But thrown on

from the dangers which surround you. a wide world, among entire strangers, without a friend or guardian to advise, so young too, and with so little experience of mankind, your dangers are great, and still your safety must rest on yourself. A determination never to do what is wrong, prudence, and good humor, will go far towards securing to you the estimation of the world. When I recollect that at fourteen years of age, the whole care and direction of myself was thrown on myself entirely, without a relation or friend qualified to advise or guide me, and recollect the various sorts of bad company with which I associated from time to time, I am astonished I did not turn off with some of them, and become as worthless to society as they were. I had the good fortune to become acquainted very early with some characters of very high standing, and to feel the incessant wish that I could ever become what they were. Under temptations and difficulties, I would ask myself what would Dr Small, Mr Wythe, Peyton Randolph, do in this situation? What course in it will ensure me their approbation? I am certain that this mode of deciding on my conduct, tended more to its correctness than any reasoning powers I possessed. Knowing the even and dignified line they pursued, I could never doubt for a moment which of two courses would be in character for them. Whereas, seeking the same object through a process of moral reasoning, and with the jaundiced eye of youth, I should often have erred. From the circumstances of my position, I was often thrown into the society of horse-racers, card-players, fox hunters, scientific and professional men, and of dignified men; and many a time have I asked myself, in the enthusiastic moment of the death of a fox, the victory of a favorite horse, the issue of a question eloquently argued at the bar, or in the great council of the nation, well, which of these kinds of reputation should I prefer? That of a horse-jockey? a fox-hunter? an orator? or the honest advocate of my country's rights? Be assured, my dear Jefferson, that these little returns into ourselves, this self-catechising habit, is not trifling, nor useless, but leads to the prudent selection and steady pursuit of what is right.'

On the death of his father, Mr Jefferson was placed

under the instruction of the Rev Mr Maury, to complete the necessary preparation for college. He continued with Mr Maury two years; and then (1760) at the age of seventeen he entered the college of William and Mary, at which he was graduated, two years after, with the highest honors of the institution.

While in college he was more remarkable for solidity than sprightliness of intellect. His faculties were so even and well balanced, that no particular endowment appeared pre-eminent. His course was not marked by any of those eccentricities which often presage the rise of extraordinary genius; but by that constancy of pursuit, that inflexibility of purpose, that bold spirit of inquiry, and thirst for knowledge, which are the surer prognóstics of future greatness. His habits were those of patience and severe application, which, aided by a quick and vigorous apprehension, a talent of close and logical combination, and a retentive memory, laid the foundation sufficiently broad and strong for those extensive acquisitions which he subsequently made. The mathematics were his favorite study, and in them he particularly excelled. Nevertheless, he distinguished himself in all the branches of education embraced in the established course of that college. To his devotion to philosophy and science, he united an exquisite taste for the fine arts. In those of architecture, painting and sculpture, he made himself such an adept as to be afterwards accounted one of the best critics of the age. For music he had an uncommon passion; and his hours of relaxation were passed in exercising his skill upon the violin, for which he evinced an early and extravagant predilection. His fondness for the ancient classics strengthened continually with his strength, insomuch that it is said he scarcely passed a day, in after life, without reading a portion of them. The same remark is applicable to his passion for the mathematics. He became so well acquainted with both the great languages of antiquity as to read them with

ease; and so far perfected himself in French as to become familiar with it, which was, subsequently, of essential service to him in his diplomatic labors. He could read and speak the Italian language, and had a competent knowledge of the Spanish. He also made himself master of the Anglo-Saxon, as a root of the English, and an element in legal philology.'

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The acquaintances he happily formed in college probably determined the cast and direction of his ambition. These were the first characters in the whole province; among whom, he has placed on record the names of three individuals who were particularly instrumental in fixing his future destinies: viz. Dr Small, one of the professors in college, who made him his daily companion;' Gov. Fauquier, 'the ablest man who had ever filled that office, to whose acquaintance and familiar table' he was admitted; and George Wythe, his faithful and beloved mentor in youth, and his most affectionate friend through life.'

