PROMINENT PERSONS
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Court House, Virginia. His person and ad-
aress 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 daugh-
ter of Dr. George Gilmer, of "Pen Park,"
v/ho introduced him to Mr. Jefferson and
the leading men of the state. Being natur-
ally of a vivacious disposition and an agree-
able personality, he was gladly welcomed.
He obtained the reputation of a ban 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 ex-
ceedingly meagre for one who had to meet
•^uch opponents as Thomas Jefferson and
James Monroe. In 1799 he went to Rich-
mond, was presently made clerk of the
house of delegates, and in 1802 chancellor
el the eastern district, and moved to Wil-
liamsburg. In 1803 his "Letters of a British
Spy" appeared in the Richmond "Argus"
and as a volume, added much to his repu-
tation; the tenth edition (1832) had a sketch
of the author by P. H. Cruse. After six
months in Williamsburg he went to Nor-
folk, where he staid till 1806, when he re-
turned to Richmond. In 1807, by President
Jfiferson*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
el^orts of his life. The speech greatly ex-
tended his fame, and is perhaps the one
which has made him best known to succeed-
VTA-22
ing 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 print-
ed 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 contrib-
uted; 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
cnly experience as a legislator was in 1808.
In 1816 he was appointed by President Mad-
ihon United States district attorney for Vir-
ginia, and in 1817, by President Monroe,
United States attorney-general. This post
he held with great repute until 1829, resid-
ing 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-Ma-
sonic 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. Har-
vard g^ve him the degree of Doctor of Laws
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