Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 36.djvu/74

 economics and applied himself to that generous fountain of information and inspiration—Smith's Wealth of Nations—with the same assiduity that a student of theology would to the study of the Bible. His life was marked by enterprise, intrepidity and success. When the regulation of Virginia commerce was discussed, in connection with the Constitution, a favorite expression of his was "Let commerce alone, it will take care of itself." On his return to Virginia after the war he continued the practice of law. He was in 1784 elected to Congress. He was regarded as a most elegant gentleman as well as the most accomplished debater of his age. In dialectics he was thoroughly versed and equipped. It is said his powers of humor, wit, sarcasm and ridicule, prolonged and sustained by argument and declamation, were unrivalled. He had that happy faculty of making "Wise things seem foolish and rich things but poor." Grayson's speeches in the Convention abound in passages of humor and sarcasm. He was also noted for his physical qualities as well as his mental endowments. He was considered the handsomest man in the Convention. His person was imposing–his stature over six feet and though in weight over two hundred and fifty pounds, such was the symmetry of his figure that the beholder was struck more with its height than its magnitude. He had a majestic head–forehead high and broad, eyes black and deep-seated, nose large and curved, lips well formed, disclosing white and regular teeth. It is related that his body was exhumed after it had lain forty-six years in his coffin and when the lid was lifted there was his majestic form as if it had been recently wrapped in the shroud, the features were fresh and full, the hair long and black—the growth of the grave—every lineament perfect and distinct. The address of Grayson was said to be winning and courteous, his conversation playful, sparkling and profound as the time or topic called for or the mood prompted, but withal there was a dignity about him which the ablest and the bravest men would have been the last to trench upon. He died in 1790 and is buried at Dumfries, Va. So zealous were our ancestors for our liberties and so