Discourse of the Life and Character of the Hon. Littleton Waller Tazewell | Page 5

with his grandfather, who taught him the rudiments of
English and Latin, and superintended his studies at the school of
Walker Murray; and when in that year the judge was on his death-bed,
he sent for his old friend Mr. Wythe, and committed his grandson, then
in his twelfth year, to his care; and with Mr. Wythe young Tazewell
lived until that gentleman removed to Richmond, when he resided with
Bishop Madison during his college course. The love which the child
bore to his affectionate grandfather has been commemorated by a
single fact. When Littleton came home from school and learned the old
gentleman was dead, he was inconsolable, and finding that, in the
painful anxieties of such a time, he was comparatively overlooked, he
left the house, and went out into Col. Bassett's woods, where he had
well-nigh perished. When he was missed, search was made for him,
and he was found and brought home, but not until the funeral was over.
The following extract of a letter, addressed by Mr. Tazewell, in 1839 to
William F. Wickham, Esq., the son and executor of the celebrated John
Wickham of Richmond, and written on the death of that eminent
lawyer, presents a sketch of his own early youth, not the less attractive
as it embraces an interesting period of the youth of Mr. Wickham also:
"So much of my life," writes Mr. Tazewell, "was spent in the freest
intercourse with your dear father, and during this intercourse mere time
effected changes in our relations so gradually and imperceptibly, that,
until they were matured into their last state, I was often at a loss to
determine what was their true character. We first met in the year 1780,
at the house of your grandfather, in Greensville county, (who was also
the paternal grandfather of Mr. Tazewell), to which I had been sent to
get me out of the way of the British army, then invading Virginia. I was

a child not six years old, and he was a youth of about seventeen. Here
he became my tutor; and during the course of about two years, he
taught me first to read English better than I could do before; next, the
rudiments of Latin, and lastly, to write. During this period I contracted
for him that respect which children naturally feel for their seniors, and
the ignorant for those much better informed than themselves; while he
regarded me with the affection usually bestowed by a patron upon his
protegè, who manifests no bad propensities, and a disposition, at least,
to profit by instruction and advice.
"In 1782 we parted; and well do I remember the tears we both shed at
our separation. In the winter of 1785-6 we again met at Williamsburg,
at the house of my father, who then resided there. Here our intercourse
was renewed upon a footing somewhat different than it had been
maintained before, but with greater pleasure to both. He became a
student of law in my father's office, and I was a boy in the first class of
a celebrated grammar-school. To the careful instruction of my excellent
grandfather.[2] I had been indebted for greater proficiency in my
classical learning than is usually acquired by boys of my time of life.
My grandfather died within a very short period after the return of your
father to Virginia. Of the distress which I suffered at this deprivation,
he was the sole comforter; and he immediately took upon himself the
tasks which my poor old grandfather had been so delighted in
performing for me. He heard and corrected my recitations--availed
himself of every opportunity they offered to improve my taste and to
inspire me with the wish of acquiring more information concerning the
subjects to which they related. For all the pleasure which I have since
derived from classical learning, I am indebted to his judicious
instruction and advice.
"In 1787 your father commenced the practice of the law in
Williamsburg, and mine shortly after removed from thence to
Kingsmill, leaving me in Williamsburg under the care of your father to
complete my education. Under his kind and useful advice, my rapid
advance in my studies, both at school and in college, and my increased
age, began to qualify me as a companion for him. By confiding to my
discretion matters not often entrusted to those so young as I was, he

taught me prudence; and, by his excellent precepts and example, he
contributed much to the improvement of both my mind and manners."
As a boy of quick parts, Littleton doubtless observed with more or less
attention the events that were passing around him. One proof of his
recollection at an early age may be found in that shadowy notion which
he carried to his grave, of the personal