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

Account Of Remaining Corruption Which I See Working,

Especially Pride! Oh, How Many Shapes Does Pride Cloak Itself In!

Satan Is Also Busy Shooting His Darts; But, Blessed Be God, Those

Temptations Of His That Used To Overthrow Me, As Yet, Have Not Touched

Me. Oh To Be Delivered From The Power Of Satan As Well As Sin! I

Cannot Help Hoping The Time Is Near. God Is Certainly Fitting Me For

Himself; And When I Think It Will Be Soon That I Shall Be Called

Hence, The Thought Is Transporting.

 

 

"Your Dutiful And Affectionate Daughter,

 

 

"Esther Burr."

Chapter I Pg 8

Such Were The Parents Of Colonel Aaron Burr. Of The Natural

Guardianship And Protection Of Both He Was Deprived Before He Had

Reached The Third Year Of His Age. He Was Born On The 6Th Of February,

1756, In Newark, State Of New-Jersey. His Father Died In August, 1757,

And His Mother The Year Following, Leaving Two Children, Aaron, And

His Sister Sarah. She Subsequently Became The Wife Of Judge Tappan

Reeve, Of Connecticut. On The Decease Of His Father, Colonel Burr

Inherited A Handsome Estate.

 

 

In The Year 1760 Aaron Was Sent To Philadelphia, Under The Care Of An

Aunt And Dr. Shippen. For The Family Of The Doctor He Entertained A

High Degree Of Respect. He Frequently Spoke Of Them In The Kindest

Terms, And Recurred To This Early Period Of His History With Emotions

Of Gratitude For Their Care And Protection.

 

 

Boswell, In His Life Of Johnson, Remarks That, "In Following So Very

Eminent A Man From His Cradle To His Grave, Every Minute Particular

Which Can Throw Light On The Progress Of His Mind, Is Interesting."

Johnson Himself, In The Life Of Sydenham, Says "There Is No Instance

Of Any Man, Whose History Has Been Minutely Related, That Did Not, In

Every Part Of Life, Discover The Same Proportion Of Intellectual

Vigour."

 

 

These High Authorities Are Now Quoted In Justification Of Some Of The

Details Which Will Be Given In The Progress Of This Work, And Which,

In Themselves, May Appear Trifling And Unimportant.

Chapter I Pg 9

When Aaron Was

About Four Years Old, He Had Some Misunderstanding With His Preceptor,

In Consequence Of Which He Ran Away, And Was Not Found Until The Third

Or Fourth Day After His Departure From Home; Thus Indicating, At A

Tender Age, That Fearlessness Of Mind, And Determination To Rely Upon

Himself, Which Were Characteristics Stamped Upon Every Subsequent Act

Of His Life.

Footnote Pg 10

 

 

 

1. Col. Burr, At That Time About Twenty Months Old.

Chapter II Pg 11

 

 

 

In 1761 He Was Removed To Stockbridge, In Massachusetts, And Placed In

The Family Of Timothy Edwards, His Mother'S Eldest Brother. In 1762

His Maternal Uncle, Timothy, Removed To Elizabethtown, New-Jersey.

Aaron And His Sister Sarah Remained In The Family Until The Former

Entered College, And The Latter Became The Wife Of Judge Reeve. A

Private Tutor Was Employed For Them In The House Of Mr. Edwards. For A

Considerable Portion Of The Time, Judge Reeve Was Engaged In That

Capacity.

 

 

When About Ten Years Old, Aaron Evinced A Desire To Make A Voyage To

Sea; And, With This Object In View, Ran Away From His Uncle Edwards,

And Came To The City Of New-York. He Entered On Board An Outward-Bound

Vessel As Cabin-Boy. He Was, However, Pursued By His Guardian, And His

Place Of Retreat Discovered. Young Burr, One Day, While Busily

Employed, Perceived His Uncle Coming Down The Wharf, And Immediately

Ran Up The Shrouds, And Clambered To The Topgallant-Mast Head. Here He

Remained, And Peremptorily Refused To Come Down, Or Be Taken Down,

Until All The Preliminaries Of A Treaty Of Peace Were Agreed Upon. To

The Doctrine Of Unconditional Submission He Never Gave His Assent.

