Primary Source Document Name: Letter to Henri Gregoire
Washington, February 25, 1809.
Sir, —I have received the favor of your letter of August 17th, and with it the volume youwere so kind as to send me on the Literature of Negroes. Be assured that no person livingwishes more sincerely than I do, to see a complete refutation of the doubts I have myselfentertained and expressed on the grade of understanding allotted to them by nature, andto find that in this respect they are on a par with ourselves. My doubts were the result ofpersonal observation on the limited sphere of my own State, where the opportunities forthe development of their genius were not favorable, and those of exercising it still lessso. I expressed them therefore with great hesitation; but whatever be their degree oftalent it is no measure of their rights. Because Sir Isaac Newton was superior to othersin understanding, he was not therefore lord of the person or property of others. On thissubject they are gaining daily in the opinions of nations, and hopeful advances are makingtowards their reestablishment on an equal footing with the other colors of the humanfamily. I pray you therefore to accept my thanks for the many instances you have enabledme to observe of respectable intelligence in that race of men, which cannot fail to haveeffect in hastening the day of their relief; and to be assured of the sentiments of high andjust esteem and consideration which I tender to yourself with all sincerity.