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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40388 ***
+
+  THE LIFE OF JOHN MARSHALL
+
+  Standard Library Edition
+
+
+  IN FOUR VOLUMES
+
+  VOLUME I
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration: JOHN MARSHALL AT 43
+  From a miniature painted in Paris]
+
+
+
+
+  THE LIFE
+  OF
+  JOHN MARSHALL
+
+  BY
+  ALBERT J. BEVERIDGE
+
+  VOLUME I
+
+  FRONTIERSMAN, SOLDIER
+  LAWMAKER
+
+  1755-1788
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+  BOSTON AND NEW YORK
+  HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
+  The Riverside Press Cambridge
+
+
+
+
+  COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY ALBERT J. BEVERIDGE
+  COPYRIGHT, 1919, BY HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
+
+  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+The work of John Marshall has been of supreme importance in the
+development of the American Nation, and its influence grows as time
+passes. Less is known of Marshall, however, than of any of the great
+Americans. Indeed, so little has been written of his personal life, and
+such exalted, if vague, encomium has been paid him, that, even to the
+legal profession, he has become a kind of mythical being, endowed with
+virtues and wisdom not of this earth.
+
+He appears to us as a gigantic figure looming, indistinctly, out of the
+mists of the past, impressive yet lacking vitality, and seemingly
+without any of those qualities that make historic personages
+intelligible to a living world of living men. Yet no man in our history
+was more intensely human than John Marshall and few had careers so full
+of movement and color. His personal life, his characteristics and the
+incidents that drew them out, have here been set forth so that we may
+behold the man as he appeared to those among whom he lived and worked.
+
+It is, of course, Marshall's public work with which we are chiefly
+concerned. His services as Chief Justice have been so lauded that what
+he did before he ascended the Supreme Bench has been almost entirely
+forgotten. His greatest opinions, however, cannot be fully understood
+without considering his previous life and experience. An account of
+Marshall the frontiersman, soldier, legislator, lawyer, politician,
+diplomat, and statesman, and of the conditions he faced in each of these
+capacities, is essential to a comprehension of Marshall the constructive
+jurist and of the problems he solved.
+
+In order to make clear the significance of Marshall's public activities,
+those episodes in American history into which his life was woven have
+been briefly stated. Although to the historian these are twice-told
+tales, many of them are not fresh in the minds of the reading public. To
+say that Marshall took this or that position with reference to the
+events and questions of his time, without some explanation of them,
+means little to any one except to the historical scholar.
+
+In the development of his career there must be some clear understanding
+of the impression made upon him by the actions and opinions of other
+men, and these, accordingly, have been considered. The influence of his
+father and of Washington upon John Marshall was profound and
+determinative, while his life finally became so interlaced with that of
+Jefferson that a faithful account of the one requires a careful
+examination of the other.
+
+Vitally important in their effect upon the conduct and attitude of
+Marshall and of the leading characters of his time were the state of the
+country, the condition of the people, and the tendency of popular
+thought. Some reconstruction of the period has, therefore, been
+attempted. Without a background, the picture and the figures in it lose
+much of their significance.
+
+The present volumes narrate the life of John Marshall before his epochal
+labors as Chief Justice began. While this was the period during which
+events prepared him for his work on the bench, it was also a distinctive
+phase of his career and, in itself, as important as it was picturesque.
+It is my purpose to write the final part as soon as the nature of the
+task permits.
+
+For reading one draft of the manuscript of these volumes I am indebted
+to Professor Edward Channing, of Harvard University; Dr. J. Franklin
+Jameson, of the Carnegie Foundation for Historical Research; Professor
+William E. Dodd, of Chicago University; Professor James A. Woodburn, of
+Indiana University; Professor Charles A. Beard, of Columbia University;
+Professor Charles H. Ambler, of Randolph-Macon College; Professor
+Clarence W. Alvord, of the University of Illinois; Professor D. R.
+Anderson, of Richmond College; Dr. H. J. Eckenrode, of Richmond College;
+Dr. Archibald C. Coolidge, Director of the Harvard University Library;
+Mr. Worthington C. Ford, of the Massachusetts Historical Society; and
+Mr. Lindsay Swift, Editor of the Boston Public Library. Dr. William G.
+Stanard, of the Virginia Historical Society, has read the chapters which
+touch upon the colonial period. I have availed myself of the many
+helpful suggestions made by these gentlemen and I gratefully acknowledge
+my obligations to them.
+
+Mr. Swift and Dr. Eckenrode, in addition to reading early drafts of the
+manuscript, have read the last draft with particular care and I have
+utilized their criticisms. The proof has been read by Mr. Swift and the
+comment of this finished critic has been especially valuable.
+
+I am indebted in the highest possible degree to Mr. Worthington C. Ford,
+of the Massachusetts Historical Society, who has generously aided me
+with his profound and extensive knowledge of manuscript sources and of
+the history of the times of which this work treats. His sympathetic
+interest and whole-hearted helpfulness have not only assisted me, but
+encouraged and sustained me in the prosecution of my labors.
+
+In making these acknowledgments, I do not in the least shift to other
+shoulders the responsibility for anything in these volumes. That burden
+is mine alone.
+
+I extend my thanks to Mr. A. P. C. Griffin, Assistant Librarian, and Mr.
+Gaillard Hunt, Chief of the Manuscripts Division, of the Library of
+Congress, who have been unsparing in their efforts to assist me with all
+the resources of that great library. The officers and their assistants
+of the Virginia State Library, the Boston Public Library, the Library of
+Harvard University, the Manuscripts Division of the New York Public
+Library, the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Pennsylvania
+Historical Society, and the Virginia Historical Society have been most
+gracious in affording me all the sources at their command.
+
+I desire to express my appreciation for original material furnished me
+by several of the descendants and collateral relatives of John Marshall.
+Miss Emily Harvie, of Richmond, Virginia, placed at my disposal many
+letters of Marshall to his wife. For the use of the book in which
+Marshall kept his accounts and wrote notes of law lectures, I am
+indebted to Mrs. John K. Mason, of Richmond. A large number of original
+and unpublished letters of Marshall were furnished me by Mr. James M.
+Marshall, of Front Royal, Virginia, Mr. Robert Y. Conrad, of Winchester,
+Virginia; Mrs. Alexander H. Sands, of Richmond, Virginia; Miss Sallie
+Marshall, of Leeds, Virginia; Mrs. Claudia Jones, and Mrs. Fannie G.
+Campbell of Washington, D.C.; Judge J. K. M. Norton, of Alexandria,
+Virginia; Mr. A. Moore, Jr., of Berryville, Virginia; Dr. Samuel Eliot
+Morison, of Boston, Massachusetts, and Professor Charles William Dabney,
+of Cincinnati, Ohio. Complete copies of the highly valuable
+correspondence of Mrs. Edward Carrington were supplied by Mr. John B.
+Minor, of Richmond, Virginia, and by Mr. Carter H. FitzHugh, of Lake
+Forest, Illinois. Without the material thus generously opened to me,
+this narrative of Marshall's life would have been more incomplete than
+it is and many statements in it would, necessarily, have been based on
+unsupported tradition.
+
+Among the many who have aided me, Judge James Keith, of Richmond,
+Virginia, until recently President of the Court of Appeals of Virginia;
+Judge J. K. M. Norton and the late Miss Nannie Burwell Norton of
+Alexandria, Virginia; Mr. William Marshall Bullitt, of Louisville,
+Kentucky; Mr. Thomas Marshall Smith, of Baltimore, Maryland; Mr. and
+Mrs. Alexander H. Sands; Mr. W. P. Taylor and Dr. H. Norton Mason, of
+Richmond, Virginia; Mr. Lucien Keith, Mr. William Horgan, and Mr.
+William C. Marshall, of Warrenton, Virginia; Judge Henry H. Downing and
+Mr. Aubrey G. Weaver, of Front Royal, Virginia, have rendered notable
+assistance in the gathering of data.
+
+I am under particular obligations to Miss Emily Harvie for the use of
+the striking miniature of Marshall, the reproduction of which appears as
+the frontispiece to the first volume; to Mr. Roland Gray, of Boston, for
+the right to reproduce the portrait by Jarvis as the frontispiece of the
+second volume; to Mr. Douglas H. Thomas of Baltimore, Maryland, for
+photographs of the portraits of William Randolph, Mary Isham, and Mary
+Randolph Keith; and to Mr. Charles Edward Marshall, of Glen Mary,
+Kentucky, for permission to photograph the portrait of Colonel Thomas
+Marshall.
+
+The large number of citations has made abbreviations necessary. At the
+end of each volume will be found a careful explanation of references,
+giving the full title of the work cited, together with the name of the
+author or editor, and a designation of the edition used.
+
+The index has been made by Mr. David Maydole Matteson, of Cambridge,
+Massachusetts, and his careful work has added to whatever of value these
+volumes possess.
+
+                                                 ALBERT J. BEVERIDGE
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+  I. ANCESTRY AND ENVIRONMENT                                        1
+
+    The defeat of Braddock--Influence on American opinion--
+    Washington's heroism--Effect on Marshall's parents--
+    Marshall's birth--American solidarity the first lesson
+    taught him--Marshall's ancestry--Curious similarity to
+    that of Jefferson, to whom he was related--The paternal
+    line: the "Marshall legend"--Maternal line: the Randolphs,
+    the Ishams, and the Keiths--Character of Marshall's
+    parents--Colonial Virginia society--Shiftless agriculture
+    and abundant land--Influence of slavery--Jefferson's
+    analysis--Drinking heavy and universal--Education of the
+    gentry and of the common people--The social divisions--
+    Causes of the aristocratic tone of Virginia society--
+    The backwoodsmen--Their character--Superiority of an
+    occasional frontier family--The Marshalls of this class--
+    The illustrious men produced by Virginia just before the
+    Revolution.
+
+  II. A FRONTIER EDUCATION                                          33
+
+    Marshall's wilderness birthplace--His father removes to
+    the Blue Ridge--The little house in "The Hollow"--Neighbors
+    few and distant--Daily life of the frontier family--
+    Marshall's delight in nature--Effect on his physical and
+    mental development--His admiration for his father--The
+    father's influence over and training of his son--Books:
+    Pope's Poems--Marshall commits to memory at the age of
+    twelve many passages--The "Essay on Man"--Marshall's father
+    an assistant of Washington in surveying the Fairfax grant--
+    Story of Lord Fairfax--His influence on Washington and on
+    Marshall's father--Effect on Marshall--His father elected
+    Burgess from Fauquier County--Vestryman, Sheriff, and
+    leading man of his county--He buys the land in "The
+    Hollow"--John Thompson, deacon, teaches Marshall for a
+    year--His father buys more land and removes to Oak Hill--
+    Subscribes to the first American edition of Blackstone--
+    Military training interferes with Marshall's reading of
+    Blackstone--He is sent to Campbell's Academy for a few
+    months--Marshall's father as Burgess supports Patrick
+    Henry, who defeats the tidewater aristocracy in the Robinson
+    loan-office contest--Henry offers his resolutions on the
+    Stamp Act: "If this be treason, make the most of it"--
+    Marshall's father votes with Henry--1775 and Henry's
+    "Resolutions for Arming and Defense"--His famous speech:
+    "Give me liberty or give me death"--Marshall's father again
+    supports Henry--Marshall learns from his father of these
+    great events--Father and son ready to take the field against
+    the British.
+
+  III. A SOLDIER OF THE REVOLUTION                                  69
+
+    The "Minute Men" of Virginia--Lieutenant John Marshall
+    drills his company and makes a war speech--His appearance
+    in his nineteenth year--Uniforms of the frontier--The
+    sanguinary fight at Great Bridge--Norfolk--The Marshalls
+    in the Continental service, the father as major, the son as
+    lieutenant--Condition of the army--Confusion of authority--
+    Unreliability of militia "who are here to-day and gone
+    to-morrow"--Fatal effect of State control--Inefficiency
+    and powerlessness of Congress--Destitution of the troops:
+    "our sick naked and well naked"--Officers resign, privates
+    desert--The harsh discipline required: men whipped, hanged,
+    and shot--Impression on Marshall--He is promoted to
+    be captain-lieutenant--The march through disaffected
+    Philadelphia--Marshall one of picked men forming the
+    light infantry--Iron Hill--The battle of the Brandywine--
+    Marshall's father and his Virginians prevent entire
+    disaster--Marshall's part in the battle--The retreat--
+    The weather saves the Americans--Marshall one of rear guard
+    under Wayne--The army recovers and tries to stop the British
+    advance--Confused by false reports of the country people who
+    are against the patriots "almost to a man"--Philadelphia
+    falls--The battle of Germantown--Marshall at the bloodiest
+    point of the fight--The retreat of the beaten Americans--
+    Unreasonable demands of "public opinion"--Further decline
+    of American fortunes--Duché's letter to Washington:
+    "How fruitless the expense of blood"--Washington faces the
+    British--The impending battle--Marshall's vivid description--
+    The British withdraw.
+
+  IV. VALLEY FORGE AND AFTER                                       108
+
+    The bitter winter of 1777--The British in Philadelphia:
+    abundance of provisions, warm and comfortable quarters,
+    social gayeties, revels of officers and men--The Americans
+    at Valley Forge, "the most celebrated encampment in the
+    world's history": starvation and nakedness--Surgeon Waldo's
+    diary of "camp-life": "I'll live like a Chameleon upon
+    Air"--Waldo's description of soldiers' appearance--Terrible
+    mortality from sickness--The filthy "hospitals"--Moravians
+    at Bethlehem--The Good Samaritans to the patriots--Marshall's
+    cheerfulness: "the best tempered man I ever knew"--His pranks
+    and jokes--Visitors to the camp remark his superior
+    intelligence--Settles disputes of his comrades--Hard
+    discipline at Valley Forge: a woman given a hundred lashes--
+    Washington alone holds army together--Jealousy of and
+    shameful attacks upon him--The "Conway Cabal"--His dignity in
+    the face of slander--His indignant letter to Congress--Faith
+    of the soldiers in Washington--The absurd popular demand that
+    he attack Philadelphia--The amazing inferiority of Congress--
+    Ablest men refuse to attend--Washington's pathetic letter on
+    the subject: "Send your ablest men to Congress; Where is
+    Jefferson"--Talk of the soldiers at Valley Forge--Jefferson
+    in the Virginia Legislature--Comparison of Marshall and
+    Jefferson at this period--Marshall appointed Deputy Judge
+    Advocate of the army--Burnaby's appeal to Washington to stop
+    the war: efforts at reconciliation--Washington's account of
+    the sufferings of the army--The spring of 1778--Sports in
+    camp--Marshall the best athlete in his regiment: "Silver
+    Heels" Marshall--The Alliance with the King of France--
+    Rejoicing of the Americans at Valley Forge--Washington has
+    misgivings--The services of Baron von Steuben--Lord Howe's
+    departure--The "Mischianza"--The British evacuate
+    Philadelphia--The Americans quick in pursuit--The battle of
+    Monmouth--Marshall in the thick of the fight--His fairness to
+    Lee--Promoted to be captain--One of select light infantry
+    under Wayne, assigned to take Stony Point--The assault of
+    that stronghold--Marshall in the reserve command--One of the
+    picked men under "Light Horse Harry" Lee--The brilliant dash
+    upon Powles Hook--Term of enlistment of Marshall's regiment
+    expires and he is left without a command--Returns to Virginia
+    while waiting for new troops to be raised--Arnold invades
+    Virginia--Jefferson is Governor; he fails to prepare--Marshall
+    one of party to attack the British--Effect of Jefferson's
+    conduct on Marshall and the people--Comment of Virginia
+    women--Inquiry in Legislature as to Jefferson's conduct--
+    Effect of Marshall's army experience on his thinking--The
+    roots of his great Nationalist opinions run back to Valley
+    Forge.
+
+  V. MARRIAGE AND LAW BEGINNINGS                                   148
+
+    Marshall's romance--Visits his father who is commanding
+    at Yorktown--Mythical story of his father's capture at
+    Charleston--The Ambler family--Rebecca Burwell, Jefferson's
+    early love--Attractiveness of the Amblers--The "ball" at
+    Yorktown--High expectations of the young women concerning
+    Marshall--Their disappointment at his uncouth appearance and
+    rustic manners--He meets Mary Ambler--Mutual love at first
+    sight--Her sister's description of the ball and of Marshall--
+    The courtship--Marshall goes to William and Mary College for
+    a few weeks--Description of the college--Marshall elected to
+    the Phi Beta Kappa Society--Attends the law lectures of
+    Mr. Wythe--The Ambler daughters pass though Williamsburg--
+    The "ball" at "The Palace"--Eliza Ambler's account:
+    "Marshall was devoted to my sister"--Marshall leaves college
+    and follows Mary Ambler to Richmond--Secures license to
+    practice law--Resigns his command--Walks to Philadelphia to
+    be inoculated against smallpox--Tavern-keeper refuses to
+    take him in because of his appearance--Returns to Virginia
+    and resumes his courtship of Mary Ambler--Marshall's account
+    of his love-making--His sister-in-law's description of
+    Marshall's suit--Marshall's father goes to Kentucky and
+    returns--Marshall elected to the Legislature from Fauquier
+    County--He marries Mary Ambler: "but one solitary guinea
+    left"--Financial condition of Marshall's father at this
+    time--Lack of ready money everywhere--Marshall's account--
+    He sets up housekeeping in Richmond--Description of Richmond
+    at that time--Brilliant bar of the town--"Marshall's slender
+    legal equipment"--The notes he made of Mr. Wythe's lectures--
+    His Account Book--Examples of his earnings and expenditures
+    from 1783 until 1787--Life of the period--His jolly letter to
+    Monroe--His books--Elected City Recorder--Marshall's first
+    notable case: Hite vs. Fairfax--His first recorded argument--
+    His wife becomes an invalid--His tender care of her--Mrs.
+    Carrington's account: Marshall "always and under every
+    circumstance, an enthusiast in love."
+
+  VI. IN THE LEGISLATURE AND COUNCIL OF STATE                      200
+
+    In the House of Delegates--The building where the Legislature
+    met--Costumes and manners of the members---Marshall's
+    popularity and his father's influence secure his election--
+    He is appointed on important committees--His first vote--
+    examples of legislative business--Poor quality of the
+    Legislature: Madison's disgust, Washington's opinion--
+    Marshall's description and remarkable error--He is elected
+    member of Council of State--Pendleton criticizes the
+    elevation of Marshall--Work as member of Council--Resigns
+    from Council because of criticism of judges--Seeks and
+    secures reëlection to Legislature from Fauquier County--
+    Inaccuracy of accepted account of these incidents--Marshall's
+    letter to Monroe stating the facts--Becomes champion of needy
+    Revolutionary soldiers--Leads fight for relief of Thomas
+    Paine--Examples of temper of the Legislature--Marshall favors
+    new Constitution for Virginia--The "Potowmack Company"--Bills
+    concerning courts--Reform of the High Court of Chancery--
+    The religious controversy--State of religion in Virginia--
+    Marshall's languid interest in the subject--Great question
+    of the British debts--Long-continued fight over payment or
+    confiscation--Marshall steadily votes and works for payment
+    of the debts--Effect of this contest on his economic and
+    political views--His letter to Monroe--Instability of
+    Legislature: a majority of thirty-three changed in two weeks
+    to an adverse majority of forty-nine--No National Government--
+    Resolution against allowing Congress to lay any tax whatever:
+    "May prove destructive of rights and liberties of the
+    people"--The debts of the Confederation--Madison's extradition
+    bill--Contempt of the pioneers for treaties--Settlers' unjust
+    and brutal treatment of the Indians--Struggle over Madison's
+    bill--Patrick Henry saves it--Marshall supports it--Henry's
+    bill for amalgamation of Indians and whites--Marshall regrets
+    its defeat--Anti-National sentiment of the people--Steady
+    change in Marshall's ideas--Mercantile and financial interests
+    secure the Constitution--Shall Virginia call a Convention to
+    ratify it?--Marshall harmonizes differences and Convention is
+    called--He is in the first clash over Nationalism.
+
+  VII. LIFE OF THE PEOPLE: COMMUNITY ISOLATION                     250
+
+    The state of the country--A résumé of conditions--Revolutionary
+    leaders begin to doubt the people--Causes of this doubt--
+    Isolation of communities--Highways and roads--Difficulty and
+    danger of travel--The road from Philadelphia to Boston: between
+    Boston and New York--Roads in interior of New England, New York,
+    Philadelphia, and New Jersey--Jefferson's account of roads from
+    Richmond to New York--Traveler lost in the "very thick woods" on
+    way from Alexandria to Mount Vernon to visit Washington--Travel
+    and transportation in Virginia--Ruinous effect on commerce--
+    Chastellux lost on journey to Monticello to visit Jefferson--
+    Talleyrand's description of country--Slowness of mails--Three
+    weeks or a month and sometimes two months required between
+    Virginia and New York--Mail several months in reaching interior
+    towns--News that Massachusetts had ratified the Constitution
+    eight days in reaching New York--Ocean mail service--letters
+    opened by postmasters or carriers--Scarcity of newspapers--
+    Their untrustworthiness--Their violent abuse of public men--
+    Franklin's denunciation of the press: he advises "the liberty
+    of the cudgel" to restrain "the liberty of the press"--
+    Jefferson's disgust--The country newspaper: Freneau's "The
+    Country Printer"--The scantiness of education--Teachers and
+    schools--The backwoodsmen--The source of abnormal American
+    individualism--The successive waves of settlers--Their
+    ignorance, improvidence, and lack of social ideals--Habits and
+    characteristics of Virginians--Jefferson's harsh description
+    of them--Food of the people--Their houses--Continuous drinking
+    of brandy, rum, and whiskey--This common to whole country--
+    Lack of community consciousness--Abhorrence of any National
+    Government.
+
+  VIII. POPULAR ANTAGONISM TO GOVERNMENT                           288
+
+    Thomas Paine's "Common Sense"--Its tremendous influence:
+    "Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary
+    evil"--Popular antagonism to the very idea of government--
+    Impossibility of correcting falsehoods told to the people--
+    Popular credulity--The local demagogue--North Carolina
+    preacher's idea of the Constitution--Grotesque campaign story
+    about Washington and Adams--Persistence of political canard
+    against Levin Powell--Amazing statements about the Society of
+    the Cincinnati: Ædanus Burke's pamphlet; Mirabeau's pamphlet;
+    Jefferson's denunciation--Marshall and his father members of
+    the Cincinnati--Effect upon him of the extravagant abuse of
+    this patriotic order--Popular desire for general division of
+    property and repudiation of debts--Madison's bitter comment--
+    Jay on popular greed and "impatience of government"--Paper
+    money--Popular idea of money--Shays's Rebellion--Marshall's
+    analysis of its objects--Knox's report of it--Madison comes
+    to the conclusion that "the bulk of mankind" are incapable
+    of dealing with weighty subjects--Washington in despair--He
+    declares mankind unfit for their own government--Marshall
+    also fears that "man is incapable of governing himself"--
+    Jefferson in Paris--Effect on his mind of conditions in
+    France--His description of the French people--Jefferson
+    applauds Shays's Rebellion: "The tree of liberty must be
+    refreshed by the blood of patriots and tyrants"--Influence
+    of French philosophy on Jefferson--The impotence of Congress
+    under the Confederation--Dishonorable conduct of the States--
+    Leading men ascribe evil conditions to the people themselves--
+    Views of Washington, Jay, and Madison--State Sovereignty the
+    shield of turmoil and baseness--Efforts of commercial and
+    financial interests produce the Constitution--Madison wants
+    a National Government with power of veto on all State laws
+    "whatsoever"--Jefferson thinks the Articles of Confederation
+    "a wonderfully perfect instrument"--He opposes a "strong
+    government"--Is apprehensive of the Constitution--Thinks
+    destruction of credit a good thing--Wishes America "to stand
+    with respect to Europe precisely on the footing of China"--
+    The line of cleavage regarding the Constitution--Marshall for
+    the Constitution.
+
+  IX. THE STRUGGLE FOR RATIFICATION                                319
+
+    The historic Convention of 1788 assembles--Richmond at that
+    time--General ignorance of the Constitution--Even most members
+    of the Convention poorly informed--Vague popular idea of
+    Constitution as something foreign, powerful, and forbidding--
+    People in Virginia strongly opposed to it--The Virginia debate
+    to be the greatest ever held over the Constitution--The
+    revolutionary character of the Constitution: would not have
+    been framed if the people had known of the purposes of the
+    Federal Convention at Philadelphia: "A child of fortune"--
+    Ratification hurried--Pennsylvania Convention: hastily called,
+    physical violence, small number of people vote at election of
+    members to Pennsylvania Convention--People's ignorance of the
+    Constitution--Charges of the opposition--"The humble address
+    of the low born"--Debate in Pennsylvania Convention--Able
+    "Address of Minority"--Nationalism of the Constitution the
+    principal objection--Letters of "Centinel": the Constitution
+    "a spurious brat"--Attack on Robert Morris--Constitutionalist
+    replies: "Sowers of sedition"--Madison alarmed--The struggle
+    in Massachusetts--Conciliatory tactics of Constitutionalists--
+    Upper classes for Constitution--Common people generally
+    opposed--Many towns refuse to send delegates to the
+    Convention--Contemporary descriptions of the elections--
+    High ability and character of Constitutionalist members--
+    Self-confessed ignorance and incapacity of opposition: Madison
+    writes that there is "Scarcely a man of respectability among
+    them"--Their pathetic fight against the Constitution--Examples
+    of their arguments--The bargain with Hancock secures enough
+    votes to ratify--The slender majority: one hundred and
+    sixty-eight vote against ratification--Methods of
+    Constitutionalists after ratification--Widgery's amusing
+    account: hogsheads of rum--Gerry's lament--Bribery charged--
+    New Hampshire almost rejects Constitution--Convention adjourned
+    to prevent defeat--"Little information among the people," but
+    most "men of property and abilities" for Constitution--
+    Constitution receives no deliberate consideration until debated
+    in the Virginia Convention--Notable ability of the leaders of
+    both sides in the Virginia contest.
+
+  X. IN THE GREAT CONVENTION                                       357
+
+    Virginia the deciding State--Anxiety of Constitutionalists
+    in other States--Hamilton writes Madison: "No hope unless
+    Virginia ratifies"--Economic and political importance of
+    Virginia--Extreme effort of both sides to elect members to the
+    Convention--Preëlection methods of the Constitutionalists--
+    They capture Randolph--Marshall elected from opposition
+    constituency--Preëlection methods of Anti-Constitutionalists--
+    The Convention meets--Neither side sure of a majority--
+    Perfect discipline and astute Convention tactics of the
+    Constitutionalists--They secure the two powerful offices
+    of the Convention--The opposition have no plan of action--
+    Description of George Mason--His grave error in parliamentary
+    tactics--Constitutionalists take advantage of it: the
+    Constitution to be debated clause by clause--Analysis of the
+    opposing forces: an economic class struggle, Nationalism
+    against provincialism--Henry tries to remedy Mason's mistake--
+    Pendleton speaks and the debate begins--Nicholas speaks--His
+    character and personal appearance--Patrick Henry secures the
+    floor--Description of Henry--He attacks the Constitution:
+    why "_we the people_ instead of _we_ the States"? Randolph
+    replies--His manner and appearance--His support of the
+    Constitution surprises the opposition--His speech--His
+    about-face saves the Constitution--The Clinton letter: if
+    Randolph discloses it the Anti-Constitutionalists will win--
+    He keeps it from knowledge of the Convention--Decisive
+    importance of Randolph's action--His change ascribed to
+    improper motives--Mason answers Randolph and again makes
+    tactical error--Madison fails to speak--Description of Edmund
+    Pendleton--He addresses the Convention: "the war is between
+    government and licentiousness"--"Light Horse Harry" Lee--The
+    ermine and the sword--Henry secures the floor--His great
+    speech: the Constitution "a revolution as radical as that
+    which separated us from Great Britain"--The proposed National
+    Government something foreign and monstrous--"This government
+    is not a Virginian but an American government"--Marshall
+    studies the arguments and methods of the debaters--Randolph
+    answers Henry: "I am a child of the Revolution"--His error
+    concerning Josiah Philips--His speech ineffective--Description
+    of James Madison--He makes the first of his powerful
+    expositions of the Constitution, but has little or no effect
+    on the votes of the members--Speech of youthful Francis
+    Corbin--Randolph's futile effort--Madison makes the second
+    of his masterful speeches--Henry replies--His wonderful art--
+    He attacks Randolph for his apostasy--He closes the first
+    week's debate with the Convention under his spell.
+
+  XI. THE SUPREME DEBATE                                           401
+
+    Political managers from other States appear--Gouverneur
+    Morris and Robert Morris for the Constitutionalists and
+    Eleazer Oswald for the opposition--Morris's letter:
+    "depredations on my purse"--Grayson's letter: "our affairs
+    suspended by a thread"--Opening second week of the debate--
+    The New Academy crowded--Henry resumes his speech--Appeals
+    to the Kentucky members, denounces secrecy of Federal
+    Convention, attacks Nationalism--Lee criticizes lobbying
+    "out of doors" and rebukes Henry--Randolph attacks Henry:
+    "If our friendship must fall, _let it fall like Lucifer,
+    never to rise again_"--Randolph challenges Henry: a duel
+    narrowly averted--Personal appearance of James Monroe--
+    He speaks for the Revolutionary soldiers against the
+    Constitution and makes no impression--Marshall put forward
+    by the Constitutionalists--Description of him: badly dressed,
+    poetic-looking, "habits convivial almost to excess"--
+    Best-liked man in the Convention; considered an orator--
+    Marshall's speech: Constitutionalists the "firm friends of
+    liberty"; "we, sir, idolize democracy"; only a National
+    Government can promote the general welfare--Marshall's
+    argument his first recorded expression on the Constitution--
+    Most of speech on necessity of providing against war and
+    inspired by his military experience--Description of Benjamin
+    Harrison--Mason attacks power of National taxation and sneers
+    at the "well-born"--He denounces Randolph--Lee answers with
+    a show of anger--William Grayson secures the floor--His
+    character, attainments, and appearance--His learned and
+    witty speech: "We are too young to know what we are good
+    for"--Pendleton answers: "government necessary to protect
+    liberty"--Madison makes his fourth great argument--Henry
+    replies: "the tyranny of Philadelphia [National Government]
+    may be like the tyranny of George III, a horrid, wretched,
+    dreadful picture"; Henry's vision of the West--Tremendous
+    effect on the Convention--Letter of Gouverneur Morris to
+    Hamilton describing the Convention--Madison's report to
+    Hamilton and to Washington: "the business is in the most
+    ticklish state that can be imagined"--Marshall speaks again--
+    Military speech: "_United we are strong, divided we fall_"--
+    Grayson answers Marshall--Mason and Henry refer to "vast
+    speculations": "we may be taxed for centuries to give
+    advantage to rapacious speculators"--Grayson's letter to
+    Dane--The advantage with the Anti-Constitutionalists at the
+    end of the second week.
+
+  XII. THE STRATEGY OF VICTORY                                     444
+
+    The climax of the fight--The Judiciary the weakest point for
+    the Constitutionalists--Reasons for this--Especially careful
+    plans of the Constitutionalists for this part of the debate--
+    Pendleton expounds the Judiciary clause--Mason attacks it--
+    His charge as to secret purpose of many Constitutionalists--
+    His extreme courtesy causes him again to make a tactical
+    error--He refers to the Fairfax grant--A clever appeal to
+    members from the Northern Neck--Madison's distinguished
+    address--Henry answers Madison--His thrilling speech: "Old
+    as I am, it is probable I may yet have the appellation of
+    _rebel_. As to this government [the Constitution] I despise
+    and abhor it"--Marshall takes the floor--Selected by the
+    Constitutionalists to make the principal argument for the
+    Judiciary clause--His speech prepared--The National Judiciary
+    "will benefit collective Society"; National Courts will be
+    as fair as State Courts; independence of judges necessary;
+    if Congress should pass an unconstitutional law the National
+    Courts "_would declare it void_"; they alone the only
+    "protection from an infringement of the Constitution";
+    State courts "crowded with suits which the life of man will
+    not see determined"; National Courts needed to relieve this
+    congestion; under the Constitution, States cannot be sued
+    in National Courts; the Constitution does not exclude trial
+    by jury: "Does the word _court_ only mean the judges?";
+    comparison with the Judiciary establishment of Virginia;
+    reply to Mason's argument on the Fairfax title; "what
+    security have you for justice? The independence of your
+    Judiciary!"--Marshall's speech unconnected and discursive,
+    but the Constitutionalists rest their case upon it--Madison's
+    report to Hamilton: "If we can weather the storm against the
+    Judiciary I shall hold the danger to be pretty well over"--
+    Anti-Constitutionalists try to prolong debate until meeting
+    of Legislature which is strongly against the Constitution--
+    Secession threatened--Madison's letter to Hamilton--Contest
+    so close that "ordinary casualties may vary the result"--
+    Henry answers Marshall--His compliment to the young lawyer--
+    His reference to the Indians arouses Colonel Stephen who
+    harshly assails Henry--Nicholas insults Henry, who demands
+    an explanation--Debate draws to a close--Mason intimates
+    forcible resistance to the Constitution--Lee rebukes him--
+    The Constitutionalists forestall Henry and offer amendments--
+    Henry's last speech: "Nine-tenths of the people" against
+    the Constitution; Henry's vision of the future; a sudden
+    and terrific storm aids his dramatic climax; members and
+    spectators in awe--The Legislature convenes--Quick, resolute
+    action of the Constitutionalists--Henry admits defeat--The
+    Virginia amendments--Absurdity of some of them--Necessary
+    to secure ratification--Marshall on the committee to report
+    amendments--Constitutionalists win by a majority of only
+    ten--Of these, two vote against their instructions and eight
+    vote against the well-known desires of their constituents--
+    The Clinton letter at last disclosed--Mason's wrath--Henry
+    prevents Anti-Constitutionalists from talking measures to
+    resist the new National Government--Washington's account:
+    "Impossible for anybody not on the spot to conceive what the
+    delicacy and danger of our situation have been."
+
+  APPENDIX                                                         481
+      I. WILL OF THOMAS MARSHALL, "CARPENTER"                      483
+     II. WILL OF JOHN MARSHALL "OF THE FOREST"                     485
+    III. DEED OF WILLIAM MARSHALL TO JOHN MARSHALL "OF THE FOREST" 487
+     IV. MEMORIAL OF THOMAS MARSHALL FOR MILITARYE MOLUMENTS       489
+
+  WORKS CITED IN THIS VOLUME                                       491
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+  JOHN MARSHALL AT 43                           _Colored Frontispiece_
+
+    From a miniature painted on ivory by an unknown artist. It was
+    executed in Paris in 1797-98, when Marshall was there on the X. Y.
+    Z. Mission. It is now in the possession of Miss Emily Harvie, of
+    Richmond, Virginia. It is the only portrait in existence of
+    Marshall at this period of his life and faithfully portrays him as
+    he was at the time of his intellectual duel with Talleyrand.
+
+  COLONEL WILLIAM RANDOLPH                                          10
+
+    From a copy in the possession of Mr. Douglas H. Thomas, of
+    Baltimore, after the original portrait in the possession of Mr.
+    Edward C. Mayo, of Richmond. The painter of the original is
+    unknown. It was painted about 1673 and has passed down through
+    successive generations of the family. Mr. Thomas's copy is a
+    faithful one, and has been used for reproduction here because the
+    original is not sufficiently clear and distinct for the purpose.
+
+  MARY ISHAM RANDOLPH, WIFE OF COLONEL WILLIAM RANDOLPH             10
+
+    From a copy in the possession of Mr. Douglas H. Thomas, of
+    Baltimore, after the original in the possession of Miss Anne
+    Mortimer Minor. The original portrait was painted about 1673 by an
+    unknown artist. It is incapable of satisfactory reproduction.
