第101章

amgladtofindyouarethinkingofprintingLivy。thereshouldbenohesitationbetweenthatandQuinctilian。thislastislittlewanting。wehaveBlair’sandAdams’sbookswhichgiveustherhetoricofourownlanguageandthatofaforeignandadeadonewillinterestfewreaders。butofLivythereisnot，noreverhasbeenaneditionmeritingthenameofaneditiooptima。theDelphineditionmighthavebeen，butforit’snumerouserrorsofthepress，andunmanageablesizein4to。it’snotesarevaluable，andithasthewholeofFreinsheim’ssupplementwiththemarginalreferencestohisauthorities。Clerk’seditionisofahandysize，hasthewholeofFreinsheim，butwithoutthereferences，whichweoftenwishtoturnto，anditiswithoutnotes。thelatePariseditionofLaMallehasonlythesupplementofthe2ddecadandnonotes。Ipossessthesetwolastmentionededitions，butwouldgladlybecomeasubscribertosuchaoneasIdescribe，thatistosay，an8voeditionwiththeDelphinnotesandallFreinsheim’ssupplementsandreferences。ifcorrectlyexecuteditwouldbetheeditiooptima，becalledforinEuropeanddoushonorthere。sinceconsigningmylibrarytoCongressIhavesuppliedmyselffromEuropewithmostoftheclassics，andofthebesteditions，inwhichIhavebeenmuchaidedbymr。Ticknor，yourmostlearnedandvaluablecountryman。

ImakeyoumyacknolegementforthesermonontheUnityofGod，andamgladtoseeourcountrymenlookingthatquestionintheface。

itmustendinareturntoprimitivechristianity，andthedisbandmentoftheunintelligibleAthanasianjargonof3。being1。

and1。being3。thissermonisoneofthestrongestpiecesagainstit。IobserveyouareaboutprintingaworkofBelsham’sonthesamesubject，forwhichIwishtobeasubscriber，andincloseyoua5D。

bill，therebeingnoneoffractionaldenominations。thesurplusthereforemaystandasIshallbecallingforotherthings。Accepttheassuranceofmygreatrespect。

INFLATIONANDDEMORALIZATION

_ToNathanielMacon_

_Monticello，January12，1819_

DEARSIR，——TheproblemyouhadwishedtoproposetomewasonewhichIcouldnothavesolved；forIknewnothingofthefacts。

IreadnonewspapernowbutRitchie’s，andinthatchieflytheadvertisements，fortheycontaintheonlytruthstobereliedoninanewspaper。Ifeelamuchgreaterinterestinknowingwhathaspassedtwoorthreethousandyearsago，thaninwhatisnowpassing。Ireadnothing，therefore，butoftheheroesofTroy，ofthewarsofLacedaemonandAthens，ofPompeyandCaesar，andofAugustustoo，theBonaparteandparricidescoundrelofthatday。Ihavehad，andstillhave，suchentireconfidenceinthelateandpresentPresidents，thatIwillinglyputbothsoulandbodyintotheirpockets。Whilesuchmenasyourselfandyourworthycolleaguesofthelegislature，andsuchcharactersascomposetheexecutiveadministration，arewatchingforusall，Islumberwithoutfear，andreviewinmydreamsthevisionsofantiquity。Thereis，indeed，oneevilwhichawakensmeattimes，becauseitjostlesmeateveryturn。Itisthatwehavenownomeasureofvalue。Iamaskedeighteendollarsforayardofbroadcloth，which，whenwehaddollars，Iusedtogetforeighteenshillings；fromthisIcanonlyunderstandthatadollarisnowworthbuttwoinchesofbroadcloth，butbroadclothisnostandardofmeasureorvalue。Idonotknow，therefore，whereaboutsIstandinthescaleofproperty，norwhattoask，orwhattogiveforit。I

saw，indeed，thelikemachineryinactionintheyears’80and’81，andwithoutdissatisfaction；becauseinwearingout，itwasworkingoutoursalvation。ButIseenothinginthisrenewalofthegameof”Robin’salive”butageneraldemoralizationofthenation，afilchingfromindustryitshonestearnings，wherewithtobuilduppalaces，andraisegamblingstockforswindlersandshavers，whoaretoclosetootheircareerofpiraciesbyfraudulentbankruptcies。Mydependenceforaremedy，however，iswiththewisdomwhichgrowswithtimeandsuffering。Whetherthesucceedinggenerationistobemorevirtuousthantheirpredecessors，Icannotsay；butIamsuretheywillhavemoreworldlywisdom，andenough，Ihope，toknowthathonestyisthefirstchapterinthebookofwisdom。Ihavemadeagreatexertiontowriteyouthusmuch；myantipathytotakingupapenbeingsointensethatIhavenevergivenyouastrongerproof，thanintheeffortofwritingaletter，howmuchIvalueyou，andofthesuperlativerespectandfriendshipwithwhichIsaluteyou。

HABITSOF”AHARDSTUDENT”

_ToDr。VineUtley_

_Monticello，March21，1819_

SIR，——YourletterofFebruarythe18thcametohandonthe1stinstant；andtherequestofthehistoryofmyphysicalhabitswouldhavepuzzledmenotalittle，haditnotbeenforthemodelwithwhichyouaccompaniedit，ofDoctorRush’sanswertoasimilarinquiry。Ilivesomuchlikeotherpeople，thatImightrefertoordinarylifeasthehistoryofmyown。LikemyfriendtheDoctor，I

havelivedtemperately，eatinglittleanimalfood，andthatnotasanaliment，somuchasacondimentforthevegetables，whichconstitutemyprincipaldiet。Idouble，however，theDoctor’sgla