MARRIAGE AND LAW BEGINNINGS
He was always and under all circumstances an enthusiast in love.
(Mrs. Carrington, of Marshall's devotion to his wife.)
It was upon a night of gentle gayety in the late winter or early spring
of 1779-80 that Captain John Marshall first met Mary Ambler. When he
went back to Virginia to take charge of troops yet to be raised, he
visited his father, then commanding at the village of Yorktown.[482]
More than a year had gone by since Colonel Marshall had left his son at
Valley Forge. On this visit befell the most important circumstance of
John Marshall's private life. While he was waiting for his new command,
an event came to pass which relieved his impatience to prolong still
further his four years of active warfare and inspired him to improve
this period of enforced absence from the front, by preparing himself
for his chosen profession.
Jacquelin Ambler had been one of Yorktown's wealthiest men, and his
house was called a "mansion." But the war had ruined him
financially;[483] and the year 1780 found the Ambler family dwelling in
humble quarters. "The small retired tenement" to which reduced
circumstances forced him to take his invalid wife and young children
stood next door to the headquarters of Colonel Thomas Marshall. The
Ambler family was under Colonel Marshall's protection, for the father's
duties as State Councillor kept him at Williamsburg.[484] But the
reverse of Jacquelin Ambler's fortunes did not make this little house
less attractive than his "mansion" had been.
The unusual charm of his daughters rendered that modest abode very
popular. Indeed, this quality of pleasing seems to have been a common
possession of the Ambler family, and has become historic. It was this
very Jacquelin Ambler for whom Rebecca Burwell threw over Thomas
Jefferson. This Virginia belle was the love of Jefferson's youth. She
was the "Campana in die,"[485] "Belinda," "Adnileb," and "R. B." of
Jefferson's letters.[486] But Rebecca Burwell preferred Jacquelin
Ambler and became his wife.[487] The Ambler daughters inherited from
both mother and father that beauty, grace, and goodness which gave them
their extraordinary personal appeal.
During John Marshall's visit to his father the young ladies of Yorktown
saw to it that a "ball" was given. All the officers had been invited, of
course; but none of them aroused such interest as did Captain John
Marshall of the Eleventh Virginia Regiment of the line.
The fame of this young soldier, fresh from the war, was very bright in
Virginia. His name was on the lips of all the fair attendants of the
dance. They were in a quiver of expectancy at the prospect of meeting
the gallant captain who had fought under the great Washington and who
had proved himself a hero at Brandywine and Germantown, at Valley Forge
and Monmouth.
Years afterwards, Eliza, the eldest of the Ambler daughters, described
the event in a letter full of color written to her sister. "We had been
accustomed to hear him [Marshall] spoken of by all as a very _paragon_,"
writes Mrs. Carrington, "we had often seen letters from him fraught
with filial and paternal affection. The eldest of fifteen children,
devoted from his earliest years to his younger brothers and sisters, he
was almost idolized by them, and every line received from him was read
with rapture."[488]
"Our expectations were raised to the highest pitch," writes the elder
sister, "and the little circle of York was on tiptoe on his arrival. Our
girls particularly were emulous who should be first introduced"; but
Mary Ambler, then only fourteen years old, and very diffident and
retiring, astonished her sister and friends by telling them that "we
were giving ourselves useless trouble; for that she, for the first time,
had made up her mind to go to the ball, though she had not even been at
dancing school, and was resolved to set her cap at him and eclipse us
all."[489]
Great was their disappointment when finally Captain Marshall arrived.
His ungainly dress, slouch hat, and rustic bearing instantly quenched
their enthusiasm.[490] They had looked forward to seeing a handsome,
romantic figure, brilliantly appareled, and a master of all the pleasing
graces; instead they beheld a tall, loose-jointed young man, thin to
gauntness, whose clothes were hanging about him as if upon a rack, and
whose manners were awkward and timid to the point of embarrassment. No
game was he for Cupid's bow, thought these belles of old Yorktown.
"I, expecting an Adonis, lost all desire of becoming agreeable in his
eyes when I beheld his awkward figure, unpolished manners, and total
negligence of person";[491] thus writes Eliza Ambler of the impression
made upon her by the young soldier's disheveled aspect and unimpressive
deportment. But Mary Ambler stuck to her purpose, and when John Marshall
was presented to her, both fell in love at first sight. Thus began a
lifelong romance which, in tenderness, exaltation, and constancy is
unsurpassed in the chronicle of historic affections.
It was no longer alone the veneration for a father that kept the son in
Yorktown. Day followed day, and still the gallant captain tarried. The
unfavorable first judgment gave way to appreciation. He soon became a
favorite at every house in the village.[492] His gift of popularity was
as great, it seems, among women as among men; and at the domestic
fireside as well as in the armed camp. Everybody liked John Marshall.
There was a quality in him that inspired confidence. Those who at first
had been so disappointed in his dress and manners soon forgot both in
his wholesome charm. They found him delightfully companionable.[493]
Here was preëminently a social being, they discovered. He liked people,
and wanted people to like him. He was full of fun and hearty laughter;
and his rare good sense and sheer manliness furnished solid foundation
to his lighter qualities.
[Illustration: PAGE OF A LETTER FROM JOHN MARSHALL TO HIS WIFE
DESCRIBING THEIR COURTSHIP DATED AT WASHINGTON, FEBRUARY 23, 1824
(_Facsimile_)]
So every door in Yorktown was thrown open to Captain John Marshall. But
in Jacquelin Ambler's house was the lodestone which drew him. April had
come and the time of blossoming. On mellow afternoons, or by candlelight
when the sun had set, the young lover spent as much time as the
proprieties would permit with Mary Ambler, telling her of the war, no
doubt; and, as her sister informs us, reading poetry by the hour.[494]
Through it all he made love as hard as he could. He wooed as ardently
and steadily as he had fought.[495]
The young lover fascinated the entire Ambler family. "Under the slouched
hat," testifies Mary Ambler's sister, "there beamed an eye that
penetrated at one glance the inmost recesses of the human character; and
beneath the slovenly garb there dwelt a heart complete with every
virtue. From the moment he loved my sister he became truly a brother to
me.... Our whole family became attached to him, and though there was
then no certainty of his becoming allied to us, we felt a love for him
that can never cease.... There was no circumstance, however trivial, in
which we were concerned, that was not his care."
He would "read to us from the best authors, particularly the Poets, with
so much taste and feeling, and pathos too, as to give me an idea of
their sublimity, which I should never have had an idea of. Thus did he
lose no opportunity of blending improvement with our amusements, and
thereby gave us a taste for books which probably we might never
otherwise have had."[496]
The time had come when John Marshall must acquire a definite station in
civil life. This was especially necessary if he was to take a wife; and
married he would be, he had decided, whenever Mary Ambler should be old
enough and would consent. He followed his parents' wishes[497] and began
his preparation for the bar. He told his sweetheart of his purpose, of
course, and her family "learned [of it] with pleasure."[498] William and
Mary College, "the only public seminary of learning in the State,"[499]
was only twelve miles from Yorktown; and there the young officer
attended the law lectures of George Wythe for perhaps six weeks[500]--a
time so short that, in the opinion of the students, "those who finish
this Study [law] in a few months, either have strong natural parts or
else they know little about it."[501] Recalling a criticism of one of
Marshall's "envious contemporaries" some years later, Mrs. Carrington
says: "Allusion was made to his short stay at William and Mary, and that
he could have gained little there."[502]
It is said also that Marshall took a course in philosophy under
President Madison, then the head of the little college and afterwards
Bishop of Virginia; but this is unlikely, for while the soldier-student
took careful notes of Wythe's lectures, there is not a word in his
notebook[503] concerning any other college activity. The faculty
consisted of five professors.[504] The college was all but deserted at
that time and closed entirely the year after John Marshall's flying
attendance.[505]
Although before the Revolution "the Necessary Expence of each Scholar
_yearly_ ... [was] only 15 £ Currency,"[506] one of Marshall's fellow
students testifies that: "The amazing depreciation of our Currency has
raised the price of Every Article so enormously that I despair'd of my
Father's ability to support me here another year.... Board & entring
under two Professors amounts to 4000^{wt} of Tobacco."[507]
The intercourse of students and faculty was extremely democratic. There
was a "college table" at which the students took their meals. According
to the college laws of that time, beer, toddy, and spirits and water
might be served, if desired.[508] The students were not required to wear
either coats or shoes if the weather was warm.[509]
At a later period the students boarded at private houses in the
town.[510] Jefferson, who, several years before Marshall's short
attendance, was a student at William and Mary, describes the college and
another public building as "rude, mis-shapen piles, which, but that they
have roofs, would be taken for brick-kilns."[511] Chastellux, however,
declares that "the beauty of the edifice is surpassed [only] by the
richness of its library and that still farther, by the distinguished
merit of several of the professors," and he describes the college as "a
noble establishment ... which does honour to Virginia."[512]
The youths attending William and Mary during Marshall's brief sojourn
were disgusted by the indifference of the people of the vicinity toward
the patriot cause. "The want of Men, Money, Provisions, & still more of
Public Virtue & Patriotism is universal--a melancholy Lethargick
disposition pervades all Ranks in this part of the Country, they appear
as if determined to struggle no more, but to 'stand still & see what the
Lord will do for them,'" wrote John Brown in July, 1780.[513]
Mr. Wythe, the professor of law, was the life of the little institution
in this ebbing period of war-time. He established "a Moot Court, held
monthly or oftener ... Mr. Wythe & the other professors sit as Judges.