 

 

In 1769 Burr Entered Princeton College; Where, Owing To His Extreme

Youth And Smallness Of Stature, He Was Forced To Commence With The

Sophomore, Although, Upon Examination, He Was Found Qualified To Enter

The Junior Class. This Was A Source Of Extreme Mortification To Him,

And Especially As He Had Been Prepared, And Was Every Way Qualified,

To Enter The Preceding Year. From His Infancy Burr Was Of A Slender

Frame, And Appeared To Be Delicately Formed;

Chapter II Pg 12

But Exhibited Great

Muscular Strength, And Was Able To Endure Excessive Fatigue Of Body

And Mind.

 

 

Previous To Entering College, Young Burr Had Formed Extraordinary

Notions Of The Acquirements Of Collegiates; And Felt Great

Apprehension Lest He Should Be Found Inferior To His Classmates. He

Was Therefore, At First, Indefatigable As Well As Systematic In His

Studies. He Soon Discovered That He Could Not Pursue Them After Dinner

With The Same Advantage That He Could Before. He Suspected That This

Was Owing To His Eating Too Abundantly. He Made The Experiment, And

The Result Convinced Him That His Apprehensions Were Well Founded. He

Immediately Adopted A System Of Regimen, To Which, In Some Degree, He

Adhered Through Life. So Abstemious Was He During The Greater Part Of

The First Year After His Entrance Into College, That It Operated

Powerfully Upon Him, And He Was Supposed To Be In Bad Health. He Was

In The Habit Of Studying Sixteen Or Eighteen Hours Of The Twenty-Four,

Until The Period Of Examination Arrived, When He Discovered That The

Progress He Had Made Was So Much Beyond His Associates, That He Formed

An Opinion As Contemptuous As It Had Been Exalted Of His College

Friends. The Effect Of This Was Ultimately Very Injurious Upon His

Habits.

 

 

During The Last Year That He Remained In College, He Passed A Life Of

Idleness, Negligence, And, In Some Measure, Of Dissipation. He Applied

Himself But Little To His Studies, And Was In The Constant Pursuit Of

Pleasure. He Graduated, However, When Only Sixteen Years Of Age, With

A Reputation For Talents, And Receiving The Highest Academic Honours

The Faculty Could Bestow.

 

 

In The Year 1771-72, There Was In The College What Was Termed, In

Religious Phraseology, "An Awakening." A Large Portion Of The

Collegians Became Converted. It Was Only A Short Time Before Burr

Graduated, And In The Midst Of His Hilarity And Amusements. He Was

Frequently Appealed To By His Associates, And Threatened With The Most

Terrific Consequences If There Was Not An Inward As Well As An Outward

Change. From His Infancy Burr'S Education Had Been Strictly Moral; And

Strong Impressions Had Been Made Upon His Mind As To The Existence Of

A Deity, And The Accountability Of Man. Yet This Awakening Did Not

Seem To Him Right In All Its Parts. He Determined, Therefore, To Have

A Free And Full Conversation With Dr. Witherspoon, The Then President

Of The College, On The Subject. The Result Of That Conversation In

Some Measure Tranquillized Young Burr. The Rev. Dr. Assured Him That

It Was Not True And Rational Religion, But Fanaticism, That Was

Operating Upon His Friends.

 

 

Among The Papers Preserved By Colonel Burr Are The Originals Of A

Number Of Essays Or Orations, Written And Read By Him, In Conformity

With The Regulations Of The College, While Yet A Student. They Are

Without Dates; But, As He Graduated In 1772, They Must Have Been

Composed When He Was Of An Age Between Thirteen And Sixteen.

Chapter II Pg 13

A Few Of

Them Are Here Inserted, As Exhibiting His Manner Of Writing, And The

Maturity And Tone Of His Mind. The Opinions Which He Formed, While Yet

In College, As To Public Speaking And The Selection Of Language, He

Appears Never To Have Changed. The Style Which He Then Recommended

Seems Ever After To Have Been His Model.

 

 

       *       *       *       *       *

 

 

_Read In College, By Aaron Burr.--On Style._

 

 

"I Have Often Observed, That It Is Very Common For Those Who Are

Ambitious Of Excelling In Composition, To Study Swelling Words,

Pompous Epithets, And Laboured Periods. This Is Often Practised,

Especially By Young Writers. It Is, However, Generally Condemned As A

Fault, And Sometimes Too By Those Who Practise It Themselves. An

Elegant Simplicity Of Language Is What Every One Should Strive To

Obtain. Besides The Arguments Which Are Usually Offered On This Head,

There Is One Very Important One, Which Is Commonly Not Much Attended

To.

 

 

"It Is The Business Of Every Writer To