PART09.TXT

        HOPE FOR "OUR BLACK BRETHREN"









        _To Benjamin Banneker_



        _Philadelphia, Aug. 30, 1791_









        SIR, -- I thank you sincerely for your letter of the 19th



instant and for the Almanac it contained.  No body wishes more than I



do to see such proofs as you exhibit, that nature has given to our



black brethren, talents equal to those of the other colors of men,



and that the appearance of a want of them is owing merely to the



degraded condition of their existence, both in Africa & America.  I



can add with truth, that no body wishes more ardently to see a good



system commenced for raising the condition both of their body & mind



to what it ought to be, as fast as the imbecility of their present



existence, and other circumstances which cannot be neglected, will



admit.  I have taken the liberty of sending your Almanac to Monsieur



de Condorcet, Secretary of the Academy of Sciences at Paris, and



member of the Philanthropic society, because I considered it as a



document to which your whole colour had a right for their



justification against the doubts which have been entertained of them.



I am with great esteem, Sir Your most obed't humble serv't.















        STRENGTHENING THE STATE GOVERNMENTS









        _To Archibald Stuart_



        _Philadelphia, Dec. 23, 1791_









        DEAR SIR, -- I received duly your favor of Octob 22. and should



have answered it by the gentleman who delivered it, but that he left



town before I knew of it.









        That it is really important to provide a constitution for our



state cannot be doubted: as little can it be doubted that the



ordinance called by that name has important defects.  But before we



attempt it, we should endeavor to be as certain as is practicable



that in the attempt we should not make bad worse.  I have understood



that Mr. Henry has always been opposed to this undertaking: and I



confess that I consider his talents and influence such as that, were



it decided that we should call a Convention for the purpose of



amending, I should fear he might induce that convention either to fix



the thing as at present, or change it for the worse.  Would it not



therefore be well that means should be adopted for coming at his



ideas of the changes he would agree to, & for communicating to him



those which we should propose?  Perhaps he might find ours not so



distant from his but that some mutual sacrifices might bring them



together.









        I shall hazard my own ideas to you as hastily as my business



obliges me.  I wish to preserve the line drawn by the federal



constitution between the general & particular governments as it



stands at present, and to take every prudent means of preventing



either from stepping over it.  Tho' the experiment has not yet had a



long enough course to shew us from which quarter encroachments are



most to be feared, yet it is easy to foresee from the nature of



things that the encroachments of the state governments will tend to



an excess of liberty which will correct itself (as in the late



instance) while those of the general government will tend to



monarchy, which will fortify itself from day to day, instead of



working its own cure, as all experience shews.  I would rather be



exposed to the inconve-niencies attending too much liberty than those



attending too small a degree of it.  Then it is important to



strengthen the state governments: and as this cannot be done by any



change in the federal constitution, (for the preservation of that is



all we need contend for,) it must be done by the states themselves,



erecting such barriers at the constitutional line as cannot be



surmounted either by themselves or by the general government.  The



only barrier in their power is a wise government.  A weak one will



lose ground in every contest.  To obtain a wise & an able government,



I consider the following changes as important.  Render the



legislature a desirable station by lessening the number of



representatives (say to 100) and lengthening somewhat their term, and



proportion them equally among the electors: adopt also a better mode



of appointing Senators.  Render the Executive a more desirable post



to men of abilities by making it more independant of the legislature.



To wit, let him be chosen by other electors, for a longer time, and



ineligible for ever after.  Responsibility is a tremendous engine in



a free government.  Let him feel the whole weight of it then by



taking away the shelter of his executive council.  Experience both



ways has already established the superiority of this measure.  Render



the Judiciary respectable by every possible means, to wit, firm



tenure in office, competent salaries, and reduction of their numbers.



Men of high learning and abilities are few in every country; & by



taking in those who are not so, the able part of the body have their



hands tied by the unable.  This branch of the government will have



the weight of the conflict on their hands, because they will be the



last appeal of reason.  -- These are my general ideas of amendments;



but, preserving the ends, I should be flexible & conciliatory as to



the means.  You ask whether Mr. Madison and myself could attend on a



convention which should be called?  Mr. Madison's engagements as a



member of Congress will probably be from October to March or April in



every year.  Mine are constant while I hold my office, and my



attendance would be very unimportant.  Were it otherwise, my office



should not stand in the way of it.  I am with great & sincere esteem,



Dr Sir, your friend & servt.















        "A STEPPING STONE TO MONARCHY"









        _To the President of the United States_



        (GEORGE WASHINGTON)



        _Philadelphia, May 23, 1792_









        DEAR SIR, -- I have determined to make the subject of a letter,



what for some time past, has been a subject of inquietude to my mind



without having found a good occasion of disburthening itself to you



in conversation, during the busy scenes which occupied you here.



Perhaps too you may be able, in your present situation, or on the



road, to give it more time & reflection than you could do here at any



moment.









        When you first mentioned to me your purpose of retiring from



the government, tho' I felt all the magnitude of the event, I was in



a considerable degree silent.  I knew that, to such a mind as yours,



persuasion was idle & impertinent: that before forming your decision,



you had weighed all the reasons for & against the measure, had made



up your mind on full view of them, & that there could be little hope



of changing the result.  Pursuing my reflections too I knew we were



some day to try to walk alone; and if the essay should be made while



you should be alive & looking on, we should derive confidence from



that circumstance, & resource if it failed.  The public mind too was



calm & confident, and therefore in a favorable state for making the



experiment.  Had no change of circumstances intervened, I should not,



with any hope of success, have now ventured to propose to you a



change of purpose.  But the public mind is no longer confident and



serene; and that from causes in which you are in no ways personally



mixed.  Tho these causes have been hackneyed in the public papers in



detail, it may not be amiss, in order to calculate the effect they



are capable of producing, to take a view of them in the mass, giving



to each the form, real or imaginary, under which they have been



presented.









        It has been urged then that a public debt, greater than we can



possibly pay before other causes of adding new debt to it will occur,



has been artificially created, by adding together the whole amount of



the debtor & creditor sides of accounts, instead of taking only their



balances, which could have been paid off in a short time: That this



accumulation of debt has taken for ever out of our power those easy



sources of revenue, which, applied to the ordinary necessities and



exigencies of government, would have answered them habitually, and



covered us from habitual murmurings against taxes & tax-gatherers,



reserving extraordinary calls, for those extraordinary occasions



which would animate the people to meet them: That though the calls



for money have been no greater than we must generally expect, for the



same or equivalent exigencies, yet we are already obliged to strain



the impost till it produces clamour, and will produce evasion, & war



on our own citizens to collect it: and even to resort to an _Excise_



law, of odious character with the people, partial in it's operation,



unproductive unless enforced by arbitrary & vexatious means, and



committing the authority of the government in parts where resistance



is most probable, & coercion least practicable.  They cite



propositions in Congress and suspect other projects on foot still to



increase the mass of debt.  They say that by borrowing at 2/3 of the



interest, we might have paid off the principal in 2/3 of the time:



but that from this we are precluded by it's being made irredeemable



but in small portions & long terms: That this irredeemable quality



was given it for the avowed purpose of inviting it's trans...