On April 2, 1782, Major-General François Jean de Beauvoir, Marquis de Chastellux arrived at Monticello for a four-day stay with Jefferson. The French nobleman encountered Jefferson at a crisis point in his life: his governorship had ended in chaos and disgrace the previous June, and although the House of Delegates had absolved Jefferson of any blame, the investigation itself "had inflicted a wound on my spirit which will only be cured by the all-healing grave" (TJ to Monroe, 20 May 1782). His beloved wife Martha was pregnant with their sixth child; her labor was always difficult, and she had not fully recovered from the birth of Lucy Elizabeth, who had died at the age of a year in 1781. Jefferson had relinquished all thought of public service, and had retired to his farm, his family, and his scientific investigations. Henceforward, Thomas Jefferson was a private person.
But Chastellux had rekindled a desire for fame that Jefferson had thought was extinguished. To say that they were compatible would be an understatement; over the next four days they experienced something like a mind-meld. By the time Chastellux made his way down the mountain, he was a confirmed member of the Friends of Mr. Jefferson, a tireless and effective agent in his cause.
One way in which Jefferson solicited Chastellux's assistance was in disseminating and promoting interest in Notes on the State of Virginia, as illustrated in Jefferson's letter of 7 June 1785:
“Dear Sir,—I have been honoured with the receipt of your letter of the 2d instant, and am to thank you, as I do sincerely for the partiality with which you receive the copy of the Notes on my country. As I can answer for the facts therein reported on my own observation and have admitted none on the report of others which were not supported by evidence sufficient to command my own assent, I am not afraid that you should make any extracts you please for the Journal de Physique which come within their plan of publication. The strictures on slavery and on the constitution of Virginia are not of that kind, and they are the parts which I do not wish to have made public, at least till I know whether their publication would do most harm or good. It is possible that in my own country these strictures might produce an irritation which would indispose the people towards the two great objects I have in view, that is the emancipation of their slaves & the settlement of their constitution on a firmer & more permanent basis. If I learn from thence, that they will not produce that effect, I have printed & reserved just copies enough to be able to give one to every young man at the College. It is to them I look, to the rising generation, and not to the one now in power, for these great reformations. The other copy delivered at your hotel was for Mons de Buffon. I meant to ask the favour of you to have it sent to him, as I was ignorant how to do it. I have one also for Mons Daubenton; but being utterly unknown to him I cannot take the liberty of presenting it till I can do it through some common acquaintance.
But Chastellux had rekindled a desire for fame that Jefferson had thought was extinguished. To say that they were compatible would be an understatement; over the next four days they experienced something like a mind-meld. By the time Chastellux made his way down the mountain, he was a confirmed member of the Friends of Mr. Jefferson, a tireless and effective agent in his cause.
One way in which Jefferson solicited Chastellux's assistance was in disseminating and promoting interest in Notes on the State of Virginia, as illustrated in Jefferson's letter of 7 June 1785:
“Dear Sir,—I have been honoured with the receipt of your letter of the 2d instant, and am to thank you, as I do sincerely for the partiality with which you receive the copy of the Notes on my country. As I can answer for the facts therein reported on my own observation and have admitted none on the report of others which were not supported by evidence sufficient to command my own assent, I am not afraid that you should make any extracts you please for the Journal de Physique which come within their plan of publication. The strictures on slavery and on the constitution of Virginia are not of that kind, and they are the parts which I do not wish to have made public, at least till I know whether their publication would do most harm or good. It is possible that in my own country these strictures might produce an irritation which would indispose the people towards the two great objects I have in view, that is the emancipation of their slaves & the settlement of their constitution on a firmer & more permanent basis. If I learn from thence, that they will not produce that effect, I have printed & reserved just copies enough to be able to give one to every young man at the College. It is to them I look, to the rising generation, and not to the one now in power, for these great reformations. The other copy delivered at your hotel was for Mons de Buffon. I meant to ask the favour of you to have it sent to him, as I was ignorant how to do it. I have one also for Mons Daubenton; but being utterly unknown to him I cannot take the liberty of presenting it till I can do it through some common acquaintance.
