Memoirs of the Life of William Wirt, Attorney General of the United States [1]

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,

M

E

M

I

K

S

OF

THE LIFE OF

WILLIAM W ATTORNEY

GE>-ERAr. OF

B

JOHN

IN

P.

R T

I

THK (NITKU STATES.

V

KENNEDY

TWO VOLUMES. VOL. L

PHILADELPHIA:

LEA AND

B L A 1849.

NCHAR

I

>

EsTEEED, according

to the

Art of Congress,

in the year 1.S49,

by

LEA AND BLANCHARD, n the Clerk's Office of the District Court

PRINTED BY

for the

J.

P.

Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

TOV,

TO THE

YOUNG MEN OF THE UNITED STATES,

WHO SEEK FOR

GU^DA^fCE TO AN

HONORABLE FAME,

THE SE MEMOIRS ARE RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED,

THE AUTHOR. Baltimore, April

VOL.

1

12, 1349.

— 1*

CONTENTS

VOL.

I

13

Introduction

CHAPTER Parentage of William

I.

Wirt.— His Birth.— Will

of Jacob

Wirt.— Patri-

— Autobiographical Memoir of Ten Years. — BlaJensburg. —The Schoolmaster. — and Aunt. — A Thunderstorm. —Old Inhabitants of Bladensburg. —The Dancing Master. —A Ghost Story. — Performance on the Slack Wire. — Lee's Legion. —The Young Drummer. —Mr. Rogers' School Georgetown. — Mrs. Schoollield. —Mrs. Love and her Family. — Rural Life and Images. — Mr. Dent's School, Charles County. — Alexander CampPeace. — Day Dreams. —Colonel Lee. — Mr. Hunt's School The — ... 15 Montgomery.— Early Acquaintances. —Music. —A Fox Hunt. mony.

INIother

in

its

in

bell.

CHAPTER

—His —Sketches by

—Wholesome Influence of Mr. —Verse Making. —First Literary Consequences. —A School a Prose Satire on the Usher. — —A Victory. —Visit the Court House of Montgomery. —Mr. Dor—The Moot Court. — Constitution. —School Exercises. ... 41

Imaginative Temperament.

Hunt.

—His

Library.

Studies.

Cruse.

dent.

to

Its

CHAPTER Friends.

— Peter

A. Carnes.

Becomes a Tutor Time.

—

Studies.

Law with W. Is

Inci-

Its

Effort,

sey.

II.

—

P.

in

to Georgia.

—Removes

to

—Niuian Edwards. —Useful Employment of

Edwards.

Mr. Edwards' Family,

Journey

Hunt.

—Benjamin

III.

his

—Returns Montgomery and Studies Virginia. — Studies with Mr. Swann. to

admitted to Practise by the Culpepper Court

CHAPTER

49

IV.

— Attending —First Case.— —Habits —A Triumph.—His Companionable Albemarle Study. —Practises His Library.

Difficulties

it.

(lualites.

Friend.

in

Is

assisted

by a

of Desultory

57

— — CONTENTS

S

CHAPTER Albemarle Friends.— Dr. C4ilmer.—Mr.

V. Jefferson^,

Mr. Madison and Mr.

Monroe.—James Barbour.—Marries Mildred Gilmer.— Pen Park.—Dr. Gilmer's Library. Hospitality of the Country. Dangers to 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, Carr and Wirt.— State of

Flu.—Death

of Dr.

Gilmer.— Rose Hill.—Letter

to

63

Carr

CHAPTER VL Happy

Life at

Pen Park.—Misfortune.—Death of

his

Wife.—Religious

—Elected Clerk the Remove Impressions. — Determines House of Delegates. —New Acquaintances. —Patrick Henry. —Resolutions of —Temptations two succeeding Ninety-Eight. —Re-elected Clerk a Libel under the Sedition Law. of Callender Free Living. — Wirt, Hay and Nicholas defend Him. — Course of the Trial.— A Singular —Fourth of July Oration. —Embar—Judge Chase. — Richmond.

to

to

Sessions.

at

for

^Trial

to

to

Nullification.

Incident.

rassed Elocution

"ii

CHAPTER Vn.

—Value of Appointment. —Reasons —Courtship. — A Theatrical —Second Marriage. —Removes Williamsburg. —Letters Carr. Norfolk. .... go 87 Resigns the Chancellorship and determines Elected to the Post of Chancellor.

for

Accepting

it.

— Col.

this

Robert Gamble.

