PBA Galleries

Autograph Letter, signed. 3 pp. + integral stampless address leaf.

To Colonel Samuel Osgood, hand-carried to New York, asking for a copy of his just-published book (based, in part, on their correspondence), and discussing the 17th and 18th century theological writings of John Locke, Philip van Limborch, Isaac Watts and Simon Escopius. Rev. Amzi Armstrong (1795-1827) was a Presbyterian Minister and schoolmaster in New Jersey who is remembered for his philosophical arguments with the recipient of this letter: The first Postmaster General of the United States after the Revolution, Samuel Osgood (1748-1813), who studied Theology at Harvard before leading a company of Minutemen against the British at Lexington and Concord, serving in the Continental Congress, then being appointed by President Washington to head the Post Office Department under the new Constitution. After holding other government positions under his friends Washington, Adams and Jefferson, Osgood devoted the last years of his life to studying and writing about religious philosophy. Just before he received this letter, Osgood published a book of essays, one being addressed to Rev. Amzi Armstrong, expounding on their earlier correspondence about Calvinist vs. Arminian philosophies of Free Will. This letter is Armstrong’s response, asking Osgood for a copy of the book – and suggesting what he thought would be his disagreement with its arguments.