The Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson Compiled From Family Letters and Reminiscences — John Shaqi
The Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson Compiled From Family Letters and ReminiscencesRandolph, Sarah N. (Sarah Nicholas)
History
The Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson Compiled From Family Letters and Reminiscences
Randolph, Sarah N. (Sarah Nicholas)
Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826; Presidents -- United States -- Biography
affectionate friend through life.
There must indeed have been some very great charm and attraction
about the young student of seventeen, to have won for him the
friendship and esteem of such a profound scholar as Small, and a seat
at the family table of the elegant and accomplished Fauquier.
We have just quoted Jefferson's finely-drawn character of Small, and
give now the following brilliant but sad picture, as drawn by the
Virginia historian, Burke, of the able and generous Fauquier, and of
the vices which he introduced into the colony:
With some allowance, he was every thing that could have been
wished for by Virginia under a royal government. Generous,
liberal, elegant in his manners and acquirements; his example
left an impression of taste, refinement and erudition on the
character of the colony, which eminently contributed to its
present high reputation in the arts. It is stated, on evidence
sufficiently authentic, that on the return of Anson from his
circumnavigation of the earth, he accidentally fell in with
Fauquier, from whom, in a single night's play, he won at cards
the whole of his patrimony; that afterwards, being captivated by
the striking graces of this gentleman's person and conversation,
he procured for him the government of Virginia. Unreclaimed by
the former subversion of his fortune, he introduced the same
fatal propensity to gaming into Virginia; and the example of
so many virtues and accomplishments, alloyed but by a single
vice, was but too successful in extending the influence of
this pernicious and ruinous practice. He found among the
people of his new government a character compounded of the
same elements as his own; and he found little difficulty in
rendering fashionable a practice which had, before his arrival,
already prevailed to an alarming extent. During the recess of
the courts of judicature and of the assemblies, he visited the
most distinguished landholders of the colonies, and the rage of
playing deep, reckless of time, health or money, spread like a
contagion among a class proverbial for their hospitality, their
politeness and fondness for expense. In every thing besides,
Fauquier was the ornament and the delight of Virginia.
Happy it was for young Jefferson, that "the example of so many
virtues and accomplishments" in this brave gentleman failed to give
any attraction, for him at least, to the vice which was such a blot
on Fauquier's fine character. Jefferson never knew one card from
another, and never allowed the game to be played in his own house.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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