+
+  COLONEL THOMAS MARSHALL, THE FATHER OF JOHN MARSHALL              14
+
+    From a portrait in the possession of Charles Edward Marshall, of
+    Glen Mary, Kentucky. This is the only portrait or likeness of any
+    kind in existence of John Marshall's father. It was painted at
+    some time between 1790 and 1800 and was inherited by Charles
+    Edward Marshall from his parents, Charles Edward and Judith
+    Langhorne Marshall. The name of the painter of this unusual
+    portrait is not known.
+
+  MARY RANDOLPH (KEITH) MARSHALL, WIFE OF THOMAS MARSHALL AND
+  MOTHER OF JOHN MARSHALL                                           18
+
+    From a portrait in the possession of Miss Sallie Marshall, of
+    Leeds, Virginia. The portrait was painted at some time between
+    1790 and 1800, but the painter's name is unknown. The reproduction
+    is from a photograph furnished by Mr. Douglas H. Thomas.
+
+  "THE HOLLOW"                                                      36
+
+    The Blue Ridge home of the Marshall family where John Marshall
+    lived from early childhood to his eighteenth year. The house is
+    situated on a farm at Markham, Va. From a photograph.
+
+  OAK HILL                                                          56
+
+    From a water-color in the possession of Mr. Thomas Marshall Smith,
+    of Baltimore. The small house at the rear of the right of the main
+    building was the original dwelling, built by John Marshall's
+    father in 1773. The Marshall family lived here until after the
+    Revolution. The large building was added nearly forty years
+    afterward by Thomas Marshall, son of the Chief Justice. The name
+    of the painter is unknown.
+
+  OAK HILL                                                          64
+
+    This is the original house, built in 1773 and carefully kept in
+    repair. The brick pavement is a modern improvement. From a
+    photograph.
+
+  FACSIMILE OF THE LAST PAGE OF A LETTER FROM JOHN MARSHALL TO
+  HIS WIFE, DESCRIBING THEIR COURTSHIP                             152
+
+    This letter was written at Washington, February 23, 1824,
+    forty-one years after their marriage. No part of it has ever
+    before been published.
+
+  MARY AMBLER MARSHALL, THE WIFE OF JOHN MARSHALL                  168
+
+    A crayon drawing from the original painting now in the possession
+    of Mrs. Carroll, a granddaughter of John Marshall, living at Leeds
+    Manor, Va. This is the only painting of Mrs. Marshall in existence
+    and the name of the artist is unknown.
+
+  RICHMOND IN 1800                                                 184
+
+    From a painting in the rooms of the Virginia Historical Society.
+
+  FACSIMILE OF A PAGE OF MARSHALL'S ACCOUNT BOOK, MAY, 1787        198
+
+    In this book Marshall kept his accounts of receipts and expenses
+    for twelve years after his marriage in 1783. In the first part of
+    it he also recorded his notes of law lectures during his brief
+    attendance at William and Mary College. The original volume is
+    owned by Mrs. John K. Mason, of Richmond.
+
+  FACSIMILES OF SIGNATURES OF JOHN MARSHALL AT TWENTY-NINE AND
+  FORTY-TWO AND OF THOMAS MARSHALL                                 210
+
+    These signatures are remarkable as showing the extreme
+    dissimilarity between the signature of Marshall as a member of the
+    Council of State before he was thirty and his signature in his
+    mature manhood, and also as showing the basic similarity between
+    the signatures of Marshall and his father. The signature of
+    Marshall as a member of the Council of State in 1784 is from the
+    original minutes of the Council in the Archives of the Virginia
+    State Library. His 1797 signature is from a letter to his wife,
+    the original of which is in the possession of Miss Emily Harvie,
+    of Richmond. The signature of Thomas Marshall is from the original
+    roster of the officers of his regiment in the Manuscripts Division
+    of the Library of Congress.
+
+  FACSIMILE OF THE FIRST PAGE OF A LETTER FROM MARSHALL TO JAMES
+  MONROE, APRIL 17, 1784                                           212
+
+    From the original in the Manuscript Division of the New York
+    Public Library. This letter has never before been published. It is
+    extremely important in that it corrects extravagant errors
+    concerning Marshall's resignation from the Council of State and
+    his reëlection to the legislature.
+
+  JOHN MARSHALL                                                    294
+
+    From a profile drawing by Charles Balthazar Julien Fèvre de Saint
+    Mémin, in the possession of Miss Emily Harvey of Richmond, Va., a
+    granddaughter of John Marshall. Autograph from manuscript
+    collection in the Library of the Boston Athenæum.
+
+  GEORGE WYTHE                                                     368
+
+    From an engraving by J. B. Longacre after a portrait by an unknown
+    painter in the possession of the Virginia State Library. George
+    Wythe was Professor of Law at William and Mary College during
+    Marshall's brief attendance.
+
+  JOHN MARSHALL                                                    420
+
+    From a painting by J. B. Martin in the Robe Room of the Supreme
+    Court of the United States, Washington, D.C.
+
+  PATRICK HENRY                                                    470
+
+    From a copy (in the possession of the Westmoreland Club, of
+    Richmond) of the portrait by Thomas Sully. Sully, who never saw
+    Patrick Henry himself, painted the portrait from a miniature on
+    ivory done by a French artist in Richmond about 1792. John
+    Marshall, under date of December 30, 1816, attested its excellence
+    as follows: "I have been shown a painting of the late Mr. Henry,
+    painted by Mr. Sully, now in possession of Mr. Webster, which I
+    think a good likeness."
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ABBREVIATED TITLES MOST FREQUENTLY CITED
+
+  _All references here are to the List of Authorities at the end of
+  this volume._
+
+
+Beard: _Econ. I. C._ _See_ Beard, Charles A. Economic Interpretation of
+the Constitution of the United States.
+
+Beard: _Econ. O. J. D._ _See_ Beard, Charles A. Economic Origins of
+Jeffersonian Democracy.
+
+Bruce: _Econ._ _See_ Bruce, Philip Alexander. Economic History of
+Virginia in the Seventeeth Century.
+
+Bruce: _Inst._ _See_ Bruce, Philip Alexander. Institutional History of
+Virginia in the Seventeeth Century.
+
+_Cor. Rev._: Sparks. _See_ Sparks, Jared. Correspondence of the
+Revolution.
+
+Eckenrode: _R. V._ _See_ Eckenrode, H. J. The Revolution in Virginia.
+
+Eckenrode: _S. of C. and S._ _See_ Eckenrode, H. J. Separation of Church
+and State in Virginia.
+
+Jefferson's _Writings_: Washington. _See_ Jefferson, Thomas. Writings.
+Edited by H. A. Washington.
+
+Monroe's _Writings_: Hamilton. _See_ Monroe, James. Writings. Edited by
+Stanislaus Murray Hamilton.
+
+_Old Family Letters._ _See_ Adams, John. Old Family Letters. Edited by
+Alexander Biddle.
+
+Wertenbaker: _P. and P._ _See_ Wertenbaker, Thomas J. Patrician and
+Plebeian in Virginia; or the Origin and Development of the Social
+Classes of the Old Dominion.
+
+Wertenbaker: _V. U. S._ _See_ Wertenbaker, Thomas J. Virginia Under the
+Stuarts, 1607-1688.
+
+_Works_: Adams. _See_ Adams, John. Works. Edited by Charles Francis
+Adams.
+
+_Works_: Ford. _See_ Jefferson, Thomas. Works. Federal Edition. Edited
+by Paul Leicester Ford.
+
+_Works_: Hamilton. _See_ Hamilton, Alexander. Works. Edited by John C.
+Hamilton.
+
+_Works_: Lodge. _See_ Hamilton, Alexander. Works. Federal Edition.
+Edited by Henry Cabot Lodge.
+
+_Writings_: Conway. _See_ Paine, Thomas. Writings. Edited by Moncure
+Daniel Conway.
+
+_Writings_: Ford. _See_ Washington, George. Writings. Edited by
+Worthington Chauncey Ford.
+
+_Writings_: Hunt. _See_ Madison, James. Writings. Edited by Gaillard
+Hunt.
+
+_Writings_: Smyth. _See_ Franklin, Benjamin. Writings. Edited by Albert
+Henry Smyth.
+
+_Writings_: Sparks. _See_ Washington, George. Writings. Edited by Jared
+Sparks.
+
+
+
+
+THE LIFE OF JOHN MARSHALL
+
+
+
+
+THE LIFE OF JOHN MARSHALL
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+ANCESTRY AND ENVIRONMENT
+
+    Often do the spirits of great events stride on before the events
+    and in to-day already walks to-morrow. (Schiller.)
+
+    I was born an American; I will live an American; I shall die an
+    American. (Webster.)
+
+
+"The British are beaten! The British are beaten!" From cabin to cabin,
+from settlement to settlement crept, through the slow distances, this
+report of terror. The astounding news that Braddock was defeated finally
+reached the big plantations on the tidewater, and then spread dismay and
+astonishment throughout the colonies.
+
+The painted warriors and the uniformed soldiers of the French-Indian
+alliance had been growing bolder and bolder, their ravages ever more
+daring and bloody.[1] Already the fear of them had checked the thin wave
+of pioneer advance; and it seemed to the settlers that their hereditary
+enemies from across the water might succeed in confining British
+dominion in America to the narrow strip between the ocean and the
+mountains. For the royal colonial authorities had not been able to cope
+with their foes.[2]
+
+But there was always the reserve power of Great Britain to defend her
+possessions. If only the home Government would send an army of British
+veterans, the colonists felt that, as a matter of course, the French and
+Indians would be routed, the immigrants made safe, and the way cleared
+for their ever-swelling thousands to take up and people the lands beyond
+the Alleghanies.
+
+So when at last, in 1755, the redoubtable Braddock and his red-coated
+regiments landed in Virginia, they were hailed as deliverers. There
+would be an end, everybody said, to the reign of terror which the
+atrocities of the French and Indians had created all along the border.
+For were not the British grenadiers invincible? Was not Edward Braddock
+an experienced commander, whose bravery was the toast of his fellow
+officers?[3] So the colonists had been told, and so they believed.
+
+They forgave the rudeness of their British champions; and Braddock
+marched away into the wilderness carrying with him the unquestioning
+confidence of the people.[4] It was hardly thought necessary for any
+Virginia fighting men to accompany him; and that haughty, passionate
+young Virginia soldier, George Washington (then only twenty-three years
+of age, but already the chief military figure of the Old Dominion), and
+his Virginia rangers were invited to accompany Braddock more because
+they knew the country better than for any real aid in battle that was
+expected of them. "I have been importuned," testifies Washington, "to
+make this campaign by General Braddock, ... conceiving ... that the ...
+knowledge I have ... of the country, Indians, &c. ... might be useful to
+him."[5]
+
+So through the ancient and unbroken forests Braddock made his slow and
+painful way.[6] Weeks passed; then months.[7] But there was no
+impatience, because everybody knew what would happen when his scarlet
+columns should finally meet and throw themselves upon the enemy. Yet
+this meeting, when it came, proved to be one of the lesser tragedies of
+history, and had a deep and fateful effect upon American public opinion
+and upon the life and future of the American people.[8]
+
+Time has not dulled the vivid picture of that disaster. The golden
+sunshine of that July day; the pleasant murmur of the waters of the
+Monongahela; the silent and somber forests; the steady tramp, tramp of
+the British to the inspiriting music of their regimental bands playing
+the martial airs of England; the bright uniforms of the advancing
+columns giving to the background of stream and forest a touch of
+splendor; and then the ambush and surprise; the war-whoops of savage
+foes that could not be seen; the hail of invisible death, no pellet of
+which went astray; the pathetic volleys which the doomed British troops
+fired at hidden antagonists; the panic; the rout; the pursuit; the
+slaughter; the crushing, humiliating defeat![9]
+
+Most of the British officers were killed or wounded as they vainly tried
+to halt the stampede.[10] Braddock himself received a mortal hurt.[11]
+Raging with battle lust, furious at what he felt was the stupidity and
+cowardice of the British regulars,[12] the youthful Washington rode
+among the fear-frenzied Englishmen, striving to save the day. Two horses
+were shot under him. Four bullets rent his uniform.[13] But, crazed with
+fright, the Royal soldiers were beyond human control.
+
+Only the Virginia rangers kept their heads and their courage. Obeying
+the shouted orders of their young commander, they threw themselves
+between the terror-stricken British and the savage victors; and,
+fighting behind trees and rocks, were an ever-moving rampart of fire
+that saved the flying remnants of the English troops. But for Washington
+and his rangers, Braddock's whole force would have been annihilated.[14]
+Colonel Dunbar and his fifteen hundred British regulars, who had been
+left a short distance behind as a reserve, made off to Philadelphia as
+fast as their panic-winged feet could carry them.[15]
+
+So everywhere went up the cry, "The British are beaten!" At first rumor
+had it that the whole force was destroyed, and that Washington had been
+killed in action.[16] But soon another word followed hard upon this
+error--the word that the boyish Virginia captain and his rangers had
+fought with coolness, skill, and courage; that they alone had prevented
+the extinction of the British regulars; that they alone had come out of
+the conflict with honor and glory.
+
+Thus it was that the American colonists suddenly came to think that they
+themselves must be their own defenders. It was a revelation, all the
+more impressive because it was so abrupt, unexpected, and dramatic, that
+the red-coated professional soldiers were not the unconquerable warriors
+the colonists had been told that they were.[17] From colonial "mansion"
+to log cabin, from the provincial "capitals" to the mean and exposed
+frontier settlements, Braddock's defeat sowed the seed of the idea that
+Americans must depend upon themselves.[18]
+
+As Bacon's Rebellion at Jamestown, exactly one hundred years before
+Independence was declared at Philadelphia, was the beginning of the
+American Revolution in its first clear expression of popular rights,[19]
+so Braddock's defeat was the inception of that same epoch in its lesson
+of American military self-dependence.[20] Down to Concord and Lexington,
+Great Bridge and Bunker Hill, the overthrow of the King's troops on the
+Monongahela in 1755 was a theme of common talk among men, a household
+legend on which American mothers brought up their children.[21]
+
+Close upon the heels of this epoch-making event, John Marshall came into
+the world. He was born in a little log cabin in the southern part of
+what now is Fauquier County, Virginia (then a part of Prince William),
+on September 24, 1755,[22] eleven weeks after Braddock's defeat. The
+Marshall cabin stood about a mile and a half from a cluster of a dozen
+similar log structures built by a handful of German families whom
+Governor Spotswood had brought over to work his mines. This little
+settlement was known as Germantown, and was practically on the
+frontier.[23]
+
+Thomas Marshall, the father of John Marshall, was a close friend of
+Washington, whom he ardently admired. They were born in the same county,
+and their acquaintance had begun, apparently, in their boyhood.[24]
+Also, as will presently appear, Thomas Marshall had for about three
+years been the companion of Washington, when acting as his assistant in
+surveying the western part of the Fairfax estate.[25] From that time
+forward his attachment to Washington amounted to devotion.[26]
+
+Also, he was, like Washington, a fighting man.[27] It seems strange,
+therefore, that he did not accompany his hero in the Braddock
+expedition. There is, indeed, a legend that he did go part of the
+way.[28] But this, like so many stories concerning him, is untrue.[29]
+The careful roster, made by Washington of those under his command,[30]
+does not contain the name of Thomas Marshall either as officer or
+private. Because of their intimate association it is certain that
+Washington would not have overlooked him if he had been a member of that
+historic body of men.
+
+So, while the father of John Marshall was not with his friend and leader
+at Braddock's defeat, no man watched that expedition with more care,
+awaited its outcome with keener anxiety, or was more affected by the
+news, than Thomas Marshall. Beneath no rooftree in all the colonies,
+except, perhaps, that of Washington's brother, could this capital event
+have made a deeper impression than in the tiny log house in the forests
+of Prince William County, where John Marshall, a few weeks afterwards,
+first saw the light of day.
+
+Wars and rumors of wars, ever threatening danger, and stern, strong,
+quiet preparation to meet whatever befell--these made up the moral and
+intellectual atmosphere that surrounded the Marshall cabin before and
+after the coming of Thomas and Mary Marshall's first son. The earliest
+stories told this child of the frontier[31] must have been those of
+daring and sacrifice and the prevailing that comes of them.
+
+Almost from the home-made cradle John Marshall was taught the idea of
+American solidarity. Braddock's defeat, the most dramatic military event
+before the Revolution,[32] was, as we have seen, the theme of fireside
+talk; and from this grew, in time, the conviction that Americans, if
+united,[33] could not only protect their homes from the savages and the
+French, but defeat, if need be, the British themselves.[34] So thought
+the Marshalls, father and mother; and so they taught their children, as
+subsequent events show.
+
+It was a remarkable parentage that produced this child who in manhood
+was to become the master-builder of American Nationality. Curiously
+enough, it was exactly the same mingling of human elements that gave to
+the country that great apostle of the rights of man, Thomas Jefferson.
+Indeed, Jefferson's mother and Marshall's grandmother were first
+cousins. The mother of Thomas Jefferson was Jane Randolph, daughter of
+Isham Randolph of Turkey Island; and the mother of John Marshall was
+Mary Randolph Keith, the daughter of Mary Isham Randolph, whose father
+was Thomas Randolph of Tuckahoe, the brother of Jefferson's maternal
+grandfather.
+
+Thus, Thomas Jefferson was the great-grandson and John Marshall the
+great-great-grandson of William Randolph and Mary Isham. Perhaps no
+other couple in American history is so remarkable for the number of
+distinguished descendants. Not only were they the ancestors of Thomas
+Jefferson and John Marshall, but also of "Light Horse Harry" Lee,
+of Revolutionary fame, Edmund Randolph, Washington's first
+Attorney-General, John Randolph of Roanoke, George Randolph, Secretary
+of War under the Confederate Government, and General Robert E. Lee, the
+great Southern military leader of the Civil War.[35]
+
+The Virginia Randolphs were one of the families of that proud colony who
+were of undoubted gentle descent, their line running clear and unbroken
+at least as far back as 1550. The Ishams were a somewhat older family,
+their lineage being well established to 1424. While knighthood was
+conferred upon one ancestor of Mary Isham, the Randolph and Isham
+families were of the same social stratum, both being of the English
+gentry.[36] The Virginia Randolphs were brilliant in mind, physically
+courageous, commanding in character, generally handsome in person, yet
+often as erratic as they were gifted.
+
+[Illustration: COLONEL WILLIAM RANDOLPH]
+
+[Illustration: MARY ISHAM RANDOLPH]
+
+When the gentle Randolph-Isham blood mingled with the sturdier currents
+of the common people, the result was a human product stronger, steadier,
+and abler than either. So, when Jane Randolph became the wife of Peter
+Jefferson, a man from the grass roots, the result was Thomas Jefferson.
+The union of a daughter of Mary Randolph with Thomas Marshall, a man of
+the soil and forests, produced John Marshall.[37]
+
+Physically and mentally, Peter Jefferson and Thomas Marshall were much
+alike. Both were powerful men of great stature. Both were endowed with
+rare intellectuality.[38] Both were hard-working, provident, and
+fearless. Even their occupations were the same: both were land
+surveyors. The chief difference between them was that, whereas Peter
+Jefferson appears to have been a hearty and convivial person,[39]
+Thomas Marshall seems to have been self-contained though adventurous,
+and of rather austere habits. Each became the leading man of his
+county[40] and both were chosen members of the House of Burgesses.[41]
+
+On the paternal side, it is impossible to trace the origin of either
+Peter Jefferson[42] or Thomas Marshall farther back than their
+respective great-grandfathers, without floundering, unavailingly, in
+genealogical quicksands.
+
+Thomas Marshall was the son of a very small planter in Westmoreland
+County, Virginia. October 23, 1727, three years before Thomas was born,
+his father, John Marshall "of the forest," acquired by deed, from
+William Marshall of King and Queen County, two hundred acres of poor,
+low, marshy land located on Appomattox Creek.[43] Little as the value of
+land in Virginia then was, and continued to be for three quarters of a
+century afterwards,[44] this particular tract seems to have been of an
+especially inferior quality. The deed states that it is a part of twelve
+hundred acres which had been granted to "Jno. Washington & Thos. Pope,
+gents ... & by them lost for want of seating."
+
+Here John Marshall "of the forest"[45] lived until his death in 1752,
+and here on April 2, 1730, Thomas Marshall was born. During the quarter
+of a century that this John Marshall remained on his little farm, he had
+become possessed of several slaves, mostly, perhaps, by natural
+increase. By his will he bequeaths to his ten children and to his wife
+six negro men and women, ten negro boys and girls, and two negro
+children. In addition to "one negro fellow named Joe and one negro woman
+named Cate" he gives to his wife "one Gray mair named beauty and side
+saddle also six hogs also I leave her the use of my land During her
+widowhood, and afterwards to fall to my son Thomas Marshall and his
+heirs forever."[46] One year later the widow, Elizabeth Marshall, deeded
+half of this two hundred acres to her son Thomas Marshall.[47]
+
+Such was the environment of Thomas Marshall's birth, such the property,
+family, and station in life of his father. Beyond these facts, nothing
+positively is known of the ancestry of John Marshall on his father's
+side. Marshall himself traces it no further back than his grandfather.
+"My Father, Thomas Marshall, was the eldest son of John Marshall, who
+intermarried with a Miss Markham and whose parents migrated from Wales,
+and settled in the county of Westmoreland, in Virginia, where my Father
+was born."[48]
+
+It is probable, however, that Marshall's paternal great-grandfather was
+a carpenter of Westmoreland County. A Thomas Marshall, "carpenter," as
+he describes himself in his will, died in that county in 1704. He
+devised his land to his son William. A William Marshall of King and
+Queen County deeded to John Marshall "of the forest," for five
+shillings, the two hundred acres of land in Westmoreland County, as
+above stated.[49] The fair inference is that this William was the elder
+brother of John "of the forest" and that both were sons of Thomas the
+"carpenter."
+
+[Illustration: THOMAS MARSHALL]
+
+Beyond his paternal grandfather or at furthest his great-grandfather,
+therefore, the ancestry of John Marshall, on his father's side, is lost
+in the fogs of uncertainty.[50] It is only positively known that his
+grandfather was of the common people and of moderate means.[51]
+
+Concerning his paternal grandmother, nothing definitely is established
+except that she was Elizabeth Markham, daughter of Lewis Markham, once
+Sheriff of Westmoreland County.[52]
+
+John Marshall's lineage on his mother's side, however, is long, high,
+and free from doubt, not only through the Randolphs and Ishams, as we
+have seen, but through the Keiths. For his maternal grandfather was an
+Episcopal clergyman, James Keith, of the historic Scottish family of
+that name, who were hereditary Earls Marischal of Scotland. The Keiths
+had been soldiers for generations, some of them winning great
+renown.[53] One of them was James Keith, the Prussian field marshal and
+ablest of the officers of Frederick the Great.[54] James Keith, a
+younger son of this distinguished family, was destined for the
+Church;[55] but the martial blood flowing in his veins asserted itself
+and, in his youth, he also became a soldier, upholding with arms the
+cause of the Pretender. When that rebellion was crushed, he fled to
+Virginia, resumed his sacred calling, returned to England for orders,
+came back to Virginia[56] and during his remaining years performed his
+priestly duties with rare zeal and devotion.[57] The motto of the Keiths
+of Scotland was "Veritas Vincit," and John Marshall adopted it. During
+most of his life he wore an amethyst with the ancient Keith motto
+engraved upon it.[58]
+
+When past middle life the Scottish parson married Mary Isham
+Randolph,[59] granddaughter of William Randolph and Mary Isham. In 1754
+their daughter, Mary Randolph Keith, married Thomas Marshall and became
+the mother of John Marshall. "My mother was named Mary Keith, she was
+the daughter of a clergyman, of the name of Keith, who migrated from
+Scotland and intermarried with a Miss Randolph of James River" is
+Marshall's comment on his maternal ancestry.[60]
+
+Not only was John Marshall's mother uncommonly well born, but she was
+more carefully educated than most Virginia women of that period.[61] Her
+father received in Aberdeen the precise and methodical training of a
+Scottish college;[62] and, as all parsons in the Virginia of that time
+were teachers, it is certain that he carefully instructed his daughter.
+He was a deeply religious man, especially in his latter years,--so much
+so, indeed, that there was in him a touch of mysticism; and the two
+marked qualities of his daughter, Mary, were deep piety and strong
+intellectuality. She had, too, all the physical hardiness of her
+Scottish ancestry, fortified by the active and useful labor which all
+Virginia women of her class at that time performed.
+
+[Illustration: MARY RANDOLPH KEITH MARSHALL (Mrs. Thomas Marshall)]
+
+So Thomas Marshall and Mary Keith combined unusual qualities for the
+founding of a family. Great strength of mind both had, and powerful
+wills; and through the veins of both poured the blood of daring. Both
+were studious-minded, too, and husband and wife alike were seized of a
+passion for self-improvement as well as a determination to better their
+circumstances. It appears that Thomas Marshall was by nature religiously
+inclined;[63] and this made all the greater harmony between himself and
+his wife. The physical basis of both husband and wife seems to have been
+well-nigh perfect.
+
+Fifteen children were the result of this union, every one of whom lived
+to maturity and almost all of whom rounded out a ripe old age. Every one
+of them led an honorable and successful life. Nearly all strongly
+impressed themselves upon the community in which they lived.
+
+It was a peculiar society of which this prolific and virile family
+formed a part, and its surroundings were as strange as the society
+itself. Nearly all of Virginia at that time was wilderness,[64] if we
+look upon it with the eyes of to-day. The cultivated parts were given
+over almost entirely to the raising of tobacco, which soon drew from the
+soil its virgin strength; and the land thus exhausted usually was
+abandoned to the forest, which again soon covered it. No use was made of
+the commonest and most obvious fertilizing materials and methods; new
+spaces were simply cleared.[65] Thus came a happy-go-lucky improvidence
+of habits and character.
+
+This shiftlessness was encouraged by the vast extent of unused and
+unoccupied domain. Land was so cheap that riches measured by that basis
+of all wealth had to be counted in terms of thousands and tens of
+thousands of acres.[66] Slavery was an even more powerful force making
+for a kind of lofty disdain of physical toil among the white
+people.[67] Black slaves were almost as numerous as white free men.[68]
+On the great plantations the negro quarters assumed the proportions of
+villages;[69] and the masters of these extensive holdings were by
+example the arbiters of habits and manners to the whole social and
+industrial life of the colony. While an occasional great planter was
+methodical and industrious,[70] careful and systematic methods were
+rare. Manual labor was, to most of these lords of circumstance, not only
+unnecessary but degrading. To do no physical work that could be avoided
+on the one hand, and on the other hand, to own as many slaves as
+possible, was, generally, the ideal of members of the first estate.[71]
+This spread to the classes below, until it became a common ambition of
+white men throughout the Old Dominion.
+
+While contemporary travelers are unanimous upon this peculiar aspect of
+social and economic conditions in old Virginia, the vivid picture drawn
+by Thomas Jefferson is still more convincing. "The whole commerce
+between master and slave," writes Jefferson, "is a perpetual exercise of
+the most boisterous passions, the most unremitting despotism on the one
+part, and degrading submissions on the other. Our children see this and
+learn to imitate it.... Thus nursed, educated, and daily exercised in
+tyranny ... the man must be a prodigy who can retain his manners and
+morals undepraved.... With the morals of the people their industry also
+is destroyed. For in a warm climate, no man will labour for himself who
+can make another labour for him.... Of the proprietors of slaves a very
+small proportion indeed are ever seen to labour."[72]
+
+Two years after he wrote his "Notes on Virginia" Jefferson emphasized
+his estimate of Virginia society. "I have thought them [Virginians] as
+you found them," he writes Chastellux, "aristocratical, pompous,
+clannish, indolent, hospitable ... careless of their interests, ...
+thoughtless in their expenses and in all their transactions of
+business." He again ascribes many of these characteristics to "that
+warmth of their climate which unnerves and unmans both body and
+mind."[73]
+
+From this soil sprang a growth of habits as noxious as it was luxuriant.
+Amusements to break the monotony of unemployed daily existence took the
+form of horse-racing, cock-fighting, and gambling.[74] Drinking and all
+attendant dissipations were universal and extreme;[75] this, however,
+was the case in all the colonies.[76] Bishop Meade tells us that even
+the clergy indulged in the prevailing customs to the neglect of their
+sacred calling; and the church itself was all but abandoned in the
+disrepute which the conduct of its ministers brought upon the house of
+God.[77]
+
+Yet the higher classes of colonial Virginians were keen for the
+education of their children, or at least of their male offspring.[78]
+The sons of the wealthiest planters often were sent to England or
+Scotland to be educated, and these, not infrequently, became graduates
+of Oxford, Cambridge, and Edinburgh.[79] Others of this class were
+instructed by private tutors.[80] Also a sort of scanty and fugitive
+public instruction was given in rude cabins, generally located in
+abandoned fields. These were called the Old Field Schools.[81]
+
+More than forty per cent of the men who made deeds or served on juries
+could not sign their names, although they were of the land-owning and
+better educated classes;[82] the literacy of the masses, especially that
+of the women,[83] was, of course, much lower.
+
+An eager desire, among the "quality," for reading brought a considerable
+number of books to the homes of those who could afford that luxury.[84]
+A few libraries were of respectable size and two or three were very
+large. Robert Carter had over fifteen hundred volumes,[85] many of which
+were in Latin and Greek, and some in French.[86] William Byrd collected
+at Westover more than four thousand books in half a dozen languages.[87]
+But the Carter and Byrd libraries were, of course, exceptions. Byrd's
+library was the greatest, not only in Virginia, but in all the colonies,
+except that of John Adams, which was equally extensive and varied.[88]
+
+Doubtless the leisure and wealth of the gentry, created by the peculiar
+economic conditions of the Old Dominion, sharpened this appetite for
+literature and afforded to the wealthy time and material for the
+gratification of it. The passion for reading and discussion persisted,
+and became as notable a characteristic of Virginians as was their
+dislike for physical labor, their excessive drinking, and their love of
+strenuous sport and rough diversion.
+
+There were three social orders or strata, all contemporary observers
+agree, into which Virginians were divided; but they merged into one
+another so that the exact dividing line was not clear.[89] First, of
+course, came the aristocracy of the immense plantations. While the
+social and political dominance of this class was based on wealth, yet
+some of its members were derived from the English gentry, with, perhaps,
+an occasional one from a noble family in the mother country.[90] Many,
+however, were English merchants or their sons.[91] It appears, also,
+that the boldest and thriftiest of the early Virginia settlers, whom the
+British Government exiled for political offenses, acquired extensive
+possessions, became large slave-owners, and men of importance and
+position. So did some who were indentured servants;[92] and, indeed, an
+occasional transported convict rose to prominence.[93]
+
+But the genuine though small aristocratic element gave tone and color to
+colonial Virginia society. All, except the "poor whites," looked to this
+supreme group for ideals and for standards of manners and conduct.
+"People of fortune ... are the pattern of all behaviour here," testifies
+Fithian of New Jersey, tutor in the Carter household.[94] Also, it was,
+of course, the natural ambition of wealthy planters and those who
+expected to become such to imitate the life of the English higher
+classes. This was much truer in Virginia than in any other colony; for
+she had been more faithful to the Crown and to the royal ideal than had
+her sisters. Thus it was that the Old Dominion developed a distinctively
+aristocratic and chivalrous social atmosphere peculiar to herself,[95]
+as Jefferson testifies.
+
+Next to the dominant class came the lesser planters. These corresponded
+to the yeomanry of the mother country; and most of them were from the
+English trading classes.[96] They owned little holdings of land from a
+few hundred to a thousand and even two thousand acres; and each of these
+inconsiderable landlords acquired a few slaves in proportion to his
+limited estate. It is possible that a scanty number of this middle class
+were as well born as the best born of the little nucleus of the genuine
+aristocracy; these were the younger sons of great English houses to whom
+the law of primogeniture denied equal opportunity in life with the elder
+brother. So it came to pass that the upper reaches of the second estate
+in the social and industrial Virginia of that time merged into the
+highest class.
+
+At the bottom of the scale, of course, came the poverty-stricken whites.
+In eastern Virginia this was the class known as the "poor whites"; and
+it was more distinct than either of the two classes above it. These
+"poor whites" lived in squalor, and without the aspirations or virtues
+of the superior orders. They carried to the extreme the examples of
+idleness given them by those in higher station, and coarsened their
+vices to the point of brutality.[97] Near this social stratum, though
+not a part of it, were classed the upland settlers, who were poor
+people, but highly self-respecting and of sturdy stock.
+
+Into this structure of Virginia society Fate began to weave a new and
+alien thread about the time that Thomas Marshall took his young bride to
+the log cabin in the woods of Prince William County where their first
+child was born. In the back country bordering the mountains appeared the
+scattered huts of the pioneers. The strong character of this element of
+Virginia's population is well known, and its coming profoundly
+influenced for generations the political, social, industrial, and
+military history of that section. They were jealous of their "rights,"
+impatient of restraint, wherever they felt it, and this was seldom.
+Indeed, the solitariness of their lives, and the utter self-dependence
+which this forced upon them, made them none too tolerant of law in any
+form.
+
+These outpost settlers furnished most of that class so well known to our
+history by the term "backwoodsmen," and yet so little understood. For
+the heroism, the sacrifice, and the suffering of this "advance guard of
+civilization" have been pictured by laudatory writers to the exclusion
+of its other and less admirable qualities. Yet it was these latter
+characteristics that played so important a part in that critical period
+of our history between the surrender of the British at Yorktown and the
+adoption of the Constitution, and in that still more fateful time when
+the success of the great experiment of making out of an inchoate
+democracy a strong, orderly, independent, and self-respecting nation was
+in the balance.
+
+These American backwoodsmen, as described by contemporary writers who
+studied them personally, pushed beyond the inhabited districts to get
+land and make homes more easily. This was their underlying purpose; but
+a fierce individualism, impatient even of those light and vague social
+restraints which the existence of near-by neighbors creates, was a
+sharper spur.[98] Through both of these motives, too, ran the spirit of
+mingled lawlessness and adventure. The physical surroundings of the
+backwoodsman nourished the non-social elements of his character. The log
+cabin built, the surrounding patch of clearing made, the seed planted
+for a crop of cereals only large enough to supply the household
+needs--these almost ended the backwoodsman's agricultural activities and
+the habits of regular industry which farming requires.
+
+While his meager crops were coming on, the backwoodsman must supply his
+family with food from the stream and forest. The Indians had not yet
+retreated so far, nor were their atrocities so remote, that fear of
+them had ceased;[99] and the eye of the backwoodsman was ever keen for a
+savage human foe as well as for wild animals. Thus he became a man of
+the rifle,[100] a creature of the forests, a dweller amid great
+silences, self-reliant, suspicious, non-social, and almost as savage as
+his surroundings.[101]
+
+But among them sometimes appeared families which sternly held to high
+purposes, orderly habits, and methodical industry;[102] and which clung
+to moral and religious ideals and practices with greater tenacity than
+ever, because of the very difficulties of their situation. These chosen
+families naturally became the backbone of the frontier; and from them
+came the strong men of the advanced settlements.
+
+Such a figure among the backwoodsmen was Thomas Marshall. Himself a
+product of the settlements on the tidewater, he yet was the
+personification of that spirit of American advance and enterprise which
+led this son of the Potomac lowlands ever and ever westward until he
+ended his days in the heart of Kentucky hundreds of miles through the
+savage wilderness from the spot where, as a young man, he built his
+first cabin home.
+
+This, then, was the strange mingling of human elements that made up
+Virginia society during the middle decades of the eighteenth century--a
+society peculiar to the Old Dominion and unlike that of any other place
+or time. For the most part, it was idle and dissipated, yet also
+hospitable and spirited, and, among the upper classes, keenly
+intelligent and generously educated. When we read of the heavy drinking
+of whiskey, brandy, rum, and heady wine; of the general indolence,
+broken chiefly by fox-hunting and horse-racing, among the quality; of
+the coarser sport of cock-fighting shared in common by landed gentry and
+those of baser condition, and of the eagerness for physical encounter
+which seems to have pervaded the whole white population,[103] we wonder
+at the greatness of mind and soul which grew from such a social soil.
