over the memory of his own wife; and he has said to me several times during the term, that the moment he relaxes from business he feels exceedingly depressed, and rarely goes through a night without weeping over his departed wife. She must have been a very extraordinary woman so to have attached him; and I think he is the most extraordinary man I ever saw, for the depth and tenderness of his feelings."

I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the following anecdote of the chancellor's interview with Chief Justice Marshall, chronicled in the Richmond papers of the day. Kent, it is said, introduced himself, and observing that "he had heard of the Chief Justice's indisposition," added, "that not knowing whether he should see him in the next world, he was resolved to have that pleasure in this."

Chapter Four.

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

HE next of our distinguished statesmen of whom I have some reminiscences, is the illustrious author of the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson, LLD., third President of the United States, was born in Albermarle county, Virginia, April 13, (N. S.) 1743. His family, of Welch extraction, was settled in Virginia before 1619, in which year, his ancestor was a member of the Assembly, in the first legislative body ever convened in America. His father, Peter Jefferson, a surveyor and planter, was a man of extraordinary physical strength and sound intelligence, a public-spirited citizen, and valuable man, who served his country as public surveyor, as colonel, and as a member of the Legislature.

Peter Jefferson married, in 1738, Jane, daughter of Isham Randolph, and grand daughter of the founder of the Virginia Randolphs, by whom he had nine children, Thomas being his third child and eldest son. In 1757, Peter died, leaving a widow and eight children, the oldest seventeen years, the youngest twenty two months, Thomas being a school boy of fourteen. The family inherited nineteen hundred acres and thirty slaves; from the product of which, Thomas was enabled to attend William and Mary College, and study law, thus fulfilling the fondest wish of his father, and obeying one of his last injunctions. He loved to think that this was his father's dying command, and he used to say in his old age, that if he had to choose between the estate, or the education his father had given him, he would have chosen the education. He entered college in 1760, remained two years; began the study of the law at Williamsburg, under George Wythe, in 1763, and in 1767, being twenty-four years of age, he was admitted to the bar. As a student he was industrious, resolute, moral and intelligent. He was fortunate in his mathematical Professor, Small, a friend of Erasmus Darwin; also, in the learned George Wythe, who directed the legal studies of Chief Justice Marshall and Henry Clay. Under the influence of these liberal minds, he investigated the sources of law, the origin of liberty, and the gradual establishment of equal rights, extending his researches into remote antiquity, and becoming one of the most accomplished men of his time. He acquired skill upon the violin, sometimes practicing three hours a day, and was a close observer, and student

of nature.

He obtained at once, a large and profitable practice at the bar, which he held for eight years, until he was drawn into public life, by the conflict between the colonies and Great Britain. From sixty-eight cases in his first year, he was employed in four hundred and thirty cases in his fourth year, and his income at the bar is estimated at five hundred and fifty pounds sterling, by which he increased his estate to five thousand acres of land. He married, January 1, 1772, Martha Skelton, a young, beautiful and childless widow, daughter and heiress of a leading lawyer of Virginia, John Wayles, whose death the next year, doubled Jefferson's estate.

Elected a member of the House of Burgesses in 1769, he served in that body till the Revolution, a firm supporter of liberal measures, and noted for his disapproval of slavery; with Patrick Henry and the Lee's, he was a leader of the party in opposition to the British King, though strongly attached to the mother country. He took his seat as a member of the Continental Congress, June 21, 1775, the day when the news of the battle of Bunker Hill reached Philadelphia, and Washington left that city to take command of the army at Cambridge.

Seldom joining in debate, for he was no orator, he acquired great influence by his courtesy, his readiness in composition, his knowledge of law and usage, his general information, his moderation of tone, and his warm devotion to the country's cause. After serving on several leading committees, and drawing important papers he was chosen to draft the Declaration of Independence, which after three days' debate and extensive amendments,

was adopted and signed on Thursday afternoon, July 4th, 1776. In September of the same year, he resumed his seat in the Virginia Legislature, where, in conjunction with George Wythe and James Madison, he spent three years in adapting the laws of Virginia to the new order of things, and in other patriotic labors. He effected the abolition of entail and primogeniture, and drew the laws-the first ever passed by a legislature or adopted by a government-which secured perfect religious freedom. His scheme for the establishment of common schools and for the abolition of slavery, though warmly supported by the liberal members, failed. June 1st, 1779, he succeeded Patrick Henry as Governor of Virginia, an office which he resigned after holding it two years, during which he ably co-operated with Washington in defending the country. One of his own estates was ravaged and plundered by Cornwallis, and his house at Monticello was held for some days by Tarleton's Cavalry, Jefferson himself narrowly escaping capture. September 6th, 1782, his wife died, leaving three children, of six to whom she had given birth. Distracted with grief, he now accepted an appointment as plenipotentiary to France, which he had declined in 1776. Before sailing, he served for some weeks in Congress at Annapolis, where he succeeded in carrying a bill establishing our present system of decimal currency-one of the most useful of his public services.

Reaching Paris in June, 1784, he remained until October, 1789. "You replace Dr. Franklin", said the Count de Vergennes to the new minister. "I succeed," was Mr. Jefferson's reply, no one can replace him."