Inci-

to

to

dent.

to

to

CHAPTER

VIII.

—Professional Success. —Letter Pope. — Birth of Eldest Child. — Religious Sentiments. — Trial of Shannon. — Singular Case of CirNorfolk 101 Residence cumstantial Evidence. — Removes Commences

Comments on

Practice in Norfolk. the Parsimony

to

of Judicial Salaries.

to

his

CHAPTER The

British Spy.

—Enemies made

by

it.

IX.

—

Letters to Carr, with

ecdotes connected with the Publication of the Spy.

^Vork

his

—His

some An-

Opinion of that 109

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER Success St.

X.

—Project of a Biographical Work.— Patrick Henry. Gentleman. —The Rainbow. — Letter —Letter

at Norfolk.

George Tucker.

to

this

Edwards

to

124

CHAPTER XL Increasing Reputation. to

Richmond.

— Dislike of Criminal

—An Old Fashioned Wedding

Trials.

—Meditates —

Williamsburg.

at

a Return

Letters.

Distaste for Political Life

— 140

CHAPTER XIL

—A

—Defence —Chancellor Wythe.—Judge Cabell.—Letter Mrs. W. on Swinney's Case. —Fondness Music. —Letter F. W. Gilmer. — RecollecRemoves

Richmond.

to

Case of Conscience.

Professional

of Swinney.

to

for

tions of

to

Pen Park,

150

CHAPTER Aaron Burr brought

to

—Indicted Treason. — Wirt retained —The —Some of Incidents. —The

Richmond.

as Counsel by the Government.

Asperity of Counsel.

XIIL for

Trial.

its

—Extracts of the Argument CHAPTER

161

XIV.

—The Principal Argument the Case.— Notices of —Mr. Mercer's Testimony. — His Description of BlanuerResidence. —Other Incidents of the Trial 177

Burr's Trial Continued.

Wirt's Share in hasset's

in

it.

CHAPTER

XV.

—Expec— Wirt Projects regard —The

Public Agitation.—The Affair of the Leopard and Chesapeake. tation of

War.

—Fourth

the Raising of a Legion. Project

meets

Embargo

of July.

—Letter

to

Judge Tucker.

—Correspondence with

Opposition.

—

-Finally >

Carr in

Abandoned.

— War

to

it.

Arrested.

—The 207

— CONTENTS

10

CHAPTER

XVI.

Increasing Reputation.—Mr. Jefferson Proposes to

gress.— He

Declines.— Determines

to

Adliere

Mr. Madison Against the Protest.— Letters of pectedly put in Nomination

—Letters

to

"One

of the

Legislature.—Letter

to

go

Con-

into

to

People."—UnexMrs.

W.

on

this

Elected.— Correspondence with Mr. Mon-

Carr and Edwards

226

CHAPTER His Service

him

Profession.— He Defends

to it.— Is

Event.— His Repugnance roe.

for the

to his

in the

XVII.

Legislature.—Preference for Private Life.— Letters

to

Edwards.— Literary Dreams.-Acrimony of Party PoUtics.— Education.— 259 Misgivings in regard to the Government

CHAPTER the purpose of Writing the

Resumes

Consults Mr. Jefferson on Oratory.

—The

The Old

XVIII.

Sentinel.

Bachelor.

Biography of Patrick Henry.—

Subject.— Letters

this

—Letter

to

B. Edwards.

—Letters Concerning

275

XIX.

it.— Character of the Work.— Amusing

Correspondence between Wirt and Carr in Reference

—His

to

it.— Carr 's Promo-

—Wirt Spoken Employed by Mr. Daughter.— Letter — Thoughts upon reference Mr. with Correspondence the Batture Case. —

tion to the of.

Carr.—New England

it

CHAPTER The Old Bachelor.— Contributors to

to

—Death of Col. Gamble.

Bench. —The

post of Attorney General Vacant. to his

it.

J. in

Jefferson in

Duane.— Mr. Madison and Mr,

to

-295

Gallatin

CHAPTER XX.

—Wirt Declines a Commission the Army. Volunteer Soldiery. — Life of Henry. — Burning of the Richmond Theatre. Winchester. Governor Smith. — Carr Appointed Chancellor,and Removes Write a Comedy. —Judge Tucker's Opinion him. — W. Attempts Letters of the Influence of such Literature on Professional Character. — Difficulty of Comedy. — Professional Dignity. — Richmond Bar. — Anecdote of a Trial Carr. —Tired between Wickhara and Hay. — Epigram. — Warden. — Letter Subof the Old Bachelor. — Biography. — Letter from Judge Tucker on The War.

