The Youth of Jefferson

The Youth of Jefferson, by Anonymous

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Youth of Jefferson, by Anonymous This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: The Youth of Jefferson A Chronicle of College Scrapes at Williamsburg, in Virginia, A.D. 1764
Author: Anonymous
Release Date: November 1, 2007 [EBook #23283]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE YOUTH OF JEFFERSON ***

Produced by David Edwards, Christine P. Travers and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned images of public domain material from the Google Print project.)

[Transcriber's note: Obvious printer's errors have been corrected, all other inconsistencies are as in the original. The author's spelling has been maintained.
The Table of Content in this file has been created for this project, the original book did not contain any.]

THE
YOUTH OF JEFFERSON
OR
A CHRONICLE OF COLLEGE SCRAPES
At Williamsburg, In Virginia, A.D. 1764

"Dulce est desipere in loco."

[Illustration: Publisher's arms.]

REDFIELD 110 AND 112 NASSAU STREET, NEW-YORK 1854

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, by
J. S. REDFIELD,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New-York.
TUBBS, NESMITH & TEALL, Stereotypers, 29 Beekman st.

TABLE OF CONTENT.
To the reader.
Chapter I.
How three persons in this history came by their names.
Chapter II.
Jacques shows the advantage of being led captive by a crook.
Chapter III.
An heiress who wishes to become a man.
Chapter IV.
A poor young man, and a rich young girl.
Chapter V.
In which Sir Asinus makes as ignominious retreat.
Chapter VI.
How Sir Asinus staked his garters against a pistole, and lost.
Chapter VII.
Jacques bestows his paternal advice upon a schoolgirl.
Chapter VIII.
How Sir Asinus invented a new order of philosophers, the apicians.
Chapter IX.
The luck of Jacques.
Chapter X.
Mowbray opens his heart to his new friend.
Chapter XI.
How Hoffland found that he had left his key behind.
Chapter XII.
How Hoffland caught a tartar in the person of miss lucy's lover.
Chapter XIII.
Hoffland makes his will.
Chapter XIV.
Hostile correspondence.
Chapter XV.
Sentiments of a disappointed lover on the subject of women.
Chapter XVI.
Advance of the enemy upon Sir Asinus.
Chapter XVII.
Corydon goes a-courting.
Chapter XVIII.
Going to Roseland.
Chapter XIX.
Hoffland exerts himself to amuse the company.
Chapter XX.
At Roseland, in the evening.
Chapter XXI.
Disgraceful conduct of Sir Asinus.
Chapter XXII.
How Hoffland preferred a glove to a dozen pistoles.
Chapter XXIII.
How Sir Asinus fished for swallows, and what he caught.
Chapter XXIV.
Hoffland is whisked away in a chariot.
Chapter XXV.
Sir Asinus goes to the ball.
Chapter XXVI.
Ernest and Philippa.
Chapter XXVII.
The last chance of Jacques.
Chapter XXVIII.
Sir Asinus intends for Europe.
Chapter XXIX.
The May festival.
Chapter XXX.
Illustrations.

TO THE READER.
This little tale is scarcely worth a preface, and it is only necessary to say, that it was written as a relaxation after exhausting toil. If its grotesque incidents beguile an otherwise weary hour with innocent laughter, the writer's ambition will have been fully gratified.

THE YOUTH OF JEFFERSON.
CHAPTER I.
HOW THREE PERSONS IN THIS HISTORY CAME BY THEIR NAMES.
On a fine May morning in the year 1764,--that is to say, between the peace at Fontainebleau and the stamp act agitation, which great events have fortunately no connection with the present narrative,--a young man mounted on an elegant horse, and covered from head to foot with lace, velvet, and embroidery, stopped before a small house in the town or city of Williamsburg, the capital of Virginia.
Negligently delivering his bridle into the hands of a diminutive negro, the young man entered the open door, ascended a flight of stairs which led to two or three small rooms above, and turning the knob, attempted to enter the room opening upon the street.
The door opened a few inches, and then was suddenly closed by a heavy body thrown against it.
"Back!" cried a careless and jovial voice, "back! base proctor--this is my castle."
"Open! open!" cried the visitor.
"Never!" replied the voice.
The visitor kicked the door, to the great damage of his Spanish shoes.
"Beware!" cried the hidden voice; "I am armed to the teeth, and rather than be captured I will die in defence of my rights--namely, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness under difficulties."
"Tom! you are mad."
"What! that voice? not the proctor's!"
"No, no," cried the visitor, kicking again; "Jacquelin's."
"Ah, ah!"
And with these ejaculations the inmate of the chamber was heard drawing back a table, then the butt of a gun sounded upon the floor, and the door opened.
The young man who had asserted his inalienable natural rights with so much fervor was scarcely twenty--at least he had not reached his majority. He was richly clad, with the exception of an old faded dressing gown, which fell gracefully like a Roman toga around his legs; and his face was full of intelligence and careless, somewhat cynical humor. The features were hard and pointed, the mouth large, the hair sandy with