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

In The Evening He Preached At Dr.

Sewall'S Church. On Saturday I Went To Hear Him In The Commons; There

Were About Eight Thousand Hearers. He Expounded The Parable Of The

Prodigal Son In A Very Moving Manner. Many Melted Into Tears. On The

4Th Of October, Being On My Return To New-Jersey, I Arrived At

Fairfield, Where I Remained Two Days With My Friends."

 

 

In The Year 1748, Governor Belcher, Of New-Jersey, By And With The

Approbation Of His Majesty'S Council, Granted A Charter To The College

Of New-Jersey, Subsequently Known As Nassau Hall. This College Was

Opened In Newark, The Students Living In Private Families. The Rev.

Aaron Burr Was Appointed The First President. In The Year 1754 Or

1755, The Trustees Commenced Erecting The College In Princeton; And In

1757 It Was So Far Completed That The Students, About Seventy In

Number, Were Removed To The Building.

 

 

In, June, 1752, President Burr, Being Then In His 38Th Year, Was

Married To Esther Edwards, The Daughter Of Jonathan Edwards, A

Distinguished Metaphysician And Divine. He Was The Second President Of

Princeton College, Being Called To That Station On The Decease Of His

Son-In-Law, President Burr. Thus, The Father Of Colonel Aaron Burr,

And The Grandfather On His Mother'S Side, Were, In Succession, At The

Head Of That Seminary Of Learning.

 

 

President Burr Was Alike Celebrated For His Eloquence And Piety; But,

Withal, He Possessed No Inconsiderable Degree Of Eccentricity. His

Courtship And Marriage Partook Of It. Miss Edwards, After The

Preliminaries Were Arranged, Was Brought To New-Jersey To Be Married.

The Occurrence Created Much Conversation, And Gave Rise To Some

Newspaper Commentary. The Following Is Extracted From The New-York

Gazette Of The 20Th Of July, 1752.

Chapter I (A Letter To A Gentleman From His Friend) Pg 6

 

 

 

"July 7Th, 1752

 

 

"Sir,

 

 

"As You Are A Known And Peculiar Votary To The State Of Celibacy, I

Judged It Would Do You No Disservice To Acquaint You Of A Late

Occurrence, Which Sufficiently Evidences, That After The Most Mature

Consideration, Some Of Our Wisest And Best Men Do Prefer The

Endearment Of The Nuptial Bed.

 

 

"About Eight Days Since, The Rev. Aaron Burr, President Of The College

Of New-Jersey, Was Married To A Daughter Of The Renowned Mr. Jonathan

Edwards, Late Of Northampton. She Is A Young Lady Of About Twenty-One.

Her Person May Be Called Agreeable; Her Natural Genius Seems To Be

Sprightly, And, No Doubt, Is Greatly Improved By A Very Virtuous

Education. In Short, She Appears To Be One Every Way Qualified To Make

A Man Of Sense And Piety Happy In The Conjugal Relation. As To The

Courtship Or Marriage, I Shall Not Descend To Particulars; But Only

Observe, In General, That, For Some Centuries, I Suppose There Has Not

Been One More In The Patriarchal Mode.

 

 

"I Hope, Sir, That This Instance, Both As To Matter And Form, Will

Have Its Genuine Influence Upon You, And As Well Bear A Part In

Convincing You That Wedlock Is Incomparably Preferable To The Roving

Uneasiness Of The Single State, As To Direct You, When You Are

Choosing Your Mate, That, Instead Of Acting The Modern Gallant, Wisely

To Imitate This Example, And Endeavour To Restore Courtship And

Marriage To Their Original Simplicity And Design.

 

 

"Philogamus."

 

 

At Different Times Colonel Burr Received Friendly Anonymous And Other

Communications, Recommending To Him The Practice Of A Religious Life.

