did not say then; and were I, with a view of obtaining one, licentiam solicitandi aliis, quibus degit postulare, it would be previously necessary to go the rounds cum custodibus; and, after all this, he could be in no other situation than he is at present. After the proofs I have given of my sincerity, he can be under no apprehension of a change in my sentiments; and were I to do as my friends advise me, I would give no better security than he has at present. He is satisfied that I shall make him an offer, and if he intends to accept of it he will disregard those made by others; my fate depends upon Adnileb's present resolutions, by them I must stand or fall. If they are not favorable to me, it is out of my power to say any thing to make them so, which I have not said already; so that a visit could not possibly be of the least weight, and it is, I am sure, what he does not in the least expect. "I hear you are courting F Ꭹ Ᏼ -1, but shall not listen to it till I hear it from you. When I was up the country I wrote a letter to you, dated Fairfield, December 25, 1763; let me know if you have received such a one. As I suppose you do not use your Statutes of Britain, if you can lend them to me, till I can provide myself with a copy, it will infinitely oblige me. Adieu, dear Page."

"DEVILSBURG, January 23, 1764.

My letter of January 19th may have been opened, and the person who did it may have been further incited by curiosity, to ask you if you had received such a letter as they saw mentioned therein; but God send, and I hope this is not the case. Sukey Potter, to whom I sent it, told me yesterday she delivered it to Mr. T. Nelson, the younger, who had delivered it to you, I hope with his own hand. I wish I had followed your example, called my dear, Campana-in-die, instead of Adnileb.

"We must fall on some scheme of communicating our thoughts to each other, which shall be totally unintelligible to every one but to ourselves. I will send you some of these days Shelton's Tachygraphical Alphabet,' and directions. Jack Walker is engaged to Betsey Moore, and desired all his brethren might be made acquainted with his happiness. But, I hear he will not be married this year or two. Put Campana-in-die in mind of me; tell him I think as I always did. I have sent my horses up the country, so that it is out of my power to take even an airing on horseback at any time. My paper holds out no longer, so must bid you adieu."

"DEVILSBURG (WILLIAMSBURG), April 9, 1764.

"DEAR PAGE,-This letter will be conveyed to you by the assistance of our friend, Warner Lewis. Poor fellow! never did I see one more sincerely captivated in my life. He walked to the Indian camp with her yesterday, by which means he had an opportunity of giving her two or three love squeezes by the hand; and, like a true Arcadian swain, has been so enraptured ever since, that he is company for no one. B- -y has at last bestowed her hand on B- -d; and whether it was for money, beauty, or principle will be so nice a dispute, that no one will venture to pronounce. Two days before the wedding I was not a little surprised, on going to the door at my house, to see him alight from his horse. He stepped up to me, and desired the favor of me to come to Mr. Yates's at such a time. It was so unexpected, that for some time I could make no reply; at last I said 'yes,' and turned about and walked back into my room. I accordingly attended, and, to crown the joke, when I got there was dubbed a bridesman. There were many other curious circumstances too tedious to mention here. Jack Walker is expected in town tomorrow. How does your pulse beat after your trip to the Isle of Wight? What a high figure I should have cut had I gone! When I heard who visited you there, I thought I had met with the narrowest escape in the world. I wonder how I should have behaved? I am sure I should have been at a great loss. If your mistress can spare you a little time, your friends here would be very glad to see you, particularly Small and myself, as every thing is now ready for taking the height of this place above the water of the creeks. Fleming's relapse will justly afford you great matter of triumph, after rallying you so much on being in love. Adieu, dear Page."

"CHARLOTTESVILLE, February 21, 1770.

“DEAR PAGE,—I am to acquaint Mrs. Page of the loss of my favorite pullet; the consequence of which will readily occur to her. I promised also to give her some Virginia silk which I had expected, and I begin to wish my expectation may not prove vain. I fear she will think me an ungainly acquaintance. My late loss may, perhaps, have reached you by this time; I mean the loss of my mother's house by fire, and in it every paper I had in the world, and almost every book. On a reasonable estimate I calculate the cost of the books burned to have been £200 sterling. Would to God it had been the money, then had it never cost me a sigh. To

