1Thomas Jefferson to Maria Cosway, 27 December 1820 (Jefferson Papers)
‘Over the length of silence I draw a curtain,’ is an expression, my dear friend, of your cherished letter of Apr. 7. 19. of which, it might seem, I have need to avail myself; but not so really. to 77. heavy years add two of prostrate health during which all correspondence has been suspended of necessity, and you have the true cause of not having heard from me. my wrist too, dislocated in Paris...