Chapter V: Marriage and Law Beginnings (2)

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.

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.