hurrying along the Lawn to the Rotunda that he might give and see executed orders, as well as watch its progress and finish a stage it had not quite reached even at his death. Truly all of us recognized that every brick trod had in the long-ago received the impress of nobler feet; every hall and room frequented had been consecrated by the touch of him, our great founder, who lone pioneered the very walks we journeyed in the discharge of our daily duties. Despite the sentiment of the Good Book, "a prophet is not without honor save in his own country," and that of our greatest poet:

"The evil that men do lives after them;

The good is oft interred with their bones."

Mr. Jefferson stands a shining exception to their application in the County that gave him birth and burial. There may have been many, and still some, who disagreed with his tenets and doctrines, but all unprejudiced, knowing individuals at that time and place delighted in calling him great. Apart from his illustrious deeds I was interested in and solicitous for first-handed knowledge of his personal appearance and characteristics-qualities of which I then knew accurately little, but Mr. Wertenbaker much-such, be it to his credit, in spite of natural reticence and disinclination to wasting words, he took delight in communicating. He, however, always declared that Randall in preparing Mr. Jefferson's biography had enjoyed to the fullest extent the entrée and confidence of the family descendants (Randolphs and Carrs), as to record in such matters of detail about the truth and that he could simply verify those statements. He remembered Mr. Jefferson in his gray suit, clerical cut tall collar, wide white cravat and low black slouch hat, and considered him more impressive than handsome-being unusually tall, six feet two and a half inches, erect, slender, sinewy, filling out in his best years to good proportions, yet never beyond one hundred and sixtyfive pounds. His step was elastic and vigorous; face angular but beamed with cheerfulness, benevolence and intelligence; skin freckled and suffused with superficial capillaries producing a delicately fair and ruddy complexion; cuticle very thin and fragile, consequently peeling off easily after the slightest

exposure to sun and wind; hair parted in the middle, luxurious, silken, reddish-chestnut or auburn-when minister to France intermingled with a few white strands, which greatly increased during his presidency and until death, then being much whitened but retaining the sandy tinge very perceptibly; nose gracefully outlined, slightly pointed and turned upward; eyes-those of genius-kindly, blue gray, full-size and deeply set; manners unusually graceful, simple, cordial, but reserved and dignified; conversational powers charming; voice almost femininely soft, gentle and musical, used slowly and hesitatingly but possessing in its tone a cordiality, earnestness and frankness a deep sympathy with humanity, a confidence in man and a bright hopefulness in his destiny-which irresistibly won upon the feelings alike of friend and foe; temper amiable and forgiving-calm, self-reliant and courageous. He never found it necessary to engage in a personal encounter nor to experience a manly indignity, while his accomplishments enabled him to shun all popular vices and habits of the prevailing gentry; he never gambled, knew not one card from another and did not allow their playing in his home; he discountenanced strong drink and indulged in neither tobacco nor profanity. What an inspiring character for ambitious youths to study and emulate!

Mr. Wertenbaker thought that Mr. Webster portrayed unjustly Mr. Jefferson shortly after visiting him in 1824, and likewise his grandson, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, did not agree with all of that description, believing it calculated to produce an unfavorable impression-that of an ill-looking man- -the opposite to what he was. But as it was the last attempt at recording permanently his declining condition, a portion may be reproduced: "Mr. Jefferson is now between eighty-one and eighty-two, about six feet high, of an ample long frame, rather thin and spare. His head, which is not peculiar in shape, is set rather forward on his shoulders, and, his neck being long, there is, when walking or conversing, a habitual protrusion of it. It is still well-covered with hair, which, having been once red and now turning gray, is of an indistinct sandy color. His eyes are small (as a fact they were normal), very light, and now neither brilliant nor striking. His chin is rather long but not pointed; his nose small,

