This letter is a response to Bringhurst who had informed Jefferson of the death of John Dickinson. Jefferson's letter is an eloquent tribute and expression of condolence on the loss of Dickinson: “a more estimable man, or truer patriot, could not have left us.” Jefferson said Dickinson was “among the first of the advocates for the rights of his country when assailed by Great Britain” and “one of the great worthies of the revolution.” Jefferson described himself in relation to Dickinson as a “junior companion of his labors in the early part of our revolution” and he noted “it is a great comfort of his labors in the early part of our revolution” and “it is a great comfort to me to have retained his friendship to the last moment of his life.” (Facsimile of the original letter from the Shipley–Bringhurst–Hargraves family papers, University of Delaware Library).
This copy is inscribed by the author to “Delaware’s Historian, John Munroe.”
