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• I*IITICS Thos. E. Watson, i
I Os # '.*! Author of *
X jui .fbA “ “The Story of France,” ♦
Thomas Jefferson | ’*r" |
* Copy rigft t, 1903, by Thomas E, tVatson. •
• Being the First Part ojf a History of the United States \ i mu Rights Reserved y
• a.'.aAeJ.*.'.*/***'..’„» •.<•►?«a-*. aa,.*< •_«*.»’• »•.a*•*«a•?«aa•!«aa•?«*
PREFACE.
In the preparation of “The Life and
Times of Jefferson,” the author has used
every known source of information. The
leading histories, the biographies, the
memoirs, volumes of correspondence, etc.,
he has consulted them all. so far as he is
aware of their existence.
Before the completion of the work, the
author visited the community in which
Mr. Jefferson livhd and died
lie enjoyed the privilege of full and free
conversations with Dr. Wilson Carey
Nicholas Randolph, the great-grandson of
Thomas Jefferson, who is familiar with all
the family traditions, and who is himself
a gentleman of rare mental gifts.
Another valuable source of information
was the venerable Jesse Maury-, now 93
years of age, but who yet retains posses
sion of his mental and physical vigor.
This most estimable citizen was a mem
ber of the volunteer escort which rode
w-ith Lafayette on his list visit to Monti
cello. lie is perhaps the only man now
living who can claim a personal and vivid
recollection of both Lafayette and .!■ fft-r
eon.
The author, of course, made his pil
grimage to Monticello, where he was
courteously shown several of th. rooms
of the mansion by 1.. N. bevy, brother of
the proprietor.
The house yet shows many signs of the
decay into which it fell during the
troubled period of the civil war ami the
years which followed.
Mount Vernon, th*- 1: mi * of \\ ashb-.gton.
is not used by strangers to his blood as a
private resident *■ The Hermitage, the
home of Andrew Jackson. Is not used as
a private residence.
And Monticello, the home of J. ff.-rson.
seems sadly desecrated when it is i:-*-'l for
private purposes.
The same spirit of veneration for the
mighty dead which consecrates Mount
Vernon and the Hermitage should rescue
Monticello.
CHAPTER T.
In the year 1691, buying and selling In
Virginia had to be don- in markets
established by the legislature. A further
set of the burgesses created ports of en
try and clearing; and all goods and prod
u ts brought into the < • louy. or sent out.
were liable to forfeiture if they did not
pass through these ports
I nder this act for ports of 1691 a fifty
acre Held belonging to Benjamin Read
was laid off into eight*.--live lots, and this
was the beginning o: hist tie Yorktown.
A list of the original lot buyers shows
the names of Gov nor I-’r.an* is Ni* olson.
Nathaniel Bacon, r.. Dud
Thomas Jefferson
The father of thl- f*rt found* r of
Yorktown had <*t.- ■■ 1 f* in near Mount I
Snowden, in Wat. - ■-■: . *1 r*-pr*’.-* :it*-*l
Flower de Hundred th first 1* gisiatlve
assembly ot white num w .* h < .er con
vened on the Amei itii
Jamestown as—mb] of 161 '.
Captain Thomas Jefferson of Osborne
on the James, was tl:*- grands >:i of .lol.n
Jefferson, the burg.-.s of 161’.*; and a
voting-r son of this Contain Jessi r-* >n was
Pet ei
Monticello
in thos - days lauds rind Slav- wre en
tailed upon the oldest ion; and nothing
loss than tin act of the legislature could
force the property upon the market.
reter Jefferson, being a younger son.
the family home descended to the old -r
brother, who remain'd at Osborne s, while
Peter himself wont forth int*» the world to
win his own way to fortun--
To this fact a'.-me sons b-- d : ■ the
impression that T'*t*'-r .1- " a ■ ■“ ’’
man of inferior so ln! position. Biogra
phers. having no ey* f r the li*- I of
the family at Osborn*'s, follow Peter as
he surveys land, locates state grants,
fights Indians and m •■..* a new horn*- **n
the western border, ai d tli-y g-t the Idea
that the Jeffersons w not people of
the first claes.
There is n > evid -n • ■ wl: tev- r to - ip
port the ass- rti n
Peter Jefferson !.*: d pr:,-ii.- H” the
same ed.icat i- m a- G. \\ a »n
adopted the business of land surge?, ing
as Washington did; and married, like
Washington, lad; . ' ■ high
rank.
Whil J he got no immet > fortm by
her. as Was ■:■ i the Wi '■
.- ■ ■
lt i
<-o.ib 1 expect nothing ■ •■ ■
young girl lie loved.
And aft*r all. Jan - ;-l. brought
to her spouse the rich- r dowry, for she
bore him children.
The suggestion so often made that
IV.-I shingl -. : J -ft’ ’ ■ r
recognition by marrlay - ; - an id;.- on*-.
They were cadets or their Im but
in respectability their position was as
good as any body h*- -a
Wealth was not the tra<i- ir .i k <*f a
gentleman in Coion: -.1 \ io a id n -a
of wh.it Ims iw n wi tten ab it : a- r ial
gulf which Wparsi-. d th- ■■ In c
owners from the “t ■ . ■ lords is -iie.er
nonsense. Sturdy yeomen of the m-.gh
borho-od would enter the stately homey of
. Nel: ons, Pag< s. Byrd or Cartel
easy terms of eqaalit-. ; and they were
not in the slightest <i -gn-e abc-simd
the marble mantelpieces, the grand stair
wavs or th* brav disp..o, ~f pg on
the sideboards'.