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'It was, says he, my great good fortune, and what probably fixed the destinies of my life, that Dr William Small, of Scotland, was then professor of mathematics, a man profound in most of the useful branches of science, with a happy talent of communication, correct and gentlemanly manners, and an enlarged and liberal mind. He most happily for me, became soon attached to me, and made me his daily companion when not engaged in the school; and from his conversation I got my first views of the expansion of science, and of the system of things in which we are placed. Fortunately, the philosophical chair became vacant soon after my arrival at college, and he was appointed to fill it per interim; and he was the first who ever gave, in that college, regular lectures in Ethics, Rhetoric, and Belles Lettres.'

To Governor Fauquier, with whom he was in habits of intimacy, is also ascribed a high character. With the exception of an unfortunate passion for gaming, he was every thing that could have been wished for by Vir

ginia, under the royal government.

With him,' continues Mr Jefferson, and at his table, Dr Small and Mr Wythe, his amici omnium horarum, and myself, formed a partie quarrée, and to the habitual conversations on these occasions, I owed much instruction.'

George Wythe was emphatically a second father to. young Jefferson. He was born about the year 1727, on the shores of the Chesapeake. His education had been neglected by his parents; and himself had led an idle and voluptuous life until the age of thirty; but by an extraordinary effort of self-recovery at that point of time, he overcame both the want and the waste of early advantages. He was one of the foremost of the Virginia patriots during the revolution; and one of the highest legal, legislative, and judicial characters which that State has furnished. He was early elected to the House of Delegates, then called the House of Burgesses, and continued in it until transferred to Congress, in 1775. He was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, of which he had been an eminent supporter. The same year he was appointed by the Legislature of Virginia, one of the celebrated committee to revise the laws of the State. In 1777, he was chosen Speaker of the House of Delegates; and the same year was appointed Chancellor of the State, an office which he held until his death, in 1806, a period of thirty years.

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'No man,' says Mr Jefferson, ever left behind him a character more venerated than George Wythe. His virtue was of the purest tint; his integrity inflexible, and his justice exact; of warm patriotism, and, devoted as he was to liberty, and the natural and equal rights of man, he might truly be called the Cato of his country, without the avarice of the Roman; for a more disinterested person never lived. Temperance and regularity in all his habits gave him general good health, and his unaffected modesty and suavity of manners endeared him to every one. He was of easy elocution, his language chaste, methodical in the arrangement of his matter,

learned and logical in the use of it, and of great urbanity in debate; not quick of apprehension, but, with a little time, profound in penetration, and sound in conclusion. In philosophy he was firm, and neither troubling, nor perhaps trusting, any one with his religious creed, he left the world to the conclusion, that that religion must be good which could produce a life of such exemplary virtue. His stature was of the middle size, well formed and proportioned, and the features of his face were manly, comely, and engaging. Such was George Wythe, the honor of his own, and the model of future times.'

Immediately on leaving college, Mr Jefferson engaged in the study of the Law, under the direction of Mr Wythe. Here, it is said, he became thoroughly acquainted with the civil and common law; exploring every topic, and fathoming every principle. Here also, he is said to have acquired that facility, neatness, and order in business, which gave him in effect, 'the hundred hands of Briareus.' With such a guide, and in such a school, all the rudiments of intellectual greatness could not fail of being stirred into action. The occasion was not long wanting to display the master passion of his nature in bold and prominent relief.

At the time when his faculties were strengthened by manhood, an incident occurred, which fixed them in their meditated sphere, and kindled his native ardor into a flame.

That was the celebrated speech of Patrick Henry, on the memorable resolutions of 1765, against the Stamp-Act. Young Jefferson listened to the bold, grand, and overwhelming eloquence' of the orator of nature; the effect of which seems never to have lost its sorcery over his mind. More than fifty years after

wards he reverts to it with all the vividness of the first impression. He appeared to me,' says he, 'to speak as Homer wrote.' The effect was indeed tremendous. It struck even that veteran and dignified assembly aghast. The resolutions were moved by Henry, and seconded