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Letter from
John Strachan
to Thomas Jefferson
To Thomas Jefferson, Esquire, of Monticello,
Ex-president of the United States of America.
Sir,
In your letter to a member of Congress, recently published, respecting
the sale of your library, I perceive that you are angry with the British for
the destruction of the public buildings at Washington, and attempt, with
your accustomed candour, to compare that transaction to the
devastation committed by the Barbarians in the middle ages....
Permit me, Sir, to remark, that the destruction of the public buildings at
Washington entitled the British to your gratitude and praise, by affording
you a noble opportunity of proving your devotion to your country. In
former times, when you spoke of the magnitude of your services, and
the fervour of your patriotism, your political enemies were apt to
mention your elevated situation, and the greatness of your salary. But,
by presenting your library a free-will offering to the nation, at this
moment of uncommon pressure, when the Treasury is empty, every help
to the acquisition of knowledge is so very necessary to keep the
government from sinking, you would have astonished the world with one
solitary action in your political life worthy of commendation.
Nor are your obligations to the British army unimportant, though you
have not aspired to generous praise. An opportunity has been given you
of disposing of a library at your own price, which, if sold volume by
volume, would have fetched nothing. You have, no doubt, seen that old
libraries do not sell well after the death of the proprietors; and, with a
lively attention to your own interests, you take advantage of the times.
I am, Sir,
With due consideration, &c.,
John Strachan, D.D.
Treasurer of the Loyal and Patriotic Society of
Upper Canada
York, 30th January, 1815.
John Strachan
to Thomas Jefferson
To Thomas Jefferson, Esquire, of Monticello,
Ex-president of the United States of America.
Sir,
In your letter to a member of Congress, recently published, respecting
the sale of your library, I perceive that you are angry with the British for
the destruction of the public buildings at Washington, and attempt, with
your accustomed candour, to compare that transaction to the
devastation committed by the Barbarians in the middle ages....
Permit me, Sir, to remark, that the destruction of the public buildings at
Washington entitled the British to your gratitude and praise, by affording
you a noble opportunity of proving your devotion to your country. In
former times, when you spoke of the magnitude of your services, and
the fervour of your patriotism, your political enemies were apt to
mention your elevated situation, and the greatness of your salary. But,
by presenting your library a free-will offering to the nation, at this
moment of uncommon pressure, when the Treasury is empty, every help
to the acquisition of knowledge is so very necessary to keep the
government from sinking, you would have astonished the world with one
solitary action in your political life worthy of commendation.
Nor are your obligations to the British army unimportant, though you
have not aspired to generous praise. An opportunity has been given you
of disposing of a library at your own price, which, if sold volume by
volume, would have fetched nothing. You have, no doubt, seen that old
libraries do not sell well after the death of the proprietors; and, with a
lively attention to your own interests, you take advantage of the times.
I am, Sir,
With due consideration, &c.,
John Strachan, D.D.
Treasurer of the Loyal and Patriotic Society of
Upper Canada
York, 30th January, 1815.