New-York tribune., 1885-03-01
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL.


stands in the first rank of the statesmen u m .nT
fro,;vs nerioa of oar Nation. We hesitate 10 o'i,
Tho hook more than sketch, for the piograpm'c. m
,,ortions are brief and the examination VI Cho'
Jrstice Mar,hals place In poi'1ics an" !
nr,1epce is not elaborate; but whaS the au'noi "'
,orroLen is we'll done, with simplicity, cearneSs'
,,rooiso, and Judgment, and in spirit OF mouer%
tion AMI e1uity which some other writer's l''ol'
nresentod to our notice might study WIFI a,N an
taoe. Marshall is one Of the most renaiNao;o
characters in our history. lie began MS p"'''o
service rs a soldier in the revolutionary army "a
IL was during a brief interval while military o"'y
,,,n, hin, Of Williamsburg that lie attended ie"
1ectures at William and Mary College, which ooii
stitutoa his training for the law tie rose aV ono0
20 o,ni,ence at the bar, without legal educa.ion
md TO emlnence on the hghest pehcn "''n0''
preyious experience as Judge when io ~
an,ointel Chief Justice of the United states lie h'.a
never tried case. His career is the more reniaiA
able because he had mono of the snowy qua'i''o'
which make sudden regulations although 'hoy
cannot make enduring Ones His oratory oweu
nothing to the graces of person, OF mahnoi' Vi 'i
rhetoric: it was effective only through the cogehcy
of ts reasoning and the perspcuity, pertlnency anu
forca of its statements Nobody would have calieu
him n great Jury lawyer, and yet he had wohooi
ful knack of convincing. Nobody wouiu nav
called him learned judge, and yet HIS ueo'''Vi'
were not only profoundly respected III ms Wv"
time. but have become, especially 10 CONSTITUTIONS,
onestions a most important part OF our Natlohai
Jurisprudence. ,.... 81
William Pinkuey, of Maryland, after listening 10
some of Marshalps opinions. declared that he was
born to be the chief justice of any country III "hon
he Gyed.r He possessed in phenomenal degree
the judicial temperament. IN which not Il 40"
s,ndions and upright judges are VIGOROUSLY lack
inc While his knowledge of case law was ho'
extensive his perception of the principies upo"
which the systems he had to expound must 10
founded was almost as. quick ana rs sure as OIL
instinct Judge Story praised the great suotle'!
of his mind This quality was not dIsplayeu III
tendency toward over refinement; on the contrary
he was distinguished. both at the bar ana Oh Vic
bench for his habit of going stralght 10 tne
of every difficulty, and finding at once tne ui'i"v0
principle by which the solution must NC so'oiu0''
Mr. Magrader relates that at the END OF iiaS'o'iS
doosion he would often say in effect These seem
tn me to be the conclusions to which We are -oon-
5octed Inv the reason and spirit of the law Brother
S.or, viii furnish the authorities 1t was to the
ooson and sprit of the law that he always looked
q rba original bias as well choice OF his mlnd
was 70 general principles and comprehensive views
rather than to technical or recondte learning lie
loved TO expatate upon the theory OF .equ''S' "
elucidate the expansive doctrines OF coniioi0'a'
jurisprudence and to give rational cast even W
the most subtle dogmas of the common law. In
tbe indulgence of this philosophical bent his ciear
and vigorous mind shOne with imposing luStre'
have never seen a man." said Danlel "eoster' y,
whose intellect have had higher opinion" ana
Marshall was great precisely IN those giits "n'on
,ysre most urgently needed in the Supreme Court at
the beginning of the century To great extent
American law had to be made from the foundatioh'
Nev conditions of society, new constitutions, new
experiments in government, created problems III
respect TO which there were no precedents either III
theory or practice; while rules ana pTeceuch''
which ould have controlled before the revoiutioh
were suddenly found to be inapphcaDe, OF oecamo
n;tfas Of error and doubt. learned Chief Justice
mirht we'll have been embarrassed by his very
learning What we needed wasa Chlef justice Oh
constructive genius; and such man we louhu III
Marshall.
II was fortunate indeed that so clear, logical, ana
dispassionate yet bold mlnd was appileu u 'no
authoritative exposition. of constitutional law at
moment when the whole course of our National life
probably depended upon the solution oil TWO OF
three ,olitical puzzles. The questions of implied
nowers of the limits of Federal and State authority,
of the functions of the judiciary and the Legis-
1atnre rs well as the fundamental question whether
the United States formed a league or Nation'
were hercely debated and in one shape or anothei
all came before the new tribunal over which thi'
untred iurist had been chosen to preside. IL the
Jefersonian theories had prevailed at this crtica
iuncture, the development of the American eXpen
ment in popular government must have been pro
fonndlv and disastrously affected. Over and over
again the mpracticability of those theories has
since been demonstrated jefferson himself could
not administer the Government without disregard
ING them Jackson succeeded in the Presidency
only when he deGed the doctrines of his party.
Jefferson DAVIS aud James Buchanan followed the
Jeaersonian principles TO civil war; and the
country was saved last by recurring to The SOUND
rules of constitutional Interpretation originally
laid down by Marshall 1t is the highest possible
tribute to his that the body OF his consti
tntional decisions has become an integral part oil
the American system, lying at the very foundation
of our National greatness; while every attempt TO
conduct public affairs upon the opposing theories
has led to disaster, and then been perlorce
abandoned.
Politically, of course, Marshall pronounced
Federalist. standing side by side with Hamilton
and Washington, and there were undoubtedly many
eases in which his political opinions influenced hi
decisions This was inevitable, and was not at al
Ia his discredit. His work, as We have sald' wa'
largely constructive; it was not the application OF
settled rules to particular circumstances but th'
deduction from broad general principles of rules
hitherto unformulated, to suit new circumstances es
As Mr. Magruder we'll says: 1T is one thing to bt
impartial aud another to be coloress In mind
Judge Marshall impartial and stronglypossesseC
of the judicial instinct OF faculty. But he was By
no means colorless. He could no more eliminate
from his mind /an interest In public Affairs, anC
opinions as to the preferable forms of government
and ethods of administration, than he could cu
out and cast away his mind itself. Believing tha
the Constitution intended to create and did create
National Government. and having decided notions
rs to what such government must be able to do
he was subject 10 powerful though insensibi'
influence to find tho existence of the required