Memoirs Of Aaron Burr, Volume 1, Matthew L. Davis [book club suggestions .txt] 📗

Of Variety

(Useful, Indeed, Within Proper Limits), Which Influences More Or Less

In Almost Every Act Of Life. New Views, New Laws, New _Friends_, Have

Each Their Charm. Truly Great Must Be The Soul, And Firm Almost Beyond

The Weakness Of Humanity, That Can Withstand The Smiles Of Fortune.

Success, Promotion, The Caresses Of The Great, And The Flatteries Of

The Low, Are Sometimes Fatal To The Noblest Minds. The Volatile Become

An Easy Prey. The Fickle Heart, Tiptoe With Joy, As From An Eminence,

Views With Contempt Its Former Joys, Connexions, And Pursuits. A New

Taste Contracted, Seeks Companions Suited To Itself. But Pleasures

Easiest Tasted, Though Perhaps At First Of Higher Glee, Are Soonest

Past, And, The More They Are Relied Upon, Leave The Severer Sting

Behind. One Cloudy Day Despoils The Glow-Worm Of All Its Glitter.

 

 

Should Fortune Ever Frown Upon You, Matt.; Should Those You Now Call

Friends Forsake You; Should The Clouds Gather Force On Every Side, And

Threaten To Burst Upon You, Think Then Upon The Man Who Never Betrayed

You; Rely On The Sincerity You Never Found To Fail; And If My Heart,

My Life, Or My Fortune Can Assist You, It Is Yours.

 

 

I Go To-Morrow To Elizabethtown, Where I Shall See The Best Of

Women--Your Wife. Whatever Letters Or Commands She May Have For You, I

Shall Be Careful To Forward By The Safest Hands.

 

 

Your Friend,

 

 

Aaron Burr.

Chapter VI (His Friend, Jonathan Bellamy, Writes) Pg 65

In The Beginning Of July, 1776, Major Burr Was Appointed Aid-De-Camp

To General Putnam. At This Time The Headquarters Of The General Were

In The Large Brick House, Yet Standing, At The Corner Of Broadway And

The Battery. Burr Continued Occasionally To Correspond With His

Friends, But Was Much Occupied With His Military Duties, And Those

Studies Which Were Calculated To Render Him Scientifically Master Of

His Profession. During The Short Period That He Remained In The Family

Of General Washington, He Was Treated With Respect And Attention; But

Soon Perceived, As He Thought, An Unwillingness To Afford That

Information, And Those Technical Explanations Of Great Historical

Military Movements, Which An Inquiring And Enlightened Mind, Like

Burr'S, Sought With Avidity And Perseverance. He Therefore Became

Apprehensive, If He Remained With The Commander-In-Chief, That,

Instead Of Becoming A Scientific Soldier, He Should Dwindle Down Into

A Practical Clerk--A Species Of Drudgery To Which His Pecuniary

Circumstances Did Not Render It Necessary For Him To Submit, And For

Which Neither His Habits, His Education, Nor His Temperament In Any

Degree Qualified Him. He Therefore Determined Promptly On A Change,

And Was Willing To Enter The Family Of Major-General Putnam, Because

He Would There Enjoy The Opportunities For Study, And The Duties Which

He Would Be Required To Perform Would Be Strictly Military. There Is

No Doubt The Short Residence Of Major Burr With General Washington

Laid The Foundation For Those Prejudices Which, At A Future Day,

Ripened Into Hostile Feelings On Both Sides.

Chapter VI (Judge Paterson Thus Writes Him) Pg 66

 

 

 

New-Brunswick, July 22D, 1776.

 

 

My Dear Burr,

 

 

I Did Myself The Pleasure Of Writing You By My Brother, Who Is In

General Sullivan'S Brigade, And Who Was In Expectation Of Seeing You,

As He Was Destined For The Canada Department. Indeed, From The

Friendship Which Subsisted Between Us, I Was In Expectation Of Hearing

Frequently From You, And, To Tell The Truth, Was Not A Little

Mortified That I Was Passed Over In Silence. Why, Burr, All This

Negligence? I Dare Not Call It Forgetfullness, For I Cannot Bear The

Thought Of Giving Up My Place In Your Esteem. I Rejoice At Your

Return, And Congratulate You On Your Promotion. I Was Attending The

Convention At Burlington When You Passed On To Philadelphia, And Was

Full Of The Pleasing Hope Of Having An Interview With You. The

Delaware, Indeed, Ran Between Us--A Mighty Obstacle, To Be Sure! I

Inquired When You Designed To Return, That I Might Plant Myself At

Bristol, And Intercept You On Your Way. The Inquiry Was Of No Avail. I

Have At Times Been Violently Tempted To Write You A Railing Letter,

And For That Purpose Have More Than Once Taken Up The Pen. But I Can

Hardly Tell How, On Such Occasions, The Genius Of Friendship Would

Rise Up To View, And Soften Me Down Into All The Tenderness Of

Affectionate Sorrow--Perhaps Because I Counted You As Lost. I Find I

Must E'En Forgive You--But, Remember, You Must Behave Better In

Future. Do Write Me Now And Then. Your Letters Will Give Me Unfeigned

Pleasure, And, For Your Encouragement, I Promise To Be A Faithful

Correspondent. In The Letter-Way You Used To Be Extremely Careless;

You Know I Am, In That Respect, Of A Different Turn.

