February 14, 2022

 

"Looking out the gazebo, I let the soft breeze waft over my face again and enjoyed how it rippled over the distant meadows. How peaceful those Virginia hills were! I wanted Jefferson to understand my position, so it didn't take me long to say, "When the French Army reached Portugal in 1807—ready to depose our sovereigns and install a republic—the royal family fled to Brazil, escorted by British ships. Like Ferdinando and Carolina in Naples, our monarchs didn't accept either French ideas or foreign rule. And I agreed. I didn't want a republic in Portugal under French jurisdiction. So I've always maintained a different viewpoint from Eleonora. If she welcomed the French into Naples, she would have welcomed the French into Portugal as well."
"I understand your viewpoint but I'm a republican like Eleonora. I hope, nevertheless, that through help from cosmopolitans like you, the Portuguese crown succeeds in bringing reform from within," Jefferson said.
I nodded in agreement."