There is an instance on record which
represents a Frenchman of the nobility
coming to a Virginia inn and asking to
have his meals served In his room. The
landlord, w ho was as much of a gentle
man a.s any Bolling. Biair oi Vary, told
tho foreign aristocrat that he must eat
at the common table whv-re everybody
else ate, or drive on. The ha ighty duke
drove on.
Such roaring blades as Patrick Henry,
w-hosa father was one of the small land
owners was just aw welcome at the man
eion of a Colonel Nathan Dandridge to
frolic awny the Christmas-tiddllng,
dancing, telling funny stories—as the son
~f the proudest nabob.
Tlw line ot admitted equality was drawn
at manual labor where, of course, it
never ought to be drawn. But tills false
standard wa.s not so entirely due to ne
gro slavery, as many writers claim.
There was no slave system in Europe,
and yet In England, France and Ger
many the citizen whose condition com
pelled him to earn his daily bread in
the sweat of his face was held to be
social inferior of the man who ate the
brcml earned in the sweat of somebody
else's face.
A degrading standard? Os course, it
but it did not originate in the
southern colonies, and Its origin had no
connection with negro slav<rt.
in our mother county of Great Britain,
~ hoS e boast It was that no slave could
creathe her air ami remain a slave, a
» of -the highest house m the land,
Pembroke Pen-y. 1- • ” ’‘.ward.
= have lost caste had he nlfkned
living as God had said he should.
4
This false principle upon whi.ih l-.uro
,pean society was organized, came over
here with our ancestors; was. in faiet, one
strong motive for the introduction of
negro slavery, and to a. very consider
able extent, is the unwritten social law at
this day.
Rail splitters, tenants of log cabins,
shoemakers, canal boat drivers, map ped
dlers. woodcutters, fur traders gnd ujow
boys are strong on the hustings, but 11
society ever forgives them at all It is be
cause the statute, of limitations has made
the crime of manual labor stale, and
there is a certainty that the offense will
not be repeated.
Peter Jefferson lived on the very bor
ders pf civilization. He had gone west
and patented IJK>O acres of land in the
wilderness on the Rivanna aj a. time
when the Indian trails were still warm
in the woods ami when the adjoining
county was thronged with savages. In
addition to his 1,000 acres of land, he
secured 4*X> acres from the adjoining tract
of his friend, William Randolph-a gift
w’hieh was ivially disguised as a sale,
whose considerate n wa - ‘‘Henry \\* ath
ersbourne's biggest bowl of arrack
punch.” I pan this smaller tra*-t he built
it strong, comfortable dwelling which had
four ro.uns on the lirst tloor ami several
more in the attic.
Having cleared away parts of th*’ for
est and turned wilderness into plowed
fields, ii*/ went back to the old settb-ments
for Ijj.s bride.
This was Jam- Randolph, the daughter
of Isham Randolph, of Dung'-ness, who
was adjutant general of Virginia.
There were no prouder people in Vir
ginia than these Randolphs, ami they
were educated, refined and hospitable.
They owned innumeraiile acres of land,
line ho*:s»-.s. hordes ol Slav* s and traced
tb'-lr lineage back to the earls of Murray
in Scotland.
Dungeness was one of the stateliest
homes on the James; and it is said
that a hundred slaves served in and about
the mansion
From tills grand home Peter Jefferson
marfl’-d Jane Randolph, in 1738, and took
her to his wilderness cottage, which he
named Shadwell, in honor of the London
parish in which she was born
Peter Jefferson, u man of powerful phy
sique and strong mind, seems to speedily
have become the r*pres**ntativo man of
his part of the slate. He wa.s a Justice
at the time when the jurisdiction of the
office enabled the court to practically con
trol many of the civil affairs of the coun
ty He was a colonel at the time when
the position made him the military chief
of ills count
The colojpial authorities appointed him
one of the commissiom-i s to run the
b oundary line between Virginia ami Noria
I’aroiiiia, and he assisted In th* making
of the second map of Hie lolony-the lirst
having be, n th-.i; made by John Smith,
ih also represented bis county in the
Irmse of burgesses.
A rugged, masterful tigur*-. a i-har.-i •*?•
whose strepgth and integrity no one
doubted. Peler JeXf-rsun was trust' d be
the white, s ami follow*-,.! wh n wa* was
to be waged .-'.gainst th” Indians, and the
mi men -sought his advice amt pro
tection wimn they needed leniem--, ur jus
tice from the wlytes.
'Jo administer a dead man's large es
tate honestly and well is a t* .it ot virtue
ami skill whose sev* rity numbers many a
victim. Peter Jefferson was trii-d by even
tile lire of this ordeal and camo forth
pure gold. He broke up his own home,
moved his family to Tu-k.-thoe, and for
seven years maniignl the estate of Colo
nel William Randolph, his rally friend
and benefactor, who had named him ex
ecutor of his property ami guardian of
liis son. Forth- -y laborious services Mr.
Jefferson mad** no charge beyo;id lhe sup
port of himself ami family yyhiie execut
ing the trust.
Not. much giv. n to books was this hardy
pioneer, lor ids education had been slight,
and ]iis life of toil and struggle had left
him few opport uni ties fur study; but be
carrie 1 .several standard works with him
into the wilderness and of big Shakes
peare, A*ldjson. Pope and Swift, he was
an appr<-cia,Nve reader. 'Doddridge's
Sermons” was a book which he rated as
more precious than gold; the best legu
cj 1 can leave my children,” for Jlr.
Jefler.'iim was a. stanch Churcli of Eng
land man, served in the vestiy and had
his children baptized in the faith.
