Friday, March 1st, 1799.

My Dearest, Theodosia,

                                                 When Father banned us from talking, I was a child, an innocent child who thought it was the end of the world, but it was not. There are plenty of other things in the world to care more about then how Father treated us when we were children. A childish grudge if you will. Yes, the publication of the pamphlet was far worse, it was beyond anything I have ever seen before, but it is different. Mother can forgive him for what he has done and I believe that is the right way to handle it.

I have looked up my father since the day I was older enough to understand what his job was and what it meant. He has made a horrible mistake and I can acknowledge that, but he is one of the few men I can look up to for advice in my career endeavours What he has done in publishing this pamphlet angered me beyond belief, he ruined our families lives, but I can look past that because of who he his. He is my father, Theo, and I am not going to turn my back on him because of a choice he made

I am more than certain that had your father done something of a similar nature, you would have forgiven him, much like I am trying to do.

Love Always,

Philip Hamilton.

~~~

My Dearest, Philip,

                                        Perhaps I do not fully understand the situation, Philip, and maybe I never will. It is just that I cannot understand how someone can forgive another for the actions they have taken, particularly if it has a direct impact on myself. It is just not something I can myself doing if I were to be placed in a similar situation. Maybe we just view this in a different light.

You have your mother to lean on during this, were my father to publish something similar, I will have no one to lean on. No one to show me the right way to deal with it and help me through the troubled time that had arisen. Perhaps that is where we differ, Philip. You learnt to forgive your father because of your mother, because of how she handled it, that influence affects how you react to things. You have an influence, I do not.

I hope my comment has not done anything to offend you for that was not my original intention.

Love Always,

Theodosia Burr.

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Notes;

The first thing we noticed that we find to be interesting, is the style the letters are written. We noted several letters back that they use a specifically placed comma in the address as well as their ending comment of 'Love Always'. As we know, Burr was engaged to Joseph Alston at this time and we know that they get married in the near future. The fact that they have continued this tradition suggests that neither of them wants to let go of the childish crush they shared. Either that or they have not considered the implications this may have.

Secondly, we know that Hamilton did not react negatively to the publication of the Reynolds Pamphlet and managed to look past it. Whether this was because of Eliza, we don't know, however, Burr is certainly suggesting this to be the case.