+
+Yet out of it sprang a group of men who for ability, character, spirit,
+and purpose, are not outshone and have no precise counterpart in any
+other company of illustrious characters appearing in like space of time
+and similar extent of territory. At almost the same point of time,
+historically speaking,--within thirty years, to be exact,--and on the
+same spot, geographically speaking,--within a radius of a hundred
+miles,--George Mason, James Madison, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson,
+John Marshall, and George Washington were born. The life stories of
+these men largely make up the history of their country while they lived;
+and it was chiefly their words and works, their thought and purposes,
+that gave form and direction, on American soil, to those political and
+social forces which are still working out the destiny of the American
+people.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] For instance, the Indians massacred nine families in Frederick
+County, just over the Blue Ridge from Fauquier, in June, 1755.
+(_Pennsylvania Journal and Weekly Advertiser_, July 24, 1755.)
+
+[2] Marshall, i, 12-13; Campbell, 469-71. "The Colonial contingents were
+not nearly sufficient either in quantity or quality." (Wood, 40.)
+
+[3] Braddock had won promotion solely by gallantry in the famous
+Coldstream Guards, the model and pride of the British army, at a time
+when a lieutenant-colonelcy in that crack regiment sold for £5000
+sterling. (Lowdermilk, 97.)
+
+[4] "The British troops had been looked upon as invincible, and
+preparations had been made in Philadelphia for the celebration of
+Braddock's anticipated victory." (_Ib._, 186.)
+
+[5] Washington to Robinson, April 20, 1755; _Writings_: Ford, i, 147.
+
+[6] The "wild desert country lying between fort Cumberland and fort
+Frederick [now the cities of Cumberland and Frederick in Maryland], the
+most common track of the Indians, in making their incursions into
+Virginia." (Address in the Maryland House of Delegates, 1757, as quoted
+by Lowdermilk, 229-30.) Cumberland was "about 56 miles beyond our
+[Maryland] settlements." (_Ib._) Cumberland "is far remote from any of
+our inhabitants." (Washington to Dinwiddie, Sept. 23, 1756; _Writings_:
+Ford, i, 346.) "Will's Creek was on the very outskirts of civilization.
+The country beyond was an unbroken and almost pathless wilderness."
+(Lowdermilk, 50.)
+
+[7] It took Braddock three weeks to march from Alexandria to Cumberland.
+He was two months and nineteen days on the way from Alexandria to the
+place of his defeat. (_Ib._, 138.)
+
+[8] "All America watched his [Braddock's] advance." (Wood, 61.)
+
+[9] For best accounts of Braddock's defeat see Bradley, 75-107;
+Lowdermilk, 156-63; and Marshall, i, 7-10.
+
+[10] "Of one hundred and sixty officers, only six escaped." (Lowdermilk,
+footnote to 175.)
+
+[11] Braddock had five horses killed under him. (_Ib._, 161.)
+
+[12] "The dastardly behavior of the Regular [British] troops," who
+"broke and ran as sheep before hounds." (Washington to Dinwiddie, July
+18, 1755; _Writings_: Ford, i, 173-74.)
+
+[13] Washington to John A. Washington, July 18, 1755. (_Ib._, 176.)
+
+[14] "The Virginia companies behaved like men and died like soldiers ...
+of three companies ... scarce thirty were left alive." (Washington to
+Dinwiddie, July 18, 1755; _Writings_: Ford, i, 173-74.)
+
+[15] Lowdermilk, 182-85; and see Washington's _Writings_: Ford, i,
+footnote to 175. For account of battle and rout see Washington's letters
+to Dinwiddie, _ib._, 173-76; to John A. Washington, July 18, 1755,
+_ib._; to Robert Jackson, Aug. 2, 1755, _ib._, 177-78; also see
+Campbell, 472-81. For French account see Hart, ii, 365-67; also,
+Sargent: _History of Braddock's Expedition_.
+
+[16] Washington to John A. Washington, July 18, 1755; _Writings_: Ford,
+i, 175.
+
+[17] "The Defeat of Braddock was totally unlooked for, and it excited
+the most painful surprise." (Lowdermilk, 186.)
+
+[18] "After Braddock's defeat, the Colonists jumped to the conclusion
+that all regulars were useless." (Wood, 40.)
+
+[19] See Stanard: _Story of Bacon's Rebellion_. Bacon's Rebellion
+deserves the careful study of all who would understand the beginnings of
+the democratic movement in America. Mrs. Stanard's study is the best
+brief account of this popular uprising. See also Wertenbaker: _V. U.
+S._, chaps. 5 and 6.
+
+[20] "The news [of Braddock's defeat] gave a far more terrible blow to
+the reputation of the regulars than to the British cause [against the
+French] itself." (Wood, 61.)
+
+[21] "From that time [Braddock's defeat] forward the Colonists had a
+much less exalted opinion of the valor of the royal troops."
+(Lowdermilk, 186.) The fact that the colonists themselves had been
+negligent and incompetent in resisting the French or even the Indians
+did not weaken their newborn faith in their own prowess and their
+distrust of British power.
+
+[22] _Autobiography._
+
+[23] Campbell, 494. "It is remarkable," says Campbell, "that as late as
+the year 1756, when the colony was a century and a half old, the Blue
+Ridge of mountains was virtually the western boundary of Virginia." And
+see Marshall, i, 15; also, _New York Review_ (1838), iii, 330. For
+frontier settlements, see the admirable map prepared by Marion F.
+Lansing and reproduced in Channing, ii.
+
+[24] Humphrey Marshall, i, 344-45. Also Binney, in Dillon, iii, 283.
+
+[25] See _infra_, chap. II.
+
+[26] Humphrey Marshall, i, 344-45.
+
+[27] He was one of a company of militia cavalry the following year,
+(Journal, H.B. (1756), 378); and he was commissioned as ensign Aug. 27,
+1761. (Crozier: _Virginia Colonial Militia_, 96.) And see _infra_,
+chaps, III and IV.
+
+[28] Paxton, 20.
+
+[29] A copy of a letter (MS.) to Thomas Marshall from his sister
+Elizabeth Marshall Martin, dated June 15, 1755, referring to the
+Braddock expedition, shows that he was at home at this time.
+Furthermore, a man of the quality of Thomas Marshall would not have left
+his young wife alone in their backwoods cabin at a time so near the
+birth of their first child, when there was an overabundance of men eager
+to accompany Braddock.
+
+[30] Washington MSS., Lib. Cong.
+
+[31] Simon Kenton, the Indian fighter, was born in the same county in
+the same year as John Marshall. (M'Clung: _Sketches of Western
+Adventure_, 93.)
+
+[32] Neither the siege of Louisburg nor the capture of Quebec took such
+hold on the public imagination as the British disaster on the
+Monongahela. Also, the colonists felt, though unjustly, that they were
+entitled to as much credit for the two former events as the British.
+
+[33] The idea of unity had already germinated. The year before, Franklin
+offered his plan of concerted colonial action to the Albany conference.
+(_Writings_: Smyth, i, 387.)
+
+[34] Wood, 38-42.
+
+[35] For these genealogies see Slaughter: _Bristol Parish_, 212; Lee:
+_Lee of Virginia_, 406 _et seq._; Randall, i, 6-9; Tucker, i, 26. See
+Meade, i, footnote to 138-39, for other descendants of William Randolph
+and Mary Isham.
+
+[36] _Va. Mag. Hist. and Biog._, iii, 261; xviii, 86-87.
+
+[37] The curious sameness in the ancestry of Marshall and Jefferson is
+found also in the surroundings of their birth. Both were born in log
+cabins in the backwoods. Peter Jefferson, father of Thomas, "was the
+third or fourth white settler within the space of several miles" of his
+cabin home, which he built "in a small clearing in the dense and
+primeval forest." (Randall, i, 11.) Here Jefferson was born, April 2,
+1743, a little more than twelve years before John Marshall came into the
+world, under like conditions and from similar parents.
+
+Peter Jefferson was, however, remotely connected by descent, on his
+mother's side, with men who had been burgesses. His maternal
+grandfather, Peter Field, was a burgess, and his maternal
+great-grandfather, Henry Soane, was Speaker of the House of Burgesses.
+But both Peter Jefferson and Thomas Marshall were "of the people" as
+distinguished from the gentry.
+
+[38] Morse, 3; and Story, in Dillon, iii, 330.
+
+[39] Randall, i, 7. Peter Jefferson "purchased" four hundred acres of
+land from his "bosom friend," William Randolph, the consideration as set
+forth in the deed being, "Henry Weatherbourne's biggest bowl of arrack
+punch"! (_Ib._)
+
+[40] Peter Jefferson was County Lieutenant of Albemarle. (_Va. Mag,
+Hist. and Biog._, xxiii, 173-75.) Thomas Marshall was Sheriff of
+Fauquier.
+
+[41] Randall, i, 12-13; and see _infra_, chap. II.
+
+[42] Tucker, i, 26.
+
+[43] Records of Westmoreland County, Deeds and Wills, viii, I, 276.
+
+[44] _Ib._ Seventy years later La Rochefoucauld found land adjoining
+Norfolk heavily covered with valuable timber, close to the water and
+convenient for shipment, worth only from six to seven dollars an acre.
+(La Rochefoucauld, iii, 25.) Virginia sold excellent public land for two
+cents an acre three quarters of a century after this deed to John
+Marshall "of the forest." (Ambler, 44; and see Turner, Wis. Hist. Soc,
+1908, 201.) This same land which William Marshall deeded to John
+Marshall nearly two hundred years ago is now valued at only from ten to
+twenty dollars an acre. (Letter of Albert Stuart, Deputy Clerk of
+Westmoreland County, to author, Aug. 26, 1913.) In 1730 it was probably
+worth one dollar per acre.
+
+[45] A term generally used by the richer people in referring to those of
+poorer condition who lived in the woods, especially those whose abodes
+were some distance from the river. (Statement of W. G. Stanard,
+Secretary of the Virginia Historical Society and Dr. H. J. Eckenrode of
+Richmond College, and formerly Archivist of the Virginia State Library.)
+There were, however, Virginia estates called "The Forest." For example,
+Jefferson's father-in-law, John Wayles, a wealthy man, lived in "The
+Forest."
+
+[46] Will of John Marshall "of the forest," made April 1, 1752, probated
+May 26, 1752, and recorded June 22, 1752; Records of Westmoreland
+County, Deeds and Wills, xi, 419 _et seq._ (Appendix II.)
+
+[47] _Ib._, 421.
+
+[48] _Autobiography_. Marshall gives the ancestry of his wife more fully
+and specifically. See _infra_, chap. V.
+
+[49] Will of Thomas Marshall, "carpenter," probated May 31, 1704;
+Records of Westmoreland County, Deeds and Wills, iii, 232 _et seq._
+(Appendix I.)
+
+[50] Most curiously, precisely this is true of Thomas Jefferson's
+paternal ancestry.
+
+[51] There is a family tradition that the first of this particular
+Marshall family in America was a Royalist Irish captain who fought under
+Charles I and came to America when Cromwell prevailed. This may or may
+not be true. Certainly no proof of it has been discovered. The late
+Wilson Miles Cary, whose authority is unquestioned in genealogical
+problems upon which he passed judgment, decided that "the Marshall
+family begins absolutely with Thomas Marshall, 'Carpenter.'" (The Cary
+Papers, MSS., Va. Hist. Soc. The _Virginia Magazine of History and
+Biography_ is soon to publish these valuable genealogical papers.)
+
+Within comparatively recent years, this family tradition has been
+ambitiously elaborated. It includes among John Marshall's ancestors
+William le Mareschal, who came to England with the Conqueror; the
+celebrated Richard de Clare, known as "Strongbow"; an Irish king,
+Dermont; Sir William Marshall, regent of the kingdom of England and
+restorer of Magna Charta; a Captain John Marshall, who distinguished
+himself at the siege of Calais in 1558; and finally, the Irish captain
+who fought Cromwell and fled to Virginia as above mentioned. (Paxton, 7
+_et seq._)
+
+Senator Humphrey Marshall rejected this story as "a myth supported by
+vanity." (_Ib._) Colonel Cary declares that "there is no evidence
+whatever in support of it." (Cary Papers, MSS.) Other painstaking
+genealogists have reached the same conclusion. (See, for instance,
+General Thomas M. Anderson's analysis of the subject in _Va. Mag. Hist.
+and Biog._, xii, 328 _et seq._)
+
+Marshall himself, of course, does not notice this legend in his
+_Autobiography_; indeed, it is almost certain that he never heard of it.
+In constructing this picturesque genealogical theory, the kinship of
+persons separated by centuries is assumed largely because of a
+similarity of names. This would not seem to be entirely convincing.
+There were many Marshalls in Virginia no more related to one another
+than the various unrelated families by the name of Smith. Indeed,
+_maréchal_ is the French word for a "shoeing smith."
+
+For example, there lived in Westmoreland County, at the same time with
+John Marshall "of the forest," another John Marshall, who died intestate
+and the inventory of whose effects was recorded March 26, 1751, a year
+before John Marshall "of the forest" died. These two John Marshalls do
+not seem to have been kinsmen.
+
+The only prominent person in Virginia named Marshall in 1723-34 was a
+certain Thomas Marshall who was a member of the colony's House of
+Burgesses during this period; but he was from Northampton County.
+(Journal, H.B. (1712-23), xi; _ib._ (1727-40), viii, and 174.) He does
+not appear to have been related in any way to John "of the forest."
+
+There were numerous Marshalls who were officers in the Revolutionary War
+from widely separated colonies, apparently unconnected by blood or
+marriage. For instance, there were Abraham, David, and Benjamin Marshall
+from Pennsylvania; Christopher Marshall from Massachusetts; Dixon
+Marshall from North Carolina; Elihu Marshall from New York, etc.
+(Heitman, 285.)
+
+At the same time that John Marshall, the subject of this work, was
+captain in a Virginia regiment, two other John Marshalls were captains
+in Pennsylvania regiments. When Thomas Marshall of Virginia was an
+officer in Washington's army, there were four other Thomas Marshalls,
+two from Massachusetts, one from South Carolina, and one from Virginia,
+all Revolutionary officers. (_Ib._)
+
+When Stony Point was taken by Wayne, among the British prisoners
+captured was Lieutenant John Marshall of the 17th Regiment of British
+foot (see Dawson, 86); and Captain John Marshall of Virginia was one of
+the attacking force. (See _infra_, chap. IV.)
+
+In 1792, John Marshall of King and Queen County, a boatswain, was a
+Virginia pensioner. (_Va. Hist. Prs._, v, 544.) He was not related to
+John Marshall, who had become the leading Richmond lawyer of that time.
+
+While Hamilton was Secretary of the Treasury he received several letters
+from John Marshall, an Englishman, who was in this country and who wrote
+Hamilton concerning the subject of establishing manufactories. (Hamilton
+MSS., Lib. Cong.)
+
+Illustrations like these might be continued for many pages. They merely
+show the danger of inferring relationship because of the similarity of
+names, especially one so general as that of Marshall.
+
+[52] The Cary Papers, _supra_. Here again the Marshall legend riots
+fantastically. This time it makes the pirate Blackbeard the first
+husband of Marshall's paternal grandmother; and with this freebooter she
+is said to have had thrilling and melancholy experiences. It deserves
+mention only as showing the absurdity of such myths. Blackbeard was one
+Edward Teach, whose career is well authenticated (Wise, 186.) Colonel
+Cary put a final quietus on this particular tale, as he did on so many
+other genealogical fictions.
+
+[53] See Douglas: _Peerage of Scotland_ (1764), 448. Also Burke:
+_Peerage_ (1903), 895; and _ib._ (1876). This peerage is now extinct.
+See Burke: _Extinct Peerages_.
+
+[54] For appreciation of this extraordinary man see Carlyle's _Frederick
+the Great_.
+
+[55] Paxton, 30.
+
+[56] From data furnished by Justice James Keith, President of the Court
+of Appeals of Virginia.
+
+[57] Paxton, 30; and see Meade, ii, 216.
+
+[58] Data furnished by Thomas Marshall Smith of Baltimore, Md.
+
+[59] With this lady the tradition deals most unkindly and in highly
+colored pictures. An elopement, the deadly revenge of outraged brothers,
+a broken heart and resulting insanity overcome by gentle treatment, only
+to be reinduced in old age by a fraudulent Enoch Arden letter apparently
+written by the lost love of her youth--such are some of the incidents
+with which this story clothes Marshall's maternal grandmother. (Paxton,
+25-26.)
+
+[60] _Autobiography._
+
+[61] In general, Virginia women at this time had very little education
+(Burnaby, 57.) Sometimes the daughters of prominent and wealthy families
+could not read or write. (Bruce: _Inst._, i, 454-55.) Even forty years
+after John Marshall was born, there was but one girls' school in
+Virginia. (La Rochefoucauld, iii, 227.) In 1789, there were very few
+schools of any kind in Virginia, it appears. (Journal, H.B. (Dec. 14,
+1789), 130; and see _infra_, chap. VI.)
+
+[62] Paxton, 30. Marischal College, Aberdeen, was founded by George
+Keith, Fifth Earl Marischal (1593).
+
+[63] See _infra_, chap. II. When Leeds Parish was organized, we find
+Thomas Marshall its leading vestryman. He was always a stanch churchman.
+
+[64] Jones, 35; Burnaby,58. But see Maxwell in _William and Mary College
+Quarterly_, xix, 73-103; and see Bruce: _Econ._, i, 425, 427, 585, 587.
+
+[65] "Though tobacco exhausts the land to a prodigious degree, the
+proprietors take no pains to restore its vigor; they take what the soil
+will give and abandon it when it gives no longer. They like better to
+clear new lands than to regenerate the old." (De Warville, 439; and see
+Fithian, 140.)
+
+The land produced only "four or five bushels of wheat per acre or from
+eight to ten of Indian corn. These fields are never manured, hardly even
+are they ploughed; and it seldom happens that their owners for two
+successive years exact from them these scanty crops.... The country ...
+everywhere exhibits the features of laziness, of ignorance, and
+consequently of poverty." (La Rochefoucauld, iii, 106-07, describing
+land between Richmond and Petersburg, in 1797; and see Schoepf, ii, 32,
+48; and Weld, i, 138, 151.)
+
+[66] Burnaby, 45, 59. The estate of Richard Randolph of Curels, in 1742
+embraced "not less than forty thousand acres of the choicest lands."
+(Garland, i, 7.) The mother of George Mason bought ten thousand acres in
+Loudoun County for an insignificant sum. (Rowland, i, 51.) The Carter
+plantation in 1774 comprised sixty thousand acres and Carter owned six
+hundred negroes. (Fithian, 128.) Compare with the two hundred acres and
+few slaves of John Marshall "of the forest," _supra_.
+
+Half a century later the very best lands in Virginia with valuable mines
+upon them sold for only eighteen dollars an acre. (La Rochefoucauld,
+iii, 124.) For careful account of the extent of great holdings in the
+seventeenth century see Wertenbaker: _P. and P._, 34-35, 97-99.
+Jefferson in 1790 owned two hundred slaves and ten thousand acres of
+very rich land on the James River. (Jefferson to Van Staphorst, Feb. 28,
+1790; _Works_: Ford, vi, 33.) Washington owned enormous quantities of
+land, and large numbers of slaves. His Virginia holdings alone amounted
+to thirty-five thousand acres. (Beard: _Econ. I. C._, 144.)
+
+[67] Burnaby, 54.
+
+[68] In the older counties the slaves outnumbered the whites; for
+instance, in 1790 Westmoreland County had 3183 whites, 4425 blacks, and
+114 designated as "all others." In 1782 in the same county 410
+slave-owners possessed 4536 slaves and 1889 horses. (_Va. Mag. Hist. and
+Biog._, x, 229-36.)
+
+[69] Ambler, 11. The slaves of some planters were valued at more than
+thirty thousand pounds sterling. (Fithian, 286; and Schoepf, ii, 38;
+also, Weld, i, 148.)
+
+[70] Robert Carter was a fine example of this rare type. (See Fithian,
+279-80.)
+
+[71] Burnaby, 53-54 and 59. "The Virginians ... are an indolent haughty
+people whose thoughts and designs are directed solely towards p[l]aying
+the lord, owning great tracts of land and numerous troops of slaves. Any
+man whatever, if he can afford so much as 2-3 [two or three] negroes,
+becomes ashamed of work, and goes about in idleness, supported by his
+slaves." (Schoepf, ii, 40.)
+
+[72] "Notes on Virginia"; _Works_: Ford, iv, 82-83. See La
+Rochefoucauld, iii, p. 161, on Jefferson's slaves.
+
+[73] Jefferson to Chastellux, Sept. 2, 1785; _Thomas Jefferson
+Correspondence_, Bixby Collection: Ford, 12; and see Jefferson's
+comparison of the sections of the country, _ib._ and _infra_, chap. VI.
+
+[74] "Many of the wealthier class were to be seen seeking relief from
+the vacuity of idleness, not merely in the allowable pleasures of the
+chase and the turf, but in the debasing ones of cock-fighting, gaming,
+and drinking." (Tucker, i, 18; and see La Rochefoucauld, iii, 77; Weld,
+i, 191; also _infra_, chap. VII, and references there given.)
+
+[75] Jones, 48, 49, and 52; Chastellux, 222-24; also, translator's note
+to _ib._, 292-93. The following order from the Records of the Court of
+Rappahannock County, Jan. 2, 1688 (_sic_), p. 141, is illustrative:--
+
+"It having pleased Almighty God to bless his Royall Mahst. with the
+birth of a son & his subjects with a Prince of Wales, and for as much as
+his Excellency hath sett apart the 16th. day of this Inst. Janr'y. for
+solemnizing the same. To the end therefore that it may be don with all
+the expressions of joy this County is capable of, this Court have
+ordered that Capt. Geo. Taylor do provide & bring to the North Side
+Courthouse for this county as much Rum or other strong Liquor with sugar
+proportionable as shall amount to six thousand five hundred pounds of
+Tobb. to be distributed amongst the Troops of horse, Compa. of foot and
+other persons that shall be present at the Sd. Solemnitie. And that the
+said sum be allowed him at the next laying of the Levey. As also that
+Capt. Samll. Blomfield provide & bring to the South side Courthouse for
+this county as much Rum or other strong Liquor Wth. sugar proportionable
+as shall amount to three thousand five hundred pounds of Tobb. to be
+distributed as above att the South side Courthouse, and the Sd. sum to
+be allowed him at the next laying of the Levey."
+
+And see Bruce: _Econ._, ii, 210-31; also Wise, 320, 327-29. Although
+Bruce and Wise deal with a much earlier period, drinking seems to have
+increased in the interval. (See Fithian, 105-14, 123.)
+
+[76] As in Massachusetts, for instance. "In most country towns ... you
+will find almost every other house with a sign of entertainment before
+it.... If you sit the evening, you will find the house full of people,
+drinking drams, flip, toddy, carousing, swearing." (John Adams's
+_Diary_, describing a New England county, in 1761; _Works_: Adams, ii,
+125-26. The Records of Essex County, Massachusetts, now in process of
+publication by the Essex Institute, contain many cases that confirm the
+observation of Adams.)
+
+[77] Meade, i, 52-54; and see Schoepf, ii, 62-63.
+
+[78] Wise, 317-19; Bruce: _Inst._, i, 308-15.
+
+[79] Bruce: _Inst._, i, 317-22; and see especially, _Va. Mag. Hist. and
+Biog._, ii, 196 _et seq._
+
+[80] _Ib._, 323-30; also Fithian, 50 _et seq._
+
+[81] Bruce: _Inst._, i, 331-42.
+
+[82] _Ib._, 452-53.
+
+[83] _Ib._, 456-57. Bruce shows that two thirds of the women who joined
+in deeds could not write. This, however, was in the richer section of
+the colony at a much earlier period. Just before the Revolution Virginia
+girls, even in wealthy families, "were simply taught to read and write
+at 25/ [shillings] and a load of wood per year--A boarding school was
+no where in Virginia to be found." (Mrs. Carrington to her sister Nancy;
+MS.) Part of this letter appears in the _Atlantic Monthly_ series cited
+hereafter (see chap. V); but the teacher's pay is incorrectly printed as
+"pounds" instead of "shillings." (_Atlantic Monthly_, lxxxiv, 544-45.)
+
+[84] Bruce: _Inst._, i, 402-42; and see Wise, 313-15. Professor Tucker
+says that "literature was neglected, or cultivated, by the small number
+who had been educated in England, rather as an accomplishment and a mark
+of distinction than for the substantial benefits it confers." (Tucker,
+i, 18.)
+
+[85] Fithian, 177.
+
+[86] See catalogue in _W. and M. C. Q._, x and xi.
+
+[87] See catalogue in Appendix A to Byrd's _Writings_: Bassett.
+
+[88] See catalogue of John Adams's Library, in the Boston Public
+Library.
+
+[89] Ambler, 9; and see Wise, 68-70.
+
+[90] Trustworthy data on this subject is given in the volumes of the
+_Va. Mag. Hist. and Biog._; see also _W. and M. C. Q._
+
+[91] Wertenbaker: _P. and P._, 14-20. But see William G. Stanard's
+exhaustive review of Mr. Wertenbaker's book in _Va. Mag. Hist. and
+Biog._, xviii, 339-48.
+
+[92] "One hundred young maids for wives, as the former ninety sent. One
+hundred boys more for apprentices likewise to the public tenants. One
+hundred servants to be disposed among the old planters which they
+exclusively desire and will pay the company their charges." (_Virginia
+Company Records_, i, 66; and see Fithian, 111.)
+
+[93] For the understanding in England at that period of the origin of
+this class of Virginia colonists see Defoe: _Moll Flanders_, 65 _et
+seq._ On transported convicts see _Amer. Hist. Rev._, ii. 12 _et seq._
+For summary of the matter see Channing, i, 210-14, 226-27.
+
+[94] Fithian to Greene, Dec. 1, 1773; Fithian, 280.
+
+[95] Fithian to Peck, Aug. 12, 1774; Fithian, 286-88; and see Professor
+Tucker's searching analysis in Tucker, i, 17-22; also see Lee, in Ford:
+_P. on C._, 296-97. As to a genuinely aristocratic _group_, the New York
+patroons were, perhaps, the most distinct in the country.
+
+[96] Wertenbaker: _P. and P._, 14-20; also _Va. Mag. Hist. and Biog._,
+xviii, 339-48.
+
+[97] For accounts of brutal physical combats, see Anburey, ii, 310 _et
+seq._ And for dueling, though at an earlier period, see Wise, 329-31.
+The practice of dueling rapidly declined; but fighting of a violent and
+often repulsive character persisted, as we shall see, far into the
+nineteenth century. Also, see La Rochefoucauld, Chastellux, and other
+travelers, _infra_, chap. VII.
+
+[98] Schoepf, i, 261; and see references, _infra_, chap. VII.
+
+[99] After Braddock's defeat the Indians "extended their raids ...
+pillaging and murdering in the most ruthless manner.... The whole
+country from New York to the heart of Virginia became the theatre of
+inhuman barbarities and heartless destruction." (Lowdermilk, 186.)
+
+[100] Although the rifle did not come into general use until the
+Revolution, the firearms of this period have been so universally
+referred to as "rifles" that I have, for convenience, adopted this
+inaccurate term in the first two chapters.
+
+[101] "Their actions are regulated by the wildness of the neighbourhood.
+The deer often come to eat their grain, the wolves to destroy their
+sheep, the bears to kill their hogs, the foxes to catch their poultry.
+This surrounding hostility immediately puts the gun into their
+hands,... and thus by defending their property, they soon become
+professed hunters; ... once hunters, farewell to the plough. The chase
+renders them ferocious, gloomy, and unsociable; a hunter wants no
+neighbour, he rather hates them.... The manners of the Indian natives
+are respectable, compared with this European medley. Their wives and
+children live in sloth and inactivity.... You cannot imagine what an
+effect on manners the great distance they live from each other has....
+Eating of wild meat ... tends to alter their temper.... I have seen it."
+(Crèvecoeur, 66-68.) Crèvecoeur was himself a frontier farmer.
+(_Writings_: Sparks, ix, footnote to 259.)
+
+[102] "Many families carry with them all their decency of conduct,
+purity of morals, and respect of religion; but these are scarce."
+(Crèvecoeur, 70.) Crèvecoeur says his family was one of these.
+
+[103] This bellicose trait persisted for many years and is noted by all
+contemporary observers.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+A FRONTIER EDUCATION
+
+    "Come to me," quoth the pine tree,
+    "I am the giver of honor." (Emerson.)
+
+    I do not think the greatest things have been done for the world by
+    its bookmen. Education is not the chips of arithmetic and grammar.
+    (Wendell Phillips.)
+
+
+John Marshall was never out of the simple, crude environment of the near
+frontier for longer than one brief space of a few months until his
+twentieth year, when, as lieutenant of the famous Culpeper Minute Men,
+he marched away to battle. The life he had led during this period
+strengthened that powerful physical equipment which no strain of his
+later years seemed to impair; and helped to establish that extraordinary
+nervous equilibrium which no excitement or contest ever was able to
+unbalance.[104] This foundation part of his life was even more
+influential on the forming mind and spiritual outlook of the growing
+youth.
+
+Thomas Marshall left the little farm of poor land in Westmoreland County
+not long after the death of his father, John Marshall "of the forest."
+This ancestral "estate" had no attractions for the enterprising young
+man. Indeed, there is reason for thinking that he abandoned it.[105] He
+lifted his first rooftree in what then were still the wilds of Prince
+William County.[106] There we find him with his young wife, and there in
+the red year of British disaster his eldest son was born. The cabin has
+long since disappeared, and only a rude monument of native stone,
+erected by college students in recent years, now marks the supposed site
+of this historic birthplace.
+
+The spot is a placid, slumberous countryside. A small stream runs hard
+by. In the near distance still stands one of the original cabins of
+Spotswood's Germans.[107] But the soil is not generous. When Thomas
+Marshall settled there the little watercourse at the foot of the gentle
+slope on which his cabin stood doubtless ran bank-full; for in 1754 the
+forests remained thick and unviolated about his cabin,[108] and fed the
+waters from the heavy rains in restrained and steady flow to creek and
+river channels. Amidst these surroundings four children of Thomas
+Marshall and Mary Keith were born.[109]
+
+The sturdy young pioneer was not content to remain permanently at
+Germantown. A few years later found him building another home about
+thirty miles farther westward, in a valley in the Blue Ridge
+Mountains.[110] Here the elder son spent the critical space of life from
+childhood to his eighteenth year. This little building still stands,
+occupied by negroes employed on the estate of which it forms a part. The
+view from it even now is attractive; and in the days of John Marshall's
+youth must have been very beautiful.
+
+The house is placed on a slight rise of ground on the eastern edge of
+the valley. Near by, to the south and closer still to the west, two
+rapid mountain streams sing their quieting, restful song. On all sides
+the Blue Ridge lifts the modest heights of its purple hills. This valley
+at that time was called "The Hollow," and justly so; for it is but a cup
+in the lazy and unambitious mountains. When the eldest son first saw
+this frontier home, great trees thickly covered mountain, hill, and
+glade, and surrounded the meadow, which the Marshall dwelling
+overlooked, with a wall of inviting green.[111]
+
+Two days by the very lowest reckoning it must have taken Thomas Marshall
+to remove his family to this new abode. It is more likely that three or
+four days were consumed in the toilsome task. The very careful maps of
+the British survey at that time show only three roads in all immense
+Prince William County.[112] On one of these the Marshalls might have
+made their way northward, and on another, which it probably joined, they
+could have traveled westward. But these trails were primitive and
+extremely difficult for any kind of vehicle.[113]
+
+Some time before 1765, then, rational imagination can picture a strong,
+rude wagon drawn by two horses crawling along the stumpy,
+rock-roughened, and mud-mired road through the dense woods that led in
+the direction of "The Hollow." In the wagon sat a young woman.[114] By
+her side a sturdy, red-cheeked boy looked out with alert but quiet
+interest showing from his brilliant black eyes; and three other children
+cried their delight or vexation as the hours wore on. In this wagon,
+too, were piled the little family's household goods; nor did this make a
+heavy load, for all the Lares and Penates of a frontier settler's family
+in 1760 would not fill a single room of a moderately furnished household
+in the present day.
+
+[Illustration: _"The Hollow," Markham, Virginia_
+
+_John Marshall's boyhood home._]
+
+By the side of the wagon strode a young man dressed in the costume of
+the frontier. Tall, broad-shouldered, lithe-hipped, erect, he was a very
+oak of a man. His splendid head was carried with a peculiar dignity; and
+the grave but kindly command that shone from his face, together with the
+brooding thoughtfulness and fearless light of his striking eyes, would
+have singled him out in any assemblage as a man to be respected and
+trusted. A negro drove the team, and a negro girl walked behind.[115]
+
+So went the Marshalls to their Blue Ridge home. It was a commodious one
+for those days. Two rooms downstairs, one fifteen feet by sixteen, the
+other twelve by fourteen, and above two half-story lofts of the same
+dimensions, constituted this domestic castle. At one end of the larger
+downstairs room is a broad and deep stone fireplace, and from this rises
+a big chimney of the same material, supporting the house on the
+outside.[116]
+
+Thomas and Mary Marshall's pride and aspiration, as well as their social
+importance among the settlers, are strongly shown by this frontier
+dwelling. Unlike those of most of the other backwoodsmen, it was not a
+log cabin, but a frame house built of whip-sawed uprights and
+boards.[117] It was perhaps easier to construct a one and a half story
+house with such materials; for to lift heavy timbers to such a height
+required great effort.[118] But Thomas Marshall's social, religious, and
+political status[119] in the newly organized County of Fauquier were the
+leading influences that induced him to build a house which, for the
+time and place, was so pretentious. A small stone "meat house," a
+one-room log cabin for his two negroes, and a log stable, completed the
+establishment.
+
+In such an abode, and amidst such surroundings, the fast-growing
+family[120] of Thomas Marshall lived for more than twelve years. At
+first neighbors were few and distant. The nearest settlements were at
+Warrenton, some twenty-three miles to the eastward, and Winchester, a
+little farther over the mountains to the west.[121] But, with the horror
+of Braddock's defeat subdued by the widespread and decisive counter
+victories, settlers began to come into the country on both sides of the
+Blue Ridge. These were comparatively small farmers, who, later on,
+became raisers of wheat, corn, and other cereals, rather than tobacco.
+
+Not until John Marshall had passed his early boyhood, however, did these
+settlers become sufficiently numerous to form even a scattered
+community, and his early years were enlivened with no child
+companionship except that of his younger brothers and sisters. For the
+most part his days were spent, rifle in hand, in the surrounding
+mountains, and by the pleasant waters that flowed through the valley of
+his forest home. He helped his mother, of course, with her many labors,
+did the innumerable chores which the day's work required, and looked
+after the younger children, as the eldest child always must do. To his
+brothers and sisters as well as to his parents, he was devoted with a
+tenderness peculiar to his uncommonly affectionate nature and they, in
+turn, "fairly idolized" him.[122]
+
+There were few of those minor conveniences which we to-day consider the
+most indispensable of the simplest necessities. John Marshall's mother,
+like most other women of that region and period, seldom had such things
+as pins; in place of them use was made of thorns plucked from the bushes
+in the woods.[123] The fare, naturally, was simple and primitive. Game
+from the forest and fish from the stream were the principal articles of
+diet. Bear meat was plentiful.[124] Even at that early period, salt pork
+and salt fish probably formed a part of the family's food, though not
+to the extent to which such cured provisions were used by those of the
+back country in later years, when these articles became the staple of
+the border.[125]
+
+Corn meal was the basis of the family's bread supply. Even this was not
+always at hand, and corn meal mush was welcomed with a shout by the
+clamorous brood with which the little cabin soon fairly swarmed. It
+could not have been possible for the Marshall family in their house on
+Goose Creek to have the luxury of bread made from wheat flour. The
+clothing of the family was mostly homespun. "Store goods," whether food,
+fabric, or utensil, could be got to Thomas Marshall's backwoods dwelling
+only with great difficulty and at prohibitive expense.[126]
+
+But young John Marshall did not know that he was missing anything. On
+the contrary, he was conscious of a certain wealth not found in cities
+or among the currents of motion. For ever his eye looked out upon noble
+yet quieting, poetic yet placid, surroundings. Always he could have the
+inspiring views from the neighboring heights, the majestic stillness of
+the woods, the soothing music of meadow and stream. So uplifted was the
+boy by the glory of the mountains at daybreak that he always rose while
+the eastern sky was yet gray.[127] He was thrilled by the splendor of
+sunset and never tired of watching it until night fell upon the vast and
+somber forests. For the boy was charged with poetic enthusiasm, it
+appears, and the reading of poetry became his chief delight in youth and
+continued to be his solace and comfort throughout his long life;[128]
+indeed, Marshall liked to make verses himself, and never outgrew the
+habit.