Our Audience consists of the most respectable of the Citizens, before
whom we plead our Causes, given out by Mr. Wythe Lawyer like I assure
you." The law professor also "form'd us into a Legislative Body,
Consisting of about 40 members." Wythe constituted himself Speaker of
these seedling lawmakers and took "all possible pains to instruct us in
the Rules of Parliament." These nascent Solons of old William and Mary
drew original bills, revised existing laws, debated, amended, and went
through all the performances of a legislative body.[514]
The parent chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society had been instituted at
the college; and to this Marshall was immediately elected. "At a meeting
of the Society the 18 of May, 1780, Capt. John Marshall being
recommended as a gentleman who would make a worthy member of this
Society was balloted for & received."[515] This is an important date;
for it fixes with reasonable certainty the time of Marshall's entrance
at William and Mary. He was probably the oldest of all the students; his
army service made him, by far, the most interesting and notable; his
extraordinary social qualities never failed to render him popular. It
is, therefore, certain that he was made a member of Phi Beta Kappa
without much delay. He probably entered college about May 1.[516]
At once we find the new member appointed on the society's debating team.
Two students were selected to "declaim" the question and two to "argue"
it.
"Mr. Cabell & Mr. Peyton Short appointed to declaim the Question whether
any form of government is more favorable to our new virtue than the
Commonwealth.
"Mr. Joseph Cabell and Mr. Marshall to argue the same. An adjournment.
William Short President.
"At a meeting in course Saturday June y^e 3^{rd}, 1780, Mr. President
leaving y^e chair with Mr. Fitzhugh to y^e same. Mr. W^m Cabell
according to order delivered his declamation on y^e question given out.
Mr. Peyton Short, being unprepared, was silent on y^e occasion. Mr.
Marshall, a gentleman not immediately interested, argued y^e
Question."[517]
But it was not debating on which John Marshall was intent, nor any other
college duties. He had hard work, it appears, to keep his mind on the
learned words that fell from the lips of Mr. Wythe; for on the inside
cover and opposite page of the book in which he made notes of Wythe's
law lectures,[518] we find in John Marshall's handwriting the words,
"Miss Maria Ambler"; and again "Miss M. Ambler"; and still again, this
time upside down, "Miss M. Ambler--J. Marshall"; and "John Marshall,
Miss Polly Am."; and "John, Maria"; and "John Marshall, Miss Maria"; and
"Molly Ambler"; and below this once more, "Miss M. Ambler"; on the
corner of the page where the notes of the first lecture are recorded is
again inscribed in large, bold letters the magic word, "Ambler."[519]
Jacquelin Ambler had been made Treasurer of State, and, early in June,
1780, the family removed from Yorktown to Richmond, stopping for a day
or two in Williamsburg. While there "a ball was ... given ... by certain
gentlemen in compliment ... 'to the Misses Amblers.'" Eliza Ambler
describes the incidents of this social event. The affair was "simple and
frugal as to its viands," she writes, "but of the brilliancy of the
company too much cannot be said; it consisted of more Beauty and
Elegance than I had ever witnessed before.... I was transported with
delight." Yet she could not "treat ... the prime mover in this civility
with common good manners.... His more successful friend Marshall, was
devoted to my sister."[520]
This "ball" ended John Marshall's college studies; the lure of Mary
Ambler was greater than that of learning to the none too studious
captain. The abrupt ending[521] of the notes he was making of Mr.
Wythe's lectures, in the midst of the course, otherwise so inexplicable,
was caused by her two days' sojourn in the college town. Forthwith he
followed to Richmond, where, for two weeks he gayly played the part of
the head of the family (acted "Pa," as Marshall quaintly expresses it),
apparently in Jacquelin Ambler's absence.[522]
Although he had scarcely begun his studies at William and Mary; although
his previous instruction by professional teachers was meager and
fragmentary; and although his father could well afford the small expense
of maintaining him at Williamsburg long enough for him to secure at
least a moderate education, John Marshall never returned to
college.[523] No more lectures of Professor Wythe for the young lover.
He would begin his professional career at once and make ready for the
supreme event that filled all his thoughts. So while in Richmond he
secured a license to practice law. Jefferson was then Governor, and it
was he who signed the license to the youth who was to become his
greatest antagonist. Marshall then went to Fauquier County, and there,
on August 28, 1780, was admitted to the bar. "John Marshall, Gent.,
produced a license from his Excellency the Governor to practice law and
took the oaths prescribed by act of Assembly," runs the entry in the
record.[524]
He waited for the recruiting of the new troops he was to command, and
held himself in readiness to take the field, as indeed he rushed to do
without orders when Arnold's invasion came. But the new troops never
were raised and Marshall finally left the service. "I continued in the
army until the year 1781," he tells us, "when, being without a command,
I resigned my commission in the interval between the invasion of
Virginia by Arnold and Phillips."[525]
During this season of inaction he resolved to be inoculated against the
smallpox. This was another effect which falling in love had on the young
soldier; for he could, had he wished, have had this done more than once
while with Washington's army.[526] He would now risk his health no
longer. But the laws of Virginia made the new method of treating
smallpox almost impossible.[527] So away on foot[528] went John Marshall
to Philadelphia to be made proof against this disfiguring malady.
According to Marshall's own account, he covered the ground at an amazing
pace, averaging thirty-five miles a day; but when he arrived, so
disreputable did he appear that the tavern refused to take him in.[529]
Long-bearded and slovenly clothed, with battered hat and uncouth
manners, he gave the unfavorable first impression which the same causes
so often produced throughout his life. This is not to be wondered at,
for, writing twenty years afterward, when Marshall as Chief Justice was
at the height of his career, his sister-in-law testifies that his "total
negligence of person ... often produced a blush on her [Marshall's
wife's] cheek."[530] But he finally secured lodgings, was inoculated,
and, made secure from the attacks of the dreaded scourge, back he fared
to Virginia and Mary Ambler.
And Marshall made love as he made war, with all his might. A very
hurricane of a lover he must have been; for many years afterward he
declared to his wife's sister that "he looked with astonishment at the
present race of lovers, so totally unlike what he had been
himself."[531] In a touching letter to his wife, written almost half a
century later, Marshall thus recalls the incidents of his courtship:--
"I begin with the ball at York, and with the dinner on the fish at your
house the next day: I then retrace my visit to York, our splendid
assembly at the Palace[532] in Williamsburg, my visit to Richmond where
I acted Pa for a fortnight, my return the ensuing fall and the very
welcome reception you gave me on your arrival from Dover, our little
tiffs & makings up, my feelings while Major Dick[533] was courting you,
my trip to the cottage,[534] the lock of hair, my visit again to
Richmond the ensuing fall, and all the thousand indescribable but deeply
affecting instances of your affection or coldness which constituted for
a time the happiness or misery of my life and will always be recollected
with a degree of interest which can never be lost while recollection
remains."[535]
When he left the army in 1781, Marshall, although a member of the bar,
found no legal business to do.[536] He probably alternated between the
Oak Hill plantation in Fauquier County, where his help was sadly needed,
and Richmond, where the supreme attraction drew him. Thus another year
wore on. In this interval John Marshall engaged in politics, as was the
custom of young gentlemen of standing and ambition; and in the fall of
1782 was elected to the House of Delegates from Fauquier County.[537]
This honor was a material help, not only in his career, but in his suit
for the hand of Mary Ambler.
Also, membership in the Legislature required him to be, where his heart
was, in Richmond, and not two months had John Marshall been in the
Capital as a member of Virginia's Legislature when he was married. "In
January [3d] 1783," writes Marshall, "I intermarried with Mary Willis
Ambler, the second daughter of Mr. Jacquelin Ambler, then Treasurer of
Virginia, who was the third son of Mr. Richard Ambler, a gentleman who
had migrated from England, and settled at York Town, in Virginia."[538]
The Ambler abode in Richmond was not a romantic place for the wedding.
The primitive town was so small that when the Ambler family reached it
Eliza exclaimed, "_where_ we are to lay our weary heads Heaven knows!"
And she describes the house her father rented as "a little dwelling" so
small that "our whole family can scarcely stand up altogether in it";
but Jacquelin Ambler took it because, poor as it was, it was "the only
decent tenement on the hill."[539]
The elder Ambler sister thus pictures the Richmond of 1780: "This little
town is made up of Scotch factors who inhabit small tenements scattered
here and there from the river to the hill. Some of them look, as Colonel
[Thomas] Marshall has observed, as if the poor Caledonians had brought
them over on their backs, the weakest of whom being glad enough to stop
at the bottom of the hill, others a little stronger proceeding higher,
whilst a few of the stoutest and the boldest reached the summit."[540]
Eight years after the Amblers moved to Richmond, Jefferson wrote: "The
town below Shockoe creek is so deserted you cannot get a person to live
in a house there rent free."[541]
But Mary's cousin, John Ambler, who, at twenty-one years of age, found
himself "one of the richest men in the State of Virginia,"[542] solved
the difficulty by offering his country seat for the wedding.[543] Mary
Ambler was only seventeen when she became the young lawyer's bride,[544]
and John Marshall was a little more than ten years older. After the
bridegroom had paid the minister his fee, "he had but one solitary
guinea left."[545]
This does not mean that John Marshall was without resources, but it
indicates the scarcity of ready money in Virginia at the close of the
war. Indeed, Marshall's father, while not yet the wealthy man he
afterwards became,[546] had, as we have seen, already acquired very
considerable property. He owned at this time at least two thousand acres
in Fauquier County;[547] and twenty-two negroes, nine of them tithable
(sixteen years old), twelve horses, and twenty-two head of cattle.[548]
When John Marshall married Miss Ambler, his father gave him one negro
and three horses.[549] The following year (1784) the Tithable Book shows
but five tithable negroes, eight young negroes, eight horses, and
eighteen head of cattle in Thomas Marshall's name. He evidently sold his
other slaves and personal property or took them with him to Kentucky. So
it is likely that the slaves, horses, and cattle left behind were given
to his son, together with a part of Thomas Marshall's Fauquier County
farm.[550]
During the Revolution Thomas Marshall was, like most other Continental
officers, in sore need of money. He tried to sell his land to Washington
for cash. Washington was anxious to buy "Lands in my own Neck at
(almost) any price ... in ye way of Barter ... for Negroes ... or ...
for any thing else (except Breeding Mares and Stock)." But he could not
pay money. He estimated, by memory, Thomas Marshall's land at £3000, at
a time when, because of depreciated money and inflated prices, "a Barrl.
