The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-08-10

- ~ O4iSo l4el VITA distinct and substantial
success In his profession. Despite his youth
and iaexperience, SO perfec: was the oonf-
cence IN bis ability of those who had come
II contact with him. that he soon had O
E'od clIentage; aud no man ever better
.'daClued the remargab.e cOnfldencs of his
u lghbors and friends. who we're his first
ents
The judicial system OF Virginia under Its
constitution then recently adopted, COM
prIsed many courts OF various jurisdictions,
END embraced several appellate courts The
highest OF these sat in Richmond and the
expense in money and time necessary for n
| lawyer 10 follow a case through all the
I courts made IL q custom to secure for il in
the court Of last resort counsel resident in
ilcnmond where it sat. The field for the
exercise OF his talents afforded by prov
| inclal practice soon proved too small, and
| Marshall moved to Richmond ia i7S3.
shortly after his marriage, where he at once
TOOK rank as an equal with Wickham, Innes,
randolph and Henry, and before long be-
| came the ackno~ lodged leader OF the bar
that numbered them among its members.
Wnle his legal ability was Immediately
recognized in his home and throu IhouJ
Virginia, MarshalHs fame as 8 LAWYER was
first established in the outside world by his
argument in the case OF Ware VS. Hilton.
This was case involving the deterinna-
ton of the effect of an act of the Virginia
legislature, pasSe during the war, absolv-
lag debtors from their debts to English
men, If they would pay the amount of the
same into the colonial treasury; and a
clause In the treaty with England declaring
that there should be no impediment TO the
collection of debts heretofore contracted by
cltizeus of either country party to the
treaty. This case was brought to compel
payment to an English creditor, notwith-
standing the fact that the American debtor
had already turned the amount of the debt
into the treasury Of Virginia, in pursuance
Of said act.
Associated with Marshall on behalf of
the defendants we're Patrick Henry. Camp
bell and Innes, and they were opposed bv
Roland, Wickham, Stark and Baker, all
stars OF tho first magnitude in the legal
armament.
In this case Henry made one OF the great
est efforts of his life, ana so injured his
voice by long sustained speaking that it
never fully recovered its strength. 1t is
said that he so appreciated the importance
of the cause and the ability and industry Of
the opposing counsel that in preparation
for the trial he shut himself up in his office
for three days, seeing no one, not even his
family, and having his meals handed in to
him.
Although the final decision in this cause
was adverse to Marshalls position, his ergu
ment marked him as the master mind in his
profession
OF his methods of reasoning and of his
peculiar eloquence Writ says:
This extraordinary man, without the aid
OF fancy, without the advantages Of person,
voice, attitude, gesture or any of the orna-
ments of an orator, degerves to be consid>
cred as one OF the most eloquent men in the
world; If eloquence may be said to consist
IN the power Of sezing the attention with
irresistible force and never permitting it to
elude the grasp until the bearer has re-
ceived the conviction which the speaker in
tends. = As to fancy, if she hold
seat in his mind at all,
his gigantic genius tramples with disdain
on all her fiower-decked plats and bloom
ing parterres. He possesses one
original aud almost supernatural faculty
the faculty of developing subject
by a single glance of his mind
and detecting at once the very point
on which every controversy de-
ponds. Nor does the exercise Of it
seem 60 cost him an effort. On the con-
trary, it is as easy as vision l am per-
suaded that his eyes do not fly over land
scape and take in its various objects with
more promptitude and facility than his mind
embraces and analyses the most complex
subject.
Possessing while at the bar this intel
lectual elevation, which enabled him to look
down and comprehend che whole ground at
once, he determined Immediately and with
out difficulty on which side the cues
ton might tie most advantageouslY ap.
preached and assailed. 4 All his
eloquence consists in the apparently deep
self-conviction and emphatic earnestness of
his manner; the correspondent simplicity
and energy of his style; the close and log
lcal connection of his thoughts, and the easy
Grad Ia iOOa hu bn J.; =
the attentive minds of his hearers Theau-
dience are never permitted to pause for a
moment. = every sentence is pro-
gressive; every idea sheds new light on the
subject; the listener is kept perpetuaily in
that sweetly pleasurable vibration with
which the mind of man always receives neT
truths; the dawn advances with easy but
unremittiug pace; the subject opens gradu,
ally on the view, until, rising in high relief
in all its native colors and proportions, the
argument is contaminated by the conviction
of the delighted hearer.n
Until he was raised to the position of chief
justice OF the supreme court of the United
States, Marshall easily held his position as
leader of the American bar.
In politics he was an ardent Federalist.
but hs was never an office seeker. never
self-annouuced candidate for any political
Office. He accepted political place from a
sense Of duty, much preferring the con-
genial occupations of his profession. But
bis qualifications we're so pre-eminent that
his fellow-citiZens several times elected him
to the Virginia legislature and once TO the
congress of the United States. The
counties Of his residence at different periods.
Henrico and Farquier, were quite largely
opposed to his politics, and probably any
other Federalist would never at that time
have represented them In toe legislature.
and the latter in the convention called to
consider the adoption of the Federal Com
stitution.
He was told during the canvass for dele
gates to the convention that if he would
bind himself 20 vote against the adoption of
the constitution, all opposition to him
would be withdrawn. This, of course, he
refused to do, and consequently his tri-
umphsnt election was a great surprise TO
him and his most sanguine friends. No
higher testimonial to his personal popular
ity, and to the confidence of his neighbors
in his honesty of conviction, his Judgment
and probitY could be adduced
In this convention the chief chamoions of
the constitution were Marshall, Madison.
Randolph, Pendleton. Innes and Henry Lee
of w estmoreland, and the leaders OF the
attack upon it were Monroe, Patrick Henry.
George Mason, William Grayson and other
master minds.
This convention was a remarkable assem-
blage. II was composed of men I'm the
truess sense representative OF tho new
state; men of wide information, splendid
intellectually and pureSt patriotism; men
Of learning, character, craftsmanship and
eloQuence.
The young delegate from Farquier county
but IS years Of age-was a potent influ-
- =,