 

 

This Will Be Handed You By Mr. Hugg And Mr. Leaming, Members Of Our

Convention, Whom Curiosity Partly, And Partly Business, Have Impelled

To New-York. As Men, They Are Genteel, Sensible, And Deserving. As

Politicians, They Are Worthy Of Your Regard, For They Possess The

Genuine Spirit Of Whiggism. They Have No Acquaintance In York. They

Are Desirous Of Seeing The Fortifications, And Other Things In The

Military Line. Pray Take Them By The Hand; And Be Assured 'That Any

Kindness Shown Them Will Be Acknowledged As An Additional Obligation

Conferred Upon

 

 

Your Affectionate

 

 

Wm. Paterson.

Chapter VI (A. Burr Replies To This Letter) Pg 67

 

 

 

New-York, July 26Th, 1776.

 

 

My Dear Paterson,

 

 

I This Day Received Your Kind Letter. It Gave Me A Pleasure I Seldom

Experience. Can It Be That You Have Still In Memory The Vagrant Burr?

Some Fatality Has Ever Attended Our Endeavours To Meet. Why I Have Not

Written To You I Cannot Tell. It Has Not Been For Want Of Friendship,

Of Inclination, Or Always Of Opportunity; But Some Unavoidable

Accidents Prevented So Long, That I Began To Fear A Letter From Me

Must Be Ushered In By Some Previous Introduction, Some Anecdotes Of

The Writer, Which Might Renew Your Remembrance, And Authorize A

Freedom Of This Nature. But Your Frank And Kind Epistle Precludes

Fulsome Apologies, Which; Though Sometimes Necessary, I Esteem, At

Best, But A Drug In Letters.

 

 

I Am Exceedingly Pleased With Your Friends, Messrs. Hugg And Learning,

But Was Unfortunate Enough To Be From Home The Day They Came In Town,

And Had Not The Pleasure Of Seeing Them Till This Afternoon. I Felt

Myself So Nearly Interested In The Welfare Of The Province Whose

Constitution You Are Now Framing, That I Did Not Urge Their Stay With

The Warmth My Inclination Prompted. If Any Other Of Our Jersey Friends

Should Be Coming This Way, I Should Be Happy In Showing Them Every

Civility In My Power.

 

 

As To Promises Of Writing, I Shall Make You None, My Dear Bill, Till

Those Already On Hand, And Of Long Standing, Are Discharged. I Am No

Epistolary Politician Or Newsmonger; And As To Sentiments, A Variety

Of Novelties And Follies Has Entirely Dissipated Them. This, However,

Is Only A New Apology For An Old Misfortune. But Why This To You, Who

Know Me Better Than I Know Myself? This Epistolary Chat, Though

Agreeable, Is By No Means Satisfactory. The Sincerity Of My

Long-Smothered Affections Is Not To Be Thus Expressed. I Must Contrive

To Shake You By The Hand. Perhaps I May, Ere Long, Be Sent To

Elizabethtown Or Amboy On Business, And Will, Undoubtedly, Take

Brunswick In My Way. I Have, Or Had Once, An Agreeable Female

Acquaintance With Miss S. D., Now Mrs. S., And With Miss S. Was On

Tolerable Terms Of Intimacy. Could I But Reconnoitre A While, And Find

How The Land Lay, I Might, Perhaps, Be Able To Graduate My Compliments

With Some Propriety, From Cold Respects To Affectionate Regards. I

Think I Must Leave You Discretionary Orders On This Head, Begging You

To Make Use Of All The Policy Of War. There Is No Knowing Of What

Importance It May Be To

 

 

Your Affectionate

 

 

A. Burr.

Footnote Pg 68

 

 

 

1. James Clinton, Afterwards General, Brother Of Governor George

Clinton.

Chapter VII Pg 69

 

 

 

From The Year 1780 Until The Year 1795, Mrs. Margaret Coghlan Made No

Inconsiderable Noise In The Court And Fashionable Circles Of Great

Britain And France. She Was The Theme Of Conversation Among The Lords,

And The Dukes, And The M. P.'S. Having Become The Victim, In Early

Life, Of Licentious, Dissolute, And Extravagant Conduct, Alternately

She Was Revelling In Wealth, And Then Sunken In Poverty. At Length, In

1793, She Published Her Own Memoirs. Mrs. Coghlan Was The Daughter Of

Major Moncrieffe, Of The British Army. He Was Lord Cornwallis'S

Brigade Major. Her Father Had Three Wives. She Was A Daughter Of The

First Wife. His Second Wife Was Miss L*********, Of New-York, And His

Third Wife Miss J**, Of New-York. Mrs. Coghlan Is Introduced Here,

Because Her Early History Is Intimately Connected With The Subject Of

These Memoirs.

 

 

In July, 1776, She Resided In Elizabethtown, New-Jersey. Her Father

Was With Lord Percy On Staten Island. In Her Memoirs, Speaking Of

Herself, She Says:--"Thus Destitute