'J Ids earnest, honest, active, progressive
man was cut off in his prime -dying of
sudden illness August 17, 1757, in his
ial iicuias Jefferson of whose life aiul
tim.-s we write was the third child at
S’.i’hr-l: and was born April ;, 171::, O.
lie was the lirst sou and his proud
tether began to train him from infancy
fur a car er of usefulness. The boy* wa.s
taught at home as well as ar school, was
made tu take r* gular pliysicul exercise in
Hie oi>”u lie learned to manage a
horse under the saddle, a boat on the
river, lie was encouraged to hunt with
dog and gun, to dunce at country balls
ami tu enter into the plays and gain* s of
Hie young.
Peter Jefferson nut only had implicit
faith in Doddridge's sermons, but lie had
a profound appreciation of the value of a
thorough education. Ho wanted ids boy
la tight Latin, Greek and French, as well
as English, and be showed him how to
keep accounts, instructed him in the
c ear, legible, careful penmanship whicn
b*-time famous, selected lhe books which
he should read.
Jiau he been specially set apart and
consecrated to a great lifework the Jad
could nut have been more systematically
developed. IJe heard his father read from
tlie poems of Pope, the "Spectator” of Ad
dison .”.nd the dramas of Shakespeare. To.-
had the benefit of parental guidance in
getting his lessons by the tireside at
night. He listened to his father's sound
advice; the wise, strung man deeply ex
perienced in actual life gave form and
direction to the ideas of tire boy.
1 he lad was 11 years old w hen George
Washington, away off in the woods of
the Ohio, tired the shot which convulsed
the world and cost the lives of a million
men. He was 12 years old when the
French and Indians annihilated Brad
dock and came down upon the Virginia
frontier with torch and tomahawk, at
which time his father, as colonel of the
militia, led It against tlie red men in Au
gusta, the adjoining county.
’1 he Indians exercised a fascination
over Thomas Jefferson as a. lad, and lie
ever remained a friend to that hardly
used rc.ce. He heard their chiefs at his
father’s hearth and realized that theie
was a profound pathos in their fate. He
heard the Cherokee chief. Ontassite, a.s
he stood in the glory of the full moon,
make his farewell speech to his tribes
men on the night before he sailed for
England. This dramatic scene—the bril-
THE WEEKLY CONSTITUTION : ATLANTA, GA., MONDAY, JUNE 29, 1903.
Hunt moonlight, the silent audience of
savages, yie tall form of tlie chief, the
h artmoving tones ot ills voice—always
remained in Mr. Jefferson's memory as
perfect as a picture.
The savage whom Mr. Jefferson call -l
Ontassite is. In other books, named Oeo
nostata. When he reached London he re
ceived marked attentions from King
George 11 and Queen Caroline.
The king shook hands with him and
drank Hollands with him at the royal
table In the palace of St. James. The
ships, the troops, the arsenals, the great
London crowds, were all shown to him in
order that his mind might be deeply im
pressed with the power of the Engli.i'a
people. Queen Caroline in’ioduced the
chief to the ladies of hi r couri, drov*- him
about tlie palace grounds ami completely
captivated the handsome, manly Oconos
tuia Be returned home a warm friend
of the English, and so remained through
out his life.
It was lie* who leased to the whites,
under S* -. i*-r and Robertson, the lands of
tin- Watanmi. lhe s**ttl*ment which was
the beginning of Tennessee. But when
he realized that this was only a begin
ning. and that the demands of th- set
tlers had no limits, lie opposed further
cessions with all his eloquence- vainly.
Tine to liis British friend:-, the Chero
kee king opposed th-- Americans in the
i evolutionary war, and on* di:-:isti*r after
anoilier befell him. He was no match
for such mon as Sevier, Robertson, Sh<> : -
by, Campbi'il ami Lewis. Finally the
Cherokees, weary of continual losses and
defeats, made a scapegoat of their chief.
Ocomi-f-ita was deposed and anoth'r king
put in his place
Had Thomas Jefferson during bis later
years wandered into tlm Cherokee coun
try, he might have seen again the tall
Indian whose oratory had charmed him
that moonlight evening In Virginia so
many years before. But it was no longer
Oeonostata, the proml, strong, the mag
netic; it was a poor old beggar Indian,
fallen upon evil days, with none so poor
as to do him reverence instead of a tor
rent of eloquence, he would have heard
from those I*l s. now, a plea for u meas
ure of meal or a drink of w hisky—fur the
hero of Jefferson’s boyish recollect ion,
the courted guest of a British king and
queen, had become a broken, besotted,
despised and homeless vagabond.
At Hie time of his father's death Thom
as Jefferson was 14 years old, ami had
been attending school since the age of
live. His father left dying instruclions
for the thorough educatlc y of the boy,
cautioning Mrs. Jefferson especially n t
to penult him to neglect bodily *-x*-re.is *.
"A thorough classical education.” on
th** one hand, and "the exorcise requisite
tor tiie body's development on the other;
such wms ine good o'd way ami simple
plan, in pur;--nance of which the lad al
ready knew Latin, Greek and French;
already know how to row a boat, master
a. horse, us-* a gun and li *l.i bis own in
Hi'ii'-i.lc gam.-s .11. : .•pur’.:.
Peter Jefferson cherish- I Hie belief
that those alone who w- r*- strong in body
could be strong and free iJi mind.
This dogma is i a fe and sound, yet has
its exceptions, A Gladstone must have
his formula and *-annot live without it;
his meat must hive j.:st thirty-two
grinds between liis teeth before it is
swallowi-d; liis ax must chip its tree in
the park every day or so, and hi* must
have his jog-trot on foot every afternoon,
rryhow in tile world.
