neglected, will admit. I have taken the liberty of sending your almanac to Monsieur de Condorcet, secretary of the Academy of Sciences at Paris, and a member of the Philanthropic Society, because I consider it as a document to which your whole color have a right for their justification against the doubts which have been entertained of them.
"I am, with great esteem,
"Dear sir, your obedient, &c.,
"Thomas Jefferson.
"To Mr. B. Banneker."
The letter from Banneker, together with the almanac,
created in the heart of Mr. Jefferson a fresh feeling
of enthusiasm in behalf of freedom, and especially
for the negro, which ceased only with his life. The
American statesman wrote to Brissot, the celebrated
French writer, in which he made enthusiastic mention
of the "Negro Philosopher." At the formation of the
"Society of the Friends of the Blacks," at Paris, by
Lafayette, Brissot, Barnave, Condorcet, and Gregoire,
the name of Banneker was again and again referred
to to prove the equality of the races. Indeed, the
genius of the "Negro Philosopher" did much towards
giving liberty to the people of St. Domingo. In the
British House of Commons, Pitt, Wilberforce, and
Buxton often alluded to Banneker by name, as a man
fit to fill any position in society. At the setting off of
the District of Columbia for the capital of the federal
government, Banneker was invited by the Maryland
commissioners, and took an honorable part in the settlement
of the territory. But throughout all his intercourse
with men of influence, he never lost sight of