ged in all but in the course of our great river and of our two
glorious seas; and when the rising genius of Virginia, turning from the
sages and statesmen of Greece and Rome, from Socrates and Demosthenes,
and from Cato and Cincinnatus, shall seek to know the details of the
lives of the greater men who have adorned our own annals; it may be
pleasing to know the spot in which Tazewell spent his latter years, and
the manner of his private life. Simplicity marked his dress, his
dwelling and its furniture, and all his accompaniments. His house and
grounds were such as appeared, if you looked into the assessors' books,
of considerable value; but if you looked at the objects themselves, they
were such as any respectable citizen might possess without the
reputation of great wealth. The lot, bounded on the east by Granby
street, included several acres in the heart of the city; and the house,
which, though capacious, had no idle room, was a plain structure of wood
built originally by a private citizen of moderate means as his abode.
Its position in front of a large lawn overlooking the Elizabeth could
not be surpassed. The water came rippling up to the southern enclosure
twice a day from the sea, and presented a broad silvery expanse on which
every arriving and departing vessel of the port was borne in broad view
from the portico. But, aside from the assessed value of the lot, which
was accidental and produced nothing, there was no exhibition of wealth
within. All was plain as became the residence of a man who had those
claims to public respect which no mere wealth could give, and which the
absence of wealth could not impair. As you lifted the knocker of his
door--for he never adopted the comparative novelty of bells in our
region--a black servant, who, with his ancestors of several generations,
had been born in the family, soon appeared, and you entered a broad
central passage which extended through the house, which was the old
sitting place of Virginia families for nine months of the year, and
which is hardly known in the crowded cities of the North. The floor of
the passage was covered with a strip of carpeting in winter, and in
summer presented a smooth polished surface devoid of matting. If you
opened the first door on the left, you entered the office of Mr.
Tazewell, a well lighted southern room, fourteen by twenty, in the
middle of which was a table furnished with writing apparatus and covered
with books and manuscripts. By