make the loss more sensible, it fell principally on my books of Common Law, of which I have but one left, at that time lent out. Of papers, too, of every kind, I am utterly destitute. All of these, whether public or private, of business or of amusement, have perished in the flames. I had made some progress in preparing for the succeeding General Court; and having, as was my custom, thrown my thoughts into the form of notes, I troubled my head no more with them. These are gone, and, like the baseless fabric of a vision, leave not a trace behind. The records, also; and other papers which furnished me with states of the several cases, having shared the same fate, I have no foundation whereon to set out anew. I have in vain attempted to recollect some of them; the defect sometimes of one, sometimes of more circumstances, rendering them so imperfect that I can make nothing of them. What am I to do, then, in April? The resolution which the Court has declared of admitting no continuances of causes seemed to be unalterable; yet it might surely be urged, that my case is too singular to admit of their being often troubled with the like excuse. Should it be asked what are the misfortunes of an individual to a Court? The answer of a Court, as well as an individual, if left to me, should be in the words of Terence, homo sum; humani nil a me alienum puto,' but a truce with this disagreeable subject.

6

"Am I nevermore to have a letter from you? Why the devil don't you write? But, I suppose you are always in the moon, or some of the planetary regions. I mean you are there in idea ; and, unless you mend, you shall have my consent to be there de facto; at least during the vacations of the Court and Assembly. If your spirit is too elevated to advert to sublunary subjects, depute my friend, Mrs. Page, to support your correspondences. Methinks I should, with wonderful pleasure, open and peruse a letter written by so fair and (what is better) so friendly hands.

The "Belinda," "Campana-in-die," or "Adnileb," of. whom Mr. Jefferson raves in these strange letters, was Miss Rebecca Burwell, whom he seemed to want to marry at a convenient season. She evidently had her own notions of Mr. Jefferson and his intentions, and yet he appeared greatly surprised to see her slipping into more earnest, if not more honorable, hands.

CHAPTER IV.

MR. JEFFERSON AS A LAWYER-MONTICELLO-BEGINS HIS POLITICAL CAREER-VIRGINIA AND MASSACHUSETTS.

Α'

FTER leaving college ungraduated Mr. Jefferson

entered upon the study of the law under George Wythe, afterwards distinguished as a lawyer and patriot. He spent five years in preparation, and finally was admitted to practice and opened his office at Williamsburg in 1767. He made his home at the paternal estate, and continued his profession with considerable success until the beginning of the war of the Revolution. It is said, that after the first year the amount of profit on his business reached an average of three thousand dollars annually, although the fees charged were exceedingly low, and like John Adams and most of the hard-working lawyers of that time, he did a great deal of labor for little or no pay. He kept a record of all his causes, fees obtained, and other things relating to his business, as he did not do, unfortunately, at a later period, to any great extent, of the really great historic events with which he was identified. It does not appear that Mr. Jefferson rose to much distinction in his profession, and it will hardly be maintained that he was one of the great lawyers of Virginia, or of the country, although he had a very reputable practice, which embraced clients in England. But he wanted the most important element in the

make-up of a popular lawyer, the ability for public speaking. He could not make a speech. His voice Iwould sink downwards instead of rise out of his throat. No man should expect success as a lawyer, who can not clearly, systematically, and otherwise satisfactorily present his views before any court.

Mr. Jefferson was not only not an orator, like Jay, Adams, Henry, Rutledge, Lee, and Davie, but he was not even an average talker. His strength was in another direction, as a lawyer. In legal learning he took a rank well to the front, compared with the men of this country and Europe. His researches were extensive, and few of his profession prepared the way to success with more minuteness and ability. Few lawyers of his day, even among those who obtained a literary education in Europe, were as thorough and scholarly in their attainments as Mr. Jefferson. In his school-boy days he may have preferred a horse-race to the study of Coke, but in riper years, not George Wythe, James Madison, Peyton or Edmund Randolph, or any lawyer, was more cunning in legal learning, or more ready and able in written opinions and defenses. Not as a great law-practitioner, however, is Mr. Jefferson known to fame. His legal learning, in some sense, laid the foundation for the more successful exertion of other characteristics. It was in what John Adams termed the "divine science of politics" that he made a world-wide and immortal reputation, and stands not only among the first men of this country, but doubtlessly also among the very few who can justly be designated statesmen.

While he was a student of law at Williamsburg the disputes began with England, which led to war with