a abuses and perversions of Chistianity: he abhorred those abuses and their authors, and denounced them without reserve. He was regular in his attendance on church, taking his prayer-book with him. He drew the plan of the Episcopal Church at Charlottesville, was one of the largest contributors to its erection, and contributed regularly to the support of its minister. I paid, after his death, his subscription of two hundred dollars to the erection of the Presbyterian church in the same village. A gentleman of some distinction calling upon him, and expressing his disbelief in the truths of the Bible, his reply was, 'Then, sir, you have studied it to little purpose.' "He was guilty of no profanity himself, and did not tolerate it in others. He detested impiety; and his favorite quotation for his young friends, as the basis of their morals, was the fifteenth Psalm of David. He did not permit cards in his house: he knew no game with them. His family, by whom he was surrounded, and who saw him in all the unguarded privacy of private life, believed him to be the purest of men. The beauty of his character was exhibited in the bosom of his family, where he delighted to indulge in all the fervor and delicacy of feminine feeling. Before he lost his taste for the violin, in winter evenings he would play on it, having his grandchildren dancing around him. In summer, he would station them for their little races on the lawn, give the signal for the start, be the arbiter of the contest, and award the prizes. "In his person, he was neat in the extreme. In early life, his dress, equipage, and appointments were fastidiously appropriate to his rank. When at Paris, Philadelphia, and Washington, his furniture, table, servants, equipage, and the tout ensemble of his establishment, were deemed highly appropriate to the position he held. He was a gentleman everywhere. His habits were regular and systematic. He rose always at dawn. He said in his last illness that the sun had not caught him in bed for fifty years. He never drank ardent spirits or strong wines. Such was his aversion to ardent spirits, that when, in his last illness, his physician wished him to use brandy as an astringent, he could not induce him to take it strong enough." After Mr. Jefferson's death, the lottery plan was abandoned. The lands were sold; and after the disposal of the whole property, the proceeds not being sufficient to pay the debts, the executor met the balance from his own purse. As soon as it was known that his only child was thus left without any independent provision, the legislatures of South Carolina and Louisiana generously voted her ten thousand dollars each. As time dispels the mists of prejudice, the fame of Thomas Jefferson will shine with ever-increasing lustre; and he must, in all the future, occupy one of the most conspicuous niches in the temple of American worthies. Childhood. CHAPTER IV. JAMES MADISON. College-life. - Studious Habits. - Enters Public Life. - Mental Characteristics. Aid in framing the Constitution.-In Congress.- Marriage. - Mrs. Madison. Alien and Sedition Laws. - Secretary of State. - The White House. Life in Washington.-Friendship with Jefferson. - Abrogation of Titles. - Anecdote.-Chosen President. Right of Search.-War with England. - Re-elected. - Treaty of Ghent.Arrival of the News. Retirement to Montpelier. Old Age, and Death. THE name of James Madison is inseparably connected with most of the important events in that heroic period of our country dur MONTPELIER, - ing which the foundations of this great republic were laid. The Madison Family were among the earliest emigrants to this New World, landing upon the shores of the Chesapeake but fifteen years after the settlement at Jamestown. The father of James Madison was an opulent planter, residing upon a very fine estate called "Montpelier," in Orange County, Va. The mansion was situated in the midst of scenery highly picturesque and romantic, on the west side of South-west Mountain, at the foot of the Blue Ridge. It was but twenty-five miles from the home of Jefferson at Monticello. The closest personal and political attachment existed between these illustrious men, from their early youth until death. James Madison was born on the 5th of March, 1751. He was blessed with excellent parents; both father and mother being persons of intelligence and of great moral worth. The best society of Virginia often visited at their hospitable mansion; and thus, from early life, Mr. Madison was accustomed to those refinements which subsequently lent such a charm to his character. His sobriety, and dignity of demeanor, were such, that it has been said of him that "he never was a boy." - James was the eldest of a family of seven children, - four sons and three daughters, all of whom attained maturity, and passed through life esteemed and beloved. His early education was conducted mostly at home, under a private tutor. He was naturally intellectual in his tastes, and, with but little fondness for rough, outof-door sports, consecrated himself with unusual vigor to study. Even when a boy, he had made very considerable proficiency in the Greek, Latin, French, and Spanish languages. In the year 1769, at the age of eighteen, he was sent to Princeton College in New Jersey, of which the illustrious Dr. Witherspoon was then president. Here he applied himself to study with the most imprudent zeal; allowing himself, for months, but three hours' sleep out of the twenty-four. His health thus became so seriously impaired, that he never recovered any vigor of constitution. He graduated in 1771, at the age of twenty, with a feeble body, with a character of the utmost purity, and with a mind highly disciplined, and richly stored with all the learning which embellished, and gave efficiency to, his subsequent career. Returning to Virginia, he commenced the study of law, and a course of extensive and systematic reading. This educational course, the spirit of the times in which he lived, and the society with which he associated, all combined to inspire him with a strong love of liberty, and to train him for his life-work of a statesman. Being naturally of a religious turn of mind, and his frail health leading him to think that his life was not to be long, he directed especial attention to theological studies. Endowed with a mind singularly free from passion and prejudice, and with almost unequalled powers of reasoning, he weighed all the arguments for and against revealed religion, until his faith became so established as never to be shaken. The Church of England was then the established church in Virginia, invested with all the prerogatives and immunities which it enjoyed in the father-land. All were alike taxed to support its clergy. There was no religious liberty. Mr. Madison first appears before the public, associated with Mr. Jefferson, as the opponent of this intolerance. The battle was a fierce one. The foes of intolerance were denounced as the enemies of Christianity; but liberty triumphed, and religious freedom was established in Virginia. In the spring of 1776, when twenty-six years of age, he was elected member of the Virginia Convention, to frame the Constitution of the State. Being one of the youngest members of the house, naturally diffident, and having no ambitious aspirings to push him forward, he took but little part in the public debates. Like Jefferson, his main s rength lay in his conversational influence and in his pen. Real ability and worth cannot long be concealed. Every day, almost unconsciously to himself, he was gaining influence and position. The next year (1777), he was a candidate for the General Assembly. He refused to treat the whiskey-loving voters, and consequently lost his election; but those who had witnessed the talents, energy, and public spirit of the modest young man, enlisted themselves in his behalf, and he was appointed a member of the Executive Council. Both Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson were governors of Virginia while Mr. Madison remained member of the council; and their appreciation of his intellectual, social, and moral worth, contributed not a little to his subsequent eminence. In the year 1780, he was elected a member of the Continental Congress. Here he met the most illustrious men in our land, and he was immediately assigned to one of the most conspicuous positions among them. Mr. Jefferson says of him, in allusion to the study and experience through which he had already passed, "Trained in these successive schools, he acquired a habit of self-possession which placed at ready command the rich resources |