These are gone, and like the baseless fabric of a vision, leave not a trace behind. The records also, and other papers which furnished me with states of the several cases, having shared the same fate, I have no foundation whereon to set out anew. I have in vain attempted to recollect some of them; the defect sometimes of one, sometimes of more circumstances, rendering them so imperfect that I can make nothing of them. What am I to do then in April? The resolution which the Court has declared of admitting no continuances of causes seemed to be unalterable; yet it might surely be urged, that my case is too singular to admit of their being often troubled with the like excuse. Should it be asked, what are the misfortunes of an individual to a Court? The answer of a Court, as well as of an individual, if left to me, should be in the words of Terence, "homo sum; humani nil a me alienum puto”—but a truce with this disagreeable subject.

Am I never more to have a letter from you? Why the devil don't you write? But I suppose you are always in the moon, or some of the planetary regions. I mean you are there in idea; and unless you mend, you shall have my consent to be there de facto; at least, during the vacations of the Court and Assembly. If your spirit is too elevated to advert to sublunary subjects, depute my friend Mrs. Page to support your correspondences. Methinks I should, with wonderful pleasure, open and peruse a letter written by so fair, and (what is better) so friendly hands. If thinking much of you would entitle me to the civility of a letter, I assure you I merit a very long one. If this conflagration, by which I am burned out of a home, had come before I had advanced so far in preparing another, I do not know but I might have cherished some treasonable thoughts of leaving these my native hills; indeed I should be much happier were I nearer to Rosewell and Severn hills-however, the Gods, I fancy, were apprehensive that if we were placed together, we should pull down the moon, or play some such devilish prank with their works. I reflect often with pleasure on the philosophical evenings I passed at Rosewell in my last visits there. I was always fond of philosophy, even in its drier forms; but

from a ruby lip, it comes with charms irresistible. Such a feast of sentiment must exhilarate and lengthen life, at least as much as the feast of the sensualist shortens it-in a word, I prize it so highly, that, if you will at any time collect the same Belle Assemblée, on giving me three days previous notice, I shall certainly repair to my place as a member of it. Should it not happen before I come down, I will carry Sally Nicholas in the green chair to Newquarter, where your periagua (how the

should I spell that word?) will meet us, automaton-like, of its own accord. You know I had a wagon which moved itself -cannot we construct a boat then which shall row itself? Amicus noster, Fons,* quo modo agit, et quid agit? You may be all dead for any thing we can tell here. I expect he will follow the good old rule of driving one passion out by letting another in. Clavum clavo pangere was your advice to me on a similar occasion. I hope you will watch his immersion as narrowly as if he were one of Jupiter's satellites; and give me immediate notice, that I may prepare a dish of advice. I do not mean, Madam, to advise him against it. On the contrary, I am become an advocate for the passion; for I too am cœlo tactus, Currust bene se habet. He speaks, thinks, and dreams of nothing but his young son. This friend of ours, Page, in a very small house, with a table, half a dozen chairs, and one or two servants, is the happiest man in the universe. Every incident in life he so takes as to render it a source of pleasure. With as much benevolence as the heart of man will hold, but with an utter neglect of the costly apparatus of life, he exhibits to the world a new phenomenon in philosophy-the Samian sage in the tub of the cynic. Name me sometimes homunculo tuo, not forgetting little dic mendacium. I am determined not to enter on the next page, lest I should extend this nonsense to the bottom of that also. A dieu je vous commis, not doubting his care of you both. TH: JEFFERSON.

* Probably Mr. William Fontaine, of Hanover county.

By this term, he no doubt designated Mr. Dabney Carr, his brotherin-law.

VOL. I.-7

He had, some time before this accident, fortunately begun his. improvements on the summit of Monticello, a small mountain on the Shadwell tract, to which he has since given celebrity. To this place he removed, as soon as he had made one of its small pavilions habitable, and it continued his home for the rest of his life.

On returning to their respective counties, all the members. were re-elected, with the exception of the very few who had dissented from the majority. But when the Assembly was again convened, all feelings of irritation were greatly soothed by Lord Botetourt's assurances that the ministry had no intention of proposing any further taxes on America, and that they meant to advise the repeal of the duties upon glass, paper and colours. Although it would seem to have been a fair inference from this communication, that the duty on tea, of which nothing was said, was to be retained, yet, such conclusion either was not drawn by the Assembly, or was disregarded, as in their answer to the Governor, they express their satisfaction in emphatic and unqualified terms. But in the interval of an adjournment, their minds seem to have undergone a change, and when they again met, they expressed their dissatisfaction in the form of a petition to the King; renewed their non-importation agreement, as to particular articles of merchandise, and pledged themselves to continue it until the duty on tea was repealed.

