To Henri Gregoire Washington, February 25, 1809SIR, -- I have received the favor of your letter of August
17th, and with it the volume you were so kind as to send me on the
"Literature of Negroes." Be assured that no person living wishes more
sincerely than I do, to see a complete refutation of the doubts I
have myself entertained and expressed
on the grade of understanding
allotted to them by nature, and to find that in this respect they are
on a par with ourselves. My doubts were the result of personal
observation on the limited sphere of my own State, where the
opportunities for the development of their genius were not favorable,
and those of exercising it still less so. I expressed them therefore
with great hesitation; but whatever be their degree of talent it is
no measure of their rights. Because
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