+
+There was in him a rich vein of romance; and, later on, this manifested
+itself by his passion for the great creations of fiction. Throughout his
+days he would turn to the works of favorite novelists for relaxation and
+renewal.[129]
+
+The mental and spiritual effects of his surroundings on the forming mind
+and unfolding soul of this young American must have been as lasting and
+profound as were the physical effects on his body.[130] His environment
+and his normal, wholesome daily activities could not have failed to do
+its work in building the character of the growing boy. These and his
+sound, steady, and uncommonly strong parentage must, perforce, have
+helped to give him that courage for action, that balanced vision for
+judgment, and that serene outlook on life and its problems, which were
+so notable and distinguished in his mature and rugged manhood.
+
+Lucky for John Marshall and this country that he was not city born and
+bred; lucky that not even the small social activities of a country town
+drained away a single ohm of his nervous energy or obscured with lesser
+pictures the large panorama which accustomed his developing intelligence
+to look upon big and simple things in a big and simple way.
+
+There were then no public schools in that frontier[131] region, and
+young Marshall went untaught save for the instruction his parents gave
+him. For this task his father was unusually well equipped, though not by
+any formal schooling. All accounts agree that Thomas Marshall, while not
+a man of any learning, had contrived to acquire a useful though limited
+education, which went much further with a man of his well-ordered mind
+and determined will than a university training could go with a man of
+looser fiber and cast in smaller mould. The father was careful,
+painstaking, and persistent in imparting to his children and
+particularly to John all the education he himself could acquire.
+
+Between Thomas Marshall and his eldest son a mutual sympathy, respect,
+and admiration existed, as uncommon as it was wholesome and beneficial.
+"My father," often said John Marshall, "was a far abler man than any of
+his sons."[132] In "his private and familiar conversations with me,"
+says Justice Story, "when there was no other listener ... he never named
+his father ... without dwelling on his character with a fond and winning
+enthusiasm ... he broke out with a spontaneous eloquence ... upon his
+virtues and talents."[133] Justice Story wrote a sketch of Marshall for
+the "National Portrait Gallery," in which Thomas Marshall is highly
+praised. In acknowledging the receipt of the magazine, Marshall wrote:
+"I am particularly gratified by the terms in which you speak of my
+father. If any contemporary, who knew him in the prime of manhood,
+survived, he would confirm all you say."[134]
+
+So whether at home with his mother or on surveying trips with his
+father, the boy continually was under the influence and direction of
+hardy, clear-minded, unusual parents. Their lofty and simple ideals,
+their rational thinking, their unbending uprightness, their religious
+convictions--these were the intellectual companions of John Marshall's
+childhood and youth. While too much credit has not been given Thomas
+Marshall for the training of the eldest son, far too little has been
+bestowed on Mary Randolph Keith, who was, in all things, the equal of
+her husband.
+
+Although, as we have seen, many books were brought into eastern Virginia
+by the rich planters, it was difficult for the dwellers on the frontier
+to secure any reading material. Most books had to be imported, were
+very expensive, and, in the back country, there were no local sources of
+supply where they could be purchased. Also, the frontier settlers had
+neither the leisure nor, it appears, the desire for reading[135] that
+distinguished the wealthy landlords of the older parts of the
+colony.[136] Thomas Marshall, however, was an exception to his class in
+his eagerness for the knowledge to be gathered from books and in his
+determination that his children should have those advantages which
+reading gives.
+
+So, while his small house in "The Hollow" of the Blue Ridge probably
+contained not many more books than children, yet such volumes as were on
+that frontier bookshelf were absorbed and made the intellectual
+possession of the reader. The Bible was there, of course; and probably
+Shakespeare also.[137] The only book which positively is known to have
+been a literary companion of John Marshall was a volume of Pope's poems.
+He told Justice Story that, by the time he was twelve years old (1767),
+he had copied every word of the "Essay on Man" and other of Pope's moral
+essays, and had committed to memory "many of the most interesting
+passages."[138] This would seem to prove that not many other attractive
+books were at the boyhood hands of so eager a reader of poetry and
+fiction as Marshall always was. It was quite natural that this volume
+should be in that primitive household; for, at that time, Pope was more
+widely read, admired, and quoted than any other writer either of poetry
+or prose.[139]
+
+For those who believe that early impressions are important, and who wish
+to trace John Marshall's mental development back to its sources, it is
+well to spend a moment on that curious work which Pope named his "Essay
+on Man." The natural bent of the youth's mind was distinctively logical
+and orderly, and Pope's metred syllogisms could not but have appealed to
+it powerfully. The soul of Pope's "Essay" is the wisdom of and necessity
+for order; and it is plain that the boy absorbed this vital message and
+made it his own. Certain it is that even as a beardless young soldier,
+offering his life for his country's independence, he already had grasped
+the master truth that order is a necessary condition of liberty and
+justice.
+
+It seems probable, however, that other books were brought to this
+mountain fireside. There was a limited store within his reach from which
+Thomas Marshall could draw. With his employer and friend, George
+Washington,[140] he was often a visitor at the wilderness home of Lord
+Fairfax just over the Blue Ridge. Washington availed himself of the
+Fairfax Library,[141] and it seems reasonable that Thomas Marshall did
+the same. It is likely that he carried to his Blue Ridge dwelling an
+occasional Fairfax volume carefully selected for its usefulness in
+developing his own as well as his children's minds.
+
+This contact with the self-expatriated nobleman had more important
+results, however, than access to his books. Thomas Marshall's life was
+profoundly influenced by his early and intimate companionship with the
+well-mannered though impetuous and headstrong young Washington, who
+engaged him as assistant surveyor of the Fairfax estate.[142] From youth
+to manhood, both had close association with Lord Fairfax, who gave
+Washington his first employment and secured for him the appointment by
+the colonial authorities as public surveyor.[143] Washington was related
+by marriage to the proprietor of the Northern Neck, his brother Lawrence
+having married the daughter of William Fairfax. When their father died,
+Lawrence Washington took the place of parent to his younger
+brother;[144] and in his house the great landowner met George
+Washington, of whom he became very fond. For more than three years the
+youthful surveyor passed most of his time in the Blue Ridge part of the
+British nobleman's vast holdings,[145] and in frequent and intimate
+contact with his employer. Thus Thomas Marshall, as Washington's
+associate and helper, came under the guidance and example of Lord
+Fairfax.
+
+The romantic story of this strange man deserves to be told at length,
+but only a résumé is possible here. This summary, however, must be given
+for its bearing on the characters of George Washington and Thomas
+Marshall, and, through them, its formative influence on John
+Marshall.[146]
+
+Lord Fairfax inherited his enormous Virginia estate from his mother, the
+daughter of Lord Culpeper, the final grantee of that kingly domain. This
+profligate grant of a careless and dissolute monarch embraced some five
+million acres between the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers back to a
+straight line connecting the sources of these streams. While the young
+heir of the ancient Fairfax title was in Oxford, his father having died,
+his mother and grandmother, the dowager Ladies Fairfax and Culpeper,
+forced him to cut off the entail of the extensive Fairfax estates in
+England in order to save the heavily mortgaged Culpeper estates in the
+same country; and as compensation for this sacrifice, the noble Oxford
+student was promised the inheritance of this wild Virginia forest
+principality.
+
+Nor did the youthful baron's misfortunes end there. The lady of his
+heart had promised to become his bride, the wedding day was set, the
+preparations made. But before that hour of joy arrived, this fickle
+daughter of ambition received an offer to become a duchess instead of a
+mere baroness, and, throwing over young Fairfax without delay, she
+embraced the more exalted station offered her.
+
+These repeated blows of adversity embittered the youthful head of the
+illustrious house of Fairfax against mother and grandmother, and, for
+the time being, all but against England itself. So, after some years of
+management of his Virginia estate by his cousin, William, who was in
+Government employ in America, Lord Fairfax himself left England forever,
+came to Virginia, took personal charge of his inherited holdings, and
+finally established himself at its very outskirts on the savage
+frontier. In the Shenandoah Valley, near Winchester, he built a small
+house of native stone and called it Greenway Court,[147] after the
+English fashion; but it never was anything more than a hunting
+lodge.[148]
+
+From this establishment he personally managed his vast estates, parting
+with his lands to settlers on easy terms. His tenants generally were
+treated with liberality and consideration. If any land that was leased
+or sold did not turn out as was expected by the purchaser or lessee,
+another and better tract would be given in its place. If money was
+needed for improvements, Lord Fairfax advanced it. His excess revenues
+were given to the poor. So that the Northern Neck under Lord Fairfax's
+administration became the best settled, best cultivated, and best
+governed of all the upper regions of the colony.[149]
+
+Through this exile of circumstance, Fate wove another curious thread in
+the destiny of John Marshall. Lord Fairfax was the head of that ancient
+house whose devotion to liberty had been proved on many a battlefield.
+The second Lord Fairfax commanded the Parliamentary forces at Marston
+Moor. The third Lord Fairfax was the general of Cromwell's army and the
+hero of Naseby. So the proprietor of the Northern Neck, who was the
+sixth Lord Fairfax, came of blood that had been poured out for human
+rights. He had, as an inheritance of his house, that love of liberty for
+which his ancestors had fought.[150]
+
+But much as he hated oppression, Lord Fairfax was equally hostile to
+disorder and upheaval; and his forbears had opposed these even to the
+point of helping restore Charles II to the throne. Thus the Virginia
+baron's talk and teaching were of liberty with order, independence with
+respect for law.[151]
+
+He loved literature and was himself no mean writer, his contributions
+while he was in the University having been accepted by the
+"Spectator."[152] His example instructed his companions in manners, too,
+and schooled them in the speech and deportment of gentlemen. All who met
+George Washington in his mature years were impressed by his correct if
+restricted language, his courtly conduct, and his dignified if rigid
+bearing. Much of this was due to his noble patron.[153]
+
+Thomas Marshall was affected in the same way and by the same cause.
+Pioneer and backwoodsman though he was, and, as we shall see, true to
+his class and section, he yet acquired more balanced ideas of liberty,
+better manners, and finer if not higher views of life than the crude,
+rough individualists who inhabited the back country. As was the case
+with Washington, this intellectual and moral tendency in Thomas
+Marshall's development was due, in large measure, to the influence of
+Lord Fairfax. While it cannot be said that George Washington imitated
+the wilderness nobleman, yet Fairfax undoubtedly afforded his protégé a
+certain standard of living, thinking, and acting; and Thomas Marshall
+followed the example set by his fellow surveyor.[154] Thus came into the
+Marshall household a different atmosphere from that which pervaded the
+cabins of the Blue Ridge.
+
+All this, however, did not make for his unpopularity among Thomas
+Marshall's distant, scattered, and humbly placed neighbors. On the
+contrary, it seems to have increased the consideration and respect which
+his native qualities had won for him from the pioneers. Certainly Thomas
+Marshall was the foremost man in Fauquier County when it was established
+in 1759. He was almost immediately elected to represent the county in
+the Virginia House of Burgesses;[155] and, six years later, he was
+appointed Sheriff by Governor Fauquier, for whom the county was
+named.[156] The shrievalty was, at that time, the most powerful local
+office in Virginia; and the fees and perquisites of the place made it
+the most lucrative.[157]
+
+By 1765 Thomas Marshall felt himself sufficiently established to acquire
+the land where he had lived since his removal from Germantown. In the
+autumn of that year he leased from Thomas Ludwell Lee and Colonel
+Richard Henry Lee the three hundred and thirty acres on Goose Creek
+"whereon the said Thomas Marshall now lives." The lease was "for and
+during the natural lives of ... Thomas Marshall, Mary Marshall his wife,
+and John Marshall his son and ... the longest liver of them." The
+consideration was "five shillings current money in hand paid" and a
+"yearly rent of five pounds current money, and the quit rents and Land
+Tax."[158]
+
+In 1769 Leeds Parish, embracing Fauquier County, was established.[159]
+Of this parish Thomas Marshall became the principal vestryman.[160] This
+office supplemented, in dignity and consequence, that of sheriff; the
+one was religious and denoted high social status, the other was civil
+and evidenced political importance.[161] The occupancy of both marked
+Thomas Marshall as the chief figure in the local government and in the
+social and political life of Fauquier County, although the holding of
+the superior office of burgess left no doubt as to his leadership. The
+vestries had immense influence in the civil affairs of the parish and
+the absolute management of the practical business of the established
+(Episcopal) church.[162] Among the duties and privileges of the vestry
+was that of selecting and employing the clergyman.[163]
+
+The vestry of Leeds Parish, with Thomas Marshall at its head, chose for
+its minister a young Scotchman, James Thompson, who had arrived in
+Virginia a year or two earlier. He lived at first with the Marshall
+family.[164] Thus it came about that John Marshall received the first of
+his three short periods of formal schooling; for during his trial year
+the young[165] Scotch deacon returned Thomas Marshall's hospitality by
+giving the elder children such instruction as occasion offered,[166] as
+was the custom of parsons, who always were teachers as well as
+preachers. We can imagine the embryo clergyman instructing the eldest
+son under the shade of the friendly trees in pleasant weather or before
+the blazing logs in the great fireplace when winter came. While living
+with the Marshall family, he doubtless slept with the children in the
+half-loft[167] of that frontier dwelling.
+
+There was nothing unusual about this; indeed, circumstances made it the
+common and unavoidable custom. Washington tells us that in his surveying
+trips, he frequently slept on the floor in the room of a settler's cabin
+where the fireplace was and where husband, wife, children, and visitors
+stretched themselves for nightly rest; and he remarks that the person
+was lucky who got the spot nearest the fireplace.[168]
+
+At the end of a year the embryo Scottish clergyman's character, ability,
+and services having met the approval of Thomas Marshall and his fellow
+vestrymen, Thompson returned to England for orders.[169] So ended John
+Marshall's first instruction from a trained teacher. His pious tutor
+returned the next year, at once married a young woman of the Virginia
+frontier, and settled on the glebe near Salem, where he varied his
+ministerial duties by teaching such children of his parishioners as
+could get to him. It may be that John Marshall was among them.[170]
+
+In the light they throw upon the Marshall family, the political opinions
+of Mr. Thompson are as important as was his teaching. True to the
+impulses of youth, he was a man of the people, ardently championed their
+cause, and was fervently against British misrule, as was his principal
+vestryman. Five years later we find him preaching a sermon on the
+subject so strong that a part of it has been preserved.[171]
+
+Thus the years of John Marshall's life sped on until his eighteenth
+birthday. By this time Thomas Marshall's rapidly growing prosperity
+enabled him to buy a larger farm in a more favorable locality. In
+January, 1773, he purchased from Thomas Turner seventeen hundred acres
+adjacent to North Cobler Mountain, a short distance to the east of his
+first location in "The Hollow."[172] For this plantation he paid "nine
+hundred and twelve pounds ten shillings current money of Virginia." Here
+he established himself for the third time and remained for ten years.
+
+On an elevation overlooking valley, stream, and grove, with the Blue
+Ridge as a near background, he built a frame house thirty-three by
+thirty feet, the attic or loft under the roof serving as a second
+story.[173] The house had seven rooms, four below and three above. One
+of the upper rooms is, comparatively, very large, being twenty-one by
+fifteen feet; and, according to tradition, this was used as a
+school-room for the Marshall children. Indeed, the structure was, for
+that section and period, a pretentious dwelling. This is the famous Oak
+Hill.[174] The house still stands as a modest wing to the large and
+attractive building erected by John Marshall's eldest son, Thomas, many
+years later.
+
+[Illustration: OAK HILL
+
+From a water-color. The original house, built by Thomas Marshall in
+1773, is shown at the right, in the rear of the main building.]
+
+A book was placed in the hands of John Marshall, at this time, that
+influenced his mind even more than his reading of Pope's poetry when a
+small boy. Blackstone's "Commentaries" was published in America in 1772
+and one of the original subscribers was "Captain Thomas Marshall, Clerk
+of Dunmore County, Virginia."[175] The youthful backwoodsman read
+Blackstone with delight; for this legal classic is the poetry of law,
+just as Pope is logic in poetry. Also, Thomas Marshall saw to it that
+his son read Blackstone as carefully as circumstances permitted. He had
+bought the book for John's use as much as or more than for his own
+information. Marshall's parents, with a sharp eye on the calling that
+then brought greatest honor and profit, had determined that their eldest
+son should be a lawyer. "From my infancy," says Marshall, "I was
+destined for the bar."[176] He did not, we believe, give his attention
+exclusively to Blackstone. Indeed, it appears certain that his legal
+reading at this period was fragmentary and interrupted, for his time was
+taken up and his mind largely absorbed by military exercises and study.
+He was intent on mastering the art of war against the day when the call
+of patriotism should come to him to be a soldier.[177] So the law book
+was pushed aside by the manual of arms.
+
+About this time John Marshall was given his second fragment of formal
+teaching. He was sent to the school of the Reverend Archibald Campbell
+in Westmoreland County.[178] This embryo "academy" was a primitive
+affair, but its solitary instructor was a sound classical scholar
+equipped with all the learning which the Scottish universities could
+give. He was a man of unusual ability, which, it appears, was the common
+possession of his family. He was the uncle of the British poet
+Campbell.[179]
+
+The sons of this colonial parson school-teacher from Scotland became men
+of note and influence, one of them among the most distinguished lawyers
+of Virginia.[180] Indeed, it was chiefly in order to teach his two boys
+that Mr. Campbell opened his little school in Westmoreland.[181] So,
+while John Marshall attended the "academy" for only a few months, that
+brief period under such a teacher was worth much in methods of thought
+and study.
+
+The third scanty fragment of John Marshall's education by professional
+instructors comes seven years later, at a time and under circumstances
+which make it necessary to defer a description of it.
+
+During all these years, however, young Marshall was getting another kind
+of education more real and more influential on his later life than any
+regular schooling could have given him. Thomas Marshall served in the
+House of Burgesses at Williamsburg[182] from 1761 until October, 1767,
+when he became Sheriff of Fauquier County.[183] In 1769 he was again
+chosen Burgess,[184] and reëlected until 1773, when he was appointed
+Clerk of Dunmore County.[185] In 1775 he once more appears as Burgess
+for Fauquier County.[186] Throughout this period, George Washington also
+served as Burgess from Westmoreland County. Thomas Marshall was a member
+of the standing committees on Trade, Religion, Propositions and
+Grievances, and on several special committees and commissions.[187]
+
+The situations, needs, and interests of the upland counties above the
+line of the falls of the rivers, so different from those on the
+tidewater, had made the political oligarchy of the lower counties more
+distinct and conspicuous than ever. This dominant political force was
+aristocratic and selfish. It was generally hostile to the opinions of
+the smaller pioneer landowners of the back country and it did not
+provide adequately for their necessities. Their petitions for roads,
+bridges, and other indispensable requisites of social and industrial
+life usually were denied; and their rapidly growing democratic spirit
+was scorned with haughty disfavor and contempt.[188]
+
+In the House of Burgesses, one could tell by his apparel and deportment,
+no less than by his sentiments, a member from the mountains, and indeed
+from anywhere above the fall line of the rivers; and, by the same
+tokens, one from the great plantations below. The latter came
+fashionably attired, according to the latest English mode, with the silk
+knee breeches and stockings, colored coat, ornamented waistcoat, linen
+and lace, buckled shoes, garters, and all details of polite adornment
+that the London fashion of the time dictated. The upland men were
+plainly clad; and those from the border appeared in their native
+homespun, with buckskin shirts, coonskin caps, and the queue of their
+unpowdered hair tied in a bag or sack of some thin material. To this
+upland class of Burgesses, Thomas Marshall belonged.
+
+He had been a member of the House for four years when the difference
+between the two Virginia sections and classes suddenly crystallized. The
+upper counties found a leader and fought and overcame the hitherto
+invincible power of the tidewater aristocracy, which, until then, had
+held the Government of Virginia in its lordly hand.
+
+This explosion came in 1765, when John Marshall was ten years old. For
+nearly a quarter of a century the combination of the great planter
+interests of eastern Virginia had kept John Robinson Speaker of the
+House and Treasurer of the Colony.[189] He was an ideal representative
+of his class--rich, generous, kindly, and ever ready to oblige his
+fellow members of the ruling faction.[190] To these he had lent large
+sums of money from the public treasury and, at last, finding himself
+lost unless he could find a way out of the financial quagmire in which
+he was sinking, Robinson, with his fellow aristocrats, devised a scheme
+for establishing a loan office, equipping it with a million and a
+quarter of dollars borrowed on the faith of the colony, to be lent to
+individuals on personal security.[191] A bill to this effect was
+presented and the tidewater machine was oiled and set in motion to put
+it through.
+
+As yet, Robinson's predicament was known only to himself and those upon
+whom he had bestowed the proceeds of the people's taxes; and no
+opposition was expected to the proposed resolution which would extricate
+the embarrassed Treasurer. But Patrick Henry, a young member from
+Hanover County, who had just been elected to the House of Burgesses and
+who had displayed in the famous Parsons case a courage and eloquence
+which had given him a reputation throughout the colony,[192] opposed, on
+principle, the proposed loan-office law. In a speech of startling power
+he attacked the bill and carried with him every member from the up
+counties. The bill was lost.[193] It was the first defeat ever
+experienced by the combination that had governed Virginia so long that
+they felt that it was their inalienable right to do so. One of the votes
+that struck this blow was cast by Thomas Marshall.[194] Robinson died
+the next year; his defalcation was discovered and the real purpose of
+the bill was thus revealed.[195]
+
+Quick on the heels of this victory for popular rights and honest
+government trod another event of vital influence on American history.
+The British Parliament, the year before, had passed resolutions
+declaring the right of Parliament to tax the colonies without
+representation, and, indeed, to enact any law it pleased for the
+government and administration of British dominions wherever
+situated.[196] The colonies protested, Virginia among them; but when
+finally Parliament enacted the Stamp Act, although the colonies were in
+sullen anger, they yet prepared to submit.[197] The more eminent men
+among the Virginia Burgesses were willing to remonstrate once more, but
+had not the heart to go further.[198] It was no part of the plan or
+feeling of the aristocracy to affront the Royal Government openly. At
+this moment, Patrick Henry suddenly offered his historic resolutions,
+the last one a bold denial of Parliament's right to pass the Stamp Act,
+and a savage defiance of the British Government.[199]
+
+Cautious members of the tidewater organization were aghast. They did not
+like the Stamp Act themselves, but they thought that this was going too
+far. The logical end of it would be armed conflict, they said; or at the
+very least, a temporary suspension of profitable commerce with England.
+Their material interests were involved; and while they hazarded these
+and life itself most nobly when the test of war finally came, ten years
+later, they were not minded to risk either business or comfort until
+forced to do so.[200]
+
+But a far stronger influence with them was their hatred of Henry and
+their fear of the growing power of the up country. They were smarting
+from the defeat[201] of the loan-office bill. They did not relish the
+idea of following the audacious Henry and his democratic supporters
+from the hills. They resented the leadership which the "new men" were
+assuming. To the aristocratic machine it was offensive to have any
+movement originate outside itself.[202]
+
+The up-country members to a man rallied about Patrick Henry and fought
+beneath the standard of principle which he had raised. The line that
+marked the division between these contending forces in the Virginia
+House of Burgesses was practically identical with that which separated
+them in the loan-office struggle which had just taken place. The same
+men who had supported Robinson were now against any measure which might
+too radically assert the rights of the colonies and offend both the
+throne and Westminster Hall. And as in the Robinson case so in the fight
+over Henry's Stamp Act Resolutions, the Burgesses who represented the
+frontier settlers and small landowners and who stood for their
+democratic views, formed a compact and militant force to strike for
+popular government as they already had struck, and successfully, for
+honest administration.[203]
+
+Henry's fifth resolution was the first written American assertion of
+independence, the virile seed out of which the declaration at
+Philadelphia ten years later directly grew. It was over this resolution
+that Thomas Jefferson said, "the debate was most bloody";[204] and it
+was in this particular part of the debate that Patrick Henry made his
+immortal speech, ending with the famous words, "Tarquin and Cæsar had
+each his Brutus, Charles the First his Cromwell, and George the Third--"
+And as the cries of "Treason! Treason! Treason!" rang from every part of
+the hall, Henry, stretching himself to the utmost of his stature,
+thundered, "--_may profit by their example_. If _this_ be treason, make
+the most of it."[205]
+
+Henry and the stout-hearted men of the hills won the day, but only by a
+single vote. Peyton Randolph, the foremost member of the tidewater
+aristocracy and Royal Attorney-General, exclaimed, "By God, I would have
+given one[206] hundred guineas for a single vote!"[207] Thomas Marshall
+again fought by Henry's side and voted for his patriotic defiance of
+British injustice.[208]
+
+[Illustration: _Oak Hill_]
+
+This victory of the poorer section of the Old Dominion was, in Virginia,
+the real beginning of the active period of the Revolution. It was
+more--it was the ending of the hitherto unquestioned supremacy of
+the tidewater aristocracy.[209] It marked the effective entrance of the
+common man into Virginia's politics and government.
+
+When Thomas Marshall returned to his Blue Ridge home, he described, of
+course, the scenes he had witnessed and taken part in. The heart of his
+son thrilled, we may be sure, as he listened to his father reciting
+Patrick Henry's words of fire and portraying the manner, appearance, and
+conduct of that master orator of liberty. So it was that John Marshall,
+even when a boy, came into direct and living touch with the outside
+world and learned at first hand of the dramatic movement and the mighty
+forces that were about to quarry the materials for a nation.
+
+Finally the epic year of 1775 arrived,--the year of the Boston riots,
+Paul Revere's ride, Lexington and Concord,--above all, the year of the
+Virginia Resolutions for Arming and Defense. Here we find Thomas
+Marshall a member of the Virginia Convention,[210] when once more the
+radicals of the up country met and defeated the aristocratic
+conservatives of the older counties. The latter counseled prudence. They
+argued weightily that the colony was not prepared for war with the Royal
+Power across the sea. They urged patience and the working-out of the
+problem by processes of conciliation and moderate devices, as those made
+timid by their own interests always do.[211] Selfish love of ease made
+them forget, for the moment, the lesson of Braddock's defeat. They held
+up the overwhelming might of Great Britain and the impotence of the
+King's subjects in his western dominions; and they were about to
+prevail.
+
+But again Patrick Henry became the voice of America. He offered the
+Resolutions for Arming and Defense and carried them with that amazing
+speech ending with, "Give me liberty or give me death,"[212] which
+always will remain the classic of American liberty. Thomas Marshall, who
+sat beneath its spell, declared that it was "one of the most bold,
+animated, and vehement pieces of eloquence that had ever been
+delivered."[213] Once more he promptly took his stand under Henry's
+banner and supported the heroic resolutions with his vote and
+influence.[214] So did George Washington, as both had done ten years
+before in the battle over Henry's Stamp Act Resolutions in the House of
+Burgesses in 1765.[215]
+
+Not from newspapers, then, nor from second-hand rumor did John Marshall,
+now nineteen years old, learn of the epochal acts of that convention.
+He heard of them from his father's lips. Henry's inspired speech, which
+still burns across a century with undiminished power, came to John
+Marshall from one who had listened to it, as the family clustered around
+the fireside of their Oak Hill home. The effect on John Marshall's mind
+and spirit was heroic and profound, as his immediate action and his
+conduct for several years demonstrate.
+
+We may be sure that the father was not deceived as to the meaning of it
+all; nor did he permit his family to be carried off the solid ground of
+reality by any emotional excitement. Thomas Marshall was no fanatic, no
+fancy-swayed enthusiast resolving highly in wrought-up moments and
+retracting humbly in more sober hours. He was a man who looked before he
+leaped; he counted the costs; he made up his mind with knowledge of the
+facts. When Thomas Marshall decided to act, no unforeseen circumstance
+could make him hesitate, no unexpected obstacle could swerve him from
+his course; for he had considered carefully and well; and his son was of
+like mettle.
+
+So when Thomas Marshall came back to his Fauquier County home from the
+fateful convention of 1775 at Richmond, he knew just what the whole
+thing meant; and, so knowing, he gravely welcomed the outcome. He knew
+that it meant war; and he knew also what war meant. Already he had been
+a Virginia ranger and officer, had seen fighting, had witnessed wounds
+and death.[216] The same decision that made him cast his vote for
+Henry's resolutions also caused Thomas Marshall to draw his sword from
+its scabbard. It inspired him to do more; for the father took down the
+rifle from its deerhorn bracket and the hunting-knife from its hook, and
+placed them in the hands of his first-born. And so we find father and
+son ready for the field and prepared to make the ultimate argument of
+willingness to lay down their lives for the cause they believed in.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[104] Story, in Dillon, iii, 334.
+
+[105] The records of Westmoreland County do not show what disposition
+Thomas Marshall made of the one hundred acres given him by his mother.
+(Letter of Albert Stuart, Deputy Clerk of Westmoreland County, Virginia,
+to the author, Aug. 26, 1913.) He probably abandoned it just as John
+Washington and Thomas Pope abandoned one thousand acres of the same
+land. (_Supra._)
+
+[106] Westmoreland County is on the Potomac River near its entrance into
+Chesapeake Bay. Prince William is about thirty miles farther up the
+river. Marshall was born about one hundred miles by wagon road from
+Appomattox Creek, northwest toward the Blue Ridge and in the wilderness.
+
+[107] Campbell, 404-05.
+
+[108] More than forty years later the country around the Blue Ridge was
+still a dense forest. (La Rochefoucauld, iii, 173.) And the road even
+from Richmond to Petersburg, an hundred miles east and south of the
+Marshall cabin, as late as 1797 ran through "an almost uninterrupted
+succession of woods." (_Ib._, 106; and see _infra_, chap. VII.)
+
+[109] John, 1755; Elizabeth, 1756; Mary, 1757; Thomas, 1761.
+
+[110] Binney, in Dillon, iii, 284.
+
+[111] The ancient trunks of one or two of these trees still stand close
+to the house.
+
+[112] British map of 1755; Virginia State Library.
+
+[113] See La Rochefoucauld, iii, 707. These "roads" were scarcely more
+than mere tracks through the forests. See chap. VII, infra, for
+description of roads at the period between the close of the Revolution
+and the beginning of our National Government under the Constitution.
+Even in the oldest and best settled colonies the roads were very bad.
+Chalkley's _Augusta County (Va.) Records_ show many orders regarding
+roads; but, considering the general state of highways, (see _infra_,
+chap. VII) these probably concerned very primitive efforts. When Thomas
+Marshall removed his family to the Blue Ridge, the journey must have
+been strenuous even for that hardship-seasoned man.
+
+[114] She was born in 1737. (Paxton, 19.)
+
+[115] At this time, Thomas Marshall had at least two slaves, inherited
+from his father. (Will of John Marshall "of the forest," Appendix I.) As
+late as 1797 (nearly forty years after Thomas Marshall went to "The
+Hollow"), La Rochefoucauld found that even on the "poorer" plantations
+about the Blue Ridge the "planters, however wretched their condition,
+have all of them one or two negroes." (La Rochefoucauld, iii, 135.)
+
+[116] Personal inspection.
+
+[117] Mill-sawed weather-boarding, held by cut nails, now covers the
+sides of the house, the original broad whip-sawed boards, fastened by
+wrought nails, having long since decayed.
+
+[118] Practically all log cabins, at that time, had only one story.
+
+[119] See _infra_.
+
+[120] Six more children were born while the Marshalls remained in "The
+Hollow": James M., 1764; Judith, 1766; William and Charles, 1767; Lucy,
+1768; and Alexander, 1770.
+
+[121] Nearly twenty years later, "Winchester was rude, wild, as nature
+had made it," but "it was less so than its inhabitants." (Mrs.
+Carrington to her sister Nancy, describing Winchester in 1777, from
+personal observation; MS.)
+
+[122] See Mrs. Carrington to her sister Nancy, _infra_, chap. V.
+
+[123] John Marshall, when at the height of his career, liked to talk of
+these times. "He ever recurred with fondness to that primitive mode of
+life, when he partook with a keen relish of balm tea and mush; and when
+the females used thorns for pins." (Howe, 263, and see _Hist. Mag._,
+iii, 166.)
+
+Most of the settlers on the frontier and near frontier did not use forks
+or tablecloths. Washington found this condition in the house of a
+Justice of the Peace. "When we came to supper there was neither a Cloth
+upon ye Table nor a knife to eat with; but as good luck would have it,
+we had knives of our [own]." (_Writings_: Ford, i, 4.)
+
+Chastellux testifies that, thirty years later, the frontier settlers
+were forced to make almost everything they used. Thus, as population
+increased, necessity developed men of many trades and the little
+communities became self-supporting. (Chastellux, 226-27.)
+
+[124] More than a generation after Thomas Marshall moved to "The Hollow"
+in the Blue Ridge large quantities of bear and beaver skins were brought
+from the Valley into Staunton, not many miles away, just over the Ridge.
+(La Rochefoucauld, iii, 179-80.) The product of the Blue Ridge itself
+was sent to Fredericksburg and Alexandria. (See Crèvecoeur, 63-65.)
+Thirty years earlier (1733) Colonel Byrd records that "Bears, Wolves,
+and Panthers" roamed about the site of Richmond; that deer were
+plentiful and rattlesnakes considered a delicacy. (Byrd's _Writings_:
+Bassett, 293, 318-19.)
+
+[125] See _infra_, chap. VII.
+
+[126] Even forty years later, all "store" merchandise could be had in
+this region only by hauling it from Richmond, Fredericksburg, or
+Alexandria. Transportation from the latter place to Winchester cost two
+dollars and a half per hundredweight. In 1797, "store" goods of all
+kinds cost, in the Blue Ridge, thirty per cent more than in
+Philadelphia. (La Rochefoucauld, iii, 203.) From Philadelphia the cost
+was four to five dollars per hundredweight. While there appear to have
+been country stores at Staunton and Winchester, over the mountains
+(Chalkley's _Augusta County (Va.) Records_), the cost of freight to
+those places was prohibitive of anything but the most absolute
+necessities even ten years after the Constitution was adopted.
+
+[127] _Hist. Mag._, iii, 166; Howe, 263; also, Story, in Dillon, iii,
+334.
+
+[128] Story, in Dillon, iii, 331-32.
+
+[129] _Ib._
+
+[130] See Binney, in Dillon, iii, 285.
+
+[131] "Fauquier was then a frontier county ... far in advance of the
+ordinary reach of compact population." (Story, in Dillon, iii, 331; also
+see _New York Review_ (1838), iii, 333.) Even a generation later (1797),
+La Rochefoucauld, writing from personal investigation, says (iii,
+227-28): "There is no state so entirely destitute of all means of public
+education as Virginia."
+
+[132] See Binney, in Dillon, iii, 285.
+
+[133] Story, in Dillon, iii, 330.
+
+[134] Marshall to Story, July 31, 1833; Story, ii, 150.
+
+[135] See _infra_, chaps. VII and VIII.
+
+[136] "A taste for reading is more prevalent [in Virginia] among the
+gentlemen of the first class than in any other part of America; but the
+common people are, perhaps, more ignorant than elsewhere." (La
+Rochefoucauld, iii, 232.) Other earlier and later travelers confirm this
+statement of this careful French observer.
