ou, that this country
would have two difficulties to struggle with, till the meeting of their
States General, and that one of these was the want of money: this has,
in fact, overborne all their resources, and the day before yesterday,
they published an _Arret_, suspending all reimbursements of capital, and
reducing the payments of the principal mass of demands for interest,
to twelve sous in the livre; the remaining eight sous to be paid with
certificates. I enclose you a newspaper with the _Arret_. In this paper
you will see the exchange of yesterday, and I have inserted that of
the day before, to show you the fall. The consternation is, as yet, too
great to let us judge of the issue. It will probably ripen the public
mind to the necessity of a change in their constitution, and to the
substituting the collected wisdom of the whole, in place of a single
will, by which they have been hitherto governed. It is a remarkable
proof of the total incompetency of a single head to govern a nation
well, when, with a revenue of six hundred millions, they are led to a
declared bankruptcy, and to stop the wheels of government, even in its
most essential movements, for want of money.

I send the present letter by a private conveyance to a sea-port, in
hopes a conveyance may be found by some merchant vessel.

I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect esteem and
respect, Sir, your most obedient and most humble servant,

Th: Jefferson.

LETTER CLVII.--TO MR. CUTTING, August 23, 1788

TO MR. CUTTING.

Paris, August 23, 1788.

Dear Sir,

I have duly received your favors of the 3rd, 8th, 14th, and 15th
instant, and have now the honor of enclosing you a letter of
introduction to Doctor Ramsay.

I think a certainty that England and France must enter into the war, was
a great inducement to the ministry here to suspend the portion of public
payments, which they have lately suspended. By this operation, they
secure two hundred and three millions of livres, or eight millions and a
half of guineas, in the course of this and the ensuing year, which
will be sufficient for the campaign of the first year: for what is to,
follow, the States General must provide. The interesting question now
is, how the States General shall be composed? There are three opinions.
1. To place the three estates, Clergy, _Noblesse_, and Commons, in three
different Houses. The Clergy would, probably, like this, and some of
the Nobility;