Assassinations，suicides，thefts，robberies，and，whatisworsethanassassination，theft，suicideorrobbery，theblackestslanders！
Indeedthemanmustbeofrock，whocanstandallthis；toMr。Adamsitwillbebutonevictorythemore。Itwouldhaveillysuitedme。
Idonotlovedifficulties。Iamfondofquiet，willingtodomyduty，butirritablebyslanderandapttobeforcedbyittoabandonmypost。TheseareweaknessesfromwhichreasonandyourcounselswillpreserveMr。Adams。IfancyitmustbethequantityofanimalfoodeatenbytheEnglishwhichrenderstheircharacterinsusceptibleofcivilisation。Isuspectitisintheirkitchensandnotintheirchurchesthattheirreformationmustbeworked，andthatMissionariesofthatdescriptionfromhencewouldavailmorethanthosewhoshouldendeavortotamethembypreceptsofreligionorphilosophy。ButwhatdothefoolishprintersofAmericameanbyretailingallthisstuffinourpapers?Asifitwasnotenoughtobeslanderedbyone’senemieswithoutcirculatingtheslandersamonghisfriendsalso。
ToshewyouhowwillinglyIshalleverreceiveandexecuteyourcommissions，Iventuretoimposeoneonyou。FromwhatIrecollectofthediaperanddamaskweusedtoimportfromEnglandIthinktheywerebetterandcheaperthanhere。Youarewellacquaintedwiththoseofbothcountries。IfyouareofthesameopinionIwouldtroubleyoutosendmetwosetsoftableclothsandnapkinsfor20
coverseach，byColo。FranksorMr。Barclaywhowillbringthemtome。ButifyouthinktheycanbebettergothereIwouldratheravoidthetroublethiscommissionwillgive。Iincloseyouaspecimenofwhatisofferedmeat100。livresforthetableclothand12napkins。Isupposethat，ofthesamequality，atablecloth2。
auneswideand4。auneslong，and20napkinsof1。auneeach，wouldcost7。guineas——Ishallcertainlychargethepublickmyhouserentandcourttaxes。Ishalldomore。Ishallchargemyoutfit。
WithoutthisIcannevergetoutofdebt。Ithinkitwillbeallowed。Congressistooreasonabletoexpect，wherenoimprudentexpencesareincurred，nonebutthosewhicharerequiredbyadecentrespecttothemantlewithwhichtheycoverthepublicservants，thatsuchexpencesshouldbeleftasaburthenonourprivatefortunes。
Butwhenwritingtoyou，IfancymyselfatAuteuil，andchatterontillthelastpageofmypaperawakesmefrommyreverie，andtellsmeitistimetoassureyouofthesincererespectandesteemwithwhichIhavethehonourtobeDearMadamyourmostobedientandmosthumbleservt。，P。S。ThecaskofwineatAuteuil，Itakechearfully。I
supposethesellerwillapplytomefortheprice。Otherwise，asI
donotknowwhoheis，Ishallnotbeabletofindhimout。
THEVAUNTEDSCENE
_ToCharlesBellini_
_Paris，September30，1785_
DEARSIR，——Yourestimablefavor，coveringalettertoMr。
Mazzei，cametohandonthe26thinstant。ThelettertoMr。Mazzeiwasputintohishandsinthesamemoment，ashehappenedtobepresent。Ileavetohimtoconveytoyouallhiscomplaints，asitwillbemoreagreeabletometoexpresstoyouthesatisfactionI
received，onbeinginformedofyourperfecthealth。ThoughIcouldnotreceivethesamepleasingnewsofMrs。Bellini，yetthephilosophywithwhichIamtoldshebearsthelossofhealth，isatestimonythemore，howmuchshedeservedtheesteemIbearher。
BeholdmeatlengthonthevauntedsceneofEurope！Itisnotnecessaryforyourinformation，thatIshouldenterintodetailsconcerningit。Butyouare，perhaps，curioustoknowhowthisnewscenehasstruckasavageofthemountainsofAmerica。Notadvantageously，Iassureyou。Ifindthegeneralfateofhumanityhere，mostdeplorable。ThetruthofVoltaire’sobservation，offersitselfperpetually，thateverymanheremustbeeitherthehammerortheanvil。Itisatruepictureofthatcountrytowhichtheysayweshallpasshereafter，andwherewearetoseeGodandhisangelsinsplendor，andcrowdsofthedamnedtrampledundertheirfeet。Whilethegreatmassofthepeoplearethussufferingunderphysicalandmoraloppression，Ihaveendeavoredtoexaminemorenearlytheconditionofthegreat，toappreciatethetruevalueofthecircumstancesintheirsituation，whichdazzlethebulkofspectators，and，especially，tocompareitwiththatdegreeofhappinesswhichisenjoyedinAmerica，byeveryclassofpeople。