+
+[137] Story thinks that Thomas Marshall, at this time, owned Milton,
+Shakespeare, and Dryden. (Dillon, iii, 331.) This is possible. Twenty
+years later, Chastellux found Milton, Addison, and Richardson in the
+parlor of a New Jersey inn; but this was in the comparatively thickly
+settled country adjacent to Philadelphia. (Chastellux, 159.)
+
+[138] Story, in Dillon, iii, 331, and Binney, in _ib._, 283; _Hist.
+Mag._, iii, 166.
+
+[139] Lang: _History of English Literature_, 384; and see Gosse:
+_History of Eighteenth Century Literature_, 131; also, Traill: _Social
+England_, V, 72; Stephen: _Alexander Pope_, 62; and see Cabot to
+Hamilton, Nov. 29, 1800; _Cabot_: Lodge, 299.
+
+[140] Binney, in Dillon, iii, 283-84; Washington's _Diary_; MS., Lib.
+Cong.
+
+[141] Irving, i, 45; and Lodge: _Washington_, i, 59. Many years later
+when he became rich, Washington acquired a good library, part of which
+is now in the Boston Athenæum. But as a young and moneyless surveyor he
+had no books of his own and his "book" education was limited and
+shallow.
+
+[142] Binney, in Dillion, iii, 281-84.
+
+[143] Irving, i, 37, 45; and Sparks, 10.
+
+[144] Irving, i, 27.
+
+[145] Irving, i, 46.
+
+[146] As will appear, the Fairfax estate is closely interwoven into John
+Marshall's career. (See vol. II of this work.)
+
+[147] For description of Greenway Court see Pecquet du Bellet, ii, 175.
+
+[148] Washington's _Writings_: Ford, i, footnote to 329.
+
+[149] For a clear but laudatory account of Lord Fairfax see Appendix No.
+4 to Burnaby, 197-213. But Fairfax could be hard enough on those who
+opposed him, as witness his treatment of Joist Hite. (See _infra_, chap.
+V.)
+
+[150] When the Revolution came, however, Fairfax was heartily British.
+The objection which the colony made to the title to his estate doubtless
+influenced him.
+
+[151] Fairfax was a fair example of the moderate, as distinguished from
+the radical or the reactionary. He was against both irresponsible
+autocracy and unrestrained democracy. In short, he was what would now be
+termed a liberal conservative (although, of course, such a phrase,
+descriptive of that demarcation, did not then exist). Much attention
+should be given to this unique man in tracing to their ultimate sources
+the origins of John Marshall's economic, political, and social
+convictions.
+
+[152] Sparks, 11; and Irving, i, 33.
+
+[153] For Fairfax's influence on Washington see Irving, i, 45; and in
+general, for fair secondary accounts of Fairfax, see _ib._, 31-46; and
+Sparks, 10-11.
+
+[154] Senator Humphrey Marshall says that Thomas Marshall "emulated"
+Washington. (Humphrey Marshall, i, 345.)
+
+[155] See _infra_.
+
+[156] Bond of Thomas Marshall as Sheriff, Oct. 26, 1767; Records of
+Fauquier County (Va.), Deed Book, iii, 70. Approval of bond by County
+Court; Minute Book (from 1764 to 1768), 322. Marshall's bond was "to his
+Majesty, George III," to secure payment to the British revenue officers
+of all money collected by Marshall for the Crown. (Records of Fauquier
+County (Va.), Deed Book, iii, 71.)
+
+[157] Bruce: _Inst._, i, 597, 600; also, ii, 408, 570-74.
+
+[158] Records of Fauquier County (Va.), Deed Book, ii, 42. There is a
+curious record of a lease from Lord Fairfax in 1768 to John Marshall for
+his life and "the natural lives of Mary his wife and Thomas Marshall his
+son and every of them longest living." (Records of Fauquier County
+(Va.), Deed Book, iii, 230.) John Marshall was then only thirteen years
+old. The lease probably was to Thomas Marshall, the clerk of Lord
+Fairfax having confused the names of father and son.
+
+[159] Meade, ii, 218.
+
+[160] In 1773 three deeds for an aggregate of two hundred and twenty
+acres "for a glebe" were recorded in Fauquier County to "Thos. Marshall
+& Others, Gentlemen, & Vestrymen of Leeds Parish." (Records of Fauquier
+County (Va.), Deed Book, V, 401, 403, 422.)
+
+[161] The vestrymen were "the foremost men ... in the parish ... whether
+from the point of view of intelligence, wealth or social position."
+(Bruce: _Inst._, i, 62; and see Meade, i, 191.)
+
+[162] Bruce: _Inst._, i, 62-93; and see Eckenrode: _S.C. & S._, 13.
+
+[163] Bruce: _Inst._, i, 131 _et seq._
+
+[164] Meade, ii, 219. Bishop Meade here makes a slight error. He says
+that Mr. Thompson "lived at first in the family of Colonel Thomas
+Marshall, of Oak Hill." Thomas Marshall did not become a colonel until
+ten years afterward. (Heitman, 285.) And he did not move to Oak Hill
+until 1773, six years later. (Paxton, 20.)
+
+[165] James Thompson was born in 1739. (Meade, ii, 219.)
+
+[166] _Ib._
+
+[167] Forty years later La Rochefoucauld found that the whole family and
+all visitors slept in the same room of the cabins of the back country.
+(La Rochefoucauld, iv, 595-96.)
+
+[168] "I have not sleep'd above three nights or four in a bed, but,
+after walking ... all the day, I lay down before the fire upon a little
+hay, straw, fodder or bearskin ... with man, wife, and children, like a
+parcel of dogs and cats; and happy is he, who gets the berth nearest the
+fire." (Washington to a friend, in 1748; _Writings_: Ford, i, 7.)
+
+Here is another of Washington's descriptions of frontier comforts: "I
+not being so good a woodsman as ye rest of my company, striped myself
+very orderly and went into ye Bed, as they calld it, when to my
+surprize, I found it to be nothing but a little straw matted together
+without sheets or any thing else, but only one thread bear [_sic_]
+blanket with double its weight of vermin such as Lice, Fleas, &c."
+(Washington's _Diary_, March 15, 1747; _ib._, 2.) And see La
+Rochefoucauld, iii, 175, for description of homes of farmers in the
+Valley forty years later--miserable log huts "which swarmed with
+children." Thomas Marshall's little house was much better than, and the
+manners of the family were far superior to, those described by
+Washington and La Rochefoucauld.
+
+[169] Meade, ii, 219.
+
+[170] _Ib._ Bishop Meade says that Thomas Marshall's sons were sent to
+Mr. Thompson again; but Marshall himself told Justice Story that the
+Scotch parson taught him when the clergyman lived at his father's house.
+
+[171] Meade, ii, 219. This extract of Mr. Thompson's sermon was
+treasonable from the Tory point of view. See _infra_, chap. III.
+
+[172] Records of Fauquier County (Va.), Deed Book, V, 282. This purchase
+made Thomas Marshall the owner of about two thousand acres of the best
+land in Fauquier County. He had sold his Goose Creek holding in "The
+Hollow."
+
+[173] The local legend, current to the present day, is that this house
+had the first glass windows in that region, and that the bricks in the
+chimney were imported from England. The importation of brick, however,
+is doubtful. Very little brick was brought to Virginia from England.
+
+[174] Five more children of Thomas and Mary Marshall were born in this
+house: Louis, 1773; Susan, 1775; Charlotte, 1777; Jane, 1779; and Nancy,
+1781. (Paxton.)
+
+[175] This volume is now in the possession of Judge J. K. M. Norton, of
+Alexandria, Va. On several leaves are printed the names of the
+subscribers. Among them are Pelatiah Webster, James Wilson, Nathanael
+Greene, John Adams, and others.
+
+[176] _Autobiography._
+
+[177] Binney, in Dillon, iii, 286.
+
+[178] Story and Binney say that Marshall's first schooling was at
+Campbell's "academy" and his second and private instruction under Mr.
+Thompson. The reverse seems to have been the case.
+
+[179] Meade, ii, 159, and footnote to 160.
+
+[180] _Ib._, 161.
+
+[181] _Ib._
+
+[182] Journal, H.B. (1761-65), 3. Thomas Marshall was seldom out of
+office. Burgess, Sheriff, Vestryman, Clerk, were the promising
+beginnings of his crowded office-holding career. He became Surveyor of
+Fayette County, Kentucky, upon his removal to that district, and
+afterwards Collector of Revenue for the District of Ohio. (Humphrey
+Marshall, i, 120; and see ii, chap. V, of this work. Thomas Marshall to
+Adams, April 28, 1797; MS.) In holding offices, John Marshall followed
+in his father's footsteps.
+
+[183] Journal, H.B. (1766-69), 147 and 257.
+
+[184] His election was contested in the House, but decided in Marshall's
+favor. (_Ib._ (1761-69), 272, 290, 291.)
+
+[185] _Ib._, (1773-76), 9. County Clerks were then appointed by the
+Secretary of State. In some respects the Clerk of the County Court had
+greater advantages than the Sheriff. (See Bruce: _Inst._, i, 588 _et
+seq._) Dunmore County is now Shenandoah County. The Revolution changed
+the name. When Thomas Marshall was appointed Clerk, the House of
+Burgesses asked the Governor to issue a writ for a new election in
+Fauquier County to fill Marshall's place as Burgess. (_Ib._ (1773-76),
+9.)
+
+[186] _Ib._ (1766-69), 163.
+
+[187] _Ib._, 16, 71, 257; (1770-72), 17, 62, 123, 147, 204, 234, 251,
+257, 274, 292; (1773-76), 217, 240.
+
+[188] Ambler, Introduction.
+
+[189] Ambler, 17-18.
+
+[190] Henry, i, 71.
+
+[191] _Ib._, 76-77.
+
+[192] Henry, i, 39-48.
+
+[193] Wirt, 71 _et seq._ It passed the House (Journal, H.B. (1761-65),
+350); but was disapproved by the Council. (_Ib._, 356; and see Henry, i,
+78.)
+
+[194] The "ayes" and "noes" were not recorded in the Journals of the
+House; but Jefferson says, in his description of the event, which he
+personally witnessed, that Henry "carried with him all the members of
+the upper counties and left a minority composed merely of the
+aristocracy." (Wirt, 71.) "The members, who, like himself [Henry],
+represented the yeomanry of the colony, were filled with admiration and
+delight." (Henry, i, 78.)
+
+[195] Wirt, 71. The incident, it appears, was considered closed with the
+defeat of the loan-office bill. Robinson having died, nothing further
+was done in the matter. For excellent condensed account see Eckenrode:
+_R. V._, 16-17.
+
+[196] Declaratory Resolutions.
+
+[197] For the incredible submission and indifference of the colonies
+before Patrick Henry's speech, see Henry, i, 63-67. The authorities
+given in those pages are conclusive.
+
+[198] _Ib._, 67.
+
+[199] _Ib._, 80-81.
+
+[200] _Ib._, 82-86.
+
+[201] Wirt, 74-76.
+
+[202] Eckenrode: _R. V._, 5-6.
+
+[203] "The members from the upper counties invariably supported Mr.
+Henry in his revolutionary measures." (Jefferson's statement to Daniel
+Webster, quoted in Henry, i, 87.)
+
+[204] Henry, i, 86.
+
+[205] Henry, i, 86, and authorities there cited in the footnote.
+
+[206] Misquoted in Wirt (79) as "500 guineas."
+
+[207] Jefferson to Wirt, Aug. 14, 1814; _Works_: Ford, xi, 404.
+
+[208] It is most unfortunate that the "ayes" and "noes" were not kept in
+the House of Burgesses. In the absence of such a record, Jefferson's
+repeated testimony that the up-country members voted and worked with
+Henry must be taken as conclusive of Thomas Marshall's vote. For not
+only was Marshall Burgess from a frontier county, but Jefferson, at the
+time he wrote to Wirt in 1814 (and gave the same account to others
+later), had become very bitter against the Marshalls and constantly
+attacked John Marshall whom he hated virulently. If Thomas Marshall had
+voted out of his class and against Henry, so remarkable a circumstance
+would surely have been mentioned by Jefferson, who never overlooked any
+circumstance unfavorable to an enemy. Far more positive evidence,
+however, is the fact that Washington, who was a Burgess, voted with
+Henry, as his letter to Francis Dandridge, Sept. 20, 1765, shows.
+(_Writings_: Ford, ii, 209.) And Thomas Marshall always acted with
+Washington.
+
+[209] "By these resolutions, Mr. Henry took the lead out of the hands of
+those who had heretofore guided the proceedings of the House."
+(Jefferson to Wirt, Aug. 14, 1814; _Works_: Ford, xi, 406.)
+
+[210] _Proceedings_, Va. Conv., 1775, March 20, 3; July 17, 3, 5, 7.
+
+[211] Henry, i, 255-61; Wirt, 117-19. Except Henry's speech itself,
+Wirt's summary of the arguments of the conservatives is much the best
+account of the opposition to Henry's fateful resolutions.
+
+[212] Wirt, 142; Henry, i, 261-66.
+
+[213] _Ib._, 271; and Wirt, 143.
+
+[214] In the absence of the positive proof afforded by a record of the
+"ayes" and "noes," Jefferson's testimony, Washington's vote, Thomas
+Marshall's tribute to Henry, and above all, the sentiment of the
+frontier county he represented, are conclusive testimony as to Thomas
+Marshall's stand in this all-important legislative battle which was the
+precursor of the iron conflict soon to come in which he bore so heroic a
+part. (See Humphrey Marshall, i, 344.)
+
+[215] Washington was appointed a member of the committee provided for in
+Henry's second resolution. (Henry, i, 271.)
+
+[216] Thomas Marshall had been ensign, lieutenant, and captain in the
+militia, had taken part in the Indian wars, and was a trained soldier.
+(Crozier: _Virginia Colonial Militia_, 96.)
+
+
+
+
+Chapter III
+
+A SOLDIER OF THE REVOLUTION
+
+    Our liberties are at stake. It is time to brighten our fire-arms
+    and learn to use them in the field. (Marshall to Culpeper Minute
+    Men, 1775.)
+
+    Our sick naked, and well naked, our unfortunate men in captivity
+    naked. (Washington, 1777.)
+
+    I have seen a regiment consisting of _thirty men_ and a company of
+    _one corporal_. (Von Steuben, 1778.)
+
+
+The fighting men of the up counties lost not a minute's time. Blood had
+been shed in New England; blood, they knew, must soon flow in Virginia.
+At once Culpeper, Orange, and Fauquier Counties arranged to raise a
+regiment of minute men with Lawrence Taliaferro of Orange as colonel,
+Edward Stevens of Culpeper as lieutenant, Thomas Marshall of Fauquier as
+major.[217] Out over the countryside went the word; and from mountain
+cabins and huts in forest clearings, from log abodes in secluded valleys
+and on primitive farms, the fighting yeomanry of northern Virginia came
+forth in answer.
+
+In the years between Patrick Henry's two epochal appeals in 1765 and
+1775, all Virginia, but particularly the back country, had been getting
+ready to make answer in terms of rifle and lead. "No man should scruple,
+or hesitate a moment, to use arms," wrote Washington in 1769.[218]
+Thomas Marshall's minister, Mr. Thompson, preached militant
+preparation; Parliament had deprived the colonists of "their just and
+legal rights" by acts which were "destructive of their liberties,"
+thundered the parson; it had "overawed the inhabitants by British
+troops," loaded "great hardships" upon the people, and "reduced the poor
+to great want." The preacher exhorted his flock "as men and Christians"
+to help "supply the country with arms and ammunition," and referred his
+hearers, for specific information, to "the committee of this
+county,"[219] whose head undoubtedly was their Burgess and leading
+vestryman of the parish, Thomas Marshall.
+
+When news of Concord and Lexington finally trickled through to upper
+Virginia, it found the men of her hills and mountains in grim readiness;
+and when, soon after, Henry's flaming words came to them, they were
+ready and eager to make those words good with their lives. John
+Marshall, of course, was one of the band of youths who had agreed to
+make up a company if trouble came. In May, 1775, these young
+frontiersmen were called together. Their captain did not come, and
+Marshall was appointed lieutenant, "instead of a better," as he modestly
+told his comrades. But, for his years, "a better" could not have been
+found; since 1773 John Marshall had received careful military
+instruction from his father.[220] Indeed, during the two years before
+his company took the field in actual warfare, the youth had devoted most
+of his time to preparing himself, by study and practice, for military
+service.[221] So these embryo warriors gathered about their leader to
+be told what to do.[222]
+
+Here we get the first glimpse of John Marshall's power over men. "He had
+come," the young officer informed his comrades of the backwoods, "to
+meet them as fellow soldiers, who were likely to be called on to defend
+their country." Their own "rights and liberties" were at stake. Their
+brothers in New England had fought and beaten the British; now "it is
+time to brighten our fire-arms and learn to use them in the field." He
+would show them how to do this. So the boys fell into line, and John
+Marshall, bringing his own gun to his shoulder, instructed them in the
+manual of arms. He first gave the words of command slowly and distinctly
+and then illustrated the movements with his own rifle so that every man
+of the company might clearly understand what each order meant and how to
+execute it. He then put the company through the drill.[223]
+
+On this muster field we learn how John Marshall looked in his nineteenth
+year. He was very tall, six feet at least, slender and erect. His
+complexion was dark, with a faint tinge of red. His face was
+round--"nearly a circle." His forehead was straight and low, and thick,
+strong, "raven black" hair covered his head. Intense eyes "dark to
+blackness,"[224] of compelling power, pierced the beholder while they
+reassured him by the good nature which shone from them. "He wore a
+purple or pale blue hunting-shirt, and trousers of the same material
+fringed with white."[225]
+
+At this point, too, we first learn of his bent for oratory. What his
+father told him about the debates in the House of Burgesses, the
+speeches of Wythe and Lee and Randolph, and above all, Patrick Henry;
+what he had dreamed and perhaps practiced in the silent forests and
+vacant fields, here now bore public fruit. When he thought that he had
+drilled his company enough for the time being, Marshall told them to
+fall out, and, if they wished to hear more about the war, to gather
+around him and he would make them a speech.[226] And make them a speech
+he did. Before his men the youthful lieutenant stood, in his hand his
+"round black hat mounted with a buck's tail for a cockade," and spoke to
+that company of country boys of the justice of their cause and of those
+larger things in life for which all true men are glad to die.
+
+"For something like an hour" he spoke, his round face glowing, the
+dormant lightning of his eye for the time unloosed. Lively words they
+were, we may be sure; for John Marshall was as ardent a patriot as the
+colonies could produce. He had learned the elementary truths of liberty
+in the school of the frontier; his soul was on fire with the burning
+words of Henry; and he poured forth his immature eloquence not to a
+company of peaceful theorists, but to a group of youths ready for the
+field. Its premises were freedom and independence; its conclusion was
+action. It was a battle speech.[227] This fact is very important to an
+understanding of John Marshall's character, and indeed of the blood that
+flowed in his veins. For, as we shall find, he was always on the firing
+line; the Marshall blood was fighting blood.[228]
+
+But it was not all labor of drill and toil of discipline, heroics of
+patriotic speech, or solemn preachments about duty, for the youths of
+John Marshall's company. If he was the most earnest, he was also, it
+seems, the jolliest person in the whole band; and this deserves especial
+note, for his humor was a quality which served not only the young
+soldier himself, but the cause for which he fought almost as well as his
+valor itself, in the martial years into which he was entering. Indeed
+this capacity for leavening the dough of serious purpose with the yeast
+of humor and diversion made John Marshall's entire personal life
+wholesome and nutritious. Jokes and fun were a part of him, as we shall
+see, whether in the army, at the bar, or on the bench.
+
+So when, the business of the day disposed of, Lieutenant Marshall
+challenged his sure-eyed, strong-limbed, swift-footed companions to a
+game of quoits, or to run a race, or to jump a pole, we find him
+practicing that sport and comradeship which, luckily for himself and his
+country, he never outgrew. Pitch quoits, then, these would-be soldiers
+did, and coursed their races, and vaulted high in their running
+jumps.[229] Faster than any of them could their commander run, with his
+long legs out-going and his powerful lungs out-winding the best of them.
+He could jump higher, too, than anybody else; and from this
+accomplishment he got his soldier nickname "Silver Heels" in
+Washington's army a year later.[230]
+
+The final muster of the Culpeper Minute Men was in "Major Clayton's old
+field" hard by the county seat[231] on September 1, 1775.[232] They were
+clad in the uniform of the frontier, which indeed was little different
+from their daily apparel. Fringed trousers often of deerskins, "strong
+brown linen hunting-shirts dyed with leaves, ... buck-tails in each hat,
+and a leather belt about the shoulders, with tomahawk and
+scalping-knife" made up their warlike costume.[233] By some
+preconcert,--an order perhaps from one of the three superior officers
+who had poetic as well as fighting blood in him,--the mothers and wives
+of this wilderness soldiery had worked on the breast of each
+hunting-shirt in large white letters the words "Liberty or Death,"[234]
+with which Patrick Henry had trumpeted the purpose of hitherto
+inarticulate America.
+
+Early in the autumn of 1775 came the expected call. Not long had the
+"shirt men,"[235] as they were styled, been drilling near the
+court-house of Culpeper County when an "express" came from Patrick
+Henry.[236] This was a rider from Williamsburg, mounting swift relays as
+he went, sometimes over the rough, miry, and hazardous roads, but mostly
+by the bridle paths which then were Virginia's principal highways of
+land travel. The "express" told of the threatening preparations of Lord
+Dunmore, then Royal Governor of Virginia, and bore Patrick Henry's
+command to march at once for the scene of action a hundred miles to the
+south.
+
+Instantly the Culpeper Minute Men were on the move. "We marched
+immediately," wrote one of them, "and in a few days were in
+Williamsburg." News of their coming went before them; and when the
+better-settled districts were reached, the inhabitants were in terror of
+them, for the Culpeper Minute Men were considered as "savage
+backwoodsmen" by the people of these older communities.[237] And indeed
+they must have looked the part, striding along armed to the teeth with
+the alarming weapons of the frontier,[238] clad in the rough but
+picturesque war costume of the backwoods, their long hair falling
+behind, untied and unqueued.
+
+When they reached Williamsburg half of the minute men were discharged,
+because they were not needed;[239] but the other half, marching under
+Colonel Woodford, met and beat the enemy at Great Bridge, in the first
+fight of the Revolution in Virginia, the first armed conflict with
+British soldiers in the colonies since Bunker Hill. In this small but
+bloody battle, Thomas Marshall and his son took part.[240]
+
+The country around Norfolk swarmed with Tories. Governor Dunmore had
+established martial law, proclaimed freedom of slaves, and summoned to
+the Royal standard everybody capable of bearing arms. He was busy
+fortifying Norfolk and mounting cannon upon the entrenchments. Hundreds
+of the newly emancipated negroes were laboring upon these
+fortifications. To keep back the patriots until this military work
+should be finished, the Governor, with a force of British regulars and
+all the fighting men whom he could gather, took up an almost impregnable
+position near Great Bridge, about twenty miles from Norfolk, "in a small
+fort on an oasis surrounded by a morass, not far from the Dismal Swamp,
+accessible on either side by a long causeway." Here Dunmore and the
+Loyalists awaited the Americans.[241]
+
+When the latter came up they made their camp "within gunshot of this
+post, in mud and mire, in a village at the southern end of the
+causeway." Across this the patriot volunteers threw a breastwork. But,
+having no cannon, they did not attack the British position. If only
+Dunmore would take the offensive, the Americans felt that they would
+win. Legend has it that through a stratagem of Thomas Marshall, the
+British assault was brought on. He instructed his servant to pretend to
+desert and mislead the Governor as to the numbers opposing him.
+Accordingly, Marshall's decoy sought the enemy's lines and told Dunmore
+that the insurgents numbered not more than three hundred. The Governor
+then ordered the British to charge and take the Virginians, "or die in
+the attempt."[242]
+
+"Between daybreak and sunrise," Captain Fordyce, leading his grenadiers
+six abreast, swept across the causeway upon the American breastworks.
+Marshall himself tells us of the fight. The shots of the sentinels
+roused the little camp and "the bravest ... rushed to the works," firing
+at will, to meet the British onset. The gallant Fordyce "fell dead
+within a few steps of the breastwork.... Every grenadier ... was killed
+or wounded; while the Americans did not lose a single man." Full one
+hundred of the British force laid down their lives that bloody December
+morning, among them four of the King's officers. Small as was this
+affair,--which was called "The Little Bunker Hill,"--it was more
+terrible than most military conflicts in loss of life in proportion to
+the numbers engaged.[243]
+
+This was John Marshall's first lesson[244] in warfare upon the field of
+battle. Also, the incidents of Great Bridge, and what went before and
+came immediately after, gave the fledgling soldier his earliest
+knowledge of that bickering and conflict of authority that for the next
+four years he was to witness and experience in far more shocking and
+dangerous guise.[245]
+
+Within a few months from the time he was haranguing his youthful
+companions in "Major Clayton's old field" in Culpeper County, John
+Marshall learned, in terms of blood and death and in the still more
+forbidding aspects of jealousy and dissension among the patriots
+themselves, that freedom and independence were not to be wooed and won
+merely by high-pitched enthusiasm or fervid speech. The young soldier in
+this brief time saw a flash of the great truth that liberty can be made
+a reality and then possessed only by men who are strong, courageous,
+unselfish, and wise enough to act unitedly as well as to fight bravely.
+He began to discern, though vaguely as yet, the supreme need of the
+organization of democracy.
+
+After the victory at Great Bridge, Marshall, with the Culpeper Minute
+Men, marched to Norfolk, where he witnessed the "American soldiers
+frequently amuse themselves by firing" into Dunmore's vessels in the
+harbor; saw the exasperated Governor imprudently retaliate by setting
+the town on fire; and beheld for "several weeks" the burning of
+Virginia's metropolis.[246] Marshall's battalion then marched to
+Suffolk, and was discharged in March, 1776.[247]
+
+With this experience of what war meant, John Marshall could have
+returned to the safety of Oak Hill and have spent, at that pleasant
+fireside, the red years that were to follow, as indeed so many in the
+colonies who then and after merely prated of liberty, actually did. But
+it was not in the Marshall nature to support a cause with lip service
+only. Father and son chose the sterner part; and John Marshall was now
+about to be schooled for four years by grim instructors in the knowledge
+that strong and orderly government is necessary to effective liberty. He
+was to learn, in a hard and bitter school, the danger of provincialism
+and the value of Nationality.
+
+Not for long did he tarry at the Fauquier County home; and not an
+instant did the father linger there. Thomas Marshall, while still
+serving with his command at Great Bridge, was appointed by the
+Legislature major of the Third Virginia Regiment; and at once entered
+the Continental service;[248] on July 30, 1776, four months after the
+Culpeper Minute Men, their work finished, had been disbanded by the new
+State, his son was commissioned lieutenant in the same regiment. The
+fringed hunting-shirt and leggings, the buck-tail headgear,
+scalping-knife, and tomahawk of the backwoods warrior now gave place to
+the buff and blue uniform, the three-cornered hat,[249] the sword, and
+the pistol of the Continental officer; and Major Thomas Marshall and his
+son, Lieutenant John Marshall, marched away to the north to join
+Washington, and under him to fight and suffer through four black and
+heart-breaking years of the Revolution.
+
+It is needful, here, to get clearly in our minds the state of the
+American army at this time. What particular year of the Revolution was
+darkest up almost to the victorious end, it is hard to say. Studying
+each year separately one historian will conclude that 1776 sounded the
+depths of gloom; another plumbs still greater despair at Valley Forge;
+still another will prove that the bottom was not reached until '79 or
+'80. And all of them appear to be right.[250]
+
+Even as early as January, 1776, when the war was new, and enthusiasm
+still warm, Washington wrote to the President of Congress, certain
+States having paid no attention to his application for arms: "I have, as
+the last expedient, sent one or two officers from each regiment into the
+country, with money to try if they can buy."[251] A little later he
+writes: "My situation has been such, that I have been obliged to use art
+to conceal it from my own officers."[252]
+
+Congress even placed some of Washington's little army under the
+direction of the Committee of Safety of New York; and Washington thus
+wrote to that committee: "I should be glad to know how far it is
+conceived that my powers over them [the soldiers] extend, or whether I
+have any at all. Sure I am that they cannot be subjected to the
+direction of both"[253] (the committee and himself).
+
+In September the Commander-in-Chief wrote to the President of Congress
+that the terms of enlistment of a large portion of the army were about
+to expire, and that it was direful work "to be forming armies
+constantly, and to be left by troops just when they begin to deserve the
+name, or perhaps at a moment when an important blow is expected."[254]
+
+Four days later Washington again told Congress, "beyond the possibility
+of doubt, ... unless some speedy and effectual measures are adopted by
+Congress, our cause will be lost."[255] On December 1, 1776, the army
+was "greatly reduced by the departure of the Maryland _Flying Camp_ men,
+and by sundry other causes."[256] A little afterwards General Greene
+wrote to Governor Cooke [of Rhode Island] that "two brigades left us at
+Brunswick, notwithstanding the enemy were within two hours' march and
+coming on."[257]
+
+Thirteen days before the Christmas night that Washington crossed the
+Delaware and struck the British at Trenton, the distressed American
+commander found that "our little handful is daily decreasing by sickness
+and other causes."[258] And the very day before that brilliant exploit,
+Washington was compelled to report that "but very few of the men have
+[re]enlisted" because of "their wishes to return home, the
+nonappointment of officers in some instances, the turning out of good
+and appointing of bad in others, and the incomplete or rather no
+arrangement of them, a work unhappily committed to the management of
+their States; nor have I the most distant prospect of retaining them ...
+notwithstanding the most pressing solicitations and the obvious
+necessity for it." Washington informed Reed that he was left with only
+"fourteen to fifteen hundred effective men. This handful and such
+militia as may choose to join me will then compose our army."[259] Such
+was American patriotic efficiency, as exhibited by "State Sovereignty,"
+the day before the dramatic crossing of the Delaware.
+
+A month earlier the general of this assemblage of shreds and patches had
+been forced to beg the various States for militia in order to get in "a
+number of men, if possible, to keep up the appearance of our army."[260]
+And he writes to his brother Augustine of his grief and surprise to find
+"the different States so slow and inattentive.... In ten days from this
+date there will not be above two thousand men, if that number, of the
+fixed established regiments, ... to oppose Howe's whole army."[261]
+
+Throughout the war, the neglect and ineffectiveness of the States, even
+more than the humiliating powerlessness of Congress, time and again all
+but lost the American cause. The State militia came and went almost at
+will. "The impulse for going home was so irresistible, that it answered
+no purpose to oppose it. Though I would not discharge them," testifies
+Washington, "I have been obliged to acquiesce, and it affords one more
+melancholy proof, how delusive such dependencies [State controlled
+troops] are."[262]
+
+"The Dependence, which the Congress have placed upon the militia," the
+distracted general complains to his brother, "has already greatly
+injured, and I fear will totally ruin our cause. Being subject to no
+controul themselves, they introduce disorder among the troops, whom you
+have attempted to discipline, while the change in their living brings on
+sickness; this makes them Impatient to get home, which spreads
+universally, and introduces abominable desertions. In short, it is not
+in the power of words to describe the task I have to act."[263]
+
+Nor was this the worst. Washington thus pours out his soul to his
+nephew: "Great bodies of militia in pay that never were in camp; ...
+immense quantities of provisions drawn by men that never rendered ...
+one hour's service ... every kind of military [discipline] destroyed by
+them.... They [the militia] come without any conveniences and soon
+return. I discharged a regiment the other day that had in it fourteen
+rank and file fit for duty only.... The subject ... is not a fit one to
+be publicly known or discussed.... I am wearied to death all day ... at
+the conduct of the militia, whose behavior and want of discipline has
+done great injury to the other troops, who never had officers, except in
+a few instances, worth the bread they eat."[264]
+
+Conditions did not improve in the following year, for we find Washington
+again writing to his brother of "militia, who are here today and gone
+tomorrow--whose way, like the ways of [Pr]ovidence, are almost
+inscrutable."[265] Baron von Steuben testifies thus: "The eternal ebb
+and flow of men ... who went and came every day, rendered it impossible
+to have either a regiment or company complete.... I have seen a regiment
+consisting of _thirty men_ and a company of _one corporal_."[266] Even
+Thomas Paine, the arch-enemy of anything resembling a regular or
+"standing" army, finally declared that militia "will not do for a long
+campaign."[267] Marshall thus describes the predicament in which
+Washington was placed by the inconstancy of this will-o'-the-wisp
+soldiery: "He was often abandoned by bodies of militia, before their
+places were filled by others.... The soldiers carried off arms and
+blankets."[268]
+
+Bad as the militia were,[269] the States did not keep up even this
+happy-go-lucky branch of the army. "It is a matter of astonishment,"
+savagely wrote Washington to the President of Pennsylvania, two months
+before Valley Forge, "to every part of the continent, to hear that
+Pennsylvania, the most opulent and populous of all the States, has but
+twelve hundred militia in the field, at a time when the enemy are
+endeavoring to make themselves completely masters of, and to fix their
+winter quarters in, her capital."[270] Even in the Continental line, it
+appears, Pennsylvania's quota had "never been above one third full; and
+now many of them are far below even that."[271]
+
+Washington's wrath at Pennsylvania fairly blazed at this time, and the
+next day he wrote to Augustine Washington that "this State acts most
+infamously, the People of it, I mean, as we derive little or no
+assistance from them.... They are in a manner, totally disaffected or in
+a kind of Lethargy."[272]
+
+The head of the American forces was not the only patriot officer to
+complain. "The Pennsylvania Associators [militia] ... are deserting ...
+notwithstanding the most spirited exertions of their officers," reported
+General Livingston in the midsummer of 1776.[273] General Lincoln and
+the Massachusetts Committee tried hard to keep the militia of the Bay
+State from going home; but, moaned Lee, "whether they will succeed,
+Heaven only knows."[274]
+
+General Sullivan determined to quit the service because of abuse and
+ill-treatment.[275] For the same reason Schuyler proposed to
+resign.[276] These were not examples of pique; they denoted a general
+sentiment among officers who, in addition to their sufferings, beheld
+their future through none too darkened glasses. They "not only have the
+Mortification to See every thing live except themselves," wrote one
+minor officer in 1778, "but they see their private fortune wasting away
+to make fat those very Miscreants [speculators] ... they See their
+Country ... refuse to make any future provision for them, or even to
+give them the Necessary Supplies."[277]
+
+Thousands of the Continentals were often practically naked; Chastellux
+found several hundred in an invalid camp, not because they were ill, but
+because "they were not covered even with rags."[278] "Our sick naked,
+and well naked, our unfortunate men in captivity naked"! wailed
+Washington in 1777.[279] Two days before Christmas of that year he
+informed Congress that, of the force then under his immediate command,
+nearly three thousand were "barefoot and otherwise naked."[280] Sickness
+was general and appalling. Smallpox raged throughout the army even from
+the first.[281] "The Regimental Surgeons are immediately to make
+returns ... of all the men in their Regiments, who have not had the
+small Pox,"[282] read the orders of the day just after New Year's Day,
+in 1778.
+
+Six years after Concord and Lexington, three hundred American soldiers,
+in a body, wished to join the British.[283] Stern measures were taken to
+prevent desertion and dishonesty and even to enforce the most ordinary
+duties of soldiers. "In the afternoon three of our reg^t were
+flogged;--2 of them received one hundred lashes apiece for attempting to
+desert; the other received 80 for enlisting twice and taking two
+bounties,"[284] Wild coolly enters in his diary. And again: "This
+afternoon one of our men was hanged on the grand parade for attempting
+to desert to the enemy";[285] and "at 6 ock P.M. a soldier of Col.
+Gimatts Battalion was hanged."