In March, 1770, an affray had taken place in Boston between some of the citizens and a party of soldiers of one of the British regiments stationed there, in which the latter fired on the townsmen, killed three, and wounded several. This incident produced great sensation in the other colonies, and contributed to keep alive their jealousy and discontent; yet, from this time, to the year 1772, they made no other resistance to the attempt to draw a revenue from them than by the voluntary "Associations" that have been mentioned. But New York having rescinded its non-importation agreement, as to all articles except those subjected to duty, the example was followed in other places, and consequently, after the repeal of the other duties, those agreements were limited to the single article of tea.

51

CHAPTER III.

His Marriage. Committees of Correspondence. Boston Port Bill. Members of Assembly enter into articles of Association. Propose a General Congress. First Convention in Virginia. His vindication of the rights of America. Proceedings of the Convention-choose Deputies to a General Congress. Character of that Body. The Convention of Virginia assemble at Richmond. Its Proceedings. Mr. Jefferson chosen a Deputy to Congress. The Powder withdrawn from the Public Magazine by Lord Dunmore. The popular irritation it excited. General Assembly convened. Mr. Jefferson prepares a reply to Lord North's propositions. Collision between the Governor and House of Burgesses. Conduct of Lord Dunmore.

1772-1775.

On the 1st of January, 1772, Mr. Jefferson married Mrs. Martha Skelton, then twenty-three years of age, of whose attractions and gentle virtues tradition speaks most favourably. She was the widow of Bathurst Skelton, and the daughter of John Wayles, a lawyer of extensive practice. By this marriage Mr. Jefferson acquired a handsome fortune, as Mr. Wayles died in the following year, and divided a large estate among his three daughters.

In 1772, the political calm which seems to have supervened in the southern states after the partial repeal of the obnoxious duties, was interrupted by an occurrence in Rhode Island. A Court of Inquiry was there held, with power to send the accused to England for trial; and, on the meeting of the Virginia Assembly in the spring of 1773, this grievance of a sister colony was thought to merit their special notice. Mr. Jefferson seems to have been among the foremost in a cause in which all were zealous. The zeal, however, of the greater number, being more tempered with caution than suited the ardent tempers of a few

master spirits, these determined to meet at the Raleigh, to consult on the measures proper to be pursued. The party, consisting of Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, his brother Francis Lightfoot Lee, Dabney Carr, Thomas Jefferson, and two or three others, drew up resolutions, the chief object of which was to appoint a standing Committee of Correspondence and Inquiry, consisting of eleven persons, whose duty it should be to obtain early intelligence of the proceedings of Parliament respecting America; to maintain a correspondence with the colonies; to obtain information respecting the Court of Inquiry recently held in Rhode Island; and to communicate the result of their proceedings to the House of Burgesses. The Legislatures of the other colonies were invited to appoint persons to correspond with the committee. It thus appeared that the policy of selecting one of the weakest colonies for the experiment of an odious measure, would, by the identity of feeling which pervaded them all, not only be unavailing to the British government, but prove a further bond of union to the colonies.

Mr. Jefferson mentions in his memoir, that the consulting members proposed to him to move these resolutions in the house the next day; but that he declined the honour in favour of his brother-in-law, Dabney Carr, a new member, to whom he wished to afford so good an opportunity of making his talents known. The resolutions were accordingly moved by Mr. Carr on the 12th of March, supported by him with great ability, and unanimously adopted by the house. It may be fairly presumed, both from Mr. Jefferson's course and that of his associates on this occasion, that these resolutions were drawn, and had been first suggested, by himself. The members of this important committee were Peyton Randolph, Robert C. Nicholas, Richard Bland, Richard Henry Lee, Benjamin Harrison, Edmund Pendleton, Patrick Henry, Dudley Digges, Dabney Carr, Archibald Cary and Thomas Jefferson.

A generous emulation for the honour of promoting the cause of the Revolution has occasionally given rise to conflicting claims among the several states. Of this character are the rival pretensions of Massachusetts and Virginia to the merit of originating those powerful engines of colonial union and resistance