Jefferson Quotes & Family Letters

Your complaints of my negligence come very mal a propos, you should not have attacked me on that score, considering how unguarded you left yourself. Since your departure I have received but two short mean letters from you containing about twenty five words in them. they came by the same mail & I answered them immediately by one letter which contained about twice as much as both yours put together. Since that I have not received a line. I perceive however that you are not remiss in sending long pompous letters to the father of your deary o! I must excuse you there however for love is omnipotent. take care though how you try to throw your faults on me.

I have been here ever since the 9 or 10th day of december & by the kindness of all the family here have been led to consider it as my second home. I expect however that they wish me heartily to the devil & that I have worn out welcome & think it is time (as Mead says) to take my D. I. O. but god knows where the devil I shall go to next unless it is back again to the drs Dr’s had it not been for forming an acquaintance with this family I would wish that I had gone to the north at once. my education would have been much farther advanced. & if they keep putting off this college I will certainly go—they expect every day to see in the papers that the University is fixed here but the Legislature being composed of ignorant drunken beasts they take pay as little attention to that as they do to any thing else that is of consequence. at least I suppose so.

It gave me great pleasure to see, in a letter of yours to the Colo that your resolutions on studying had not left you yet: I expect to see your name on the list of those who acquitted themselves well, when it comes out, I hope I wont be disappointed, indeed I am well convinced that I will not if your appetite for your books continues. Tell me how the disturbances occasioned by captain Bliss have terminated I hope it has been all settled to the satisfaction of the Cadets. I think the captain ought to be well bastinadoed for his insolence to that great and distinguished part of the community the Cadets he should not be let off without having at least one of his stones cut out you ought to make a motion for that punishment for unless you make a signal example, the respectable body of the Cadets would be liable to receive the impudence of some beggarly lousedropping Captain. I think the major also should be cobbed for not looking at the petition—

we had a ball here two or three nights ago in charlottesville to which all the young ladies both of Monticello and Ashton attended (except Miss Mary & Lucy) accompanied by your most obedient H B T–Esqr fut-pres-of &c mounted on traveller vortexing through the mud with pumps on, came off¹ however with less damage than Dr Slop suffered when he went to assist the travails of good Mother Shandy you know. I had the pleasure to dance every seven reels with the young ladies & figured away middling well for you one that had never danced them before. however we had all the beaux in charlottesville who eclipsed me in the saltatory art (as Mr reeves says)² I am afraid Mr Huntingdon will bear away the prize from you as he [. . .]sed in shorts & the nymph smiled very grac[iously?] on him, however the young ladies say that he resembled very much a knave of cards—

I send you the spanish Song which Miss V— had the goodness to write over for you, they all desire me their best respects to you and thank you for the things you sent them—grandmother is at mr P. Minor’s she is as well as ever & very much inclined to be extravagant—poor grandmother Brown has been on the decline for some time past which grieves me exceedingly but I hope yet she will recover—if you come back before your time is out bring me Planchés greek dictionary—your mare has not yet been sold—