of Corn which used to sell for 10/ will now fetch 40--when a Barl. of
Porke that formerly could be had for £3 sells for £15." So Washington
in 1778 thought that "Marshall is not a necessitous man." When it came
to trading, the father of his country was keen and suspicious, and he
feared, it would seem, that his boyhood friend and comrade in arms would
"practice every deception in his power in order to work me ... up to his
price."[551]
Soon after John Marshall met Mary Ambler at the "ball" at Yorktown, and
just before he went to William and Mary College, his father sold this
very land that Washington had refused to purchase. On March 28, 1780,
Thomas Marshall conveyed to Major Thomas Massey [Massie] one thousand
acres in Fauquier County for "thirty thousand pounds Currency."[552]
This was a part of the seventeen hundred acres for which the elder
Marshall had paid "nine hundred and twelve pounds ten shillings" seven
years before.[553] The change shows the startling depreciation of
Virginia currency as well as Continental paper, both of which in 1780
had reached a very low point and were rapidly going down.[554]
[Illustration: _Mary Ambler Marshall_]
It reveals, too, the Marshall family's extreme need of cash, a want
sorely felt by nearly everybody at this period; and the familiar fact
that ownership of land did not mean the ready command of money. The year
after John Marshall's marriage he wrote to James Monroe: "I do not know
what to say to your scheme of selling out. If you can execute it you
will have made a very capital sum, if you can retain your lands you
will be poor during life unless you remove to the western country, but
you have secured for posterity an immense fortune"; and Marshall tells
Monroe that the latter can avail himself of the knowledge of Kentucky
lands possessed by the members of the Marshall family who were on the
ground.[555]
Writing twenty years later of economic conditions during the period now
under review, Marshall says: "Real property was scarcely vendible; and
sales of any article for ready money could be made only at a ruinous
loss.... In every quarter were found those who asserted it to be
impossible for the people to pay their public or private debts."[556]
So, although his father was a very well-to-do man when John Marshall
began married life, he had little or no ready money, and the son could
not expect much immediate paternal assistance. Thomas Marshall had to
look out for the bringing-up of a large number of other children and to
consider their future; and it is this fact which probably induced him to
seek fortune anew in the Kentucky wilderness after he was fifty years of
age. Legend has it that Thomas Marshall made his venture on Washington's
advice. At any rate, he settled, permanently, in Kentucky in the fall of
1783.[557]
The fledgling lawyer evidently expected to start upon a legal career in
the county of his birth; but immediately after marrying Miss Ambler, he
established himself at Richmond, where her family lived, and there began
the practice of the law. While his marriage into the Ambler family was
inspired exclusively by an all-absorbing love, the alliance was a
fortunate one for John Marshall from the practical point of view. It
gave him the support of a powerful State official and one of the
best-liked men in all Virginia. A favor asked by Jacquelin Ambler was
always granted if possible; and his recommendation of any one was final.
The Ambler household soon became the most attractive in Richmond, as it
had been in Yorktown; and Marshall's marriage to Mary Ambler gave him a
social standing which, in the Virginia of that day, was a very great
asset in business and politics.
The house to which he took his bride was a tiny one-story affair of
wood, with only two rooms; the best house the Amblers themselves could
secure, as we have seen, was so small that the "whole family" could
scarcely crowd into it. Three years before John Marshall and his young
wife set up housekeeping, Richmond could "scarce afford one comfort in
life."[558] According to Mrs. Carrington the dwelling-houses had no
curtains for the windows.[559] The streets were open spaces of earth,
unpaved and without sidewalks. Many years after Marshall established
himself at the new and raw Virginia Capital, Main Street was still
unpaved, deep with dust when dry and so muddy during a rainy season that
wagons sank up to the axles. Footways had been laid only at intervals
along the town's chief thoroughfare; and piles of ashes and cinders were
made to serve as street-crossings, from which, if one misstepped on a
dark and rainy night, he found himself deep in the mire. A small stream
flowed diagonally across Main Street, flooding the surface; and the
street itself ended in gullies and swamps.[560] In 1783 the little town
was, of course, still more primitive.
There were no brick or stone buildings in Richmond when Marshall was
married. The Capitol, itself, was an ugly structure--"a mere wooden
barn"--on an unlovely site at the foot of a hill.[561] The private
dwellings, scattered about, were the poor, mean, little wooden houses
already described by Eliza Ambler.
Trade was in the hands of British merchants who managed to retain their
commercial hold in spite of the Revolution.[562] Rough, heavy wagons
drawn by four or six horses brought in the produce of the country, which
included "deer and bear skins, furs, ginseng, snake-root," and even
"dried rattlesnakes ... used to make a viper broth for consumptive
patients."[563] These clumsy vehicles were sometimes a month in covering
less than two hundred miles.[564] Specie was the money chiefly used in
the back country and the frontier tradesmen made remittances to Richmond
by placing a "bag of gold or silver in the centre of a cask of melted
wax or tallow ... or [in a] bale of hemp."[565]
There was but one church building and attendance was scanty and
infrequent.[566] The principal amusement was card-playing, in which
everybody indulged,[567] and drinking was the common practice.[568] The
town sustained but one tavern which was kept by a Neapolitan named
Farmicola. This hostelry had two large rooms downstairs and two above.
The beds were under the roof, packed closely together and unseparated by
partitions. When the Legislature met, the inn was crowded; and
"Generals, Colonels, Captains, Senators, Assembly-men, Judges, Doctors,
Clerks, and crowds of Gentlemen of every weight and calibre and every
hue of dress, sat altogether about the fire, drinking, smoking,
singing, and talking ribaldry."[569]
Such were conditions in the town of Richmond when John Marshall hazarded
his adventure into the legal profession there in 1783. But it was the
seat of the State Government, and the place where the General Court of
Appeals and the High Court of Chancery were located. Yet small, poor,
and mean as was the Virginia Capital of that day, not even Philadelphia,
New York, or Boston could boast of a more brilliant bar.
Randolph and Wickham, Innes and Ronald, Campbell and Call, and others
whose distinction has made the bar of the Old Dominion historic,
practiced at Richmond. And the court around which this extraordinary
constellation gathered was equally eminent. Pendleton, whose intellect
and industry more than supplied early defects in education, was
president of the Court of Appeals; Wythe was one of the judges of the
High Court of Chancery, of which he afterwards became sole chancellor;
Paul Carrington and others of almost equal stature sat with Pendleton on
the Supreme Bench. Later on appeared the erudite, able, and commanding
Roane, who, long afterwards, when Marshall came into his own, was to be
his most formidable antagonist in the clash of courts.
Among such lawyers and before a court of this high quality the young
attorney from the backwoods of Fauquier County began his struggle for a
share of legal business. He had practically no equipment except his
intellect, his integrity, and his gift for inspiring confidence and
friendship. Of learning in the law, he had almost none at all. He had
read Blackstone, although not thoroughly;[570] but the only legal
training that Marshall had received was acquired during his few weeks at
William and Mary College. And in this romantic interval, as we have
seen, he was thinking a good deal more about Mary Ambler than about
preparing himself for his career.
We know exactly to which of Wythe's lectures Marshall had listened; for
he took notes of them. He procured a thick, blank book strongly bound in
calf. In this he wrote in a large, firm hand, at the top of the page,
the topics of lectures which Wythe had announced he would give, leaving
after each headline several pages for notes.[571] Since these notes are
a full record of Marshall's only formal instruction in the law, a
complete list of the subjects, together with the space allotted to each,
is as important as it is interesting.
On the subject of Abatement he wrote three pages; on Accounts, two
pages; on Accord and Satisfaction, one page; Actions in General, one and
a half pages; Actions Local and Transitory, one fourth page; Actions Qui
Tam, one and one fourth pages; Actions on the Case, three and one half
pages; Agreements, three pages; Annuity and Rent Charge, two pages;
Arbitrament and Award, one and one half pages; Assault and Battery, two
thirds of a page; Assignment, one half page; Assumpsit, one and a half
pages; Attachment, one half page; Audita Querela, one fourth page;
Authority, one fourth page; Bail in Civil Causes, one half page; Bail in
Criminal Causes, one and two thirds pages; Bailment, two pages; Bargain
and Sale, one half page; Baron and Feme, four pages; Bastardy, three
quarters page; Bills of Sale, one half page; Bills of Exceptions, one
half page; Burglary, one page; Carriers, one page; Certiorari, one half
page; Commitments, one half page; Condition, five and one half pages;
Coparceners, one and one half pages; Costs, one and one fourth pages;
Covenant, three pages; Curtesy of England, one half page; Damages, one
and one half pages; Debt, one and one half pages; Descent, one and one
half pages; Detinue, one half page; Devises, six and one half pages;
Disseisin, two lines; Distress, one and two thirds pages; Dower, two
pages; Duress, one third page; Ejectment, two and two thirds pages;
Election, two thirds page; Error, two and one third pages; Escape in
Civil Cases, one and one fifth pages; Estates in Fee Simple, three
fourths page; Estate for Life and Occupancy, one and four fifths pages;
Evidence, four pages, two lines; Execution, one and five sixths pages;
Executors and Administrators, eleven pages; Extinguishment, two thirds
page; Extortion, one half page; Felony, three and one sixth pages;
Forcible Entry and Detainer, three fourths page; Forgery, three pages;
Forfeiture, two and four fifths pages; Fraud, three pages, one line;
Grants, three and three fourths pages; Guardian, two and five sixths
pages; Heir and Ancestor, five pages, two lines; Idiots and Lunatics,
three pages; Indictments, four pages, three lines; Infancy and Age, nine
and one half pages; Information, one and one fifth pages; Injunction,
one and two thirds pages; Inns and Innkeepers, two and two thirds pages;
Joint Tenants and Tenants in Common, nine and one sixth pages; Jointure,
three pages.
