Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1871-08-16


in his grave before you can weigh its
counsels. Your affectionate and eX'
cellent father has requested that ]
should address to you something
which might possibly have a favora-
BILE influence on the course Of life you
have torun; and I, too, as a name
sake, feel an interest in that course
Few words will be necessary, with q
good disposition on your part. Adore
God. Reverence and cherish your pa.
rents. Love your neighbor as your
self, and your country more than
yourself. Be just. Be true. Muir
mur not at the ways of Providence
So shall the life into which you have
entered be the portal to one of eter-
nal and ineffable bliss; and if to the
dead it be permitted to care for the
things of this world, every action OF
your life will be under my regard
Farewell"
HIS PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS.
To another grandson we are indebt-
ed for little sketch worth more than
/ the dull details of a hundred common
place biographers
"My grandfather's manners were OF
that polished school of the colonial
government, so remarkable in its day
under no circumstances violatiEg 9
any of those minor conventional OBJ
servances which constitute the WELL
bred gentleman, courteous and con-
| siderate to all persons. On riding out
with him one day when lad, we met
a negro who bowed to US; he returned
the bowl did not. Turning to me
he asked:
"Do you permit negro to be more
of gentleman than yourself?n When
President, he was returning on horse
back from Charlottesville with COM
pany whom he had invited to dinner,
and who, all but one or two, were
riding ahead of him. On reaching a
stream, over which there was no
bridge, a man asked him to take him
up behind him and carry him across.
The gentlemen in the rear coming up
just as Mr.. Jefferson had dropped his
passenger and rode on, asked the man
how it happenen that he had per-
mitted the others to pass without ask
ing them. He replied, From their
looks I did not like to ask them the
old gentleman looked as if he would
do it, and I asked him. The. .strang-
er was somewhat surprised to learn
that he had ridden behind the Presi-
dent of the United States. Ed -'
''Mr. Jeferson's hair, when young,
was of reddish cast, growing sandy
as he advanced in years his eyes,
hazel. Dying in his eighty-fourth
year, he had not lost a tooth, nor had
one defective. His skin was thin,
peeling from his face at the slightest
exposure, giving it tettered appear
ance. The superficial veins were so
weak that a slight blow brought
extensive suffusiOns of bloOd-in ear
ly life, upon standing for any length
of time to write, bursting beneath the
skin. His stature was commanding,
six feet two inches; he was well form
ed, indicating strength, activity, and
robust health; his carriage erect; his
step firm and elastic, which he pre-
served to his death his temper, natu-
rally strong, was under perfect con-
troll; his courage, cool and impassive.
No one ever knew him to exhibit
trepidatiOn. His moral courage was
of the highest order-his will firm and
infiexable. A bold and fearless rider.
you saw at a glance from his easy and
confident seat that he was master Of
his steed, which was usually the fine
blood horses of Virginia. The only
impatience he eyer exhibited was
with his horse, which he subdued to
his will by fearless application of
the whip on the slightest manifesta-
ton of restiveness. He retained to
the last has fondness for riding on
horseback; he rode within three weeks
of his death, when, from disease, de-
bility and age he mounted with diff
Guilty. He was particularly fond of
solitary rides and rlusiug. and said
that the presence of a servant annoy
ed him. His habits were regular and
systematic. He was miser of his time
rose always at dawn, wrote and read
until breakfast, breakfasted early and
dined from three to four; retired to his
room at nine, and to bed at ten or elev- |
en-. He said in his last illness that the |
sun had not caught him in bed for fifty |
years. He always made his own fire. |
He drank water but once day, q |
single glass, when he returned from |
his ride. He ate heartily and much |
food, preferring French |
cookery because it made the meets /
more tender. He never drank ardent |
spirits or strong wines. Such was his /
aversion to the former that when, in
his last illness, his physician desired
him TO use brandy as an astringment, |
he could not induce him to take it
strong enough"
The following interesting particu-
lars we extract from the correspond
ence of one Of Jefferson's granddaugh-
lers:
"Books were at all times his chosen
and his acquaintance
with many languages gave him great 1
power OF selection. BE read Home,
Virgil, Dante, Corneille, Cervantes,
Is he read Shakespeare and Milton
In his youth he had loved poetry, but
1y the time 1 was old enough to OBJ
Jerve, he had lost his taste for it, ex-
,ept for Homer and the great Atheni-
IN tragics, which he continued to the
asst to enjoy.
de loved farming, gardening, the
ields, the orchard and his asparagus
BED. Every day he rode through his
and walked in his garden.
IN the cultivation of the last he took
,reat pleasure OF flowers, too, he
vas very fond. One Of my earliest
'ecollections is of the attention he
laid to his flower beds. He kept up
! correspondence with persons in the
arge cities, particularly, I think, in
Philadelphia, for the purpose Of re-
.eiving supplies Of roots and seeds,
10Th for his kitchen and flower gar
len. I remember well when he first
to Monticello, how he imme-
lately began to prepare new beds for
lis flowers-having them laid off on
he lawn and under the windows
About o'clock my grandfath-
+ rode out, and was absent perhaps
wo hours when he returned to pre-
,are for his dinner, which was about
lalf-past three O'Clock. He sat some
ime at the table, and after dinner
for q while to his room, from
which ne emerged before sunset to
walk on the terrace or lawn, to see
lis grandchildren run races, or to
onverse with his family and friends.
The evenings, after candle-light, he
,assed with US till about ten o'clock.
lie had his own chair and his own
andle, little apart from the rest,
where he sat reading, If there were no
-uests to require his attention; but
ften laying his book on a little round
able, or on his knee, while he talked
With my mother, the elder members
# the family, or any child old enough
o make one OF the family party.
49,, n, rorr~y, r,,ooH into .oonanoniOn-