Quesnay de Beaurepaire consulted Jefferson, both being in Paris at the time, and wrote to him a number of letters as to the practicability of his plan for conducting a number of schools in various cities from a central institution in Richmond, Virginia.

On December 22, 1787, Jefferson wrote to Quesnay, acknowledging the receipt of the Plan, to which, owing to the departure of the American post, he had given only a cursory and partial reading: “ . . . a friend to science & the arts, I cannot but be pleased with every rational proposal for extending them. I am fearful however from the accounts which we receive thence of poverty, debts, distress & the want of money, that my countrymen may not be in a situation to support effectually so extensive an institution, and to reward it’s professors & promoters as they may merit . . . ”

On January 6, 1788 Jefferson wrote again in the same strain: “ . . . whether professors itinerant from one state to another may succeed, I am unable to say, having never known an experiment of it. the fear that these professors may be disappointed in their expectations has determined me not to meddle in the business at all. knowing how much people going to America over-rate the resources of living there, I have made a point never to encourage any person to go there, that I may not partake of the censure which may follow their disappointment. I beg you therefore not to alter your plan in any part of it on my account, but to permit me to pursue mine of being absolutely neutral . . . convinced of the honesty of your intentions and of your zeal, I wish you every possible success, and shall be really happy to see your plan answer your expectations. you have more courage than I have, to take upon yourself the risk of transplanting and contenting so many persons . . . ”

On March 4, 1789, Jefferson wrote to Quesnay criticizing articles of his Constitution, and his proposal to begin the plan without the necessary funds: “ . . . I have said thus much on the point of right. but I should not stickle on the rigours of right if I had any confidence in the success of this institution. in such case I should not have confined myself to one or two actions, nor have lain by in quiet, and leave the thing to go on as it could. but I have no confidence in it. I see in it as yet but a project in the air, which has lasted indeed & extended itself beyond all my expectations; but which still must burst. it suffices to read over the names of your subscribers to pronounce that they have been actuated by the most patriotic views . . . but tho we had never a thought of gain, we may be allowed to wish, to reserve our contributions for other useful objects . . . ”

Jefferson’s name appears twice in the Mémoire, once in the list of Associés Étrangers, and the other in connection with John Harvie, who is stated to be allié à la famille de son Excellence M. Jeferson.

Alexandre Marie Quesnay de Beaurepaire, 1755-1820, French soldier and educationalist, originally came to America to fight in the Revolutionary war. In 1780 he opened a school in Philadelphia and in 1785 in Richmond. In 1786 he returned to France to consult Jefferson and others on his plans for a number of schools with peripatetic professors. The project failed, and the French Revolution prevented its author from returning to America.