ILLUSTRATIONS.
| PAGE | |
| Thomas Jefferson (From Portrait by Stuart) } | |
| In Front. | |
| Monticello (The Western View) } | |
| Jefferson's Seal | Title-Page. |
| Jefferson's Coat of Arms | On Cover. |
| Jefferson's Marriage License-Bond (Fac-simile) | [42] |
| Part of Draft of Declaration of Independence (Fac-simile) | [52] |
| Martha Jefferson Randolph (From Portrait by Sully) | [65] |
| Jefferson's Horse-Chair (Still preserved at Monticello) | [289] |
| Monticello (Plan of the First Floor) | [334] |
| The University of Virginia (In 1850) | [386] |
| Jefferson's Grave (Near Monticello) | [432] |
THE
DOMESTIC LIFE OF JEFFERSON.
[CHAPTER I.]
Jefferson's Birthplace.—Sketch of his early Life.—Character of his Parents.—His Grandfather, Isham Randolph.—Peter Jefferson's Friendship for William Randolph.—Randolph dies, and leaves his young Son to the Guardianship of Jefferson.—His faithful Discharge of the Trust.—Thomas Jefferson's earliest Recollections.—His Father's Hospitality.—First Acquaintance with Indians.—Life of the early Settlers of Virginia: its Ease and Leisure.—Expense of Thomas Jefferson's early Education.—Death of his Father.—Perils of his Situation.—Letter to his Guardian.—Goes to William and Mary College.—Extract from his Memoir.—Sketch of Fauquier.—Of Wythe.
On a long, gently sloping hill five miles east of Charlottesville, Virginia, the traveller, passing along the county road of Albemarle, has pointed out to him the spot where Thomas Jefferson was born, April 13th, 1743. A few aged locust-trees are still left to mark the place, and two or three sycamores stretch out their long majestic arms over the greensward beneath, once the scene of young Jefferson's boyish games, but now a silent pasture, where cattle and sheep browse, undisturbed by the proximity of any dwelling. The trees are all that are left of an avenue planted by him on his twenty-first birthday, and, as such, are objects of peculiar interest to those who love to dwell upon the associations of the past.
The situation is one well suited for a family mansion—offering from its site a landscape view rarely surpassed. To the south are seen the picturesque valley and banks of the Rivanna, with an extensive, peaceful-looking horizon view, lying like a sleeping beauty, in the east; while long rolling hills, occasionally rising into mountain ranges until at last they are all lost in the gracefully-sweeping profile of the Blue Ridge, stretch westward, and the thickly-wooded Southwest Mountains, with the highly-cultivated fields and valleys intervening, close the scene on the north, and present landscapes whose exquisite enchantment must ever charm the beholder.
A brief sketch of Jefferson's family and early life is given in the following quotation from his Memoir, written by himself: