My dear Mr. Sully:—
I received from your truly friendly letter of the 7th. of November the long wished for intelligence that you and your family were well. I am not much astonished that in Philadelphia, remarks such as you allude to, should have been made respecting some papers on the habits of objects of Natural History, read by me to different institutions in this country, but I am grieved at it.
The greatest portion of my life has been devotedly spent in the active investigation of Nature, her beauties & her objects in granting to different individuals, classes, or species, such privileges as best suit their form, situation, or habits. This arduous task I have followed with unremitting diligence, and with a degree of industry that has caused to my family and to myself more troubles than any person in Philadelphia can be aware of. For more than 20 years I have been in the regular habit of writing down every day all the incidents of which I have been an eye-witness, on the spot, & without confiding to my memory, as many travellers have done and still do. You have read some portion of this journal, and have also been an eye-witness of many of the occurrences, and to this I now owe the gratification of possessing your esteem, but, My dear Mr. Sully, you are not the only evidence. Mr. Joseph Mason, who is now, I believe, an artist in your city, accompanied me on a hunting excursion, beginning at Cincinati, and ending in the State of Louisiana, which lasted 18 months. He drew with me; he was my daily companion, and we both rolled ourselves together on bufaloe robes at night. James Cummings, Esq., past captain, the author of a treatise on the navigation of the rivers Ohio and Mississippi, was one of the party, and he saw me write in my Journal, and read it frequently. Every member of my family has seen the whole of those Diaries and could readily assert the truth of the whole of their contents, to many of which they were party, present and acting.
The papers alluded to in your estimable letter, are merely copies from those journals; they were transcribed in Edinburgh, and the style corrected by patrons, who saw the originals, nearly worn out by time and the casual dampness, which journals like mine must often be exposed to. I read these papers to the different societies, of which I have the honor to be a member, and read them with a sensation of pleasure that nothing but a full persuasion of their truth could bestow.
Those persons in Philadelphia that have felt a desire to contradict my assertions cannot, without lowering themselves very much indeed affect to conceive that the members of the Wernerian Society would have listened to my "say so," without investigating the subject, even if they had not been well versed in the habits of the objects I treated of. Neither can they believe that all my acquaintance and particular friends would permit me to proceed in relating Tales of Wonder, which if untrue, would load me with disgrace, ruin my family, nay, prove me devoid of all honor! Could I suffer myself to be so blinded at the very moment when I am engaged in the publication of a work of unparalled magnitude, of which the greatest naturalists and best judges both in America and in Europe have given the fullest praise and firmest support, & from which my very means of pecuniary comfort are to be drawn? It would certainly be highly unfair to conceive & assert that at the time whilst I was portraying individuals, animal and vegetable, I should have rambled so wide and so far from facts in a portion of science so intimately connected with & necessary to the support of those delineations, as well as to the general standing of my reputation! Mere interest would suggest a very contrary line of conduct, and I hope I am not so devoid of common sense as to lose sight of all that can render life desirable in this world or the world hereafter.
No, my dear Mr. Sully, I have written with care what I have seen, and have felt a great desire to spread the knowledge I have obtained in the great field of Science for the benefit of the world at large, and I rest content with this motto: "Le temps découvrira la vérité." To whom then, my dear Mr. Sully, can I ascribe the birth of the animadversions expressed in the papers of Philadelphia! Is their author one [who] comes avowedly forward with a life spent in the woods, loaded with facts differing in every respect from mine, one who like me can bring forth vouchers, and who can by respectable witnesses support what he says? Or, is he one, who, writing at random and without any knowledge of his subject, merely wishes to push himself into notice by a blunt denial of my veracity, and would edify & please some of his friends, at the price of my reputation. I think, my dear Mr. Sully, the latter much more applicable, and must belong to the author of the report current in your city.
I have not read any of the Philadelphia papers since I came to England, and do not know the tone of the attacks upon me, but judging from your friendly letter, I feel assured that the pen that traced them must have been dipped in venom more noxious than that which flows from the jaws of the rattlesnake!
To you, my dear Friend, I solemly affirm that however unnatural my observations may appear, they are all facts, without a word of exaggeration. My fate in this instance differs not from that of many others, but believe me, will differ widely from that of the illustrious Bruce; those attacks will not make me die of sorrow!
With this, my dear Friend, I will close the subject, giving you meanwhile full liberty to use this letter in any manner that may best suit your feelings, and I will now pass on to other things.
My success in the mother country continues to augment apace. I have many most valuable friends and patrons, and discovered soon after my landing that Science has no particular country. The 5th. number of my work is now published, & completes my labor for 1827. During my progress I have often received letters from highly distinguished characters, expressive of the highest approbation, & I hope by regular industry to be able to go on with the performance, with credit to myself & benefit to my family.