—

Its

in

Excitements.

to

to

to

to

this

CONTENTS. ject.

—Incidents of the

War.

— British

Corps of Flying Artillery.— Letter a Student of

Law.

to

—Letter of Advice

Ascend Mrs. to

11 City Point.

to

W.—To

—Wirt Raises a

Dabney Carr.— Gilmer, 333

him

CHAPTER XXL Carr. — To Mr. Lomax. —Prosperous Condition.— —Views of the War.—Extravagant Opinions. — Letter Washing— Gilmer. — Campaigning. — Insubordination of the —Madison.—Webster. —Congress. —Unfavorable Aspect of Public Aversion —Engagement the Supreme Court. — PostLetters to

Contentment.

to

Opinion of Cicero.

Militia.

Visit to

Affairs.

ton.

in

Life.

to

365

poned

CHAPTER

XXII.

Attend the Court. — Returns. — Peace Restored by the —Letter Gilmer. —Resumes the Biography of Henry. of Work. —Scantiness of Material.—The Author weary of Letter Carr on the Subject. — Dabney Carr the Elder. —The Origin of the Continental Congress. — Peter Carr. — Letters Carr and Gilmer. — George Hay Resigns the Post of Attorney. — Wirt Recommends Upshur the President. — Moderation of Pohtical Feeling. — Mr. Madison Appoints Wirt — Correspondence Reference Appointment. Makes Debut in the Supreme Court. — Encounters Pinkney. — His Opinion of Pinkney. —Letter Gilmer. — Letter Carr on "The Path of Pleasure," and Opinion of Dramatic Attempt. — Correspondence with Mr.^ Jefferson on the Subject of the Biography. — Letter Richard

Washington

Visits

Treaty of Ghent. Difficulties

to

to

this

it.

to

to

District

to

the Office.

to

in

to this

his

to

his

to

this

to

Morris

384

INTRODUCTION.

A

NARRATIVE of

the

life

of

William Wirt

will present us

the career of one who, springing from an humble origin, was enabled to attain to high distinction amongst his countr5'men.

Whether

the incidents of that career are sufficiently striking to

communicate any high degree of

interest

to his biography, the

reader will determine for himself in the perusal of these pages. Mr, Wirt's life was, in great part, that of a student. His youth-

days were passed in preparation for his profession. His manOld age found him hood was engrossed by forensic labors. crowned with the honors of a faithfully earned juridical renown. His social life was one of great delight to his friends. It was embellished with all the graces which a benevolent heart, a playimpart. ful temper and a happy facility of discourse were able to With mankind, beyond the circle of his personal friends, he had ful

Ocno great acquaintance. He was not much of a traveller. was, he life, political of confines the upon touching casionally scantily entitled to

nevertheless, but

For

be called a statesman.

twelve years Attorney General of the United States, and consequently a member of the Cabinet through three Presidential terms, his

participation

government

professional duties of his

beyond the

with

talent and,

To

in

an eager inclination

it,

indulge these

was

affairs

office.

for

went very little had a strong

He

literary enterprise.

the most ardent wish of his

mmd

;

but

the pressure of his

circumstances kept him under a continual

What he

has given to the world, therefore, in this kind,

interdict.

VOL.

1—2

INTRODUCTION.

14

is

small in amount, and given under conditions that should almost The few works which he has left behind, how-

disarm criticism.

ever, will be found to merit, as in his lifetime they received, the praise due to the productions of an instructive and pleasant writer. life confined to the pursuits indicated in this sketch, may not

A

be expected to charm the reader by the significance of its events. life of It is much more a life of reflection than of action; more a character than of incident. I have to present to the world a man o-reatly beloved for his social virtues, the illustrations of which are daily fading friends,

away with

now reduced

the fading memories of contemporary

few survivors: a man of who had not the leisure

to a

strong literary ambition, but taste in the indulgence of

renown:

who

which he might have

a public functionary,

was, consequently, but

who had

little

and

attained to high

no relish for

identified

letters

to gratify a

politics,

and

with that public his-

tory which so often imparts the only value to biography a lawyer who, with a full measure of contemporary fame, has left but little :

on record by which the justice of that fame might be estimated. These are the chief impediments to the success of the task

have assumed.