A D'lsraeli will live by the opposite
rule, will take mj thirty two chews on
his meat, will chip no tree, will endure
no daily jog-trot; and yet in contests of
the mind, in mental wrestle, will n-arly
always surpass Gladstone, keeping the
lieeis of that good formalist In the air
to an extent that shakes one's faith in
formula.
President 7{.*osev ’lt would probably
think that the w'orld was coming to an
end if he were compelled for forego his
strenuous physical r-xer.-ise, liis walks,
rides, hunts and fencing bouts. Yet
there Is Air. i 'hamberlaln on the other
side of the water, who never walks for
exercise, n*v*r mounts a horse, never
hunts, never touches a foil, and lie ap
pears t* turn off quite as much work, ap
pears to swing Hie universe his way
just about, as often as Mr. Roosevelt.
Ail of whl* h illustrates the truth that no
on • formula will lit in every- case.
We shall see stalwart Thomas Jeffer
sen faking his exercise and profiting by
it; we shall see small James .Madison
neglecting his horse, gun, rowboat and
jog-trot; yet in the long, long run of life
we shall see prim little James putting
tmt his one talent to just as good inter
est as stalw.-irt Thomas gets on liis five;
and we shall see Mr. Madison convers
ing at .Montpelier ever so cheerily with
11; rri.-t Martineau, allowing the bright st,
broadest comprehension of all current
events ami issues, at the age -of 84, when
Mr. Jefferson is already dead at the age
□ f 83. utterly worn out.
Nevertheless, the strong mind in the
strong body must be better than the
strong mind in the weak body; and Peter
Jefferson's dying admonitions were on the
light line.
In Virginia tlie c lergy of tlie established
churcli were paid in tobacco; and the. net
pro- * eds in cash were not too burdensome
to Hu- purs*. To eke out their incomes,
many of these ministers of the gospel
opened schools al. their parsonages, the
pupils often being taken into their homes
as boarders during the terms.
It was on this plan that Thomas Jeffer
son was given nearly six years of bls
schooling, about four years at the parson
age ot the Rev. William Douglass and
two years at that of Rev. James Maury.
AL the former place he wa.s charged not
quite eighty dollars per year for board
and tuition; at the latter, nut quite one
hundred dollars.
On January 14. 1760, youtig Jefferson
wrote to his guardian, John Harvey, ex
pressing the wish to leave the Maury
school, and to enter college. Permission
was given, and, mounting liis tine saddle
hor e, the sanguine, ambitious boy rode
away from Shadwell to Williamsburg to
enter William and Alary, the oldest col
lege in America.
From many different books we gather
many different impressions of the \ ir
ginia of this period; and its capital. Wil
liamsburg, appears now as a center of
fashion blazing frith splendor, and Hu n as
a meager assortment of cheap hotis'i-s
dropped at Irregular intervals along
streets of mud which bad no sewers ami
no sidewalks.
Virginia, like the other colonies, was in
its formative state, and the truth, no
doubt, is that it presented every social
contrast. There were certainly some grand
homes in the tide-water section; and
there were many relined, cultured people.
The Virginian of the best type had no
superior anywhere Ho belonged to that
order of natural nobility which depends
on no touch of royal sword, owes nothing
to ribbons, stars and garters. In this
highest order of knighthood it was ac
counted a disgrace to be cowardly, mean
or false; honor outweighed gold; duty was
a higher word than success; life less dear
than country, it. cultivated a chivalrous
regard for pure womanhood; a pride
which preferred death to a slain. To
estimate man or wuninn by the standard
of wealth, or th*) mere standard of official
position, was something qf which Hie Vir
ginian never dreamed "
He loved his king li was his education;
loved lhe chur* li it was .bis inherited
creed; loved the aristocratic organization
of the province it was his environment,
he had known n . other: but above ail
things lu- h -Id his .-if-r* *pect, liis inde
pendence, his ind-. i.lir-ility; and upon his
reserved rights a- a man. neither king,
nor lord, m-r priest nor fellow-aristocrat
might trench, fur i: was sa'-r**d. To pro
tect himself there ■ would light anybody,
any time, and tn til-- death.
But. to those who met him on his own
terms of high I**’ .ling Hur*' nev*-r was
a man who w is kin e r, tru* r or knightlier
; n Hi** b*-st sense of w*>;d than was the
Virginian of Hu* <*al s*-houl.
Nor was , ducat: e- in Virginia, so much
neglected as most ,mH>i*rs contend. There
were no free - -In-’ it is true. J’arenta!
r e*-poi,: I bilit i* ■« a- ■ not unloaded on
teachers. Little b.i , ,-n .l girls scarcely
knee high did n*. tagg.-r through the
streets under a bu. l’-n of school books.
Hut if the purpi of any system of so
ciety and *ili I" io produce men.
there was virtue th*- colonial system
somewh* ' -. SH .r’r*:. better mi n no sys
tem has eve;- ~*:■*>*l -1* *l. The private tutor,
th** paisona >:*■ ten* ■ *-. th** private school,
William and Mar;. fireside instruc-
tions, h ime ti-**:.;. ; . asso'dation with
high-niiml'-d op ■. Hr- reading ol' a few
st,-in<’:>rd books - ompaiiied with the
maul’, si-iort. of fox iiunting.. boat rowing.
! or:-eb.-i k ridinv, I,riling with gun and
dog. dancing :>i ■ .: try parties this was
the system which : :rned the men who in
the day of trial v,-. ■ • able to do all that
wa* p**i-*’«-:i ry ' r tiu-ir -oanlty. both in
the council room and on tlie field of
battle.