We find six pages he had reserved for notes on the subject of Juries
left blank, and two blank pages follow the caption, "Justice of the
Peace." But he made seventeen and two thirds pages of notes on the
subjects of Leases and Terms for Years, and twelve and one half pages on
the subject of Legacies. This ended his formal legal studies; for he
made no notes under the remaining lecture subjects.[572]
Not an ideal preparation to attract clients, we must admit, nor to serve
them well when he got them. But slender and elementary as was his store
of learning, his apparel, manners, and habits were even less likely to
bring business to this meagerly equipped young advocate.
Marshall made practically no money as a lawyer during his first year in
Richmond. Most of his slender income seems to have been from his salary
as a member of the Legislature.[573] He enters in his Account Book in
1783 (where it begins) several receipts "by my civil list warrants,"
and several others, "Rec^d. from Treasury." Only four fees are entered
for the whole year--one for three pounds, another for two pounds, eleven
shillings, one for two pounds, ten shillings, and a fourth for two
pounds, eight shillings.
On the contrary, he paid one pound, two shillings, sixpence for "advice
fee given the attorney for opinion on surveyors fees." He bought "one
pair Spectacles" for three shillings and ninepence. His sociable nature
is revealed at the beginning of his career by entries, "won at Whist
24-1-4" and "won at Whist 22/"; and again "At Backgammon 30/-1-10." Also
the reverse entry, "Lost at Whist £3 14/."[574]
The cost of living in Richmond at the close of the Revolution is shown
by numerous entries. Thirty-six bushels of oats cost Marshall three
pounds, ten shillings, sixpence. He paid one pound for "one pair
stockings"; and one pound, eighteen shillings, sixpence for a hat. In
1783 a tailor charged him one pound, eight shillings, sixpence for
"making a Coat." He enters "stockings for P.[olly][575] 6 dollars." A
stove "Dutch Oven" cost fourteen shillings and eightpence; and "150
bushels coal for self 7-10" (seven pounds, ten shillings).
In October of the year of his marriage he paid six shillings for wine
and "For rum £9-15." His entries for household expenditures for these
months give an idea of the housekeeping: "Given Polly 6 dollars
£4-10-6; ... a coffe pot 4/; 1 yd. Gauze 3/6; 2 Sugar boxes £1-7-6;
Candlestick &c. 3/6 1 y^{d}. Linnen for P. 2/6; 2 pieces of bobbin 1/6;
Tea pot 3/; Edging 3/6; Sugar pot 1/6; Milk 1/; Thimble 4/2;
Irons 9/,... Tea 20/."[576]
The entries in Marshall's Account Book for the first year and a half of
his married life are indiscriminately and poorly made, without dates of
receipts and expenditures. Then follows a period up to June, 1785, where
the days of the month are stated. Then come entries without dates; and
later, the dates sometimes are given and sometimes not. Marshall was as
negligent in his bookkeeping as he was in his dress. Entries in the
notebook show on their face his distaste for such details. The Account
Book covers a period of twelve years, from 1783 to 1795.
He was exceedingly miscellaneous in his expenses. On January 14, 1784,
he enters as items of outlay: "Whist 30/" and "Whist 12/," "cow
£3-12-8" and "poker 6/," "To Parson 30/." This date is jammed in,
plainly an afterthought, and no more dates are specified until June 7.
Other characteristic entries at this time are, on one day, "Turkeys 12/
Wood 24/ Whist £18"; and on another day, "Beef 26/8--Backgammon £6." An
important entry, undated, is, "Paid the University in the hands of Mr.
Tazewell for Col^o Marshall as Surveyor of Fayette County 100"
(pounds).[577]
On July 5, 1784, he enters among receipts "to my service in the Assembly
34-4" (pounds and shillings); and among his expenses for June 22 of that
year, he enters "lost at Whist £19" and on the 26th, "Col^o [James]
Monroe & self at the Play 1-10"[578] (one pound, ten shillings). A week
later the theater again cost him twelve shillings; and on the third he
enters an outlay "to one Quarter cask wine 14" (pounds, or about fifty
dollars Virginia currency). On the same day appears a curious entry of
"to the play 13/" and "Pd for Col^o Monroe £16-16." He was lucky at
whist this month, for there are two entries during July, "won at whist
£10"; and again, "won at whist 4-6" (four pounds, six shillings). He
contributes to St. John's Church one pound, eight shillings. During this
month their first child was born to the young couple;[579] and there are
various entries for the immediate expenses of the event amounting to
thirteen pounds, four shillings, and threepence. The child was
christened August 31 and Marshall enters, "To house for christening 12/
do. 2/6."
The Account Book discloses his diversified generosity. Preacher,
horse-race, church, festival, card-game, or "ball" found John Marshall
equally sympathetic in his contributions. He was looking for business
from all classes in exactly the same way that young lawyers of our own
day pursue that object. Also, he was, by nature, extremely sociable and
generous. In Marshall's time the preachers bet on horses and were
pleasant persons at balls. So it was entirely appropriate that the young
Richmond attorney should enter, almost at the same time, "to Mr.
Buchanan 5" (pounds)[580] and "to my subscription for race £4-4";[581]
"Saint Taminy 11 Dollars--3-6"[582] (three pounds, six shillings); and
still again, "paid my subscription to the ball 20/-1"; and later,
"expenses at St. John's [church] 2-3" (pounds and shillings).
Marshall bought several slaves. On July 1, 1784, he enters, "Paid for
Ben 90-4"[583] (ninety pounds, four shillings). And in August of that
year, "paid for two Negroes £30" and "In part for two servants £20."
And in September, "Paid for servants £25," and on November 23, "Kate &
Evan £63." His next purchase of a slave was three years later, when he
enters, May 18, 1787, "Paid for a woman bought in Gloster £55."
Shoeing two horses in 1784 cost Marshall eight shillings; and a hat for
his wife cost three pounds. For a bed-tick he paid two pounds, nine
shillings. We can get some idea of the price of labor by the following
entry: "Pd. Mr. Anderson for plaistering the house £10-2." Since he was
still living in his little rented cottage, this entry would signify that
it cost him a little more than thirty-five dollars, Virginia currency,
to plaster two rooms in Richmond, in 1784. Possibly this might equal
from seven to ten dollars in present-day money. He bought his first
furniture on credit, it appears, for in the second year of his married
life he enters, December "31st P^d. M^r. Mason in part for furniture 10"
(pounds).
At the end of the year, "Pd balance of my rent 43-13" (pounds and
shillings). During 1784, his third year as a lawyer, his fees steadily
increased, most of them being about two pounds, though he received an
occasional fee of from five to nine pounds. His largest single fee
during this year was "From Mr. Stead 1 fee 24" (pounds).
He mixed fun with his business and politics. On February 24, 1784, he
writes to James Monroe that public money due the latter could not be
secured. "The exertions of the Treasurer & of your other friends have
been ineffectual. There is not one shilling in the Treasury & the keeper
of it could not borrow one on the faith of the government." Marshall
confides to Monroe that he himself is "pressed for money," and adds that
Monroe's "old Land Lady Mrs. Shera begins now to be a little
clamorous.... I shall be obliged I apprehend to negotiate your warrants
at last at a discount. I have kept them up this long in hopes of drawing
Money for them from the Treasury."
But despite financial embarrassment and the dull season, Marshall was
full of the gossip of a convivial young man.
"The excessive cold weather," writes Marshall, "has operated like magic
on our youth. They feel the necessity of artificial heat & quite wearied
with lying alone, are all treading the broad road to Matrimony. Little
Steward (could you believe it?) will be married on Thursday to Kitty
Haie & Mr. Dunn will bear off your old acquaintance Miss Shera.
"Tabby Eppes has grown quite fat and buxom, her charms are renovated &
to see her & to love her are now synonimous terms. She has within these
six weeks seen in her train at least a score of Military & Civil
characters. Carrington, Young, Selden, Wright (a merchant), & Foster
Webb have alternately bow'd before her & been discarded.
"Carrington 'tis said has drawn off his forces in order to refresh them
& has march'd up to Cumberland where he will in all human probability be
reinforced with the dignified character of Legislator. Webb has returned
to the charge & the many think from their similitude of manners &
appetites that they were certainly designed for each other.
"The other Tabby is in high spirits over the success of her antique
sister & firmly thinks her time will come next, she looks quite spruce &
speaks of Matrimony as of a good which she yet means to experience.
Lomax is in his county. Smith is said to be electioneering. Nelson has
not yet come to the board. Randolph is here and well.... Farewell, I am
your J. Marshall."[584]
Small as were the comforts of the Richmond of that time, the charm,
gayety, and hospitality of its inhabitants made life delightful. A young
foreigner from Switzerland found it so. Albert Gallatin, who one day was
to be so large a factor in American public life, came to Richmond in
1784, when he was twenty-two years old. He found the hospitality of the
town with "no parallel anywhere within the circle of my travels....
Every one with whom I became acquainted," says Gallatin, "appeared to
take an interest in the young stranger. I was only the interpreter of a
gentleman, the agent of a foreign house that had a large claim for
advances to the State.... Every one encouraged me and was disposed to
promote my success in life.... John Marshall, who, though but a young
lawyer in 1783, was almost at the head of the bar in 1786, offered to
take me in his office without a fee, and assured me that I would become
a distinguished lawyer."[585]
During his second year in Richmond, Marshall's practice showed a
reasonable increase. He did not confine his legal activities to the
Capital, for in February we find thirteen fees aggregating thirty-three
pounds, twelve shillings, "Rec^d. in Fauquier" County. The accounts
during this year were fairly well kept, considering that happy-go-lucky
John Marshall was the bookkeeper. Even the days of the month for
receipts and expenditures are often given. He starts out with active
social and public contributions. On January 18, 1785, he enters, "my
subscription to Assemblies [balls] 4-4" (pounds and shillings), and
"Jan. 29 Annual subscription for Library 1-8" (pound, shillings).
