interest in it. I know not to whom I may venture
confidential communications, after you are gone. I take the liberty of
placing here my respects to Mrs. Monroe, and assurances of the sincere
esteem with which I am, Dear Sir, your friend and servant,

Th: Jefferson.

LETTER XXVII.--TO MR. WYTHE, August 13,1786

TO MR. WYTHE.

Paris, August 13,1786.

Dear Sir

Your favors of January the 10th and February the 10th, came to hand
on the 20th and 23rd of May. I availed myself of the first opportunity
which occurred, by a gentleman going to England, of sending to
Mr. Joddrel a copy of the Notes on our country! with a line informing him,
that it was you who had emboldened me to take that liberty. Madison, no
doubt, informed you of the reason why I had sent only a single copy to
Virginia. Being assured by him, that they will not do the harm I had
apprehended, but on the contrary may do some good, I propose to send
thither the copies remaining on hand, which are fewer than I had
intended. But of the numerous corrections they need, there are one or
two so essential, that I must have them made, by printing a few new
leaves, and substituting them for the old. This will be done while
they are engraving a map which I have constructed, of the country from
Albemarle sound to Lake Erie, and which will be inserted in the book. A
bad French translation which is getting out here, will probably oblige
me to publish the original more freely; which it did not deserve,
nor did I intend. Your wishes, which are laws to me, will justify my
destining a copy for you, otherwise, I should as soon have thought
of sending you a horn-book; for there is no truth in it which is not
familiar to you, and its errors I should hardly have proposed to treat
you with.

Immediately on the receipt of your letter, I wrote to a correspondent at
Florence to inquire after the family of Tagliaferro, as you desired.
I received his answer two days ago, a copy of which I now enclose.
The original shall be sent by some other occasion. I will have the
copper-plate immediately engraved. This may be ready within a few days,
but the probability is, that I shall be long getting an opportunity of
sending it to you, as these rarely occur. You do not mention the size
of the plate, but presuming it is intended for labels for the inside of
books, I shall have it made of a proper size for that. I shall omit the
word _agisos_, according to the license you allow me, bec