THE LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. T SCHOOL AND COLLEGE DAYS. HOMAS JEFFERSON was born on the thirteenth day of April, 1743, at the homestead of Shadwell, near the city of Charlottesville, Albemarle County, Virginia. His father, Peter Jefferson, was a farmer, prosperous, strong in body, intellectual, and capable of public spirit. His mother was Jane Randolph, a refined and accomplished daughter of Isham Randolph, a worthy representative of the powerful family whose name he bore. Thus from both father and mother Jefferson was fortunate in his personal inheritance: big bones, well-knit muscles, a quick understanding, gentle instincts, and high social position. The education of young Jefferson was attended by such happy circumstances that in after life he was constrained to say that, if he were called upon to choose between the large estate left him by his father and the education given to him, he would without hesitation choose the latter. At the age of five he was sent to school at Tuckahoe, a temporary residence of his family, where he learned the rudiments of English and was practiced in psalms and in the prayers and collects of the liturgy of the Episcopal Church. At the age of nine he was placed under the care of the Rev. William Douglas, a Scotchman, from whom he learned the beginnings of Latin, Greek, French, and mathematics. With this master he remained until his fourteenth year, when death suddenly took away his father. He now left the school of the Scotchman, carrying with him memories of "mouldy pies and excellent instruction," and entered one kept 3 4 by the Rev. James Maury, a Huguenot, a man of broad and independent mind, and a correct classical scholar. For two years he remained with this masterful tutor, working hard at his books during school time, and during holidays and vacations taking abundant exercise, hunting the mountains for their plentiful game and joining heartily in all the sports of boyhood. In 1760, Jefferson of his own will and desire, began his studies at the College of William and Mary, situated at Williamsburg, the capital of the colonial government of Virginia. Williamsburg was an unpaved, hap-hazard village of about a thousand inhabitants. Small as the little capital may appear to us by comparison, it was nevertheless the center of much social and civic activity. While the legislature and Great Court were in session, prominent personages from all parts of the colony resided there with their families, and the winter season was passed in a round of pleasures and imposing functions. By reason of his connection with the Randolphs, Jefferson had easy access to the aristocratic set. Without the Randolphs he would probably have been long excluded from the fashionable circle, for he was a great, raw-boned, freckled-face, sandy-haired boy, awkward and shy. While he did not disdain the amusements of society, he did not forget the purpose for which he was spending his time and money in Williamsburg. William and Mary was a poor specimen of a college in those days. It was poorly governed and poorly equipped, and its teachers were all that teachers should not be. There was one exception to this indictment. "It was my great good fortune," said Jefferson in speaking of his college days, "and what probably fixed the destinies of my life, that Dr. William Small of Scotland was then professor of mathematics, a man profound in most of the useful branches of science, with a happy talent of communication, correct and gentlemanly manners, and an enlarged and liberal mind. He, most happily for me, became soon attached to me and made me his daily companion, when not engaged in the school; and from his conversation I got my first views of the expansion of science and of the system of things in which we are placed." Dr. Small was a skeptic as well as a mathematician, and it was from him that Jefferson learned his first lessons in agnosticism.* By the professor the student was introduced to Francis Fauquier, the Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia-the ablest man, in Jefferson's opinion, that ever held that position. Fauquier was a man of the world, an imitator of the manners and a disciple of the philosophy of Chesterfield, a liberal host, and a thorough-going sportsman, both on the turf and at the table. Jefferson spent much time in the company of the governor, and learned many things that were to be avoided and much that was to be imitated. A third associate was George Wythe, a high-principled, scholarly lawyer, who has the honor of having been the law preceptor of Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall and Henry Clay. These four-Dr. Small, Governor Fauquier, George Wythe, and "Tom" Jefferson-were the acknowledged intellectual leaders of Williamsburg; and who shall say that such a coterie was not a university in itself? It proved to be a university to Jefferson. From Fauquier he learned manners, from Wythe the meaning of scholarship, and from Dr. Small the habit of thinking for himself. His mind thus awakened never relapsed into provincial slumber. The attainments of his friends stimulated him to an industry that knew no bounds. He sometimes studied fifteen hours a day. After two years of this sweet and wholesome intimacy, the circle was broken. Dr. Small returned to Great Britain, there to become famous. The heart of the college was now gone, and Jefferson left it to return to his home at Shadwell. He took with him a sound knowledge of French, Greek, Latin, and the higher mathematics, good health, and an open, inquisitive mind. Better than all, he took away with him good habits. He had refused to join in the governor's gaming, he had not partaken of his wine, and he had not learned to use tobacco. college morally sound. He left There was one thing the youth of seventeen had brought to Williamsburg that the youth of nineteen did not take away *See Religion, page 357; Christianity, page 152; Jesus, page 270. †See Habits of Jefferson, page 237. |