A rare letter from Thomas Jefferson, complaining about the Brits, is found in a family's attic. They had no idea it was there.
Jefferson wrote the four page letter in 1815, in response to a letter from William Crawford, the U.S. ambassador to France. Someone in the Southern family must have squirreled it away...because it was found in a box with other heirlooms.
One interesting quote:
"We must sacrifice the last dollar and drop of blood to rid us of that badge of slavery, and it must rest with England alone to say whether it is worth eternal war, for eternal it must be if she holds to the wrong...
"She will probably find that the 6000 citizens she took from us by impressment have already cost her ten thousand guineas a man, and will cost her in addition the half of that annually, during the continuance of the war, besides the captures on the ocean, & the loss of our commerce."
It's up for sale -- for $325,000.
Better that than the guy who steals thousands of Egyptian artifacts...then tries to have the British Museum authenticate them.
The good stuff is still out there. You just have to look.
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| Mr. J. himself, courtesy of Wikipedia |
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