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Wednesday March 25.th 1761.
Dear Papa
Having had several interruptions from my Acquaintance just as I was
writing my letter to you, I could not send you my Translation on Sunday as I intended: for
one day Mr Skate came to drink Tea with me, another Mr Godsalve, and another a Westminster
acquaintance that I believe you never heard me speak off, so it does not signify
mentioning his name. I find this part of Tully in several places extremely difficult, so that a page or
perhaps 2 or 3 lines, will take me up as much time to translate as 4 or 5 of his other
works, and indeed all the Tusculan questions in general, are the hardest Latin I ever met
with; not so much because the construction is difficult, tho' that is none of the easiest,
but oftentimes frequently when I have got the Syntax of it it is sometime before I can not make head nor tail of it: this
often happens when 2 Sentences are joined by some sort of conjunction; when each seems to
have nothing to do with the other: for tho' I could translate each of them literally, yet if till I
do not have finound out the Relation they bear to one another, and by what means the Sense is connected,
I cannot there's no such thing as makeg an intelligible Translation. — I long to hear how poor dear Sammy
does, whether he is recovered from his Illness, and hope I shall assoon as you have received
this letter. I have lately had a very lucky accident which tho' it kept me up a day or
two, yet is of great service to me: that Tooth which had several bits of it broke out and
was as I complained to you so extremely sore being very troublesome I with my fingers
pulled it out having plucked up a good courage; besides there were 2 other Teeth
1 of which had a young one growing out by the Side of it; I pulled them both out myself.
however my Face swelled: before I pulled the Teeth out one or two of them aked
very bad, so that with that and the Swelled face, which succeeded to the aking; I was forced
to keep my up: when Mr Jefferson asked me what was the matter with me, and I told
him, he told me aeger was Latin for idle: for when we are indisposed, and on that account do not attend
Chapel and Lecture, we are put down in the books, such an one aeger: but Mr Jefferson
when I have not been well before that has suspected that it was idleness that made me
keep up; which indeed I do not think is using me well; and I told him I thought 'twas
very hard that I could never be believed by him when I said any thing: and this often been
case in other things, tho' I have brought several circumstances to corroborate it. I am
sure it could not be from Idleness that I kept up for then I studied a great
deal harder than at another time, as I had nothing else - pray do not mention this
tho'. Pray give my duty to my Grandmama. — I am
Dear Papa
Your dutiful and affectionate Son
J. Bentham.
P.S.
I have sent you 20 pages, tho' I have
wrote it very small and close, that
it might not take up much Room.
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Identifier: | JB/537/080/001 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 537.
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1761-03-25 |
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537 |
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080 |
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001 |
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Correspondence |
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Jeremy Bentham |
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