sessed great fortitude of mind as well as personal courage; and his command of temper was such, that his oldest and most intimate friends never recollected to have seen him in a passion. His manners, though dignified, were simple and unaffected, and his hospitality was so unbounded, that all found at his house a ready welcome. In conversation he was fluent, eloquent, and enthusiastic; and his language was remarkably pure and correct. He was a finished classical scholar, and in his writings is discernible the care with which he formed his style upon the best models of antiquity. His style is pleasing and attractive, seeking rather to persuade by the beauty and refinement of manner, than to convince by the mere force of argument. Of Mr. Jefferson's Notes on Virginia, we have already spoken; another work published by him, while he was Vice-President, and, consequently, presiding officer of the Senate, was a Manual of Parliamentary Practice, which has since been a standard work on that subject, and probably contains the best collection of rules for forensic debate in existence. But for Mr. Jefferson's most numerous and most important productions, we must go to the archives of the government, and there in the state papers, and reports made by him, we shall find the evidence of his talents, industry, and learning. His correspondence was very extensive, embracing not only the great men of his own country, but also the most distinguished philosophers and statesmen of France. Since his death, four volumes of his writings, edited by his grandson, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, have been published, containing a short menoir of his life, to the time of his appointment to be Secretary of State, written by himself, in 1821, and also a large collection of his letters, to various persons, and on various subjects.

It is neither our intention or wish, to speak of the religious opinions of Mr. Jefferson. Discarding as we do, all political prejudices, we have heretofore been enabled to speak of him in terms of approbation, and that too, as we trust, without any sacrifice of truth. This could not be the case, however, should we now enter upon the consideration of his religious sentiments. As a mere moralist, he must ever be esteemed for opinions and doctrines, which would have done honor to the purest sages of Greece and Rome, and which certainly far surpassed the theories and the practice of his masters in religion, the sceptics of the French school.

But little now remains to be said of Mr. Jefferson; his whole life was passed before the public eye, and his actions speak his character better than any words can express them. Whatever may be the judgment of posterity, in regard to Mr. Jefferson's administration, it is as the bold and fearless patriot of the revolution,-as the framer of the Declaration of American Independence, that he will be best known. Posterity may be divided, as the present age has been, concerning the wisdom and the expediency of his measures, while he occupied the chair of the Chief Magistrate, for those measures were of such doubtful tendency, that the best and wisest might differ concerning them; but as one of the Congress of '76, as one of the firmest opposers of British aggressions, as one of the most able statesmen of the revolution, his conduct has been stamped by the approbation of a whole nation, and a judgment rendered, that no future age will ever reverse. The latter part of Mr. Jefferson's life also

presents a most pleasing picture. It is delightful to see a man of such vast acquisitions, and such varied powers, after a life spent in the service of his country, and in the fulfilment of the highest duties, calmly retire from public stations, to spend his declining years, not in inactivity and lethargy, but in untiring exertions for the advancement of the human race; and instead of sinking into a second childhood, by constant exercise maintaining all the faculties of his mind unimpaired to the last. We hardly know which is the more interesting object-Thomas Jefferson, as the young and ardent patriot of '76, or as the silver haired philosopher of Monticello. Or if the former is the more interesting, surely the latter is the more pleasing. When we look upon the former, while we admire his noble spirit, and his holy daring, we yet tremble for his safety, as we think of the rocks and quicksands by which he is surrounded, and of which the least may make shipwreck of him forever. But when we contemplate the latter, in all the serenity of an honored old age, resting from his labors, and seeking in the cultivation of philosophy the highest pleasures of the intellect, and the means still to benefit mankind-we feel an emotion of thankfulness rising in our hearts, at the thought that all those dangers we so much dreaded have been passed; that the course so prosperously commenced, has been gloriously pursued, and the long wished for haven at last obtained. The admiration we involuntarily feel for the former, is more than equalled by the veneration we willingly offer to the latter.

JAMES MADISON.

MATERIALS for the biography of a public man are to be found, for the most part, in the history of the great events in which he was an actor. In our own country this is particularly the case. It is, perhaps, hardly to be regretted that the private life of our distinguished men is in some measure sacred from the offensive notoriety which is the lot and the penalty of eminence in other countries. The numerous dependants on the periodical press of Great Britain deem themselves privileged to annoy men of any reputation, by what they term sketches of their lives. They pick up garbled and inaccurate stories, invent one or two leading incidents, and, to complete the biography, fasten upon its unfortunate subject a few of the most popular anecdotes that have been current for the last century. These accounts circulate for the truth, and a man is obliged to see himself the hero of battles which he never fought, and an actor upon boards which he never trod.

But there is some satisfaction in reading even an incorrect, but well written account of a great man's life, for the same reason that there is pleasure in looking on an indifferent likeness, which is well painted and handsomely framed. Taste is pleased, if curiosity is not satisfied. A void is filled; we have learned something, and if that something is not accurate, we still have high authority for believing that all history is little better than fable.

