The Mathews journal. (Mathews C.H. [Court House]) 1903-1937, 1908-06-11
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Glancing through the vista of the
long vanished past, entwined as it
is with legendary lore, and filled
With shadowy shapes of generations
'ong gone to dust, one sees in fancy
forms and faces which have long
since faded from public view except
as they look down from ancestral
walls or appear as veritable appa-i-
lions out of musty records and old
letters.
In recalling the feeting memories
d the long ago we are prone to over
ook the sentimental phase of the dis
inguished personages of colonial
lays, and the romances of these great
men come as forgotten melodies. The
correspondence OF Thomas Jefferson,
carefully preserved for future gen
srations, has brought TO light much
II the youthful romance of .Virginia's
;alented statesman. Among his con-
:emporaries there is not one whose
love story is sweeter, purer or more
oeset with stony paths.
In March, 1860, he journeys from
his home at Shadwell to Williams
burg, the colonial capital, and the
seat cf the renowned college of Will
lam and Mary, there to enter upon
MS career as student. He is seven
.een years of age, a long, lank, rcd
headed youth of six feet. His eyes
are blue. and his long nose slightly
turned up. He is fond of dress
'crupulously neat in appearance and
Is attired in a suit of Mecklenburgh
silk. The old capital is the scene
ot much gaiety and festivity on his
arrival, and he enters the social life
Of the college and town with the
greatest enjoyment. He is fond of
riding, chess, dancing and all of the
sports and amusements of the day.
Notable among the pretty girls who
grace the assemblages, stroll through
the quiet street down lovers Jane"
to the wishing tree or out toward the
indian camp with the admiring col
lege youths, are Jennie Taliaferro,
famous for her sweet, voice and de-
lightful music on the spinnette;
Patsy cambridge, Sucky Potter.
Nancy Wilton, Fanny and Rebecca
Burwell and number of fair girls
celebrated for their charm and
beauty. Out of all this bevy of at
tractive femininity young Thomas JEFF
ferson singles out the lovely and fas-
cinating Rebecca Burwell for his most
ardent admiration. This noted belle
lives in handsome manor house on
the banks of the James, just seven
miles from Williamsburg. When she
Is not visiting her gay friends in town
the red-headed youth mounts his
saddle horse and covers the distance
to the home of his enamorata in
scarcely more than an hour. When
the evenings are balmy and moonlit
they sit on the wide veranda over
looking the river, or perhaps on the
terrace while he invokes the muses.
with his fiddle. During the following
two years OF his college life the two
are constantly meeting and he loses
no opportunity of giving her many
assurances. of his esteem" as he
quantity expresses himself. The
lovely Belinda presents him with a
watch-paper of her own cutting.
which he "esteems much more.
| though it were plain round one,
than the incest in the world cut by
| other hands"
In December, 1863, his course of
true love meets with a setback and
he philosophers thus:
rs there any such thing asAhap-
piness in this world? No, and "A for
admiration. l am sure the man who
ponders most, perfumes most, nm
broiders most, and talks most &An.