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

To Theodosia.

 

 

Philadelphia, 23D January, 1794.

 

 

Io, Triumphe! There Is Not A Word Mispelled Either In Your Journal Or

Letter, Which Cannot Be Said Of A Single Page You Ever Before Wrote.

The Fable Is Quite Classical, And, If Not Very Much Corrected By Mr.

Leshlie, Is Truly A Surprising Performance, And Written Most

Beautifully. But What Has Become Of Poor Alpha Beta? Discouraged? That

Is Impossible. Laid Aside For The Present? That, Indeed, Is Possible,

But By No Means Probable. Shall I Guess Again? Yes; You Mean To

Surprise Me With Some Astonishing Progress. And Yet, To Confess The

Truth, Your Lessons In Terence, Exercises, And "Music" (Without A _K_,

Observe) Seem To Leave Little Time For Any Other Study. I Must Remain

In Suspense For Four Days Longer.

 

 

Doctor Rush Thinks That Bark Would Not Be Amiss, But May Be Beneficial

If The Stomach Does Not Rebuke It, Which Must Be Constantly The First

Object Of Attention. He Recommends Either The Cold Infusion Or

Substance As Least Likely To Offend The Stomach.

 

 

Be Able, Upon My Arrival, To Tell Me The Difference Between An

_Infusion_ And _Decoction_; And The History, The Virtues, And The

_Botanical_ Or Medical Name Of The Bark. Chambers Will Tell You More

Perhaps Than You Will Wish To Read Of It. Your Little Mercurial

Disquisition Is Ingenious, And Prettily Told.

 

 

I Have A Most Dreary Prospect Of Weather And Roads For My Journey. I

Set Off On Saturday Morning, And Much Fear That It Will Take Two Or

Three Days To Get To Now-York.

 

 

A. Burr.

Chapter XVII Pg 364

To Theodosia.

 

 

Philadelphia, 13Th February, 1794.

 

 

I Received Your Letter And Enclosures Yesterday In Senate. I Stopped

Reading The Letter, And Took Up The Story In The Place You Directed;

Was Really Affected By The Interesting Little Tale, Faithfully

Believing It To Have Been Taken From The Mag. D'Enf., And Was

Astonished And Delighted When I Recurred To The Letter And Found The

Little Deception You Had Played Upon Me. It Is Concisely And

Handsomely Told, And Is Indeed A Performance Above Your Years.

 

 

Mr. Leshlie Is Not, I Am Afraid, A Competent Judge Of What You Are

Capable Of Learning; You Must Convince Him That You Can, When You Set

In Earnest About It, Accomplish Wonders.

 

 

Do You Mean That The Forty Lines Which You Construed In Virgil Were In

A Part You Had Not Before Learned?

 

 

I Despair Of Getting Genuine Tent Wine In This City. There Never Was A

Bottle Of Real Unadulterated Tent Imported Here For Sale. Mr.

Jefferson, Who Had Some For His Own Use, Has Left Town. Good Burgundy

And Muscat, Mixed In Equal Parts, Make A Better Tent Than Can Be

Bought. But By Bartow'S Return You Shall Have What I Can Get--Sooner

If I Find A Conveyance.

 

 

 

Bartow Is The Most Perfect Gossip I Ever Knew; Though, I Must Say, It

Is The Kind Of Life I Have Advised Him To While He Stays Here. Adieu.

 

 

A. Burr.

Chapter XVII Pg 365

To Theodosia.

 

 

Philadelphia, 7Th March, 1794.

 

 

Your Letter Of The 4Th Was Three Days On The Road. I Am Certain That I

Have Answered Punctually All Which Have Come To Hand. True, I Have Not

Written To You As Frequently As During The First Few Weeks Of My

Residence Here. For The Last Month I Have Been Very Much Occupied By

Public Business. You Will Need No Other Proof Of It When I Tell You

That Near Twenty Unanswered Letters Are Now On My Desk, Not One Of

Yours Among Them, However, Except That Received Last Evening. I Have

Not Even Been To The Theatre Except About An Hour, And Then It Was

More An Errand Of Business Than Amusement.

 

 

Poor Tom, [3] I Hope You Take Good Care Of Him. If He Is Confined By

His Leg, &C., He Must Pay The Greater Attention To His Reading And

Writing.

 

 

I Shall Run Off To See You About Sunday Or Monday; But The Roads Are

So Extremely Bad That I Expect To Be Three Days Getting Through. I

Will Bring With Me The Cherry Sweetmeats, And Something For _Augusta

Louisa Matilda Theodosia Van Horne_. I Believe I Have Not Recollected

All Her Names.

 

 

Affectionately,

 

 

A. Burr.

Chapter XVII Pg 366

To Theodosia.

 

 

Philadelphia, 31St March, 1794.

