[Letter from Andrew D. Campbell to Elizabeth Upshur Teackle, December 25, 1815]

[Illegible] Hamilton
Christmas Day 1815

There are certain periods of one's existence,
certain words and particular days upon which
most people are led to reflect on the state of
their existence, in which they recall and review the
past reaches upon the present and anticipate the
future. This is one of them and I cannot allow
it to pass without telling you that in the review
of the early and the happy part of my life, I
dwell with particular pleasure upon my visit
to Virginia and experience the highest satisfaction
in the knowledge of possessing your friendship, altho’
time, distance, and our most opposite situations in
life makes me almost wonder at the strength
of the tie; at the deep regard and affection
which fills my heart when I recall you to
remembrance. How comes this, my dear friend,
that a dilatated being like me, having none
of these domestic ties which engage and engross
your affections, who lives a life almost solitary
in the middle of bustle of business, of restlessness,
and of dissipation, should never have a reflective
hour in which he pictures the most fascinating
scenes of happiness, without thinking of you, of
your Husband and of your daughter! I
believe if I were to investigate sufficiently deeply these

I might discover the cause, but it is almost too
dangerous for me to do so as I would find much
of it originating in a similarity of sentiment, and if
I have pursued a course different from yours, I have
been sporting with my own happiness. Away
therefore with the thought, let it be enough
for me to fill a secondary place in existence and
congratulate myself that even then I continue to
enjoy your friendship.

I wrote to you, I cannot tell how very long
ago, but quite long enough since to have been
favored with a letter from you but it is strong
in my memory that I promised to write
very soon again, and this has been left undone.
So I presume you are waiting for my
next letter and now here you have it. The day
is delightful and all the family are
enjoying it in a variety of ways and however
seldom I may take the opportunity there is
no pleasure which I enjoy more than writing
to you. He is a most ungracious Man, your
husband, Mr L.D. Teackle. He writes to me occasionally
very excellent business letters, and he very seldom
does you the honor of mentioning your name.
I pray you therefore to scold him heartily
upon this subject and desire him in future

never to dispatch an epistle without even [a]
sentence from you, however brief it may be.
I can find excuses for your silence, but I have
none for his inattention. Pray do you write to
me immediately and tell me if he is serious
in his intention of paying this little island a
visit in summer, and if so if it is possible for
him to be so barbarous as to come without
bringing yourself and the little Eliza. I
consider it impossible that he could almost even
think of such a state, or that you in the
plentitude of your authority should permit
any such thought. I am officially authorized
by my Sisters to request your making a point
of accompanying him and making their house
your home during your residence in this
country. It is probable they may be where
I now write from but perhaps circumstances
may induce a change, but wherever they are
you will find the kindest and most hearty
welcome. If business requires Littleton being
very much in London or any of the principal
cities, it does not follow that you must
also be necessarily confined there. You must
move about and see the country, trace
personally these scenes where so much
interest has been given by fiction and by reality.