resting portion of his book, are addressed to his wife. They breathe a spirit of tender devotion which could have been excited only by virtues of the rarest and purest character. In 1803, Mr. Wirt resigned his chancellorship, and began the practice of law in Norfolk, to which place he removed in 1804.

Meanwhile, (in 1803,) our lawyer had made his first appearance as an author, by the publication of the "British Spy." These letters, written as pastime, and published originally in a newspaper, were received with almost unanimous approbation, and at once gained for their author the reputation of an elegant and classic writer. They are written in an easy and off-hand, but graceful and attractive style; and are, altogether, such productions as would be likely to strike the fancy of the popular mind. At the present day, they would, no doubt, be received with distinguished favor, as brilliant compositions, written somewhat after the Addisonian model, abounding in choice imagery, and airy and superficial, though striking descriptions, but possessing not those higher characteristics which belong to a work that will fill a place in the cabinet of our permanent literature. The writer, himself, was conscious of whatever defects the letters have as artistic productions, and was more severe in his comments on them in private letters, than a critic of the present day would approve, or the nature and number of the faults seem, in justice, to

warrant.

In July, 1806, Wirt removed from Norfolk to Richmond, and was retained, the following year, by the government, as counsel against Aaron Burr. In his speech, made during that trial, occurs the familiar passage, beginning: "Who is Blennerhassett ?" which has since furnished staple for many a school-boy oration. His fame continued to increase. In 1808 he was elected a member of the Virginia legislature, much in opposition to his previously declared desire. He served but a short time. Mr. Wirt's aspirations were not for political honors. These he estimated at their true value, and was ever averse from filling any public station in the gift of the people, unless the good of his country clearly required his services. Indeed, even the law would not, had he been able to control the matter, have been his chosen profession; he preferred, and was, upon the whole, better qualified by his habits of study and his tastes, both native and acquired, to follow a vocation more purely literary. He hesitated, moreover, about the propriety of being a candidate for the legislature, because he honestly doubted whether his qualifications were such, in comparison with those of the opposing candidate, as fitted him for the better performance of the duties of a legislator. What a commentary on the course generally pursued by the politicians of the present day! Commenting on this hesitation of Mr. Wirt, as expressed by him in a letter to his wife, Mr. Kennedy piquantly remarks:

"At this day, when the most profound problems of political economy and jurisprudence, and all the mysteries of wise legislation, and all the science necessary for skillful diplomacy, are supposed to come by nature, or to derive their highest finish and perfection from

the severe discipline of the stump, and to find in every forum erected at a country cross-road, or porch of a village tavern, an academy competent to furnish full-blown and accomplished statesmen, it may be well to recur to the example of that earlier epoch of our republic, when a man so gifted as William Wirt, so laboriously trained, and so successfully tried, could speak in such terms of distrust as to his fitness for a seat in the state legislature. Forty years ago, evidently, the men of America were not so confident, in regard to their own merits, as they have grown of late. The march of intellect, which we now call progress,' has done wonders in the supply of the finished material of statesmanship."

6

Mr. Wirt continued to reside at Norfolk until 1817, practicing in the state courts, and occasionally in the Supreme Court of the United States, gaining yearly increase of reputation as a jurist and an orator. Appointed, in 1817, on President Monroe's nomination, AttorneyGeneral of the United States, he removed to Washington. Mr. Monroe had been his early friend and patron; he could not, therefore, if he desired, have readily refused the office. Nor did he wish so to do; for the duties of the station were professional as well as political; and he had, besides, increased facilities at Washington for augmenting his practice in the Supreme Court. He held this responsible post until the inauguration of Jackson as President, in 1829; having, during that time, attained a fame for juristic lore and farreaching sagacity, for honesty of purpose and unswerving fidelity to the highest interests of his country, for integrity and manliness of character, not second, if it is not superior, to the reputation of any other Attorney-General since appointed. Soon after the inauguration of General Jackson, Mr. Wirt removed to Baltimore, where he resided until his death. This latter mournful occurrence took place while he was in Washington, attending a term of the Supreme Court, on the 18th of February, 1834. Since his removal, he had attended to the calls of his profession, only one political event disturbing the even tenor of his life. This was his nomination, in 1831, by the Anti-Masonic Convention, as a candidate for the Presidency, which resulted in his defeat in the election of 1832. That he should have given his consent to be a candidate, seems surprising, when we remember his distaste of political life. Nor was it without hesitation that he acceded to the noinination. He evidently expected, that having become the candidate of the Anti-Masonic, he would also be chosen as the candidate of the National Republican party, and these two united, would probably secure his election; whereas Mr. Clay, the favorite of the Republicans, and the choice, also, of Mr. Wirt, being opposed, as he certainly would be, by the Anti-Masons, would infallibly be defeated. Not being nominated by the Republicans, Wirt desired to retire from the field; but the Anti-Masons being unwilling he should do so, he remained a candidate, and was defeated. He had not, and could not have the least sympathy with Jackson's administration. In order that it should give place to one following a different policy, he clearly saw that it was necessary that there should be union among the opposition. He thought this union might be centered in himself, as the opposing candidate; he knew no

