| | 1 | Author: | Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826 | Requires cookie* | | | Title: | Letter to Angelica Schuyler Church (February 17, 1788) [a machine-readable transcription]  | | | | Published: | 1996 | | | | Description: | You speak, Madam, in your Note of Adieu, of civilities which
I never
rendered you. what you kindly call such were but the gra-
-tifications of my own heart: for indeed that was much gratified in
seeing and serving you. The morning, you left us, all was wrong. even
the sun shine was provoking, with which I never quarelled before. I
took it into my head he shone only to throw light on our loss : to pre-
-sent a chearfulness not at all in unison with my mind. I mounted
my horse earlier than common, & took by instinct the road you had
taken. some spirit whispered this to me : but he whispered by
halves only : for, when I turned about at St. Denis, had he told me
you were then broke down at Luzarches, I should certainly have
spurred on to that place, & perhaps not have quitted you till I
had seen the carriage perform it's office fully by deporting you at
Boulogne. I went in the evening to Madame de Corny's, where we
talked over our woes, & this morning I found some solace in going
for Kitty & the girls. she is now here, just triste enough to shew her
affection, & at the same time her discretion. I think I have discovered
a method of preventing this dejection of mind on any future parting. it
is this. when you come again, I will employ myself solely in finding
or fancying that you have some faults, & I will draw a veil over all
your good qualities, if I can find one large enough. I think I shall succeed in
this, for, trying myself to-day, by way of exercise, I recollected immediately one
fault in your composition. it is that you give all your attention to your
Image of manuscript page 2
Image of manuscript page 2
friends, caring nothing about yourself. now you must agree that I chris-
-tian this very mildly when I call it a folly only. and I dare say I shall
find many like it when I examine you with more sang froid.
I remember you told me, when we parted, you would come to see me at
Monticello. now tho' I believe this to be impossible, I have been planning
what I would shew you : a flower here, a tree there; yonder a grove,
near it a fountain; on this side a hill, on that a river. indeed, madam,
I know nothing so charming as our own country. the learned say it is
a new creation; and I believe them; not for their reasons, but because
it is made on an improved plan. Europe is a first idea, a
crude pro-
-duction, before the maker knew his trade, or had made up his mind
as to what he wanted. let us go back to it together then . you intend
it a visit, so do I. while you are indulging with your friends on the
Hudson, I will go to see if Monticello remains in the same place
or I will attend you to the falls of Niagara, if you will go on with me
to the passage of the Patowmac, the Natural bridge etc. this done,
we will come back together, you for a long, & I for a lesser time. Think
of this plan, and when you come to pay your summer's visit to Kitty
we will talk it over. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
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