LXXXIII. LXXXIII
JEFFERSON TO JOHN VAUGHAN[1]
LXXXIII. [Original MS. in possession of American Philosophical Society. We follow a transcript furnished by
Secretary Hays.]
Dear Sir: Your two letters of the 2d. and 18th. have been recieved
in due time. mine of the 7th. had partly anticipated your requests of
the 2d.
I thank you for the advance to Mr. Birard, and now inclose 70. D.
to cover it in bills of the Virginia bank which I understand pass with
you. the duplicates you advise for Cathalan & Debures, I had sent
thro' the Secretary of State's office. I shall be glad to subscribe for the
volume of transactions now in the press, and ask the favor of you to
have my name placed on the subscription paper. but I have nothing to
offer for insertion in it. in earlier life when I should from inclination
have devoted myself to pursuits analogous to those of our society, my
time was all engrossed by public duties, and now without either books
or memory I could offer nothing which would do credit either to the
society or myself. you enquire for the Indian vocabularies of Messrs.
Lewis and Clarke. all their papers are at present under a kind of
embargo. they consist of 1. Lewis', Ms. pocket journals of the
journey. 2. his Indian Vocabularies. 3. his astronomical observations,
particularly for the longitudes. 4. his map, and drawings. a part of
these papers were deposited with Dr. Barton; some with Mr Biddle,
others I know not where. of the pocket journals Mr. Correa got 4. out
of 11. or 12. from Mr̄s Barton & sent them to me. he informed me
that Mr̄ Biddle would not think himself authorised to deliver the
portion of the papers he recieved from Genl. Clarke without his order;
whereon I wrote to Genl. Clarke, & recieved his order for the whole
some time ago. but I have held it up until a Secretary at War was is
appointed, that office having some rights to these papers. as soon as
that appointment is made, I shall endeavor to collect the whole, to
deposite the Ms. journals & Vocabularies with the Philosophical Society,
adding a collection of some vocabularies made by myself, and to get the
Sec
y. at War to employ some person to whom I may deliver the astronomical
papers for calculation, and the geographical ones for the correct
execution of a map; for in that published with his journal, altho' the
latitudes may be correct, the longitudes cannot be. I wait therefore
only for this appointment to begin my endeavors for a compleat collection
and destribution of these papers. the historical committee were
so kind as to send me Col
o. Byrd's MS. journal of the survey of the
boundary between N. Carolina & Virginia. I am in negociation with
the family to obtain his private journal of the same expedition containing
much matter not in the public one, equally curious, and equally
worthy of being printed. as soon as I obtain a difinitive answer I shall
return them theirs, and the other also if I can obtain leave. Accept
my friendly and respectful salutations.
