The following extract of a letter, addressed by Mr. Tazewell, in 1839 to William F. Wickham, Esq., the son and executor of the celebrated John Wickham of Richmond, and written on the death of that eminent lawyer, presents a sketch of his own early youth, not the less attractive as it embraces an interesting period of the youth of Mr. Wickham also: 

“So much of my life,” writes Mr. Tazewell, “was spent in the freest intercourse with your dear father, and during this intercourse mere time effected changes in our relations so gradually and imperceptibly, that, until they were matured into their last state, I was often at a loss to determine what was their true character.  We first met in the year 1780, at the house of your grandfather, in Greensville county, (who was also the paternal grandfather of Mr. Tazewell), to which I had been sent to get me out of the way of the British army, then invading Virginia.  I was a child not six years old, and he was a youth of about seventeen.  Here he became my tutor; and during the course of about two years, he taught me first to read English better than I could do before; next, the rudiments of Latin, and lastly, to write.  During this period I contracted for him that respect which children naturally feel for their seniors, and the ignorant for those much better informed than themselves; while he regarded me with the affection usually bestowed by a patron upon his protege, who manifests no bad propensities, and a disposition, at least, to profit by instruction and advice.

“In 1782 we parted; and well do I remember the tears we both shed at our separation.  In the winter of 1785-6 we again met at Williamsburg, at the house of my father, who then resided there.  Here our intercourse was renewed upon a footing somewhat different than it had been maintained before, but with greater pleasure to both.  He became a student of law in my father’s office, and I was a boy in the first class of a celebrated grammar-school.  To the careful instruction of my excellent grandfather.[2] I had been indebted for greater proficiency in my classical learning than is usually acquired by boys of my time of life.  My grandfather died within a very short period after the return of your father to Virginia.  Of the distress which I suffered at this deprivation, he was the sole comforter; and he immediately took upon himself the tasks which my poor old grandfather had been so delighted in performing for me.  He heard and corrected my recitations—­availed himself of every opportunity they offered to improve my taste and to inspire me with the wish of acquiring more information concerning the subjects to which they related.  For all the pleasure which I have since derived from classical learning, I am indebted to his judicious instruction and advice.