Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1856-11-21

OF tie DOCK. lntso possess peculiar luteieet !"
giuians.
In 1921, Mr. Webster visited Thomas Jefferson a
his home in Virginia. He wrote al the time a descrip
lion Of the e1' President, and kept notes OF ms con
v~ersation, Of which We give tho following specimens
THOMAS JEFFERSON DESCRIBED BY DAN
TEL WEBSTER.
Mr.. Jefferson is now between eighty.uue and elsh
ty two, above six feet high, of an ample, long trans
rather thin and spare. His head, which is not peecu
liar in its shape, is set rather forward on bis shoulders
and his neck being long, there is, when he IS Walk
ing or conversing, an habitual protrusion OF It. IL
still well covered with hair, which, having been one
red, aud now turning gray, il Of all indIStlnct sahu
color. :,
His eyes are small, very light, and now neither bril-
liant nor striking. His chin is rather long, but NJ
pointed. Hi nose small, regular in it's outline, an
the nostrils a little elevated. His mouth 10 well form
ed, and still filled with teeth; il is strongly compressed
bearing an expression Of c~onteutment and beneVo
leuce. His complexion, formerly light and ireckied
now bears the marks of age, and cutsneous affection
His limbs are uncommonly long; his hands and lee
very large, and his wrists of On extraordinary Size
His walk is not precise and military but easy ant
swinging. He stoops a little, not 80 much from ag'
as from natural formation. When sitting he appear
short, partly from a rather loupging habit OF sitting
aud partly from the disproportionate length OF Ill
limbs.
His dress, when in the house, is a gray surtout coat
kerse, mere stuff waistcoat, with an under one facet
with some material of a dingy red. His pantaloonI
are very long and loose, and Of the same color as h'
coat. His stockings are wooden, either white or gray
and his shoes of the kind that bear his name. lin
whole dress il very much neglected, but not slovenly
He wears q common round hat. His dress, when or
horseback, is d gray straight. bodied coat, and q spen'
Ger of the same material. both fastened with large
pearl buttons. When we first saw him, he was riding
aud, in addition 10 the above articlrs OF apparel, wore
round his throat a kuit white wollen tippet, in the
! place OF a cravat, and black velvet CATERS under hit
pantaloous. His general appearance Indicates an ex
traordinary degree Of health, vivacity aud Spirit
His sight is still good, for he needs glasses only in the
evening. His hearing is generally good, but Il mum
! Der of voices in animated conversation confuse it.
MI. Jefferson rises in the morning as soon as ht
oan see the hands of his clock, which IS directly op
pusite his bed. and examines his thermometer iminu
diately, as he keeps q regular meteorological diary
He employs himself chiefly in writing till breakfast
which ia at nine. From that time till dinner he is il
his library, excepting that in fair weather he rides or
horseback from seven to fourteen miles. Dimes al
four, returns to the drawing room at six, when coffee
il brought in. and passes the evening till nine in con
vers8tiou. His habit of retiring at that hour is SC
strong, that. it has become essential to his health and
comfort. His diet is simple, but he seems restrsined
only by his taste. His breakfast is tea and coffee
bread always fresh from the oven, of which he doer
not seem afraid, with sometimes a eight accompanI'
ment of cold meat. He enjoys his dinner we'll, taking
with his meat n large proportion Of vegetables. He
has a strong preference for the wines OF the Cont
nent. Of which he has many sorts OF excellent quality
having been more than commonly successful in lie
mode of importing and preserving them. Among
others we found the following, which are very rare in
this country, and apparently not at all injured by
transportation LEdnau, Muscat, SamIan, anC
Banchette de Limou1. Dinner is served in bal!
Yirsinian, half French style, in good taste and abun'
dance. No wine is put on the table till the cloth ii
removed.
In conversation, Mr.. Jefferson ia easy and natural
and apparently not ambitious it is not loud, as chal
longing general attention, but usually addressed tc
the person next him. The topics, when not selected
TO suit the character and feelings Of his auditor, are
those subjects with which his mind seems particularly
occupied; and these, at present, may BE- said 10 bt
science and letters, and especially the University o
Virginia, which is coming into existence almost en-
tirely from his e%Iertions, and will rise, II Is to be
hoped, to usefulness and credit under his continued
care. When We were with him, his favorite subjects
were Greek and Anglo-SaKon, historical recollecti"ns
of the times and events Of the Revolution, and of biz
residence in France from 1881 to 1889.
Mr.. JEFFERSON'S ACCOUNT OF PATRICK
HENRY.
Patrick Henry was originally a bar.keeper. lie
married very young, and going into same bust
n.ss, on his own account, was q bankrupt before the
year was out. When ! was about the age Of fifteen,
| LETT the school here, to ~ to the college at Williams
burg. | stopped a few days at a friend 2 in the c0un.
