Mr. Jefferson, who was Secretary of State under President Washington, sent the great Negro the following courteous reply:—­

     “PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 30, 1791.

“SIR,—­I thank you sincerely for your letter of the 19th instant, and for the almanac it contained.  Nobody wishes more than I do to see such proofs as you exhibit, that Nature has given to our black brethren talents equal to those of the other colors of men, and that the appearance of a want of them is owing only to the degraded condition of their existence, both in Africa and America.  I can add, with truth, that no one wishes more ardently to see a good system commenced for raising the condition, both of their body and mind, to what it ought to be, as fast as the imbecility of their present existence, and other circumstances which cannot be neglected, will admit.  I have taken the liberty of sending your almanac to Monsieur de Condorcet, Secretary of the Academy of Sciences, at Paris, and members of the Philanthropic Society, because I considered it a document to which your whole color had a right, for their justification against the doubts which have been entertained of them,

“I am, with great esteem, sir,
“Your most obedient servant,
“THO.  JEFFERSON.

“MR. BENJAMIN BANNEKER, near Ellicott’s

Lower Mills, Baltimore county."[614]

The only time Banneker was ever absent from his home any distance was when “the Commissioners to run the lines of the District of Columbia”—­then known as the “Federal Territory”—­invited him to accompany them upon their mission.  Mr. Norris says:—­

“Banneker’s deportment throughout the whole of this engagement, secured their respect, and there is good authority for believing, that his endowments led the commissioners to overlook the color of his skin, to converse with him freely, and enjoy the clearness and originality of his remarks on various subjects.  It is a fact, that they honored him with an invitation to a daily seat at their table; but this, with his usual modesty, he declined.  They then ordered a side table laid for him, in the same apartment with themselves.  On his return, he called to give an account of his engagements, at the house of one of his friends.  He arrived on horseback, dressed in his usual costume;—­full suit of drab cloth, surmounted by a broad brimmed beaver hat.  He seemed to have been re-animated by the presence of the eminent men with whom he had mingled in the District, and gave a full account of their proceedings.”

His habits of study were rather peculiar.  At nightfall, wrapped in a great cloak, he would lie prostrate upon the ground, where he spent the night in contemplation of the heavenly bodies.  At sunrise he would retire to his dwelling, where he spent a portion of the day in repose.  But as he seemed to require less sleep than most people, he employed the hours of the afternoons in the cultivation of his