1Benjamin Waterhouse to Thomas Jefferson, 8 July 1822 (Jefferson Papers)
Your letter of the 26 th of June I have read again & again, with renewed satisfaction ; and believe with you that “there is not a young man now living in the U. S. who will not die an Unitarian.” Yet must the young be enlightened, and the Platonizing christians counteracted; and I have seen nothing so likely to do so much good in the process as your letter, if you will allow me to give it...
2To Thomas Jefferson from Benjamin Waterhouse, 3 July 1824 (Jefferson Papers)
In reflecting on my late journey south, I found one omission to regret, and especially as I remember you seemed to urge it—I mean my declining the invitation of M r Monroe—and I have accordingly explained it in a letter to him thus— It was spoken of at the Presidential house, in Washington (at my intimation) that I should go to the examination at West Point; on the high probability that M r...
3To Thomas Jefferson from Benjamin Waterhouse, 8 February 1823 (Jefferson Papers)
To read every letter sent to you must be no small task; but to read every book which vanity may transmit would be inflicting an honour upon you, enough, almost, to make a man wish he had never learnt to read. Here, e.g. you have one on the childish subject of whooping-cough ; the title of which is sufficient to make most men, not of the profession, turn from my “ essay ,” as from a dose of...
4To Thomas Jefferson from Benjamin Waterhouse, 11 February 1825 (Jefferson Papers)
I, in some measure, regret that you have no spare niche for the Rev d M r Bertrum, yet I should be loathe to part with such a learned neighbour. He has since, expressed a wish to enter the service of the Rhode Island College, at Providence, but I do not encourage it, for there he would be “Condemn’d to trudge, “Without an equal, and without a judge.” It would be almost as bad at Dartmouth...
5To Thomas Jefferson from Benjamin Waterhouse, 24 December 1824 (Jefferson Papers)
The Rev. Joseph P. Bertrum, an Englishman of the established church, has an inclination to become a Professor in the University which you have taken so much pains to found & rear; and solicits me to communicate his wish to you. He is a son of Oxford, & I conclude a close, and successful student. I believe we have no one in this place equal to him in Greek: I am satisfied there is none in...
6Benjamin Waterhouse to Thomas Jefferson, 20 February 1818 (Jefferson Papers)
A man occupying so large a space in the world’s estimation as M r Jefferson , must expect to have his retirement, now & then, broken in upon by the humble & the ignorant, seeking knowledge. I have just finished reading M r Wirt ’s “sketch of the life and character of Patrick Henry ,” and having some doubts relative to an important fact, I cannot resist the inclination of writing to you on the...
7Benjamin Waterhouse to Thomas Jefferson, 14 September 1822 (Jefferson Papers)
I read your letter of the 19 th July with pleasure, and though at first disappointed, I cannot wonder at your reluctance to its publication seeing, as I find by your letter, that our brethren in the South are yet slumbering from the opiates of past ages. As times change how some sort of men change with them! Less than 20 years ago, those who governed this our University quarrelled with me, &...
8To Thomas Jefferson from Benjamin Waterhouse, 30 November 1823 (Jefferson Papers)
Bearing in mind your lame wrist, and that you are a dozen years older than myself, & that you have hundreds, who, in the course of the year, inflict upon you the honor of their correspondence , in expectation of a reply, I here avow, at the begining, that what I now write is rather with a view to your amusement & gratification, than with the expectation of an answer. Not but that I set the...
9To Thomas Jefferson from Benjamin Waterhouse, 4 July 1825 (Jefferson Papers)
I seize the first leisure time since my return (for I tarried more than a week in New York with my Daughter) to express to you my thanks for your polite attention when on your pleasant mountain. It enlarged my view of things in more senses than one. It has also gratified an old Pilgrim in the fulfilment of his vow. A thousand questions are asked concerning you, and your noble offspring in your...
10To Thomas Jefferson from Benjamin Waterhouse, 22 October 1825 (Jefferson Papers)
I rejoice, and so will you, that I am enabled to inform you that our aged friend M r Adams has recovered, remarkably, from that sunken state of debility, which appeared to indicate his dissolution last November, & the following winter. He cannot, besure, walk without help, nor see objects distinctly, neither can he feed himself; but he sleeps well & wakes refreshed, & eats very hearty. From a...
11Benjamin Waterhouse to Thomas Jefferson, 8 June 1822 (Jefferson Papers)
I here send for your acceptance a copy from my last edition of the Lecture on the pernicious effects of Tobacco , and of the other strand in the same cord, ardent spirits , on young subjects . You may notice in the introduction to this American edition, that I have had recourse to great names, in order to magnify my apostleship. D r De Carro in Vienna , informed me that he found some...
12To Thomas Jefferson from Benjamin Waterhouse, 30 May 1825 (Jefferson Papers)
D r Waterhouse having long had “ a concern of mind “ to visit the shrine of S t James and S t Thomas, is come this far on his pilgrimage; and wishes only to know if this be the proper time to pay his devotions? DLC : Papers of Thomas Jefferson.
13Benjamin Waterhouse to Thomas Jefferson, 15 January 1819 (Jefferson Papers)
Although answering of letters may have become an irksome task, the reading them may sometimes be an amusement. This idea has induced me to send you this. It has reference to future history, and has had its origin in the following occurrence: M r Trumbull exhibited, a few weeks since, his national painting of “ the Declaration of Independence ” in the Town-hall of Boston . The picture has not...