Memoirs Of Aaron Burr, Volume 1 - Matthew L. Davis (top android ebook reader txt) 📗

Your Journal. Ten Minutes

Every Evening I Demand; If You Should Choose To Make It Twenty, I

Shall Be The Better Pleased. You Are To Note The Occurrences Of The

Day As Concisely As You Can; And, At Your Pleasure, To Add Any Short

Reflections Or Remarks That May Arise. On The Other Leaf I Give You A

Sample Of The Manner Of Your Journal For One Day.

 

 

18Th December,

 

 

I Began This Letter At The Date Which You See, Being Monday Last--Was

Interrupted, And The Mail Closed. Yesterday I Was Confined With A

Severe Headache, Owing, I Believe, To A Change From An Active To A

Sedentary Life Without A Corresponding Change In Diet.

 

 

A Week And More Has Elapsed Since I Left Home, And Not A Line From

You; Not Even The Sunday Letter. Observe, That The Journal Is To Be

Sent To Me Enclosed In A Letter Every Monday Morning.

 

 

_Plan Of The Journal._

 

 

16Th December, 1793.

 

 

Learned 230 Lines, Which Finished Horace. Heigh-Ho For Terence And The

Greek Grammar To-Morrow.

 

 

Practised Two Hours Less Thirty-Five Minutes, Which I Begged Off.

 

 

Hewlett (Dancing-Master) Did Not Come.

 

 

Began Gibbon Last Evening. I Find He Requires As Much Study And

Attention As Horace; So I Shall Not Rank The Reading Of _Him_ Among

Amusements.

 

 

Skated An Hour; Fell Twenty Times, And Find The Advantage Of A Hard

Head And

 

 

Ma Better--Dined With Us At Table, And Is Still Sitting Up And Free

From Pain.

 

 

Your Affectionate Papa,

 

 

A. Burr.

Chapter XVII Pg 352

To Mrs. Burr.

 

 

Philadelphia, 24Th December, 1793.

 

 

Since Being At This Place I Have Had Several Conversations With Dr.

Rush Respecting Your Distressing Illness, And I Have Reason To Believe

That He Has Given The Subject Some Reflection. He Has This Evening

Called On Me, And Given Me As His Advice That You Should Take Hemlock.

He Says That, In The Way In Which It Is Usually Prepared, You Should

Commence With A Dose Of One Tenth Of A Grain, And Increase As You May

Find You Can Bear It; That It Has The Narcotic Powers Of Opium,

Superadded To Other Qualities. When The Dose Is Too Great, It May Be

Discovered By A Vertigo Or Giddiness; And That He Has Known It To Work

Wonderful Cures. I Was The More Pleased With This Advice, As I Had Not

Told Him That You Had Been In The Use Of This Medicine; The

Concurrence Of His Opinion Gives Me Great Faith In It. God Grant That

It May Restore Your Health, And To Your Affectionate

 

 

A. Burr.

Chapter XVII Pg 353

To His Daughter Theodosia.

 

 

Philadelphia, 25Th December, 1793.

 

 

The Letter, My Dear Theo., Which (I Have No Doubt) You Wrote Me Last

Sunday, Has Not Yet Come To Hand. Am I To Blame Strong? Or The

Postmaster? Or Whom?

 

 

When You Have Finished A Letter, Read It Carefully Over, And Correct

All The Errors You Can Discover. In Your Last There Were Some Which

Could Not, Upon An Attentive Perusal, Have Escaped Your Notice, As You

Shall See When We Meet.

 

 

I Have Asked You A Great Many Questions, To Which I Have As Yet No

Answers. When You _Sit_ Down To Write To Me, Or When You _Set_ About

It, Be It Sitting Or Standing, Peruse All My Letters, And Leave

Nothing Unanswered. Adieu.

 

 

A. Burr.

Chapter XVII Pg 354

To His Daughter Theodosia.

 

 

Philadelphia, 31St December, 1793.

 

 

I Received Your Letter And Journal Yesterday In The Senate Chamber,

Just Before The Closing Of The Mail, So That I Had Only Time To

Acknowledge It By A Hasty Line. You See I Never Let Your Letters

Remain A Day Unanswered, In Which I Wish You Would Imitate Me. Your

Last Had No Date; From The Last Date In The Journal, And Your Writing

About Christmas Holydays As Yet At Some Distance, I Suppose You Wrote

About Sunday The 22D. Nine Days Ago! I Beg You Again To Read Over All

My Letters, And To Let Me See By Your Answers That You Attend To Them.