+
+Sleeping on duty meant "Twenty Lashes on ... [the] bare back" of the
+careless sentry.[286] A soldier convicted of "getting drunk & losing his
+Arms" was "Sentenc'd to receive 100 Lashes on his bare back, & pay for
+his Arms lost."[287] A man who, in action, "turns his back on the Enemy"
+was ordered to be "instantly put ... to Death" by the officers.[288] At
+Yorktown in May, 1781, Wayne ordered a platoon to fire on twelve
+soldiers who were persuading their comrades not to march; six were
+killed and one wounded, who was, by Wayne's command, enforced by a
+cocked pistol, then finished with the bayonet thrust into the prostrate
+soldier by a comrade.[289]
+
+Such was the rough handling practiced in the scanty and ill-treated army
+of individualists which Washington made shift to rally to the patriot
+colors.[290] It was not an encouraging omen. But blacker still was the
+disorganizing effect of local control of the various "State Lines" which
+the pompous authority of the newborn "sovereign and independent"
+Commonwealths asserted.[291]
+
+Into this desperate confusion came the young Virginia lieutenant. Was
+this the manner of liberty? Was this the way a people fighting for their
+freedom confronted their enemy? The dreams he had dreamed, the visions
+he had seen back in his Virginia mountains were clad in glories as
+enchanting as the splendors of their tree-clad summits at break of
+day--dreams and visions for which strong men should be glad of the
+privilege of dying if thereby they might be won as realities for all the
+people. And indeed at this time, and in the even deadlier days that
+followed, young John Marshall found strong men by his side willing to
+die and to go through worse than death to make their great dream come
+true.
+
+But why thus decrepit, the organization called the American army? Why
+this want of food even for such of the soldiers as were willing and
+eager to fight for their country? Why this scanty supply of arms? Why
+this avoidable sickness, this needless suffering, this frightful waste?
+What was the matter? Something surely was at fault. It must be in the
+power that assumed to direct the patriot army. But whence came that
+power? From Congress? No. Congress had no power; after a while, it did
+not even have influence. From the States? Yes; that was its
+source--there was plenty of power in the States.
+
+But what kind of power, and how displayed? One State did one thing;
+another State did another thing.[292] One State clothed its troops well;
+another sent no supplies at all.[293] One regiment of Maryland militia
+had no shirts and the men wrapped blankets about their bare bodies.[294]
+One day State troops would come into camp, and the next day leave. How
+could war be conducted, how could battles be fought and won, through
+such freakish, uncertain power as that?
+
+But how could this vaunted liberty, which orators had proclaimed and
+which Lieutenant Marshall himself had lauded to his frontier companions
+in arms, be achieved except by a well-organized army, equipped,
+supplied, and directed by a competent central Government? This was the
+talk common among the soldiers of the Continental establishment in which
+John Marshall was a lieutenant. In less than two years after he entered
+the regular service, even officers, driven to madness and despair by the
+pusillanimous weakness of Congress, openly denounced that body; and the
+soldiers themselves, who saw their wounds and sufferings coming to
+naught, cursed that sham and mockery which the jealousy and shallowness
+of State provincialism had set up in place of a National
+Government.[295]
+
+All through the latter half of 1776, Lieutenant Marshall of the Third
+Virginia Regiment marched, suffered, retreated and advanced, and
+performed his duties without complaint. He did more. At this time, when,
+to keep up the sinking spirits of the men was almost as important as was
+ammunition, young Marshall was the soul of good humor and of cheer; and
+we shall find him in a few months heartening his starving and freezing
+comrades at Valley Forge with quip and jest, a center from which
+radiated good temper and a hopeful and happy warmth. When in camp
+Marshall was always for some game or sport, which he played with
+infinite zest. He was the best quoit-thrower in the regiment. His long
+legs left the others behind in foot-races or jumping contests.
+
+So well did he perform his work, so highly did he impress his superior
+officers, that, early in December, 1776, he was promoted to be
+captain-lieutenant, to rank from July 31, and transferred to the
+Fifteenth Virginia Line.[296] Thus he missed the glory of being one of
+that immortal company which on Christmas night, 1776, crossed the
+Delaware with Washington and fell upon the British at Trenton. His
+father, Major Thomas Marshall, shared in that renown;[297] but the days
+ahead held for John Marshall his share of fighting in actual battle.
+
+Sick, ill-fed, dirty, and ragged, but with a steady nucleus of regular
+troops as devoted to their great commander as they were disgusted with
+the hybrid arrangement between the States and Congress, Washington's
+army worried along. Two months before the battle of the Brandywine, the
+American General informed the Committee of Congress that "no army was
+ever worse supplied than ours ... our Soldiers, the greatest part of
+last Campaign, and the whole of this, have scarcely tasted any kind of
+Vegetables; had but little salt and Vinegar." He told of the "many
+putrid diseases incident to the Army, and the lamentable mortality,"
+which this neglect of soldiers in the field had caused. "Soap," says he,
+"is another article in great demand," but not to be had. He adds,
+sarcastically: "A soldier's pay will not enable him to purchase [soap]
+by which his ... consequent dirtiness adds not a little to the disease
+of the Army."[298]
+
+Such was the army of which John Marshall was a part when it prepared to
+meet the well-fed, properly clad, adequately equipped British veterans
+under Howe who had invaded Pennsylvania. Even with such a force
+Washington felt it necessary to make an impression on disaffected[299]
+Philadelphia, and, for that purpose, marched through the city on his way
+to confront the enemy. For it was generally believed that the American
+army was as small in numbers[300] as it was wretched in equipment. A
+parade of eleven thousand men[301] through the Tory-infested metropolis
+would, Washington hoped, hearten patriot sympathizers and encourage
+Congress. He took pains that his troops should make the best appearance
+possible. Arms were scoured and the men wore sprigs of green in their
+headgear. Among the orders for the march through the seat of government
+it was directed: "If any Sold^r. shall dare to quit his ranks He shall
+receive 39 Lashes at the first halting place afterwards.... Not a
+Woman[302] belonging to the Army is to be seen with the troops on their
+March through the City."[303]
+
+The Americans soon came in contact with the enemy and harassed him as
+much as possible. Many of Washington's men had no guns. Although fewer
+militia came to his aid than Congress had called for, testifies
+Marshall, yet "more appeared than could be armed. Those nearest danger
+were, as usual, most slow in assembling."[304]
+
+Upon Wayne's suggestion, Washington formed "a corps of light infantry
+consisting of nine officers, eight sergeants, and a hundred rank and
+file, from each brigade" and placed them under the command of General
+Maxwell who had acquired a reputation as a hard fighter.[305] Among
+these picked officers was Captain-Lieutenant John Marshall. Maxwell's
+command was thrown forward to Iron Hill. "A choice body of men" was
+detailed from this select light infantry and, during the night, was
+posted on the road along which it was believed one column of the British
+army would advance. The small body of Americans had no artillery and its
+only purpose was to annoy the enemy and retard his progress. The British
+under Cornwallis attacked as soon as they discovered Maxwell's troops.
+The Americans quickly were forced to retreat, having lost forty killed
+and wounded. Only three of the British were killed and but nineteen were
+wounded.[306]
+
+This action was the first engagement in which Marshall took part after
+the battle of Great Bridge. It is important only as fixing the command
+to which he was assigned. Marshall told Justice Story that he was in the
+Iron Hill fight;[307] and it is certain, therefore, that he was in
+Maxwell's light infantry and one of the little band picked from that
+body of choice troops, for the perilous and discouraging task of
+checking the oncoming British thousands.
+
+The American army retreated to the Brandywine, where on the 9th of
+September Washington stationed all his forces except the light infantry
+on the left of the river. The position was skillfully chosen, but vague
+and conflicting reports[308] of the movement of the British finally
+resulted in American disaster.
+
+The light infantry was posted among the hills on the right of the stream
+along the road leading to Chadd's Ford, in order to skirmish with the
+British when they approached, and, if possible, prevent them from
+crossing the river. But the enemy, without much effort, drove the
+Americans across the Brandywine, neither side suffering much loss.[309]
+
+Washington now made his final dispositions for battle. The command to
+which Marshall belonged, together with other detachments under the
+general direction of Anthony Wayne, were placed opposite the British at
+Chadd's Ford. Small parties of selected men crossed over and attacked
+the British on the other side of the stream. In one of these skirmishes
+the Americans "killed a British captain with ten or fifteen privates,
+drove them out of the wood and were on the point of taking a field
+piece." But large numbers of the enemy hurried forward and again the
+Americans were thrown across the river. Marshall was in this party.[310]
+
+Thomas Marshall, now colonel,[311] held the advanced position under
+Sullivan at the right; and his regiment did the hardest fighting and
+suffered the heaviest losses on that unhappy day. When Cornwallis, in
+greatly superior numbers, suddenly poured down upon Sullivan's division,
+he all but surprised the Continentals and drove most of them flying
+before him;[312] but Colonel Marshall and his Virginians refused to be
+stampeded. That regiment "maintained its position without losing an
+inch of ground until both its flanks were turned, its ammunition nearly
+expended, and more than half the officers and one third of the soldiers
+were killed and wounded."[313] Colonel Marshall had two horses shot
+under him. But, cut to pieces as they were, no panic appeared in this
+superb Virginia command and they "retired in good order."[314]
+
+While Thomas Marshall and his Third Virginia Line were thus checking
+Cornwallis's assault on the right, the British charged, in dense masses,
+across the Brandywine, at Chadd's Ford, upon Wayne's division, to which
+Captain-Lieutenant John Marshall had been assigned. The Americans made a
+show of resistance, but, learning of the rout of their right wing,
+quickly gave way.[315]
+
+"Nearly six hundred British ... were killed or wounded; and the
+Americans lost eleven pieces of artillery and above a thousand men, of
+whom the third part were prisoners," according to the British
+statement.[316] And by their own account the Americans lost three
+hundred killed, six hundred wounded, and between three and four hundred
+prisoners.[317]
+
+Both British and American narratives agree that the conduct of the
+Continental troops at Brandywine was most unequal in stanchness,
+discipline, and, courage. John Marshall himself wrote: "As must ever be
+the case in new-raised armies, unused to danger and from which
+undeserving officers have not been expelled, their conduct was not
+uniform. Some regiments, especially those which had served the preceding
+campaign, maintained their ground with the firmness and intrepidity of
+veterans, while others gave way as soon as they were pressed."[318]
+
+But the inefficiency of the American equipment gave some excuse for the
+fright that seized upon so many of them. For, testifies Marshall, "many
+of their muskets were scarcely fit for service; and being of unequal
+caliber, their cartridges could not be so well fitted, and consequently,
+their fire could not do as much execution as that of the enemy. This
+radical defect was felt in all the operations of the army."[319]
+
+So ended the battle of the Brandywine, the third formal armed conflict
+in which John Marshall took part. He had been in skirmish after
+skirmish, and in all of them had shown the characteristic Marshall
+coolness and courage, which both father and son exhibited in such
+striking fashion on this September day on the field where Lafayette
+fell wounded, and where the patriot forces reeled back under the all
+but fatal blows of the well-directed British regiments.[320]
+
+It is small wonder that the Americans were beaten in the battle of the
+Brandywine; indeed, the wonder is that the British did not follow up
+their victory and entirely wipe out the opposing patriots. But it is
+astonishing that the American army kept up heart. They were even "in
+good spirits" as Washington got them in hand and directed their
+retreat.[321]
+
+They were pretty well scattered, however, and many small parties and
+numerous stragglers were left behind. Maxwell's men, among whom was John
+Marshall, were stationed at Chester as "a rallying point" for the
+fragments which otherwise would disperse or be captured. Much
+maneuvering followed by both British and Americans. At sight of a
+detachment of the enemy approaching Wilmington, the Delaware militia
+"dispersed themselves," says Marshall.[322] Soon the two armies again
+faced one another. Marshall thus describes the situation: "The advanced
+parties had met, and were beginning to skirmish, when they were
+separated by a heavy rain, which, becoming more and more violent,
+rendered the retreat of the Americans a measure of absolute
+necessity."[323]
+
+Through a cold and blinding downpour, over roads deep with mud,
+Captain-Lieutenant Marshall marched with his retreating comrades. All
+day they struggled forward, and nearly all night. They had no time to
+eat and little or no food, even if they had had the time. Before the
+break of a gray, cold, rainy September dawn, a halt was called, and an
+examination made of arms and ammunition. "Scarcely a musket in a
+regiment could be discharged," Marshall records, "and scarcely one
+cartridge in a box was fit for use," although "forty rounds per man had
+just been drawn"--this because the cartridge boxes had been ill-made and
+of improper material.
+
+Gun locks were loose, declares Marshall, because flimsily put on; the
+muskets were scarcely better than clubs. Hardly any of the soldiers had
+bayonets.[324] "Never" had the patriot army been "in such imminent
+peril," he asserts--and all because of the inefficiency or worse of the
+method of supplies. Well might Washington's dilapidated troops thank
+Providence for the bitter weather that drenched through and through both
+officers and men and soaked their ammunition, for "the extreme severity
+of the weather had entirely stopped the British army."[325]
+
+Yet Washington was determined to block the British march on
+Philadelphia. He made shift to secure some fresh ammunition[326] and
+twice moved his army to get in front of the enemy or, failing in that,
+"to keep pace with them."[327] To check their too rapid advance
+Washington detached the troops under Wayne, among whom was John
+Marshall.[328] They found the "country was so extensively disaffected
+that Sir William Howe received accurate accounts of his [Wayne's]
+position and of his force. Major-General Grey was detached to surprise
+him [Wayne] and effectually accomplished his purpose." At eleven o'clock
+at night Grey drove in Wayne's pickets with charged bayonets, and in a
+desperate midnight encounter killed and wounded one hundred and fifty of
+his men.[329] General Smallwood, who was to have supported Wayne, was
+less than a mile away, but his militia, who, writes Marshall, "thought
+only of their own safety, having fallen in with a party returning from
+the pursuit of Wayne, fled in confusion with the loss of only one
+man."[330]
+
+Another example, this, before John Marshall's eyes, of the unreliability
+of State-controlled troops;[331] one more paragraph in the chapter of
+fatal inefficiency of the so-called Government of the so-called United
+States. Day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year, these
+object lessons were witnessed by the young Virginia officer. They made
+a lifelong impression upon him and had an immediate effect. More and
+more he came to depend on Washington, as indeed the whole army did also,
+for all things which should have come from the Government itself.
+
+Once again the American commander sought to intercept the British, but
+they escaped "by a variety of perplexing maneuvers," writes Washington,
+"thro' a Country from which I could not derive the least intelligence
+(being to a man disaffected)" and "marched immediately toward
+Philadelphia."[332] For the moment Washington could not follow,
+although, declares Marshall, "public opinion" was demanding and Congress
+insisting that one more blow be struck to save Philadelphia.[333] His
+forces were not yet united; his troops utterly exhausted.
+
+Marching through heavy mud, wading streams, drenched by torrential
+rains, sleeping on the sodden ground "without tents ... without shoes
+or ... clothes ... without fire ... without food,"[334] to use
+Marshall's striking language, the Americans were in no condition to
+fight the superior forces of the well-found British. "At least one
+thousand men are bare-footed and have performed the marches in that
+condition," Washington informed the impatient Congress.[335] He did his
+utmost; that brilliant officer, Alexander Hamilton, was never so
+efficient; but nearly all that could be accomplished was to remove the
+military stores at Philadelphia up the Delaware farther from the
+approaching British, but also farther from the American army.
+Philadelphia itself "seemed asleep, or dead, and the whole State scarce
+alive. Maryland and Delaware the same," wrote John Adams in his
+diary.[336]
+
+So the British occupied the Capital, placing most of their forces about
+Germantown. Congress, frightened and complaining, fled to York. The
+members of that august body, even before the British drove them from
+their cozy quarters, felt that "the prospect is chilling on every side;
+gloomy, dark, melancholy and dispiriting."[337] Would Washington never
+strike? Their impatience was to be relieved. The American commander had,
+by some miracle, procured munitions and put the muskets of his troops in
+a sort of serviceable order; and he felt that a surprise upon Germantown
+might succeed. He planned his attack admirably, as the British
+afterwards conceded.[338] In the twilight of a chilling October day,
+Washington gave orders to begin the advance.
+
+Throughout the night the army marched, and in the early morning[339] the
+three divisions into which the American force was divided threw
+themselves upon the British within brief intervals of time. All went
+well at first. Within about half an hour after Sullivan and Wayne had
+engaged the British left wing, the American left wing, to which John
+Marshall was now attached,[340] attacked the front of the British right
+wing, driving that part of the enemy from the ground. With battle shouts
+Marshall and his comrades under General Woodford charged the retreating
+British. Then it was that a small force of the enemy took possession of
+the Chew House and poured a murderous hail of lead into the huzzaing
+American ranks. This saved the day for the Royal force and turned an
+American victory into defeat.[341]
+
+It was a dramatic struggle in which John Marshall that day took part.
+Fighting desperately beside them, he saw his comrades fall in heaps
+around him as they strove to take the fiercely defended stone house of
+the Tory Judge. A fog came up so thick that the various divisions could
+see but a little way before them. The dun smoke from burning hay and
+fields of stubble, to which the British had set fire, made thicker the
+murk until the Americans fighting from three different points could not
+tell friend from foe.[342] For a while their fire was directed only by
+the flash from what they thought must be the guns of the enemy.[343]
+
+The rattle of musketry and roar of cannon was like "the crackling of
+thorns under a pot, and incessant peals of thunder," wrote an American
+officer in an attempt to describe the battle in a letter to his
+relatives at home.[344] Through it all, the Americans kept up their
+cheering until, as they fought, the defeat was plain to the most
+audacious of them; and retreat, with which they had grown so familiar,
+once more began. For nine miles the British pursued them, the road
+stained with blood from the beaten patriots.[345] Nearly a thousand of
+Washington's soldiers were killed or wounded, and over four hundred were
+made prisoners on that ill-fated day, while the British loss was less
+than half these numbers.[346]
+
+Two months of service followed, as hard as the many gone before with
+which Fate had blackened the calendar of the patriot cause. Washington
+was frantically urged to "storm" Philadelphia: Congress wished it; a
+"torrent of public opinion" demanded it; even some of Washington's
+officers were carried off their feet and advised "the mad enterprise,"
+to use Marshall's warm description of the pressure upon his
+commander.[347] The depreciation of the Continental paper money, the
+increasing disaffection of the people, the desperate plight of American
+fortunes, were advanced as reasons for a "grand effort" to remedy the
+ruinous situation. Washington was immovable, and his best officers
+sustained him. Risking his army's destruction was not the way to stop
+depreciation of the currency, said Washington; its value had fallen for
+want of taxes to sustain it and could be raised only by their levy.[348]
+And "the corruption and defection of the people, and their unwillingness
+to serve in the army of the United States, were evils which would be
+very greatly increased by an unsuccessful attempt on Philadelphia."[349]
+
+So black grew American prospects that secret sympathizers with the
+British became open in their advocacy of the abandonment of the
+Revolution. A Philadelphia Episcopal rector, who had been chaplain of
+Congress, wrote Washington that the patriot cause was lost and besought
+him to give up the struggle. "The most respectable characters" had
+abandoned the cause of independence, said Duché. Look at Congress. Its
+members were "obscure" and "distinguished for the weakness of their
+understandings and the violence of their tempers ... chosen by a little,
+low, faction.... Tis you ... only that support them." And the army! "The
+whole world knows that its only existence depends on you." Consider the
+situation: "Your harbors are blocked up, your cities fall one after the
+other; fortress after fortress, battle after battle is lost.... How
+fruitless the expense of blood!" Washington alone can end it. Humanity
+calls upon him to do so; and if he heeds that call his character "will
+appear with lustre in the annals of history."[350] Deeply offended,
+Washington sent the letter to Congress, which, however, continued to
+find fault with him and to urge an attack upon the British in the
+Capital.
+
+Although Washington refused to throw his worn and hungry troops upon the
+perfectly prepared and victorious enemy entrenched in Philadelphia, he
+was eager to meet the British in the open field. But he must choose the
+place. So when, early in December, Howe's army marched out of
+Philadelphia the Americans were ready. Washington had taken a strong
+position on some hills toward the Schuylkill not far from White Marsh.
+After much maneuvering by the British and effective skirmishing by
+detachments of the patriots,[351] the two armies came into close
+contact. Not more than a mile away shone the scarlet uniforms of the
+Royal troops. Washington refused to be lured from his advantageous
+ground.[352] Apparently the British were about to attack and a decisive
+battle to be fought. After Brandywine and Germantown, another defeat
+would have been ruinous.
+
+Washington personally animated his men. Marshall, who witnessed it, thus
+describes the scene: "The American chief rode through every brigade of
+his army, delivering, in person, his orders respecting the manner of
+receiving the enemy, exhorting his troops to rely principally on the
+bayonet, and encouraging them by the steady firmness of his countenance,
+as well as by his words, to a vigorous performance of their duty."[353]
+
+These words make one see, as one reads, the great Virginian in his
+noblest aspect--calm in the face of possible disaster, his spirit
+burning brightest on the very fuel of danger itself, his clear mind
+unclouded by what was likely to befall.
+
+Each division, each regiment, each company, was given plain and
+practical orders for the expected conflict. And we may be sure that each
+man, private as well as officer, took heart as he looked upon the giant
+figure and listened to the steady directions and undismayed
+encouragement of his chief. Certain it is that John Marshall so felt and
+thought. A rare picture, this, full of life and color, that permits us
+to behold the growth in the young soldier's soul of that faith in and
+devotion to George Washington, seeds of which had been planted in his
+childhood days in the Blue Ridge home.
+
+Finally the British, seeing the resolute front of the Americans and
+already bleeding from the fierce thrusts of Morgan's Virginia riflemen,
+suddenly withdrew to Philadelphia,[354] and Washington's army went into
+winter quarters on the hills of Valley Forge.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[217] Slaughter, 107-08. This was "the first minute battalion raised
+within this Commonwealth." (Memorial of Thomas Marshall to the Virginia
+Legislature for military "emoluments"; MS. Archives, Va. St. Lib.)
+Appendix IV.
+
+[218] Washington to Mason, April 5, 1769; _Writings_: Ford, ii, 263.
+
+[219] Meade, ii, 219.
+
+[220] Binney, in Dillon, iii, 286.
+
+[221] _Ib._
+
+[222] Statement of eye-witness. (Binney, in Dillon, iii, 287.)
+
+[223] _Ib._, 288.
+
+[224] In all descriptions of Marshall, it is stated that his eyes were
+black and brilliant. His portraits, however, show them as dark brown,
+but keen and piercing.
+
+[225] Binney, in Dillon, iii, 287-88.
+
+[226] _Ib._
+
+[227] Binney, in Dillon, iii, 288.
+
+[228] Not only do we find Marshalls, father and sons, taking gallant
+part in the Revolutionary War, but, thereafter, advocates of war with
+any country when the honor or interest of America was at stake.
+
+[229] Binney, in Dillon, iii, 288.
+
+[230] _Infra_, chap. IV.
+
+[231] Slaughter, 107-08. But Binney's informant says that it was twenty
+miles from the court-house. (Binney, in Dillon, iii, 286.)
+
+[232] Slaughter, 107-08; and certificate of J. Marshall in pension claim
+of William Payne; MSS. Rev. War, S. F. no. 8938-1/2, Pension Bureau.
+
+[233] Slaughter, 107-08.
+
+[234] _Ib._
+
+[235] Campbell, 607-14.
+
+[236] Slaughter, 107-08; certificate of J. Marshall in pension claim of
+David Jameson; MSS. Rev. War, S. F. no. 5607, Pension Bureau.
+
+[237] Only the Tories and the disaffected were frightened by these
+back-countrymen. Apparently Slaughter took this for granted and failed
+to make the distinction.
+
+[238] "The people hearing that we came from the backwoods, and seeing
+our savage-looking equipments, seemed as much afraid of us as if we had
+been Indians," writes the chronicler of that march. But the people, it
+appears, soon got over their fright; for this frontier soldiery, as one
+of them relates, "took pride in demeaning ourselves as patriots and
+gentlemen, and the people soon treated us with respect and great
+kindness." (Slaughter, 107-08.)
+
+[239] Slaughter, 107-08.
+
+[240] _Ib._
+
+[241] Campbell, 633-34; Eckenrode: _R. V._, 81, 82.
+
+[242] Burk, iv, 85; and Lossing, ii, 535-36.
+
+[243] Marshall, i, 69; and Campbell, 635.
+
+[244] Marshall to Samuel Templeman, Richmond, Sept. 26, 1832, supporting
+latter's claim for pension; MSS. Rev. War, S. F. no. 6204, Pension
+Bureau.
+
+[245] For the conduct of the men then in supreme authority in Virginia
+see Wirt, 166-81; and Henry, i, 333-36; also, Campbell, 636 _et seq._;
+and see Eckenrode: _R. V._, 75.
+
+[246] Marshall, i, 69; and see Eckenrode: _R. V._, chap. iii, for the
+best account that has been given of this important episode. Dr.
+Eckenrode's narrative is a complete statement, from original sources, of
+every phase of this initial armed conflict between the patriots and
+Royalists in Virginia. Also see affidavit of Marshall in pension claim
+of William Payne, April 26, 1832; MSS. Rev. War, S. F. no. 8938-1/2,
+Pension Bureau.
+
+[247] Affidavit of Marshall in pension claim of William Payne, April 26,
+1832: MSS. Rev. War, S. F. no. 8938-1/2, Pension Bureau.
+
+[248] Memorial of Thomas Marshall. (_Supra_, and Appendix IV.)
+
+[249] This uniform was rare; it is probable, however, that Thomas
+Marshall procured it for himself and son. He could afford it at that
+time, and he was a very proud man.
+
+[250] Chastellux found the army nearly disbanded from necessity in 1782.
+(Chastellux, translator's note to 60.)
+
+[251] Washington to President of Congress, Jan. 24, 1776; _Writings_:
+Ford, iii, 372-73.
+
+[252] Washington to Reed, Feb. 10, 1776; _ib._, 413.
+
+[253] Washington to Committee of Safety of New York, April 27, 1776;
+_Writings_: Ford, iv, 51-52.
+
+[254] Washington to President of Congress, Sept. 20, 1776; _ib._, 422.
+
+[255] Washington to President of Congress, Sept. 24, 1776; _ib._, 439.
+
+[256] Washington to Major-General Lee, Dec. 1, 1776; _ib._, V, 62.
+
+[257] General Greene to Governor Cooke, Dec. 4, 1776; _ib._, footnote to
+62.
+
+[258] Washington to President of Congress, Dec. 12, 1776; _Writings_:
+Ford, v, 84.
+
+[259] Washington to President of Congress, Dec. 24, 1776; _ib._, 129-30.
+While Washington was desperately badly off, he exaggerates somewhat in
+this despondent report, as Mr. Ford's footnote (_ib._, 130) shows.
+
+[260] Washington to President of Congress, Nov. 11, 1776; _ib._, 19.
+
+[261] Washington to John Augustine Washington, Nov. 19, 1776;
+_Writings_: Ford, v, 38-39.
+
+[262] Washington to President of Congress, Sept. 8, 1776; _ib._, iv,
+397.
+
+[263] Washington to John Augustine Washington, Sept. 22, 1776; _ib._,
+429.
+
+[264] Washington to Lund Washington, Sept. 30, 1776; _Writings_: Ford,
+iv, 457-59.
+
+[265] Washington to John Augustine Washington, Feb. 24, 1777; _ib._, v,
+252. The militia officers were elected "without respect either to
+service or experience." (Chastellux, 235.)
+
+[266] Kapp, 115.
+
+[267] _The Crisis_: Paine; _Writings_: Conway, i, 175.
+
+[268] Marshall (1st ed.), iii, 66.
+
+[269] The militia were worse than wasteful and unmanageable; they
+deserted by companies. (Hatch, 72-73.)
+
+[270] Washington to Wharton, Oct. 17, 1777: _Writings_: Ford, vi,
+118-19.
+
+[271] _Ib._
+
+[272] Washington to John Augustine Washington, Oct. 18, 1777; _ib._,
+126-29.
+
+[273] Livingston to Washington, Aug. 12, 1776; _Cor. Rev._: Sparks, i,
+275.
+
+[274] Lee to Washington, Nov. 12, 1776; _ib._, 305.
+
+[275] Sullivan to Washington, March 7, 1777; _ib._, 353-54.
+
+[276] Schuyler to Washington, Sept. 9. 1776; _ib._, 287.
+
+[277] Smith to McHenry, Dec. 10, 1778; Steiner, 21.
+
+[278] Chastellux, 44; and see Moore's _Diary_, i, 399-400; and _infra_,
+chap. IV.
+
+[279] Washington to Livingston, Dec. 31, 1777; _Writings_: Ford, vi,
+272.
+
+[280] Washington to President of Congress, Dec. 23, 1777; _ib._, 260;
+and see _ib._, 267.
+
+[281] _Pa. Mag. Hist. and Biog._, 1890-91 (2d Series), vi, 79. Most
+faces among the patriot troops were pitted with this plague. Washington
+was deeply pockmarked. He had the smallpox in the Barbadoes when he was
+nineteen years old. (Sparks, 15.)
+
+[282] Weedon, Jan. 6, 1778, 183.
+
+[283] Hatch, 135; and Kapp, 109.
+
+[284] _Proc._, Mass. Hist. Soc. (2d Series), vi, 93.
+
+[285] _Ib._ Entries of desertions and savage punishment are frequent in
+Wild's _Diary_; see p. 135 as an example. Also see Moore's _Diary_, i,
+405.
+
+[286] Weedon, 14.
+
+[287] _Ib._, Sept. 3, 1777, 30.
+
+[288] _Ib._, Sept. 15, 1777, 52. And see Sept. 6, p. 36, where officers
+as well as privates are ordered "instantly Shot" if they are "so far
+lost to all Shame as basely to quit their posts without orders, or shall
+skulk from Danger or offer to retreat before orders."
+
+[289] Livingston to Webb, May 28, 1781; _Writings_: Ford, ix, footnote
+to 267.
+
+[290] One reason for the chaotic state of the army was the lack of
+trained officers and the ignorance of the majority of common soldiers in
+regard to the simplest elements of drill or discipline. Many of the
+bearers of commissions knew little more than the men; and of such
+untrained officers there was an overabundance. (Hatch, 13-15.) To Baron
+von Steuben's training of privates as well as officers is due the chief
+credit for remedying this all but fatal defect. (Kapp, 126-35; also
+_infra_, chap. IV.)
+
+[291] For statement of conditions in the American army throughout the
+war see Hatch; also, Bolton.
+
+[292] The States were childishly jealous of one another. Their different
+laws on the subject of rank alone caused unbelievable confusion. (Hatch,
+13-16. And see Watson, 64, for local feeling, and inefficiency caused by
+the organization of the army into State lines.)
+
+[293] Hatch says that Connecticut provided most bountifully for her men.
+(Hatch, 87.) But Chastellux found the Pennsylvania line the best
+equipped; each Pennsylvania regiment had even a band of music.
+(Chastellux, 65.)
+
+[294] "The only garment they possess is a blanket elegantly twined about
+them. You may judge, sir, how much this apparel graces their appearance
+in parade." (Inspector Fleury to Von Steuben, May 13, 1778; as quoted in
+Hatch, 87.)
+
+[295] Diary of Joseph Clark; _Proceedings_, N.J. Hist. Soc. (1st
+Series), vii, 104. The States would give no revenue to the general
+Government and the officers thought the country would go to pieces.
+(Hatch, 154.)
+
+[296] Heitman, 285.
+
+[297] Binney, in Dillon, iii, 284.
+
+[298] Washington to Committee of Congress, July 19, 1777; _Writings_:
+Ford, v, 495.
+
+[299] Washington to President of Congress, Aug. 23, 1777; _Writings_:
+Ford, vi, 50; also see Marshall (1st ed.), iii, 126.
+
+[300] Marshall (1st ed.), iii, 126.
+
+[301] _Ib._, 127.
+
+[302] On this subject see Waldo's poem, _Hist. Mag._, vii, 274; and
+Clark's Diary, _Proc._, N.J. Hist. Soc., vii, 102.
+
+[303] Weedon, Aug. 23, 1777, 19.
+
+[304] Marshall (1st ed.), iii, 127.
+
+[305] _Ib._, 128; and see Trevelyan, iv, 226.
+
+[306] Marshall (1st ed.), iii, 127-29; _ib._ (2d ed.), i, 154-56;
+Washington to President of Congress, Sept. 3, 1777; _Writings_: Ford,
+vi, 64-65.
+
+[307] Story, in Dillon, iii, 335.
+
+[308] Washington to President of Congress, Sept 11, 1777; _Writings_:
+Ford, vi, 69.
+
+[309] Marshall (1st ed.), iii, 131; _ib._ (2d ed.), i, 156. Colonel
+Harrison, Washington's Secretary, reported immediately to the President
+of Congress that Maxwell's men believed that they killed or wounded "at
+least three hundred" of the British. (Harrison to President of Congress,
+Sept. 11, 1777; _Writings_: Ford, vi, footnote to 68.)
+
+[310] Marshall, i, 156. The fact that Marshall places himself in this
+detachment, which was a part of Maxwell's light infantry, together with
+his presence at Iron Hill, fixes his position in the battle of the
+Brandywine and in the movements that immediately followed. It is
+reasonably certain that he was under Maxwell until just before the
+battle of Germantown. Of this skirmish Washington's optimistic and
+excited Secretary wrote on the spot, that Maxwell's men killed thirty
+men and one captain "left dead on the spot." (Harrison to the President
+of Congress, Sept. 11, 1777; _Writings_: Ford, vi, footnote to 68.)
+
+[311] Thomas Marshall was promoted to be lieutenant-colonel Aug. 13,
+1776; and colonel Feb. 21, 1777. (Heitman, 285.)
+
+[312] Trevelyan, iv, 230.
+
+[313] Marshall, i, footnote to 158.
+
+[314] _Ib._ Colonel Thomas Marshall's cool-headed and heroic conduct at
+this battle, which brought out in high lights his fine record as an
+officer, caused the Virginia House of Delegates to elect him colonel of
+the State Regiment of Artillery raised by that Commonwealth three months
+later. The vote is significant; for, although there were three
+candidates, each a man of merit, and although Thomas Marshall himself
+was not an aspirant for the place, and, indeed, was at Valley Forge when
+the election occurred, twice as many votes were cast for him as for all
+the other candidates put together. Four men were balloted for, Thomas
+Marshall receiving seventy-five votes and the other three candidates all
+together but thirty-six votes. (Journal, H.B. (Nov. 5, 1777), 27.)
+
+[315] Marshall, i, 156; and Trevelyan, iv, 230-31. Washington reported
+that Wayne and Maxwell's men retreated only "after a severe conflict."
+(Washington to President of Congress, Sept. 11, 1777; _Writings_: Ford,
+vi, 69.)
+
+[316] Trevelyan, iv, 232.
+
+[317] Marshall, i, 157-58.
+
+[318] _Ib._; and see Irving, iii, 200-09.
+
+[319] Marshall, i, 158-59.
+
+[320] Four years afterward Chastellux found that "most of the trees bear
+the mark of bullets or cannon shot." (Chastellux, 118.)
+
+[321] Washington to President of Congress, Sept. 11, 1777; _Writings_:
+Ford, vi, 70.
+
+[322] Marshall (1st ed.), iii, 141, and see Washington to President of
+Congress, Sept. 23, 1777; _Writings_: Ford, vi, 81.
+
+[323] Marshall, i, 160.
+
+[324] Marshall, i, 160. When their enlistments expired, the soldiers
+took the Government's muskets and bayonets home with them. Thus
+thousands of muskets and bayonets continually disappeared. (See Kapp,
+117.)
+
+[325] Marshall, i, 160-61.
+
+[326] _Ib._
+
+[327] Washington to President of Congress, Sept. 23, 1777; _Writings_:
+Ford, vi, 81-82.
+
+[328] This is an inference, but a fair one. Maxwell was under Wayne; and
+Marshall was one of Maxwell's light infantry of picked men. (_Supra._)
+
+[329] Marshall, i, 161. "The British accounts represent the American
+loss to have been much larger. It probably amounted to at least three
+hundred men." (_Ib._, footnote.)
+
+[330] _Ib._, and see _Pa. Mag. Hist. and Biog._, i, 305.
