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The Assay Office, Birmingham, England William Small and the Making of Thomas Jefferson's Mind

By Cynthia L. Miller

It was my great good fortune, and death, Jefferson was a seventy-seven ment and to a better acquaintance whatprobably fixed the destinies ofmy year old ruminating on the day in with the thinking of Francis Bacon, life that Dr. Wm. Small ofScotland was 1760, when he was yet sixteen, that he Isaac Newton, and John Locke--Jef­ then professor ofMathematics, a man enrolled in the College ofWilliam and ferson's heroes the rest of his life. The profound in most ofthe useful branches Mary in Virginia and found in Small a professor was nine years Jefferson's se­ of science, with a happy talent ofcom­ teacher, mentor, and friend. nior and just five years himself reo munication, correct and gentlemanly Small taught math, physics, and moved from university. manners, & an enlarged and liberal metaphysic&-the domains of natural mind. He, most happily for me, became philosophy-in what is now called the MALL WAS BORN to the soon af;t(u;hed to me, & made me his Wren Building at the west end of Reverend James Small and daily companion when not engaged in Williamsburg's Duke of Gloucester his wife, Lilias, on October 13, the school; and from his conversation I Street. Jefferson came to him with an S1734, in Carmyllie, Forfar· got my first views of the expansion of education begun at five in a plantation shire, in eastern Scotland. He grew up science, & of the system of things in school. At nine, he had entered a in the company of three older sib· which we are placed. boarding school to study Latin, Greek, ling&-two brothers and a sister-in a - Thomas Jefferson, 1821 and French. The boy had spent the family that, though not affluent, had past two years in a log-house class­ money enough to provide him a higher OLD MAN taking the mea­ room, and Jefferson's father, Peter, education. Entering Marischal College sure of his life, Thomas Jef­ dead three years, had long since in Aberdeen, in northeastern Scotland, ferson thus confided to the opened Shadwell's library to his son. in 1750, Small followed his interests in Pi. opening pages ofhis Autobi­ lt was Small's assignment to im­ science and mathematics. ography his gratefulness for the guid­ prove upon these preparations, a job At the time, Scottish academics ance of Scotsman William Small. A he accomplished by bringing his raw­ had begun to make their mark on the dozen years removed from his presi­ boned, red-haired pupil to a closer Enlightenment, and Small was privy dency, and less than that before his knowledge of the Scottish Enlighten­ to much intellectual change. The COUll·

30 Colonial Williamsburg, Autumn 2000 1 ---l try's universities-Marischal, St. An­ man on the faculty. He was also Jeffer­ philosophy, and natural history. Jeffer­ drews, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and son's only teacher, except for the Rev­ son, an avid student, thrived and at­ King's College in Aberdeen-based erend Jacob Rowe who instructed the tended to his books fifteen hours a day. their curricula on the practical appli­ future president for a semester and No doubt Small emphasized the cation of Enlightenment philosophy. was cashiered in the autumn of 1760 philosophers and ideas important to The names Newton, Bacon, and Locke, for combining with another teacher to the Scottish Enlightenment: Hutche­ as well as such Scotsmen as Francis lead the college boys against the boys son's theories of moral sense and Hutcheson, David Hume, Lord Kames, ofthe town. beauty, freedom of opinion, and resis­ Thomas Reid, Adam Smith, William Small introduced to William and tance to tyranny; Reid's theory of com­ Robertson, and Small's professors, Mary a lecture system in widespread mon sense; Smith's theories of ethics William Duncan and Alexander Ger­ use abroad but new to the colonies. In and morals; and Kames's ideas on ard, rang loudly in student ears. Soci­ American colleges, a system of mem­ everything from law to literature to ety began to value the scientist, ory and recitation prevailed: questions history to agriculture to religion. He mathematician, and physician more and answers were read from text­ would also have acquainted Jefferson than the clergyman, and, within this books, or professors dictated lessons. with Hume's and Robertson's histo­ context, Small prepared for a career in Small's teaching was rational and sci­ ries; Hume's analyses of human be­ medicine. His studies included natural entific. He preferred the Socratic havior; Gerard's essays on taste and philosophy, mathematics, classical lan­ method of reciprocal inquiry and con­ beauty; and Duncan's method of logi­ guages, anatomy, chemistry, pharma­ ducted his classes in English rather cal argument, which professes that cology, surgery, and midwifery. He than Latin. Small challenged his stu­ certainty and conviction are attainable graduated in 1755 with an A.M. degree dents to think for themselves and en­ through mathematics. and became professor of natural phi­ couraged their imaginations. His style The most significant contribution losophy at William and Mary on Octo­ enlivened logic and rhetoric; ethics and Small made to Jefferson's intellectual ber 18, 1758. belles lettres; mathematics, natural development was introducing him to For reasons of religion, economics the teachings of Bacon, Locke, and or hope of opportunity, many Scottish Newton, the triumvirate of philoso­ pedants migrated to the Chesapeake phers who most ardently called for an and put their stamp on colonial Vir­ independent spiritofmind. Drawingon d ginia education. Two ofJefferson's boy­ his university background, Small im­ hood teachers had been Scots, and the parted his passion for these men to Jef­ Reverend James Blair, founder and ferson, who revered them as "the three fIrst president of William and Mary, greatest men that have ever lived." was a Marischal graduate. Jefferson arranged his library ana­ ice From the outset, Small's presence lytically and chronologically according )n, was like a flash of light in the dark of to Bacon's scheme in The New Ad­ ef­ a room. He was the only non-clergy­ vancement of Learning and adopted he Colonial Williamsburg >e­ ~e-

