Some Background
James C. Thompson
o Alumnus of Mr. Jefferson’s University
o Degrees: Philosophy - Ideas in History
o Four years living on Martha Jefferson Randolph’s farm
As a Philosopher I see
HISTORY:As
Ideas Moving From Place To Place
What Happened As They Did?
Where History, Philosophy, and Art Meet
I am not reporting events from the past!
I am creating
3-DIMENIONAL IMPRESSIONS
of them:
My aim is to bring past events to life AGAIN!
This Evening:
I am going to reconstruct Jefferson’s transformation:
A POLITICAL LONER
HIS WIFE DIED
AN OPPORTUNITY TO START A NEW LIFE
A PLAN
A HELPING HAND
THE IDEA OF PROGRESS
In France Thomas Jefferson became
A PROGRESSIVE INSIDER
Home again, this new man led a movement
to save the American republic
Thomas Jefferson Writing the Declaration of Independence
by Howard Pyle (1901) Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington
Thomas Jefferson in
1776:
APolitical
Loner
After meeting the Chevalier de Chastellux,Jefferson saw himself as
“A Savage from
the Mountains of America”
Francois Jean De Beauvoir, Marquis De Chastellux
by Charles Willson Peale, from life (c. 1782)
Independence National Historical Park,
Philadelphia
Martha Jefferson died
on 6 September
1782
“Nay if even in the house of Hades
The dead forget their dead,
Yet will I even there be mindful
Of my dear comrade.”
Ellen Randolph Coolidge (Martha Wayles Jefferson’s
granddaughter)by Frances Alexander (c. 1800)
Courtesy, Thomas Jefferson Foundation
Jefferson may have decided to use his
Notes on the State of Virginia
to establish himself as a man of culture and letters while visiting
with Charles Thomson, fellow member of the
American Philosophical Society, in the late-
spring 1784.Charles Thompson Esqr. Secretary to Congress
By Pierre Eugène du Simitiére (1783). In Portraits of the Generals, Ministers, Magistrates,
Members of Congress & Others.Courtesy, Library of Congress
Jefferson was offended by French Naturalist comte de Buffon’s baseless claim that
“ . . . the animals
common to both the old and the new worlds . . .
have degenerated in America.”
Georges-Louis Leclerc, comte de Buffon, Lithography by Francois Seraphin Delpech
(undated)Private Collection / The Bridgeman Art Library
Detail: Panoramic View of Paris Towards the Northby Louis Nicolas Lespinasse (c. 1786)
Musee de la Ville de Paris, Musee Carnavalet, Paris
Jefferson arrives in Paris in August 1784
A few days after arriving in Paris,
Jefferson calls on Benjamin Franklin in Passy
The Potager of the Hôtel de Valentinois in Passy, c. 1780
Alexis Nicolas Pergnon (c. 1780)National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Benjamin FranklinJoseph Siffred Duplessis (1785)
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Benjamin Franklin:
A Man for all Seasons o Promoter of the American
Cause o A new world Republican
o A Scientist - Inventory o A Sage & Homespun
Philosopher o A Freemason
Turgot said of Franklin:
“He seized the lightning from the sky, and the scepter from tyrants”
Festival in honor King Gustav III of Sweden - Given at the Petit Trianon Monday on 21 June 1784
by Niklas Lafrensen the Younger (1784)
Formerly in King Gustav’s Private Collection
Franklin describes pre-revolutionary Paris as
A SOCIETAL GALAXY FILLED WITH SOLAR SYSTEMS
Franklin orbits in five Parisian solar systems:
The Salon of Duchess d’Enville
The Salon of Madame
d’Houdetot
The Salon ofMadame
Helvetius
The Court ofKing Louis
XVI
FRANKLIN
115. Souper chez le prince Conti by Michel Barthelemy Ollivier (1766)
Chateau de Versailles, Versailles, France
[1] [2]
[4]
[3]
Franklin’s 5th Circle:
The Lodge of the Nine Sisters
This celebrated lodge was founded the year
Franklin arrived in France (1776) with the
help of Madame Helvetius, to honor the memory of her
husband.
