The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1901-02-05
MARSHALL DAY
CELEBRATIONSlN
MANY CITIES
1continuea from First Pageo

s-.a... Who n,,r., risking life and every
thing valuable In 4 common cause, DC
lieyed by all to be most precious anu
where ] was confirmed in The habit oil
considering America rs my country ana
Congress as my Government
Justice Cray then Alluded II ttle great
need az q national Judiciary before the
ABSORPTION. of the Constitution. Traced ffae
history of The Slilfe1ne Court OF me
United States. fhe provision mace aor Il
supreme tribunal by the Constitution. ara
the arrangement % detaiis by The iud!-
GARY ac, of 1873 lie gave bTiei ske,.s1es
OF she CHIEF Justices MO i'receie9 Mar-
shall aud then took IN The mann fea-
inres OF his address.
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
He ot,oted N2,stsail's deter of acce9-
saac,> February :, 1Snl. The speaker told
OF having found an Interesting autooi-
sography OF Washington. de said:
IN tie researches .rcited by yaur in
.i,ation. my first and mcst important
discovery was Il letter from Chief Justice
Marshall, d.tea .Rioilno nd. March D
1sJS.' and addressed u ;J6se1tl Dclaplaine,
ESQ. Philadelphia Delapeaine was then
7,1,i,l shing. in numbers. his is"l,t STORY OF
The Lives and Portraits OF Distinguished
American Characters. which Was Gist on
fiusie5 soon afterwards, without even m
.,l,,dans Marshall The letter pnrpolis
10 l,aye been written in arsH CT TO one
requesting some account Of my birth,
,,arentaSe ETC. and contained y short
autobiography. My earliest knS%iedSe OF
the existence Of such aa autobiography
was obtained from a thin pamphlet, pup
lished at Columbus. Ohio in 1873: found
IN an OLD bookstore In Boston: and con
tanning Fhes!des Narshalrs famous
.s,,et.sil in Congress on the case of Jona-
shan Robbins only this letter entttiing 1t
-alttllz4lsar-aT,ily Of John Marshall ne
internal evidence OF its SenuinencsS is very
STRONG: ana its authenticity IS Iut almost
peyond doubt by Il fac-simile trecentiy
shown me in YOUR State Library OF a folio
sheet in Marslail's handwriting, wh.cn.
although IL contains neither the whole OF
The letter nor his address, bears the same
date. and does contain The principal para
s,r-a,lli of iqie letter, word Tor word. with
fl5,, corrections Of the original manuscript,
and immediately followed by MS s!Siia-
fure. An autobiography Cc Marshall Is OF
20 much interest that no apology is
ne>essaI.y for quoting it in full Except
fr-. me or two slips of the pen, corrected
IN the printed pamphlet, it is as follows:
IL was born on the oath of September
1--557. in 1he county of tauquier in Virginia
NV father, Thomas Marshall was the
eldest son OF John Marshall, who III
le;nar,ied with d Miss Markham, and
who's parents migrated from Wares.
ana settled in the county OF
!,ycstmorelani in Virginia, where my
father WAS born. My mother was named
Mary Keith: she WAS the daughter OF
clergyman OF the name Of Keith who
migrated from Scotland. and i!itermarried
with q MIS- Randolph on James River
was educated at homo. under the direc-
ton of my father, who was a planter. but
WAS often called from home as a sur
veyor. From my infancy ] was destined
lar.,yt no
mother country and her colonies drew me
from my studies and my father from the
superintendent Of them; and in SePten-
her liza | entered into the service as L
stibaltern. ] continued in the army until
he wear ISL. when. being without a
command. i resigned my commission, in
The interval between The lnNaStoi-S Oh
Virginia by Arnold and Phillips In the
wear l4S2 / was elected into the Legisia-
1ur, of Virginia. and In flle fan SESSION of
the same year, was chosen a member oil
the executive council =pt that STATE. IN
January. 1.SS, / interlnarried with Mss
MARY WILLS Amber, the second dauSrter
OF Mr. Jacquehn Amber, then treasurer
OF Virginia. who Was the third son Oh MI.
Richard Amber, Il gentleman VINO had
migrated from England. ana setted al
yorktown in Virginia In April, l.s4,
resigned my seat IN the executive council,
and came 10 the bar. at Whch l continued,
declining any other pubic office Than Il
seat in the Legislature, until the year
l797 when ] was associated with General
Pinclsney and Mr. Gerry in a mission TO
France. In 1888 / returned 10 the United
Statt.s and in the spring OF 1893 was
elected a member Of Congress. candi-
date for which, much against my inciina-
r.on, / was induced to become by the re-
quest OF General Washington. AT the
close of the first SESSION, ] was nominated,
frs, 30 The Department of War. and
afterwards 20 that of State, which last
office / accepted. and in which j con-
tinued until she beginning of the year 1s'l.
when Mr.. Ellsw orth having resigned, and
Mr.. Jay having declined his appointment,
/ was nominated to the Office Of Chief
Justice. which / still hold
81 am the Oldest of fifteen children,
all of whom lived to be married, and of
whom nine are now living. My father
died when about seyenty-four years of
age: and my mother, who survived him
about seven years died about the same
age. / do not recollect al! the societies
TO which / belong. though they are very
numerous / have written no book. eX-
cept the Life OF Washington, which was
executed with SO much precipitation as
TO require nuth correction
This brief outline OF an autobiography.
nesides its intrinsic value as n whole, is
notable in several particulars. 1t shows
THAT John Marshall was of Welsh. and
of Scotch. as well as Of English descent;
and this through persons who had not
recently come over but had all been in
This country long enough to become trulv
Americans. II atteStS. over his OWN hand.
that he was educated at home under his
fathers Sunertntendence and direction.
and was destined from infancy for the
bar: and aiso that Il was nv tho request
of General WASHINGTON. and much a~airst
,lis own inclination. that he was induced
80 become a candidate for Congress-
AN ESTIMATE OF MARSHALL
Estimating Marshall as a jurst. Justice
Gray, after quoting several writer's. said:
He had not the technical learning in
the common law of Coke. or of several
of Coke's SUCCESSORS. But. in the feiici-
tous words OF Mr. Justice Story, he
seized, as it We're 10y intuition. the Very
spirit of jufidical doctrines, though caSed
up in the ar1nor OF centuries; and he dis
cussed authorities as If the Very minds
OF the judges themselves stood embodied
before him.
't15e had not the learning of Noting
ham or OF. Hardwicke in the Jurisdiction
and practice of the court of chancery. or
of Mansfield in the general maritime law.
But his judgments show that he u
master OF the principles Of equity and of
commercial law.
t,.,l g.