Yet

I

do not fear

that,

from the material

at

I

my

be able to furnish an agreeable image of a man whose character will win the affections of the generation which succeeds him, as it did of those amongst whom he lived. disposal,

I

shall

LIFE OF WILLIAM WIHT.

CHAPTER

I.

1772 — 1783. PARENTAGE OF WILLIAM WIRT.— HIS BIRTH— WILL OF JACOB WIRT— PATRIMONY— AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR OFTEN YEARS BLADENSBURG. —THE SCHOOLMASTER— MOTHER AND AUNT.— A THUNDERSTORM.— OLD INHABITANTS OF BLADENSBURG— THE DANCING MASTER.— A GHOST STORY PERFORMANCE ON THE SLACK WIRE LEE'S LEGION THE YOUNG DRUMMER MR. ROGERS' SCHOOL IN GEORGETOWN.— MRS. SCHOOLFIELD. —MRS. LOVE AND HER FAMILY RURAL LIFE AND ITS IMAGES MR. DENT'S SCHOOL, CHARLES COUNTY.— ALEXANDER CAMPBELL.—THE PEACE— DAY DREAMS— COLONEL LEE.— MR. HUNT'S SCHOOL IN MONTGOMERY.— EARLY ACaUAINTANCES MUSIC A FOX HUNT.

—

— —

—

Those who best remember William Wirt, need not be reminded how distinctively his face and figure suggested his connection with The massive and bold outline of his countethe German race. nance, the clear, kind, blue eye, the light hair falling in crisp and

numerous curls upon a broad forehead, the high arching eyebrow, the large nose and ample chin might recall a resemblance to the His height rather above six feet, his broad portrait of Goethe. shoulders, capacious chest and general fullness of development

were equally characteristic of

his

Teutonic

changing expression of his eye and

lip, at

origin.

The

ever

one moment sobered

with deep thought, and in the next radiant with a rich, lurking, quiet humor that might be seen coming up from the depths of his

traits

in the

—

word was said these were which enlivened whatever might be supposed to be saturnine

heart and provoking a laugh before a

merely national cast of his features.

PARENTAGE AND BIRTH.

16 >

[1772—1783.

—

i

His had

Jacob Wirt, was from Switzerland :* his mother, Jacob, with his brother Jasper Wirt, a German. Bladensburg, in Maryland, sojne years before the

father,

was

Henrietta,

settled in

war of

Jacob had

the Revolution.

whom

three daughters, of

gathered some

property

little

six cliildren, three sons

and

He

had

William was the youngest.

Bladensburg and supported his

in

family there chietly by keeping a tavern, the avails of which,

together with some small rents accruing from a few lots

humble way,

village, enabled him, in an

the

in

comfortable

to maintain a

household.

William was born on the 8th of November,

two years

In less than

after this date,

in the

year 1772.

Jacob Wirt died, leaving a His

small heritage to be divided between his wife and children. will,

which

Avife

Henrietta

on which the ing a

new

on record

is

"one

billiard

half lot of ground in Bladensburg, No. 5,

room

is built,

and on which

I

After her death this lot was to

house."

and to descend to

Prince George's county, assigns to his

in

my

am now

build-

"be appraised

Jacob Wirt, provided he pay out

eldest son,

of the appraised value of said house and half

my

each of

lot, to

other children, one equal part, share and share alike, to wit: to

my

my

daughters Elizabeth, Catharine and Henrietta, and

Uriah-Jasper and William,

—

each and every of which

to

I

sons

give

and bequeath one equal part of the appraised value of the above

The

premises."

will mentions, besides this property,

store in Bladensburg," rented at twenty-five

annum

pounds

"the brick sterling per

—

Cunningham and Co.; and "my tavern in which I now back builcHngs, stables and lot, also the counting

to

reside, with the

house before the tavern door and the smith shop." We have also a reference to two lots of ground in " Hamburg near George-

town," and some personal

This in the

is

summary of

a

year 1774,

left

estate.

all

the worldly goods

to be divided

William attained

his eighth year.

we have enumerated remained The name

of Wiit or Wirtli

is

reader conversant with the history of fate of

Adam

Adrian,

at

his wife

and six

Henrietta Wirt, the mother of the family, died before

children.

*

which Jacob Wirt,

between

Wirtli, the

Baden

deputy

in 1324.

How

in the

much of

the property

family at that period,

familiar to the annals of Switzerland. tlie

baililf

of

Reformation, will rememher

Stammheim, and

his

tlie

two sons,

we The

unhappy John and

PATRIMONY. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY.