Franklins steers Jefferson to
Pierre Cabanis(1757 – 1808)
The best-informed man in France is:o A Scientist
Medicine – Physiology (Materialism)
o A PhilosopheTurgot – Condorcet –
Helvetius(Supremacy
of Reason over Faith)o A Freemason
Member of Ben Franklin’s lodge
(Social Virtue – Benevolence)o A Salonnier
Companion to Madame Helvetius
(with Social Connections)
Pierre-Jean-Georges Cabanis(After an engraving by Ambroise Tardieu (c. 1820))
Courtesy, The National Library of Medicine / NIH
Jefferson spends from mid-August 1784 until mid-April 1785:
oWeathering in to his new environment
oMastering his responsibilities as a minister in the American embassy
oRevising his “Notes on the State of Virginia”
In the spring of 1785:
o Jefferson publishes his Notes
o He begins his Salon Campaign to attract the attention the French cognoscenti
o Cabanis offers to take him through the city and acquaint him with France
“While the great mass of the people are thus suffering under physical and moral oppression, I have endeavored to examine more nearly the condition of the great, to appreciate the true value of the circumstances in their situation . . .”
To Charles Bellini – 30 September 1785
Thomas Jefferson by Mather Brown (1788)
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
When it was over, Jefferson summarized the objective of his salon campaign with uncharacteristic candor in a letter to Charles Bellini:
Hotel Landron
Hotel Langeac
Excursion [1]
The Tuileries Gardens
62. View of the Gardens and Palace of the Tuileries from the Quai d'Orsay by Etienne Bouhot (1813)
Musee de la Ville de Paris, Musee Carnavalet, Paris,
Cabanis explainsFrench Society:
Three Estates
I. Clergy (125,000)
II. Aristocracy(200,000)
III. CommonsBourgeoisie/Peasants(500,000/23,150,000)
o The monarchy is on the verge of bankruptcy
o The economy is stagnant andcorruption is rampant
o There is no advancement for France’saspiring petit bourgeoisie
o Peasants in the countryside live on the edge of starvation
Supporters of the Ancient Regime
MonarchistsThe Cognoscenti
Progressives
The Petit BourgeoisieProfessionals/Working People
The French PeopleAn Illiterate Mass
Turgot
Robespierre
Louis
Nobody
Jefferson discovers that
Everyone wantS reform!
66. Le Palais Royal Gardens viewed from the Palace by Louis Nicolas Lespinasse (1791)
Courtesy, Musee de la Ville de Paris, Musee Carnavalet, Paris, France
Excursion [2]Le Palais Royal
The Palais Royal is owned by the duc
d’Orleans, who finishes it the year Jefferson
arrives.
It is a foreshadowing of another revolution: a place to gather, a place to shop, a place to be entertained, place to debate.
It soon becomes a seedbed for sedition.
The French Revolution will begin here on 14 July 1789!
Louis Philippe Joseph, 6th duc d’Orleans, later Philippe Egalitaire, lives in the palace.
It is no coincidence that the Palais is thecenter of LA MAÇONNERIE FRANÇAISEand the seedbed for political intrigue.
The duc became Grand Master of la Grande Loge de France in 1773. He holds this post until he is beheaded in 1793.
Louis Philippe Joseph, 6th duc d’Orleans
Grand Master, la Grande Orient de France
by Michael Garnier (1777)
Detail: Philippe’s masonic Square and Compass
The Lesson Jefferson Learns:
France is ripe for a significant change
70. View of le Theatre de l'Odeon
by Victor Jean Nicolle (c. 1780)Courtesy, Musee Nationale du Chateau de
Malmaison, Rueil-Malmaison, France
Excursion [3]le Theatre de l'Odeon
Cabanis takes Jefferson to see a comedy
In Beaumarchais’ Marriage of Figaro, commoners are wise and aristocrats are foolish.
The audience is filled with educated commoners who have come to Beaumarchais’ controversial play not just to be entertained—France’s petit bourgeoisie is eager to improve itself.
Even the common people are hungry for CULTURE!
After the theatre, the prim republican comes face toface with the world’s most libidinous society:“
“We are on pins,” the younger Mademoiselle Saint-Val implores, laying a soft hand on Jefferson’s, “tell us what you thought of our play!”
All eyes fix on Jefferson, who waits a long moment before answering. “I was enchanted!” he replies, smiling awkwardly. The actress beams across the table at her co-star. “I warn you though,” he adds, “French is not my native tongue.”78. Mademoiselle Saint-Val as Bacchante
by Antoine Vestier (c. 1785) Courtesy, Musee de la Ville de Paris, Musee Carnavalet, Paris,
Jefferson receives his first lesson in Oeconomics:
The future of France will be decided by
commoners striving to improve themselves
84. Salon Scene by Michel François Andre-Bardon (c.
1755)Courtesy Louvre (Cabinet de dessins),
Paris, France
Excursion [4]Madame d’Houdetot’s Paris Hotel
In Adam Smith’s
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
Jefferson is pleased to find that the influential economist shares his views on Primogeniture and Entailment.
Jefferson discusses these things with the admirers of American Liberty and Constitutional Government who fill Madame’s Salon.
