FOOTNOTES:

Richmond in 1800Richmond 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 alsohad 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 acresof 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 "SṭTaminy'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 "SṭJohns [Episcopal Church] £1-16." He was an enthusiastic Mason, as we shall see; and on September 13, 1785, he enters, "pḍMason'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 nowin 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 hepaid 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 "Pḍfor SṭTaminy'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 Wṃṣburg 7" (pounds); and again, "expenses going to and returning from Winchester 15" (pounds); and still again, "expenses going to Wṃṣburg 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, "PḍMr. 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 "PḍMr. Lewis in part for house 27-4" (twenty-seven pounds, four shillings); and (November 19) "PḍMr. 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 expenses43218——————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 Hiteet al. vs.Fairfaxet 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 wouldseem 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 LordFairfaxto 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 LordFairfaxwas 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 destructionof 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.

"LordFairfaxeither 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 LordFairfax'sright, but determined what the right originally was. The bounds of many patents are doubtful; the extent of many titles uncertain; but when a decisionis 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 anymagnitude, 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: "Genl.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 Tents.Fairfax AdsHite," 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 generositytoward 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, "Pḍfor 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.

PAGE OF MARSHALL'S ACCOUNT BOOK, MAY, 1787PAGE 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 thatreveal 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. (Seeinfra.) 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]Seeinfra.[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.VIIandVIII.) 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 merelazarettoand 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 inW. 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]Seeinfra.[519]Marshall's Notebook; MS. Seeinfra.[520]Betsy Ambler to Mildred Smith, 1780;Atlantic Monthly, lxxxiv, 536.[521]Seeinfra.[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]Seeinfra.[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]Seeinfra, 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 inCal. 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." (Seeinfra, chaps,IIIandV.)[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, 63et seq.[568]Seesupra, chaps.IandVII.[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]Seeinfra, 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. (Seesupra.) 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. (Seeinfra,II, chap,V; also vol.IIIof 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, 178et 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. Seesupra.)[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'sWritings: 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. TheLex Mercatoriais, 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'sLex 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. (Seeinfra, 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. (Seesupra.)[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 inAtlantic 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]Seeinfra, chap.VI.[606]Call, iv, 69-72.[607]Infra, vol.II, chap.IV.[608]Records Fauquier County (Va.), Deed Book,X, 29.[609]Seesupra.[610]Seesupra, 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.IIIof this work.

[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. (Seeinfra.) 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.)

"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]Seeinfra.

[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.VIIandVIII.) 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.)

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.VIIandVIII.) 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 merelazarettoand 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.)

[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 merelazarettoand 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 inW. 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]Seeinfra.

[519]Marshall's Notebook; MS. Seeinfra.

[520]Betsy Ambler to Mildred Smith, 1780;Atlantic Monthly, lxxxiv, 536.

[521]Seeinfra.

[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]Seeinfra.

[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]Seeinfra, 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 inCal. 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." (Seeinfra, chaps,IIIandV.)

[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, 63et seq.

[568]Seesupra, chaps.IandVII.

[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]Seeinfra, 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. (Seesupra.) 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. (Seeinfra,II, chap,V; also vol.IIIof 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, 178et 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. Seesupra.)

[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'sWritings: 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. TheLex Mercatoriais, 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'sLex 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. (Seeinfra, 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. (Seesupra.)

[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 inAtlantic 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]Seeinfra, chap.VI.

[606]Call, iv, 69-72.

[607]Infra, vol.II, chap.IV.

[608]Records Fauquier County (Va.), Deed Book,X, 29.

[609]Seesupra.

[610]Seesupra, 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.IIIof this work.

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