Discourse of the Life and Character of the Hon. Littleton Waller Tazewell | Page 6

appearance of the venerable old
treasurer, Robert Carter Nicholas, whom, as he died in 1780, he could
only have seen when he was six years old. His father, as before
observed, was constantly engaged in public life; and it is certain that
young Tazewell had frequent opportunities of seeing the statesmen of
that era. I well remember hearing him describe a visit he made to
Patrick Henry, when the orator lived at Venable's Ford in Prince
Edward, and his finding him in the shade of an oak playing the fiddle
for the amusement of a group of girls and boys.
His first regular teacher was Walker Murray, with whom he prosecuted
the study of Latin. At this school he began his intimacy with John
Randolph. They were in the same class, and studied Cordery together;
and here they formed a friendship which lasted without abatement until
it was ended by the death of that eloquent but eccentric man. At
parting--for Randolph went over to Bermuda--the young friends, who
had no other property under their control, exchanged Corderys with
each other; and nearly half a century afterwards, when one of them had
become a Senator of the United States, and the other Minister
Plenipotentiary to Russia. Randolph stated at a public dinner in Norfolk,
that he still possessed the Cordery of Tazewell. I have heard Mr.
Tazewell say that Randolph was very idle at school, that he was
flogged regularly every Monday morning and two or three times during
the week, and that he was the most beautiful boy at this period he ever
beheld.
Young Tazewell at an early age entered the college of William and
Mary, then under the presidency of Bishop Madison, and was, as may
be presumed from his own statement, and as we learn from other
sources, a diligent and accurate scholar. He was probably stimulated to
exertion by the presence of several young men who were members of

the institution at various times during his college course. Among these
were James Barbour, of Orange, afterwards the colleague of Tazewell
in the House of Delegates and in the Senate of the United States,
Governor of Virginia, Secretary of War, and Minister to England, and
renowned for his splendid eloquence and glowing patriotism; William
Henry Cabell, also the colleague of Tazewell in the House of Delegates,
Governor, and President of the Court of Appeals; George Keith Taylor,
another colleague in the House of Delegates, a lawyer almost unrivalled
at the bar, a patriot without fear and without reproach, who went down
to an early grave; Robert Barraud Taylor, then in the flush of his
brilliant youth, whom Tazewell was to meet at a memorable session on
the floor of the House of Delegates, and who was to be his able and
accomplished rival at the bar throughout his whole forensic career;
John Randolph, and John Thompson.
Of John Thompson I have heard him say, in his latter years, that he was
an extraordinary young man--the most wonderful he had ever seen.
Thompson died young, at an age not exceeding twenty-three, and now
lives only in the letters of Curtius. Mr. Tazewell always recounted in a
tender tone his last interview with Thompson, who lived in Petersburg,
but hearing that Tazewell was in Richmond, came over to see him, with
a determination to return in the stage which left Richmond at twelve at
night. He arrived at dusk, called on Tazewell, and told him that he had
only from that time till midnight to talk with him; and in a few
moments the friends were lost in pleasant converse. The night was dark
and cold; and when the stage was announced, Thompson, who was
thinly clad, bade his friend adieu. He took cold on his return, and died
after a short illness.
Tazewell took the degree of Bachelor of Arts on the 31st day of July,
1792, though it is probable that he attended some of the classes at a
later period. His diploma, written on a sheet of foolscap, and signed by
Bishop Madison, Judge St. George Tucker, and others, is still preserved
in his family. It speaks well for his attention and regularity, that of all
his classmates he alone took a degree at the appointed time. Having
finished his college course, he began the study of the law in Richmond
under the auspices of Mr. Wickham,[3] living in his house as a member

of his family, and of his father, who was then a Judge of the Circuit
Court, but was soon after transferred to the Court of Appeals. That he
entered with great zeal into the study of his profession, his subsequent
familiarity with all the philosophy as well as the practice of the law
fully shows. While engaged in the study, he regularly attended the