113. Portrait from a medallion of Adam Smith
Engraving by William Holl the Younger(Undated)
Courtesy, Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris
Jefferson Learns from the Best People that:
Liberty is essential for Economic Growth
~Both are necessary for
PROGRESS!
99. le Hotel des Monnaiesby Pierre-Antoine Demachy (1777)
Courtesy, Musee de la Ville de Paris, Musee Carnavalet, Paris, France
[5]
91. Marquis de Condorcet engraving by François-Seraphin Delpech
(1832)Iconographie des contemporains depuis
1789 jusqu'à 1829.Delpech, Editor and Lithography. Paris.
1832.
Condorcet embraces his mentor’s revolutionary
idea.
Condorcet believes that in the ever-expanding library of
human knowledge are remedies for every ill that
afflicts mankind. As they are solved, man will progress
toward a state of perfection. This is the
Doctrine of ProgressSomething new is coming in France, he tells Jefferson. It is the law of Progress. Your are the authority, he says, You must tell us how to male
government-by-the-people work
HERE!
The Lesson Jefferson Learns:
France’s leading reformers consider Jefferson an expert on republican government
and want his advice on how to create one in France!
108. Interior of Halle aux Bles by Jean-Demosthene Dugourc
(undated)Courtesy, Metropolitan Museum of
Art
The End of Jefferson’s Salon Campaign:
Franklin returns home in June 1785.
Jefferson replaces him as American Ambassador to the
Court of Louis XVI
Madame Geoffrin`s salon in 1755, by Anicet Charles Gabriel Lemonnier (1812)
Chateau de Malmasion, Rueil - Malmaison, France
Jefferson now mingleswith France’s Great
DaubentonBuffonMarmontelRousseauMadame Lespinasse
Voltaire
SoufflotQuesnayDiderotTurgotDuchesse D’AnvillePrince ContiMalesherbesMadame GeoffrinFontenelleMade d’HoudetotMontesquieu
D’AlembertSaint-LambertHelvetiusBoucharadon
With Cabanis’ careful preparation,
Jefferson is welcomed into three enlightened
circles
Madame Helvetius
Madame d’Houdetot
Duchesse d’Enville
Maria Cosway
Each Circle has its own focus
o Progress through Advancement of Scientific Knowledge
o Progress through Social Reform and Public Education
o Progress through Economic Reform and Agricultural Modernization
o Not A Progressive
The Port au Ble and the Pont Notre-Dameby Louis-Nicolas Lespinasse (c. 1780)
Musee de la Ville de Paris, Musee Carnavalet, Paris, France
Madame Helvetius’s Salon
Madame d’Houdetot’s Salon
Duchess d’Enville’s Circle
Maria Cosway’s Circle
Louis Alexandre, duc de la
Rochefoucald(1743 – 1792)
39. Vue du Chateau du la Roche-Guyon
by Hubert Robert (undated)Musee des Beaux-Arts, Rouen, France
The estate of duc de la Rochefaucauld and a center in the movement to reform France.
As is the case with Jefferson’s other relationships with women, his association with Maria Cosway is shrouded in mist and uncertainty.
I reconstruct the fleeting affair with Mrs. Cosway in the book.
Maria Cosway
View of the Corn, Flour, and Seed Market, and the astronomical
column in Paris by Victor Jean Nicolle (c. 1810)
Musee Nat. du Chateau de Malmaison, Rueil-Malmaison
156. Mirabeau confronts the Marquis de Dreux-Breze after the Seance Royale (23 June 1789)by Joseph Desire Court (Undated)Courtesy, Musee des Beaux-Arts, Rouen, France
A few moments after this famous confrontation, the Estates General dissolved, the old orders in French society disappeared, and government by the people came into existence.
165. Washington's Inauguration at Philadelphia
by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (c. 1925) Private Collection
Jefferson returned to America as a progressiveinsider in November 1789 and immediately joined President Washington first Cabinet as Secretary of State
6. Edgehill Portrait by Gilbert Stuart (1800-1806)
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, the Thomas
Jefferson Memorial Foundation, and the Enid and Crosby Kemper Foundation.
Owned jointly with Monticello, Thomas Jefferson Foundation.
When George Washington retired from public office, Jefferson led the Republican Party in two campaigns for the highest office of the land. He won the “Second American Revolution” in the Presidential election of 1800. I believe his experience in France prepared him both to wage these campaigns and to lead America’s “government by the people”. In France, he embraced the idea that it was his duty to improve the conditions of man in society. As a member of la Rochefoucauld’s small circle of reformers, he gained the conviction he needed to broadcast his views to his countrymen.
~ ƑINI ~