It Is A Remarkable Fact, That In Almost Every Such Instance He Is

Referred To The Letters Of His Mother. From A Communication To Him,

Written By A Lady, The Following Is Extracted. If It Should Meet Her

Eye, As It Probably Will, It Is Hoped That She Will Pardon This

Freedom. Her Name Is Suppressed, And Will Not Be Known, Unless Through

Her Own Instrumentality.

 

 

"My Dear Sir,

 

 

"I Trust The Purity Of The Motives By Which I Am Actuated Will Find An

Apology In Your Bosom For The Liberty I Assume In Addressing You On A

Subject Which Involves Your Eternal Interest.

 

 

"Here, In The Wilds Of -----, I Have Found An Extract Of A Letter,

Written By Your Inestimable Mother Nearly Sixty Years Ago, Of Which

You Are The Principal Subject; And A Transcript Of Which I Shall

Enclose For Your Perusal. Perhaps You Will Think Me A Weak,

Presumptuous Being; But Permit Me, Dear Sir, To Assure You, This Does

Not Proceed From A Whim Of The Moment. It Is Not A Mere Transient Gust

Of Enthusiasm. The Subject Has Long Been Heavy On My Mind. I Have More

Than Once Resolved To Converse With You Freely; To Tell You How My Own

Feelings Were Affected Relative To Your Situation; But My Faltering

Tongue Refused To Obey The Impulse Of My Soul, And I Have Withdrawn

Abruptly, To Conceal That Which I Had Not Confidence To Communicate.

But Meeting (I Believe Providentially) With This Precious Relic Has

Determined Me. I Will Write, And Transmit It To You. I Am Too Well

Convinced Of The Liberality Of Your Sentiments; But I Still Believe

You Retain An Inherent Respect For The Religion Of Your Forefathers.

 

 

"I Have Often Reflected On Your Trials, And The Fortitude With Which

You Have Sustained Them, With Astonishment. Yours Has Been No Common

Lot. But You Seem To Have Forgotten The Right Use Of Adversity.

Afflictions From Heaven 'Are Angels Sent On Embassies Of Love.' We

Must Improve, And Not Abuse Them, To Obtain The Blessing. They Are

Commissioned To Stem The Tide Of Impetuous Passion; To Check

Inordinate Ambition; To Show Us The Insignificance Of Earthly

Greatness; To Wean Our Affections From Transitory Things, And Elevate

Them To Those Realities Which Are Ever Blooming At The Right Hand Of

God. When Affliction Is Thus Sanctified, 'The Heart At Once It Humbles

And Exalts.'

 

 

"Was It Philosophy That Supported You In Your Trials? There Is An Hour

Approaching When Philosophy Will Fail, And All Human Science Will

Desert You. What Then Will Be Your Substitute? Tell Me, Colonel Burr,

Or Rather Answer It To Your Own Heart, When The Pale Messenger

Appears, How Will You Meet Him--'Undamped By Doubts, Undarkened By

Despair?'

 

 

"The Enclosed Is Calculated To Excite Mingled Sensations Both Of A

Melancholy And Pleasing Nature. The Hand That Penned It Is Now Among

'The Just Made Perfect.' Your Mother Had Given You Up By Faith. Have

You Ever Ratified The Vows She Made In Your Behalf? When She Bade You

A Long Farewell, She Commended You To The Protection Of Him Who Had

Promised To Be A Father To The Fatherless." The Great Augustine, In

His Early Years, Was An Infidel In His Principles, And A Libertine In

His Conduct, Which His Pious Mother Deplored With Bitter Weeping. But

She Was Told By Her Friends That 'The Child Of So Many Prayers, And

Tears Could Not Be Lost;' And It Was Verified To Her Happy Experience,

For He Afterward Became One Of The Grand Luminaries Of The Church Of

Christ. This Remark Has Often Been Applied To You; And I Trust You

Will Yet Have The Happiness To Find That 'The Prayers Of The

Righteous' Have 'Availed Much.'

