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h there is less
wealth there, there is more freedom, more ease, and less misery."

Declarations of this kind often originate in insincerity and
affectation; sometimes from the wish to appear superior to those
sensual indulgences and light amusements which are to be obtained only
in cities, and sometimes from the pride of seeming to despise what is
beyond our reach. But the sentiment here expressed by Mr. Jefferson is
truly felt by many an American, and we have no reason to doubt it was
felt also by him. There is a charm in the life which one has been
accustomed to in his youth, no matter what the modes of that life may
have been, which always retains its hold on the heart. The Indian who
has passed his first years with his tribe, is never reconciled to the
habits and restraints of civilized life. And although in more
artificial and advanced stages of society, individuals, whether they
have been brought up in the town or the country, are not equally
irreconcilable to a change from one to the other, it commonly takes
some time to overcome their preference for the life they have been
accustomed to; and in many instances it is never overcome, but
continues to haunt the imagination with pleasing pictures of the past
or imaginations of the future, when hope gives assurance that those
scenes of former enjoyment may be renewed. That most of our country
gentlemen, past the heyday of youth, would soon tire of Paris, and
pant after the simple pleasures and exemption from restraint which
their own country affords, is little to be wondered at; but it is the
more remarkable in Mr. Jefferson, and more clearly illustrates the
force of early habit, when it is recollected that he found in the
French metropolis that society of men of letters and science which he
must often have in vain coveted in his own country, and that here he
met with those specimens of music, painting, and architecture, for
which he had so lively a relish. But in these comparisons between the
life we are leading and that which we have left, or are looking
forward to, we must always allow much to the force of the imagination,
and there are few men who felt its influence more than Mr. Jefferson.
In one of his letters to Mr. Carmichael, he says, "I sometimes think
of building a little hermitage at the Natural Bridge, (for it is my
property), and of passing there a part of the year at least."

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA.

(_From the Same._)

We have seen that the subject of education had long been a favourite
object with Mr. Jefferson, partly from his own lively relish for
literature and science, and partly because he deemed the diffusion of
knowledge among the people essential to the wise administration of a
popular government, and even to its stability. He had not long retired
from public life, before the subject again engaged his serious
attention, and, besides endeavouring to enlist men of influence in
behalf of his favourite scheme of dividing the counties of the State
into wards, and giving the charge of its elementary schools to these
little commonwealths, he also aimed to establish a college, in the
neighbourhood of Charlottesville, for teaching the higher branches of
knowledge, and which, from its central and healthy situation, might be
improved into a university.

He lived to see this object accomplished, and it owed its success
principally to his efforts. It engrossed his attention for more than
eleven years, in which time he exhibited his wonted judgment and
address, in overcoming the numerous obstacles he encountered, and a
diligence and perseverance which would have been creditable to the
most vigorous period of life. . . . . . .

In getting the university into operation, he seemed to have regained
the activity and assiduity of his youth. Everything was looked into,
everything was ordered by him. He suggested the remedy for every
difficulty, and made the selection in every choice of expedients. Two
or three times a week he rode down to the establishment to give orders
to the proctor, and to watch the progress of the work still
unfinished. Nor were his old habits of hospitality forgotten. His
invitations to the professors and their families were frequent, and
every Sunday some four or five of the students dined with him. At
these times he generally ate by himself in a small recess connected
with the dining-room; but, saving at meals, sat and conversed with
the company as usual. The number of visiters also to the University
was very great, and they seldom failed to call at Monticello, where
they often passed the day, and sometimes several days. He was so fully
occupied with his duties, as rector of the university, and he found so
much pleasure in the occupation, that for a time every cause of care
and anxiety, of which he now began to have an increased share, was
entirely forgotten; and the sun of his life seemed to be setting with
a soft but unclouded radiance.

[Illustration: ~Henry Clay.~]

THIRD PERIOD ... 1800-1850.

HENRY CLAY.

~1777=1852.~

HENRY CLAY was born at "The Slashes," Hanover County, Virginia, whence
he got his title, "Mill-Boy of the Slashes." His mother, early left a
widow, was poor, and on her second marriage, to Mr. Henry Watkins,
removed to Kentucky. Henry Clay became a clerk and then a law-student
in Richmond, Va., and in 1797 followed his mother to Kentucky, making
his home in Lexington. He rose speedily to eminence as a jury lawyer,
and in 1803 entered public life as a member of the State Legislature.
In 1806 he entered the United States Senate, and after the war of 1812
he was sent to Belgium as one of the Commissioners to treat of peace
with Great Britain.

His share in public life was most important. He was the author of the
Missouri Compromise of 1820, of the Tariff Compromise of 1832, of the
Bill for Protection and Internal Improvements; his agency in the first
two and in the Missouri Compromise of 1850, gaining for him the title
of the "Great Pacificator." With Calhoun and Webster, he formed the
triad of great statesmen who made illustrious our politics in the
first half of the nineteenth century.

He died in Washington City and was buried in Lexington, Kentucky,
where an imposing column, surmounted by his statue, marks his tomb. In
the Capitol grounds at Richmond there is also a fine monument and
statue to his memory. It has been said of him that no man ever had
more devoted friends and more bitter enemies. See Benton's account of
his duel with Randolph.

His home, "Ashland," on the suburbs of Lexington, is now a part of the
University of Kentucky. The old Court House in which so many of his
famous speeches were made still stands in Lexington, and is cherished
as an honoured reminder of his greatness in the eyes of his admiring
compatriots. See under A. H. Stephens, _Sketch in the Senate, 1850_;
also, Life, by Prentice, and by Schurz.

WORKS.

 Speeches, [of which several collections have been made.]

Henry Clay was perhaps the greatest popular leader and or

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