Thank you very much. Regards, Franklin Bell. Karen Stuart wrote: > > {America's Undeclared War} by Daniel Lazare (reviewed in the June 4 {The > > New Yorker} Briefly Noted column) reportedly contains a letter by Thomas > > Jefferson "suggesting", says the review, "that yellow fever might be > > beneficial in reducing city populations." > > Probably this one... > > Thomas Jefferson to Benjamin Rush > Monticello, Sep. 23, 1800. > > Dear Sir,--I have to acknolege the receipt of your favor of Aug. 22, and > to congratulate you on the healthiness of your city. Still Baltimore, > Norfolk & Providence admonish us that we are not clear of our new > scourge. When great evils happen, I am in the habit of looking out for > what good may arise from them as consolations to us, and Providence has in > fact so established the order of things, as that most evils are the means > of producing some good. The yellow fever will discourage the growth of > great cities in our nation, & I view great cities as pestilential to the > morals, the health and the liberties of man. True, they nourish some of > the elegant arts, but the useful ones can thrive elsewhere, and less > perfection in the others, with more health, virtue & freedom, would be my > choice.... > > [transcription from The Works of Thomas Jefferson in Twelve Volumes. > Federal Edition. Collected and Edited by Paul Leicester Ford.] > > Search the words "yellow fever" at > http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/mtjhtml/mtjhome.html > > Karen Stuart > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions > at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html