in almost every act of life. New views, new laws, new _friends_, have
each their charm. Truly great must be the soul, and firm almost beyond
the weakness of humanity, that can withstand the smiles of fortune.
Success, promotion, the caresses of the great, and the flatteries of
the low, are sometimes fatal to the noblest minds. The volatile become
an easy prey. The fickle heart, tiptoe with joy, as from an eminence,
views with contempt its former joys, connexions, and pursuits. A new
taste contracted, seeks companions suited to itself. But pleasures
easiest tasted, though perhaps at first of higher glee, are soonest
past, and, the more they are relied upon, leave the severer sting
behind. One cloudy day despoils the glow-worm of all its glitter.

Should fortune ever frown upon you, Matt.; should those you now call
friends forsake you; should the clouds gather force on every side, and
threaten to burst upon you, think then upon the man who never betrayed
you; rely on the sincerity you never found to fail; and if my heart,
my life, or my fortune can assist you, it is yours.

I go to-morrow to Elizabethtown, where I shall see the best of
women--your wife. Whatever letters or commands she may have for you, I
shall be careful to forward by the safest hands.

Your friend,

AARON BURR.



In the beginning of July, 1776, Major Burr was appointed aid-de-camp
to General Putnam. At this time the headquarters of the general were