To Thomas Jefferson from William Pryce, 9 March 1805
From William Pryce
Wilmington March 9th. 1805
Very Dr Sir,
With this I send you a Copy of the History of the Life of our Blessed Saviour Jesus Christ &c. which I hope you will find, interesting and instructive, equal to your expectations.
you have no doubt learned the liberty I have taken of publishing your kind favor to me; for which I feel bound to offer no apology, Conscious that it would do honor to the Head and Heart, of any man on Earth.
with my sincere prayers for your prosperity in this life, and Felicity in the next, I remain your’s Sincerity,
William Pryce
RC (ViW: Tucker-Coleman Collection); at foot of text: “Thomas Jefferson Esqr.”; endorsed by TJ as received 12 Mch. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: Ebenezer Thompson and William C. Price, The History of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 2 vols. (Wilmington, Del., 1805; No. 1493).
publishing your kind favor: an extract of TJ’s letter of 15 Oct. 1803, subscribing to Pryce’s work, was widely reprinted in newspapers in 1804. The extract was prefaced: “It would seem that these publishers, both of whom are federalists, the first a pious Episcopal Clergyman, the latter printer of a federal paper, do not believe the story of Mr. Jefferson’s infidelity” (Trenton True American, 30 Apr. 1804; Georgia Augusta Chronicle, and Gazette of the State, 26 May 1804; Sag Harbor, N.Y., Suffolk Gazette, 4 June 1804; Vol. 41:532).