Excerpt from Personal Memories Social, Political, and Literary, Sketches of Many Noted People 1803-1843 I had no such vanity as would have induced the publication of this book. It was urged upon me by others. Several years ago a number of gentlemen in Cincinnati sent me a written request to publish my reminiscences. After that my children made the same request. Not liking personal publicity, I paid, at first, little attention to the subject. Subsequently I began writing my memories in a series of letters to my children. In this form they had more of personality and of personal address than perhaps a printed book should have, but the reader will no doubt make allowance for that. One reason for my publishing these personal reminiscences is, that I remembered I was always interested, and I think others have been also, in this kind of narrative. Human nature is always interested in itself, and each individual looks with curiosity on the progress of others in the journey of life. This common interest in each other is my best reason for this publication, a small contribution to the history of human nature. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

"When Harry Met Sally" is only the most iconic of popular American movies, books, and articles that pose the question of whether friendships between men and women are possible. In Founding Friendships, Cassandra A. Good shows that this question was embedded in and debated as far back as the birth of the American nation. Indeed, many of the nation's founding fathers had female friends but popular rhetoric held that these relationships were fraught with social danger, if not impossible. Elite men and women formed loving, politically significant friendships in the early national period that were crucial to the individuals' lives as well as the formation of a new national political system, as Cassandra Good illuminates. Abigail Adams called her friend Thomas Jefferson "one of the choice ones on earth," while George Washington signed a letter to his friend Elizabeth Powel with the words "I am always Yours." Their emotionally rich language is often mistaken for romance, but by analyzing period letters, diaries, novels, and etiquette books, Good reveals that friendships between men and women were quite common. At a time when personal relationships were deeply political, these bonds offered both parties affection and practical assistance as well as exemplified republican values of choice, freedom, equality, and virtue. In so doing, these friendships embodied the core values of the new nation and represented a transitional moment in gender and culture. Northern and Southern, famous and lesser known, the men and women examined in Founding Friendships offer a fresh look at how the founding generation defined and experienced friendship, love, gender, and power.