollection will enable me. In the neighborhood of Detroit (two or three miles from the town) is a farm, formerly the property of one Earnest, a bankrupt |