Intriguesofloveoccupytheyounger，andthoseofambition，theelderpartofthegreat。Conjugallovehavingnoexistenceamongthem，domestichappiness，ofwhichthatisthebasis，isutterlyunknown。Inlieuofthis，aresubstitutedpursuitswhichnourishandinvigorateallourbadpassions，andwhichofferonlymomentsofecstacy，amidstdaysandmonthsofrestlessnessandtorment。Much，verymuchinferior，this，tothetranquil，permanentfelicitywithwhichdomesticsocietyinAmerica，blessesmostofitsinhabitants；
leavingthemtofollowsteadilythosepursuitswhichhealthandreasonapprove，andrenderingtrulydelicioustheintervalsofthosepursuits。
Inscience，themassofthepeopleistwocenturiesbehindours；theirliterati，halfadozenyearsbeforeus。Books，reallygood，acquirejustreputationinthattime，andsobecomeknowntous，andcommunicatetousalltheiradvancesinknowledge。Isnotthisdelaycompensated，byourbeingplacedoutofthereachofthatswarmofnonsensicalpublications，whichissuesdailyfromathousandpresses，andperishesalmostinissuing?Withrespecttowhataretermedpolitemanners，withoutsacrificingtoomuchthesincerityoflanguage，IwouldwishmycountrymentoadoptjustsomuchofEuropeanpoliteness，astobereadytomakeallthoselittlesacrificesofself，whichreallyrenderEuropeanmannersamiable，andrelievesocietyfromthedisagreeablescenestowhichrudenessoftensubjectsit。Here，itseemsthatamanmightpassalifewithoutencounteringasinglerudeness。Inthepleasuresofthetabletheyarefarbeforeus，because，withgoodtastetheyunitetemperance。
Theydonotterminatethemostsociablemealsbytransformingthemselvesintobrutes。IhaveneveryetseenamandrunkinFrance，evenamongthelowestofthepeople。WereItoproceedtotellyouhowmuchIenjoytheirarchitecture，sculpture，painting，music，I
shouldwantwords。Itisintheseartstheyshine。Thelastofthem，particularly，isanenjoyment，thedeprivationofwhichwithus，cannotbecalculated。Iamalmostreadytosay，itistheonlythingwhichfrommyheartIenvythem，andwhich，inspiteofalltheauthorityoftheDecalogue，Idocovet。ButIamrunningoninanestimateofthingsinfinitelybetterknowntoyouthantome，andwhichwillonlyservetoconvinceyou，thatIhavebroughtwithmealltheprejudicesofcountry，habitandage。ButwhateverImayallowtobechargedtomeasprejudice，ineveryotherinstance，I
haveonesentimentatleast，foundedinreality：itisthatoftheperfectesteemwhichyourmeritandthatofMrs。Bellinihaveproduced，andwhichwillforeverenablemetoassureyouofthesincereregard，withwhichIam，DearSir，yourfriendandservant，BRITISHHOSTILITY，AMERICANCOMMERCE
_ToG。K。vanHogendorp_
_Paris，Oct。13，1785_
DEARSIR，——Havingbeenmuchengagedlately，IhavebeenunablesoonertoacknolegethereceiptofyourfavorofSep。8。WhatyouarepleasedtosayonthesubjectofmyNotesismorethantheydeserve。Theconditioninwhichyoufirstsawthemwouldprovetoyouhowhastilytheyhadbeenoriginallywritten；asyoumayrememberthenumerousinsertionsIhadmadeinthemfromtimetotime，whenI
couldfindamomentforturningtothemfromotheroccupations。I
haveneveryetseenMonsr。deBuffon。Hehasbeeninthecountryallthesummer。Isenthimacopyofthebook，&haveonlyheardhissentimentsononeparticularofit，thatoftheidentityoftheMammoth&Elephant。Astothisheretainshisopinionthattheyarethesame。IfyouhadformedanyconsiderableexpectationsfromourRevisedcodeoflawsyouwillbemuchdisappointed。Itcontainsnotmorethanthreeorfourlawswhichcouldstriketheattentionoftheforeigner。Haditbeenadigestofallourlaws，itwouldnothavebeencomprehensibleorinstructivebuttoanative。Butitisstilllessso，asitdigestsonlytheBritishstatutes&ourownactsofassembly，whicharebutasupplementarypartofourlaw。ThegreatbasisofitisanteriortothedateoftheMagnacharta，whichistheoldeststatuteextant。Theonlymeritofthisworkisthatitmayremovefromourbookshelvesabouttwentyfoliovolumesofourstatutes，retainingallthepartsofthemwhicheithertheirownmeritortheestablishedsystemoflawsrequired。
YouaskmewhatarethoseoperationsoftheBritishnationwhicharelikelytobefriendus，andhowtheywillproducethiseffect?TheBritishgovernmentasyoumaynaturallysupposehaveitmuchathearttoreconciletheirnationtothelossofAmerica。Thisisessentialtotherepose，perhapseventothesafetyoftheKing&
