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Preferred Citation

John Vance Weylie Letter to David Stuart, Special Collections Research Center, William & Mary Libraries

Scope and Contents

Letter written by John Vance Wyelie from Jamestown to David Stuart in Alexandria on Nov. 30, 1798. Wyelie is known to have attended William & Mary from 1797-1798. The letter starts by Wyelie's acknowledging Stuart's loss of a parent and his words of comfort and understanding. He mentions trying to learn Spanish but that he could not bring his books to Jamestown for want of space in the carriage from Hanover, though he hopes his books came come at Christmas. Weylie discusses his impressions after reading Hume's History of England and how he's going to start reading David Hartley's Observations on Man , which the "Bishop has recommended to me," likely referring to William & Mary President Bishop James Madison. He discusses how his continued illness "tertian ague" has prevented him from reading as much as he would like and goes on to describe various treatments, including the statement, "I have swallowed vomits, purges, bark and bitters to no purpose." Lastly, he writes about the school and his job tutoring for Captain Ambler. He states, "You observe that few parents will send their Sons to William and Mary, and your conjecture seems to be verified; for this course the College is thinner of Students by half than I ever knew it to be."

Related Material

University Archives Faculty-Alumni File Collection

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• College of William and Mary--Alumni and alumnae
• College of William and Mary--History--18th century
• College of William and Mary--Students
• Jamestown (Va.)--History

General

This item was removed from the Faculty-Alumni File Collection in June 2016.