208 Chapter IX
apparent doctrine, of the necessity for three “orders.” Many of the French with
whom Jefferson mixed were partisans of Turgot. They admired neither the British
constitution, nor aristocracy, nor “orders,” nor the balance of powers within gov-
ernment. It is possible that Jefferson’s own experience with his Notes on the State of
Virginia is of some relevancy here.
Jefferson had written these Notes before leaving America, and had had two hun-
dred copies printed for private circulation. His aim in part, like that of Adams in
the Defense, was to correct the vagaries of European savants on America, notably
the views made current by de Pauw and Buffon, to the effect that America was an
unfavorable habitat for living things, that the animals were more puny and the
human beings less vigorous than in Europe, and that human culture in America
showed a tendency to deteriorate. Jefferson also commented on the constitution of
Virginia. He listed certain defects in it, in particular the domination over executive
and judiciary by the legislative assembly, in which Jefferson saw the danger of
“elective despotism”—a term which for Jefferson seems to have meant what Adams
called “aristocracy.” Jefferson also included, in the Notes, a draft constitution for
Virginia which he had made in 1783, when it was thought that a state constitu-
tional convention would soon assemble. In this draft he provided for a clear sepa-
ration of powers. He strengthened the position of governor by proposing a five-
year term. He provided for senators to be elected by the voters, though indirectly
by way of electors. Though he wished to broaden the franchise, and to reduce the
overrepresentation of tidewater counties, Jefferson’s draft constitution of 1783 for
Virginia was in important respects less democratic than Adams’ draft of 1779 for
Massachusetts, since neither the governor nor the senate was to be directly elected
by voters. Also, it never went into effect; Virginia had no new constitution until
- But in wishing to strengthen the executive, separate the three powers, and
widen the franchise Jefferson’s thought moved in the same direction as Adams’.
One of the privately printed copies of Notes on Virginia came into the hands of
the Abbé Morellet, who began to translate it, without Jefferson’s approval, for pub-
lication in France. Morellet took various liberties with the text. For one thing, he
did not include, in his translation, Jefferson’s draft constitution of 1783. It is cer-
tain that Jefferson would want this draft to appear, for Demeunier, working under
his guidance, published it in the Encyclopédie, and the London edition of the Notes,
published the following year under Jefferson’s supervision, also included it.^56
Why did Morellet omit Jefferson’s proposed constitution from his Observations
sur la Virginie? We may never know the answer to this question. He may have tired
of his task of translation, or thought the draft unimportant. Or he may have found
it awkward for his own purposes. Morellet was associated with the followers of
Turgot in France, and with parliamentary reform groups in England. For these
partisans of the American Revolution, who despite criticisms yet believed that the
American constitutions were an epoch- making contribution to political science, it
was inconvenient to find the eminent Jefferson, the former governor, proposing a
56 Jefferson, Observations sur la Virginie (Paris, 1786); Notes on the State of Virginia (London,
1787); critical edition of the same edited by William Peden (Williamsburg, 1955); Encyclopédie Mé-
thodique: Economie Politique, article “Virginie.”