apt to be enticed from the course of methodical occupation by the attraction of new pursuits, or driven from it by the weariness or pain of the old.

We may conclude that, to some extent, this remark is applicable to the character of Mr. Wirt's mind. With an eye quick to discern beauty, whether in nature or art, with a teeming and active imagination, with a heart full of the charities of life, and with a keen zest for the delights of a frank companionship, it may be believed that neither his professional zeal, nor his hopes of future fame, were, at all times a match for these antagonists, nor potent enough to guard him against their seductions; that both his studies and his recreations were likely to seek their pleasures in that field where the poetry of life held an acknowledged sway over the severer, and we may even say, repulsive studies to which "the youth whom the law destines to a bright manhood" is compelled to devote his time.

He continued to practise at the bar of Culpepper court some one or two years with increasing success; in the meanwhile extending his acquaintance and business connections into the neighboring counties. In this circuit he included Albemarle county, a region of Virginia especially distinguished for eminent and highly cultivated men. The aspiring barrister here found many friends, whose influence in the control of his future life was of the most fortunate aspect.

CHAPTER V.

1794-1799.

ALBEMARLE friends.-dr. GILMER.—MR. JEFFERSON, MR. MADISON AND MR. MONROE. JAMES BARBOUR.-MARRIES Mildred gilMER. PEN PARK.-DR. GILMER'S LIBRARY.-HOSPITALITY OF THE COUNTRY.-DANGERS ΤΟ WHICH HE WAS EXPOSED.—CHARACTER OF THE BAR.-HIS POPULARITY AND FREE HABITS.-FRANCIS WALKER GILMER.-THOMAS W. GILMER, LATE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY.-DABNEY CARR AND HIS FAMILY.ANECDOTE OF BARBOUR AND WIRT-STATE OF FLU.-DEATH OF DR. GILMER.-ROSE HILL.-LETTER TO Carr.

AMONGST the friends whom Wirt found at this period, in Albemarle, was Doctor George Gilmer. This gentleman, the descendant of a Scotch family which had emigrated at an early date to Virginia, had been prepared for his profession in Edinburg, and was at this time an eminent physician, in the enjoyment of a large practice. He lived at Pen Park, his family seat, in the neighborhood of Charlottesville. He had been noted as a zealous and effective friend of the Revolution-had borne arms in the cause; was a man of genius, of accomplished education, wit and refinement. Living in the immediate neighborhood of Mr. Jefferson, and within a day's ride of Mr. Monroe and Mr. Madison, it was his singular good fortune to enjoy the intimate acquaintance and friendship of these distinguished men.

His family circle furnished attractions both to old and young. His children drew around them many cheerful and happy companions, and his own accomplishments, as a man of letters and observation, brought him the best society of the time. An elegant hospitality prevailed in his household; choice books were found in his library; instructive and agreeable conversation enlivened his fireside. Pen Park exhibited just such a combination of rare and pleasant appurtenances as are likely to make the best impressions upon the mind of an ingenuous and ambitious youth, and to inspire him with zeal in the cultivation of virtue and knowledge.

Of the children who, at this date, graced the family board, there were two with whom these memoirs have an intimate connection. The first was Mildred, the eldest of the family; the other was Francis Walker, the youngest born of a numerous progeny. The daughter was richly gifted with the gentle attractions of her sex, intellectual, kind, cheerful, and noted for her good sense and just observation. She was then just growing into womanhood, with all the joys of that happy period radiant in her face. The imaginative and susceptible young barrister found a fairy land in this romantic spot, and a spell in the eye and tongue of the maiden which charmed too wisely to be broken. The father's regard for him opened the way to a closer alliance, and it was not long before he took his place in the family as a cherished son-in-law.

The marriage was solemnized at Pen Park, on the 28th of May, 1795. From this period Wirt's residence was established with the family of his wife. His practice and reputation increased. Amongst several lawyers, then and afterwards well known to fame in that region, he is said to have stood on the same platform with the best. Of these it would be sufficient to mention the names of Barbour Cabell,-now the President of the Court of Appeals of Virginia,-Carr, Davenport, Austin, Stuart and others, who will be recognised, by those who are familiar with the bar of Virginia, as gentlemen who enjoyed a well deserved repute for professional worth, and some of whom afterwards attained to an enviable celebrity throughout the Union.