Not greater or p-::*-r up'-n were those
who trod Hu* tl :• at in. Lady Rich
mond’s ball on H ■ e Waterloo than
those Virginians w'. d.'inc* d In the Apollo
room of the Wil 1 - -rsburg tavern; men
who wi-*-.- to sou: 1 th*- tocsin of revo
lution. ehalh-nge *';-*"*at. Britain to the
st f -rn1::-- * -s of i: --.v i 1 rd, and 1 ■.- **l thir
teen little *-oloni '- : > th*- arduous road to
nationality and erat’lre.
Out. of the coli-"... a.-iio' of old William
ami Mary went f.-- ,• into Hi*' man; fields
of hunitui endi-av. . .-;■* n : ; loftily worthy
as ever made goo ! - res-i*!*'-”.ts. good gov
ernors, good sup; :■ ■ c*.-:t Judges, good
S'-n.itors, good '!■ -r-- ; *■' nriai**:*, l * 1
workers of bo’iii- 'for'a* for rite wel
fare of the race. Net Qx*'oit.l, not Har
■. a' can show a. j tl of honor.
li i, a- 111.11 . ’ ■■ *■" of
whites in Virginia, :*s :'H othi r colonies,
who Wei** poor, si*: r- ■ ‘ermrant. bnd
more or less ”i--ru ’i” v.**re* the
men whose rear ion II *- •- fight and
carouse, to bite off *:u - ami n.*s*s. to
gouge out eyes (’o’miial V-, -. iain had no
more eliminated th* b.maa brut-) than
tw'-nti th *. e-rit i ■;N- .v I'ork and Boston
have done.
It was fortuiia I** for i somas Jefferson
that tl'.e plastic period *.f his young man
hood was spent amid h environment.
; h >m hii textbook ■ . . ■ ; - ■
fessors he learned a great deal, but
what inflm need his *. :> : jons chiefly was
the contact with th” -a of Hie outer
world whom he met. n social litter-
, ■ . i
with syslcm but he . : i: > reeluse, no
bookworm. The I.**.,- v -■ fr-sh from the
country, the l::’*'k w '■ where h*- had
seen almost nobody . mother, his sis
ters, his little broth*r; ■' :• -verend t'-m.-h
--ers. Ills raw .si’lioolm- .. a few illiter
:ii.* farmers of H*e i- .-.-.hborhood -the„se
w-.re the people he li 1 -u*-- in contact
with at Sjj;:dw<ll.
Now all was differ* .1 He wns Intro
duced Into polite Hr m* I *ultivated
and experienced men, ■ I lovt-lv and re
fined ladies, felt !!.■■ i ■''*'■ a*-'l tempta
tion of social entertai -nts More than
tli.-it, he attract* I th- ■ • ■ and won the
heart of the governor. : luqub-r, and was
made to fc-el quite at >me at (he gov
ernor's palace, wh* re often dined as
a familiar gu ß st in < mpany with the
eminent lawyer. Mr. V'ythe. and Dr,
Small, th** college P-* ’’f whom he
most loved.
Music appears to li '”e be* n one of
the mystic ti-s whieli ".md the college
boy and the king's g* .• rnor together In
friendship, for Huy w • both music
makers ami niuH’ .-il . ■ ' iiuslasts.
t.mce a w*” k -i-'ffer. .■ would take Ills
fiddle under his arm a d go over to the
palace, where the amaj ar band, of which
the genial Faiiqnier v. : it member, held
its regular P'-rformai
It was Dr. Sma’l who intro-luced Jeffer
son to the gov rm.**.- ami it was Dr.
Small who had loueh ' do with forming
the mind, shaping ti- prim iples of his
favorite student. A i.i..- n of varied learn
ing, Dr. Small was ai * a. thinker, buhl
mid independent, hud i lilted conclusions
which were altogeil .r different from the
narrow, intolerant, ntr ogressive views of
the average professor i*f his day. These
broad, liberal ideas 1 was fond of dis
cussing with so in t”l!iynt a listener as
Jefferson, and upon the. sludi-nt's mind
Dr. Smail exerted a.; influence "which
probably fixed his d* -'’m.v.”
Having entered an advanced class, Mr.
Jefferson completed 1 collegiate course
In two years. What had l).e learned thus
far?
Latin and Greek lie .n' l mastered; and
lie never forgot them, as So many schol
ars do. in his old ag- wh-.-ii fortune had
taken wings mid puli r al honors were a
tiling of the past, h ■ could turn again
to Hie classics mid .* rgel ills cares hl
the charms of ancient literature. French
he was not able to sl'- ak with any titt
er.*-y or slice* ", but he could read it
with ease. .
In matbimuti' s. lie v..us at his best, ami
he could read off the most vbsHuse proe
es.’os “with ih*- facility of common dis
course.” This study also he kept up as
long as he lived, and he delighted in ap
plying its principles to anything and
(\. .\ihing, large and small, useful ami
speculative, important and trivial, sub
lime and ridiculous. A.ml yet this master
of tin* craft, lik*- Napoleon, rarely added
up a column of figures or cast a balance
without making a mtsiake.
In the belli s-leltres department he was
proficient, conspicuously so. H,> read
widely, became familiar with all the mas
terpiece:-. ancient and modern, but ills
taste was not eo -iect nor his judgment
sound.
All th** poets he had enjoyed, and af
ter having examined the treasures of
each he was not ashamed to own that he
thought O- ■■ ian ‘‘the greatest poe.t that
had ever existed.”
He had no liking for novels, though he
paid Cervantes the tribute of reading
"Don Quixote” twice.
But: it must bo borne in mind that
novel writing in Jefferson's youth was an
infant industry in comparison witli what
it soon became, lie believed that the
writings of Sterne formed the best course
of morality ever written; and he express
ed unmitigated contempt for Plato as
a. mere visionary.