other in whom it probably would, and, therefore, he consented to become a candidate. Such is, substantially, the account of his short and seemingly inconsistent entrance into public life, as given in his private letters.

Mr. Wirt was of a tall, commanding appearance, and easy carriage. His features were classic, resembling in no little degree those of the German poet Goethe. His voice was sweet and melodious; his laugh gay, but not boisterous; his conversation highly attractive; and his manners gentle, unstudied, courteous and winning. Fond of society, he at one time, during youth, was endangered by love of social gayety. He was a lover of music and of poetry; at the latter he even made some playful attempts himself. In speaking, his gestures were graceful; his oratory smooth, polished, chaste and elegant-it won by charming; Patrick Henry's by storming the hearts of the audience. He was not acquainted with Greek, but in knowledge of the Latin he was unusually proficient. On his journeys he was wont to carry with him a pocket edition of Horace for company; but Seneca was his favorite. His published letters abound in well-timed classical allusions.

Mr. Wirt's cast of mind was religious. In his youth, wrought into enthusiasm, he was on the eve of becoming a Baptist preacher. These feelings, however, subsided, and his religion became more calm and subdued. Throughout his life he was a student of theology, a science which he much admired. His piety, when his religious views had become settled, was practical, leading him to act, rather than to dispute on mooted points of theology—yet was he not a fanatic. "I do not think," says he, "that enthusiasm constitutes religion, or that Heaven is pleased with the smoke of the passions, any more than with the smoke of rams or bulls. There is a calm, steady, enlightened religion of the soul, as firm as it is temperate, which I believe is the religion of Heaven. Its raptures are those of the mind, not of the passions; its ecstasies are akin to those of David.”

Such being Mr. Wirt's character, we are not surprised at his distaste of political life, and his aversion of party politics. "My soul," writes he, in 1809, to his early friend, Mr. Edwards, "sickens at the idea of political intrigue and faction: I would not choose to be the innocent victim of it, much less the criminal agent." And again, in another letter to the same, he says, According to my present impressions of happiness, I would not exchange the good opinion of one virtuous and judicious man, for the acclamation of the millions that inhabit our country; not that these would not be grateful-but as for taking them as a basis of happiness, I would as soon think of building a house on the billows of the sea.' He desired earnestly a life of literary tranquillity, and retirement from the public gaze. But the necessity of obtaining a livelihood, confined him for the most part to the practice of his profession. Nor did he wish to be idle in his retirement. On this point he remarks, in a letter to Mr. Edwards, in 1810, "I think I could be much more solidly useful in that situation (literary seclusion from public life,) than in one more public and active. So strongly are my hopes and wishes fixed on this life of sequestra

tion and peace, that if you ever hear of my having entered on a political course, you may rely upon it that it is a painful and heart-rending sacrifice to a sense of public duty. I hope and trust that such an emergency is scarcely possible. I am sure that it is very improbable; because I believe there will always be those who are much better qualified for public office, and certainly far more anxious for them than I am. At the same time, I think our country is, at present, very badly supplied with materials for future legislation and government. I cast my eyes over the continent in vain, in quest of successors to our present patriots. There seems to me a most miserable and alarming dearth of talents and acquirements among the young men of the United States..I myself think that it proceeds, in a very great degree, if not altogether, from defective education. Our teachers themselves either want learning, or they want the address necessary to excite into vigorous action the powers of the mind. Young men are everywhere turned loose, in the various professions, with minds half awake, and their surface merely a little disturbed with science. This is not the way great men have been made, either in Europe or America. As long as this system is pursued, we shall never have anything but political quacks.