 

 

I Am Distressed At Your Loss Of Time. I Do Not, Indeed, Wholly Blame

You For It, But This Does Not Diminish My Regret. When You Want

Punctuality In Your Letters, I Am Sure You Want It In Every Thing; For

You Will Constantly Observe That You Have The Most Leisure When You Do

The Most Business. Negligence Of One'S Duty Produces A

Self-Dissatisfaction Which Unfits The Mind For Every Thing, And

_Ennui_ And Peevishness Are The Never-Failing Consequences. You Will

Readily Discover The Truth Of These Remarks By Reflecting On Your Own

Conduct, And The Different Feelings Which Have Flowed From A

Persevering Attention To Study, Or A Restless Neglect Of It.

 

 

I Shall In A Few Days (This Week) Send You A Most Beautiful Assortment

Of Flower-Seeds And Flowering Shrubs. If I Do Not Receive A Letter

From You To-Morrow, I Shall Be Out Of All Patience. Every Day'S

Journal Will, I Hope, Say Something Of Mamma.

 

 

A. Burr.

Chapter XVII Pg 367

To Theodosia.

 

 

Philadelphia, 7Th June, 1794.

 

 

I Have Received My Dear Theo.'S Two Little, Very Little, French

Letters. The Last Left You Tormented With Headache And Toothache, Too

Much For One Poor Little Girl To Suffer At One Time, I Am Sure: You

Had Doubtless Taken Solue Sudden Cold. You Must Fight Them As Well As

You Can Till I Come, And Then I Will Engage To Keep Them At Bay.

 

 

I Remark That You Do Not Acknowledge The Receipt Of A Long Letter

Which I Wrote You On The Road The Night After I Left New-York. I Hope

It Has Not Missed You; But It Is Needless Now To Ask About It, For I

Shall Certainly See You Before I Could Receive Your Answer To This.

 

 

Whatever You Shall Translate Of Terence, I Beg You To Have Copied In A

Book In A Very Fair Handwriting.

 

 

A. Burr.

Chapter XVII Pg 368

To Theodosia.

 

 

Albany, 4Th August, 1794.

 

 

My Dear Theo.,

 

 

We Arrived Here Yesterday, After A Hot, Tedious Passage Of _Seven

Days_. We Were Delayed As Well By Accidents As By Calms And Contrary

Winds, The First Evening, Being Under Full Sail, We Ran Ashore At

Tappan, And Lay There Aground, In A Very Uncomfortable Situation,

Twenty-Four Hours. With Great Labour And Fatigue We Got Off On The

Following Night, And Had Scarce Got Under Sail Before We Missed Our

Longboat. We Lost The Whole Tide In Hunting For It, And So Lay Till

The Morning Of Wednesday. Having Then Made Sail Again, With A Pretty

Strong Head Wind, At The Very First Tack The Dutch Horse Fell

Overboard. The Poor Devil Was At The Time Tied About The Neck With A

Rope, So That He Seemed To Have Only The Alternatives Of Hanging Or

Drowning (For The River Is Here About Four Miles Wide, And The Water

Was Very Rough); Fortunately For Him, The Rope Broke, And He Went

Souse Into The Water. His Weight Sunk Him So Deep That We Were At

Least Fifty Yards From Him Before He Came Up. He Snorted Off The

Water, And Turning Round Once Or Twice, As If To See Where He Was,

Then Recollecting The Way To New-York, He Immediately Swam Off Down

The River With All Force. We Fitted Out Our Longboat In Pursuit Of

Him, And At Length Drove Him On Shore On The Westchester Side, Where I

Hired A Man To Take Him To Frederick'S. All This Delayed Us Nearly A

Whole Tide More. The Residue Of The Voyage Was Without Accident,

Except Such As You May Picture To Yourself In A Small Cabin, With

Seven Men, Seven Women, And Two Crying Children--Two Of The Women

Being The Most Splenetic, Ill-Humoured Animals You Can Imagine.

 

 

On My Arrival Here I Was Delighted To Receive Your Letter Of The 30Th,

With The Journal Of That And The Preceding Days. Your History Of Those

Three Days Is Very Full And Satisfactory, And Has Induced Me, By Way

Of Return, To Enlarge On The Particulars Of My Journey. I Am Quite

Gratified That You Have Secured Mrs. Penn'S (Observe How It Is

Spelled) Good Opinion, And Content With Your Reasons For Not Saying

The Civil Things You Intended. In Case You Should Dine In Company With

Her, I Will Apprize You Of One Circumstance, By A Trifling Attention

To Which You May Elevate Yourself In Her Esteem. She Is A Great

Advocate For A Very Plain, Rather Abstemious Diet In Children, As You

May See By Her Conduct With Miss Elizabeth. Be Careful, Therefore, To

Eat Of But One Dish; That A Plain Roast Or Boiled: Little Or No Gravy

Or Butter, And Very Sparingly Of Dessert Or Fruit: Not More Than Half

A Glass Of