Far In advance of the youth ot his
day in acadi mic knowledge, Mr. Jefferson
bad no sooner 1 ft college than he took
up the. study ot law. Therein his guide,
■philosopher and friend was George
Wythe a most exi-i-llent man and able
lawyer. As Mr. Wythe lived lit Williams
burg young Jefferson was there much of
his time during the five years that he
spend in preparing for the bar.
Possessed of a competence and devoted
*.'i liis books, the young man was in no
hurry to throw himself into active prac
th-e. Just as he had studied systemat
ically at college, he continued to do so
at honn-. He rose as soon as he could see
t! ■ ham’s of tlie clock and passed the
dll., with his books, varied with exercise
on foot or hor-cbaek. The evening he
tillr-d with music, he and tii.s favorite sis
ter. Jane, singing the ballads and the
psalms of that, olden time to the accom
paniment of his violin.
Thomas Jefferson became of age tn
17*1. while he was still studying law, and
he (-elebriited that event by setting out
ar avenue of trees. He was now fully
ilevelo’ d physic.-iUy and was a. line specl
m* :t of n::: aliou'l. He wa.s nearly li feet
:. inches in height; wa.s active and strong;
was healthy am! good to look upon, but
not handsome. His figure was spare, if
not slender, and was not well built, not
c<mpact, like his father's, but more on
the angular, shackling order, with large
wri. i--, large hands and feet—a raw-boned
man, but, nevertheless, he was so straight
and vigorous, so able to bear himself
with credit in ball room or hunting field,
was so line a horseman, so much an
acept in all manly sports and games, that
his lack of perfect symmetry was rarely
notl *-d. His hair, abundant, and silken,
was in color light auburn or sandy; his
. w re gray, decked with hazel, and
were clear, mild, expressive, full and
d< p set; his t* ’-th were perfect; his chin
a.id mouth were good features without
bling particularly line; his nose was
somewhat too small for the angular
breadth of face and his neck was se
long as to give his head the appearance
of being habitually thrust forward; his
complexion was ruddy, of the peculiar
redness caused by the showing of minute
*,-. ins beneath a thin skin which peeled
off under the slightest exposure to sun
or wind.
His manners were simple and cordial,
hi v* i"*- pleasing to the car and his tem
iii- -;tle, concilia to* y, forgiving. No
r.’iii-**r or vindictiveness marred his youth,
ami there is no record*® Instance tu his
having been subjected to a personal in
; ilt or drawn into a personal brawl. He
\v. s a tempera to, truthful, hom st, warm
h* .rt'-d boy; one whom the young people
liked because of his genial, social, sport
li'- ti.g nature; one whom the elders liked
A, * ruse lie gave rein to no vices, was a
pa it* rn of good behavior and was defcr
euti::l t a his seniors. He did not use to
bacco, did not. gamble, was not profane
and did rot look upon white wine or red.
In after life he drank but one glass '.it
wati-r* per day, and did indulge In several
.’.!:i •- of wine. So also his faithful ac
count books show that when he lia-1
gr.iwn older he won nearly as much as
$2 .it one sitting at a game of cards and 14
.: immon At lotto lu i
with disaster, for he records that he lost
nearly s’> at one time. In other words,
Jefferson played games of chance for
trilling stakes just as Washington and
tilers, int lading the state cl trgy, did in
these days. It was social pastime with
them, and, with them, went no further.
it may have been after bis Waterloo at
lot' i that Air Jefferson planned th:-
tri I m: "Gambling corrupts all disposi
tions and creates a habit of hostility
against all mankind.”
J.atcr in life his manners to strangers
si-eiii..’*l cold and reserved, and he de
veloped a capacity for hatred which
would have satisfied Dr. Sam Johnson.
This was, however, after lie had been
thicugh tho li* ry ordeal of politics, had
b'- ’it beat upon by the fiercest storm of
abuse and slander that ever assailed a
stats sman so essentially pure, so abso
lutely patriotic, so consistently unsellisn
and benevolent.
One of the most beautiful traits in Air.
Jefferson’s character was his capacity for
friendship—deep, lasting, tender, splendid
ly loyal friendship. Few were the In
dividuals he ever hated, and ho loved a
gr at many, some of them being persons
whom others found it hard to love—John
Au.-ims, for example. We will find these
fnendships multiplying around him al
every stage of his career, we will sei
them embrace all sorts and conditions
of men. We will see his sympathetic af
fection r* aching out to warriors like Paul
J< res and George Rogers Clarke, to sa
v. rits like Buffon and Cabanis. His elr
eb- pi good fellowship embraced such op
posite characters as the Abbe Corea and
Dr. Kush, the marquis of Chastelleux,
and Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin
and Tobias Lear, lie was endeared to
i-mgl’sh Priestly anil to J'Tench Lafay
ette. to Mazzei, the Italian, and Kos
ciusko, the Pule; to James Aladfson, the
scholarly statesman, ami tu Thomas
x'.’.u.e, tiie unpolished patriot. And few
men hive even shown more stanehness,
more downright pluck in standing by
his friends even when lie incurred abuse
and losses by doing so.
But the most thoroughly congenial tie
he ever formed in the way of manly
friendship was with Dabney Carr, who
Mvi’* 1 books as Jeff* rson hived them,,
whose soul was filled with the same en
thusiasm fur tilings beautiful and true
an J great; whose mind yearned for noble
sentiments, useful taels. high ideals,
whose every pulsebeat was that of a man
w rmly loving, aspiring loftily, eager for
thorough equipment that he might bear
himselt gallantly in tlie great battle ct
This young man had all the tastes
which Jefferson had, many of Hie gifts
which made Jefferson great, and had (.he
other great gifts which Jefferson lacked.
