first donations have been annually given to distressed artists and their families. The sum so distributed has for some time past amounted to from £1,000 to £1,500 a year. In addition to these charities from its general funds the Academy also administers for the benefit of artists, not members of the Academy, certain other funds which have been bequeathed to it for charitable purposes by some of its own members and others. The members themselves and their widows are, if in need, entitled to pensions under certain strict conditions and limitations; but, it may be added, with the exception of these pensions and of salaries and fees for official services, no member of the Academy derives any pecuniary benefit from the funds of the institution.

THE FAMILY OF JOHN W. EPPES*

HE familyof Eppes had enjoyed prominence in Virginia from a very early period. The immigrant ancestor, Colonel Francis Eppes, who was a member of the House of Burgesses in 1625, obtained a grant for the transportation of himself, his three sons, and some thirty servants into the Colony, and in 1635 settled them on the south shore of James River near the mouth of the Appomattox. This latter river formed the boundary between the southern halves of the counties of Henrico and Charles City, which then lay on both sides of the James; and, as Colonel Eppes subsequently acquired very extensive estates in both counties, he was returned to the House of Burgesses indifferently from either. Sometime previous to his death, which occurred in 1655, he became a member of the Colonial Council. Four of his descendants in lineal succession, each bearing the name of Francis-three of them distinguished by the title of Colonel, and all prominent as county officials and members of the House of Burgesses, -enjoyed in tail-male the large landed estates the first Francis had secured in that part of the county of Henrico which was subsequently erected into Chesterfield. The fifth Francis Eppes, dying unmarried, was succeeded by his next brother, Richard (1715-1765), who married Martha, daughter of Robert Bolling of Prince George County, and after filling the almost hereditary shire offices, and serving some dozen terms in the house, he handed down to his son and heir, Francis Eppes VI., of "Eppington" (1747-1808), brother-in-law of Jefferson, the entailed family estates largely expanded by his own acquisitions.

Richard's sister Martha (1712-1748),

*This and the following notes furnished by Wilson Miles Cary, of Baltimore.

VOL. XXXVI.—64

who in 1743 was left a childless widow by Lewellyn Eppes, became in 1746 the second wife of John Wayles, Esq. (17151773), a distinguished and wealthy lawyer of Charles City County. This gentleman by a previous marriage was the father of two daughters-Elizabeth, who married. (1770) Francis Eppes VI., of Chesterfield County, and Tabitha, wife (1773) of Henry Skipwith, of Cumberland County. Mr. Wayles, by his second wife, had an only child, Martha (1748-1782), who married, in 1772, Thomas Jefferson and left him two surviving children, the elder of whom, Martha (1772-1836), married, in 1790, her cousin, Thomas Mann Randolph, subsequently Member of Congress and Governor of Virginia; the younger, Maria (1778-1804), married, in 1797, her first cousin, John Wayles Eppes (1773-1823), who was the only son of Francis and Elizabeth (Wayles) Eppes of Eppington.

The Hon. John W. Eppes, favorite sonin-law of Jefferson, and recipient of the letters here first published, was a Member of Congress, 1803 to 1811, 1813 to 1815, and U. S. Senator 1817 to 1819. Losing his first wife in 1804, he remarried, in 1809, Martha, daughter of Hon. Willie Jones, M. C. from North Carolina, who bore him two sons. By Maria Jefferson his only surviving child was Francis Eppes, born in 1801, who married a Randolph cousin, Mary Elizabeth Cleland, daughter of Thomas Eston Randolph, of Dungeness, and settled in Florida. Having been practically adopted by his grandfather he furnishes the topic for many of these epistles. By his first marriage in 1822 there were six children. In 1837 he married Mrs. Susan Ware Couch, daughter of Senator Nicholas Ware of Georgia, and by her had seven children, one of whom, Maria Jefferson Eppes, married Dr. William F. Shine of Tallahassee, Fla., and left an only son, Dr. Francis Eppes Shine, of New York, in whose possession these family letters now are.

573

DEAR SIR

PHILADELPHIA Feb. 7. 99.

Yours of Jan. 20. & 24. are duly recieved in the former you mention the reciept of £40. for me, and Maria, of the next day says that mr. Eppes expected * to recieve £30. more for me at the ensuing Cumberland court. not having heard from Mr. Randolph † on the subject of the hire of your negroes, I was in the moment of recieving your letter, just about to inclose you a draught on George Jefferson for £100. on account, instead of this I have now written to him to answer your draught for one or two hundred dollars which with the £40. you have, & either with or without the £30. as the case may be, will make you up the hundred pounds. whatever this may be less than the valuation shall be paid up on my return. I shall offer your lands to my correspondent at £6000. They ought not to sell for less, and I have hopes you will get it. a bill is passing the Senate for an eventual army of 30,000 men (instead of the provisional one of 10,000, which had not been raised) and in addition to the existing army of 5000, the additional one of 9000, & the volunteer one, of we do not know how many. 2 millions of dollars more are to be borrowed to carry the act into execution. a bill is also brought into the Senate to retaliate on any French citizens who are or may fall into our hands, if the French should put to death or imprison any of ours impressed on board the vessels of their enemies & which may be taken by them. no trial of any kind is provided. the President alone is to judge & execute. Though the measures of the government are still measures of provocation, yet a depression of spirits in that party is evident. they are much less inso

lent and abusive than at the last session. the public mind is evidently & rapidly turning against them, & they are sensible of it. -I inclose you a copy of mr. Nicholas's§ pamphlet. let mr. Eppes have the reading of it.

DEAR SIR

WASHINGTON, Feb. 21, 1803.

