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Colonial and State Records of North Carolina
Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Burke
Jefferson, Thomas, 1742-1826
October 15, 1780
Volume 15, Page 371

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GOV. THOS. JEFFERSON TO HON. THOS. BURKE.
[From Executive Letter Book.]

Richmond, October 15th, 1780.

Sir:

Your favour of the 5th, covering a draught of Mr. Clay's for $106,775, came safely to hand last night. I am sorry that Mr. Clay adopted this method of negotiating money claims on our Treasury, which is not, and I fear will not again be, in a condition to answer his draughts with any kind of punctuality which might justify his drawing and negotiating in the mercantile way. In my letter to you of the 2nd Inst., acknowledging the receipt of the draught for 225,000 D., I informed you of the exhausted state of our treasury. There is yet no symptom of replenishment. I really, therefore, do not know what to recommend to you. If you find it better to retain those bills on us, we expect to pay money to or for Mr. Clay, and shall with great cheerfulness do it through you; but I am bound at the same time to inform you that we are so far from being in arrears on the general requisitions of Congress for Money (in which case depreciation might perhaps be chargeable to us) that we have overpaid their requisitions till the close of the present year upwards of six millions of dollars. Mr. Clay's draught from Congress is supererogation. Yet we do not mean to count or weigh our contributions by any standard but that of our abilities.

If you find you can better secure yourself against depreciation by recalling these draughts, they will be delivered to your order, and in the meantime safely kept.

I am, with great esteem, Sir,
Your most Obedt. Humble Servt.,
THOS. JEFFERSON.