Ocean with Maria Jefferson-Their Stay in London with Mrs. 103 CHAPTER IX. MR. JEFFERSON AT WASHINGTON-HIS LIBRARY. Capt. Bacon's Visits to Mr. Jefferson in Washington-Appear- MR. JEFFERSON'S HOSPITALITY. His Visitors-Mr. Madison-His Appearance and Character-Mr. APPENDIX, . 121 . 133 JEFFERSON AT MONTICELLO. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION TO CAPT. BACON. DEATH OF JEFFERSON AND ADAMS-"THOMAS JEFFERSON STILL SURVIVES," IN THE MEMORY OF HIS OVERSEER-VISIT TO HIS NEIGHBOR, CAPT. ROACHI -ANECDOTE OF JOHN RANDOLPH-INTRODUCTION TO CAPT. BACON-MR. JEFFERSON AND THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA-SELECTION OF THE SITELAYING OF THE CORNER-STONE-INTEREST IN THE ERECTION OF THE UNIVERSITY-MR. JEFFERSON'S LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION TO CAPT. BACON -CAPT. BACON'S HORSES-HIS KNOWLEDGE OF BLOODED STOCK-JOHN RANDOLPH'S BLOODED HORSES-SUBSEQUENT VISITS TO CAPT. BACON-MANNER OF TAKING NOTES AND PREPARING THIS VOLUME. "THOMAS JEFFERSON STILL SURVIVES!" were the dying words of the elder Adams. At that moment the devoted family and friends, at Monticello and at Quincy, were moving with the same noiseless tread, and watching with the same breathless interest, the closing scenes in the lives of those illustrious men. Adams and Jefferson breathed their last, July 4th, 1826; and the waves of grief from Quincy and Monticello soon intermingled and overspread the land. The nation was in tears. Adams and Jefferson were no more. The one by his tongue, the other by his pen, had done more than any others, by these means, to secure the liberty and independence of their country. That country had lavished upon each her highest honors; and, as if in approval of their life-work, Heaven had kindly ordained that both should die upon the anniversary of that day that they had done so much to make immortal. These pages are devoted especially to the memory of Jefferson. The dying utterance of the sage of Quincy was not less the statement of a fact, than a prophecy. Thomas Jefferson still survives. Thomas Jefferson will survive so long as our country or its history endures. That he was the author of the Declaration of Independence; that he filled the highest posts of public trust at home and abroad; that his name and influence are interwoven with the early history of his State and country; that he was the founder of the Univer sity of Virginia;-these facts, and such as these, are well known to all. In all these relations, Thomas Jefferson still survives in history and in the universal knowledge of his countrymen. But it will doubtless be new to most of my readers, that Thomas Jefferson still survives in all MR. JEFFERSON'S OVERSEER. 15 the minutest details of his every-day home life at Monticello; as a farmer, manufacturer, and master; as a lover of fine horses, hogs, and sheep; as the enthusiastic cultivator of fruits and flowers; as the kind neighbor, the liberal benefactor of the poor, the participator in the childish sports of his grandchildren, the hospitable entertainer of swarms of visitors that well-nigh ate up all his substance, and consumed his life;-in all these, and numerous other relations, Thomas Jefferson still survives in the iron memory, and in the most devoted and tender affection and veneration of a now aged man, who was for twenty years the chief overseer and business manager of his estate at Monticello. Such is the fact. On a visit, some months since, with one of my associates, to a neighborhood in Trigg County, Ky., about twenty miles from my own home, our host, Capt. C. W. Roach, remarked: “I have a near neighbor, Capt. Edmund Bacon, who lived with Thomas Jefferson at Monticello, as overseer, for twenty years." “ "We should be most happy to go and see him," was our response; and very soon we were on our way. Most naturally, as we rode on, our conversation turned on the distinguished men that Virginia had given to the country and the world. Though I doubt not my readers are as impatient for the introduction that was before us as we were, I am sure they will pardon me for detaining them with some of the details of that conversation. Capt. Roach was a native of Charlotte County, Va., the home of John Randolph. He had been familiar with his appearance from childhood, had frequently heard him speak, had often seen him driving about the country with four magnificent blooded horses to his carriage, and his servants following him with perhaps a dozen more equally "high-bred" and fiery. He gave us a number of anecdotes illustrating his eccentricities. One of these was so very characteristic of the man, that I must repeat it. A Baptist clergyman, the Rev. Abner W. Clopton, took charge of some Baptist churches in Charlotte County, and attracted unusual attention as a preacher. He had been a Professor in the University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill, and the fame of his learning and eloquence drew large crowds to hear him. Mr. Randolph, whose solicitude for his servants is well known, employed Mr. Clopton to preach to them, and generally attended these services. On one occasion, having been particularly moved by the sermon, he arose at its close and commenced an address to his sable audience. As he proceeded, his feelings became deeply enlisted, and in the most appropriate, beau |