Your's of the 10th was received on the 16th. I shall leave this about the 6th of March, unless unexpected business, bad roads or bad weather should delay it a little. I am happy to learn that I shall meet Maria & yourself at Monticello. my stay there will be of two or three weeks, the visit being for the purpose of planting trees, in order that they may be growing during my absence. as Lilly hired 15 hands for me this winter, I am not without hopes he will be able to accomplish my canal, and perhaps your levelling both.

but as the latter must be postponed to the former, it will of course be autumn before the levelling will be begun, which will throw the building into the next year. I am in hopes Maria's

visit in March is intended to continue till the sickly season of the autumn is over. In your letter of Nov. 27. you mentioned that the receipt of the 400 D. in March would be quite sufficient, or even later if it should be inconvenient to me. I am not yet certain how that will be; but either then, if I have it not in hand, or at any other moment when your calls require it, I can get it from the bank here; but that being in the hands of federalists, I am not fond of asking favors of them. however I have done it once or twice when my own resources have failed, and can do it at all times. the approach of my meeting with yourself and Maria makes me look with impatience to the 6th of March. present her my tenderest affections. make short journeys as you travel that you may never be out in the night; and accept my affectionate salutations and sincere esteem.

Not understanding the conveyance to you by post beyond Richmond, I have thought it safest to remit the 100D for you to Gibson & Jefferson,|| subject to

Nicholas, of Kentucky, against the Alien and Sedition laws, which was considered by Jefferson a very strong po litical weapon, as he disseminated copies of it by the dozen among his lieutenants, while at the same time cautioning them not to let his name be connected with the matter. (See Jefferson to Monroe, February 11, 1799.)

George Jefferson, of this firm, who were Mr. Jefferson's commission merchants in Richmond, was a near relative

your order, which is done this day. I was never better pleased with a riding horse than with Jacobin. it is now really a luxury to me to ride. The early prevalence of sickness here this season will probably drive us hence earlier than usual. perhaps by the middle of July. I shall proceed almost directly to Bedford, and will there take to my assistance Mr. Clay and Mr. Clark and lay off at the East end of the tract so much as shall, taking quality and quantity into consideration, be equal to the average value of 1000 a. of the whole tract generally. the tenderest considerations ensure a conscientious performance of this duty and to be governed by the judgment of those who knowing the tract well will have no motive but to do what is right. I shall hope on my return from Bedford to find you at Monticello with the beloved children, objects of my tenderest sollicitudes. I shall not be without a hope of seeing Mr. & Mrs. Eppes* also at Monticello. tho I cannot now repay their visits, if they will trust me 4 years, I will overgo the measure. you will see in the papers an extra letter of Elliott's of extraordinary aspect. it contains some absolute untruths. but what is most remarkeable is that expressions are so put together as to be literally true when strictly considered & analysed, & yet to convey to 99 readers out of 100. the most absolute & mischievous falsehoods. it is a most insidious attempt to cover his own opinions & passions under the mantle of the executive, and to fill with inquietude the republicans who have not the means of good information. present me to Mr & Mrs Eppes & family & accept my affectionate salutations.

MR. EPPES.

TH. JEFFERSON.

[James Elliot (1770-1839), referred to in the above letter, was a member of

of the President, being a grandson of his uncle, Field Jefferson. His brother, John Garland Jefferson, a very intelligent and estimable young lawyer, the charges for whose education had been defrayed by Mr. Jefferson, and who had studied under his eye at Monticello for the bar, was the occasion of the President's famous letter of 1801 on political nepotism. This was written to their father, the playmate of his boyhood, Mr. George Jefferson, Sr., and is a model for the observance of all republican officials. Mr. George Jefferson, Jr., however, was subsequently appointed Consul at Liverpool by Mr. Madison, a position for which his business training and ability eminently fitted him. He died there unmarried in 1812. His brother married a niece of Governor William B. Giles of Virginia, and

left descendants.

* His brother and sister-in-law.

Congress from Vermont (1803-1809), who, refusing to obey the party lash, published a series of eleven circular letters to his constituents in vindication of his course. These letters appeared in the Vermont Journal in the months of April, May, and June, 1805. The United States Gazette, which republished them, as issued, announced to its readers that they were "upon the subject of the extraordinary and daring proceedings of the revolutionary faction in Congress during the last session; and, as Mr. Elliot is himself a democrat, we presume that no attempt will be made to discredit his statements under the denomination of Federal Misrepresentations."" To a correspondent Elliot writes: "The destruction of the Constitution of the United States has been determined on in a private caucus of the junto I have alluded to. A Member of Congress, who, to say the least, is friendly to this party, made the following declarations in January last at Washington: That he felt no attachment to the Constitution, but what his oath of office required; that he considered threefourths of its framers as fools and knaves; that it was made for the benefit of speculators and merchants, and not for the public good; that the Senate is an hospital of incurables, and two-thirds at least of its political existence must be destroyed; that the judges ought to be dependent upon Congress; that he wished a committee could be appointed to sit during the whole recess of Congress to digest alterations of the Constitution, etc. These declarations were made in the presence of myself and Mr. Ellery, a republican Senator from R. I., and Mr. Jackson, a republican representative from Virginia, and appeared to strike those gentlemen with great astonishment. It is to guard the people, not against themselves, but against the "junto" of revolutionists, and at the same time to vindicate my own conduct, that I have written my letters to my constituents. The facts which I have stated are true and my constituents believe them." In closing his last letter he sums up the main features of his political creed. I believe that Jefferman of great abilities, and a sincere friend to a republican form of government, and I shall support his ad

son is a