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Subject Area: Political Theory
Topic: The American Revolution and Constitution

THE MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE TO JOHN ADAMS. - John Adams, The Works of John Adams, vol. 8 (Letters and State Papers 1782-1799) [1853]

Edition used:

The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States: with a Life of the Author, Notes and Illustrations, by his Grandson Charles Francis Adams (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1856). 10 volumes. Vol. 8.

Part of: The Works of John Adams, 10 vols.

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THE MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE TO JOHN ADAMS.

Paris, 22 February, 1786.

My Dear Sir,—

I have been honored with your favor by Mr. Joy, to whom I will readily render every service in my power; and I am also to thank you for the valuable books you took the trouble to collect for me. In the cause of my black brethren I feel myself warmly interested, and most decidedly side, so far as respects them, against the white part of mankind. Whatever be the complexion of the enslaved, it does not, in my opinion, alter the complexion of the crime which the enslaver commits, a crime much blacker than any African face. It is to me a matter of great anxiety and concern, to find that this trade is sometimes perpetrated under the flag of liberty, our dear and noble stripes, to which virtue and glory have been constant standard-bearers. Inclosed, I beg leave to send a letter to Mr. Sharp with acknowledgments for his attention.

No event of great importance in Paris. Cardinal de Rohan’s affair has produced many memoirs; which of the different tales is the right one, I do not pretend to say. The cardinal has been either a rogue or a fool; the latter seems the most probable. All the farms have been renewed with an augmentation of revenue, that of tobacco excepted, and on this, as well as on every other point, I stand a warm opposer to the principles of the farm. On this side of the channel, when good deeds fail, you will, at least, find good intentions; in England, neither. While policy is the result of passion, not of reason, every sensible calculation is at an end. And it is still a matter of doubt with me, however strange it appears, if they will give up the posts, or let us have the pleasure to walk into those formidable works on our Saratoga tune of Yankee doodle.

With every sentiment, &c.

Lafayette.