From this date we may observe the steady advancement of the fortunes of the subject of this narrative-shaded now and then, by a temporary cloud, but nevertheless forced onward by the innate strength of his character and the impetus of brilliant talents and useful attainments. Doctor Gilmer became warmly attached to him; brought him into intimate acquaintance with the illustrious persons to whom I have referred; whetted his appetite for elegant literature, by the habitual display of his own stores gathered in the diligent study of it; gave fresh vigor to his taste and fancy, by directing his studies to the best books. The young student was charmed to find such happy access as the Doctor's library afforded, to those fountains of English thought and speech which poured their streams through the pages of Hooker, Boyle, Locke,

Barrow, South, Bacon and Milton. From these he drank deep draughts, and filled his mind with that reverence for the old literature of our native tongue, which was ever after noted as one of the most determinate characteristics of his mind. His acquaintance with Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Madison amd Mr. Monroe, at this date, before either of them had been elevated to that high honor which each subsequently attained, led, in due time, to confidential esteem and friendship, which was variously manifested throughout the lives of the parties. Such a fact as this may be interpreted to furnish the strongest evidence of the personal merit of the individual to whom it relates.

Happy, most auspicious, was it for him that he was thrown thus early under the guidance of so kind and competent a friend as the worthy proprietor of Pen Park. Fortune confers no richer boon upon generous and aspiring youth than when she gives him wise and affectionate friends. To win an honored place in the household and in the heart of a liberal, refined, benevolent and observant gentleman; to be freshly engrafted upon a loving and pure minded family; to feel the gentle and considerate kindness of parents seconding and sustaining the devotion of a wife; to observe all around him the blossoms of a new affection, diffusing their fragrance into the atmosphere which he inhabits, and daily ripening into fruit for his enjoyment-there are few natures so stolid as not to draw from these environments good store of nutriment to improve the heart, exalt its charities, and quicken its impulses towards the cultivation of virtue, honor and religion. It is true that such blandishments are not exempt from the necessity of that vigilant self-control, which' every condition of fortune seems to exact from a well ordered mind. The vicious enticements of life openly challenge us to be upon our guard, and there is no great share of merit to be awarded to the youth who plainly perceiving the danger, arms himself in good time against it. But when prosperity enlivens all around us, and affection is continually striving to make us happy by the offerings of kindness, the heart is sometimes taken unawares by its own jocund and overflowing content, and may fall into the snares of that pleasure which the generosity of friendship itself administers. I do not wish to conceal the fact that at this time of the life of Mr. Wirt, he was not altogether free from the censure of having sometimes yielded VOL. 1-6*

to the spells of the tempter and fallen into some occasional irregularities of conduct. I am aware that this charge has been made in graver form, with some amplitude of detail and circumstance. It is partly to correct what is false in this, but much more from a consideration of what is due to truth and to the impartial presentation of the subject of my biography, that I now allude to it. I cannot be insensible, either, to the duty of exhibiting to the youth of the country a faithful picture of an eminent man, in whose career they may study the best lesson for their own guidance to a life of public usefulness and to the reward of an honorable fame. I should not be true to this aim if I kept out of view the occasions which should enable me to show how strictly the most virtuous natures should observe the tendency of every quick impulse, doubt its safety, and check its first extravagance.

Wirt was now twenty-five years of age. He was companionable, warm-hearted and trustful. His mind was quick, and imbued with a strong relish for wit and humor. An old friend, who knew him well in that day, says of him: "He had never met with any man so highly engaging and prepossessing. His figure was strikingly elegant and commanding, with a face of the first order of masculine beauty, animated, and expressing high intellect. His manners took the tone of his heart: they were frank, open and cordial, and his conversation, to which his reading and early pursuits had given a classic tinge, was very polished, gay and witty. Altogether," he adds, "he was a most fascinating companion, and to those of his own age, irresistibly and universally winning."*

Such a character, we may suppose, to be but too susceptible to the influences of good fellowship, which, in the jollity of youthful association, not unfrequently take the discretion of the votary by surprise and disarm its sentinels. The fashion of that time increased this peril. An unbounded hospitality amongst the gentlemen of the country, opened every door to the indulgence of convivial habits. The means of enjoyment were not more constantly present than the solicitations to use them. Every dinner party was a revel; every ordinary visit was a temptation. The gentlemen of the bar, especially, indulged in a license of free living, which habitually approached the confines of excess, and often

Cruse's Memoir.