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Swem Library, The Colkge ofWilliam and Mary At left above, the only known likeness ofSmall. Above, the Wren Building much as it appeared when Small taught at William and Mary, and his signature on the fly leafofa 1731 book on orrerys in the college's library.

Colonial Williamsburg, Autumn 2000 31 exp IUl'l re~ ma SCO] spe ane one ingi

hea cun 177 National Portrait Gallery, London National Portrait Gallery, London National Portrait Gallery, London los~ Small introduced Jefferson to the thinking ofFrancis Bacon, left; Isaac Newton, middle; and John Locke, right. The young scholar prized their philosophies for the rest ofhis life. ma ane Bacon's tenet "knowledgie is power." We can but imagine what they dis­ Small was never well. He seemed me Newton was the inspiration for Jeffer­ cussed as they emerged from the Wren to experience bouts of depression and thu son's monographs on weights and mea­ Building and walked about town. had contracted malaria in the Virginia wa: sures as well as his experiments with Often they ambled down the Duke of swamps. The added stress of academic me optics, astronomy, architecture, agricul­ Gloucester Street to the Palace Green infighting may have aggravated his ali ture, and other mathematical in­ to enter the gates of the Governor's maladies. In 1764 an opportunity-Qr em quiries. Locke's ideas are evident in the Palace. There they often dined with excuse--arose for him to leave. "stl Declaration of Independence, which Governor Francis Fauquier and Two years earlier, Virginia's gov­ also reflects the thinking of Duncan amused themselves in musical inter­ ernment appropriated £450 for the col­ and Hutcheson. Some scholars suggest ludes with his excellency and jurist lege to purchase scientific tools and s Duncan's methods are discernible George Wythe. Small introduced Jef­ measuring instruments. It was an in­ - within the document's structure. ferson to these gentlemen, and they vestment worth as much as fifteen Hutcheson, Reid, Smith, and fonned what Jefferson called "a partie times the average annual wage of a Kames surfaced in Jefferson's com­ quarree." To the ''habitual conversa­ skilled craftsman. The college's board mentaries on political and economic tions" of this group, Jefferson said he of visitors dispatched Small to Eng­ I ':{"~~'1 philosophy, morality, education, and owed much instruction. In an 1815 let­ land to procure the apparatus. He sent the arts, though he later rejected ter to the college's L. H. Girardin, Jef­ back what was probably the best col­ Hume and Robertson on ideological ferson wrote, "at these dinners I have lection of barometers, telescopes, grounds. The Enlightenment revisited heard more good sense, more rational lenses, electrical machines, and prisms the ideals of the Romans and Greeks; and philosophical conversation, than to reach the American colonies. ~ Jefferson and his contemporaries in all my life besides. They were truly But he never returned. Small be- I adopted the ideas of the classical ora­ Attic societies." came occupied in London. He lectured tors, historians, and philosophers. at Royal Society meetings. His alma HOUGH HE WAS popular mater conferred an M.D. degree on I.­ EFFERSON LEARNED much with students, Small got him by mail in 1765, but he had no de- I from Small in the classroom, weak support from the fac­ sire to become a practicing physician. but it was time spent as T ulty, perhaps because, by A friendship with Benjamin Franklin, J Small's daily companion from some accounts, he coveted William and whom Small probably met in Wil­ which he most benefited. Much is un­ Mary's presidency. His unconventional liamsburg and who graced British and known about their interaction, but lecture method was perceived as rebel­ European intellectual circles, led him their relationship was built on trust, lious, and