Isaluteyouwithassurancesofgreatrespectandesteem。”AREALCHRISTIAN”
_ToCharlesThomson_
_Monticello，January9，1816_
MYDEARANDANCIENTFRIEND，——Anacquaintanceoffifty-twoyears，forIthinkoursdatesfrom1764，callsforaninterchangeofnoticenowandthen，thatweremaininexistence，themonumentsofanotherage，andexamplesofafriendshipunaffectedbythejarringelementsbywhichwehavebeensurrounded，ofrevolutionsofgovernment，ofpartyandofopinion。Iamremindedofthisdutybythereceipt，throughourfriendDr。Patterson，ofyoursynopsisofthefourEvangelists。IhadprocureditassoonasIsawitadvertised，andhadbecomefamiliarwithitsuse；butthiscopyisthemorevaluedasitcomesfromyourhand。Thisworkbearsthestampofthataccuracywhichmarkseverythingfromyou，andwillbeusefultothosewho，nottakingthingsontrust，recurforthemselvestothefountainofpuremorals。I，too，havemadeawee-littlebookfromthesamematerials，whichIcallthePhilosophyofJesus；itisaparadigmaofhisdoctrines，madebycuttingthetextsoutofthebook，andarrangingthemonthepagesofablankbook，inacertainorderoftimeorsubject。AmorebeautifulorpreciousmorselofethicsIhaveneverseen；itisadocumentinproofthat_I_ama_realChristian_，thatistosay，adiscipleofthedoctrinesofJesus，verydifferentfromthePlatonists，whocall_me_infideland_themselves_Christiansandpreachersofthegospel，whiletheydrawalltheircharacteristicdogmasfromwhatitsauthorneversaidnorsaw。Theyhavecompoundedfromtheheathenmysteriesasystembeyondthecomprehensionofman，ofwhichthegreatreformeroftheviciousethicsanddeismoftheJews，werehetoreturnonearth，wouldnotrecognizeonefeature。IfIhadtimeIwouldaddtomylittlebooktheGreek，LatinandFrenchtexts，incolumnssidebyside。AndI
wishIcouldsubjoinatranslationofGosindi’sSyntagmaofthedoctrinesofEpicurus，which，notwithstandingthecalumniesoftheStoicsandcaricaturesofCicero，isthemostrationalsystemremainingofthephilosophyoftheancients，asfrugalofviciousindulgence，andfruitfulofvirtueasthehyperbolicalextravagancesofhisrivalsects。