+
+[331] Marshall repeatedly expresses this thought in his entire account
+of the war.
+
+[332] Washington to President of Congress, Sept. 23, 1777; _Writings_:
+Ford, vi, 80.
+
+[333] Marshall, i, 162.
+
+[334] _Ib._
+
+[335] Washington to President of Congress, Sept. 23, 1777; _Writings_:
+Ford, vi, 82.
+
+[336] _Works_: Adams, ii, 437.
+
+[337] _Ib._
+
+[338] _Pa. Mag. Hist. and Biog._, xvi, 197 _et seq._
+
+[339] American officer's description of the battle. (_Ib._, xi, 330.)
+
+[340] Marshall, i, 168.
+
+[341] _Ib._, 168-69.
+
+[342] From an American officer's description, in _Pa. Mag. Hist. and
+Biog._, xi, 330.
+
+[343] _Ib._, 331-32.
+
+[344] _Ib._
+
+[345] "The rebels carried off a large number of their wounded as we
+could see by the blood on the roads, on which we followed them so far
+[nine miles]." (British officer's account of battle; _Pa. Mag. Hist. and
+Biog._, xvi, 197 _et seq._)
+
+[346] Marshall, i, 170-71.
+
+[347] _Ib._, 181.
+
+[348] _Ib._, 181-82.
+
+[349] Marshall (1st ed.), iii, 287. Marshall omits this sentence in his
+second edition. But his revised account is severe enough.
+
+[350] The Reverend Jacob Duché, to Washington, Oct. 8, 1777; _Cor.
+Rev._: Sparks, i, 448-58.
+
+[351] Washington to President of Congress, Dec. 10, 1777; _Writings_:
+Ford, vi, 238-39.
+
+[352] Clark's Diary, _Proc._, N.J. Hist. Soc. (1st Series), vii, 102-03.
+"It seems that the enemy had waited all this time before our lines to
+decoy us from the heights we possessed." (_Ib._)
+
+[353] Marshall, i, 184.
+
+[354] Marshall, i, 184.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+VALLEY FORGE AND AFTER
+
+    Unless some great and capital change suddenly takes place ... this
+    army must inevitably starve, dissolve, or disperse. (Washington,
+    Dec. 23, 1777.)
+
+    John Marshall was the best tempered man I ever knew. Nothing
+    discouraged, nothing disturbed him. (Lieutenant Slaughter, of
+    Marshall at Valley Forge.)
+
+
+Gaunt and bitter swept down the winter of 1777. But the season brought
+no lean months to the soldiers of King George, no aloes to the Royal
+officers in fat and snug Philadelphia.[355] It was a period of rest and
+safety for the red-coated privates in the city, where, during the
+preceding year, Liberty Bell had sounded its clamorous defiance; a time
+of revelry and merry-making for the officers of the Crown. Gay days
+chased nights still gayer, and weeks of social frolic made the winter
+pass like the scenes of a warm and glowing play.
+
+For those who bore the King's commission there were balls at the City
+Tavern, plays at the South-Street Theater; and many a charming
+flirtation made lively the passing months for the ladies of the
+Capital, as well as for lieutenant and captain, major and colonel, of
+the invaders' army. And after the social festivities, there were, for
+the officers, carousals at the "Bunch of Grapes" and all night dinners
+at the "Indian Queen."[356]
+
+"You can have no idea," wrote beautiful Rebecca Franks,--herself a keen
+Tory,--to the wife of a patriot, "you can have no idea of the life of
+continued amusement I live in. I can scarce have a moment to myself. I
+spent Tuesday evening at Sir William Howe's, where we had a concert and
+dance.... Oh, how I wished Mr. Paca would let you come in for a week or
+two!... You'd have an opportunity of raking as much as you choose at
+Plays, Balls, Concerts, and Assemblies. I have been but three evenings
+alone since we moved to town."[357]
+
+"My wife writes me," records a Tory who was without and whose wife
+was within the Quaker City's gates of felicity, "that everything is
+gay and happy [in Philadelphia] and it is like to prove a frolicking
+winter."[358] Loyal to the colors of pleasure, society waged a
+triumphant campaign of brilliant amusement. The materials were
+there of wit and loveliness, of charm and manners. Such women there
+were as Peggy Chew and Rebecca Franks, Williamina Bond and Margaret
+Shippen--afterwards the wife of Benedict Arnold and the probable cause
+of his fall;[359] such men as Banastre Tarleton of the Dragoons,
+twenty-three years old, handsome and accomplished; brilliant Richard
+Fitzpatrick of the Guards; Captain John André, whose graces charmed all
+hearts.[360] So lightly went the days and merrily the nights under the
+British flag in Philadelphia during the winter of 1777-78.
+
+For the common soldiers there were the race-course and the cock-pit,
+warm quarters for their abodes, and the fatness of the land for their
+eating. Beef in abundance, more cheese than could be used, wine enough
+and to spare, provisions of every kind, filled pantry and cellar. For
+miles around the farmers brought in supplies. The women came by night
+across fields and through woods with eggs, butter, vegetables, turkeys,
+chickens, and fresh meat.[361] For most of the farmers of English
+descent in that section hated the war and were actively, though in
+furtive manner, Tory. They not only supplied the British larder, but
+gave news of the condition and movements of the Americans.[362]
+
+Not twenty miles away from these scenes of British plenty and content,
+of cheer and jollity, of wassail and song, rose the bleak hills and
+black ravines of Valley Forge, where Washington's army had crawled some
+weeks after Germantown. On the Schuylkill heights and valleys, the
+desperate Americans made an encampment which, says Trevelyan, "bids fair
+to be the most celebrated in the world's history."[363] The hills were
+wooded and the freezing soldiers were told off in parties of twelve to
+build huts in which to winter. It was more than a month before all these
+rude habitations were erected.[364] While the huts were being built the
+naked or scarcely clad[365] soldiers had to find what shelter they
+could. Some slept in tents, but most of them lay down beneath the
+trees.[366] For want of blankets, hundreds, had "to sit up all night by
+fires."[367] After Germantown Washington's men had little to eat at any
+time. On December 2, "the last ration had been delivered and
+consumed."[368] Through treachery, cattle meant for the famishing
+patriots were driven into the already over-supplied Philadelphia.[369]
+
+The commissariat failed miserably, perhaps dishonestly, to relieve
+the desperate want. Two days before Christmas there was "not a
+single hoof of any kind to slaughter, and not more than twenty-five
+barrels of flour!"[370] Men died by the score from starvation.[371]
+Most of the time "fire cake" made of dirty, soggy dough,
+warmed over smoky fires, and washed down with polluted water
+was the only sustenance. Sometimes, testifies Marshall himself,
+soldiers and officers "were absolutely without food."[372]
+On the way to Valley Forge, Surgeon Waldo writes: "I'm Sick--eat
+nothing--No Whiskey--No Baggage--Lord,--Lord,--Lord."[373] Of the camp
+itself and of the condition of the men, he chronicles: "Poor food--hard
+lodging--Cold Weather--fatigue--Nasty Cloaths--nasty Cookery--Vomit half
+my time--Smoak'd out of my senses--the Devil's in it--I can't Endure
+it--Why are we sent here to starve and freeze--What sweet Felicities
+have I left at home;--A charming Wife--pretty Children--Good Beds--good
+food--good Cookery--all agreeable--all harmonious. Here, all
+Confusion--Smoke--Cold,--hunger & filthyness--A pox on my bad luck. Here
+comes a bowl of beef soup,--full of burnt leaves and dirt, sickish
+enough to make a hector spue--away with it, Boys--I'll live like the
+Chameleon upon Air."[374]
+
+While in overfed and well-heated Philadelphia officers and privates took
+the morning air to clear the brain from the night's pleasures, John
+Marshall and his comrades at Valley Forge thus greeted one another:
+"Good morning Brother Soldier (says one to another) how are you?--All
+wet, I thank'e, hope you are so--(says the other)."[375] Still, these
+empty, shrunken men managed to squeeze some fun out of it. When reveille
+sounded, the hoot of an owl would come from a hut door, to be answered
+by like hoots and the cawing of crows; but made articulate enough to
+carry in this guise the cry of "'No meat!--No meat!' The distant vales
+Echo'd back the melancholy sound--'No Meat!--No Meat!'... What have you
+for our Dinners, Boys? [one man would cry to another] 'Nothing but Fire
+Cake and Water, Sir.' At night--'Gentlemen, the Supper is ready.' What
+is your Supper, Lads? 'Fire Cake & Water, Sir.'"
+
+Just before Christmas Surgeon Waldo writes: "Lay excessive Cold &
+uncomfortable last Night--my eyes are started out from their Orbits like
+a Rabbit's eyes, occasion'd by a great Cold--and Smoke. What have you
+got for Breakfast, Lads? 'Fire Cake and Water, Sir.' The Lord send that
+our Commissary of Purchases may live on Fire Cake & Water till their
+glutted Gutts are turned to Pasteboard."
+
+He admonishes: "Ye who Eat Pumpkin Pie and Roast Turkies--and yet Curse
+fortune for using you ill--Curse her no more--least she reduce you ...
+to a bit of Fire Cake & a Draught of Cold Water, & in Cold
+Weather."[376]
+
+Heart-breaking and pitiful was the aspect of these soldiers of liberty.
+"There comes a Soldier--His bare feet are seen thro' his worn out
+Shoes--his legs nearly naked from the tatter'd remains of an only pair
+of stockings--his Breeches not sufficient to cover his Nakedness--his
+Shirt hanging in Strings--his hair dishevell'd--his face meagre--his
+whole appearance pictures a person foresaken & discouraged. He comes,
+and crys with an air of wretchedness & despair--I am Sick--my feet
+lame--my legs are sore--my body cover'd with this tormenting Itch--my
+Cloaths are worn out--my Constitution is broken--my former Activity is
+exhausted by fatigue--hunger & Cold!--I fail fast I shall soon be no
+more! And all the reward I shall get will be--'Poor Will is dead.'"[377]
+
+On the day after Christmas the soldiers waded through snow halfway to
+their knees. Soon it was red from their bleeding feet.[378] The cold
+stung like a whip. The huts were like "dungeons and ... full as
+noisome."[379] Tar, pitch, and powder had to be burned in them to drive
+away the awful stench.[380] The horses "died by hundreds every week";
+the soldiers, staggering with weakness as they were, hitched themselves
+to the wagons and did the necessary hauling.[381] If a portion of earth
+was warmed by the fires or by their trampling feet, it froze again into
+ridges which cut like knives. Often some of the few blankets in the army
+were torn into strips and wrapped around the naked feet of the soldiers
+only to be rent into shreds by the sharp ice under foot.[382] Sick men
+lay in filthy hovels covered only by their rags, dying and dead comrades
+crowded by their sides.[383]
+
+As Christmas approached, even Washington became so disheartened that he
+feared that "this army must dissolve;"[384] and the next day he again
+warned Congress that, unless the Commissary were quickly improved, "this
+army must inevitably ... starve, dissolve, or disperse."[385]
+
+Early in 1778 General Varnum wrote General Greene that "The situation of
+the Camp is such that in all human probability the Army must soon
+dissolve. Our desertions are astonishingly great."[386] "The army must
+dissolve!" "The army must dissolve!"--the repeated cry comes to us like
+the chant of a saga of doom.
+
+Had the British attacked resolutely, the Americans would have been
+shattered beyond hope of recovery.[387] On February 1, 1778, only five
+thousand and twelve men out of a total of more than seventeen thousand
+were capable of any kind of service: four thousand were unfit for duty
+because of nakedness.[388] The patriot prisoners within the British
+lines were in even worse case, if we credit but half the accounts then
+current. "Our brethren," records Surgeon Waldo in his diary, "who are
+unfortunately Prisoners in Philadelphia, meet with the most savage &
+inhumane treatments--that Barbarians are Capable of inflicting.... One
+of these poor unhappy men--drove to the last extreem by the rage of
+hunger--eat his own fingers up to the first joint from the hand, before
+he died. Others eat the Clay--the Lime--the Stones--of the Prison Walls.
+Several who died in the Yard had pieces of Bark, Wood,--Clay & Stones in
+their mouths--which the ravings of hunger had caused them to take in the
+last Agonies of Life."[389]
+
+The Moravians in Bethlehem, some miles away from Valley Forge, were the
+only refuge of the stricken patriots. From the first these Christian
+socialists were the Good Samaritans of that ghastly winter. This little
+colony of Germans had been overrun with sick and wounded American
+soldiers. Valley Forge poured upon it a Niagara of starvation, disease,
+and death. One building, scarcely large enough for two hundred and fifty
+beds, was packed with nearly a thousand sick and dying men. Dysentery
+reduced burly strength to trembling weakness. A peculiar disease rotted
+blood and bones. Many died on the same foul pallet before it could be
+changed. The beds were "heaps of polluted litter." Of forty of John
+Marshall's comrades from a Virginia regiment, which was the "pride of
+the Old Dominion," only three came out alive.[390] "A violent putrid
+fever," testifies Marshall, "swept off much greater numbers than all the
+diseases of the camp."[391]
+
+Need, was there not, at Valley Forge for men of resolve so firm and
+disposition so sunny that they would not yield to the gloom of these
+indescribable months? Need, was there not, among these men, for spirits
+so bright and high that they could penetrate even the death-stricken
+depression of this fetid camp with the glow of optimism and of hope?
+
+Such characters were there, we find, and of these the most shining of
+all was John Marshall of the Virginia line.[392] He was a very torch of
+warmth and encouragement, it appears; for in the journals and diaries
+left by those who lived through Valley Forge, the name of John Marshall
+is singled out as conspicuous for these comforting qualities.
+
+"Although," writes Lieutenant Philip Slaughter, who, with the "two
+Porterfields and Johnson," was the messmate of John Marshall, "they
+were reduced sometimes to a single shirt, having to wrap themselves in a
+blanket when that was washed"[393] and "the snow was knee-deep all the
+winter and stained with blood from the naked feet of the soldiers,"[394]
+yet "nothing discouraged, nothing disturbed" John Marshall. "If he had
+only bread to eat," records his fellow officer, "it was just as well; if
+only meat it made no difference. If any of the officers murmured at
+their deprivations, he would shame them by good-natured raillery, or
+encourage them by his own exuberance of spirits.
+
+"He was an excellent companion, and idolized by the soldiers and his
+brother officers, whose gloomy hours were enlivened by his inexhaustible
+fund of anecdote.... John Marshall was the best tempered man I ever
+knew,"[395] testifies his comrade and messmate.
+
+So, starving, freezing, half blind with smoke, thinly clad and almost
+shoeless, John Marshall went through the century-long weeks of Valley
+Forge, poking fun wherever he found despondency, his drollery bringing
+laughter to cold-purpled lips, and, his light-hearted heroism shaming
+into erectness the bent backs of those from whom hope had fled. At one
+time it would be this prank; another time it would be a different
+expedient for diversion. By some miracle he got hold of a pair of silk
+stockings and at midnight made a great commotion because the leaves he
+had gathered to sleep on had caught fire and burned a hole in his
+grotesque finery.[396]
+
+High spirits undismayed, intelligence shining like a lamp, common sense
+true as the surveyor's level--these were the qualities which at the
+famine camp at Valley Forge singled the boyish Virginia officer out of
+all that company of gloom. Just before the army went into winter
+quarters Captain-Lieutenant Marshall was appointed "Deputy Judge
+Advocate in the Army of the United States,"[397] and at the same time,
+by the same order, James Monroe was appointed aide-de-camp to Lord
+Stirling, one of Washington's generals.[398]
+
+Such was the confidence of his fellow officers and of the soldiers
+themselves in Marshall's judgment and fairness that they would come to
+him with their disputes and abide by his decision; and these tasks, it
+seems, the young Solomon took quite seriously. He heard both sides with
+utmost patience, and, having taken plenty of time to think it over,
+rendered his decision, giving the reasons therefor in writing.[399] So
+just after he had turned his twenty-second year, we find John Marshall
+already showing those qualities which so distinguished him in after
+life. Valley Forge was a better training for Marshall's peculiar
+abilities than Oxford or Cambridge could have been.
+
+His superiority was apparent, even to casual observers, notwithstanding
+his merriment and waggishness. One of a party visiting Valley Forge said
+of the stripling Virginia officer: "By his appearance then we supposed
+him about twenty-two or twenty-three years of age. Even so early in
+life ... he appeared to us _primus inter pares_, for amidst the many
+commissioned officers he was discriminated for superior intelligence.
+Our informant, Colonel Ball, of another regiment in the same line,[400]
+represented him as a young man, not only brave, but signally
+intelligent."[401]
+
+Marshall's good humor withstood not only the horrors of that terrible
+winter, but also Washington's iron military rule. The Virginia
+lieutenant saw men beaten with a hundred stripes for attempting to
+desert. Once a woman was given a hundred lashes and drummed out of the
+army. A lieutenant was dismissed from the service in disgrace for
+sleeping and eating with privates, and for buying a pair of shoes from a
+soldier.[402] Bitter penalties were inflicted on large numbers of
+civilians for trying to take flour, cattle, and other provisions to the
+British in Philadelphia;[403] a commissary was "mounted on a horse, back
+foremost, without a Saddle, his Coat turn'd wrong side out his hands
+tied behind him & drummed out of the Army (Never more to return) by all
+the Drums in the Division."[404]
+
+What held the patriot forces together at this time? George Washington,
+and he alone.[405] Had he died, or had he been seriously disabled, the
+Revolution would have ended. Had typhoid fever seized Washington for a
+month, had any of those diseases, with which the army was plagued,
+confined him, the patriot standard would have fallen forever. Washington
+was the soul of the American cause. Washington was the Government.
+Washington was the Revolution. The wise and learned of every land agree
+on this. Professor Channing sums it all up when he declares: "Of all men
+in history, not one so answers our expectations as Washington. Into
+whatever part of his life the historian puts his probe, the result is
+always satisfactory."[406]
+
+Yet intrigue and calumny sought his ruin. From Burgoyne's surrender on
+through the darkest days of Valley Forge, the Conway cabal shot its
+filaments through Congress, society, and even fastened upon the army
+itself. Gates was its figurehead, Conway its brain, Wilkinson its tool,
+Rush its amanuensis, and certain members of Congress its accessories
+before the fact. The good sense and devotion of Patrick Henry, who
+promptly sent Washington the anonymous letter which Rush wrote to the
+Virginia Governor,[407] prevented that shameful plot from driving
+Washington out of the service of his country.
+
+Washington had led his army to defeat after defeat while Gates had
+gained a glorious victory; Gates was the man for the hour--down, then,
+with the incompetent Virginian, said the conspirators. The Pennsylvania
+Legislature, wroth that Howe's army had not been beaten, but allowed to
+occupy the comfortable Capital of the State, remonstrated to Congress.
+That body, itself, was full of dissatisfaction with the
+Commander-in-Chief. Why would he not oust the British from Philadelphia?
+Why had he allowed Howe to escape when that general marched out to meet
+him? As the first step toward Washington's downfall, Congress created a
+new Board of War, with Gates as President; Conway was made
+Inspector-General.[408]
+
+The conspirators and those whom their gossip could dupe lied about
+Washington's motives. His abilities, it was said, were less than
+ordinary; and his private conduct, went the stealthy whisper, was so bad
+as to prove the hypocrisy of his deportment.[409] Nor were Washington's
+generals spared. Greene was a sycophant, said these assassins of
+character; Sullivan a braggart; Stirling "a lazy, ignorant drunkard."
+These poisoners of reputation declared that General Knox and Alexander
+Hamilton were "paltry satellites" of Washington and flatterers of his
+vanity.[410] So cunning, subtle, and persistent were these sappers and
+miners of reputation that even the timely action of Patrick Henry in
+sending Washington Rush's unsigned attack might not have prevented the
+great American's overthrow; for envy of Washington's strength, suspicion
+of his motives, distrust of his abilities, had made some impression
+even on men like John Adams.[411]
+
+The great American bore himself with dignity, going hardly further than
+to let his enemies know that he was aware of their machinations.[412] At
+last, however, he lashed out at Congress. Let that body look to the
+provisioning of the army if it expected the soldiers to fight. The
+troops had no food, no clothing. The Quartermaster-General had not been
+heard from for five months. Did his critics think "the soldiers were
+made of stocks and stones?" Did they think an active winter campaign
+over three States with starving naked troops "so easy and practicable a
+business? I can assure those gentlemen," writes Washington, "that it is
+a much easier and less distressing thing to draw remonstrances in a
+comfortable room by a good fireside, than to occupy a cold, bleak hill,
+and sleep under frost and snow, without clothes or blankets.... I have
+exposed myself to detraction and calumny" because "I am obliged to
+conceal the true state of the army from public view.... No day nor
+scarce an hour passes without" an officer tendering his
+resignation.[413]
+
+Washington was saved finally by the instinctive faith which that part of
+the common people who still supported the Revolution had in their great
+leader, and by his soldiers' stanch devotion, which defeat after defeat,
+retreat hard upon the heels of preceding retreat, hunger and nakedness,
+wounds and sickness could not shake.
+
+"See the poor Soldier," wrote Surgeon Waldo at Valley Forge. "He labours
+thro' the Mud & Cold with a Song in his mouth, extolling War &
+Washington."[414]
+
+Congress soon became insignificant in numbers, only ten or twelve
+members attending, and these doing business or idling as suited their
+whim.[415] About the only thing they did was to demand that Washington
+strike Philadelphia and restore the members of this mimetic government
+to their soft, warm nests. Higher and yet more lofty in the esteem of
+his officers and men rose their general. Especially was this true of
+John Marshall for reasons already given, which ran back into his
+childhood.
+
+In vain Washington implored the various States to strengthen Congress by
+sending their best men to this central body. Such able men as had not
+taken up arms for their country refused to serve in Congress. Nearly
+every such man "was absorbed in provincial politics, to the exclusion of
+any keen and intelligent interest in the central Government of his
+nation."[416]
+
+Amidst the falling snow at Valley Forge, Washington thus appealed to
+Colonel Harrison in Virginia: "America never stood in more eminent need
+of the wise, patriotic, and spirited exertions of her Sons than at this
+period.... The States, separately, are too much engaged in their local
+concerns.... The States ... have very inadequate ideas of the present
+danger."[417] The letter could not be sent from that encampment of ice
+and death for nearly two weeks; and the harassed commander added a
+postscript of passionate appeal declaring that "our affairs are in a
+more distressed, ruinous, and deplorable condition than they have been
+in since the commencement of the War."[418]
+
+"You are beseeched most earnestly, my dear Col^o Harrison," pleaded
+Washington, "to exert yourself in endeavoring to rescue your Country
+by ... sending your best and ablest Men to Congress--these characters
+must not slumber nor sleep at home in such times of pressing
+danger--they must not content themselves in the enjoyment of places of
+honor or profit in their Country [Virginia][419] while the common
+interests of America are mouldering and sinking into irretrievable ...
+ruin, in which theirs also must ultimately be involved."[420]
+
+With such men, Washington asserted, "party disputes and personal
+quarrels are the great business of the day, whilst the momentous
+concerns of an empire [America][421] ... are but secondary
+considerations." Therefore, writes Washington, in angry exasperation,
+"in the present situation of things, I cannot help asking--Where is
+Mason--Wythe--Jefferson?"[422]
+
+"Where is Jefferson?" wrote Washington in America's darkest hour, when
+the army was hardly more than an array of ragged and shoeless skeletons,
+and when Congress was so weak in numbers and ability that it had become
+a thing of contempt. Is it not probable that the same question was asked
+by the shivering soldiers and officers of the Continental army, as they
+sat about the smoking fires of their noisome huts sinking their
+chattering teeth into their "Fire Cake" and swallowing their brackish
+water? If Washington would so write, is it not likely that the men would
+so talk? For was not Jefferson the penman who had inscribed the
+Declaration of Independence, for which they were fighting, suffering,
+dying?
+
+Among the Virginians especially there must have been grave questionings.
+Just as to John Marshall's army experience the roots of the greatest of
+his constitutional opinions may clearly be traced, so the beginnings of
+his personal estimate of Thomas Jefferson may be as plainly found in
+their relative situations and conduct during the same period.
+
+John Marshall was only a few days beyond his twentieth year when, with
+his Culpeper Minute Men, he fought the British at Great Bridge. Thomas
+Jefferson at that time was thirty-two years old; but the prospect of
+battle on Virginia's soil did not attract him. At Valley Forge, John
+Marshall had just entered on his twenty-third year, and Thomas
+Jefferson, thirty-five years old, was neither in the army nor in
+Congress. Marshall had no fortune; Jefferson was rich.[423]
+
+So, therefore, when as reserved a man as Washington had finally and with
+great effort trained himself to be, asked in writing, "Where is
+Jefferson?" is it not a reasonable inference that the Virginia officers
+in the familiar talk of comrades, spoke of Jefferson in terms less mild?
+
+And, indeed, where was Thomas Jefferson? After serving in Congress, he
+refused point-blank to serve there again and resigned the seat to which
+he had been reëlected. "The situation of my domestic affairs renders it
+indispensably necessary that I should solicit the substitution of some
+other person," was the only excuse Jefferson then gave.[424] He wanted
+to go to the State Legislature instead, and to the State Legislature he
+went. His "domestic affairs" did not prevent that. In his Autobiography,
+written forty-four years afterward (1821), Jefferson declares that he
+resigned from Congress and went to the State Legislature because "our
+[State] legislation under the regal government had many very vicious
+points which urgently required reformation and I thought I could be of
+more use in forwarding that work."[425]
+
+So while the British revels were going on in Philadelphia and the
+horrors of Valley Forge appeared to be bringing an everlasting night
+upon American liberty, and when the desperation of the patriot cause
+wrung from the exasperated Washington his appeal that Virginia's ablest
+men should strengthen the feeble and tottering Congress, Jefferson was
+in the State Legislature. But he was not there merely enjoying office
+and exclusively engaged in party politics as Washington more than
+intimates. He was starting such vital reforms as the abolition of
+entails, the revision of the criminal code, the establishment of a free
+school system, the laying of the legal foundations of religious
+freedom.[426]
+
+In short, Jefferson was sowing the seeds of liberalism in Virginia. But
+it is only human nature that breasts bearing the storm of war should not
+have thrilled in admiration of this civil husbandry. It was but natural
+that the benumbed men at Valley Forge should think the season early for
+the planting of State reforms, however needful, when the very ground of
+American independence was cold and still freezing with patriot
+misfortune and British success.
+
+Virginia's Legislature might pass all the so-called laws it liked; the
+triumph of the British arms would wipe every one of them from the
+statute books. How futile, until America was free, must all this
+bill-drafting and reforming have appeared to the hard-driven men on the
+Schuylkill's Arctic hills! "Here are we," we can hear them say, "in
+worse case than most armies have been in the whole history of the world;
+here are we at Valley Forge offering our lives, wrecking our health,
+losing the little store we have saved up, and doing it gladly for the
+common American cause; and there, in safe and comfortable Williamsburg
+or at sumptuous Monticello, is the man who wrote our Declaration of
+Independence, never venturing within the sound of cannon or smell of
+powder and even refusing to go to Congress."
+
+The world knows now that Jefferson was not to be blamed. He was not a
+man of arms, dreaded the duties of a soldier, had no stomach for
+physical combat.[427] He was a philosopher, not a warrior. He loved to
+write theories into laws that correct civil abuses by wholesale, and to
+promote the common good by sweeping statutes. Also, he was a born
+politician, skillful and adroit in party management above any man in our
+history.[428]
+
+But as a man of action in rough weather, as an executive in stern times,
+he himself admitted his deficiency.[429] So we know to-day and better
+understand this great reformer, whose devotion to human rights has made
+men tolerant of his grave personal shortcomings. Nothing of this,
+however, could have occurred to the starving, shivering patriot soldiers
+in their awful plight at Valley Forge. Winning the war was their only
+thought, as always is the soldier's way.
+
+Early in April, 1778, when, but for the victory at Saratoga, the
+Revolution seemed well-nigh hopeless to all but the stoutest hearts, an
+old and valued English friend begged Washington to give up the
+apparently doomed American cause. The Reverend Andrew Burnaby appealed
+to him for American and British reunion. "Must the parent and the child
+be forever at variance? And can either of them be happy, independent of
+the other?" The interests of the two countries are the same; "united
+they will constitute the fairest and happiest state in the world;
+divided they will be quite the reverse. It is not even possible that
+America should be happy, unconnected with Great Britain." In case
+America should win, the States will fall asunder from civil discord. The
+French, "that false and treacherous people," will desert the Americans.
+Great Britain and America have "the same interest, the same lineage, the
+same language, the same liberty, the same religion, connecting them."
+Everybody in England wants reunion; even the Government is anxious to
+"rectify ... errors and misunderstandings." It is time to "heal the
+wounds on both sides." Washington can achieve this "divine purpose" and
+"thereby acquire more glory and confer more real and lasting service,
+both to your own country and to mankind in general than ... ever yet
+happened to the lot of any one man."[430]
+
+This subtle plea, designed to prepare the way for the British
+"Commission of Conciliation," neither flattered nor tempted Washington.
+It insulted him. He acted more vigorously than ever; and, soon
+afterward, his answer was delivered with cannon and bayonet on the field
+of Monmouth.[431]
+
+When the winter had passed, Washington once more appealed to Congress to
+cease its bickering and indecision. That body was jealous of the army,
+he declared, whereas, said he, "We should all be considered, Congress
+and Army, as one people, embarked in one cause, in one interest; acting
+on the same principle, and to the same end"--a philosophy which a young
+Virginia officer was then absorbing and continued to absorb, until it
+became the ruling force in his life.
+
+"No history extant," continues Washington, "can furnish an instance of
+an army's suffering such uncommon hardships ... and bearing them with
+the same patience and fortitude. To see men without clothes to cover
+their nakedness, without blankets to lie on, without shoes, by which
+their marches might be traced by the blood from their feet, and almost
+as often without provisions as with them, marching through the frost and
+snow, and at Christmas taking up their winter quarters within a day's
+march of the enemy, without a house or hut to cover them, 'till they
+could be built, and submitting to it without a murmur, is proof of
+patience and obedience which, in my opinion can scarce be
+paralleled."[432]
+
+Further shaming Congress into action, Washington says that "with us ...
+the officer ... must break in upon his private fortune for present
+support, without a prospect of future relief"; while, with the British,
+company commands "are esteemed so honorable and so valuable that they
+have sold of late from fifteen to twenty-two hundred pounds sterling
+and ... four thousand guineas have been given for a troop of
+dragoons."[433]
+
+Finally came the spring of 1778. The spirits of the men rose with the
+budding of the trees. Games and sport alternated with drill and policing
+of the camp. The officers made matches for quoits, running, and jumping.
+Captain-Lieutenant Marshall was the best athlete in his regiment. He
+could vault over a pole "laid on the heads of two men as high as
+himself." A supply from home had reached him at last, it appears, and in
+it were socks. So sometimes Marshall ran races in his stocking feet. In
+knitting this foot apparel, his mother had made the heels of white yarn,
+which showed as he ran. Thus came his soldier nickname of "Silver
+Heels."[434]
+
+As spring advanced, the troops recovered their strength and, finally,
+were ready and eager again to meet the enemy. Washington had persuaded
+General Greene to accept the vital office of Quartermaster-General; and
+food, clothing, and munitions had somewhat relieved the situation.[435]
+Baron von Steuben had wrought wonders in the drill and discipline of the
+men and in the officers' knowledge of their technical duties.[436] "I
+should do injustice if I were to be longer silent with regard to the
+merits of the Baron de [von] Steuben" Washington told Congress, in
+hearty appreciation of the Prussian general's services.[437]
+
+Another event of immense importance cheered the patriot forces and
+raised patriot hopes throughout America. The surrender of Burgoyne had
+encouraged the French statesmen to attempt the injury of England by
+helping the revolting colonies. On May 6, 1778, the treaty of alliance
+with Louis XVI was laid before Congress.[438] The miseries of the past
+winter were forgotten by the army at Valley Forge in the joy over the
+French Monarch's open championship of the American cause and his attack
+upon the British.[439] For it meant trained troops, ships of war,
+munitions, and money. It meant more--it signified, in the end, war by
+France upon England.
+
+The hills of Valley Forge were vocal with huzzas and the roar of cannon.
+Songs filled the air. The army paraded. Sermons were preached. The
+rebound went to heights of enthusiasm equaling the former depths of
+despair.[440] Marshall, we may be sure, joined with his characteristic
+zest in the patriots' revel of happiness. Washington alone had
+misgivings. He feared that, because of the French alliance, Congress and
+the States would conclude that "we have nothing more to do" and so
+"relapse into a state of supineness and perfect security."[441]
+Precisely this occurred.
+
+Soon, however, other inspiriting tidings came--the British, it was said,
+were about to quit Philadelphia. The gayety in that city had continued
+throughout the winter, and just before the evacuation, reached its
+climax in a festival of almost unbelievable opulence and splendor.
+Processions of flower-decked boats, choruses, spectacles, and parades
+crowded the day; dancing and music came with sunset, and at midnight,
+lighted by hundreds of wax candles, twelve hundred people sat down to a
+dinner of Oriental luxury served by negroes clad in the rich costumes of
+the East "with silver collars and bracelets."[442]
+
+When, on June 18, the Royal forces abandoned the city, the Americans
+were quick in pursuit. On June 28, a day of blistering heat, the battle
+of Monmouth was fought. That scorching Sunday "was long remembered all
+over the United States as the most sultry day which had ever been
+endured since mankind learned to read the thermometer."[443]
+
+It must have been very hot indeed, for Marshall himself speaks of "the
+intense heat";[444] and he disliked extreme terms. Marshall was one of
+the advance guard[445] under Wayne, with Lee in command of the division.
+In a previous council of war most of the higher officers were decidedly
+against risking the action; but Washington overruled them and ordered
+Lee to attack the British force "the moment it should move from its
+ground."[446]
+
+The Commander-in-Chief, with the main body of American troops, was to
+come to Lee's support. It is unnecessary to go over the details of Lee's
+unhappy blunder, his retreat, Washington's Berserker rage and stinging
+rebuke on the battlefield in sight and hearing of officer and private,
+the turning of the rout into attack, and attack into victory by the
+sheer masterfulness of the mighty Virginian. From ten o'clock until
+nightfall the conflict raged, the Americans generally successful.
+
+The overpowering sun made the action all but insufferable. Many died
+from the effects of the furnace-like heat. The fighting was heavy and
+often hand to hand. Throughout the day Washington was the very soul of
+battle. His wrath at Lee's retreat unleashed the lion in him. He rode
+among the troops inspiring, calming, strengthening, steadying. Perhaps
+at no time in his life, except at Braddock's defeat, was his peculiar
+combination of cool-headed generalship and hot-blooded love of combat so
+manifest in a personal way as on this blazing June day at Monmouth.
+
+"Never," testifies Lafayette, who commanded part of the advance and
+fought through the whole battle, "was General Washington greater in war
+than in this action. His presence stopped the retreat. His dispositions
+fixed the victory. His fine appearance on horseback, his calm courage,
+roused by the animation produced by the vexation of the morning, gave
+him the air best calculated to excite enthusiasm."[447]
+
+When Washington was preparing the final stroke, darkness fell. The
+exhausted Americans, their clothing drenched with sweat, slept on their
+arms upon the field of battle, their General-in-Chief himself lying on
+the ground among the living, the wounded, and the dead. Somewhere on
+that hard-fought ground, Captain-Lieutenant John Marshall stretched
+himself by his comrades. Washington was determined to press the attack
+at break of day. But at midnight the British stole away so silently that
+the Americans did not hear a sound from their retreat.[448] The
+Americans lost eight officers and sixty-one privates killed, one
+hundred and sixty wounded, and one hundred and thirty missing. The
+British left more than two hundred and fifty dead upon the field.[449]
+
+Upon Charles Lee most accounts of the battle of Monmouth have placed the
+brand of infamy. But John Marshall did not condemn Lee utterly. There
+were, it appears, two sides of the business--the difficulty of the
+ground, the mistake made by Scott, a reinforcement of the British rear,
+and other incidents.[450] These appealed even to Washington when the
+calm of judgment returned to him after the battle was fought and his
+blazing wrath had cooled; and had Lee not sent insulting letters to the
+Commander-in-Chief, it is probable that no further action would have
+been taken.[451]
+
+Marshall had been in the fight from first to last; he had retreated
+unwillingly with the other five thousand men whom Lee commanded; he was
+a fighting man, always eager for the shock of arms; he cherished a
+devotion to Washington which was the ruling attachment of his
+life--nevertheless, Marshall felt that more was made of Lee's misconduct
+than the original offense deserved. Writing as the chosen biographer of
+Washington, Marshall gives both sides of this controversy.[452]
+
+This incident throws light upon Marshall's temperament. Other historians
+in their eulogy of Washington, have lashed the memory of Lee naked
+through the streets of public scorn. Marshall refuses to join the chorus
+of denunciation. Instead, he states the whole case with fairness.[453]
+
+Three days after Monmouth, he was promoted to a full captaincy;[454]
+and, as we have seen, he had been made Deputy Judge Advocate at Valley
+Forge. Holding these two offices, Marshall continued his military
+service.
