To let you see that Paris is not changed in its pursuits, since it was honored with your presence, I send you its monthly history.  But this relating only to the embellishments of their persons, I must add, that those of the city go on well also.  A new bridge, for example, is begun at the Place Louis Quinze; the old ones are clearing of the rubbish which encumbered them in the form of houses 5 new hospitals erecting; magnificent walls of inclosure, and Custom-houses at their entrances, &c. &c. &c.  I know of no interesting change among those whom you honored with your acquaintance, unless Monsieur de Saint James was of that number.  His bankruptcy, and taking asylum in the Bastille, have furnished matter of astonishment.  His garden, at the Pont de Neuilly, where, on seventeen acres of ground he had laid out fifty thousand louis, will probably sell for somewhat less money.  The workmen of Paris are making rapid strides towards English perfection.  Would you believe, that in the course of the last two years, they have learned even to surpass their London rivals in some articles?  Commission me to have you a phaeton made, and if it is not as much handsomer than a London one, as that is than a fiacre, send it back to me.  Shall I fill the box with caps, bonnets, &c.?  Not of my own choosing, but I was going to say, of Mademoiselle Bertin’s, forgetting for the moment, that she too is bankrupt.  They shall be chosen then by whom you please; or, if you are altogether nonplused by her eclipse, we will call an Assemblees des Notables, to help you out of the difficulty, as is now the fashion.  In short, honor me with your, commands of any kind, and they shall be faithfully executed.  The packets now established from Havre to New York furnish good opportunities of sending whatever you wish.

I shall end where I began, like a Paris day, reminding you of your engagement to write me a letter of respectable length, an engagement the more precious to me, as it has furnished me the occasion, after presenting my respects to Mr. Bingham, of assuring you of the sincerity of those sentiments of esteem and respect, with which I have the honor to be, Dear Madam, your most obedient and most humble servant,

Th:  Jefferson,

LETTER XLVII.—­TO GOVERNOR RANDOLPH, February 7, 1787

TO GOVERNOR RANDOLPH.

Paris, February 7, 1787.

I have the honor of enclosing to your Excellency a report of the proceedings on the inauguration of the bust of the Marquis de la Fayette, in this city.  This has been attended with a considerable, but a necessary delay.  The principle that the King is the sole fountain of honor in this country, opposed a barrier to our desires, which threatened to be insurmountable.  No instance of a similar proposition from a foreign power, had occurred in their history.  The admitting it in this case, is a singular proof of the King’s friendly dispositions towards the States of America, and of his personal esteem for the character of the Marquis de la Fayette.