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

The Printer, Who Will Be Careful To Forward It To Me. How

Could I Write To You How Divine Your Residence? Never Again Harbour,

For A Moment, A Surmise That Derogates From My Sincerity.

 

 

My Health Is Nearly Established. I Have Not Enough To Despise The

Blessing, But Enough To Relish Every Enjoyment Of Life. Adieu, My

Friend; May That Cheerfullness Of Which You Have Been Robbed Return,

And Be As Permanent As Your Merit Or My Affection.

 

 

A. Burr.

Chapter XIII Pg 204

From Thomas Smith.

 

 

Haverstraw, 1St March, 1781.

 

 

Dear Sir,

 

 

The Preparations At New-York Look This Way, And That Inclines Me To

Seek An Asylum In New-Jersey, Any Part Of Which I Believe Will Be

Safe, If Hudson'S River Is The Object Of The Enemy. If I Could Get

Mrs. De Visme'S Place, It Would Be Most Agreeable To Mrs. Smith. A Few

Weeks Will Determine Me, And Then I Shall Be In A Situation To Give

You And Colonel Troup Every Assistance In My Power. As It Is Your

Object To Fit Yourselves As Soon As Possible For Admission To The Bar,

Without Submitting To The Drudgery Of An Attorney'S Office, In Which

The Advancement Of The Student Is But Too Often A Secondary

Consideration, I Should Cheerfully Devote A Sufficient Part Of My Time

To Lead You Through The Practice Of The Law In All Its Parts; And Make

No Doubt, With Close Application On Your Part, I Should Be Able In A

Short Time To Introduce You To The Bar, Well Qualified To Discharge

The Duties Of The Profession, With Honour To Yourselves, And Safety To

Your Clients.

 

 

My Library Is Now In A Situation To Be Removed. Two Boxes Are Missing,

And I Fear Have Fallen A Sacrifice To The Liberty Of The Times. I Only

Wait Till The Roads Will Permit Me To Remove The Remainder Down, As I

Think My Books By No Means Safe Where They Now Are, If The Forts

Should Be Attacked.

 

 

Your Obedient Servant,

 

 

Thomas Smith.

Chapter XIII Pg 205

At This Period Colonel Burr Was Closely Engaged In His Studies. His

Constitution Was Somewhat Renovated. His Correspondence Now Became

Limited, And Was Principally Confined To Mrs. Prevost. Here Again The

Peculiarity Already Referred To Was In Full Operation. The Greater

Part Of This Correspondence Is In Cipher. But Portions Of It That Are

Not Thus Written Are Highly Interesting, And Give Evidence That Mrs.

Prevost Possessed A Cultivated Mind. Her Health Was Very Feeble, And

Continued So, After She Became The Wife Of Colonel Burr, Until Her

Decease. Some Extracts From Her Letters Will Be Given.

Chapter XIII Pg 206

From Mrs. Prevost.

 

 

Litchfeld, February 12Th, 1781

 

 

I Am Happy That There Is A Post Established For The Winter. I Shall

Expect To Hear From You Every Week. My Ill Health Will Not Permit Me

To Return Your Punctuality. You Must Be Contented With Hearing Once A

Fortnight.

 

 

Your Opinion Of Voltaire Pleases Me, As It Proves Your Judgment Above

Being Biased By The Prejudices Of Others. The English, From National

Jealousy And Enmity To The French, Detract Him. Divines, With More

Justice, As He Exposes Himself To Their Censure. It Is Even Their Duty

To Contemn His Tenets; But, Without Being His Disciple, We May Do

Justice To His Merit, And Admire Him As A Judicious, Ingenious Author.

 

 

I Will Not Say The Same Of Your System Of Education. Rousseau Has

Completed His Work. The Indulgence You Applaud In Chesterfield Is The

Only Part Of His Writings I Think Reprehensible. Such Lessons From So

Able A Pen Are Dangerous To A Young Mind, And Ought Never To Be Read

Till The Judgment And Heart Are Established In Virtue. If Rousseau'S

Ghost Can Reach This Quarter Of The Globe, He Will Certainly Haunt You

For This Scheme--'Tis Striking At The Root Of His Design, And

Destroying The Main Purport Of His Admirable Production. Les

Foiblesses De L'Humanite, Is An Easy Apology; Or Rather, A License To

Practise Intemperance; And Is Particularly Agreeable And Flattering To

Such Practitioners, As It Brings The Most Virtuous On A Level With The

Vicious. But I Am Fully Of Opinion That It Is A Much Greater Chimera

Than The World Are Willing To Acknowledge. Virtue, Like Religion,

Degenerates To Nothing, Because It Is Convenient To Neglect Her

Precepts. You Have, Undoubtedly, A Mind Superior To The Contagion.