Notably, Dabney fair was bold in action,
fearless in debate, an orator ami lawyer
whose name was mentioned with praise
by those who couple*l It with that of Pat
rick Henry. Very beautiful was the love
and trust which bound these two ambi
tious .voting men together. In their walks
ami exorcises, their studies and their
readings, their talks and their medita-
r - ' ; ' : ”F ' '-:'r
r ■■ ■ - .■- ;
I
■ 'H ' ' ' ' 'H
| 4 'tt. 4 :"'- ’’ :'r -G Y \ 4 ’ F I
HON. THOMAS E. WATSON.
From a Photograph Macle Especially for The Constitution by Stephenson
& Co., of Atlanta.
tlons, they went in company, the one with
the other.
On the w * <lo*l mountain rule they had
made a rough seat under a. noble tree,
and to tins retired spot they would bring
their books for study and for thought;
here th**y would give loose t- iii to imag
ination as they discuss*’ 1 their plans for
the pr”s”’it and t eir hopes for the fu
ture. and they pr'*misi d e * -h other tb'it
When life's I it.:.- lut”. was d**ne, and
there was no longer daylight in vvhi tv
any man could hope and plan ami work,
they should sitc-p the long sleep under the
shadow of the great tree which had shel
tered them when they were happy stu
dents together.
A day dream of poetically minded young
men.
The mountain was Monticello—a part ot
t.he Peter Jefferson estate; and as the
young men stood upon its summit ami
gazed upon one of tho fairest landscapes
nature's many-colored brush ever paint
ed. Jefferson’s fam-y kinttled; io-m! lie
dreamed of a lovely homo that he. should
make fur himself up there in the pure air,
amid the clouds and the majestic trees
Some day he would build it, some day
he would lead to its portals the fairest
of brides, some day he would stand upon
Its classic, portico, surrounded by those
who loved him best, and look forth tran
quilly upon the beauties of the world—a
world In which he should have done his
own part before he came b-:ek here for
vest in the evening of lit**.
And when all was done-, lu- vv**’il*l si* , p
beneath the giant oak—he and Dabney
Carr—where they had communed together
in the cloudless days when they were
boys.
To dream is one thing -a comparati'ely
easy thing; to hoi I firmly the ideal is
quite another; ami to work it out is .-.*-t
another. Jeni-rs in driatu*.::! held firmly
to hi.- dream, ami worked it out.
On the summit of the hill was built th*.*
home, planned in his brain, made almost
b* y his lovc-ly, im; ng
home. To bo Its queen he did nring is
his bride one of the fairest. sw.-..-l*-st. tr-i
--est of women; children bless-) *! th** uni* n
and amid those he loved best he did look
down on th*- world from the mountain
home tranquilly, as the s*.slier might gaze
again upon a battle field in which ho had
borne the colors. Ami win-n all "as dene
—and the feeble hand I the
greater |>asks, bis lalterm.g feet brougnt
him back hero for th** quiet oft! ■■ : :*.*r
noon. And when it came to be nigh fall,
and the lights w<-r.* out. he vv is laid to
his rest under the big 'tree by the side of
Dabney <’ *rr.
CHAPTER IT.
11 serves no useful purp ’■ ■*'. pe■
haps, to enter into elaborate discussii.ni
of the rights and wrongs of the revolu
tionary war. Yet vve * ’.tn not appreciate
the conduct of any * f th** great actors
on that • tag • uni * *. .
thing about the play.
In the recent years a tendenev has l»■*-n
shown by some histq.rians to justify Great
Britain and blanie the colonies. The
mother country, It would seem, was pro
ceeding in a parentally cunsidt-rate man
ner t** govern her offspring when cer
tain wicked pien. for sinister purpos*-s,
sowed seeds of discord, cultivated rebel
lion and garnered independence. Tlie
Americans were the aggressors. They
started a quarrel vvithoj.if just cause ami
they kept It up In spite of all efforts at
reconciliation. Historians of this school
almost convince us that our .f**ref.ithr*rs
wantonly dragged British soldiers ov* r
here from the pure l*>v of combat, *■**■
creed the infamouk little despots **f G* i
many to hire Hessians tn King George,
and be.irdeil that well-intentioned mon
arch for no reason on earth save that
th)*v di*! not want to pay th !r British
debts
Reading Hie pages of Sydney G *orga
Fisher and mime others w* *-.*.;i almost
fancy that the war was fought on th**
other side of t o x 1 tl En
land was th land that was invaded and
swept by lire ami sword. \V** .dinost be
gin to fear that *>i:r for* fsth* r. w-r jli,*
ruthless Anglo-Saxons who wli*-t(,d *he
red man's tomahawk, li.t liis torch, fir* I
his soul with Hie passions of hell ami
sent Itlrn on hl:’ mission of murder
A v* ry gr* it d* al *f formatting must
be done befiire the tru arted V*•*, *■
lean of today *•.■11) be brought to pin his
faith to histories of this sort, ami to as
sume an attitude of ipologx for the revo
lutionary war. It will not do to sa\ that
Great Britain so loved her little American
colonies that sh made war upon Fiance
to protect them; that she incurred heavy
expense thereby; and (hat .lie taxed the
colonies to defray tin* cost ot colonial
defense. Nor wilt it do to sav that tho
odious navigation acts, of which Hu * ol
onles complained, were stub as other
f parent-countries imposed ’iy*on thei. col
| ouies, and that the American smugglers,
i John Hancock *ft t'Oj w**ro at the bottom
: of the trouble.
