The Correspondence of Thomas Jefferson
By Subject
PUBLIC SERVICE / SECRETARY OF STATE
On my way home, I passed some days at Eppington, in Chesterfield, the
residence of my friend and connection, Mr. Eppes; and, while there, I
received a letter from the President, General Washington, by express,
covering an appointment to be Secretary of State. I received it with
real regret. My wish had been to return to Paris, where I had left my
household establishment, as if there myself, and to see the end of
the Revolution, which I then thought would be certainly and happily
closed in less than a year. I then meant to return home, to withdraw
from political life, into which I bad been impressed by the
circumstances of the times, to sink into the bosom of my family and
friends, and devote myself to studies more congenial to my mind. In my
answer of December 15th, I expressed these dispositions candidly to
the President, and my preference of a return to Paris; but assured
him, that if it was believed I could be more useful in the
administration of the government, I would sacrifice my own
inclinations without hesitation, and repair to that destination; this
I left to his decision. I arrived at Monticello on the 23d of
December, where I received a second letter from the President,
expressing his continued wish that I should take my station there, but
leaving me still at liberty to continue in my former office, if I
could not reconcile myself to that now proposed. This silenced my
reluctance, and I accepted the new appointment.
In the interval of my stay at home, my eldest daughter had been
happily married to the eldest son of the Tuckahoe branch of Randolphs,
a young gentleman of genius, science, and honorable mind, who
afterwards filled a dignified station in the General Government, and
the most dignified in his own State. I left Monticello on the first of
March, 1790, for New York. At Philadelphia I called on the venerable
and beloved Franklin.
from Notes for an Autobiography, 6 January 1821
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