Thomas Jefferson's Autobiography Return to America
by Thomas Jefferson
On the 26th. of Sep. I left Paris for Havre, where I was
detained by contrary winds until the 8th. of Oct. On that day, and
the 9th. I crossed over to Cowes, where I had engaged the Clermont,
Capt. Colley, to touch for me. She did so, but here again we were
detained by contrary winds until the 22d. when we embarked and landed
at Norfolk on the 23d. of November. On my way home I passed some
days at Eppington in Chesterfield, the residence of my friend and
connection, Mr. Eppes, and, while there, I received a letter from the
President, Genl. Washington, by express, covering an appointment to
be Secretary of State. I received it with real regret. My wish had
been to return to Paris, where I had left my household establishment,
as if there myself, and to see the end of the Revolution, which, I
then thought would be certainly and happily closed in less than a
year. I then meant to return home, to withdraw from Political life,
into which I had been impressed by the circumstances of the times, to
sink into the bosom of my family and friends, and devote myself to
studies more congenial to my mind. In my answer of Dec. 15. I
expressed these dispositions candidly to the President, and my
preference of a return to Paris; but assured him that if it was
believed I could be more useful in the administration of the
government, I would sacrifice my own inclinations without hesitation,
and repair to that destination; this I left to his decision. I
arrived at Monticello on the 23d. of Dec. where I received a second
letter from the President, expressing his continued wish that I
should take my station there, but leaving me still at liberty to
continue in my former office, if I could not reconcile myself to that
now proposed. This silenced my reluctance, and I accepted the new
appointment.
In the interval of my stay at home my eldest daughter had been
happily married to the eldest son of the Tuckahoe branch of
Randolphs, a young gentleman of genius, science and honorable mind,
who afterwards filled a dignified station in the General Government,
& the most dignified in his own State. I left Monticello on the 1st
of March 1790. for New York. At Philadelphia I called on the
venerable and beloved Franklin. He was then on the bed of sickness
from which he never rose. My recent return from a country in which
he had left so many friends, and the perilous convulsions to which
they had been exposed, revived all his anxieties to know what part
they had taken, what had been their course, and what their fate. He
went over all in succession, with a rapidity and animation almost too
much for his strength. When all his inquiries were satisfied, and a
pause took place, I told him I had learnt with much pleasure that,
since his return to America, he had been occupied in preparing for
the world the history of his own life. I cannot say much of that,
said he; but I will give you a sample of what I shall leave: and he
directed his little grandson (William Bache) who was standing by the
bedside, to hand him a paper from the table to which he pointed. He
did so; and the Doctr. putting it into my hands, desired me to take
it and read it at my leisure. It was about a quire of folio paper,
written in a large and running hand very like his own. I looked into
it slightly, then shut it and said I would accept his permission to
read it and would carefully return it. He said, "no, keep it." Not
certain of his meaning, I again looked into it, folded it for my
pocket, and said again, I would certainly return it. "No," said he,
"keep it." I put it into my pocket, and shortly after took leave of
him. He died on the 17th. of the ensuing month of April; and as I
understood that he had bequeathed all his papers to his grandson
William Temple Franklin, I immediately wrote to Mr. Franklin to
inform him I possessed this paper, which I should consider as his
property, and would deliver to his order. He came on immediately to
New York, called on me for it, and I delivered it to him. As he put
it into his pocket, he said carelessly he had either the original, or
another copy of it, I do not recollect which. This last expression
struck my attention forcibly, and for the first time suggested to me
the thought that Dr. Franklin had meant it as a confidential deposit
in my hands, and that I had done wrong in parting from it. I have
not yet seen the collection he published of Dr. Franklin's works, and
therefore know not if this is among them. I have been told it is
not. It contained a narrative of the negotiations between Dr.
Franklin and the British Ministry, when he was endeavoring to prevent
the contest of arms which followed. The negotiation was brought
about by the intervention of Ld. Howe and his sister, who, I believe,
was called Lady Howe, but I may misremember her title. Ld. Howe
seems to have been friendly to America, and exceedingly anxious to
prevent a rupture. His intimacy with Dr. Franklin, and his position
with the Ministry induced him to undertake a mediation between them;
in which his sister seemed to have been associated. They carried
from one to the other, backwards and forwards, the several
propositions and answers which past, and seconded with their own
intercessions the importance of mutual sacrifices to preserve the
peace & connection of the two countries. I remember that Ld. North's
answers were dry, unyielding, in the spirit of unconditional
submission, and betrayed an absolute indifference to the occurrence
of a rupture; and he said to the mediators distinctly, at last that
"a rebellion was not to be deprecated on the part of Great Britain;
that the confiscations it would produce would provide for many of
their friends." This expression was reported by the mediators to Dr.
Franklin, and indicated so cool and calculated a purpose in the
Ministry, as to render compromise hopeless, and the negotiation was
discontinued. If this is not among the papers published, we ask what
has become of it? I delivered it with my own hands into those of
Temple Franklin. It certainly established views so atrocious in the
British government that it's suppression would to them be worth a
great price. But could the grandson of Dr. Franklin be in such
degree an accomplice in the parricide of the memory of his immortal
grandfather? The suspension for more than 20. years of the general
publication bequeathed and confided to him, produced for awhile hard
suspicions against him: and if at last all are not published, a part
of these suspicions may remain with some.
I arrived at New York on the 21st. of Mar. where Congress was
in session.
