Extract from Thomas Jefferson to Madame de Tessé
| Nismes. Mar. 20. 1787. |
would you believe Madam, that in [this 18th. centur]y, in France, und[er the reign of Louis XVI, they] are [at this mo]ment pulling down the circular wall of this superb remain [to pave a ro]ad? and that too from a hill which is itself an entire mass of stone just as fit, & more accessible. a former Intendant, a Monsr de Baville has rendered his memory dear to travellers & amateurs by the pains he took to preserve & to restore these monuments of antiquity. the present one (I do not know who he is) is demolishing the object to make a good road to it.
PrC (MHi); first page only. PrC (MoSHi); second and third page only; worn and faded, with holes at folds and lower left
quarter of third page missing. Tr (DLC); in TJ’s hand. Words for the missing or illegible parts of the PrC have been supplied
from the Tr and are indicated by square brackets. Published in PTJ, 11:226–8.
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March 20, 1787
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