CHAP. I]

17

The whole value of these Bladenswe may conjecture, amounted to no great

have no means of knowing.

burg and Hamburg sum,

—

periiaps

Divided, It

it

lots,

more than three or four thousand

not

probable that William was born

is

mentioned

village,

we may

be rented out,

endeavored

of the

in the little hotel

the will; and as this building

in

is

directed to

suppose that the family moved after the

death of Jacob Wirt, to the in vain,

dollars.

afforded but small provision for each of the children.

"new house"

on

No.

lot

from

to ascertain in the village,

5.

I

its

have,

present

inhabitants, the truth of these conjectures or to identify either of

the houses referred

to.

There are but (cw memorials of with but

What

has few chroniclers.

it

the family

lowly roof and frugal board

its

tory of that fireside,

in

is

may

left.

find a

Humble happy

labor

fireside,

accessible to us of the his-

whose rays the infancy of William Wirt

found a cheerful and healthy to a pleasant and playful

we owe

light,

chiefly, almost wholly,

memoir which the subject of

it,

then At-

torney General of the United States, wrote at the request of his children, in 1825, to

easy to discern,

This

little

still

amuse them with recollections which, more delighted himself.

fragment of autobiography runs over the

years of the author's childhood.

it

first

is

ten

homely, warm-hearted remembrance of a simple time, sketched, with a lively pencil, by

one

who

never

lost sight

It is a

zenith of a brilliant fame of his

in the

who watched

obligations to those

his first steps

and protected his

earliest infancy. I

shall extract

from these reminiscences what

I

find useful to

my

present purpose, without venturing to submit the whole to the eye

of the public.

They

dwell upon incidents which, however grateful

in the telling to that afi'ectionate circle to

addressed, and

who

could find

endearment, would, trivial

I

am

in

it

whom

a thousand

the memoir was memories of familv

be considered sometimes too

fearful,

to excite the interest of those

who

are strangers to the

genial spirit and household mirthfulness of the writer.

the extracts

which

I

may

submit,

the too rigid criticism or fastidious

him

to

remember

that

I

must deprecate, on

comment of my

Even

for

this score,

reader,

—

asking-

a father, discoursing to his children as-

sembled around their own hearth, on topics which derive their agreeable savour from their love to him, may claim a dramatic priVOL.

1—2 *

— BLADENSBURG.

18

[1772—1793.

vilege from the critic, to have his performance judged by

its

adap-

and the persons.

tation to tl)e scene, the time, the place

AVith this endeavor to forestall the judgment of the reader,

deed

bespeak

to

his

— towards what

good nature

disclose of the memoir,

I

it is

—

in-

proposed to

would remark, by way of comment on

the greater portion of these extracts, that Mr. Wirt's character

was, to the

latest

period of his

fluence

which

this

life,

He was

vivacity of his imagination.

singularly impressed

by the

greatly sensitive to the in-

predominance of the ideal had

shaping his

in

career, and has endeavored in the memoir, to trace the source of

some

distinctive currents of his life to the impressions

Every one has

his imagination in childhood. in

greater or less degree, and most persons

own

felt

made upon

these influences

may be

able to find in

some particular complexion of mind or form of habit and opinion traceable to such causes. In Mr. Wirt the effect of such influences was visible, in a very striking degree, to his friends. This may, perhaps, appear also to the reader in the

their

history

course of this biography.

Bladensburg has been, for many years past, say, without meaning unfriendly

stagnant

village, well

little

a quiet,

disparagement

known by

its

—

—a

I

may even

drowsy and

position on the

wayside

of a great thoroughfare to the national metropolis, from which is

but a few miles distant.

not only as a neutral

is

decided what the world has chosen to also as the field

when

trement,

it

somewhat famous in our annals, ground where many a personal combat has It

call a point

where higher questions were put

of honor, but

to mortal arbi-

the British army, in 1814, disputed with an Ameri-

can host for the possession of the capital.

For many years

past,

from a date before the commencement of the present century, this village has been not only stationary in its growth, but even falling gradually ])ortion

some

away under

of this period,

half

it

the touch of time.

was enlivened by the

During a great daily transit of

dozen or more mail coaches, plying through

to and from day the silence which was broken by the blowing of horns, tlie

the capital of the United States.

brooded over

its

streets

Twice

a

clamor of stable boys hurrying with fresh relays of horses to the doors of rival stage houses, and by the rattle of rapidly arriving and departing coaches. But even these transient glories have vanished.

