The letter which you were so kind as to write to me the 22nd of May, 1786, was not delivered to me till the 3rd of May, 1787, when it found me in the neighborhood of Marseilles.  Before that time you must have taken your degree, as mentioned in your letter.  Those public testimonies which are earned by merit, and not by solicitation, may always be accepted without the imputation of vanity.  Of this nature is the degree which your masters proposed to confer on you.  I congratulate you sincerely on it.  It will be a pleasing event to yourself; it will be the same to your parents and friends, and to none more than myself.  Go on deserving applause, and you will be sure to meet with it:  and the way to deserve it, is to be good, and to be industrious.  I am sure you will be good, and hope you will be industrious.  As to your future plan, I am too distant from you, to advise you on sure grounds.  In general, I am of opinion that till the age of about sixteen, we are best employed on languages; Latin, Greek, French, and Spanish, or such of them as we can.  After this, I think the College of William and Mary the best place to go through courses of Mathematics, Natural Philosophy in its different branches, and Law.  Of the languages I have mentioned, I think Greek the least useful.  Write me word, from time to time, how you go on.  I shall always be glad to assist you with any books you may have occasion for, and you may count with certainty on every service I can ever render you, as well as on the sincere esteem of, Dear Jack, yours affectionately,

Th:  Jefferson.

LETTER LXXIII.—­TO A. DONALD, July 28, 1787

TO A. DONALD.

Paris, July 28, 1787.

Dear Sir,

I received with infinite satisfaction your letter of the 1st of March:  it was the first information I had of your being in America.  There is no person whom I shall see again with more cordial joy, whenever it shall be my lot to return to my native country; nor any one whose prosperity, in the mean time, will be more interesting to me.  I find as I grow older, that I set a higher value on the intimacies of my youth, and am more afflicted by whatever loses one of them to me.  Should it be in my power to render any service, in your shipment of tobacco to Havre de Grace, I shall do it with great pleasure.  The order of Bernis has, I believe, been evaded by the Farmers General as much as possible.  At this moment, I receive information from most of the seaports, that they refuse taking any tobacco, under the pretext, that they have purchased their whole quantity.  From Havre I have heard nothing, and believe you will stand a better chance there than any where else.  Being one of the ports of manufacture, too, it is entitled to a higher price.  I have now desired that the Farmers may make a distinct return of their purchases, which are conformable to the order of Bernis.  If they have really bought their quantity, on those terms, we must be satisfied:  if they have not, I shall propose their being obliged to make it up instantly.  There is a considerable accumulation of tobacco in the ports.