Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. I.djvu/198

 160 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS country, but in independent and comfortable cir cumstances.&quot; James s education was begun at an excellent school kept by a Scotchman named Donald Robertson, and his studies, preparatory for college, were completed at home under the care of the Rev. Thomas Martin, clergyman of the parish. He was graduated at Princeton in 1772, and re mained there another year, devoting himself to the study of Hebrew. On returning home, he occupied himself with his tory, law, and theology, while teaching his brothers and sisters. Of the details of his youthful studies little is known, but his industry must have been very great; for, in spite of the early age at which he became absorbed in the duties of public life, the range and solidity of his acquirements were extraordinary. For minute and thorough knowl edge of ancient and modern history and of consti tutional law he was unequalled among the Ameri cans of the Revolutionary period; only Hamilton, and perhaps Ellsworth and Marshall, approached him in this regard. For precocity of mental de velopment he resembled Hamilton and the younger Pitt, and, like Washington, he was distinguished in youth for soundness of judgment, keenness of perception, and rare capacity for work. Along with these admirable qualities, his lofty integrity and his warm interest in public affairs were well known to the people of Orange, so that when, in