e middle aged are not
averse, the old alone opposed it. They will die, the provincial
assemblies will chalk out the plan, and the nation, ripening fast, will
execute it. All your friends are in the country, so I can give you no
news of them; but no news are always good news. The Duchess Danville is
with some of her friends; the Duke and Duchess de La Rochefoucault gone
to the waters; the Countess d'Houdelot with Madame de La Britu. Your
sons are well, and go on well, and we are laboring here to improve on
M. de Calonne's letter on our commerce. Adieu, my dear Sir, and be
assured of the sentiments of sincere esteem with which I am your friend
and servant.

TO COLONEL RICHARD CLAIBORNE.

PARIS, August 8, 1787.

SIR,--I am of opinion that American tenants for western lands could not
be procured, and if they could, they would be very unsure. The best, as
far as I have been able to judge, are foreigners, who do not speak the
language. Unable to communicate with the people of the country, they
confine themselves to their farms and their families, compare their
present state to what it was in Europe, and find great reason to be
contented. Of all foreigners, I should prefer Germans. They are the
easiest got, the best for their landlords, and do best for themselves.
The deed in which you were interested, having been sent to me the other
day to be authenticated, I took the enclosed note of its particulars
for you. I am, with much esteem, Sir, your most obedient, and most
humble servant.

TO JOHN CHURCHMAN.

PARIS, August 8, 1787.

SIR,--I have duly received your favor of June the 6th, and immediately
communicated its contents to a member of the Academy. He told me that
they had received the other copy of your memorial, which you mention to
have sent through another channel; that your ideas were not conveyed so
explicitly, as to enable them to decide finally on their merit, but
that they had made an entry in their journals, to preserve to you the
claim of the original idea. As far as we can conjecture it here, we
imagine you make a table of variations of the needle, for all the
different meridians whatever. To apply this table to use, in the voyage
between America and Europe, suppose the variation to increase a degree
in every one hundred and sixty miles. Two difficulties occur: 1, a
ready and accurate method of finding the variation of the place; 2, an
instrument so perfect, as that (though the degree on i