(seq. 23)

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[fol. 1r]

No. 10. D. You know where. August 13th. 1795.

רעמוב[ ]
No words can fully express the pleasure, your unnumbered favor of the
3d. instant produced. You see, I have hardly been able to repay your warm addresses in the
sacred language of the Hebrews. Lest your Lexicon should not contain such words, as I have cho-
sen for my address, I would inform you, that , in the sense I intended it, signifies Socius,
Sodalis, Amicus, Familiaris; and Thûle, Bonus, Suowis, Jucundus, amabilis; and, sometimes, Benignus,
Sinis, Humanus, Pulcher. Now, if you can find sufficient signification in any or all of these terms
to clear me of the inputation of Stoicism, I shall rejoice at my success in language. I cannot,
however, expect to express feelings, which, I feel, are incommunicable thro' the comparatively
gross medium of Letters. That you may not, at first sight, throw away my letter, as addressed to
microscopic eyes, suffer me to offer in apology, that I feel great compunction for contracting
so large, so just a debt, and am determined, at one payment, to discharge all arrearages.
As it would demand a quire of my usual coin, you will be pleased to accept this bill,
even should it prove to be issued from a suspicious bank; considering that, should you
insist on such, as is of undisputed value, you would reduce your debtor to the necessity
of stealing.

Had I not the most unequivocal evidence of your friendship, both in our personal
and epistolary intercourse; the following sentences in your last favor would seem to me
suspicious. You say "There are a few triffles on the side of your friend, which, in his
"mind, are arguments of some weight. They address themselves, however, not to the reas-
"oning part of man," &c. Now the natural and most obvious meaning of these words
appears to be, that, should you become serious in your addresses to E. you should sus-
pect me of the presumption of condsidering myself your rival. Fie! My friend could
not mean this. He only intended to excite my curiousity by ambiguous, or perhaps,
unmeaning expressions. I confess, had I not delcared to you the whole of my soul,
you might almost conclude me her professed lover by my warm recommendation
of her person, disposition, and character; but when you consider, that I have found
one, to whom I have unreservedly pledged my heart, you will not suspect me so mad, as
to offer my hand, where, on every consideration, I should have so little hope of suc-
cess. A few strokes of your pen would set this matter to rights.

I feel grateful for the vaious arguments you use to reconcile me to my
situation. At my first disappointment at Mr P.'s, I felt a little peevish, My sit-
uation, I find is not only much more favorable for study, than I could reasonably
expect; but I have the additional satisfaction of hearing it universally commended
by my literary friends. Even several clergymen have declaried it vastly prefer-
able to studying with any minister. With respect to visiting I have adopted
a plan of going into company no more, than is absolutely necessary for exercise
and recreation. The best authors are not wanting to allure me to stay at home. I
have just finished the first volume of Foster on Natural Religion. The author is
a liberal soul, and seems to be transported with his subject. Much of his
reasoning, and, indeed, of every author on the subject, is to me obscure, particu-
larly on the excistence of God by arguments 'a priori.' Writers on the subject ap-
pear to me to impute too much to the light of nature. Our reason is suf-
ficiently feeble with the assistance of revelation. Could we suppose ourselves
to derive no assistance from this source, I believe, we should speedily find
the necessity of Divine illumination to bring "life and immortality" as well, as

Notes and Questions

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RCH in KZ

Line 5: [Knowing that Hebrew is a right-to-left, top-to-bottom writing style:]

To the best of my ability, I have transcribed the Hebrew as (left to right): ב Bet/Beth , ו Vav,
מ Mem, ע Ayin, ר Resh/Raysh. The most rightward mark associated with this Hebrew writing is unclear as to its nature. Considerations for the most rightward mark would include: a modern English period, a Hebrew diacritic, and the letter י Yod.