Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 2.djvu/390

Court House, Virginia. His person and adaress were attractive, his abilities shining and precocious; fortune smiled upon him from the start. After two years in Culpeper, he removed to Albemarle county, where his practice increased. He married the daughter of Dr. George Gilmer, of "Pen Park," who introduced him to Mr. Jefferson and the leading men of the state. Being naturally of a vivacious disposition and an agreeable personality, he was gladly welcomed. He obtained the reputation of a bon vivant among his professional brethren, and was somewhat wild. Before it was too late Wirt saw the error of his course, and breaking away from the temptations to which he had been exposed, settled down to a sober life and a course of reading, which in great measure supplied the deficiencies of his early education which, especially in law, was exceedingly meagre for one who had to meet such opponents as Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe. In 1799 he went to Richmond. was presently made clerk of the house of delegates, and in 1802 chancellor of the eastern district, and moved to Williamsburg. In 1803 his "Letters of a British Spy" appeared in the Richmond "Argus" and as a volume, added much to his reputation; the tenth edition (1832) had a sketch of the author by P. H. Cruse. After six months in Williamsburg he went to Norfolk, where he staid till 1806, when he returned to Richmond. In 1807. by President Jefferson's appointment, he was a counsel in the trial of Aaron Burr; one of his speeches, which lasted four hours. was vastly admired and was among the finest efforts of his life. The speech greatly extended his fame. and is perhaps the one which has made him best known to succeeding generations, as its florid periods and its occasional pathos made it a prime favorite for academic declamation, and although it may be said to be worn to shreds by the constant repetition, it yet has the power to charm even a critical reader. His essays collected as "The Rainbow," were first printed in 1808 in the Richmond "Enquirer," as was, two years later, "The Old Bachelor," gathered in two volumes (1812). To the latter several writers of less fame contributed; J. P. Kennedy called it Wirt's best book, but other critics were not of that opinion. His "Life of Patrick Henry" (1817) was widely circulated; it had all the gorgeousness of his earlier oratory. His only experience as a legislator was in 1808. In 1816 he was appointed by President Madison United States district attorney for Virginia, and in 1817, by President Monroe, United States attorney-general. This post he held with great repute until 1829, residing at Washington. Judge Story ranked him "among the ablest and most eloquent of the bar of the supreme court." He took part in many leading cases, among them that of Dartmouth College, 1819; in this he was not at his best, and the honors went to Webster, who won the case. His most noted extra legal addresses were-that of October 19, 1826, on the deaths of Jefferson and Adams, and one at Rutgers College in 1830, which was reproduced in England, Germany and France. In 1829 he removed to Baltimore. In 1831 appeared his letters and those of J. Q. Adams on the anti-Masonic movement; the next year he was the candidate of that party for the presidency and received a popular vote of 33,108, and the electoral vote of Vermont only. Harvard gave him the degree of Doctor of Laws