nd my
privilege of doing that, without regard to any man's interest, as to
enter into any explanations of this paragraph with him. Yet I esteem him
highly, and suppose that hitherto he had esteemed me. You will see by
Calonne's letter, that we are doing what we can to get the trade of the
United States put on a good footing. I am now about setting out on
a journey to the south of France, one object of which is to try the
mineral waters there for the restoration of my hand; but another is,
to visit all the seaports where we have trade, and to hunt up all the
inconveniences under which it labors, in order to get them rectified.
I shall visit, and carefully examine too, the canal of Languedoc. On
my return, which will be early in the spring, I shall send you several
_livraisons_ of the _Encyclopedie_, and the plan of your house. I wish
to Heaven, you may continue in the disposition to fix it in Albemarle.
Short will establish himself there, and perhaps Madison may be tempted
to do so. This will be society enough, and it will be the great
sweetener of our lives. Without society, and a society to our taste,
men are never contented. The one here supposed, we can regulate to our
minds, and we may extend our regulations to the sumptuary department,
so as to set a good example to a country which needs it, and to preserve
our own happiness clear of embarrassment. You wish not to engage in the
drudgery of the bar. You have two asylums from that. Either to accept
a seat in the Council, or in the judiciary department. The latter,
however, would require a little previous drudgery at the bar, to qualify
you to discharge your duty with satisfaction to yourself. Neither of
these would be inconsistent with a continued residence in Albemarle. It
is but twelve hours drive in a sulky from Charlottesville to Richmond,
keeping a fresh horse always at the half-way, which would be a small
annual expense. I am in hopes, that Mrs. M. will have in her domestic
cares occupation and pleasure sufficient to fill her time, and insure
her against the _tedium vitae_: that she will find, that the distractions
of a town, and the waste of life under these, can bear no comparison
with the tranquil happiness of domestic life. If her own experience has
not yet taught her this truth, she has in its favor the testimony of
one, who has gone through the various scenes of business, of bustle, of
office, of rambling, and of quiet retirement, and who can assure her,
t