University of Virginia Library

4627. LETTERS, Distorted.—

Every word
which goes from me, whether verbally or in
writing, becomes the subject of so much
malignant distortion, and perverted construction,
that I am obliged to caution my friends
against admitting the possibility of my letters
getting into the public papers or a copy of them
to be taken under any degree of confidence.—
To Edward Dowse. Washington ed. iv, 477.
(W. 1803)