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

Chapter II Pg 17

_An Attempt To Search The Origin Of Idolatry._

 

 

"It Is Altogether Impossible To Fix Exactly The Period When Idolatry

Took Its Rise. Adam, Coming Immediately From The Hands Of God, Had

Experienced Too Many Manifestations Of His Power And Goodness To Be

Unacquainted With Him, And Must Have Preserved The Purest Idea Of Him

In His Own Family, Which, Most Probably, Continued In The Branch Of

Seth Till The Deluge. The Posterity Of Cain, On The Contrary (The Pure

Idea Of God Gradually Wearing Away, And By Loose Men Being Connected

With Sense), Fell Into Idolatry, And Every Other Crime, Which Brought

On The Deluge; A Period About Which Moses Has Said But Little, And

From What He Has Said We Can Draw No Just Conclusion With Respect To

The Idolatry Of Those Times.

 

 

"A Certain Author, Being Persuaded That Idolatry Did Not Take Its Rise

Till After The Deluge, Gives A Very Singular Account Of Its Origin.

According To Him, Atheism Had Spread Itself Over The World. This

Disposition Of Mind, Says He, Is The Capital Crime. Atheists Are Much

More Odious To The Divinity Than Idolaters. Besides, This Principle Is

Much More Capable Of Leading Men Into That Excessive Corruption The

World Fell Into Before The Deluge. The Knowledge Of A God, Of Whatever

Nature He Is Conceived, And The Worship Of A Deity, Are Apt, Of

Themselves, To Be A Restraint Upon Men. So That Idolatry Was Of Some

Use To Bear Down The Corruption Of The World. It Is Therefore

Probable, That The Horrid Vices Men Were Fallen Into Before The

Deluge, Proceeded Only From Their Not Knowing Nor Serving A God. I Am

Even Of Opinion (Continues He) That The Idolatry And Polytheism After

The Deluge Derived Their Origin From The Atheism And Impiety That

Reigned Before It. Such Is The Temper Of Men, When They Have Been

Severely Punished For Any Crime, They Run Into The Opposite Extreme. I

Conjecture (Concludes The Same Author) This Was The Case With Men

After The Deluge. As They Reckoned That This Terrible Judgment, Which

Carried Such Indications Of Divine Wrath, Was Sent For The Punishment

Of Atheism, They Ran Into The Opposite Extreme. They Adored Whatever

Seemed To Deserve Their Worship.

 

 

"It Is True, Indeed, That Idolatry Is Capable Of Furnishing A Curb

Against Irregularity Of Manners; But This Author Has Conjectured,

Without Foundation, That Atheism Reigned Universally Before The

Deluge. He Ought, At Least, To Have Excepted The Posterity Of Seth.

 

 

"However Idolatry Might Have Reigned Before The Deluge, It Is Certain

That The Knowledge And Worship Of The True God Were Again United In

The Family Of Noah; And As Long As The Children And Grandchildren Of

That Patriarch Made But One Family, In All Probability, The Worship Of

The True God Was Little Altered In Its Purity. Noah Being At The Head

Of The People, And Shem, Ham, And Japheth Witnesses Of God'S Vengeance

On Their Contemporaries, Is It Probable That They, Living In The Midst

Of Their Families, Would Suffer Them To Depart From The Truth? We Read

Of Nothing That Can Incline Us To This Belief. Various Have Been The

Conjectures Concerning The Authors Of Idolatry. Some Believe It Was

Serug, The Grandfather Of Terah, Who First Introduced Idolatry After

The Deluge. Others Maintain It Was Nimrod, And That He Instituted The

Worship Of Fire Among His Subjects, Which Continues Even To This Day

In Some Places In Persia.

Chapter II Pg 18

Others Assert That Ham Was The Author Of It,

And Then His Son Canaan; And It Is Most Probable That The Unfortunate

Sons Of An Accursed Father Were The First Who, Following The

Propensity Of Their Own Heart, Sought Out Sensible Objects To Which

They Might Offer A Superstitious Worship. As The Two Sons Of Ham,

Canaan And Mizraim, Settled, The One In Phoenicia, And The Other In

Egypt, It Is Probable That These Were The First Nurseries Of Idolatry;

And The Sun, Being Looked Upon As The Purest Image Of The Creator, Was

The First Object Of It. It Is Not Probable That Men Would Choose

Beings Like Themselves For The First Objects Of Their Adoration.

Nothing Could Be More Capable Of Seducing Than The Beauty And

Usefulness Of The Sun, Dispensing Light And Fertility All Around. But,

To Conclude, We Must Not Imagine That All Idolatry Sprang From The

Same Country. It Came By Slow Degrees, And Those Who Made The First

Advances Towards This Impiety, Did By No Means Carry It To That

Extravagant Height To Which It Afterwards Arrived."

