The Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson Compiled From Family Letters and ReminiscencesRandolph, Sarah N. (Sarah Nicholas)
History
The Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson Compiled From Family Letters and Reminiscences
Randolph, Sarah N. (Sarah Nicholas)
Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826; Presidents -- United States -- Biography
Loving as you do, Madam, the precious remains of antiquity,
loving architecture, gardening, a warm sun and a clear sky, I
wonder you have never thought of moving Chaville to Nismes.
This, as you know, has not always been deemed impracticable;
and therefore, the next time a _Sur-intendant des bâtiments
du roi_, after the example of M. Colbert, sends persons to
Nismes to move the Maison Quarrée to Paris, that they may not
come empty-handed, desire them to bring Chaville with them, to
replace it. Apropos of Paris. I have now been three weeks from
there, without knowing any thing of what has passed. I suppose
I shall meet it all at Aix, where I have directed my letters to
be lodged _poste restante_. My journey has given me leisure to
reflect on the Assemblée des Notables. Under a good and a young
king, as the present, I think good may be made of it. I would
have the deputies, then, by all means, so conduct themselves as
to encourage him to repeat the calls of this Assembly. Their
first step should be to get themselves divided into two Chambers
instead of seven--the Noblesse and the Commons separately. The
second, to persuade the King, instead of choosing the deputies
of the Commons himself, to summon those chosen by the people for
the provincial administrations. The third, as the Noblesse is
too numerous to be all of the Assemblée, to obtain permission
for that body to choose its own deputies. Two Houses, so
elected, would contain a mass of wisdom which would make the
people happy and the King great--would place him in history
where no other act could possibly place him. They would thus put
themselves in the track of the best guide they can follow; they
would soon overtake it, become its guide in turn, and lead to
the wholesome modifications wanting in that model, and necessary
to constitute a rational government. Should they attempt more
than the established habits of the people are ripe for, they may
lose all, and retard indefinitely the ultimate object of their
aim. These, Madam, are my opinions; but I wish to know yours,
which, I am sure will be better.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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