I dare say, that by this time you are sufficiently sensible that old
heads, as well as young, may sometimes be charged with ignorance and
presumption. The natural course of the human mind is certainly from
credulity to scepticism: and this is perhaps the most favorable apology
I can make for venturing so far out of my depth, and to one, too,
to whom the strong as well as the weak points of this science are so
familiar. But having stumbled on the subject in my way, I wished to give
a confession of my faith to a friend; and the rather, as I had perhaps,
at times, to him as well as others, expressed my scepticism in medicine,
without defining its extent or foundation. At any rate, it has permitted
me, for a moment, to abstract myself from the dry and dreary waste
of politics, into which I have been impressed by the times on which I
happened, and to indulge in the rich fields of nature, where alone I
should have served as a volunteer, if left to my natural inclinations
and partialities.
I salute you at all times with affection and respect.
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER LVI.--TO MR. BOWDOIN, July 10, 1807
TO MR. BOWDOIN.
Washington, July 10, 1807.
Dear Sir,
I wrote you on the 10th of July, 1806; but supposing, from your not
acknowledging the receipt of the letter, that it had miscarried, I sent
a duplicate with my subsequent one of April the 2nd. These having gone
by the Wasp, you will doubtless have received them.
Pages:
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165