regular in outline, and the nostrils a little elevated; his mouth is well formed, and still filled with teeth-it is strongly compressed, bearing an expression of contentment and benevolence; his complexion, formerly light and freckled, now bears the marks of age and cutaneous affection. His limbs are uncommonly long; his hands and feet very large, and his wrists of an extraordinary size (one had never recovered from dislocation). His walk is not precise and military, but easy and swinging. He stoops a little, not so much from age as from natural formation. When sitting he appears short, partly from a rather lounging habit of sitting, and partly from the disproportionate length of his limbs. His dress, when in the house, is a gray surtout, kerseymere stuff waistcoat, with an under one faced with some material of a dingy red. His pantaloons are very long and loose, and of the same color as his coat. His stockings are woolen, either white or gray; his shoes of the kind that bear his name. His general appearance indicates an extraordinary degree of health, vivacity and spirit. His sight is still good, for he needs glasses only in the evening. His hearing is generally good, but a number of voices in animated conversation confuse him. He rises as soon as the hands of the clock, just opposite the bed, can be seen, and examines immediately his thermometer, as he keeps a regular meteorological diary. He employs himself chiefly in writing till breakfast, which is at nine, thence till dinner he is in his library, excepting in fair weather he rides on horseback from seven to fourteen miles-this habit being essential for his health and comfort. His diet is simple, being restrained only by his taste; his breakfast is tea and coffee, bread fresh from the oven, of which he does not seem afraid, with sometimes a slight accompaniment of cold meat; his dinner is largely vegetables with a little meat, which he enjoys. He is easy and natural in conversation, not ambitious; it is not loud, as challenging general attention, but usually addressed to the person next him. Outside of topics to suit his auditor he discusses science and letters, and especially the University of Virginia, which is coming into existence almost entirely from his exertions, and will rise, it is to be hoped, to usefulness and credit under his continued care. When we were with him, his favorite subjects were Greek and Anglo-Saxon,

historical recollections of the times and events of the Revolution, and of his residence in France from 1783-1789.”

The ingenuous grandson, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, fondly called by Mr. Jefferson, "the companion and staff of my old age," has also given with unqualified accuracy some characteristics of that wholesome life-observations amid the sanctity of domestic relations: "I never saw his countenance distorted by a single bad passion or unworthy feeling. I have seen the expression of suffering, bodily and mental, of grief, pain, sadness, just indignation, disappointment, disagreeable surprise and displeasure, but never of anger, impatience, peevishness, discontent, to say nothing worse of more ignoble emotions. To the contrary, it was impossible to look on his face without being struck with its benevolent, intelligent, cheerful and placid expression. It was at once intellectual, good, kind and pleasant, whilst his tall, spare figure spoke of health, activity and that helpfulness, that power and will, never to trouble another for that he could do himself," which marked his character. His dress was simple and adapted to his ideas of neatness and comfort. He paid little attention to fashion, wearing whatever he liked best, and sometimes blending the fashions of several different periods. He wore long waistcoats when the mode was very short, white cambric stocks fastened behind with a buckle, when cravats were universal. He adopted the pantaloon very late in life, because he found it more comfortable and convenient, and cut off his queue for the same reason. He made no change except from motives of the same kind, and did nothing to be in conformity with the fashion of the day. He considered such independence the privilege of his age.'

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Mrs. Samuel Harrison Smith (née Margaret Bayard), during a few days' visit to Mr. Jefferson, at Monticello, in the summer of 1809, recorded these observations in her treasured notebook (August 1.): "Yes, he is truly a philosopher, and truly a good man, and eminently a great one. Then there is a tranquillity about him, which an inward peace alone could bestow. As a ship long-tossed by the storms of the ocean, casts anchor and lies at rest in a peaceful harbor, he is retired from an active and restless scene to this tranquil spot. Voluntarily and gladly has he resigned honors which he never

sought, and unwillingly accepted. His actions, not his words, preach the emptiness and dissatisfaction attendant on a great office. His tall and slender figure is not impaired by age, though bent by care and labor. His white locks announce an age his activity, strength, health, enthusiasm, ardor and gayety contradict. His face owes all its charm to its expression and intelligence; his features are not good and his complexion bad, but his countenance is so full of soul and beams with much benignity, that when the eye rests on the face, it is too busy in perusing its expression, to think of its features or complexion. His low and mild voice harmonizes with his countenance rather than his figure. But his manners-how gentle, how humble, how kind. His meanest slave must feel as if it were a father instead of a master who addresses him, when he speaks. To a disposition ardent, affectionate and communicative, he joins manners timid, even to bashfulness, and reserved even to coldness. If his life had not proved to the contrary I should have pronounced him rather a man of imagination and taste, than a man of judgment, a literary rather than a scientific man, and least of all a politician, a character for which nature never seemed to have intended him, and for which the natural turn of mind, and his disposition, taste and feeling equally unfit him. I should have been sure that this was the case, even had he not told me so. In an interesting conversation I had one evening-speaking of his public and present domestic life-he remarked: "The whole of my life has been a war with my natural taste, feelings and wishes; domestic life and literary pursuits were my first and my latest inclinations-circumstances and not my desires lead me to the path I have trod, and like a bow though long bent, which when unstrung flies back to its natural state, I resume with delight the character and pursuits for which nature designed me. The circumstances of our country, at my entrance into life, were such that every honest man felt himself compelled to take part, and to act up to the best of his abilities." "

Mr. Jefferson, in reply to Dr. Utley, who desired a history of his physical habits (March 21, 1819), wrote: "I live so much like other people, that I might refer to ordinary life as the habits of my own. I have lived temperately, eating little