The

rail

road,

which touches only on the border of

CHAP.

THE SCHOOLMASTER.

I.]

now

the village, has

19

displaced the old stage coach, and the village

slumbers are no longer broken.

Previous to the Revolutionary war fortune.

It

was

this village

had a

different

little

sea-port,

then a thrifty, business-driving,

which it constituted, was inhabited by some

profitably devoted to the tobacco trade, of at that day, quite an important mart.

who had

wealthy factors

It

planted themselves there in connection

with trans-atlantic houses, and whose mode of living, both in the cliaracter of their dwellings and in the matter of personal display,

communicated a certain show of opulence to the town. Whilst it was yet in its flourishing era, William Wirt was one of the children most familiar to its firesides a lively, shrewd, pleasant-tempered and beautiful boy, upon whom many eyes were

—

turned in kindly regard, though with that risina; fortune to

Touching these days he

shall

His reminiscences begin

when he was

first

little

foresight, perhaps, of

which he was destined. at

now speak

for himself

some three or

sent to school.

It

four years of age,

does not often

fail

that our

strongest recollection of infancy goes back to the schoolmaster,

whose lineaments are

that high authority

the

memory

Who

of childhood.

indelibly

stamped upon

does not remember the

awe and

reverence with which his young imagination invested the peda-

gogue beneath whose sceptre he was

first

taught to bow.''

To

the

who, yet callow, looks tremblingly upon all beyond the roof-tree, the image of the schoolmaster is the embodiment of all child

power and

all

knowledge

— teacher,

sage, seer, magician.

The

trace he leaves of his form and face, his gait, his voice, his vest-

ments, his uprising and a thing of

memory

down

merely,

—

sitting, it is

incoming and outgoing

is

not

an assimilation of something into

our organism, an incorporation of his identity with our own, which

we

perceive as

Our this

we

perceive ourselves some half century back.

present reminiscence, in the memoir, naturally begins with

image.

" The schoolhouse was across of the opposite square.

The

tlie

street at the farther corner

schoolmaster was Elisha Crown, an

Englishman; a middle-sized man, stoop-shouldered, spare, rather He wore a suit of blue

thin-faced and of a dark complexion. cloth, coat, waistcoat

and small clothes, with black horn buttons,

an old-fashioned cock-and-pinch hat, the pinch in front, far pro-

MOTHER AND AUNT.

20 jeded and

[1772—1783.

of silver shoe buckles,

sliarp^ a pair

— and was

a very

This picture may

respectable looking old-fashioned gentleman."

remind us of Ilogartlrs " Politician," with "the pinch" so far projecting that the candle burns a hole through it. " The school was transferred about a mile into the country, on

what was then the road from Bladensburg

to

Georgetown, Mr.

Crown's house being on one side of the road and the schoolhouse on the other

— both of them log

a house built on the

same

site, is

foundation of the old schoolhouse

house belonged to

my

The

houses.

dwelling house, or

now (1825) is

standing, and the

The

visible.

still

uncle Jasper Wirt,

whose

land and

eldest daughter

Mr. Crown had married, and whose dwelling, a single-storied brick house, was not more than a quarter of a mile off, and is also still

standing."

We

pass

now from

the schoolmaster and his concerns, to an in-

cident connected with ])leasant family

dent will illustrate

we have "

My

that

The

minute recollection of this inci-

sensitiveness

imagination

of

to

which

referred.

mother had come over from Bladensburg, one summer

evening, on a visit to her.

My

She was

a tall

join

dwelling of Jasper Wirt, and to a

this

picture.

my

aunt, and after school

aunt dwells upon

and

ratlier

my memory

large-framed

I

in

went down

to

strong colors.

woman, with

a fair

com-

plexion and a round face, that must have been handsome in her

She was

vouth.

a native of Switzerland, and

had

a cast

of cha-

made her worthy of the land of William Tell. A She was full of all the charities and kinder being never lived. courtesies of life, always ready to suggest excuses for the weak-

racter

tliat

nesses and frailties of others, yet without any frailty or weakness

own that I could discover. "She was religious, a great reader of large, old folio German Bible, bound

of her

a

religious books; and had eitlier

black leather, with silver or brass clasps.

in

wood

Often have

I

or hard

seen her

read that book with streaming eyes and a voice half choked with

her feelings. " On the evening that

I

most violent thunderstorms

down

am speaking I

there

My

was one of the

My

aunt got

As the storm increased mother was exceedingly fright-

her Bible and began to read aloud.

she read louder and louder.

of,

have ever witnessed.

