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

To Mrs. Prevost.

 

 

Albany, December 23D, 1781.

 

 

My Dear Theodosia Is Now Happy By The Arrival Of Carlos. This Was Not

Wishing You A Happy Christmas, But Actually Making It So. Let All Our

Compliments Be Henceforth Practical. The Language Of The World Sounds

Fulsome To Tastes Refined By The Sweets Of Affection.

 

 

I See Mingle In The Transports Of The Evening The Frantic Little

Bartow. [2] Too Eager To Embrace The Bliss He Has In Prospect;

Frustrating His Own Purposes By Inconsiderate Haste; Misplacing Every

Thing, And Undoing What He Meant To Do. It Will Only Confuse You.

Nothing Better Can Be Done Than To Tie Him, In Order To Expedite His

Own Business. That You Might Not Be Cheerful Alone, I Have Obeyed The

Orders Of Your Heart (For You Cannot, Even At This Distance, Conceal

Them) By A Determination To Take A Social, Friendly Supper With Van

Rensselaer.

 

 

You Wrote Me Too Much By Dom. I Hope It Was Not From A Fear That I

Should Be Dissatisfied With Less. It Is, I Confess, Rather Singular To

Find Fault With The Quantity, When Matter And Manner Are So

Delightful. You Must, However, Deal Less In Sentiments And More In

Ideas. Indeed, In The Letter In Answer To My Last, You Will Need To Be

Particularly Attentive To This Injunction. I Think Constantly Of The

Approaching Change In Our Affairs, And What It Demands. Do Not Let Us,

Like Children, Be So Taken With The Prospect As To Lose Sight Of The

Means.

 

 

Remember To Write Me Facts And Ideas, And Don'T Torment Me With

Compliments, Or Yourself With Sentiments To Which I Am Already No

Stranger. Write But Little, And Very Little At Once. I Do Not Know For

What Reason, Theodosia, But I Cannot Feel My Usual Anxiety About Your

Health, Though I Know You To Be Ill, And Dangerously So. One Reason

Is, That I Have More Belief In Your Attention To Yourself.

 

 

Your Idea About The Water Was Most Delightful. It Kept Me Awake A

Whole Night, And Led To A Train Of Thoughts And Sensations Which

Cannot Be Described. Indeed, The Whole Of Your Letter Was Marked With

A Degree Of Confidence And Reliance Which Augurs Every Thing That Is

Good. The French Letter Was Truly Elegant, As Also That Enclosed In

Compliance With My Request.

 

 

If Reeves Has Received The Money Upon The Order I Gave Him, He May

Send Me By Carlos About Twenty-Five Guineas, If He Can Spare So Much

Of It. I Am In No Present Want.

 

 

Pardon Me For Not Answering Your Last. My Mind Is So Engrossed By New

Views And Expectations, That I Cannot Disengage It. I Have Not, These

Five Days Past, Slept More Than _Two Hours_ A Night, And Yet Feel

Refreshed And Well. Your Presentiments Of My Illness On A Certain

Evening Were Wide From Truth: Believe Me, You Have No Talent That Way.

Leave It To Others.

 

 

I Think, If You Keep Carlos Two Nights, It Will Serve; But Keep Him

Longer Rather Than Fatigue Yourself. Adieu.

 

 

A. Burr.

Chapter XIV Pg 226

On The 2D Of July, 1782, Colonel Burr Was Married To Mrs. Theodosia

Prevost. In April Preceding He Had Entered Into The Practice Of The

Law In The City Of Albany. His Attention To Business Was Unremitted.

In Consequence, He Soon Found Himself Crowded With Clients From Every

Quarter Of The State. During His Residence In Albany, His Mind Was

Exclusively Engrossed With His Profession And His Family. In The

Education Of Mrs. Burr'S Children By Her First Husband He Took A Deep

Interest. Neither Labour Nor Expense Was Regarded. It Was His Wish

That They Should Be Accomplished, As Well As Educated Men.

 

 

The Preliminary Treaty Of Peace Having Been Signed, Colonel Burr

Resolved To Remove His Family To The City Of New-York So Soon As The

British Should Evacuate It. Here He Anticipated (And In This He Was

Not Disappointed) An Extensive Practice. On The 20Th Of November,

1781, The Legislature Of The State Of New-York Passed An Act

Disqualifying From Practice, In The Courts Of The State, All

"Attorneys, Solicitors, And Counsellors At Law," Who Could Not Produce

Satisfactory Certificates, Showing Their Attachment And Devotion To

The Whig Cause During The Then Pending War With Great Britain.

