To -----.

[October, 1864.]

I was pleased to receive your letter yesterday, putting in definite form the points which it is necessary to clear up, in order to come to a common understanding. Our conversation at the party left the matter in a very unsatisfactory condition; for I regard a misunderstanding as the most annoying, if not the most pernicious, form of error. I am conscious now of having attended too exclusively to what I should have regarded as inaccuracies of language and the misapplication of terms, so that I failed to comprehend the points of view from which they probably arose. But mathematicians are the most exacting of purists, since, having none but perfectly definite ideas, and for the most part a perfectly adequate nomenclature, they are intolerant of, and, as one may confess, also insensible to any thought not set forth in exact form. It behooved me, therefore, instead of understanding your language in a strict mathematical sense, and thus misunderstanding you, to endeavor to find your true meaning, and to put it in what I conceived to be a better form.

In 1864, Chauncey was led into an important correspondence with Mr. Francis E. Abbot, then a Unitarian clergyman at Dover, N. H., now editor of “The Index” newspaper at Boston. The occasion of it was an article by Mr. Abbot in the

“North American Review” for July, 1864, on “The Philosophy of Space and Time.” With the metaphysical ability shown in this article, Chauncey had been much impressed. The half dozen letters, running through several years, which make up his share of this correspondence, furnish a good illustration of his cordial appreciation of the labors of a younger man, and of the candid temper and largeness of mind with which he could conduct a discussion. Some who find his published essays difficult to read will follow him here with comparative ease. These letters, also, throw light on his opinions upon certain important subjects not much discussed by him.