connected with this transaction) who set their names to a subscription towards discharging the rent. It so happened, however, that for the space of time above mentioned, the weight of the incumbrance fell upon Mr. Thelwall, who, though not bound to any such responsibility, or any part of it, preferred all the consequent inconveniencies to the alternative of suffering it to fall upon the friend, who, in confidence of this subscription, had taken the premises upon lease. In the hands of that friend Mr. Thelwall, at the conclusion of his lectures, left all that remained of the receipts, to indemnify him. as far as they went, and left himself and his family in circumstances of pressing necessity and embarrass→ ment. This statement, which can be supported by unquestionable documents, is thus set forth at large, because we know that a report of a very different nature has been propagated by persons, who ought to have taken the pains to be properly informed beforc they sported with the private character of an individual, whatever may have been his public sentiments or conduct. On the conclusion of the transaction with the Courier, Mr. Thelwall, though unchanged in his opinions, renounced all connection with every thing relating to public affairs; and turned his attention towards making, if not a comfortable establisment, at least a quiet retreat for his encreasing family. The assistance of a few friends enabled him to stock a little farm of about five-and-thirty acres in the ob scure scure but romantic and beautiful little village of Llynwen, distinguished in hiftory as an ancient residence of the princes of Powis, and appointed by Roderick the Great, in his fatal parliamentary testament, as the scene of amicable arbitrament between the princes of North and South Wales. This farm, as will be evident to persons at all familiar with agricultural affairs, is much too small for the support of a family; and Mr. Thelwall has accordingly made some efforts to add to its produce by literary exertions totally unconnected with the disputes and politics of the day. MR. JEFFERSON, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF MR. JEFFERSON was born in Virginia, and is now supposed to be somewhat turned of fifty. He is the son of a gentleman of that state, the same who was joint-commissioner with Colonel Fry for settling and extending the boundary line between Virginia and North Carolina in 1749. He was educated in his native land, from which he was never absent till its service demanded his residence at the Court of Paris, whither he was sent ás an Envoy. Mr. Jefferson is tall, and of slender make, fresh complexion, clear penetrating cycs, hair inclining to red, and of very modest and affable deportment. O 1800-1801. He He was, professionally, bred a lawyer, though born to an affluent fortune; yet the public demand for the exercise of his talents in a higher sphere left him but little time to display his native eloquence as a barrister, nor was he of a turn to profit by the arts of ordinary practice. His country called him forward at a very early period; and promised herself, in his abilities, those very important ends which have been so conspicuously realized in whatsoever he has been engaged. In private life, in his younger days, (the only days which fortune seems to have allotted to him for an uninterrupted social intercourse with the world) he was, in every circle, (and all of the first were competitors for his presence) its ornament, instructor, and pride. Close application had supplied the want of many European advantages. Without neglecting the particular study to which his primary employments were devoted, Mr. Jefferson found also sufficient hours to attend to the politer acquirements. In these auxiliary accomplishments, he attained a knowledge in drawing, geometry, geography, astronomy, natural philosophy, and music, in which he was considered a proficient; nor was his information in history and state affairs neglected for these adorn ments. At an early age he married a mild and amiable wife, the daughter of a Mr. Wayles, an eminent counsellor in Virginia: an affectionate partner, who, unfortunately, no longer exists! The death of this lady of course devolved on him a more weighty parental care, care, in the education of her two lovely daughters; they have been reared under his immediate inspection, and have accompanied his diplomatic functions whithersoever they have been directed. It could not be expected that a man of such qualifications, in a country which stood so much in need of them, could be suffered long to remain in philosophic retirement: man is not born for himself alone, and the vote of his constituents claimed his labours in the fields of jurisprudence. In the Legislature of Virginia he became a distinguished and useful member, and has left many traces on record of sufficient importance to indicate future greatness. During the revolutionary period which separated the United States from the Mother Country, we find him advancing to a still more dignified station: he was one of those in whose hands the people thought fit to confide the most material events of their political existence and future happiness. He was honoured with the public confidence during its most important struggles, and sat two years in the famous Congress which brought about the Revolution, and which is now every where highly respected. In this Congress he sustained a character which will stand dignified to the end of time: a character which can never better, perhaps, be expressed, than it already is by the pencil of Mr. Trumbul.. A greater example of unlimited confidence than was evidenced in the address of his constituents on the awful occasion of this delegation, will, probably, never be recorded in history. "You assert that "there is a fixed intention to invade our rights and 66 66 privileges; we own that we do not see this clearly, "but since you assure us that it is so, we believe the "fact. We are about to take a very dangerous step, "but we confide in you, and are ready to support you in every measure you shall think proper to 'adopt." To proceed farther in this paragraph, with feeble accounts of a man who should be only mentioned to be revered, would be to offer insult to the superior pens which have preceded, and merit a stigma for arrogance: the Duke de Liancourt,* to the character of an agriculturist, (which both he and the Board of Agriculture of England have bestowed on Mr. Jefferson) has added the following very beautiful and faithful picture: 66 "They must be very ignorant of the history of America who "know not that Mr. Jefferson shared with George Washington, "Franklin, John Adams, Mr. Jay, and a few others, the toils "and dangers of the Revolution in all its different stages; that "in the famous Congress which guided and consolidated it, he displayed a boldness and firmness of character, a fund of ta"lents and knowledge, and a steadiness of principles, which will "hand down his name to posterity with glory, and assure to him "for ever the respect and. gratitude of all the friends of liberty. "It was he who, in the famous Congress, so respectable and so "much respected, in that Congress, ever inaccessible to the se"duction, fear, and apparent weakness of the people-who joint"ly with Mr. Lee, another deputy of Virginia, proposed the de"claration of independence. It was he who, supported principally by John Adams, pressed the deliberation on the subject, "and carried it, bearing down the wary prudence of some of his "colleagues, Travels in North America, vol. ii. p. 69, &c. quarto edit. |