Mr. Jefferson [pp. 642-650]

644 Mr. Je#erson LSEPTEM13R,
Richard Henry Lee, who was willing to keep pace
with him in his bold assertion of the rights of his
country, and his fearless opposition to every encroachment upon them. Indeed he frequently exposed himself to the charge of rashness from the
more timid and less sanguine; and it would not
have been surprising, if one so young, so ardent,
and so undaunted, had sometimes permitted the
strong excitements of the times to mislead his judgment. In looking back, however, from this distant
day upon the events of that period, we are compelled to acknowledge that what then bore the appearance of rashness was in fact true wisdom: and t hat
the best security which the country had, was found
in that promptness and boldness which maintained
a wholesome excitement in the public mind, and
kept the public eye continually directed to the true
character of passing events. In all the earlier
movements towards the revolution, Mr. Jefferson
was a prominent actor and leader. Indeed it is
very doubtful, whether Virginia would not, but for
his exertions, have fallen in the rear of other
states, instead of leading them, during the violent
commotions which commenced in 1772. It is true
that Patrick Henry, and Ric hard H enry Lee, and
a few others were equally bold with himself, and
perhaps equally determined not to recede from the
g round they had taken; but there wadsnot one among
them so well qual if i ed to lead and di rect in such
difficult and stormy scenes. Most men of any considerabl e c haract er in t he H ouse of Burgess es wer e
f avorabl e to a hor e t emperate, and as they believed
a more prudent course; and it is probable that t heir
influence would have prevailed, even agains t t he
impa ssi one d eloquence of Henry, had he not been
aided by the profound sagacity and extensive information of Jefferson. The least that we can concede to Jefferson is, that if he was not the first man
in weight and influence then in the House of Burgesses, there was no one who could claim to be his
superior.
The sketch which Mr. Tucker has given of the
events which immediately preceded the Declaration of Independence, although necessarily less minute than the professed historian would have made
it, presents a remarkably clear and satisfactory
view of the subject. Indeed Mr. Jefferson was so
intimately connected with those events, that his
biagrapher must of necessity play the historian to
a considerablele extent. The danger is that he will
incline too much to that character. It requires
much judgment, and constant watchfulness, to keep
within due bounds in this respect, without at the
same time becoming too restricted. The happy
medium is found in such an allusion to public
events, as will serve to explain the connection of
the individual with them, so as to place his conduct in a true and intelligible light. Less than this
would be unfaithful and unsatisfactory, and more
than this would be a departure frozm the proper
office of the bio grapher. That Mr. Tucke r h as hit
this happy medium precisely w e will no t undertake to affirm; yet, in reading thi s part of h is book,
it do es not occur to us th at any thing has been
omitted which ought to have been inserted, nor
much in se rted which c ould pr op erly have been omitted. He who would understand the immediat e
causes of the declaration of independence, and the
various public measures connected with that event,
without at the same tie running th e hazard of
confusing his memory with a multiplicity of minute
details, cannot do better than to c ons ult the first
four chapters of Mr. ruker's w ork. We kno w of
no book in which he will fin d all the requisite information in a m o re analytic or compendious form.
Th ese rapid sketches of h istori cal e vents -given
with a view to explain the agen cy in them-of
some particular character to whom our attention is
especially directed-are, when judiciously given,
much more apt to make an i mpression upon the
memory, than the m or e minute and labored details
of the h istorian, which hav e no such connection to
fix th e m i n the mind.
The character of Mr. Jefferson appears no where
more exalted than in the solemn and interesting
scenes from 1773 to 1776. The boldness, and in
some cases the startling novelty of his viewsfar
in advance of all his contemporaries-fix our attention upon him as one of the most remarkable
men of the age. Filling in succession every place
of public trust which his country could confer on
him, we find him, in all of them, shooting ahead in
the career of freedom; and urging or dragging
after him the more reluctant or timid. The true
principles of public liberty can no where be found
more accurately defined or more ably supported,
than in the various resolutions and other papers
prepared by him during this interesting period.
We have no evidence that he was ever disposed to
thrust himself obtrusively into the lead, and yet we
find him always in that position, as if he stept naturally into it, as belonging of right to his superior
qualifications. Mr. Tucker has given us a plain,
unadorned, and highly interesting narrative of the
stirring scenes of this period. He has displayed
no extraordinary anxiety to represent his hero in
any factitious attractions not warranted by the truth
of history. In this he has shown his tact and good
taste as well as his candor. It is not in the power
of mere language to add to the imposing dignity
of the scenes themselves; and no dramatic skill
could place the actors in them in a more attractive
light than that in which the simple truth of history
presents them.
Mr. Jeffersonn was not less conspicuous in the
scenes of the revolution, than in those which led
to that event. It is a decisive proof of the commnanding power of his talents, and of the high order
of his general character, that he retained his influenee at a time when the qualities of the military
644
.Mr. Jefferson,
[SF.PT,M]BIER,
A.
r