business with the
_Tiers-Etat_, which constitutes the nation, it may be well done without
Priests or Nobles. From the best information I can obtain, the King
of England's madness has terminated in an imbecility, which may very
possibly be of long continuance. He is going with his Queen to Germany.
England chained to rest, the other parts of Europe may recover or retain
tranquillity.

I have the honor to be, with great and sincere esteem, Dear Sir, your
most obedient and most humble servant,

Th: Jefferson..

LETTER CXCVIII.--TO JOHN JAY, May 9, 1789

TO JOHN JAY.

Paris, May 9, 1789.

Sir,

Since my letter of March the 1st, by the way of Havre, and those of
March the 12th and 15th, by the way of London, no opportunity of writing
has occurred, till the present to London.

There are no symptoms of accommodation between the Turks and two
empires, nor between Russia and Sweden. The Emperor was, on the 16th of
the last month, expected to die, certainly; he was, however, a little
better when the last news came away, so that hopes were entertained of
him; but it is agreed that he cannot get the better of his complaints
ultimately, so that his life is not at all counted on. The Danes
profess, as yet, to do no more against Sweden than furnish their
stipulated aid. The agitation of Poland is still violent, though
somewhat moderated by the late change in the demeanor of the King of
Prussia. He is much less thrasonic than he was. This is imputed to the
turn which the English politics may be rationally expected to take. It
is very difficult to get at the true state of the British King j but
from the best information we can get, his madness has gone off, but he
is left in a state of imbecility and melancholy. They are going to carry
him to Hanover, to see whether such a journey may relieve him. The Queen
accompanies him. If England. should, by this accident, be reduced to
inactivity, the southern countries of Europe may escape the present
war. Upon the whole, the prospect for the present year, if no unforeseen
accident happens, is certain peace for the powers not already engaged,
a probability that Denmark will not become a principal, and a mere
possibility that Sweden and Russia may be accommodated. The interior
disputes of Sweden are so exactly detailed in the Leyden gazette, that I
have nothing to add on that subject.

The revolution of this country has advanced thus far without
encountering any thing which de