I Suspect Your Last Journal Was Not Written From Day To Day; But All

On One, Or At Most Two Days, From Memory. How Is This? Ten Or Fifteen

Minutes Every Evening Would Not Be An Unreasonable Sacrifice From

_You_ To _Me_. If You Took The Christmas Holydays, I Assent: If You

Did Not, We Cannot Recall The Time. This Is All The Answer Which That

Part Of Your Letter Now Admits Of.

 

 

It Is Said That Some Few Yet Die Of The Yellow Fever Which Lately

Raged Here; But The Disorder Does Not Appear To Be, _At Present_, In

Any Degree Contagious; What _May_ Be The Case Upon The Return Of Warm

Weather, Is A Subject Of Anxious Conjecture And Apprehension. It Is

Probable That The Session Of Congress Will Continue Into The Summer.

 

 

Give A Place To Your Mamma'S Health In Your Journal. Omit The Formal

Conclusion Of Your Letters, And Write Your Name In A Larger Hand. I Am

Just Going To Senate, Where I Hope To Meet A Letter From You, With A

Continuation Of Your Journal Down To The 29Th Inclusive, Which, If It

Gives A Good Account Of You And Mamma, Will Gladden The Heart Of

 

 

A Burr.

Chapter XVII Pg 355

To His Daughter Theodosia.

 

 

Philadelphia, 31St December, 1793.

 

 

This Day'S Mail Has Brought Me Nothing From You. I Have But Two

Letters In Three, Almost Four Weeks, And The Journal Is Ten Days In

Arrear. What--Can Neither Affection Nor Civility Induce You To Devote

To Me The Small Portion Of Time Which I Have Required? Are Authority

And Compulsion Then The Only Engines By Which You Can Be Moved? For

Shame, Theo.! Do Not Give Me Reason To Think So Ill Of You.

 

 

I Wrote You This Morning, And Have Nothing To Add But The Repetition

Of My Warmest Affection.

 

 

A. Burr.

Chapter XVII Pg 356

To His Daughter Theodosia.

 

 

Philadelphia, 4Th January, 1794.

 

 

At The Moment Of Closing The Mail Yesterday, I Received Your Letter

Enclosing The Pills. I Cannot Refer To It By Date, As It Has None.

Tell Me Truly, Did You Write It Without Assistance? Is The Language

And Spelling Your Own? If So, It Does You Much Honour. The Subject Of

It Obliged Me To Show It To Dr. Rush, Which I Did With Great Pride. He

Inquired Your Age Half A Dozen Times, And Paid Some Handsome

Compliments To The Handwriting, The Style, And The Correctness Of Your

Letter.

 

 

The Account Of Your Mamma'S Health Distresses Me Extremely. If She

Does Not Get Better Soon, I Will Quit Congress Altogether And Go Home.

Doctor Rush Says That The Pills Contain Two Grains Each Of Pure And

Fresh Extract Of Hemlock; That The Dose Is Not Too Large If The

Stomach And Head Can Bear It; That He Has Known Twenty Grains Given At

A Dose With Good Effect. To Determine, However, Whether This Medicine

Has Any Agency In Causing The Sick Stomach, He Thinks It Would Be Well

To Take An Occasion Of Omitting It For A Day Or Two, If Doctor Bard

Should Approve Of Such An Experiment, And Entertains Any Doubts About

The Effects Of The Pills On The Stomach. Some Further Conversation

Which I Have Had With Doctor Rush Will Be Contained In A Letter Which

I Shall Write By This Post To Doctor Bard.

 

 

My Last Letter To You Was Almost An Angry One, At Which You Cannot Be

Much Surprised When You Recollect The Length Of Time Of Your Silence,

And That You Are My Only Correspondent Respecting The Concerns Of The

Family. I Expect, On Monday Or Tuesday Next, To Receive The

Continuation Of Your Journal For _The Fortnight Past_.

 

 

Mr. Leshlie Will Tell You That I Have Given Directions For Your

Commencing Greek. One Half Hour Faithfully Applied By Yourself At

Study, And Another At Recitation With Mr. Leshlie, Will Suffice To

Advance You Rapidly.

 

 

Your Affectionate,

 

 

A. Burr.

Chapter XVII Pg 357

To His Daughter Theodosia.

 

 

Philadelphia, 7Th January, 1794.

 

 

When Your Letters Are Written With Tolerable Spirit And Correctness, I

Read Them Two Or Three Times Before I Perceive Any Fault In Them,

Being Wholly Engaged With The Pleasure They Afford Me; But, For Your

Sake, It Is