Page:Memoir, correspondence, and miscellanies, from the papers of Thomas Jefferson - Volume 1.djvu/107

 APPENDIX.

[NOTE A.] Letter to John Saunderson, Esq.

Monticello, August 31, 1820. SIR,

Your letter of the 19th was received in due time, and I wish it were in my power to furnish you more fully, than in the enclosed paper, with materials for the biography of George Wythe ; but I possess none in writing, am very distant from the place of his birth and early life, and know noi a single person in that quar ter from whom enquiry could be made, with the expectation of collecting any thing material. Add to this, that feeble health dis ables me, almost, from writing; and, entirely, from the labor of going into difficult research. I became acquainted with Mr. Wythe when he was about thirty-five years of age. He directed my studies in the law, led me into business, and continued, until death, my most affectionate friend. A close intimacy with him, during that period of forty odd years, the most important of his life, ena bles me to state its leading facts, which, being of my own know ledge, I vouch their truth. Of what precedes that period, I speak from hearsay only, in which there may be error, but of little ac count, as the character of the facts will themselves manifest. In the epoch of his birth I may err a little, stating that from the re collection of a particular incident, the date of which, within a year or two, I do not distinctly remember. These scanty outliifes, you will be able, I hope, to fill up from other information, and they may serve you, sometimes, as landmarks to distinguish truth from error, in what you hear from others. The exalted virtue of the man, will also be a polar star to guide you in all matters which may touch that element of his character. But on that you will receive imputation from no man ; for, as far as I know, he never had an enemy. Little as I am able to contribute to the just repu tation of this excellent man, it is the act of my life most gratifying to my heart : and leaves me only to regret that a waning memory can do no more.