it hurt Small's chances of to Binningham. There, Small entered M, understanding, and mutual respect. furthering his career. the Binningham Lunar Society, which .. tOl consisted of fourteen men, including vention, learning in the discoveries of colonies but caught himselftoward the Matthew Boulton, Josiah Wedgwood, other men, and integrity of heart (which end, intending only to ask Small's ac­ Joseph Priestley, Erasmus Darwin, is worth them all), had no equal." ceptance of a gift of Madeira. Jefferson James Keir, William Withering, told Small of his hope that "amidst Richard Lovell Edgeworth, and James EFFERSON LEARNED late public dissension private friendship Watt. The society discussed fine arts, of Small's death. In 1775, the may be preserved inviolate"-and that religion, and philosophy but concen­ momentum toward indepen­ Small would remember their happy trated on science for its practical and J dence was building. The ideas times together. commercial advantages. of the Enlightenment that Small had We have no other glimpse of their Small participated in the society's communicated to his students were relationship after Small left Williams­ exploration ofchemistry, geology, metal­ taking form. Declarations of rights burg. With or without Small by his side, lurgy-including Watt's steam-engine were appearing. Jefferson had already however, Jefferson was a constant stu­ research---surveying and instrument composed A Summary View of the dent of the Enlightenment and an as­ making, astronomy, meteorology, tele­ Rights ofBritish America. siduous explorer of everything that scopes, clocks and timepieces, artillery, OnApril 19, 1775, minutemen and perplexed him within the world. speaking machines, agriculture, optics redcoats clashed at Lexington and Many people influenced Jefferson, and color. Small championed every­ Concord. News of the battles reached but none more than Small, who guided one's research and was admired for his Williamsburg the night of April 28, his students to understand, as Jeffer­ ingenuity. and the Virginia Gazette printed a son recalled, "the system of things in Small, however, was afflicted with short account the next day. Jefferson which we are placed" and supplied a headaches, lethargy, and ennui. He suc­ heard the news soon afterward, pre­ mature, rational, moral, cultured, and cumbed to fever and died February 25, sumably from a courier. He was, at the organized way in which to view the 1775. Lunar Society members felt the time, staying not far from Richmond world. Jefferson wrote that to Small's Ion loss deeply. Edgeworth said he was "a and probably rode immediately to "enlightened and affectionate guid­ man esteemed by all who knew him, Williamsburg, the capital. ance of my studies while at college, I and by all who were admitted to his It was there, on Sunday, May 7, am indebted for everything." ~ ~ friendship beloved with no common en­ 1775, that Jefferson, fearing the worst, Id thusiasm." Darwin wrote that Small wrote his friend Small their only sur­ This is Cynthia Miller's first ia was "a gentleman of very uncommon viving piece of correspondence. Time contribution to the journal. She uc merit," exhibiting"a most exact conduct, and geography had separated them, gratefully acknowledges the assistance tis a liberality ofsentiment, and an enlight­ but politics, Jefferson thought, would ofAndrew Hook, Rob Robertson, or ened humanity." Darwin said Small's soon separate them further. Jefferson Colonial Williamsburg, and the "strength of reasoning, quickness of in- discussed the factious situation in the University ofAberdeen. IV­ )1­ Id n-

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Dave Doody Much as Small and Jefferson did, interpreter Dennis Watson and young Daniel Spring Oppecker stroll down Palace Green toward Duke of Gloucester Street.

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