Chapter III Pg 19

 

 

 

In College, Young Burr Formed Intimacies Which Ripened Into Lasting

Friendship. The Attachment Between Him And Colonel Matthias Ogden, Of

New-Jersey, Was Both Ardent And Mutual; And, It Is Believed, Continued

During The Life Of The Latter. Colonel Knapp Says, "Samuel Spring, D.

D., Late Of Newburyport, Was In College With Colonel Burr, And Part Of

Their College Life Was His Chum. The Doctor Was A Student Of Mature

Age, And Had A Provisitorial Power Over Burr In His Daily Duties. He

Has Often Spoken Of His Young Friend With More Than Ordinary Feeling.

He, In Fact, Prophesied His Future Genius, From The Early Proofs He

Gave Of Intellectual Power In The Course Of His College Life."

 

 

At Princeton, Burr Enjoyed The Counsel And Advice Of The Late William

Paterson, Subsequently One Of The Judges Of The Supreme Court Of The

United States. To Be Thus Early In Life Honoured With The Respect And

Esteem Of Such A Man As Judge Paterson, Was Highly Flattering. Their

Correspondence Commenced In 1772, And Continued Until The Decease Of

The Judge. Extracts From His Letters To Colonel Burr Will Be Given

Occasionally. He Says, In A Letter Dated

Chapter III Pg 20

"Princeton, January 17Th, 1772.

 

 

"Dear Burr,

 

 

"I Am Just Ready To Take Horse, And Therefore Cannot Have The Pleasure

Of Waiting On You In Person. Be Pleased To Accept Of The Enclosed

Notes On _Dancing_. If You Pitch Upon It As The Subject Of Your Next

Discourse, They May, Perhaps, Furnish You With A Few Hints, And Enable

You To Compose With The Greater Facility And Despatch. To Do You Any

Little Services In My Power Will Afford Me Great Satisfaction, And I

Hope You Will Take The Liberty (It Is Nothing More, My Dear Burr, Than

The Freedom Of A Friend) To Call Upon Me Whenever You Think I Can.

 

 

"When I Shall Be Here Again Is Uncertain--Perhaps Not Before Vacation.

Forbear With Me While I Say _That You Cannot Speak Too Slow_. Your

Good Judgment Generally Leads You To Lay The Emphasis On The Most

Forcible Word In The Sentence; So Far You Act Very Right. But The

Misfortune Is, That You Lay Too Great Stress Upon The Emphatical Word.

Every Word Should Be Distinctly Pronounced; One Should Not Be So

Highly Sounded As To Drown Another. To See You Shine As A Speaker

Would Give Great Pleasure To Your Friends In General, And To Me In

Particular. I Say Nothing Of Your Own Honour. The Desire Of Making

Others Happy Will, To A Generous Mind, Be The Strongest Incentive. I

Am Much Mistaken If Such A Desire Has Not Great Influence Over You.

You Are Certainly Capable Of Making A Good Speaker. Exert Yourself. I

Am In Haste.

 

 

"Dear Burr, Adieu.

 

 

"Wm. Paterson"

Chapter III Pg 21

Another Letter, Dated

 

 

"Princeton, October 26Th, 1772.

 

 

"Dear Burr,

 

 

"Our Mutual Friend, Stewart, With Whom I Spent Part Of The Evening,

Informed Me You Were Still In Elizabethtown. You Are Much Fonder Of

That Place Than I Am, Otherwise You Would Hardly Be Prevailed Upon To

Make So Long A Stay. But, Perhaps, The Reason That I Fear It, Makes

You Like It. There Is Certainly Something Amorous In Its Very Air. Nor

Is This A Case Any Way Extraordinary Or Beyond Belief. I Have Read

(And It Was In Point, Too) That A Flock Of Birds, Being On The Wing,

And Bending Their Flight Towards A Certain Town In Connecticut,

Dropped Down Dead Just As They Were Over It. The People Were At First

Fairly At A Loss To Account For This Phenomenon In Any Natural Way.

However, It Was At Length Agreed On All Hands That It Was Owing To The

Noisomeness Of The Atmosphere, The Smallpox At That Time Being Very

Rife In The Place. I Should Never Have Given Credit To The Report, Had

It Not Come From So Good A Quarter As That Of New-England. For My

Part, I Always Drive Through Elizabethtown As Quickly As Possible,

Lest The Soft Infection Should Steal Upon Me, Or I Should Take It In

With The Very Air I Breathe.

 

 

"Yesterday I Went To Hear Mr. Halsey, And There, Too, I Saw His Young

And Blooming Wife. The Old Gentleman Seems Very Fond Of His Rib, And,

In Good Sooth, Leers Very Wistfully At Her As She Trips Along By His

Side. Some Allowance, However, Must Be Made; He Is In The Vale Of

Life; Love Is A New Thing To Him, And The Honey-Moon Is Not Yet Over.

  'They Are Amorous, And Fond, And Billing,

  Like Philip And Mary On A Shilling.'

I Have Promised To Pay Him A Visit; Stewart, Or Some Of The Tutors, I

Believe, Will