And praying you to
accept it at only what it is worth, I add the assurance of my constant
and affectionate friendship and respect.
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER CLXXVII.--TO THE MARQUIS DE LA FAYETTE, November 4, 1823
TO THE MARQUIS DE LA FAYETTE.
Monticello, November 4, 1823.
My Dear Friend,
Two dislocated wrists and crippled fingers have rendered writing so
slow and laborious, as to oblige me to withdraw from nearly all
correspondence: not, however, from yours, while I can make a stroke with
a pen. We have gone through too many trying scenes together, to forget
the sympathies and affections they nourished.
Your trials have indeed been long and severe. When they will end, is yet
unknown, but where they will end, cannot be doubted. Alliances, Holy or
Hellish, may be formed, and retard the epoch of deliverance, may swell
the rivers of blood which are yet to flow, but their own will close the
scene, and leave to mankind the right of self-government. I trust that
Spain will prove, that a nation cannot be conquered which determines
not to be so, and that her success will be the turning of the tide of
liberty, no more to be arrested by human efforts. Whether the state of
society in Europe can bear a republican government, I doubted, you know
when with you, and I do now. A hereditary chief, strictly limited, the
right of war vested in the legislative body, a rigid economy of the
public contributions, and absolute interdiction of all useless expenses,
will go far towards keeping the government honest and unoppressive.
Pages:
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648