LETTER XXIX.--TO MR. HARRIS, April 18, 1806

TO MR. HARRIS.

Washington, April 18, 1806.

Sir,

It is now some time since I received from you, through the house of
Smith and Buchanan, at Baltimore, a bust of the Emperor Alexander,
for which I have to return you my thanks. These are the more cordial,
because of the value the bust derives from the great estimation in which
its original is held by the world, and by none more than by myself.
It will constitute one of the most valued ornaments of the retreat I am
preparing for myself at my native home. Accept, at the same time, my
acknowledgments for the elegant work of Atkinson and Walker on the
customs of the Russians. I had laid it down as a law for my conduct
while in office, and hitherto scrupulously observed, to accept of no
present beyond a book, a pamphlet, or other curiosity of minor value;
as well to avoid imputations on my motives of action, as to shut out
a practice susceptible of such abuse. But my particular esteem for the
character of the Emperor places his image in my mind above the scope of
law. I receive it, therefore, and shall cherish it with affection. It
nourishes the contemplation of all the good placed in his power, and of
his disposition to do it.

A little before Dr. Priestley's death, he informed me that he had
received intimations, through a channel he confided in, that the