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Of the early life of Mr. Madison we have been able to collect no authentic anecdotes. His later years were passed in the most entire seclusion, as he lived in the strictest privacy at his seat in Montpelier, Virginia. He was born in the year 1750, and took an early and efficient interest in the affairs of our infant republic. Sound principles on subjects of public and political interest seem to have been instilled into him from his birth. state what little we know of his private life, before commencing the narration of that part of his career which is the property of his country, Mr. Madison, in 1794, was married to Mrs. Todd, in Philadelphia, widow of John Todd, Esq. a practitioner of the Pennsylvania bar. Her maiden name was Paine, and her father, who was of the Society of Friends, emigrated from Virginia to Philadelphia. She was eighteen years of age at the time of her first marriage, and as her husband died in less than three years afterwards, she was still quite young when she became the wife of Mr. Madison. Her manners were agreeable, her deportment mild and dignified, and her conversation fascinating. With the wish to please, and a willingness to be pleased, she was popular in her circle of associates; and when her second husband was called to his high office, she discharged, with a dignified affability, those polite attentions which were so constantly required of her. She exerted a woman's tender influ

ence to soften the political asperities of the time by the amenities of social life; and strove to hide the thorns of public controversy under the roses of private cheerfulness. It has been said, to her great praise, that in her highest fortune she never neglected her early friends, but extended to all who approached her, those attentions which please the exalted and inspire the humble with confidence.

The first knowledge that we have of Mr. Madison finds him, at an early age, a very active member of the Continental Congress. To him, more than to any one living, the people of the United States are indebted for the constitution under which they live. He was a leader in the convention that framed the Federal Constitution, and the most influential of its supporters in the Virginia Convention which adopted it. He wrote the greatest part of the Federalist; was the author of the Virginia Resolutions of 1798, and the Virginia Report of 1799, and for sixteen years was charged with the administration of the government, as the incumbent successively of the second and first offices in the Executive.

The first subject that pressed upon the attention of Congress, at the close of the revolution, was the debt incurred during the war, and which it was imperative upon them either to fund or pay. The national commerce had been annihilated. To revive it was the first step towards reviving prosperity. But as a preliminary to any commercial arrangements or treaties with foreign powers, a settlement of their own debt was indispensable. In this first step, however, Congress immediately felt its atter inefficiency, its incapability of even moving with its actual powers. To the impost laid on during the war, divers states had refused acquiescence. How was that or any tax to be now enforced? Nevertheless a committee was appointed. It drew up a report, which was soon issued, as an address to the several states, praying them to make provision for the national creditors. The address was received with the same spirit which had endangered the commonwealth so lately, by holding out against the claims of the veterans of the war; and as Congress had resolved not to raise money from one state till all had consented to the measure, each waited for its neighbor to commence, and each excused itself by its neighbor's backwardness.

At the same time Congress felt its want of authority marring the national interests upon another point. Envoys had been despatched to Europe for the purpose of concluding commercial treaties. England, the first applied to, held off, declaring that Congress had not power to conclude one. In vain did Mr. Jefferson argue that the American government had in reality sufficient authority. If it had, it was certainly not very clear; and the British ministry, well pleased at an opportunity to disappoint the United States envoys, and to flout the inexperience of their government, held

firm in its denial.

The states were in the mean time dispensed from coming to a determination respecting raising a general fund, as the envoys of Congress had found it necessary to meet pressing demands by a loan. Individuals still smarting from the losses of a war were very willing to throw forward, as it were, the burden of taxes to a future and more prosperous time.

They were disappointed in these selfish calculations. Prosperity came

not, nor promised to come. Commerce was not restored. England still kept up her prohibitions or high duties upon all the great exports of America; nor could France consent to receive them, notwithstanding her own inclination, and all the efforts of Jefferson. To England, and to some relaxation in that country's rigid prohibition, they were obliged to look; and this alone produced the consolidation of the Federal Govern

ment.

England had changed her policy. She had laid aside the sword; but she still carried on, what, to America, was as destructive,-a commercial war. She monopolized the fisheries, shut out the American ships from her West Indies, and essayed to take to herself the whole carrying trade of her late colonies. Jefferson and Adams labored in Europe to open markets for their countrymen. They concluded treaties with Portugal, with Sweden, with divers European powers. But shut out from the Mediterranean by the Barbary corsairs; from France, notwithstanding the amity of the countries, by the monopoly of tobacco and other causes; the only alternative left to America was to force England to be equitable. This, however, could not be done by the state legislatures; for if one admitted British ships, whilst the other excluded them, the union of the commonwealth was not only destroyed, but the object of exclusion defeated. Congress, in 1784, therefore, demanded powers to exclude generally the vessels of all countries not having treaties of commerce with America. Most of the states acceded to this request; but delays and difficulties intervened; some could not be brought to understand it. Ere it was accepted, the necessity of powers more extended and minute were felt, so that Congress made a fresh demand of being permitted to regulate the entire commerce of the republic.

To these commercial difficulties were added political causes of quarrel between England and America. Notwithstanding the express stipulation of the treaty, the British creditors remained still unpaid; and the ministry refused, in consequence, to evacuate the military posts within the northwestern frontier of the United States. The fault lay with divers states of the Union, who resisted carrying into effect the honest stipulation of Congress.

The progress of the United States was thus effectually arrested. It was in vain that Congress or its leading members discussed or passed votes for forming treaties, raising funds, or regulating commerce. It was vain to devise remedies without the power of applying them. Every American of eminence and experience saw the necessity of giving more authority to Congress, of forming a federal head, and giving, in fact, an efficient government to the country.

The foremost in their opinions were the Virginians. Seeing the weakness of Congress, this state had early united with Maryland in a prohibitory system. Proving the good effect of this, they had besought the other states to send commissioners to agree upon making it general. This proposition, made by Mr. Madison, produced what was called a convention, or a meeting of delegates from five states, at Annapolis, in September, 1786. The assembly soon perceived that unity upon commercial regulations must depend upon the political and fundamental unity of the