On January 25, 1785, he enters, "laid out in purchasing Certificates
35-4-10." And again, July 4, "Military Certificates pd for self £13-10-2
at 4 for one £3-7-7. Interest for 3 years £2-8 9." A similar entry is
made of purchases made for his father; on the margin is written, "pd
commissioners."
[Illustration: _Richmond in 1800_]
He made his first purchase of books in January, 1785, to the amount of
"£4-12/." He was seized with an uncommon impulse for books this year, it
appears. On February 10 he enters, "laid out in books £9-10-6." He
bought eight shillings' worth of pamphlets in April. On May 5, Marshall
paid "For Mason's Poems" nine shillings. On May 14, "books 17/-8" and
May 19, "book 5/6" and "Blackstones Commentaries[586] 36/," and May
20, "Books 6/." On May 25, there is a curious entry for "Bringing books
in stage 25/." On June 24, he purchased "Blair's Lectures" for one
pound, ten shillings; and on the 2d of August, a "Book case" cost him
six pounds, twelve shillings. Again, on September 8, Marshall's entries
show, "books £1-6," and on October 8, "Kaim's Principles of Equity 1-4"
(one pound, four shillings). Again in the same month he enters, "books
£6-12," and "Spirit of Law" (undoubtedly Montesquieu's essay), twelve
shillings.
But, in general, his book-buying was moderate during these formative
years as a lawyer. While it is difficult to learn exactly what
literature Marshall indulged in, besides novels and poetry, we know that
he had "Dionysius Longinus on the Sublime"; the "Works of Nicholas
Machiavel," in four volumes; "The History and Proceedings of the House
of Lords from the Restoration," in six volumes; the "Life of the Earl of
Clarendon, Lord High Chancellor of England"; the "Works of C.
Churchill--Poems and Sermons on Lord's Prayer"; and the "Letters of Lord
Chesterfield to his son." A curious and entertaining book was a
condensed cyclopædia of law and business entitled "Lex Mercatoria
Rediviva or The Merchant's Directory," on the title-page of which is
written in his early handwriting, "John Marshall Richmond."[587]
Marshall also had an English translation of "The Orations of Æschines
and Demosthenes on the Crown."[588]
Marshall's wine bills were very moderate for those days, although as
heavy as a young lawyer's resources could bear. On January 31, 1785, he
bought fourteen shillings' worth of wine; and two and a half months
later he paid twenty-six pounds and ten shillings "For Wine"; and the
same day, "beer 4d," and the next day, "Gin 30/." On June 14 of the same
year he enters, "punch 2/6," the next day, "punch 3/," and on the next
day, "punch 6/."[589]
Early in this year Marshall's father, now in Kentucky and with opulent
prospects before him, gave his favorite son eight hundred and
twenty-four acres of the best land in Fauquier County.[590] So the
rising Richmond attorney was in comfortable circumstances. He was
becoming a man of substance and property; and this condition was
reflected in his contributions to various Richmond social and religious
enterprises.
He again contributed two pounds to "S^t. Taminy's" on May 9, 1785, and
the same day paid six pounds, six shillings to "My club at
Farmicolas."[591] On May 16 he paid thirty shillings for a "Ball" and
nine shillings for "music"; and May 25 he enters, "Jockie Club 4-4"
(pounds and shillings). On July 5 he spent six shillings more at the
"Club"; and the next month he again enters a contribution to "S^t. Johns
[Episcopal Church] £1-16." He was an enthusiastic Mason, as we shall
see; and on September 13, 1785, he enters, "p^d. Mason's Ball
subscription for 10" (pounds). October 15 he gives eight pounds and four
shillings for an "Episcopal Meeting"; and the next month (November 2,
1785) subscribes eighteen shillings "to a ball." And at the end of the
year (December 23, 1785) he enters his "Subscription to Richmond Assem.
3" (pounds).
Marshall's practice during his third year at the Richmond bar grew
normally. The largest single fee received during this year (1785) was
thirty-five pounds, while another fee of twenty pounds, and still
another of fourteen pounds, mark the nearest approaches to this
high-water mark. He had by now in Richmond two negroes (tithable), two
horses, and twelve head of cattle.[592]
He was elected City Recorder during this year; and it was to the efforts
of Marshall, in promoting a lottery for the purpose, that the Masonic
Hall was built in the ambitious town.[593]
The young lawyer had deepened the affection of his wife's family which
he had won in Yorktown. Two years after his marriage the first husband
of his wife's sister, Eliza, died; and, records the sorrowing young
widow, "my Father ... dispatched ... my darling Brother Marshall to
bring me." Again the bereaved Eliza tells of how she was "conducted by
my good brother Marshall who lost no time" about this errand of comfort
and sympathy.[594]
February 15, 1786, he enters an expense of twelve pounds "for moving my
office" which he had painted in April at a cost of two pounds and
seventeen shillings. This year he contributed to festivities and social
events as usual. In addition to his subscriptions to balls, assemblies,
and clubs, we find that on May 22, 1786, he paid nine shillings for a
"Barbecue," and during the next month, "barbecue 7/" and still again,
"barbecue 6/." On June 15, he "paid for Wine 7-7-6," and on the 26th,
"corporation dinner 2-2-6." In September, 1786, his doctor's bills were
very high. On the 22d of that month he paid nearly forty-five pounds
for the services of three physicians.[595]
Among the books purchased was "Blair's sermons" which cost him one pound
and four shillings.[596] In July he again "P^d. for S^t. Taminy's feast
2" (pounds). The expense of traveling is shown by several entries, such
as, "Expenses up & down to & from Fauquier 4-12" (four pounds, twelve
shillings); and "Expenses going to Gloster &c 5" (pounds); "expenses
going to W^{ms}burg 7" (pounds); and again, "expenses going to and
returning from Winchester 15" (pounds); and still again, "expenses going
to W^{ms}burg 7" (pounds). On November 19, Marshall enters, "For quarter
cask of wine 12-10" (twelve pounds and ten shillings). On this date we
find, "To Barber 18" (shillings)--an entry which is as rare as the
expenses to the theater are frequent.
He appears to have bought a house during this year (1786) and enters on
October 7, 1786, "P^d. Mr. B. Lewis in part for his house £70 cash & 5£
in an order in favor of James Taylor----75"; and November 19, 1786,
"Paid Mr. B. Lewis in part for house 50" (pounds); and in December he
again "P^d. Mr. Lewis in part for house 27-4" (twenty-seven pounds, four
shillings); and (November 19) "P^d. Mr. Lewis 16" (pounds); and on the
28th, "Paid Mr. Lewis in full 26-17-1 1/4."
In 1786, the Legislature elected Edmund Randolph Governor; and, on
November 10, 1786, Randolph advertised that "The General Assembly having
appointed me to an office incompatible with the further pursuit of my
profession, I beg leave to inform my clients that John Marshall Esq.
will succeed to my business in General &c."[597]
At the end of this year, for the first time, Marshall adds up his
receipts and expenditures, as follows: "Received in the Year 1786
according to the foregoing accounts 508-4-10." And on the opposite page
he enters[598]--
To my expenses 432______________________
1 8
---------------------------
433 -- 8
In 1787 Marshall kept his accounts in better fashion. He employed a
housekeeper in April, Mrs. Marshall being unable to attend to domestic
duties; and from February, 1787, until May of the following year he
enters during each month, "Betsy Mumkins 16/." The usual expenditures
were made during this year, and while Marshall neglects to summarize his
income and outlay, his practice was still growing, although slowly. On
December 3, 1787, his second child was born.[599]
In January of 1787 occurred the devastating Richmond fire which
destroyed much of the little city;[600] and on February 7, Marshall
enters among his expenses, "To my subscription to the sufferers by fire
21" (pounds).
Marshall's name first appears in the reports of the cases decided by the
Virginia Court of Appeals in 1786. In May of that year the court handed
down its opinion in Hite _et al. vs._ Fairfax _et al._[601] It involved
not only the lands directly in controversy, but also the validity of the
entire Fairfax title and indirectly that of a great deal of other land
in Virginia. Baker, who appears to have been the principal attorney for
the Fairfax claimants, declared that one of the contentions of the
appellants "would destroy every title in the Commonwealth." The case was
argued for the State by Edmund Randolph, Attorney-General, and by John
Taylor (probably of Caroline). Marshall, supporting Baker, acted as
attorney for "such of the tenants as were citizens of Virginia." The
argument consumed three days, May 3 to 5 inclusive.[602]
Marshall made an elaborate argument, and since it is the first of his
recorded utterances, it is important as showing his quality of mind and
legal methods at that early period of his career. Marshall was a little
more than thirty years old and had been practicing law in Richmond for
about three years.
The most striking features of his argument are his vision and foresight.
It is plain that he was acutely conscious, too, that it was more
important to the settlers who derived their holdings from Lord Fairfax
to have the long-disputed title settled than it was to win as to the
particular lands directly in controversy. Indeed, upon a close study of
the complicated records in the case, it would seem that Joist Hite's
claim could not, by any possibility, have been defeated. For, although
the lands claimed by him, and others after him, clearly were within the
proprietary of Lord Fairfax, yet they had been granted to Hite by the
King in Council, and confirmed by the Crown; Lord Fairfax had agreed
with the Crown to confirm them on his part; he or his agents had
promised Hite that, if the latter would remain on the land with his
settlers, Fairfax would execute the proper conveyances to him, and
Fairfax also made other guarantees to Hite.
But it was just as clear that, outside of the lands immediately in
controversy, Lord Fairfax's title, from a strictly legal point of view,
was beyond dispute except as to the effect of the sequestration
laws.[603] It was assailed, however, through suggestion at least, both
by Attorney-General Randolph and by Mr. Taylor. There was, at this time,
a strong popular movement on foot in Virginia to devise some means for
destroying the whole Fairfax title to the Northern Neck. Indeed, the
reckless royal bounty from which this enormous estate sprang had been
resented bitterly by the Virginia settlers from the very beginning;[604]
the people never admitted the justice and morality of the Fairfax grant.