 

 

When All The World Turn Envoys, Chesterfield Will Be Their Proper

Guide. Morality And Virtue Are Not Necessary Qualifications--Those

Only Are To Be Attended To That Tend To The Public Weal. But When

Parents Have No Ambitious Views, Or Rather, When They Are Of The More

Exalted Kind, When They Wish To Form A Happy, Respectable Member Of

Society--A Firm, Pleasing Support To Their Declining Life, Emilius

Shall Be The Model. A Man So Formed Must Be Approved By His Creator,

And More Useful To Mankind Than Ten Thousand Modern Beaux.

 

 

If The Person Whose Kind Partiality You Mention Is Paterson, I Confess

Myself Exceedingly Flattered, As I Entertain The Highest Opinion Of

The Perspicuity Of His Judgment. Say All The Civil Things You Please

For His Solicitous Attention To My Health. But If It Should Be Troup,

Which I Think More Probable, Assure Him Of My Most Permanent

Gratitude.

 

 

Affectionately,

 

 

Theodosia Prevost.

Chapter XIII Pg 207

From Mrs. Theodosia Prevost.

 

 

Litchfield, 6Th March, 1781.

 

 

----Where Can ----- Be? Poor Suffering Soul; Worthy A Better Fate.

Heaven Preserve Him For His Own Sake; For His Distressed Mother'S. I

Pity Her From My Heart, And Lament My Inability To Alleviate Her

Sorrows. I Invoke A Better Aid. May Her "Afflicted Spirit Find The

Only Solace Of Its Woes"--Religion, Heaven'S Greatest Boon To Man; The

Only Distinction He Ought To Boast. In This, He Is Lord Of The

Creation; Without It, The Most Pitiable Of All Created Things.

 

 

How Strangely We Pass Through Life! All Acknowledge Themselves Mortal

And Immortal; And Yet Prefer The Trifles Of To-Day To The Treasures Of

Eternity. Piety Teaches Resignation. Resignation Without Piety Loses

Its Beauty, And Sinks Into Insensibility. Your Beautiful Quotation Is

Worth More Than All I Can Write In A Twelvemonth. Continue Writing On

The Subject. It Is Both Pleasing And Improving. The Better I Am

Acquainted With It, The More Charms I Find. Worlds Should Not Purchase

The Little I Possess. I Promise Myself Many Happy Hours Dedicated At

The Shrine Of Religion,

 

 

Yours, Affectionately,

 

 

Theodosia Prevost.

Chapter XIII Pg 208

From Mrs. Theodosia Prevost.

 

 

Litchfield, May, 1781.

 

 

Our Being The Subject Of Much Inquiry, Conjecture, And Calumny, Is No

More Than We Ought To Expect. My Attention To You Was Ever Pointed

Enough To Attract The Observation Of Those Who Visited The House. Your

Esteem More Than Compensated For The Worst They Could Say. When I Am

Sensible I Can Make You And Myself Happy, I Will Readily Join You To

Suppress Their Malice. But, Till I Am Confident Of _This_, I Cannot

Think Of Our Union. Till Then I Shall Take Shelter Under The Roof Of

My Dear Mother, Where, By Joining Stock, We Shall Have Sufficient To

Stem The Torrent Of Adversity.

 

 

You Speak Of My Spirits As If They Were At My Command, Or Depressed

Only From Perverseness Of Temper. In These You Mistake. Believe Me,

You Cannot Wish Their Return More Ardently Than I Do. I Would This

Moment Consent To Become A Public Mendicant, Could I Be Restored To

The Same Tranquillity Of Mind I Enjoyed This Time Twelvemonth. The

Influence My Letters May Have On Your Studies Is Imaginary. The Idea

Is So Trite That I Ask In Hopes It Was Worn From Your Mind. My Last

Year'S Trials Are Vouchers. I Was Always Writing With A View To Please

You, And As Often Failed In The Attempt. If A Desire For My Own

Happiness Cannot Restore Me To Myself, Pecuniary Motives Never Can. I

Wish You To Study For Your Own Sake; To Ensure Yourself Respect And

Independence; To Ensure Us The Comforts Of Life, When Providence

Deigns To Fit Our Hearts For The Enjoyment. I Shall Never Look Forward

With Confidence Till Your Pride Extends To That. I Had Vainly

Flattered My Self That Pride Was Inseparable To True Love. In Yours I

Find My Error; But Cannot Renounce My Idea Of Its Being A Necessary

Support _To_, And The Only Security _For_, Permanent Affection.

 

 

You See By The Enclosed How Ready My Friends Are To Receive You, And

Promote Your Interest. I Wish You May Be Fortunate In Executing Aunt

Clark'S Business. My Health And Spirits Are Neither Better Nor Worse

Than When You Left Me. I Thank You For Your Attention To Bird'S

Prescription.

 

 

Adieu,

 

 

Theodosia Prevost.