JEFFERSON, Thomas, President . Autograph letter signed ("Th: Jefferson"), to Virginia Governor Wilson Cary Nicholas, Poplar Forest, 13 November 1816. Two pages, small quarto, a few small spots several marginal tears, otherwise in good condition.
JEFFERSON, Thomas, President . Autograph letter signed ("Th: Jefferson"), to Virginia Governor Wilson Cary Nicholas, Poplar Forest, 13 November 1816. Two pages, small quarto, a few small spots several marginal tears, otherwise in good condition. JEFFERSON, AS PEACEMAKER, SEEKS TO EFFECT A RECONCILIATION BETWEEN JAMES MONROE AND NICHOLAS: "IS A SINGLE ERROR TO HAVE NO FORGIVENESS IN THIS WORLD? A charming letter of warmth and conciliation. Jefferson asks about a post for Mr. Armistead and adds "...I wrote to him of preference, because more intimate with him than with any other of the heads of departments, and for a reason still more interesting, which I will explain to you as I did to him. I had observed," Jefferson explains, " that between you and him the former friendly intercourse had ceased for some time....The causes of it I never knew, nor wish to know. I only know it to be impossible that either of you could have been in the wrong. Your characters assure that. It follows then that one or both must have been misled by wrong information. But two such men should not be at variance, should not be at the mercy of the passions of others." He has raised the estrangement to Monroe, who "answered me by acknoledging he once thought he had reason to complain of you; but that that sentiment had vanished long ago, and that he had called on you in Richmond as testimony of it; and he expresses such sentiments towards you as could not fail to merit and produce a return of them on your part. I think Mr. Carr mentioned some act of personal slight from Monroe to yourself directly. Be it so, who can say what tale had been carried to him, what innocent expression of yours had been distorted into the most injurious one? A man of his consideration does not act without a cause. But suppose him surprised into a momentary error. Is a single error to have no forgiveness in this world?" He gently chides Nicholas: "this is not your character. I hope then, knowing that this cloud has passed away, and mutual good will has resumed its place with both, that both will awake from this dream of error....without considering it as needing or worthy of an explanation. Perhaps this is already taken place...and I may be writing about a state of things long since done away, for I hear little of the ordinary occurrences of society. I shall rejoice if it is so. You have both too long to live and to be useful to make you want to harmony a matter of indifference to your friends or your country. If it is not so, let it be; and lose no opportunity of embracing each other."~He reports that a post will be given to Armistead and closes: "Consider this matter then as settled, and love me and my friends, as I do you and yours." Nicholas served as governor from 1814-1816; he also served as president of the Richmond branch of the Second Bank of the United States. After extensive speculations in western lands he was near bankrupt during the Panic of 1819. Unwisely, Jefferson was persuaded to endorse two $10,000 notes for Nicholas; these contributed to Jefferson's growing financial problems.
JEFFERSON, Thomas, President . Autograph letter signed ("Th: Jefferson"), to Virginia Governor Wilson Cary Nicholas, Poplar Forest, 13 November 1816. Two pages, small quarto, a few small spots several marginal tears, otherwise in good condition.
JEFFERSON, Thomas, President . Autograph letter signed ("Th: Jefferson"), to Virginia Governor Wilson Cary Nicholas, Poplar Forest, 13 November 1816. Two pages, small quarto, a few small spots several marginal tears, otherwise in good condition. JEFFERSON, AS PEACEMAKER, SEEKS TO EFFECT A RECONCILIATION BETWEEN JAMES MONROE AND NICHOLAS: "IS A SINGLE ERROR TO HAVE NO FORGIVENESS IN THIS WORLD? A charming letter of warmth and conciliation. Jefferson asks about a post for Mr. Armistead and adds "...I wrote to him of preference, because more intimate with him than with any other of the heads of departments, and for a reason still more interesting, which I will explain to you as I did to him. I had observed," Jefferson explains, " that between you and him the former friendly intercourse had ceased for some time....The causes of it I never knew, nor wish to know. I only know it to be impossible that either of you could have been in the wrong. Your characters assure that. It follows then that one or both must have been misled by wrong information. But two such men should not be at variance, should not be at the mercy of the passions of others." He has raised the estrangement to Monroe, who "answered me by acknoledging he once thought he had reason to complain of you; but that that sentiment had vanished long ago, and that he had called on you in Richmond as testimony of it; and he expresses such sentiments towards you as could not fail to merit and produce a return of them on your part. I think Mr. Carr mentioned some act of personal slight from Monroe to yourself directly. Be it so, who can say what tale had been carried to him, what innocent expression of yours had been distorted into the most injurious one? A man of his consideration does not act without a cause. But suppose him surprised into a momentary error. Is a single error to have no forgiveness in this world?" He gently chides Nicholas: "this is not your character. I hope then, knowing that this cloud has passed away, and mutual good will has resumed its place with both, that both will awake from this dream of error....without considering it as needing or worthy of an explanation. Perhaps this is already taken place...and I may be writing about a state of things long since done away, for I hear little of the ordinary occurrences of society. I shall rejoice if it is so. You have both too long to live and to be useful to make you want to harmony a matter of indifference to your friends or your country. If it is not so, let it be; and lose no opportunity of embracing each other."~He reports that a post will be given to Armistead and closes: "Consider this matter then as settled, and love me and my friends, as I do you and yours." Nicholas served as governor from 1814-1816; he also served as president of the Richmond branch of the Second Bank of the United States. After extensive speculations in western lands he was near bankrupt during the Panic of 1819. Unwisely, Jefferson was persuaded to endorse two $10,000 notes for Nicholas; these contributed to Jefferson's growing financial problems.
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