hisministers。Themosteffectualenginesforthispurposearethepublicpapers。Youknowwellthatthatgovernmentalwayskeptakindofstandingarmyofnewswriterswhowithoutanyregardtotruth，ortowhatshouldbeliketruth，invented&putintothepaperswhatevermightservetheminister。Thissufficeswiththemassofthepeoplewhohavenomeansofdistinguishingthefalsefromthetrueparagraphsofanewspaper。Whenforcedtoacknolegeourindependancetheywereforcedtoredoubletheireffortstokeepthenationquiet。
Insteadofafewofthepapersformerlyengaged，theynowengagedeveryone。NopaperthereforecomesoutwithoutadoseofparagraphsagainstAmerica。Thesearecalculatedforasecondarypurposealso，thatofpreventingtheemigrationsoftheirpeopletoAmerica。TheydwellverymuchonAmericanbankruptcies。Toexplainthesewouldrequirealongdetail，butwouldshewyouthatninetenthsofthesebankruptciesaretrulyEnglishbankruptciesinnowisechargeableonAmerica。Howevertheyhaveproducedeffectsthemostdesirableofallothersforus。Theyhavedestroyedourcredit&thuscheckedourdispositiontoluxury；&forcingourmerchantstobuynomorethantheyhavereadymoneytopayfor，theyforcethemtogotothosemarketswherethatreadymoneywillbuymost。Thusyouseetheycheckourluxury，theyforceustoconnectourselveswithalltheworld，&theypreventforeignemigrationstoourcountryallofwhichIconsiderasadvantageoustous。Theyaredoingusanothergoodturn。Theyattemptwithoutdisguisetopossessthemselvesofthecarriageofourproduce，&toprohibitourownvesselsfromparticipatingofit。ThishasraisedageneralindignationinAmerica。Thestatesseehoweverthattheirconstitutionshaveprovidednomeansofcounteractingit。TheyarethereforebeginningtoinvestCongresswiththeabsolutepowerofregulatingtheircommerce，onlyreservingallrevenuearisingfromittothestateinwhichitislevied。Thiswillconsolidateourfederalbuildingverymuch，andforthisweshallbeindebtedtotheBritish。
YouaskwhatIthinkontheexpediencyofencouragingourstatestobecommercial?WereItoindulgemyowntheory，Ishouldwishthemtopractiseneithercommercenornavigation，buttostandwithrespecttoEuropepreciselyonthefootingofChina。Weshouldthusavoidwars，andallourcitizenswouldbehusbandmen。Wheneverindeedournumbersshouldsoincreaseasthatourproducewouldoverstockthemarketsofthosenationswhoshouldcometoseekit，thefarmersmusteitheremploythesurplusoftheirtimeinmanufactures，orthesurplusofourhandsmustbeemployedinmanufactures，orinnavigation。Butthatdaywould，Ithinkbedistant，andweshouldlongkeepourworkmeninEurope，whileEuropeshouldbedrawingroughmaterials&evensubsistencefromAmerica。
Butthisistheoryonly，&atheorywhichtheservantsofAmericaarenotatlibertytofollow。Ourpeoplehaveadecidedtastefornavigation&commerce。Theytakethisfromtheirmothercountry：&
theirservantsareindutyboundtocalculatealltheirmeasuresonthisdatum：wewishtodoitbythrowingopenallthedoorsofcommerce&knockingoffitsshackles。Butasthiscannotbedoneforothers，unlesstheywilldoitforus，&thereisnogreatprobabilitythatEuropewilldothis，Isupposeweshallbeobligedtoadoptasystemwhichmayshackletheminourportsastheydousintheirs。
Withrespecttothesaleofourlands，thatcannotbegintillaconsiderableportionshallhavebeensurveyed。Theycannotbegintosurveytillthefalloftheleafofthisyear，nortosellprobablytilltheensuingspring。Sothatitwillbeyetatwelve-monthbeforeweshallbeabletojudgeoftheefficacyofourlandofficetosinkournationaldebt。Itismadeafundamentalthattheproceedsshallbesolely&sacredlyappliedasasinkingfundtodischargethecapitalonlyofthedebt。ItistruethatthetobaccosofVirginiagoalmostentirelytoEngland。Thereasonisthattheyoweagreatdebttherewhichtheyarepayingasfastastheycan——
IthinkIhavenowansweredyourseveralqueries，&shallbehappytoreceiveyourreflectionsonthesamesubjects，&atalltimestohearofyourwelfare&togiveyouassurancesoftheesteemwithwhichI
havethehonortobeDearSiryourmostobedient&mosthumbleservant。