 

 

"One Favour I Would Ask: When You Have Done With This, Destroy It,

That It May Never Meet The Eye Of Any Third Person. In The Presence Of

That God, Before Whom The Inmost Recesses Of The Heart Are Open, I

Have Written. I Consulted Him, And Him Only, Respecting The Propriety

Of Addressing It To You; And The Answer He Gave Was, Freedom In

Writing, With A Feeling Of The Deepest Interest Impressed Upon My

Heart.

 

 

"Z. Y"

Chapter I (Extract Of A Letter From Mrs. Burr To Her Father) Pg 7

President Edwards.

 

 

"Princeton, Nov. 2, 1757.

 

 

"Honoured Sir,

 

 

"Your Most Affectionate, Comforting Letter, By My Brother, Was

Exceedingly Refreshing To Me, Although I Was Somewhat Damped That I

Should Not See You Until Spring. But It Is My Comfort In This

Disappointment, As Well As Under All My Afflictions, That God Knows

What Is Best For Me And For His Own Glory. Perhaps I Depended Too Much

On The Company And Conversation Of Such A Near, And Dear, And

Affectionate Father And Guide. I Cannot Doubt But All Is For The Best,

And I Am Satisfied That God Should Order The Affair Of Your Removal As

Shall Be For His Glory, Whatever Comes Of Me. Since I Wrote My

Mother'S Letter, God Has Carried Me Through New Trials, And Given Me

New Supports. My Little Son [1] Has Been Sick With The Slow Fever Ever

Since My Brother Left Us, And Has Been Brought To The Brink Of The

Grave. But I Hope, In Mercy, God Is Bringing Him Up Again. I Was

Enabled To Resign The Child (After A Severe Struggle With Nature) With

The Greatest Freedom. God Showed Me That The Child Was Not My Own, But

His, And That He Had A Right To Recall What He Had Lent Whenever He

Thought Fit; And I Had No Reason To Complain, Or Say God Dealt Hard

With Me. This Silenced Me. But How Good Is God! He Hath Not Only Kept

Me From Complaining, But Comforted Me, By Enabling Me To Offer Up The

Child By Faith. I Think, If Ever I Acted Faith, I Saw The Fullness

There Was In Christ For Little Infants, And His Willingness To Accept

Of Such As Were Offered To Him. 'Suffer Little Children To Come Unto

Me, And Forbid Them Not, For Of Such Is The Kingdom Of God,' Were

Comforting Words. God Also Showed Me, In Such A Lively Manner, The

Fullness That Was In Himself Of All Spiritual Blessings, That I Said,

Although All Streams Were Cut Off, Yet, So Long As My God Lives, I

Have Enough. He Enabled Me To Say--'Although Thou Slay Me, Yet Will I

Trust In Thee.' In This Time Of Trial I Was Led To Enter Into A

Renewed And Explicit Covenant With God, In A More Solemn Manner Than

Ever Before, And With The Greatest Freedom And Delight. After Much

Self-Examination And Prayer, I Did Give Up Myself And Children To God

With My Whole Heart. Never, Until Now, Had I A Sense Of The Privilege

We Are Allowed In Covenanting With God! This Act Of My Soul Left My

Mind In A Quiet And Steady Trust In God. A Few Days After This, One

Evening, In Talking Of The Glorious State My Dear Departed Must Be In,

My Soul Was Carried Out In Such Longing Desires After This Glorious

State, That I Was Forced To Retire From The Family To Conceal My Joy.

When Alone, I Was So Transported, And My Soul Carried Out In Such

Eager Desires After Perfection, And The Full Enjoyment Of God, And To

Serve Him Uninterruptedly, That I Think My Nature Would Not Have Borne

Much More. I Think I Had That Night A Foretaste Of Heaven. This Frame

Continued, In Some Good Degree, The Whole Night. I Slept But Little;

And When I Did, My Dreams Were All Of Heavenly And Divine Things.

Frequently Since I Have Felt The Same In Kind, Though Not In Degree.

Thus A Kind And Gracious God Has Been With Me In Six Troubles, And In

Seven. But, Oh! Sir, What Cause Of Deep Humiliation And Abasement Of

Soul Have I, On