t of them is owing only to the degraded condition of
their existence, both in Africa and America. I can add, with
truth, that no one wishes more ardently to see a good system
commenced for raising the condition, both of their body and
mind, to what it ought to be, as fast as the imbecility of
their present existence, and other circumstances which
cannot be neglected, will admit. I have taken the liberty of
sending your almanac to Monsieur de Condorcet, Secretary of
the Academy of Sciences, at Paris, and members of the
Philanthropic Society, because I considered it a document to
which your whole color had a right, for their justification
against the doubts which have been entertained of them,

"I am, with great esteem, sir,
"Your most obedient servant,
"THO. JEFFERSON.

"MR. BENJAMIN BANNEKER, near Ellicott's

Lower Mills, Baltimore county."[614]

The only time Banneker was ever absent from his home any distance was
when "the Commissioners to run the lines of the District of
Columbia"--then known as the "Federal Territory"--invited him to
accompany them upon their mission. Mr. Norris says:--

"Banneker's deportment throughout the whole of this
engagement, secured their respect, and there is good
authority for believing, that his endowments led the
commissioners to overlook the color of his skin, to converse
with him freely, and enjoy the clearness and originality of
his remarks on various subjects. It is a fact, that they
honored him with an invitation to a daily seat at their
table; but this, with his usual modesty, he declined. They
then ordered a side table laid for him, in the same
apartment with themselves. On his return, he called to give
an account of his engagements, at the house of one of his
friends. He arrived on horseback, dressed in his usual
costume;--full suit of drab cloth, surmounted by a broad
brimmed beaver hat. He seemed to have been re-animated by
the presence of the eminent men with whom he had mingled in
the District, and gave a full account of their proceedings."

His habits of study were rather peculiar. At nightfall, wrapped in a
great cloak, he would lie prostrate upon the ground, where he spent
the night in contemplation of the heavenly bodies.