CHAP,

ened.

THUNDERSTORM.

A

r.]

She was one of

21

the most tender and afleclionate of beings;

timidity of her sex in an extreme degree,

— and,

indeed, this storm was enoiigli to appal the stoutest heart.

One

but she liad

tlash

tlie

splinter,

which

it

yard and ripped o(F

in the

of lightning struck a tree

drove towards

My

us.

me

llew behind the door and took

remember.

I

never got over

in

My

my

aunt remained

way

no other

This was the

increased energy of her voice. I

mother shrieked aloud,

with her.

firm in her seat and noticed the peal

a large

first

than by the

thunderstorm

mother's contagious terror until

became a man. Even then, and even yet, I am rendered much more uneasy by a thunderstorm than, I believe, I should have been if my mother had, on that occasion, displayed the firmness of my aunt. I could not have been more than five or six years old when this happened. The incident and its effect on me show the I

commanding our

necessity of

fears before our children."

Another incident " On our way home from the schoolhouse road passed by an old

man had been buried who, death by

to

Bladensburg the

on the outer margin of which a negro

field,

was reported, had been whipped to who went to this school

it

Besides the boys,

his master.

from Bladensburg, there were several from the neighborhood, and,

whom

amongst others, one

I

remember only

This boy had one evening been detained

at

as

Zack

school after

of us had gone home, and had to pass the old

Calvert. the rest

all

field after

daylight

—

was gone. The next morning full well do I remember how he made my tlesh creep and my hair rise, by telling us that, in passing the field, the night before, he heard a whip-poor-will, which sate upon the gravestone of the negro, cry out whip him well— whip him well whip him well,' and that he could hear a voice answering from below Oh pray It was the first time that a su'

—

—

!'

'

perstitious emotion entered fully

sublime

it

was.

of terrible pleasure

in

My it

my

I

now

recall

how

heart quaked, and yet there

which

creep with horror to believe

That

—

mind, and

I

it:

cannot define. yet

I

It

dread-

was

a sort

made my blood

would not have had

it

false.

was never afterwards passed at twiliglit without which I, as being youngest, was always behind and con-

terrible field

a race, in

sequently most exposed to the danger and proportionably terrified. I

do not yet hear a whip-poor-will, without some of these mis-

givings of

my

childhood."

— OLD INHABITANTS.

22

[1772—1783.

These are trifles in the review of them, though not without some small interest in connection with the person who has thought them worth recollecting. They call to memory some characteristics

We

which

his personal friends will not fail to recognize.

have some pleasant descriptions of several merchants of

Bladenshurg of the old time "tall, spare old

;

gentleman,

— of Mr. Christopher Lowndes — the in

hlue

broadcloth and

plush, and

—

—

cocked hat" remarkable for his politeness and sauvily of Mr. Robert Dick, the silent, thoughtful man of business, residing in a :

beautiful mansion, " a long white house with wings,

which stood

on the summit of the Eastern Rid2:e which overlooks the town:"

Mr. Sidebotham, a

good

living,

who,

toddy every day

—

We

and kind."

stirring,

busy, successful merchant, rosy from

old fashion of Maryland, had his bowl of

in the

a thorough

John

" proud, rough, absolute

Bull,

Henderson, Mr. Huett and Doctor Ross, Messrs. Campbell and Bruce, factors, with good capital at command. Mr. Ponsonby was one of the magnates of the village, a handsome man, graceful, lively, well have shorter notices of Mr.

—

—

informed, and somewhat of the most noticeable for his beautiful

bay horse, bright

and whip mount-

silver spurs, stirrups, bridle bit

of glittering silver

— very taking

eye of William Wirt and the other children of the village. In the humbler range of the inhabitants he has other equally

ings, all

to the

pleasant memories.

" At the lower end of the town towards Baltimore, the house nearest the Eastern

whom we

Eastern Branch to

Branch was occupied by old Mr. Martin,

used to call Uncle Martin is

— why,

I

know

The

not.

subject to heavy freshets which have flowed up

Mr. Martin's house, and sometimes overflowed the whole

One

lage.

me,

in

vil-

of the most surprising and interesting spectacles to

those days,

was

this

old

man wading up

during a freshet, and harpooning the sturgeon.