Also, at this particular period, there was an epidemic of debt
repudiation, evasion of contracts and other obligations, and assailing
of titles.[605]
So, while Baker, the senior Fairfax lawyer, referred but briefly to the
validity of the Fairfax title and devoted practically the whole of his
argument to the lands involved in the case then before the court,
Marshall, on the other hand, made the central question of the validity
of the whole Fairfax title the dominant note of his argument. Thus he
showed, in his first reported legal address, his most striking
characteristic of going directly to the heart of any subject.
Briefly reported as is his argument in Hite vs. Fairfax, the qualities
of far-sightedness and simple reasoning, are almost as plain as in the
work of his riper years:--
"From a bare perusal of the papers in the cause," said Marshall, "I
should never have apprehended that it would be necessary to defend the
title of Lord _Fairfax_ to the Northern Neck. The long and quiet
possession of himself and his predecessors; the acquiescence of the
country; the several grants of the crown, together with the various acts
of assembly recognizing, and in the most explicit terms admitting his
right, seemed to have fixed it on a foundation, not only not to be
shaken, but even not to be attempted to be shaken.
"I had conceived that it was not more certain, that there was such a
tract of country as the Northern Neck, than that Lord _Fairfax_ was the
proprietor of it. And if his title be really unimpeachable, to what
purpose are his predecessors criminated, and the patents they obtained
attacked? What object is to be effected by it? Not, surely, the
destruction of the grant; for gentlemen cannot suppose, that a grant
made by the crown to the ancestor for services rendered, or even for
affection, can be invalidated in the hands of the heir because those
services and affection are forgotten; or because the thing granted has,
from causes which must have been foreseen, become more valuable than
when it was given. And if it could not be invalidated in the hands of
the heir, much less can it be in the hands of a purchaser.
"Lord _Fairfax_ either was, or was not, entitled to the territory; if he
was, then it matters not whether the gentlemen themselves, or any
others, would or would not have made the grant, or may now think proper
to denounce it as a wise, or impolitic, measure; for still the title
must prevail; if he was not entitled, then why was the present bill
filed; or what can the court decree upon it? For if he had no title, he
could convey none, and the court would never have directed him to make
the attempt.
"In short, if the title was not in him, it must have been in the crown;
and, from that quarter, relief must have been sought. The very filing of
the bill, therefore, was an admission of the title, and the appellants,
by prosecuting it, still continue to admit it....
"It [the boundary] is, however, no longer a question; for it has been
decided, and decided by that tribunal which has the power of determining
it. That decision did not create or extend Lord _Fairfax's_ right, but
determined what the right originally was. The bounds of many patents are
doubtful; the extent of many titles uncertain; but when a decision is
once made on them, it removes the doubt, and ascertains what the
original boundaries were. If this be a principle universally
acknowledged, what can destroy its application to the case before the
court?"
The remainder of Marshall's argument concerns the particular dispute
between the parties. This, of course, is technical; but two paragraphs
may be quoted illustrating what, even in the day of Henry and Campbell,
Wickham and Randolph, men called "Marshall's eloquence."
"They dilate," exclaimed Marshall, "upon their hardships as first
settlers; their merit in promoting the population of the country; and
their claims as purchasers without notice. Let each of these be
examined.
"Those who explore and settle new countries are generally bold, hardy,
and adventurous men, whose minds, as well as bodies, are fitted to
encounter danger and fatigue; their object is the acquisition of
property, and they generally succeed.
"None will say that the complainants have failed; and, if their
hardships and danger have any weight in the cause, the defendants shared
in them, and have equal claim to countenance; for they, too, with
humbler views and less extensive prospects, 'have explored, bled for and
settled a, 'till then, uncultivated desert.'"[606]
Hite won in this particular case; but, thanks to Marshall's argument,
the court's decision did not attack the general Fairfax title. So it was
that Marshall's earliest effort at the bar, in a case of any magnitude,
was in defense of the title to that estate of which, a few years later,
he was to become a principal owner.[607] Indeed, both he and his father
were interested even then; for their lands in Fauquier County were
derived from or through Fairfax.
Of Marshall's other arguments at this period, no record exists. We know,
however, from his Account Book, that his business increased steadily;
and, from tradition, that he was coming to be considered the ablest of
the younger members of the distinguished Richmond bar. For his services
in this, his first notable case, Marshall received one hundred and nine
pounds, four shillings, paid by fifty-seven clients. Among those
employing the young attorney was George Washington. In the account of
fees paid him in Hite vs. Fairfax, he enters: "Gen^l G. Washington 1-4"
(pounds and shillings) and "A. Washington 1-4." Marshall's record of
this transaction is headed: "List of fees rec'd from Ten^{ts} Fairfax
Ad^s Hite," referring to the title of the case in the lower court.
An evidence of his growing prosperity is the purchase from Aquella and
Lucy Dayson of two hundred and sixty acres of land in Fauquier County,
for "one hundred and sixty pounds current money of Virginia."[608] This
purchase, added to the land already given him by his father,[609] made
John Marshall, at thirty-one years of age, the owner of nearly one
thousand acres of land in Fauquier.
Marshall's Account Book shows his generosity toward his brothers and
sisters, who remained in Virginia when Thomas Marshall went to Kentucky
to establish himself. There are frequent entries of money advanced to
his brothers, particularly James M., as, "Given my brother James £3-9";
or, "To my brother James £36-18," etc. Marshall's sister Lucy lived in
his house until her marriage to the wealthy John Ambler.[610] The young
lawyer was particularly attentive to the wants of his sister Lucy and
saw to it that she had all the advantages of the Virginia Capital. In
his Account Book we find many entries of expenses in her behalf; as, for
example, "for Lucy £5-8-3"; and again, a few days later, "given
Eliza[611] for Lucy" four pounds, sixteen shillings; and still later,
"for Lucy 10-6" (ten pounds, six shillings); and, "P^d. for Lucy
entering into dancing school 2-2" (two pounds, two shillings).
Throughout Marshall's Account Book the entries that most frequently
occur are for some expense for his wife. There is hardly a page without
the entry, "given Polly" so much, or "for Polly" so much, and the
entries are for liberal amounts. For instance, on January 15, 1785, he
enters, "Sundries for Polly £8-6-8 1/2"; on the 18th, "Given Polly 6/";
on the 25th, "for Polly 11/ 7 1/2"; and on the 29th, "Given Polly for a
hat 36/." And later, "Given Polly 56/" and "Given Polly 2-16" (pounds
and shillings); and "for Polly £3." "For Polly 5-7-5"; "Sundries for
Polly, 12-6" and "Left with Polly 10-4" (pounds and shillings). "Given
Polly £1-8"; "Gloves for Polly 7/6." Such entries are very numerous.
The young wife, who had become an invalid soon after her marriage,
received from her husband a devotion and care which realized poetic
idealism. "His exemplary tenderness to our unfortunate sister is without
parallel," testifies Mrs. Carrington. "With a delicacy of frame and
feeling that baffles all description, she became, early after her
marriage, a prey to an extreme nervous affliction which more or less has
embittered her comfort thro' life; but this only served to increase his
care and tenderness.... He is always and under every circumstance an
enthusiast in love."[612]
Marshall's affection for his wife grew with the years and was nourished
by her increasing infirmities. It is the most marked characteristic of
his entire private life and is the one thing which differentiates him
sharply from most of the eminent men of that heroic but, socially,
free-and-easy period. Indeed, it is in John Marshall's worship of his
delicate and nerve-racked wife that we find the beginnings of that
exaltation of womankind, which his life, as it unrolls, will disclose.
[Illustration: PAGE OF MARSHALL'S ACCOUNT BOOK, MAY, 1787
(_Facsimile_)]
John Marshall's respect, admiration, reverence, for woman became so
notable that it was remarked by all who knew him, and remains to this
day a living tradition in Richmond. It resembled the sentiment of the
age of chivalry. While the touching incidents, glowing testimonials, and
most of the letters that reveal this feature of Marshall's character
occur more vividly after he ascended the bench,[613] the heart of the
man cannot be understood as we go along without noting the circumstance
in his earlier married life.
FOOTNOTES:
[482] Mrs. Carrington to her sister Nancy, 1810; _Atlantic Monthly_,
lxxxiv, 546; and same to same, March, 1809; MS. Thomas Marshall was now
Colonel of the Virginia State Regiment of Artillery and continued as
such until February 26, 1781, when his men were discharged and he became
"a reduced officer." (Memorial of Thomas Marshall, _supra._ See Appendix
IV.) This valuable historical document is the only accurate account of
Thomas Marshall's military services. It disproves the statement
frequently made that he was captured when under Lincoln at Charleston,
South Carolina, May 12, 1780. Not only was he commanding the State
Artillery in Virginia at that time, but on March 28 he executed a deed
in Fauquier County, Virginia, and in June he was assisting the Ambler
family in removing to Richmond. (See _infra._) If a Thomas Marshall was
captured at Charleston, it must have been one of the many others of that
name. There was a South Carolina officer named Thomas Marshall and it is
probably he to whom Heitman refers. Heitman (ed. 1914), 381. For account
of the surrender of Charleston, see McCrady, iii, 507-09.
[483] "Certain it is that another Revolutionary War can never happen to
affect and ruin a family so completely as ours has been!" It "involved
our immediate family in poverty and perplexity of every kind." (Mrs.
Carrington to her sister Nancy; _Atlantic Monthly_, lxxxiv, 545-47.)
[484] _Ib._
[485] Dog Latin and crude pun for "bell in day."
[486] Jefferson to Page and to Fleming, from Dec. 25, 1762, to March 20,
1764; _Works_: Ford, i, 434-52. In these delightful letters Jefferson
tells of his infatuation, sometimes writing "Adnileb" in Greek.
"He is a boy and is indisputably in love in this good year 1763, and he
courts and sighs and tries to capture his pretty little sweetheart, but
like his friend George Washington, fails. The young lady will not be
captured!" (Susan Randolph's account of Jefferson's wooing Rebecca
Burwell; _Green Bag_, viii, 481.)