Chapter XIV Pg 227

This

Act Was In Full Force At The Peace Of 1783, And Remained So, Without

Any Attempt To Modify It, Until March, 1785, When A Bill Was

Introduced Into The Legislature To Repeal Certain Sections Of It, So

Far As They Operated Upon Individuals Therein Named. The Bill Was

Lost. But, On The 4Th Of April, 1786, The Restriction Thus Imposed On

The Tory Lawyers Was Removed By An Act Of The Legislature.

 

 

The Law Of 1781, Previous To Its Repeal, Had Operated Most Favourably

For The Whig Lawyers. Those Of Talents And Standing, Such As Colonel

Burr And Others, Had Obtained A Run Of Business Which Enabled Them To

Compete With The Most Profound Of Their Tory Rivals.

 

 

It Was Supposed That The British Troops Would Evacuate The City Of

New-York In The Spring Or Early In The Summer Of 1783; But They

Remained Until The 25Th Of November Of That Year. Colonel Burr Applied

To His Friend, Thomas Bartow, To Procure Him A House For The

Accommodation Of His Family, Which He Accordingly Did.

Chapter XIV Pg 228

From Mr. Bartow.

 

 

New-York, April 16Th, 1783

 

 

Dear Sir,

 

 

I Received Your Agreeable Favour A Few Days Ago, And Am Happy To

Congratulate You On The Establishment Of A Peace: Hope I Shall Soon

Have The Pleasure Of Seeing You In Town. I Have Procured You A Good

House In Maiden-Lane, At The Rate Of Two Hundred Pounds A Year. The

Rent To Commence When The Troops Leave The City. Doctor Brown Can

Inform You More Particulars About It, As He Went With Me To View It.

Before I Engaged This House, I Consulted Mrs. Clark She Proposed Her

House In Broadway, But Could Not Get The Tenant Out, So That She Gave

Her Consent To This.

 

 

Very Respectfully Yours,

 

 

 

Thomas Bartow.

Chapter XIV Pg 229

From Mrs. Burr.

 

 

Albany, 25Th March, 1783.

 

 

Some Think Absence Tends To Increase Affection; The Greater Part That

It Wears It Away. I Believe Neither, But That It Only Tends To Prove

How Far The Heart Is Capable Of Loving; Or Rather, Whether It Is Real

Or Imaginary. When The Latter, Every Object That Amuses, Blots Out The

Idea Of The Absent, We Find That They Are Not So Necessary To Our

Happiness As We Had Fancied. But When That Love Is Real, What Can

Amuse, What Engage The Mind, To Banish, For A Single Instant, The

Object Of Its Delight? It Hates Every Necessity That Wrests It An

Instant From The Contemplation Of Its Beauties; Its Virtues Are Ever

Presenting Themselves To Increase Our Regret, And Suggest Innumerable

Fears For Its Safety. Such Have Been The Occupations Of This Day. I

Tremble At Every Noise: New Apprehensions Are Ever Alarming Me. Every

Tender Sensation Is Awake To Thee.

 

 

26Th March.

 

 

My Extreme Anxiety Operated Severely Upon My Health. I Have Not Had So

Ill A Turn In Some Months. The Remedies Of S. Prove But Little More

Efficacious Than Those Of G. I Do Without Either. Various Are The

Conjectures Respecting Your Errand. All Think Me Of The Party. My

Spirits Need, My Heart Grows Impatient For Your Return. Every

Countenance Speaks For You, While Theodosia Grieves.

 

 

27Th March.

 

 

My Health Is Rather Better. I Have Just This Moment Heard Of General

Schuyler'S Going; Have Only Time To Tell You I Rejoice At The

Enclosed. It Will Save Your Hurry And Anxiety Popham Has Written And

Engaged For Your Attendance.

 

 

Theodosia Burr

Chapter XIV Pg 230

When The British Were About To Evacuate The City Of New-York, And It

Was Ascertained That Colonel Burr Had Made The Necessary Arrangements

To Settle There, His Whig Friends Became Anxious That He Should

Receive An Appointment. Among Those Who Urged This Measure Was Judge

Hobart, Who Had Ever Entertained An Exalted Opinion Of His Talents And

Business Habits. As Soon As Colonel Burr Was Informed Of The Friendly

Views Entertained By The Judge, He Wrote Him, Expressing His

Unwillingness To Be Considered A Competitor With Any Gentleman For An

Appointment. To This He Received An Answer.