George Wythe Lewis F. Powell, Jr. Editor’sNote:JusticePowelldeliveredthispaper astheSociety’sAnnualLecture onMay 14,1990. Justin Stanley, the President of the Supreme Court HistoricalSociety, isa friendof many years whom I admire. I therefore ac cepted his invitation to be your speaker. The practice on this occasion has been, under standably, to talk about the Supreme Court, about some ofthe more interestingJustices, or about some of the Court’s historic decisions. It occurs to me that a change of pace—perhaps I should say a change of generalsubject—may be appropriate. Ithereforewill talk about a lawyer and an early Chancellor of Virginia. His name is George Wythe—sometimes mispronounced as “Weyth.” Governor Thomas Jefferson appointed WytheProfessor ofLawat William and Maryin 1789. He thus occupied the first chair of law in this country. It was not until 1816 that Harvard created a chair for a law professor. Wythe was a towering figure in our history, not in the sense of holding the highest offices, but because of his influence on those who did. Yet historians have paid scant atten tion to Wythe, and even his name is largely unknown beyond Virginia. In the long reach of history, it is diffi cult for a lawyer or a professor to leave behind him an enduring reputation unless he has held high office or written extensively. Wythe did neither of these. Yet Wythe was admired - even re vered - in his time. Following Wythe’s death, Jefferson spoke of his friend and tutor: No man ever left behind him a charac ter more venerated than George Wythe. His virtue was ofthepurest land; his integrity inflex ible and his justice exact; [He was a man] of warmpatriotism, anddevoted...to libertyandthe naturaland equalrights ofmen....A more disin terestedperson never lived. 1 Wythe was not merely a man of rare quality personally. He was a distinguished lawyer,judge and scholar. Although he neither sought nor held the highest offices, he was a conspicuous leader in Virginia. His teaching career is perhaps best known. Few, ifany, teachers in our historyhave taught such an exceptional group of students. In addition to Jefferson, there were John Marshall;Henry Clay;John Breckenridge, who became Jefferson’s Attorney General; Judge Spencer Roane, famous for his opinion in Kamperv. Hawkins1 that anticipated Marbury v. Madison1 , and he taught numerous other per sons ofprominence in and after the revolution ary era. Thebestknownofhispupils, ofcourse, was Thomas Jefferson. Through his influence on Jefferson, one could say that Wythe was the godfather of the Declaration of Independence. We should resist the temptation to make too much of it, but the long and close association betweenWythe andJeffersonsuggests almost a father-son relationship. Jefferson did not serve as an appren tice under Wythe. Rather, recognizing Jeffer son’s genius, Wythe outlined a course of study, andthen allowedJefferson to pursue his studies largely in his own way. This process no doubt contributedto both the depth and originality of Jefferson’s highly discriminating mind. 26 JOURNAL 1990 Wythe encouraged the young Jeffer son to probe the origins of Roman and Saxon law by reading the original Greek and Latin texts, rather than translations. Wythe also instructed Jefferson in history, ethics, science and literature, and encouraged him to read Italian and French. Compare this education with the “diploma mills” we have today. The young Jefferson also was instructed in manners and hygiene. In sum, the tutelage under Wythe was the equivalent for Jefferson of the most demanding university education— indeed, far more demanding than what is called a university education today. The questions often are asked: how did Wythe become such a wise and influential scholar of the law? Where—and by whom—was he taught? The fact is that Wythe, not unusual in the eighteenth century, was largely selftaught . He was born in a small community—I believe near what is now Hampton, Virginia. He attended a neighborhood private school long enough, as he said, to learn “reading and writing English and the five first [tables] of Arithmetic.”3 His mother, a gifted woman, was his primary teacher. His self-education apparently never ceased. It was after receiving a license to practice lawat the age of20 thatWythe pursued his most serious studies. He is...