Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1856-11-24
EVENING STAR.
THE PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE OF
DANIEL WEBSTER.

dence OF Daniel webster Will be published by
Little, Brown a 20 OF Boston, in the middle
of next month. Among the interesting letters
embraced in the work is the following:
THOMAS JEFFERSON DESCRIBED BY DANIEL
| WEBSTER.
DECEMBER, 1924.
| Mr.. Jefferson is now between eighty-One and
eighty two, above six feet high, of an ample.
| long frame, rather thin and spare His head.
which is not peculiar in its shape, is set rather
| forward on his shoulders; and his neck being
| long, there is, when he is walking or con.
versing: an habitual prOtrusion of it. 1t is
| still well covered with hair, which, having
| been once red, and now turning gray, is of an
| indistinct sandy color.
His eyes are small, very light, and now
| neither brilliant nor striking. His chin is
rather long, but no. pointed. His nose small,
regular in its outline, and the nostrils little
| elevated. His mouth is well formed, and still
filled with teeth; it is strongly compressed,
| bearing an expression of contentment and be
nevolence. His complexion, formerly light
and freckled, now bears the marks of age and
| cutaneous affection His limbs are uncom-
monty long; his hands and feet very large
and his wrists of an extraordinary size His
walk is not precise and military, but easy and
| swinging. tie stOops little, not 80 much from
| age as from natural formation When sitting
ne appears short, partly from a rather loung-
| ing habit Of sitting, and partly from the dis
| propOrtionate length of his limbs
His dress, when in the house, is a gray sur
| tout coat, kerseymere stuff waistcOat, with an
under one faced with some material of dingy
| red. His pantaloons are very lOrg and loose
AMI Of the same color a. his coat. His stock
| ngs are woollen, either white or gray; and
| his shoes of the kind that bear his name His
whole dress is very much neglected. but not
slovenly lie wears Z common round hat
His dress, when on horseback, is a gray
straight-bOdicd coat, and a spencer of the
| same material, both fastened with large pearl
buttons. When we frat saw him. he was
riding; and, in addition to the above articles
| of apparel, wore round his throat knit white
| woOlien tippet, in the place Of 4 cravat, and
black velvet CATERS under his pantaloons
| Ills general appearance indicates an eXtraor-
dinary degree of health, vivacity and spirit
His sight il still good, for he needs glasses only
in tie evening. His hearing is generally good,
but a number Of voices in animated conVersa-
tion confuse it
Mr, Jefferson rises in the morning as soon
| IS he can sec the hands Of his clock, which is
! directly opposite his bed, and examines bis
| thermometer Immediately, as he keeps a reg
ular meteorological diary. lie employs him
self chiefly in writing till breakfast, which is
at nine. From that time till dinner he is in
bis library, excepting that in fair weather he
| rides on horseback from seven to fourteen
LuilCo- bIucS dl kOUE, IelUTHS 10 tue 0rdWlDG-
room at six, when coffee is brought in, and
passes the evening till nine in conversation
His habit of retiring at that hour is so strong
that 1t has become essential to his health and
comfort. His diet is simple, but he seems
restrained only by his taste His brea kfast is
tea and coffee, bread always fresh from the
oven, of which he does not seem afraid, with
| sometimes a slight accompaniment Of cold
| meat lie enjoys his dinner wei, taking with
his meat large proportion of vegetables He
has strong preference for the wines of the
Continent, Of which he has many sorts of ex-
| cellent quality, having been more than com
| monty successful in his 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 trans
pOrtation Ednau, Muscat, Samian, and
/ Dlanchette de LimOuX. Dinner is served in
| half Virginia, half French style, in good taste
| and abundance. No wine is put on the table
| till the cloth is removed
In conversation, Mr. Jefferson is easy and
| natural, and apparently not ambitious; it is
not loud, as challenging general attention, but
usually addressed to the person next to him
The topics, when not selected to suit the char
acter and feelings of his auditor, are those
| subjects with which his mind seems particu-
larry occupied; and these, at present, may be
said TO be science and letters, and especially
| the University Of Virginia, which is coming
tions, and will rise, it is to DO hoped, to use
fulness and credit under his continued care.
When we were with him him, his favorite sub
| jects were Greek and Anglo Saxon, historical
recollections of the times and events Of the
| Revolution, and Of his residence in France
| from 1884 to 1889.
| MR. JEFFERsON' s ACCOUNT OF PATRICK HENRY.
| Patrick Henry was originally bar keeper.
He was married very young, and going into
Il l.
| bankrupt before the year was out. When
| was about the age of fifteen L left the school
here to go to the college at Williamsburg. L
| stopped a few days at a friends in the county
| of Louisa There L first saw and became ac-
quainted with Patrick Henry. Having spent
| the Christmas holidays there, proceeded to
| Williamsburg. Some question arose about
my admission, as my preparatory studies had
| not been pursued at the school connected with
| that institution This delsyed my admission
| about fortnight, at which time Henry ap-
peared in Williamsburg and applied for a
| license to practice law, having commenced
1 the study of it at or subsequently TO the time
of my meeting him in Louisa. There were
/ four examiners, Wythe, PendletOn, Peyt0B
Randolph. and john Randolph. Wythe and
Pendleton at once rejected his apple alton.
The two RandOlphs, by his importantly, were
prevailed upon to iii the license; and, hav'
| ing obtained their signatures, he applied again
| to PendletOn, and after much eatreaty and
| many promises of future study, succeeded IL
obtaining his. he then turned out for prac
ticing lawyer. The first case which brought
| him into notice was a contested election, il
| which he appeared as counsel before COM
mittee Of the House of Burgesses. His secOnt
was the Parsons cause, already well known
| These and similar efforts soon obtained for hin
so much reputation that he was elected n mem
ber of the Legislature. lie was as well suite,
to the times as any member ever was, AMI !
Is not nov easy to say what We should have
done without Patrick Henry. lie was far be
lore all in maintaining the spirit Of the keyO
luton. His influence was most extensive witt
I the members from the upper counties, and hi
boldness and their votes overawed and con
| trOlled the more cool or the more tiaid aristo
cratic gentlemen of the lower part of th
State His eloquence was peculiar, if indee
it should be called eloquence; for it was iH
pressive and sublime, beyond what can b
imagined. Although it was difficult when b
had spoken to tell what he had said, ye
while he was speaking it always seemed
| rectly to the point When he had spoken