Broadly stated, the historical truth is
i that Great Britain had long been at
: d nth-grips with France, for leadership
i among tiie nations—for world-empire. The
qijarr* I ami tho oonr.**st had originated
i cv*.-r so long before, Face hatred, dynas
l **. fends, clashing ambitions, re-ligloua
' d their parts
I ana the struggl ; had gone on, with inter-
I yals m peace, for centuries. Louis XIV
I Inherit'd the quarrel and scent a vast
' b' s t’JtTe. strength and resources
i lighting it out, losing heavily befoie he
quit. Knuts XV was born into the ri
■'J Llr Y. a ’"l before he di 1 England had
"* n the race. France had been praetical
j l.v driven out of India, out of America.
* al-? °" L ° f CoTn P f:titi °n with Great Brit-
* I:** battle royal between these two na
j tlons h.i-l been waged f r ,, )n nn ., gp n o ra -
I tmn to another, on land and •»*■;*, secretly
' t 'l !f ''p*'”. honorst)iy and dish'morablv-,
■ warriors and statesmen, by diplomats
a i*l by priests, by stratagem ami by
G ’?'', ■ Tnone y an.l by arms. When
Brlt'sh troop.'* j.-mght the Fr.-*neh tn
.America their m-tire was pree*=ei'.- what
R" as when they Height th..-* Fr-m hin
llindoostan. Love for the poor American
had no more to do with it. j n tlm one
■■ iso tlmi! l’*vo for the *or Hindoo had
i tn do with It in tho other. When Wolfe
’ scaled the heights of Abraham in 1757.
. !*i.-* *.:*j*-;-t was exactly the same as that
, wh.eh Braddock sought tn 1755. ami ex
. .ictlv the Sim - .-*s that sought and won
“Y CHve In Hindoostan when', In 1757, ha
i Hmght at Flossy. The French were com
, oati.-.j :*mi r*>-.;i*‘il at Menden in Germany
, for th** same i*-:i -.p that, broughht disa’-
! ter upon thorn in tho ancient East and in
- ' ■'■ niess of the West. So selfish
r *'.-■■-■ th purpose of tlie mother country
iin HI this tb it whin 4,000 heroic New
i Em: 1 .-md rniiitia. captured from the
* i-rei’-. ~ lhe * rttf ss *;f Louisburg, upon
I "l:i*-h five *nil*!.)n dollars bad beer* spent
- :. > a t h e Gibraltar
j .-* v.or! Great Britain han*:led
h ilin.] Win with >ut .asking the col*J
ni s the s:ieh.-st odds about it.
■ ' r:n hoi*! 1 m-.l have tho colonies; to
that extent Great th( m, but
l’■ )( r; ’’ ’* fi:: ':;*" F---r a hundred year*
at a ym*- Hu* moth* r country had loft
th** colonic* : t* -naiiit.ain themselves, tin
.':!*!'■*!, ai-aiiist bit!) French and Imlians.
* *-■ le-ii English arnii**.- did come, it. was
upon tli ■ colonies that the losses and
oi---r.*rs of war most heavily fell, who
but Hie Virginians held !’*>■■ border after
Braddock’s defeat, boating back tlie in
furiated ■ • ring *: ihlps
whi :i • wrung th** In art of the hero!'
■ Wasiiipgton that lie wishes he might
- offer bis own life as a sacrifice to shield
his countrymen?
- Engl.-ind ha*l roll*'*! >i» no debt of
j ma tit u*i*‘ against h*-r color*!,*s. She had
i rot brought the h.-n-dy pioneers over here
j 'e a rnl* . she h;’.d ( tivon th -m her*’.
* They had com? -is fugitives flying to the
wi ■ to escape her hard yoke She had
not. maintained them here; as a mule
th**y had g. I nothing from the crow::,
nothing from parliament save the priv
tl re *if battling as b.-xt they might
ae.-'inst the terrors of the wilderness and
lhe reil nrin w: ■* dwelt within it. Not
ur*ti. the colonies had begun t.o grow
strong. m*t until A meric.-’n trade began
to be a source of British profit. *.1i.l the
_i iitlii-r - inntry's governm*-: t b*’gin to
develop parental interest in the abandon
ed child.
As 11 the navigation laws, it is clear
that they were designed to drain ■ verv
surplus American dollar into the Enslidi
purse. Doubtless other nations wer-»
plundering their . ’lonics in tlie same
manner, but it was cruel robbery never
theless.
Tobacco raised in the south could be
Id iwherc* save in Englai I; md i
way Io market was victimize.! by a s,*ri* «
of pilf'-rlngs which closely resemble the
eoinmei ial rascalities which a bale f
cotton now suffers on its journey from
field to factory. In the one ca-e. :r
tlie other, the producer had no redress,
and by the time all the vultures had had
their mors Is tlie bones carried little
Th*- protective system had Great Brit
ain by the throat in those days, and
while it dhl not commit tlie colossal
* rl*nes against reason, common sense and
common h* nesty which the same mon
strous system now commits daily in our
republic. It vv is stitiie.ently tyrannical
and unjust to become a source of univer
sal discontent.
In or l -r that tho manufacturer of hats
In England might he "protect**.!” from
tin* competition of America, the skin of
Hie beaver which was trapped in Amer
ica must be sent to England to be made
into a hat.
T*> "proto-t" Great. Britain’s Infant in
dust r\ t cutlery, the Pennsylvanian who
dug and smelted iron ore was not allowed
t*> turn It into scythes or knife blades.
Not only must all American products be
si n t to English markets, but the return
cargo, must be bought from British deal-