Memoirs of Aaron Burr Part 82

"Gamble's" protegee could not be found. You will probably gain by the exchange. That whom I shall send you is a good, steady-looking animal, _agee vingt trois_. From appearance, she has been used to count her beads and work hard, and never thought of love or finery. The enclosed recommendation of Madame Dupont, the elder, will tell you more. You are in equal luck with a cook. I have had him on trial a fortnight, and he is the best I ever had in the house; for cakes, pastry, and jimcracks, far superior to Anthony. In short, he is too good for you, and I have a great mind not to send him; you will be for ever giving good dinners. He has something of the manner and phisiognomy of Wood, your teacher. _M'lle la femme de chambre and Monsieur le Cuisinier_ are both pure French (not creole), and speak well the language. He will take with him a quant.i.ty of ca.s.seroles and other implements of his etat. They will be s.h.i.+pped off next week.

The sale of Richmond Hill is all off; blown up at the moment of counting the money, partly by whim and partly by accident; something else will be done to produce the effect. I go to Philadelphia in two or three days; but shall return, and not set off for Was.h.i.+ngton till near Christmas. Mrs. A.'s health is much improved. G.o.d bless thee.

A. BURR.

TO THEODOSIA.

Philadelphia, November 26, 1801.

Your letter of the 7th of November, from _Yaahanee_, is received at this place. Though I am in the house with Mr. and Mrs. Lowndes, and several other Carolinians, yet we are wholly ignorant of your position. No one ever heard of Yaahanee. I suspect it to be some Mohawk word, which T. B. A. has been pleased to retain and apply--a very pretty name, I acknowledge. Your reception has, indeed, been charming; it reads more like an extract from some romance than matter of fact happening in the nineteenth century within the United States.

I will ride fifty miles out of my way to see that lady.

The great business, as you are pleased to call it, has brought me hither. Not merely to see the statue, nor have I yet seen it; but am in the way. It will be a heavy job, considering that B. is on the spot. To return to the business. It will go on; it must go on; it shall go on. It will be Christmas before I see the city of Was.h.i.+ngton.

My lodgings are near the capitol, and next door to Law, who has removed since we were together at his house. Your cook and maid must be detained at New-York till my return, which will be in about eight days.

Your letter is pretty and lively, and indicates health, content, and cheerfulness, which is much better than if you had told me so, for then I should not have believed a word of it.

You have learned from the newspapers (which you never read) the death of Philip Hamilton. [9]

Shot in a duel with Eacker, the lawyer. Some dispute at a theatre, arising, as is said, out of politics. The story is variously related; will give you a concise summary of the facts, in fifteen sheets of paper, with comments, and moral and sentimental reflections. To this I take the liberty of referring you.

A. BURR.

TO THEODOSIA.

New-York, December 8, 1801.

By the s.h.i.+p Protectress you will receive all your things, together with cook and maid. To sail on the 14th. On the day of sailing I will write to you, enclosing the bills of lading.

Your interesting letter of the 23d is this day received. It brings me to the familiar acquaintance with your amiable circle, and admits me to your fireside more than any thing you have written. Mrs. Allen is here. Anna will, to all appearance, be married before spring to a merchant of the name of Pierpont. Catharine is astonished that she has not yet an answer to her letter. I have told her that she can by no possibility have one before Christmas. In your reading, I wish you would learn to read newspapers; not to become a partisan in politics, G.o.d forbid, but they contain the occurrences of the day, and furnish the standing topics of conversation. The reading of newspapers is a knack which you will acquire in six weeks, by reading, during that time, every thing. With the aid of a gazetteer and atlas, you must find every place that is spoken of. Pray, madam, do you know of what consist the "Republic of the Seven Islands?" Do you know the present boundaries of the French republic? Neither, in all probability. Then hunt them.

Now, one word of self. I came here on the 6th, and shall remain in New-York till near the 20th. Then to Was.h.i.+ngton. The business is in a prosperous way. My great love for the fine arts, especially sculpture, may detain me a week in Philadelphia. Adieu, ma belle.

A. BURR.

Footnotes:

1. Mr. Burr had left the Senate previous to the date of this memorandum.

2. This is not all. It has already been demonstrated, and the fact is notorious, that, from the year 1777 until after the adoption of the Federal Const.i.tution, the Livingstons and Clintons were not acting in concert. The Livingstons were of the Schuyler party. Before the revolutionary war there were two great contending families in the state of New York; but they were the Van Rensellaers and the Delancies. The former espoused the whig cause, the latter the cause of the tories.

3. George W. Irwin, subsequently minister to the court of Spain.

4. Major General Jacob Brown, late of the United States army.

5. Former United States Marshal of the Southern District of the state of New-York, and son of that distinguished revolutionary financier, the Honourable Robert Morris.

6. Frederick Prevost, son of Mrs. Burr by her first husband.

7. A Convention to revise the Const.i.tution of the State; of which Convention Colonel Burr was president.

8. The mother of Natalie.

9. Son of General Alexander Hamilton.

CHAPTER X.

TO JOSEPH ALSTON.

New-York, December 13, 1801.

Herewith is enclosed a duplicate of the bill of lading, specifying the articles s.h.i.+pped for you on board the Protectress--She sailed this afternoon. The president's message, of which a copy was sent you by this s.h.i.+p, will have reached you through other channels long before her arrival.

One idea contained in this message is much applauded by our ladies.

They unite in the opinion that the "energies of the men ought to be princ.i.p.ally employed in the multiplication of the human race," and in this they promise an ardent and active co-operation. Thus, then, is established the point of universal coincidence in political opinion, and thus is verified the prophetic dictum, "we are all republicans, we are all federalists." I hope the fair of your state will equally testify their applause of this sentiment; and I enjoin it on you to manifest your patriotism and your attachment to the administration by "exerting your energies" in the manner indicated.

"To kill is brutal, to create Divine."

I propose--now observe, this is not to be published--I propose early in the spring to take a ramble with you through your mountains. You had best say nothing of your project of a location in the hills until it shall be executed; for, if compet.i.tion should arise before you shall be suited, it would increase the expense of an establishment. I am impatient to hear that you are settled and at work. Very affectionately,

A. BURR.

FROM DAVENPORT PHELPS.

New-York, December 15, 1801.

SIR,

The enclosed copy of a letter from Captain Brandt to Isaac Chapin, Esq., superintendent of Indian affairs in the state of New-York, comprising (I conceive) the plan by him committed to me, and to which he alludes in his letter to yourself, for introducing moral instruction among the Indians. This plan, agreeably to his request, was recommended by the superintendent, and, so far as it respects the ordination of a missionary, has been accomplished.

It yet remains, Sir, to provide means of support; and when the question respecting the instruction of their youth can be determined, by what means and in what manner this shall be effected.

I will, at present, only use the freedom to suggest whether it might not conduce to the furtherance and facilitating the above design to appropriate for their accommodation a suitable portion of land at or in the vicinity of Sandusky. Were the scattering tribes concentrated, and with them some of their countrymen and others as patterns of industry and morality, such circ.u.mstances must be highly favourable to attempts to bring them into the habits of civilization.

I am, with great respect,

DAVENPORT PHELPS.