It

fishery in miniature, and not less interesting to

me

to

his

was

a

waist,

whale

at that date.

man himself was an odd fish. He used to get fuddled and amuse himself with singing The Cuckoo's nest' and attempting to dance a hornpipe to the tune of it. He was fond of me and petted me a good deal. I remember him with kindness. I became

The

old

'

myself a hornpipe dancer by an occasion and the old man was delighted

to see

I

will presently mention,

me dance

to 'the

Cuckoo's

THE DANCING MASTER.

CHAP. L]

His second daughter was a beautiful

nest' sung by himself.

whom

I

23

The

can just remember.

my Uncle

oldest son of

girl

Jasper

was in love with her, and I have a recollection of having heard him take leave of her, when he was going to sea to seek his fortune. He was accompanied by my eldest brother. They never returned nor were ever heard of afterwards." " I must not forget Colonel Tattison, as he called himself in Maryland

— Col. Degraves, as he called whom

French dancing master,

To

elegant and graceful person.

which he introduced beginners, a large

Z

info

himself

remember

I

in Virginia,

—the

as a most symmetrical,

teach the new-fashioned minuet

Bladensburg, he used

mark, for

to

on the floor of the dancing room with chalk,

The house

which the school was kept stood some several hundred yards from where I lived, but whilst I was yet in petticoats, I used to steal away and that

letter

gave

tlie

figure of the dance.

from home to see Tattison dance his minuet. beautiful brunette, not then fully

— My

eldest sister, a

grown, was one of

his scholars,

and very nearly as good a dancer as her teacher. imitative childhood to admire any thing as

out learning immediately to dance child,

I

I

remember

John Martin,

hat on

my

is

not in

mere

and, of course, being a

off,

wedding of the

that at the

whom

I

eldest daughter of

my sister put a cocked exhibit me and herself in the

have mentioned,

me

head and took

French minuet and

It

did the minuet, with-

soon became a subject of admiration myself as a minuet

dancer. that

it;

I

in

out to

— the graceful management of the

being an essential part of the dance.

master, Mr. Crown,

was

present, and being

much

hat, putting

The

dissatisfied

the admiration lavished on the French dance (solely because

French) he took out a lady to shew English minuet was.

how much

That was danced

in the centre

man and

of the figure, there was a

his partner

were back

it

with

was

and like

In passing each other

moment when

to back.

on

superior the old

in the figure 8,

the French, by a gentleman and lady only.

it

old school-

The

step being very slow, this uncourtly relation

the gentle-

minuet time and

was continued

until

the parties arrived at the ends of the figure and faced about.

" Mr. Crown considered

it

the quintescence of politeness to

abbreviate this period, by setting off in

end and present his

face.

The

full

run to gain the upper

old gentleman's dress

—

his sharp

cock-and-pinch, his long waisted blue coat, his red waistcoat, very

—— A GHOST STORY.

24

[1772—1783.

— gave him an so grostesque, Camden says on a explosion of laughter. Such — occasion — was the plain and jolly mirth of

long, and his very short breeches \vhilst

air

executing this run to the extreme end of the room, as to as

jiroducc an

somewhat

different

our ancestors

Here

!"

follows a ghost story

" There was another incident to which this wedding gave rise. A dance was given, on a subsequent night, to the Avedding party, When the company had danced themselves weary, at our house. The Tattison proposed to close the evening by raising a ghost. matrons objected to subjects

;

it,

as a light and impious trifling with solemn

but Tattison assured them, with equal gravity, that he

had the power of raising any ghost they would call for, and that he could give them conclusive proof of it: that if any one would

go up

stairs

and consent to be locked up

moved from

the

company below,

in the

room

farthest re-

the stair door should also be

locked, so that no possible communication could be held between the person above and those below.

on a ghost

fix

the

person

whom

up

After this the

he, the operator,

stairs.

The

company might

would cause

to

appear to

graver part of the company

still

discouraged the experiment; but the curiosty of the younger and

was wanting but a sitter give proof of his skill in the to Frenchman up all, a Mr. Brice of amongst hesitation some After black art. accordingly taken up was He closeted. be to Alexandria agreed was introduced which he was into the room The door of stairs. more numerous

prevailed, and nothing

stairs to enable the

locked, and after that the door of the stair below, \vhich opened

from the a

stairs

upon the dancing room.

shovel of live coals, some

salt,

Tattison then asked for

brimstone and a case knife.

Whilst these things were getting, he proposed that the women should, in a whispering consultation, agree upon the ghos