''Miss  Maria,"  he  observes,  ''constantly  resides  with  her  father;
but  as  she  is  sev^iteen  years  old,  and  is  remarkably  handsome,  she
will  doubtless  soon  find  that  there  are  duties  which  it  is  sweeter  to
perform  than  those  of  a  daughter."  '^  Jack  Eppes  "  may  have  been
>ne  of  the  Monticello  circle  during  those  pleasant  June  days  of '
1796,  when  the  Duke  de  la  Rochefoucauld  surprised  Mr.  Jefferson
in  the  harvest-field  under  a  scorching  sun.  Perhaps  the  guest  of
the  house  may  have  said  to  the  young  college-student  what  he
recorded  in  his  narrative.  He  may  even  have  accompanied  the
remark  with  the  nearest  thing  to  a  wink  which  the  politeness  of  the
onoten  rigime  permitted.  "Mr.  Jefferson's  philosophic  mind,"
obeerves  the  exile,  '^  his  love  of  stady,  his  excellent  library,  which
aaf^lies  him  with  the  means  of  satisfying  it,  and  his  friends,  will
undoubtedly  help  him  to  endure  this  loss ;  which,  moreover,  is  not
likely  to  become  an  absolute  privation,  as  the  second  son-in-law  of
Mr.  Jefferson  may,  like  Mr.  Randolph,  reside  in  the  vicinity  of'
Monticello,  and,  if  he  be  wortliy  of  Miss.  Maria,  will  not  be  able  to
find  any  company  more  desirable  than  that  of  Mr.  Jefferson."

But  the  horses  await  their'  riders.  We  may  be  sure  that  both
gpentlemen  were  well  mounted.  Virginia  took  the  lead  of  all  the
thirteen  colonies  in  breeding  horses ;  and  Jefferson,  though  he  dif-
ftied  from  his  countrymen  in  things  more  important,  surpassed
them  in  his  love  of  fine  horses.  And,  curiously  enough,  it  was  only
in  dealing  with  horses  that  he  was  ever  known  to  show  any  thing
of  that  spirit  of  domination  which  marks  some  varieties  of  common
men.  With  a  pilfering  negro,  an  uncomfortable  neighbor,  a  refrac-
tory child,  or  a  perverse  colleague,  his  patience  seemed  inexhaustn
Ue ;  but  let  a  horse  rebel,  and  the  lash  instantly  descended,  and  the
battle  never  ceased  until  the  ^limal  had  discovered  which  of  the
two  held  the  reins.  He  always  loved  the  exhilaration  of  a  race,  and
did  not  permit  false  ideas  of  official  decorum  to  prevent  his  attend"*
ing^  races  near  the  seat  of  government,  no  matter  what  office  he  may
h«ve  held.  The  saddle  alone  was  his  test  of  the  quality  of  a  horse,
the*  trotting- wagon  being  unknown  in  the  land  of  corduroy  roads.