[487] Tradition says that George Washington met a like fate at the hands
of Edward Ambler, Jacquelin's brother, who won Mary Cary from the young
Virginia soldier. While this legend has been exploded, it serves to
bring to light the personal attractiveness of the Amblers; for Miss Cary
was very beautiful, heiress of a moderate fortune, and much sought
after. It was Mary Cary's sister by whom Washington was captivated.
(Colonel Wilson Miles Cary, in Pecquet du Bellet, i, 24-25.)
[488] Mrs. Carrington to her sister Nancy; _Atlantic Monthly_, lxxxiv,
547. Of the letters which John Marshall wrote home while in the army,
not one has been preserved.
[489] _Ib._
[490] _Ib._
[491] Mrs. Carrington to her sister Nancy; _Atlantic Monthly_, lxxxiv,
547.
[492] _Hist. Mag._, iii, 165. While this article is erroneous as to
dates, it is otherwise accurate.
[493] _Ib._, 167.
[494] Mrs. Carrington to her sister Nancy; _Atlantic Monthly_, lxxxiv,
547.
[495] _Hist. Mag._, iii, 167.
[496] Mrs. Carrington to her sister Nancy; _Atlantic Monthly_, lxxxiv,
547.
[497] _Supra_, chap. II.
[498] Mrs. Carrington to her sister Nancy; _Atlantic Monthly_, lxxxiv,
547.
[499] "Notes on Virginia": Jefferson; _Works_: Ford, iv, 65.
[500] Mrs. Carrington to her sister Nancy; _supra._ William and Mary was
the first American institution of learning to adopt the modern lecture
system. (Tyler; _Williamsburg_, 153.) The lecture method was inaugurated
Dec. 29, 1779 (_ib._, 174-75), only four months before Marshall entered.
[501] John Brown to Wm. Preston, Feb. 15, 1780; _W. and M. C. Q._, ix,
76.
[502] Mrs. Carrington to her sister Nancy; MS.
[503] See _infra._
[504] The Reverend James Madison, Professor of Natural Philosophy and
Mathematics; James McClung, Professor of Anatomy and Medicine; Charles
Bellini, Professor of Modern Languages; George Wythe, Professor of Law;
and Robert Andrews, Professor of Moral and Intellectual Philosophy.
(_History of William and Mary College_, Baltimore, 1870, 70-71.) There
was also a fencing school. (John Brown to Wm. Preston, Feb. 15, 1780;
_W. and M. C. Q._, ix, 76.)
[505] _History of William and Mary College_, Baltimore, 1870, 45.
"Thirty Students and three professors joined the army at the beginning
of the Revolutionary War." (_Ib._, 41.) Cornwallis occupied
Williamsburg, June, 1781, and made the president's house his
headquarters. (Tyler: _Williamsburg_, 168.)
[506] Fithian, 107.
[507] John Brown to Wm. Preston, Jan. 26, 1780; _W. and M. C. Q._, ix,
75. Seventeen years later the total cost to a student for a year at the
college was one hundred and fifty to one hundred and seventy dollars.
(La Rochefoucauld, iii, 49-56.) The annual salary of the professors was
four hundred dollars and that of the president was six hundred dollars.
[508] In Marshall's time the college laws provided that "No liquors
shall be furnished or used at [the college students'] table except beer,
cider, toddy or spirits and water." (_History of William and Mary
College_ (Baltimore, 1870), 44; and see Fithian, Feb. 12, 1774, 106-07.)
Twelve years after Marshall took his hasty law course at William and
Mary College, a college law was published prohibiting "the drinking of
spirituous liquors (except in that moderation which becomes the prudent
and industrious student)." (_History of William and Mary College_, 44.)
In 1769 the Board of Visitors formally resolved that for professors to
marry was "contrary to the principles on which the College was founded,
and their duty as Professors"; and that if any professor took a wife
"his Professorship be immediately vacated." (Resolution of Visitors,
Sept. 1, 1769; _ib._, 45.) This law was disregarded; for, at the time
when Marshall attended William and Mary, four out of the five professors
were married men.
The college laws on drinking were merely a reflection of the customs of
that period. (See chaps. VII and VIII.) This historic institution of
learning turned out some of the ablest and best-educated men of the
whole country. Wythe, Bland, Peyton and Edmund Randolph, Taylor of
Caroline, Nicholas, Pendleton, Madison, and Jefferson are a few of the
William and Mary's remarkable products. Every one of the most
distinguished families of Virginia is found among her alumni. (See
Catalogue of Alumni, _History of William and Mary College_, 73-147. An
error in this list puts John Marshall in the class of 1775 instead of
that of 1780; also, he did not graduate.)
[509] _Infra_, chap. VII.
[510] La Rochefoucauld, iii, 49; and see Schoepf, ii, 79-80.
William Wirt, writing twenty-three years after Marshall's short
attendance, thus describes the college: "They [Virginians] have only one
publick seminary of learning.... This college ... in the niggardly
spirit of parsimony which they dignify with the name of economy, these
democrats have endowed with a few despicable fragments of surveyors'
fees &c. thus converting their national academy into a mere _lazaretto_
and feeding its ... highly respectable professors, like a band of
beggars, on the scraps and crumbs that fall from the financial table.
And, then, instead of aiding and energizing the police of the college,
by a few civil regulations, they permit their youth to run riot in all
the wildness of dissipation." (Wirt: _The British Spy_, 131, 132.)
[511] "Notes on Virginia": Jefferson; _Works_: Ford, iv, 69.
[512] Chastellux, 299. It is difficult to reconcile Jefferson's
description of the college building with that of the French traveler.
Possibly the latter was influenced by the French professor, Bellini.
[513] John Brown to Col. Wm. Preston, July 6, 1780: _W. and M. C. Q._,
ix, 80.
[514] John Brown to Col. Wm. Preston, July 6, 1780; _W. and M. C. Q._,
ix, 80.
[515] Records, Phi Beta Kappa Society of William and Mary College,
printed in _W. and M. C. Q._, iv, 236.
[516] Dr. Lyon G. Tyler, now President of William and Mary College,
thinks that this date is approximately correct.
[517] Records, Phi Beta Kappa Society of William and Mary College;
printed in, _W. and M. C. Q._, iv, 236.
[518] See _infra._
[519] Marshall's Notebook; MS. See _infra._
[520] Betsy Ambler to Mildred Smith, 1780; _Atlantic Monthly_, lxxxiv,
536.
[521] See _infra._
[522] Marshall to his wife, _infra._
[523] Marshall could have had at least one year at William and Mary, for
the college did not close until June, 1781. Also he could have continued
to attend for several weeks after he left in June, 1780; for student
John Brown's letters show that the college was still open on July 20 of
that year.
[524] County Court Minutes of Fauquier County, Virginia, 1773-80, 473.
[525] _Autobiography._
[526] Marshall, with other officers, did go to Philadelphia in January
or February of 1777 to be inoculated for smallpox (Marshall to Colonel
Stark, June 12, 1832, supporting latter's pension claim; MSS. Rev. War,
S. F. no. 7592, Pension Bureau); but evidently he was not treated or the
treatment was not effective.
[527] First, the written permission to be inoculated had to be secured
from all the justices of the county; next, all the neighbors for two
miles around must consent--if only one of them refused, the treatment
could not be given. Any physician was fined ten thousand dollars, if he
inoculated without these restrictions. (Hening, ix, 371.) If any one was
stricken with smallpox, he was carried to a remote cabin in the woods
where a doctor occasionally called upon him. (La Rochefoucauld, iii,
79-80; also De Warville, 433.)
[528] Horses were very scarce in Virginia at this time. It was almost
impossible to get them even for military service.
[529] _Southern Literary Messenger_ (quoting from a statement by
Marshall), ii, 183.
[530] Mrs. Carrington to her sister Nancy; _Atlantic Monthly_, lxxxiv,
547.
[531] _Ib._, 548. A story handed down through generations of lawyers
confirms Mrs. Carrington. "I would have had my wife if I had had to
climb Alleghanys of skulls and swim Atlantics of blood" the legend makes
Marshall say in one of his convivial outbursts. (The late Senator Joseph
E. McDonald to the author.)
[532] "The Palace" was a public building "not handsome without but ...
spacious and commodious within and prettily situated." ("Notes on
Virginia": Jefferson; _Works_: Ford, iv, 69.)
[533] Richard Anderson, the father of the defender of Fort Sumter.
(Terhune: _Colonial Homesteads_, 97.)
[534] A country place of Edward Ambler's family in Hanover County. (See
Pecquet du Bellet, i, 35.) Edward Ambler was now dead. His wife lived at
"The Cottage" from the outbreak of the war until her death in 1781.
(_Ib._, 26; and Mrs. Carrington to Mrs. Dudley, Oct. 10, 1796; MS.)
[535] Marshall to his wife, Feb. 23, 1826; MS.
[536] Most of the courts were closed because of the British invasion.
(Flanders, ii, 301.)
[537] _Infra_, chap. VI.
[538] _Autobiography._
[539] Betsy Ambler to Mildred Smith, 1780; _Atlantic Monthly_, lxxxiv,
537.
[540] Betsy Ambler to Mildred Smith, 1780; _Atlantic Monthly_, lxxxiv,
537.
[541] Jefferson to Short, Dec. 14, 1788; _Works_: Ford, vi, 24. Twelve
years after Marshall's marriage, there were but seven hundred houses in
Richmond. (Weld, i, 188.)
[542] Pecquet du Bellet, i, 35-37. He was very rich. (See inventory of
John Ambler's holdings, _ib._) This opulent John Ambler married John
Marshall's sister Lucy in 1792 (_ib._, 40-41); a circumstance of some
interest when we come to trace Marshall's views as influenced by his
connections and sympathies.
[543] Mrs. Carrington to her sister Nancy; _Atlantic Monthly_, lxxxiv,
548.
[544] She was born March 18, 1766, and married January 3, 1783. (Paxton,
37.) Marshall's mother was married at the same age.