If Mr. Wirt were now living, he would have more reason than ever to grieve over the degeneracy of our public men. We have few, very few statesmen, but politicians by the thousand; and the former are ever decreasing in numbers, while the latter are growing more and more abundant. It is not, however, because we have not the men qualified to conduct public affairs. There are many such among us, but, like Mr. Wirt, they are unwilling to mingle in the strife and heat of publie life. Nor, if they did, is it certain that they would, nay, it is more than probable that they would not, be chosen in preference to the more boisterous, but far less able, stump orators, and quasi statesmen of the day.

As an author, Mr. Wirt is most extensively known by his sketches of the Life of Patrick Henry. The subject was, in one respect, unfortunate; for the historical material from which the work had to be compiled, was extremely scant. The fame of Henry was traditional, and not a little exaggerated. His character, ideal rather than real, it was impossible to depict historically. The drawbacks being considered, however, Mr. Wirt has succeeded beyond what might have been expected, and better, perhaps, than any other writer could have done. Ilis pictures, for such, in fact, these sketches are, are brilliantly executed, but not unfrequently the coloring is a tint or so too deep. As a volume to read, it charms something after the manner of a romance, and it is the medium of conveying many just and valuable thoughts and reflections; but, as a history, it must be acknowledged to be defective in a most essential element.

Mr. Wirt also wrote occasional essays, chiefly as an exercise in literary composition, which were published in newspapers, under the various titles of "Rainbow," "Sylph," and "Old Bachelor." Of these, the collections styled "The Old Bachelor," is the largest and best. The essays included in it may be favorably compared, it is

thought, with those of Addison and Steele. Our jurist delighted in writing, and, though a speaker by profession, confessed that oratory itself was inferior to it in power. "The harangue, and the haranguemaker," he justly observes, " produce a transient benefit, and then perish together. The writer, if he have merit, speaks to all countries and all ages; and the benefits which he produces flow on for ever."

As a lawyer, Mr. Wirt was thoroughly conversant with the best writers on jurisprudence. His power of analysis was unusual, and his discrimination keen. He studied his cases with extreme care and minuteness, and, after his investigations, argued them in court with a logical precision, and fullness, and clearness of statement, seldom equalled. He required preparation, and would not speak without it. Frothy, dinner-table oratory, and stump-speaking, he despised. His imagination, however, was florid, and in early life his speeches were more ornate than afterwards, on which account he ran the risk, for some time, of being esteemed a declaimer; attractive to the multitude, rather than a sound and well-read lawyer, whose arguments would convince the judge on the bench. But the distrusting soon learned that he was something more than a captivating speech-maker. Mr. Wirt was a lover of the young, and often gave convincing proof of his interest in their welfare. This feeling, honorable to his heart, he betrays in numerous passages of his private letters. And the young, on their part, could not find many models more suitable for imitation than he; perhaps none, in one particular, respecting which youth especially need often to be reminded,-truthfulness. It is a singular and highly creditable fact, vouched for by his biographer, that in not one of the several letters of Mr. Wirt, examined by him, could there be found "the assertion of a fact, or the avowal of a motive of conduct, which any other letter in the collection proves to be insincerely uttered; not an instance, even of what might be thought pardonable duplicity."

Mr. Kennedy has' presented us with a biography not interesting merely, but highly instructive. He deserves our thanks, as he cer tainly commands our admiration, for the judicious manner in which he has treated the subject of these memoirs. He is, himself, a lawyer, and withal a man of genius, a scholar, and an effective writer. His style of composition is chaste and subdued, well-adapted to the writing of biography. Having taken up his volumes to glance over their contents, we were beguiled into a regular perusal. We have no reason to regret the circumstance, but, on the contrary, to rejoice.

ART. III.-MANAGEMENT OF NEGROES.

J. D. B. DE Bow, Esq.-Your number for June contains an article upon this subject, and whilst I agree with the writer in the main, I have also some notions of my own, which you are at liberty to use. The public may desire to know the age of the writer, the length of time he has been managing negroes, and how long he has tried the