me so feeble that he had to be
lifted to the saddle; and his mount was always a fiery one. Once, in Mr.
Jefferson's old age, news came that a serious accident had happened in the
neighboring village to one of his grandsons. Immediately he ordered his
horse to be brought round, and though it was night and very dark, he
mounted, despite the protests of the household, and, at a run, dashed down
the steep ascent by which Monticello is reached. The family held their
breath till the tramp of his horse's feet, on the level ground below,
could faintly be heard.

At half past three or four he dined; and at six he returned to the
drawing-room, where coffee was served. The evening was spent in reading or
conversation, and at nine he went to bed. "His diet," relates a
distinguished visitor, Daniel Webster, "is simple, but he seems restrained
only by his taste. His breakfast is tea and coffee, bread always fresh
from the oven, of which he does not seem afraid, with at times a slight
accompaniment of cold meat. He enjoys his dinner well, taking with his
meat a large proportion of vegetables." The fact is that he used meat only
as a sort of condiment to vegetables. "He has a strong preference for the
wines of the continent, of which he has many sorts of excellent
quality.... Dinner is served in half Virginian, half French style, in good
taste and abundance. No wine is put on the table till the cloth is
removed. In conversation, Mr. Jefferson is easy and natural, and
apparently not ambitious; it is not loud as challenging general attention,
but usually addressed to the person next him." His health remained good
till within a few months of his death, and he never lost a tooth.

Scarcely less burdensome than his correspondence was the throng of
visitors at Monticello, of all nationalities, from every State in the
Union, some coming from veneration, some from curiosity, some from a
desire to obtain free quarters. Groups of people often stood about the
house and in the halls to see Jefferson pass from his study to his
dining-room. It is recorded that "a female once punched through a
window-pane of the house with her parasol to get a better view of him." As
many as fifty guests sometimes lodged in the house. "As a specimen of
Virginia life," relates one biographer, "we will mention that a friend
from abroad came to Monticello, with a family of six persons, and remained
ten months.... Accomplished young kinswomen habitually passed two or thr