The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1885-09-23
A LIGHT OF OTHER DAYS.
INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF TON
MARSHALL.
Tho Kcntuckian Who Moved Crowds
with His Elogucncc and Made
Night Hideous with Orgies.

leaving, so far as can be ascertained, an.
record of his career. Mr.. Marshall wa
very fond of narrating his experiences
and if they could be written as they were
told and word-painted in his own Ian
guage they would be, indeed, veritablt
setting cf colloquial gems, admixed, il
is true, with much dross. Tom Mar
shall's life was fitful and fateful, and
although possessed of talents and accom-
+ plishmcnts far beyond the average o.
very great men, his fault consisted ir
lack Of ability to put them to good ad
vantage.
1t was in the fall of 1859, after the In
dian summer Of the Northwest had
passed and gone, and the air had be-
come sharp and chilly, when Tom Mar.
shall made his appearance at St. Paul,
MINI. He was unseasonably, indeed,
wrctchedly, clad, presenting every indi.
cation of straitcned circumstances, but
the good people of that city, ncverthe-
less, made him welcome, and expressed
satisfaction with his announcement that
he intended to lecture upon the lives and
characters of George Washington and
Henry Clay. The writer made his ac-
quaintance at that period. and, in COM
mon with his colleagues of the press and
the citizens generally, busted himself to
induce appreciative audiences to listen
to his addresses.
Although unkcmpt, unshaven and un.
tidy, bearing the appearance of man
with whom fortune had dealt neither
gently nor generously, Tom Marshall
held himself proudly. Straight as an
arrow, he strobe through the streets
buttoned to the chin in drap d'etc coat,
leaving to impertinent conjecture the
presence or absence of shirt, yet, never
theless, the very incarnation of dignity
and assumed superiority. The St. Paul
people, with their accustomed hospital
ity, fraternized with him in traditional
Western fashion, and as consequence
the bowl flowed freely to the music Of
Mr.. Marshall's superior conversational
attractions. Within brief period every
body came to know him, and as there
were many noted characters resident at
st. Paul at that particular period the
aints of their association came together
and many Promethean sparks were there.
by struck and scintillated.
When the evening arrived for the de-.
livery of his lecture upon George Wash
ington, Mr.. Marshall appeared sadly un-
der the influence of "the rosy" Nothing
abashed, however, he grated upon the
life, character and services of the Pater
Patria in glowing periods and ornate
rhapsodics, but interspersed with occa-
sional commonplaces which grievously
marred the effect of an cloquence almost
divine. His succeeding address upon
Henry Clay was repetition Of the pre-
vious lecture in all its beauties of con.
ception on the one hand and attendant
coarsenesses on the other, and the au-
diences naturally became indignant, if
not disgusted. Having reaped plente-
ous harvest of dollars, the proceeds of
his lectures, he forthwith proceeded to
roam the town night and day, in con-
tinuous orgie.
Meeting him in the street one day he
stated he had just learned lesson in
polteness. He' had met an Indian, he
said, clad in all the gorgeous array Of
paint, feathers, trinkcts and blanket.
Struck with the apparent majesty Of
the Indians presence, his hand involun.
tarilY sought his pocket and drew forth
silver half-dollar, which he proffcred
as token of peace and admiration. The
aboriginal took the coin, silently bowed
his thanks, and with the combined dig
nifty of Scipio and Jugurtha, strode
away. "It was the most magnificent
specimen of untutored courtliness and
native grace ever "Quoth Mr.. Mar.
shall. He was much disturbed, how.
ever, when informed that Indians were
great beggars, and their cupidity knew
no bounds.
One cold, stormy evening Marshall
put in an appearance at the Winslow
house, evidently suffering the effects OF
a protracted debauch. lie was the very
personifcation of wretchedness and suf.
fering, and approaching the stove, then
sending forth its grateful heat, he held
his benumbed. skinny hands over it,
shivering to the very marrow. All he said
was 'Poor Toms acold!' and the guests
seated in the foyer gazed upon the
modern King Lear with eyes of distress.
full sympathy. In q few minutes he
thawed out sufficiently to peer about in
quaint, inquisitive manner, when OBJ
serving group Of persons seated near
by. he exclaimed. "Gentlemen, l do not
intend to be offensive. but may be
hanged if I ever in my life saw so many
hook-nosed men together at one time"
Involuntarily the guests took each others
dimensions. and sure enough it happened
that all of their noses were of pronounced
Roman architecture.
Tom Marshall happily broke the sig
ni6cant silence by loudly exclaiming:
Landlord, what time do you have sup
per2" "Supper at T." laconically replied
the host, the clock pointing to quarter
to Z. A dead silence fell on all around,
which, as the clock struck 7, was in.
terrupted by Mr.. Marshall, who, thrust.
ing his hand into his pocket, extracted
q set of false teeth, and swapping them
viciously into his mouth, shouted: "Now
bring on your supper and be hanged to
youw
How Tom Marshall managed to get
away from st. Paul nobody ever knew,
but the next time the writer met him was
at Nashville, Tenn, during the spring of
1864, after the defeat of Hoods forces
by General George H. Thomas. He was
in like condition rs when at St. Paul,
bearing marked traces of dissipation
and in distressed circumstances. He was
again befriended, and the theatre en-.
gagged for MIN to deliver lecture upon
Charlemagne. The house was filed
from pit to dome at 81 head, and, to
the surprise of everybody, he was duly
sober. He opened his discourse upon the
French soldier-monarch by paying glow.
ing tributes to his virtues, and quoted
his dying adjuration to his son Louis,
''Lovc your people as your children !;
choose your magistrates and governors
from those whose belief in God will
preserve them from corruption, and see
that your own life be blameless." At
this iuncture he drew comparison with
Napoleon Bonaparte, and thereafter the
lecture was devoted to the Bonaparte
family, to the utter exclusion of Charlie
magnc, whose name was heard no more.
Re.enforced with several hundred dol
lars, he abandoned the lecture field and
returned to the wine cup. His next ap-
pearance was at meeting of New Eng
land men celebrating Forefathers' Day
at Nashville, upon whom he obtruded
his unwelcome and inebriated presence.
He refused to retire, and proceeded in
language more forciblc than polite to
dcnounce the Pilgrim Fathers, Ply
mouth rock and all that thcrcunto ap-
pertaincd. "You internal idiots" he
exclaimed. "you know nothing Of the
history of your country. Celebrating
Forefathers' Day, are you5 The fathers
left England in order that they night
worship God in their own way and make
everybody else worship as they did.
What about your blue laws. your Salem
witches and persecution of the Quakers2
What about Roger Williams, whom the
Puritan fathers banished. and who
sought freedom of conscience else
wherein He was finally brought 10 bay