Extract from Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Brown

Monticello Apr. 28. 14.

one of the misfortunes of living too long is the loss of all one’s early friends and affections. when I review the ground over which I have passed since my youth, I see it strewed like a field of battle with the bodies of deceased friends. I stand like a solitary tree in a field, it’s trunk indeed erect, but it’s limbs fallen off, and it’s neighboring plants eradicated from around it.

RC (ViU: TJP); torn at creases; addressed: “Doctr Samuel Brown Natchez”; franked; postmarked Charlottesville, 29 Apr. PoC (DLC); endorsed by TJ. Published in PTJRS, 7:325–6.
Print
Author
Recipient
Date Range
Date
April 28, 1814
Collection
Repository
Quote Category