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Advice, America, American History, Buzzfeed, careers, family, First Things, founding fathers, grandfather, grandson, jobs, letter, reputation, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, Writing
“When I recollect that at 14 years of age, the whole care and direction of my self was thrown on my self entirely, without a relation or friend qualified to advise or guide me, and recollect the various sorts of bad company with which I associated from time to time, I am astonished I did not turn off with some of them, and become as worthless to society as they were.
I had the good fortune to become acquainted very early with some characters of very high standing, and to feel the incessant wish that I could even become what they were…
From the circumstances of my position I was often thrown into the society of horseracers, cardplayers, Foxhunters, scientific and professional men, and of dignified men; and many a time have I asked myself, in the enthusiastic moment of the death of a fox, the victory of a favorite horse, the issue of a question eloquently argued at the bar or in the great Council of the nation, well, which of these kinds of reputation should I prefer? That of a horse jockey? A foxhunter? An Orator? Or the honest advocate of my country’s rights?
Be assured my dear Jefferson, that these little returns into ourselves, this self-cathechising habit, is not trifling, nor useless, but leads to the prudent selection and steady pursuits of what is right.”
__________
A section of a letter written by Thomas Jefferson in response to his oldest grandson, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, on November 24th, 1808. You’ll get it in his compendious Thomas Jefferson: Letters and Personal Papers.
The portraits were painted of TJ and TJR at roughly the time of this correspondence. In November of 1808, Thomas Jefferson was 65-years-old, and Thomas Randolph was 16.
(On an unrelated note: in the past week my blog has been linked to by Robert P. George at First Things as well as on Buzzfeed.)
Read more from Jefferson – to John Adams, following the death of his wife Abigail. Jefferson writes a short but profound letter of condolence to his friend and political rival; it is supplemented with some commentary on grief, including a passage from Saul Bellow’s novel Ravelstein and a recent exchange on the subject which I had with Noam Chomsky:
Check out Jefferson’s biographer John Meacham discuss Jefferson’s passions and the roots of his relationship with Sally Hemings:
Thomas Jefferson, Man of Many Appetites
Or look at two more great letters from founding fathers. In the first, Alexander Hamilton is looking for a female companion. In the second, John Adams is venting to his.
katmicari said:
Hey, I’m just about to do a post on Jefferson! 🙂 I just finished reading his memoirs last week.
jrbenjamin said:
Awesome. I’m eager to read it. You should check out Jon Meacham’s new biography of him — called, ‘Thomas Jefferson: Art of Power’. Very good.
katmicari said:
I will add it to my list! Thanks!
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home, garden, life said:
Well done!
sheafferhistorian said:
Meacham all but accuses Jefferson of being a sex fiend. His book was a real disappointment.
geanieroake said:
I don’t know if you read my post – Disenchanted – on Jefferson, but has to do with Sally Hemmings etc. Yours is interesting and shows him in a different light. I think I’ll link it to mine for a little balance.
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