The spirit of republicanism is now in almost all its ancient
vigor, five sixths of the people being with us. Fourteen of the
seventeen States are completely with us, and two of the other three will
be in one year. We have now got back to the ground on which you left us.
I should have retired at the end of the first four years, but that the
immense load of tory calumnies which have been manufactured respecting
me, and have filled the European market, have obliged me to appeal once
more to my country for a justification. I have no fear but that I shall
receive honorable testimony by their verdict on those calumnies. At the
end of the next four years I shall certainly retire. Age, inclination,
and principle all dictate this. My health, which at one time threatened
an unfavorable turn, is now firm. The acquisition of Louisiana, besides
doubling our extent, and trebling our quantity of fertile country, is
of incalculable value, as relieving us from the danger of war. It has
enabled us to do a handsome thing for Fayette. He had received a grant
of between eleven and twelve thousand acres north of the Ohio, worth,
perhaps, a dollar an acre. We have obtained permission of Congress to
locate it in Louisiana. Locations can be found adjacent to the city of
New Orleans, in the island of New Orleans and in its vicinity, the value
of which cannot be calculated. I hope it will induce him to come over
and settle there with his family.
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