Thomson, Ruffin H., 1841-1888
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Chapel Hill.
NC.– Aug 6th 1860.
Dear Pa,
Your last came to hand on the fourth of August.– I was
unavoidably delayed one mail in answering it.– & even now I am rather
encroaching on my hours of rest, but I do not regard that in the least as long
as I can please you, by keeping regular.
I allways feel a better boy, when a letter is recieved from you
& read. Many are the times, I become careless about my studies &
affairs generally, but a letter from you never fails to set me again on the
right path. Always keep this in view, when writing, for to be so long without
seeing Home & Home folks & without coming under Home influences is
enough to cause the best to become lax at times. A boy should see as much of
Home, as is possible, during the few short years, it may last. It can but be a
bad plan
in some instances
at least, to send a son off, for a series of years, to be
absent. I have seen some of the evils of the practice, since I have been here.
The
theory of a young man's learning to depend on
himself early, may be good to
talk about &
philosophize upon, but it cant succeed in practice. Never
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weaken the Love of Home, while one
exists—
The day on which I recieved your letter was my nineteenth birth day, the
first I ever spent away from my birth place—It
is, I fear, but the beginning of many a future
absence—My next birth day spent at Home will be my twenty second
(22nd)—
I did not have much chance for reflection on last Saturday, for
that was the day of the "Fresh Treat", and I was a member of the
Committee who were appointed to superintend—We contracted for about eight
hundred (800) melons, at one hundred & forty ($140
00) dollars, which money was collected from the
"Newies". It is a great festal day. Every body turns out, with
capacious bags & c & c to get all the melons he can, for it is a great
game—Some getting forty & fifty others, none at all—with
numberless
bruises & hurts, & c The
Committee do not engage in the struggle, but have twenty apiece of the largest,
placed in a seperate wagon, & hauled to their Rooms. Next Year our
Committee
get are entitled to a less number than the acting Committee, &
continue to draw our number as long as we are in College—So you see, it
is a position of
profit as well as
honor, to be one of the favored ones. I have been
engaged on every Committee our Class, has appointed yet, & though the
office, itself, is
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rather diminutive, still it is
an evidence of my standing with the Students. My freinds still expect me to run
for Marshall of our Class, although I have emphatically disclaimed all
intention of so doing. I flatter myself, I can carry a larger vote than any man
in our Class.
Since I removed my lodging to College, I have been honored with
almost daily visits, from
Gov
Swain
, & not for the purpose of inspection. He has a Recitation Room
on the same floor,
on which I room, & it is
his custom to come up to College an hour or two before Recitation hour, part of
this time he spends in my comfortable Rocking Chair, asking
innumerable questions about
Mississippi
and
Mississippians, & various other subjects, also he
tells me some times about his boarding with you, and where the House is– in which the family used to live—I never knew until he told me where it
was. It was, he says, built by one of the former Professors of the Institution.
Is it so?
I never take any interest in
Society duties, further than the mere listining to debates,
& c. Want of Confidence in myself, is the main reason. I have been elected
Secretary of Society the second one of our Class. I am in office, while
2
the new members join, & so
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there is more
labor, in my turn than any other, & consequently, more
honor.
3
You told me to get a
Websters
Dictionary. I have been hesitating a long time, whether to get
Websters
or
Worcesters
. The last is a new one,
and, is Competing for the place formerly occupied by
Websters.
4
Please find out which is the best & let me know
With reference to my grade of scholarship, I expect to raise one
grade on Latin &
Bible—&
take first on French, our new study. The others will remain
about the same. Compositions will be required of us
once in three weeks, during the Soph. I cant tell what grade I'll take on that
but will do what I can.
The
"Great Eastern" steamship came to
Norfolk on
last Friday, a number of the Boys ran off, & went down to see her I wanted
to go very much indeed, but Could
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not. I am looking forward
to Next Session with great
anticipation
6
Endnotes:
2.
Thomson
wrote
while on top of
several unrecovered characters.
3.
Thomson
was elected secretary on August 3, 1860, and took
office on August 24, during which time new students were inducted into
the
Society. His term as secretary ended on September 22, 1860 (
S-12:354,
UA).
4.
Noah
Webster,
An American Dictionary of the English
Language
(New York: S. Converse) first appeared in 1828.
Joseph E. Worcester (1784-1865) published several popular
dictionaries, including
A Universal and Critical Dictionary of the
English Language
(Boston: Hickling, Swan, and Brewer, 1848), which
appeared in a revised edition in 1860. Alternately,
Thomson
may be referring to
Worcester's A Pronouncing, Explanatory, and
Synonymous Dictionary of the English Language
(Boston: Hickling,
Swan, and Brown, 1855).
5.
Thomson
wrote
C on top of an
unrecovered character.
6.
Thomson
wrote
an on top of
gr at the beginning of
anticipation.
7. A flourish appears under
Thomson's
signature.