~ of Louisa. There | first saw and became ac.
quainted with Patrick Henry. Having spent the
SuIlblluhs uOIlud(o lueIoi 1 pluCeeueu W w lIllhiIis-
burg. Some question arose about my admission, rs
my preparatory studies had not been pursued at the
school connected with that institution. This delayed
my admission shout a fortnight, at which time Henry
appeared in Williamsburg, and applied for a license
10 practice law, having commenced the study of it at
or subsequently, to the lime OF my meeting him in
Louisa. There were four examiners, Wythe, Pen.
dieton, Peyton Randolph and John Randolph. Wyihe
and Pendleton at once rejected his application. The
two Raudolpha, by his importantly, were prevailed
t,Nap o, .tIt yl. .apa. nNl luHi,. 90 tI,a,s
signatures, he applied again 10 Pend!eton, and after
much entresty and many prorpis.a of future s,udv.
succeeded in obtaining his. He then turned GU, fnr
a prac;icing law yer. The first case which brought
him into notice was Il contested election, III which l;
appeared as counsel before a committee of the House
of Burgesses. His second was the Parsons cause,
already well known. These end similar efforts soon
obtained for him so much reputation, that he was
elected u Member Of the Legislature. He was rs
we'll suited to the times az any man ever was, and il Is
not now easy to cay what we should have done without
Patrick Henry. He was lar before all in maintaining
the spirit of The Revolution. His influence was most
extensive with tie members from The upper counties,
and his boldness and their votes overawed and con
trolled the more cool or the more tlmid aristocratic
gentlemen Of the lower part of the State. His eo-
Guence was peculiar, il indeed it should be called eo
| 1uence; for it was impressive and sublime, beyond
what can 10 imagined. Although It WAS difficult
when he Ind spoken TO tell what he had said, yet
| while he wns speaking, il always seemed directly to
the point. When ne had spoken in opposition 10 my
opinion, had produced a great effect, and ] myself
been highly delighted and moved, l have asked my
self when he ceased: "What the devil has he said =
T could never answer the inquiry. His person was
of full size, and his manner and voice free and man.
w.. His utterance neither very fast nor very slow
| His speeches generally short, from a quarter to O hall
an hour. His pronunciation WAS vulgar and vicious,
but il was forgotten while he was speaking.
lie was a man Of very little knowledge OF any sort;
h, read nothing, and had no books. Returning one
November from Albemarle court, he borrowed Of me
| Hume's Essays. in two volumes, saying he should
have leisure in the winter for reading. ln the spring
he returned them, and declared he had not been able
n 90 further than twenty or thirty pages IN the trst
volume. lie wrote almost nothing-he could not
write. The resolutions of 10, which have been as
| cribed to him, have by many been supposed to have
been written by Mr.. johnson, who acted as his second
on that occasion; but il they were written by Henry
| himself, they are not such as to prove any power OF
composition. Neither in polltics nor IN his profession
was he q man Of business he was a man Tor debate
only. His biographer says TINT no read Plutarch
every year. | doubt whether he ever read a volume
of it in his lif'. His temper was excellent, and he
generally obsef we'd decoruln in debate. On one or
two occasions | have seen him angry, and his anger
was terrible those who witnessed it were not d1'
| posed TO rouse it again. In his opinions he was yield
ing and practicable, and not disposed to differ from
his friends. In private conversation he was agreeable
| and facetiuus, and, while in genteel society, he appear
ed to understand all the decencies and proprletles OF II;
butt in his heart, he preferred low society," and sought u
as often as possible. He would hunt in the pine WOODS
of Fiuvanna, with overseers, and people OF thai De-
~scriptiun, living in a camp for a fortnight al q time
without a change of raiment. | have often been as
tonished at his command Of proper language; how he
attained a knowledge Of it never could find out, as
he read 30 little and converted little with educaied
men. After all, il must he allowed that he was our
leader in the measures of the Revolution, in Virginia.
In that respect more was due TO him than TO any other
person. Ii we had not had him we should probably
hive got OH pretty well, az you did, by a number Oh
man of nearly equal talents, but he left us all far be-
hind. His biographer sent the sheets OF his work to
Inc IA they were printed, and at the end asked Tor my
opinion. I told him it would be a question hereafter
whether his work should be placed on the shelf OF his
tory or of pauegyric. 1t is a poor book, written IN
bad taste, and gives 80 imperfect an idea OF Patrick
Henry, thai. il seems intended to show of the writer
more than the subject Of the work.
MR.. JEFFERSON'S OPINION OF ANDREW
JACKSON.
feel much alarmed ut the prospect of seeing Gen.
IooLs,p praSidpnt. fle 10 opp Of the mos, unfit men