[545] Mrs. Carrington to her sister Nancy; _Atlantic Monthly_, lxxxiv,
548.
[546] Thomas Marshall's will shows that he owned, when he died, several
years later, an immense quantity of land.
[547] _Supra_, chap. II.
[548] Fauquier County Tithable Book, 1783-84; MS., Va. St. Lib.
[549] _Ib._
[550] See _infra._
[551] Washington to Lund Washington, Aug. 15, 1778; _Writings_: Ford,
vii, 151-52.
[552] Records of Fauquier County (Va.), Deed Book, vii, 533.
[553] _Supra_, chap. II.
[554] See _infra_, chap. VIII.
[555] Marshall to Monroe, Dec. 28, 1784; Monroe MSS., vii, 832; Lib.
Cong.
[556] Marshall, ii, 104.
[557] Marshall to Monroe, Dec. 12, 1783; Draper Collection, Wis. Hist.
Soc. Thomas Marshall first went to Kentucky in 1780 by special
permission of the Governor of Virginia and while he was still Colonel of
the State Artillery Regiment. (Humphrey Marshall, i, 104, 120.) During
his absence his regiment apparently became somewhat demoralized. (Thomas
Marshall to Colonel George Muter, Feb. 1781; MS. Archives, Va. St. Lib.
and partly printed in _Cal. Va. St. Prs._, i, 549.) Upon his return to
Virginia, he was appointed Surveyor of a part of Kentucky, November 1,
1780. (Collins: _History of Kentucky_, i, 20.) The following year he was
appointed on the commission "to examine and settle the Public Accts in
the Western Country" and expected to go to Kentucky before the close of
the year, but did not, because his military certificates were not given
him in time. (Thomas Marshall to Governor Harrison, March 17, 1781;
_Cal. Va. St. Prs._, i, 578; and to Lieutenant-Governor Jameson, Oct.
14, 1781; _ib._, 549.) He opened his surveyor's office in Kentucky in
November, 1782. (Butler: _History of Kentucky_, 138.) In 1783 he
returned to Virginia to take his family to their new home, where he
remained until his death in 1802. (Paxton, 19.) Thomas Marshall was
immediately recognized as one of the leading men in this western
Virginia district, and was elected to the Legislature and became
"Surveyor [Collector] of Revenue for the District of Ohio." (See
_infra_, chaps, III and V.)
[558] Betsy Ambler to Mildred Smith; _Atlantic Monthly_, lxxxiv, 537.
[559] Mrs. Carrington to Mildred Smith, Jan. 10, 1786; MS.
[560] Mordecai, 45-47.
[561] _Ib._, 40.
[562] Mordecai, chap. ii.
[563] _Ib._, 51-52. This was more than twenty years after Marshall and
his young wife started housekeeping in Richmond.
[564] _Ib._, 53.
[565] _Ib._
[566] Meade, i, 140; Schoepf, ii, 62.
[567] Mordecai, chap, xxi; Schoepf, ii, 63 _et seq._
[568] See _supra_, chaps. I and VII.
[569] Schoepf, ii, 64. Marshall frequented this place and belonged to a
club which met there. (See entries from Marshall's Account Book,
_infra._)
[570] _Supra_, chap. II.
[571] This invaluable Marshall source is not a law student's commonplace
book alphabetically arranged, but merely a large volume of blank leaves.
It is six inches wide by eight in length and more than one in thickness.
The book also contains Marshall's accounts for twelve years after his
marriage. All reference hereafter to his receipts and expenses are from
this source.
[572] The notes are not only of lectures actually delivered by Wythe,
but of Marshall's reading on topics assigned for study. It is probable
that many of these notes were made after Marshall left college.
[573] See _infra_, chap. VI.
[574] Such entries as these denote only Marshall's social and friendly
spirit. At that period and for many years afterward card-playing for
money was universal in Virginia (La Rochefoucauld, iii, 77; and
Mordecai, ed. 1856, chap. xxi), particularly at Richmond, where the
women enjoyed this pastime quite as much as the men. (_Ib._) This,
indeed, was the case everywhere among women of the best society who
habitually played cards for money. (Also see Chastellux, 333-34.)
[575] Marshall's wife.
[576] The references are to pounds, shillings, and pence. Thus "3 14/"
means three pounds and fourteen shillings. "30-5-10" means thirty
pounds, five shillings, and tenpence; or "3/6" means three shillings,
sixpence. Where the Account Book indicates the amount without the signs
of denomination, I have stated the amount indicated by the relative
positions of the figures in the Account Book. Computation should be by
Virginia currency (which was then about three and one half dollars to
the Virginia pound) and not by the English pound sterling. This is not
very helpful, however, because there is no standard of comparison
between the Virginia dollar of that period and the United States dollar
of to-day. It is certain only that the latter has greater purchasing
power than the former. All paper money had greatly depreciated at the
time, however.
[577] The "University" was William and Mary College, then partly
supported by a portion of the fees of official surveyors. Thomas
Marshall was now Surveyor of Fayette County, Kentucky. (See _supra._)
This entry occurs several times.
[578] Such entries are frequent throughout his Account Book. During his
entire life, Marshall was very fond of the theater. (See _infra_, II,
chap, V; also vol. III of this work.)
[579] Thomas Marshall, born July 21, 1784. (Paxton, 90.)
[580] Buchanan was the Episcopal clergyman in Richmond at the time.
(Meade, i, 29, 140.)
[581] The races at Richmond, held bi-annually, were the great social
events of Virginia. (Mordecai, 178 _et seq._)
[582] This fixes the equivalent in State dollars for Virginia pounds and
shillings.
[583] He already owned one tithable negro in Fauquier County in 1783.
(Fauquier County Tithable Book, 1783-84; MS., Va. St. Lib. See _supra._)
[584] Marshall to Monroe, Feb. 24, 1784; MS., N.Y. Pub. Lib. Compare
with Jefferson's sentimental letters at the same age. Very few of
Marshall's letters during this period are extant. This one to Monroe is
conspicuously noticeable for unrestraint and joyousness. As unreserved
as he always was in verbal conversation, Marshall's correspondence soon
began to show great caution, unlike that of Jefferson, which increased,
with time, in spontaneity. Thus Marshall's letters became more guarded
and less engaging; while Jefferson's pen used ever more highly colored
ink and progressively wrote more entertaining if less trustworthy
matter.
[585] Gallatin to Maxwell, Feb. 15, 1848; Gallatin's _Writings_: Adams,
ii, 659. Also see Mordecai, 94-95.
[586] His father must have kept, for the time being, the Blackstone
purchased in 1772, although the volume later turned up in Marshall's
possession.
[587] This book, with the others named, bears the signature of Marshall
at this period of his life. They are the only books in existence which
certainly were bought by Marshall at that time, all other volumes he is
positively known to have had in his library being published at a later
date. All except one of those named, with others hereafter mentioned,
are in the possession of Judge J. K. M. Norton, Alexandria, Virginia.
The _Lex Mercatoria_ is, of course, in English. It is a large book
containing seven hundred seventy-five pages, seven by eight inches,
firmly bound in calf. It is "compiled from many standard authorities."
While it is an encyclopædia of law and business containing items such as
a comparison of the values of money of all lands, it is very readable
and entertaining. It is just the kind of book from which Marshall could
have derived information without being wearied by research. John Adams
also had a copy of Malynes's _Lex Mercatoria_, which seems to have been
a common possession of commercial lawyers throughout the country.
[588] This book is now in the possession of Hon. William Marshall
Bullitt, of Louisville, Kentucky.
[589] The numerous entries of this kind occurring throughout Marshall's
Account Book must not be misunderstood. At that time and for many
decades afterward, the habitual use of whiskey, wine, rum, brandy, etc.,
was the universal custom. They were bought in quantities and consumed
much as ordinary table waters now are. The common people, especially
those in the South, distilled their own stimulants. The people of New
England relied on the great distilleries of Boston and vicinity for rum,
of which they consumed enormous quantities. (See _infra_, chap. VII;
also chap. II, vol. II, of this work.)
[590] Records of Fauquier County (Va.), Deed Book, viii, 241, March 16,
1785.
[591] The tavern kept by Farmicola, where Marshall's club met. (See
_supra._)
[592] Henrico County Tithable Book; Va. St. Lib. He had, of course,
other slaves, horses, and cattle on his Fauquier County plantation.
[593] Christian, 28.
[594] Eliza Ambler to Mildred Smith, July 10, 1785; MS.; also printed in
_Atlantic Monthly_, lxxxiv, 540-41.
[595] Drs. McClurg, Foushee, and Mackie.
[596] This book was purchased for his wife, who was extremely religious.
The volume is in the possession of Judge J. K. M. Norton, Alexandria,
Virginia. On the fly-leaf appears, "Mrs. Mary W. Marshall," in
Marshall's handwriting. The book was also useful to Marshall for his own
study of rhetoric, since Blair's sermons stood very high, at this time,
as examples of style.
[597] Christian, 29, 30.
[598] This unbusinesslike balancing is characteristic of Marshall.
[599] Jacquelin Ambler Marshall, Dec. 3, 1787. (Paxton, 99.)
[600] _Ib._
[601] Call, i, 42.
[602] Records of the Court of Appeals.
[603] The estate had been sequestered during the Revolution.
[604] Wertenbaker: _V. U. S._, 123-26. For history of these grants, see
chap. IV, vol. II, of this work.
[605] See _infra_, chap. VI.
[606] Call, iv, 69-72.
[607] _Infra_, vol. II, chap. IV.
[608] Records Fauquier County (Va.), Deed Book, X, 29.
[609] See _supra._
[610] See _supra_, 166, footnote 3.
[611] Mrs. Carrington.
[612] Mrs. Carrington to her sister Nancy; MS. The mother and sister of
Mrs. Marshall were similarly afflicted. Mrs. Carrington frequently
mentions this fact in her correspondence.
[613] See vol. III of this work.