Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were political enemies, and often bitter ones at times. After Jefferson left the presidency in early 1809, he and Adams began a correspondence that, while it didn’t heal all the old political wounds, it did create a mutual respect. But as Marianne Holdzkom at the Conversation points out, they still disagreed about the American Revolution’s meaning even as they lay dying. And they both died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, which is usually connected to Jefferson, but which Adams played a hidden hand in
Charles Dickens was famous for his “night walks,” in which he roamed the streets of London when he couldn’t sleep. He discovered that his own restlessness was mirrored in the restlessness of London, and he came upon scenes and people which inspired some of his stories. In 1860, in his magazine All the Year Round, he published an account of his might walks. It was later included in his collection The Uncommercial Traveler.
Speaking of Dickens, Joel Miller at Miller’s Book Review – not the biggest fan of Dickens – gave another of the man’s works a go. He read A Tale of Two Cities, and he discovered a hidden architecture within the story.
More Good Reads
America 250
Why Haldimand and Washington Fought Different Intelligence Wars – Ryan Wagner at Journal of the American Revolution.
The Preamble Before the Declaration – Jonathan Horn at The Free Press.
The People’s Declaration – Michael Auslin at The Patowmack Packet.
Captain James Wood, Diplomat – Eric Sterner at Journal of the American Revolution.
Benjamin Franklin and the Franco-American Alliance – Keli Holt at Just Enough History.
Writing and Literature
To vex the world: Jonathan Swift’s Frustrated Humor – Henry Oliver at The Common Reader.
American Stuff
Battle of Antietam: Clash in the Cornfield – Michael Haskew at Warfare History Network.
News Media
A Miscarriage of Journalism at The New York Times – Roy Altman at The Free Press.
Faith
A Veil Before the Eyes of the Enemy: On Tolkien, Foolishness, and the Ordinary Means of Grace – Caleb Wait at Modern Reformation.
Life and Culture
Some Conservative Thoughts on the Left of Today – Bradley Birzer at The Imaginative Conservative.
British Stuff
Museums in England largely oppose proposal to charge admission for foreign tourists – Gareth Harris at The Art Newspaper.
Poetry
“Ode to the Confederate Dead,” poem by Allen Tate – Joseph Bottum at Poems Ancient and Modern.
There Is a Fountain – The Village Chapel Worship
Painting: Reading Girl, oil on canvas by Franz Eybl (1806-1880).
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