Rencher, Abraham, 1798-1883
Page 1
Petersburg
March 20th 1823
My Dear Friend
I have delayed writing to you longer than I had anticipated. I
wished to give to my situation a fair decision. This delay has been protracted
longer from the dissatisfaction which I felt on my first arrival; but I am
happy in being able to inform you that I daily become more reconciled to my
pedagogical chair. It is a happy constitution in our nature, that it yields to
the circumstances in which fortune may place us. The wretched victim of a
horrid dungeon, by long confinement, becomes delighted with the music of his
chains which are clanking around him. This must be considered as a fortunate
circumstance, when we reflect, that in the corrupted and uncertain currents of
this life we know not at what moment we are to be thrown from our fondest
hopes, from our most flattering and towering expectations and doomed to seek
pleasures even from our dissapointments
Dont infer from these cursory remarks on the power of habit that it
can ever render me entirely pleased with
the the business of teaching—it can only soften my
dislike, indeed I have frequently wondered at the enthusiasm of a favourite
poet in calling it
Page 2
"Delightful task! to rear the tender thought"
"And teach the young idea how to shoot"
2
It no doubt is true of a mother, fondling the darling of her
affections, and instiling into its infantile mind the first principles of
knowledge and of vertue; but when applied to a common pedagogue it is one of
the severest ironies that ever was written
Notwithstanding my aversion to this employment, my prospects have so
much brightened that I am determined to remain here this year at least My shool
has increased far beyond my hopes, which of course has increased my wages. I am
fully aware that my situation with you would be
more prolific of pleasure and improvement I feel avarice creeping gradually
upon me as I grow older
From the particular marks of attention which I have been proud to
recieve at your hands, you will no doubt wish to know how I spend my
time?—very shamefully, for I am doing nothing. While a member of college,
ambition, my own partiality, and the persuasion of friends led me to the study
of the law, and had I engaged in a profession immediately, I should now have
been busy in the analysis of crime; but catching some of the feeling then
prevalent in my section of the country and removing to a place where I was
entirely cut off from society, those religious feelings had and still have
Page 3
perhaps an undue influence on my life. I concieved
such terrifying apprehensions with respect to the moral influence of the study
& practice of law and the danger of mingling with men remarkable for their
scepticism, that I abandoned the law, or at least deferred it for a
season—I have not since resumed it. I know that the sneering infidel
would laugh me to scorn for the weakness of my superstition, but if it is an
error I believe it will meet with indulgence from you. These scruples must
ultimat
prove ly happy, or be a never failing
source of regret that they shoud have
cont destroyed my best exertions to promote the welfare &
happiness of my country. I once took up medicine, but fearing I should never
attain proficiency in a profession with which I was not pleased, I dr[unrecovered] likewise. In short, my dear Prof. I have been so
[unrecovered] halting between the two, tremblingly suspended
between hope & fear,
that I begin to
think that I shall, like the ox between the hay stacks, perish in doubt which
to chose. I can not believe that a young man is capable of making his own
choice of a prof. and I am sorry that my purpose had not been fixed by some
more experienced friend. But I must not dwell any longer on my private griefs
and embarrassments. I am anxious to hear from you. I should be happy to render
you my service in anything that lies in my power. Give my best respect to
Mrs Mitchell and Master Erasmus.
3 I
am your sincere & devoted friend.
Envelope page
Endnotes:
1.
Elisha Mitchell Papers, SHC. The letter is addressed "
Rev. E.
Mitchell
/
Chapel
Hill/
No C—" and is postmarked
"
PETERSG
VA Mar 26." The amount of postage, "18" cents, is
handwritten in the upper right corner. Above the fold forming the top of the
envelope,
Mitchell
has written "
Mr
Rencher
/March 20. 1823/
Petersburg."; another hand has written "
Gov
Rencher
" below the fold at the bottom of the envelope.
2.
James
Thomson,
"Spring" (1728).