+
+The alliance with the French King, followed by the American success at
+Monmouth, lulled the patriots into an unwarranted feeling of security.
+Everybody seemed to think the war was over. Congress became more
+lethargic than ever, the States more torpid and indifferent. The British
+had seized the two points commanding King's Ferry on the North River,
+thus cutting the communication between the small American forces on
+opposite sides of the Hudson.[455] To restore this severed connection
+was important; and it was essential to arouse once more the declining
+interest of the people. Washington resolved to take Stony Point, the
+then well-nigh impregnable position dominating King's Ferry from the New
+Jersey side.
+
+A body of light infantry was carefully selected from all ranks. It was
+the flower of Washington's troops in health, stability, courage, and
+discipline. Upon this "_élite_ of the army," says Dawson, "the safety
+of the Highlands and, indirectly, that of the cause of America, were
+dependent."[456] This corps of picked soldiers was intended for quick
+and desperate enterprises of extra hazard. John Marshall was one of
+those selected.[457] Their first notable task was to take Stony Point by
+assault. Anthony Wayne was placed in command. "I have much at heart,"
+Washington told Wayne, in the capture of this position, "the importance
+of which ... is too obvious to need explanation."[458]
+
+Yet even to these men on missions of such moment, supplies came tardily
+and in scant quantities. Wayne's "men were almost naked."[459]
+
+Finally, on June 15, 1779, the time came for the storming of the fort.
+It was washed on three sides by the waters of the Hudson and a marsh
+separated it from the solid land on the west. Heavy guns were on the
+great hill of rock; lighter batteries were placed on its slope; two rows
+of abatis were farther down; and the British ships in the river
+commanded almost every point of attack.[460]
+
+A party of Wayne's men was detailed to remove obstructions, capture the
+sentries, and, in general, prepare the way for the assault by the first
+detachment of the Light Infantry, which was to advance with unloaded
+muskets, depending exclusively on the bayonet.[461] The fort was taken
+by those assigned to make the initial attempt, Colonel Fleury being the
+first to enter the stronghold. Below at the edge of the marsh waited the
+major part of Wayne's little force, among whom was the future Chief
+Justice of the United States.
+
+If the state of Wayne's nerves is an indication, we know how the young
+Virginia captain felt, there in the midnight, holding himself in
+readiness for the order to advance. For early in the evening Wayne thus
+wrote to his brother-in-law: "This will not reach your eye until the
+Writer is no mor^e--the Enclosed papers ... [will] enable [you] to
+defend the Character and Support the Honor of the man who ... fell in
+defense of his Country.... Attend to the Education of my Little _Son &
+Daughter_--I fear that their tender Mother will not Survive this
+Stroke."[462] But the British were overcome more easily than anybody had
+thought possible,[463] and, though wounded, Wayne survived to give more
+displays of his genuine heroism, while Providence spared John Marshall
+for a no less gallant and immeasurably greater part in the making of the
+American Nation.[464]
+
+But the brilliant exploit went for nothing. The Americans failed to take
+Verplanck's Point on the eastern bank of the river and the patriot
+forces were still separated. Unable to spare enough men to garrison
+Stony Point permanently and since the Ferry remained under the British
+guns, Washington moved his army to the Highlands. The British at once
+reoccupied the abandoned fort which Wayne's men had just captured.
+
+A detail from the Light Infantry was placed under Major Henry Lee of
+Virginia, who was instructed to watch the main forces of the enemy.
+Among Lee's flying detachment was Captain John Marshall. For three weeks
+this scouting expedition kept moving among the ravines, hills, and
+marshes, always in close touch with the British. "At Powles Hook, a
+point of land on the west side of the Hudson, immediately opposite the
+town of New York, penetrating deep into the river,"[465] the enemy had
+erected works and garrisoned them with several hundred men. The British
+had made the Hook an island by digging a deep ditch through which the
+waters of the river flowed; and otherwise had rendered their position
+secure.
+
+The daring Lee resolved to surprise and capture the defending force, and
+Washington, making sure of lines of retreat, approved the adventure. All
+night of August 18, 1779, Lee's men marched stealthily among the steep
+hills, passed the main body of the British army who were sleeping
+soundly; and at three o'clock in the morning crossed the ditch, entered
+the works, and carried away one hundred and fifty-nine prisoners, losing
+in the swift, silent effort only two killed and three wounded.[466] This
+audacious feat fired the spirits of the patriot forces and covered the
+British with humiliation and chagrin.
+
+Here, except for a small incident in Arnold's invasion of Virginia, John
+Marshall's active participation in actual warfare ended. He was sent
+home[467] because of the expiration of the term of enlistments of the
+regiments in which he had commanded and the excess of officers which
+this created.[468] The Revolution dragged along; misfortune and
+discouragement continued to beat upon the granite Washington. The
+support of Louis XVI was a staff upon which, substantial as it was, the
+people of the States leaned too heavily. Their exertions relaxed, as we
+have seen; Jefferson, patriot and reformer, but not efficient as an
+executive, was Governor of Virginia; and John Marshall waited in vain
+for the new command which never appeared.
+
+On December 30, 1780, Jefferson received positive news of Arnold's
+invasion.[469] He had been warned by Washington that just this event was
+likely to occur;[470] but he had not summoned to the colors a single man
+of the militia, probably fifty thousand of whom were available,[471] nor
+taken any measures to prepare for it. Not until the hostile vessels
+entered Virginia waters to disembark the invading force was General
+Nelson sent to watch the enemy and call out the local militia of the
+adjacent vicinity; and not until news came that the British were on
+their way up the James River did the Governor summon the militia of the
+neighboring counties. The Royal soldiers reached Richmond on January 4,
+1781, without opposition; there Arnold burned some military factories
+and munitions, and returned down the river. John Marshall hastened to
+the point of danger, and was one of the small American force that
+ambushed the British some distance below Westover, but that scattered in
+panic at the first fire of the invaders.[472]
+
+Jefferson's conduct at this time and especially during the subsequent
+invasion of the State has given an unhappy and undeserved coloring to
+his personal character.[473] It all but led to his impeachment by the
+Virginia Legislature;[474] and to this day his biographers are
+needlessly explanatory and apologetic in regard to this phase of his
+career. These incidents confirmed the unfortunate impressions of
+Jefferson which Marshall and nearly all the Virginia officers and
+soldiers had formed at Valley Forge. Very few of them afterward changed
+their unfavorable opinion.[475]
+
+It was his experience, then, on the march, in camp, and on the
+battlefield, that taught John Marshall the primary lesson of the
+necessity of efficient government. Also his military life developed his
+real temperament, which was essentially conservative. He had gone into
+the army, as he himself declared, with "wild and enthusiastic
+notions,"[476] unlike those of the true Marshall. It did not occur to
+this fighting Virginia youth when, responding to Patrick Henry's call,
+he marched southward under the coiled-rattlesnake flag inscribed "Don't
+tread on me," that anything was needed except to drive the oppressor
+into the sea. A glorious, vague "liberty" would do the rest, thought the
+stripling backwoods "shirtman," as indeed almost all of those who
+favored the patriot cause seemed to think.[477]
+
+And when in blue and buff, as an officer of the Continental army, he
+joined Washington, the boyish Virginia lieutenant was still a frontier
+individualist, though of the moderate type. But four years of fighting
+and suffering showed him that, without a strong and practical
+government, democracy cannot solve its giant problems and orderly
+liberty cannot live. The ramshackle Revolutionary establishment was, he
+found, no government at all. Hundreds of instances of its incredible
+dissensions and criminal inefficiency faced him throughout these four
+terrible years; and Marshall has recorded many of them.
+
+Not only did each State do as it pleased, as we have seen, but these
+pompous sovereignties actually interfered in direct and fatal fashion
+with the Continental army itself. For example, when the soldiers of the
+line from one State happened to be in another State, the civil power of
+the latter often "attempted to interfere and to discharge them,
+notwithstanding the fact that they were not even citizens of that
+State."[478] The mutiny of underfed, poorly clothed, unpaid troops, even
+in the State lines; the yielding of Congress to their demands, which,
+though just in themselves, it was perilous to grant on compulsion;[479]
+the discontent of the people caused by the forcible State seizure of
+supplies,--a seizure which a strong National Government could not have
+surpassed in harshness,[480]--were still other illustrations of the
+absolute need of an efficient central power. A few "judicious patriots"
+did urge the strengthening of National authority, but, writes Marshall,
+they were helpless to "correct that fatal disposition of power [by
+States and Congress] which had been made by enthusiasm uninstructed by
+experience."[481] Time and again Marshall describes the utter absence of
+civil and military correlations and the fearful results he had felt and
+witnessed while a Revolutionary officer.
+
+Thus it is that, in his service as a soldier in the War for our
+Independence, we find the fountain-head of John Marshall's National
+thinking. And every succeeding circumstance of his swift-moving and
+dramatic life made plainer and clearer the lesson taught him on red
+battlefield and in fetid camp. No one can really understand Marshall's
+part in the building of the American Nation without going back to these
+sources. For, like all living things, Marshall's constructive opinions
+were not made; they grew. They were not the exclusive result of
+reasoning; they were the fruit of an intense and vivid human experience
+working upon a mind and character naturally cautious, constructive, and
+inclined to order and authority.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[355] It appears that, throughout the Revolution, Pennsylvania's
+metropolis was noted for its luxury. An American soldier wrote in 1779:
+"Philada. may answer very well for a man with his pockets well lined,
+whose pursuit is idleness and dissipation. But to us who are not in the
+first predicament, and who are not upon the latter errand, it is
+intolerable.... A morning visit, a dinner at 5 o'clock--Tea at 8 or
+9--supper and up all night is the round _die in diem_.... We have
+advanced as far in luxury in the third year of our Indepeny. as the old
+musty Republics of Greece and Rome did in twice as many hundreds."
+(Tilghman to McHenry, Jan. 25, 1799; Steiner, 25.)
+
+[356] Trevelyan, iv, 279.
+
+[357] _Ib._, 280.
+
+[358] _Ib._
+
+[359] The influence of Margaret Shippen in causing Arnold's treason is
+now questioned by some. (See Avery, vi, 243-49.)
+
+[360] Trevelyan, iv, 281-82.
+
+[361] _Ib._, 278-80.
+
+[362] _Ib._, 268-69; also Marshall, i, 215. The German countrymen,
+however, were loyal to the patriot cause. The Moravians at Bethlehem,
+though their religion forbade them from bearing arms, in another way
+served as effectually as Washington's soldiers. (See Trevelyan, iv,
+298-99.)
+
+[363] Trevelyan, iv, 290.
+
+[364] The huts were fourteen by sixteen feet, and twelve soldiers
+occupied each hut. (Sparks, 245.)
+
+[365] "The men were literally naked [Feb. 1] some of them in the fullest
+extent of the word." (Von Steuben, as quoted in Kapp, 118.)
+
+[366] _Hist. Mag._, v, 170.
+
+[367] Washington to President of Congress, Dec. 23, 1777; _Writings_:
+Ford, vi, 260.
+
+[368] Marshall, i, 213.
+
+[369] _Ib._, 215.
+
+[370] Washington to President of Congress, Dec. 23, 1777; _Writings_:
+Ford, vi, 258.
+
+[371] "The poor soldiers were half naked, and had been half starved,
+having been compelled, for weeks, to subsist on simple flour alone and
+this too in a land almost literally flowing with milk and honey."
+(Watson's description after visiting the camp, Watson, 63.)
+
+[372] Marshall (1st ed.), iii, 341.
+
+[373] _Hist. Mag._, v, 131.
+
+[374] _Ib._
+
+[375] _Ib._, 132.
+
+[376] _Hist. Mag._, v, 132-33.
+
+[377] _Hist. Mag._, v, 131-32.
+
+[378] Trevelyan, iv, 297.
+
+[379] _Ib._ For putrid condition of the camp in March and April, 1778,
+see Weedon, 254-55 and 288-89.
+
+[380] Trevelyan, iv, 298.
+
+[381] _Ib._
+
+[382] Personal narrative; Shreve, _Mag. Amer. Hist._, Sept., 1897, 568.
+
+[383] Trevelyan, iv, 298.
+
+[384] Washington to President of Congress, Dec. 22, 1777; _Writings_:
+Ford, vi, 253.
+
+[385] Washington to President of Congress, Dec. 23, 1777; _ib._, 257.
+
+[386] General Varnum to General Greene, Feb. 12, 1778, Washington MSS.,
+Lib. Cong., no. 21. No wonder the desertions were so great. It was not
+only starvation and death but the hunger-crazed soldiers "had daily
+temptations thrown out to them of the most alluring nature," by the
+British and Loyalists. (Chastellux, translator's note to 51.)
+
+[387] Marshall, i, 227.
+
+[388] _Ib._
+
+[389] _Hist. Mag._, v, 132. This is, probably, an exaggeration. The
+British were extremely harsh, however, as is proved by the undenied
+testimony of eye-witnesses and admittedly authentic documentary
+evidence. For their treatment of American prisoners see Dandridge:
+_American Prisoners of the Revolution_, a trustworthy compilation of
+sources. For other outrages see Clark's Diary, _Proc._, N.J. Hist. Soc.,
+vii, 96; Moore's _Diary_, ii, 183. For the Griswold affair see Niles:
+_Principles and Acts of the Revolution_, 143-44. For transportation of
+captured Americans to Africa and Asia see Franklin's letter to Lord
+Stormont, April 2, 1777; Franklin's _Writings_: Smyth, vii, 36-38; also
+Moore's _Diary_, i, 476. For the murder of Jenny M'Crea see Marshall, i,
+200, note 9, Appendix, 25; and Moore's _Diary_, i, 476; see also Miner:
+_History of Wyoming_, 222-36; and British officer's letter to Countess
+of Ossory, Sept. 1, 1777; _Pa. Mag. Hist. and Biog._, i, footnote to
+289; and Jefferson to Governor of Detroit, July 22, 1779; _Cal. Va. St.
+Prs._, i, 321. For general statement see Marshall (1st ed.), iii, 59.
+These are but a few of the many similar sources that might be cited.
+
+[390] Trevelyan, iv, 299.
+
+[391] Marshall, i, 227.
+
+[392] John Marshall's father was also at Valley Forge during the first
+weeks of the encampment and was often Field Officer of the Day.
+(Weedon.) About the middle of January he left for Virginia to take
+command of the newly raised State Artillery Regiment. (Memorial of
+Thomas Marshall; _supra._) John Marshall's oldest brother, Thomas
+Marshall, Jr., seventeen years of age, was commissioned captain in a
+Virginia State Regiment at this time. (Heitman, 285.) Thus all the male
+members of the Marshall family, old enough to bear arms, were officers
+in the War of the Revolution. This important fact demonstrates the
+careful military training given his sons by Thomas Marshall before
+1775--a period when comparatively few believed that war was probable.
+
+[393] This was the common lot; Washington told Congress that, of the
+thousands of his men at Valley Forge, "few men have more than one shirt,
+many only the moiety of one and some none at all." (Washington to
+President of Congress, Dec. 23, 1777; _Writings_: Ford, vi, 260.)
+
+[394] Slaughter, 107-08.
+
+[395] Howe, 266.
+
+[396] Slaughter, 108.
+
+[397] Weedon, 134; also, Heitman, 285.
+
+[398] _Ib._
+
+[399] Description of Marshall at Valley Forge by eye-witness, in _North
+American Review_ (1828), xxvi, 8.
+
+[400] Ninth Virginia. (Heitman, 72.)
+
+[401] _North American Review_ (1828), xxvi, 8.
+
+[402] Weedon, Feb. 8, 1778, 226-27. Washington took the severest
+measures to keep officers from associating with private soldiers.
+
+[403] _Ib._, 227-28.
+
+[404] _Ib._, Jan. 5, 1778; 180.
+
+[405] See Washington's affecting appeal to the soldiers at Valley Forge
+to keep up their spirits and courage. (Weedon, March 1, 1778, 245-46.)
+
+[406] Channing, ii, 559.
+
+[407] See Rush's anonymous letter to Henry and the correspondence
+between Henry and Washington concerning the cabal. (Henry, i, 544-51.)
+
+[408] Marshall, i, 217.
+
+[409] Trevelyan, iv, 301.
+
+[410] _Ib._, 303-04.
+
+[411] "The idea that any one Man Alone can save us is too silly for any
+Body but such weak Men as Duché to harbor for a Moment." (Adams to Rush,
+Feb. 8, 1778; _Old Family Letters_, 11; and see Lodge: _Washington_, i,
+208; also Wallace, chap. ix.)
+
+[412] Sparks, 252; and Marshall, i, 218.
+
+[413] Washington to President of Congress, Dec. 23, 1777; _Writings_:
+Ford, vi, 257-65. And see Washington's comprehensive plans for the
+reorganization of the entire military service. (Washington to Committee
+of Congress, Jan. 28, 1778; _ib._, 300-51.)
+
+[414] _Hist. Mag._, v, 131.
+
+[415] On April 10, 1778, Ædanus Burke of South Carolina broke a quorum
+and defied Congress. (Secret Journals of Congress, April 10, 11, 24, 25,
+1778, i, 62; and see Hatch, 21.)
+
+[416] Trevelyan, iv, 291-92.
+
+[417] Washington to Harrison, Dec. 18, 1778; _Writings_: Ford, vii,
+297-98.
+
+[418] _Ib._
+
+[419] At this period and long after a State was referred to as "the
+country."
+
+[420] Washington to Harrison, Dec. 18, 1778; _Writings_: Ford, vii,
+297-98.
+
+[421] Until after Jefferson's Presidency, our statesmen often spoke of
+our "empire." Jefferson used the term frequently.
+
+[422] Washington to Harrison, Dec. 18, 1778; _Writings_: Ford, vii,
+301-02.
+
+[423] "My estate is a large one ... to wit upwards of ten thousand acres
+of valuable land on the navigable parts of the James river and two
+hundred negroes and not a shilling out of it is or ever was under any
+incumbrance for debt." (Jefferson to Van Staphorst and Hubbard, Feb. 28,
+1790; _Works_: Ford, vi, 33.) At the time of Valley Forge Jefferson's
+estate was much greater, for he had sold a great deal of land since
+1776. (See Jefferson to Lewis, July 29, 1787; _ib._, v, 311.)
+
+[424] Jefferson to Pendleton, July, 1776; _ib._, ii, 219-20.
+
+[425] Jefferson's _Autobiography_; _Works_: Ford, i, 57.
+
+[426] Tucker, i, 92 _et seq._; Randall, i, 199 _et seq._; _Works_: Ford,
+ii, 310, 323, 324.
+
+[427] Bloodshed, however, Jefferson thought necessary. See _infra_, vol.
+II, chap. I.
+
+[428] See vol. II of this work.
+
+[429] Jefferson's _Autobiography_; _Works_: Ford, i, 79.
+
+[430] Burnaby to Washington, April 9, 1788; _Cor. Rev._: Sparks, ii,
+100-02. Washington sent no written answer to Burnaby.
+
+[431] See _infra_.
+
+[432] Washington to Banister, April 21, 1778; _Writings_: Ford, vi,
+477-87. In thus trying to arouse Congress to a sense of duty, Washington
+exaggerates the patience of his troops. They complained bitterly; many
+officers resigned and privates deserted in large numbers. (See _supra_.)
+
+[433] _Ib._
+
+[434] Thayer, 12. For camp sports, see Waldo's poem, _Hist. Mag._, vii,
+272-74.
+
+[435] Lossing, ii, 595, _et seq._
+
+[436] Marshall, i, 230. And see Hatch's clear account of the training
+given by this officer (63). To the work of Von Steuben was due the
+excellent discipline under fire at Monmouth. And see Kapp, already
+cited; and Bolton, 132. Even Belcher says that our debt to Von Steuben
+is as great as that to Lafayette. (Belcher, ii, 14.)
+
+[437] Washington to President of Congress, April 30, 1778; _Writings_:
+Ford, vi, 507, and footnote to 505-06. And see Channing, iii, 292.
+
+[438] See Channing, iii, 286, 288; and Marshall, i, 235, 236.
+
+[439] Marshall, i, 237.
+
+[440] Sparks, 267; and Moore's _Diary_, i, 48-50.
+
+[441] Washington to McDougall, May 5, 1778; _Writings_: Ford, vii, 6.
+Washington was advised of the treaty with the French King before it was
+formally presented to Congress.
+
+[442] Description by Major André, who took part in this amazing
+performance, reprinted in _American Historical and Literary
+Curiosities_, following plate 26. And see Moore's _Diary_, ii, 52-56.
+
+[443] Trevelyan, iv, 376.
+
+[444] Marshall, i, 252.
+
+[445] Marshall speaks of "one thousand select men" under Wayne;
+Maxwell's division was with Wayne under Lee; Marshall was in the battle,
+and it seems certain that he was among Wayne's "select men" as on former
+and later occasions.
+
+[446] Marshall, i, 252.
+
+[447] Lafayette to Marshall; Marshall, i, footnote to 255.
+
+[448] Marshall, i, 254-59.
+
+[449] For descriptions of the battle of Monmouth see Washington to
+President of Congress, July 1, 1778; _Writings_: Ford, vii, 76-86; and
+to John Augustine Washington, July 4, 1778; _ib._, 89-92. Also Marshall,
+i, 251-56; Trevelyan, iv, 376-80; Irving, iii, 423-34; Sparks, 272-78;
+Lossing, ii, 354-65.
+
+[450] Marshall, i, 251-56.
+
+[451] _Ib._, 257.
+
+[452] _Ib._, 257-58.
+
+[453] Girardin follows Marshall in his fair treatment of Lee. (Burk, iv,
+290.)
+
+[454] He was promoted July 1, 1778. (Heitman, 285.)
+
+[455] The whole patriot army everywhere, except in the extreme south and
+west, now numbered only sixteen thousand men. (Marshall, i, 306-07.)
+
+[456] The fullest and most accurate account of the capture of Stony
+Point, and conditions immediately preceding, is given by Dawson in his
+_Assault on Stony Point_.
+
+[457] Binney, in Dillon, iii, 315-16. The care in the selection of the
+various commands of "light infantry," so often used by Washington after
+the first year of the war, is well illustrated by his orders in this
+case. "The officers commanding regiments," runs Washington's orders,
+"will be particularly careful in the choice of the men.... The Adjutant
+General is desired to pass the men ... under critical inspection, and
+return all who on any account shall appear unfit for this kind of
+service to their regiments, to be replaced by others whom he shall
+approve." (Washington's Order Book, iii, 110-11; MS., Lib. Cong.)
+
+[458] Washington to Wayne (Private and Confidential), July 1, 1779;
+Dawson, 18-19.
+
+[459] Dawson, 20. Wayne's demand for sustenance and clothing, however,
+is amusing. "The Light Corps under my Command," writes Wayne, "... have
+had but two days fresh Provision ... nor more than three days allowance
+of Rum _in twelve days_, which article I borrowed from Gen^l McDougall
+with a Promise to Replace it. I owe him Seventy five Gallons--must
+therefore desire you to forward three Hod^{ds} [hogsheads] of Rum to
+this place with all possible Dispatch together with a few fat sheep &
+ten Head of good Cattle." (Wayne to Issuing Commissary, July 9, 1779;
+_ib._, 20-21.)
+
+Wayne wrote to Washington concerning clothing: "I have an [word
+illegible] Prejudice in favor of an Elegant Uniform & Soldierly
+Appearance--... I would much rathar risque my life and Reputation at the
+Head of the same men in an Attack Clothed & Appointed as I could
+wish--with a Single Charge of Ammunition--than to take them as they
+appear in Common with Sixty Rounds of Cartridges." (Dawson, 20-21.)
+
+Washington wrote in reply: "I agree perfectly with you." (_Ib._, 21.)
+
+[460] Marshall, i, 310.
+
+[461] Wayne's order of battle was as picturesque as it was specific.
+Officer and private were directed "to fix a Piece of White paper in the
+most Conspicuous part of his Hat or Cap ... their Arms unloaded placing
+their whole Dependence on the Bay^t.... If any Soldier presumes to take
+his Musket from his Shoulder or Attempt to fire or begin the battle
+until Ordered by his proper Officer he shall be Instantly put to death
+by the Officer next him.... Should any Soldier ... attempt to Retreat
+one Single foot or Sculk in the face of danger, the Officer next to him
+is Immediately to put him to death." (_Ib._, 35-38.)
+
+[462] Wayne to Delaney, July 15, 1779; Dawson, 46-47.
+
+[463] The generous and even kindly treatment which the Americans
+accorded the vanquished British is in striking contrast with the
+latter's treatment of Americans under similar circumstances. When the
+fort was taken, the British cried, "_Mercy, mercy, dear, dear
+Americans_," and not a man was injured by the victors after he ceased to
+resist. (Dawson, 53; and Marshall, i, 311.)
+
+[464] The fort was captured so quickly that the detachment to which
+Marshall was assigned had no opportunity to advance.
+
+[465] Marshall, i, 314.
+
+[466] _Ib._, 314-16.
+
+[467] The rolls show Marshall in active service as captain until
+December 9, 1779. (Records, War Dept.) He retired from the service
+February 12, 1781. (Heitman, 285.)
+
+[468] Binney, in Dillon, iii, 290. There often were more officers of a
+State line than there were men to be officered; this was caused by
+expiring enlistments of regiments.
+
+[469] Tucker, i, 136.
+
+[470] Marshall, i, 418.
+
+[471] _Ib._, 139.
+
+[472] Marshall, i, 419; Binney, in Dillon, iii, 290.
+
+[473] Even the frightened Virginia women were ashamed. "Such terror and
+confusion you have no idea of. Governor, Council, everybody
+scampering.... How dreadful the idea of an enemy passing through such a
+country as ours committing enormities that fill the mind with horror and
+returning exultantly without meeting one impediment to discourage them."
+(Eliza Ambler to Mildred Smith, 1781 MS. Also _Atlantic Monthly_,
+lxxxiv, 538-39.) Miss Ambler was amused, too, it seems. She humorously
+describes a boastful man's precipitate flight and adds: "But this is not
+more laughable than the accounts we have of our illustrious G-[overno]-r
+[Jefferson] who, they say, took neither rest nor food for man or horse
+till he reached C-[arte]-r's mountain." (_Ib._) This letter, as it
+appears in the _Atlantic Monthly_, differs slightly from the manuscript,
+which has been followed in this note.
+
+These letters were written while the laughing young Tarleton was riding
+after the flying Virginia Government, of which Eliza Ambler's father was
+a part. They throw peculiar light on the opinions of Marshall, who at
+that time was in love with this lady's sister, whom he married two years
+later. (See _infra_, chap. v.)
+
+[474] An inquiry into Jefferson's conduct was formally moved in the
+Virginia Legislature. But the matter was not pressed and the next year
+the Legislature passed a resolution of thanks for Jefferson's
+"impartial, upright, and attentive Administration." (See Eckenrode's
+thorough treatment of the subject in his _Revolution in Virginia_, chap.
+vii. And see Tucker, i, 149-56, for able defense of Jefferson; and Dodd,
+63-64; also Ambler, 37.)
+
+[475] Monroe, Bland, and Grayson are the only conspicuous exceptions.
+
+[476] Story, in Dillon, iii, 338.
+
+[477] This prevalent idea is well stated in one of Mrs. Carrington's
+unpublished letters. "What sacrifice would not an American, or Virginian
+(even) at the earliest age have made for so desireable an end--young as
+I was [twelve years old when the war began] the Word Liberty so
+_continually_ sounding in my ears seemed to convey an idea of everything
+that was desirable on earth--true that in attaining it, I was to see
+every present comfort abandoned; a charming home where peace and
+prosperous fortune afforded all the elegancies of life, where nature and
+art united to render our residence delightful, where my ancestors had
+acquired wealth, and where my parents looked forward to days of ease and
+comfort, all this was to be given up; but in infancy the love of change
+is so predominant that we lose sight of consequences and are willing to
+relinquish present good for the sake of novelty, this was particularly
+the case with me." (Mrs. Carrington to her sister Nancy, March, 1809;
+MS.; and see _infra_, chap. VIII.)
+
+[478] Marshall, i, 355-65.
+
+[479] _Ib._, 422-24.
+
+[480] _Ib._, 425.
+
+[481] Marshall, i, 425.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+MARRIAGE AND LAW BEGINNINGS
+
+    He was always and under all circumstances an enthusiast in love.
+    (Mrs. Carrington, of Marshall's devotion to his wife.)
+
+
+It was upon a night of gentle gayety in the late winter or early spring
+of 1779-80 that Captain John Marshall first met Mary Ambler. When he
+went back to Virginia to take charge of troops yet to be raised, he
+visited his father, then commanding at the village of Yorktown.[482]
+More than a year had gone by since Colonel Marshall had left his son at
+Valley Forge. On this visit befell the most important circumstance of
+John Marshall's private life. While he was waiting for his new command,
+an event came to pass which relieved his impatience to prolong still
+further his four years of active warfare and inspired him to improve
+this period of enforced absence from the front, by preparing himself
+for his chosen profession.
+
+Jacquelin Ambler had been one of Yorktown's wealthiest men, and his
+house was called a "mansion." But the war had ruined him
+financially;[483] and the year 1780 found the Ambler family dwelling in
+humble quarters. "The small retired tenement" to which reduced
+circumstances forced him to take his invalid wife and young children
+stood next door to the headquarters of Colonel Thomas Marshall. The
+Ambler family was under Colonel Marshall's protection, for the father's
+duties as State Councillor kept him at Williamsburg.[484] But the
+reverse of Jacquelin Ambler's fortunes did not make this little house
+less attractive than his "mansion" had been.
+
+The unusual charm of his daughters rendered that modest abode very
+popular. Indeed, this quality of pleasing seems to have been a common
+possession of the Ambler family, and has become historic. It was this
+very Jacquelin Ambler for whom Rebecca Burwell threw over Thomas
+Jefferson. This Virginia belle was the love of Jefferson's youth. She
+was the "Campana in die,"[485] "Belinda," "Adnileb," and "R. B." of
+Jefferson's letters.[486] But Rebecca Burwell preferred Jacquelin
+Ambler and became his wife.[487] The Ambler daughters inherited from
+both mother and father that beauty, grace, and goodness which gave them
+their extraordinary personal appeal.
+
+During John Marshall's visit to his father the young ladies of Yorktown
+saw to it that a "ball" was given. All the officers had been invited, of
+course; but none of them aroused such interest as did Captain John
+Marshall of the Eleventh Virginia Regiment of the line.
+
+The fame of this young soldier, fresh from the war, was very bright in
+Virginia. His name was on the lips of all the fair attendants of the
+dance. They were in a quiver of expectancy at the prospect of meeting
+the gallant captain who had fought under the great Washington and who
+had proved himself a hero at Brandywine and Germantown, at Valley Forge
+and Monmouth.
+
+Years afterwards, Eliza, the eldest of the Ambler daughters, described
+the event in a letter full of color written to her sister. "We had been
+accustomed to hear him [Marshall] spoken of by all as a very _paragon_,"
+writes Mrs. Carrington, "we had often seen letters from him fraught
+with filial and paternal affection. The eldest of fifteen children,
+devoted from his earliest years to his younger brothers and sisters, he
+was almost idolized by them, and every line received from him was read
+with rapture."[488]
+
+"Our expectations were raised to the highest pitch," writes the elder
+sister, "and the little circle of York was on tiptoe on his arrival. Our
+girls particularly were emulous who should be first introduced"; but
+Mary Ambler, then only fourteen years old, and very diffident and
+retiring, astonished her sister and friends by telling them that "we
+were giving ourselves useless trouble; for that she, for the first time,
+had made up her mind to go to the ball, though she had not even been at
+dancing school, and was resolved to set her cap at him and eclipse us
+all."[489]
+
+Great was their disappointment when finally Captain Marshall arrived.
+His ungainly dress, slouch hat, and rustic bearing instantly quenched
+their enthusiasm.[490] They had looked forward to seeing a handsome,
+romantic figure, brilliantly appareled, and a master of all the pleasing
+graces; instead they beheld a tall, loose-jointed young man, thin to
+gauntness, whose clothes were hanging about him as if upon a rack, and
+whose manners were awkward and timid to the point of embarrassment. No
+game was he for Cupid's bow, thought these belles of old Yorktown.
+
+"I, expecting an Adonis, lost all desire of becoming agreeable in his
+eyes when I beheld his awkward figure, unpolished manners, and total
+negligence of person";[491] thus writes Eliza Ambler of the impression
+made upon her by the young soldier's disheveled aspect and unimpressive
+deportment. But Mary Ambler stuck to her purpose, and when John Marshall
+was presented to her, both fell in love at first sight. Thus began a
+lifelong romance which, in tenderness, exaltation, and constancy is
+unsurpassed in the chronicle of historic affections.
+
+It was no longer alone the veneration for a father that kept the son in
+Yorktown. Day followed day, and still the gallant captain tarried. The
+unfavorable first judgment gave way to appreciation. He soon became a
+favorite at every house in the village.[492] His gift of popularity was
+as great, it seems, among women as among men; and at the domestic
+fireside as well as in the armed camp. Everybody liked John Marshall.
+There was a quality in him that inspired confidence. Those who at first
+had been so disappointed in his dress and manners soon forgot both in
+his wholesome charm. They found him delightfully companionable.[493]
+Here was preëminently a social being, they discovered. He liked people,
+and wanted people to like him. He was full of fun and hearty laughter;
+and his rare good sense and sheer manliness furnished solid foundation
+to his lighter qualities.
+
+[Illustration: PAGE OF A LETTER FROM JOHN MARSHALL TO HIS WIFE
+DESCRIBING THEIR COURTSHIP DATED AT WASHINGTON, FEBRUARY 23, 1824
+(_Facsimile_)]
+
+So every door in Yorktown was thrown open to Captain John Marshall. But
+in Jacquelin Ambler's house was the lodestone which drew him. April had
+come and the time of blossoming. On mellow afternoons, or by candlelight
+when the sun had set, the young lover spent as much time as the
+proprieties would permit with Mary Ambler, telling her of the war, no
+doubt; and, as her sister informs us, reading poetry by the hour.[494]
+Through it all he made love as hard as he could. He wooed as ardently
+and steadily as he had fought.[495]
+
+The young lover fascinated the entire Ambler family. "Under the slouched
+hat," testifies Mary Ambler's sister, "there beamed an eye that
+penetrated at one glance the inmost recesses of the human character; and
+beneath the slovenly garb there dwelt a heart complete with every
+virtue. From the moment he loved my sister he became truly a brother to
+me.... Our whole family became attached to him, and though there was
+then no certainty of his becoming allied to us, we felt a love for him
+that can never cease.... There was no circumstance, however trivial, in
+which we were concerned, that was not his care."
+
+He would "read to us from the best authors, particularly the Poets, with
+so much taste and feeling, and pathos too, as to give me an idea of
+their sublimity, which I should never have had an idea of. Thus did he
+lose no opportunity of blending improvement with our amusements, and
+thereby gave us a taste for books which probably we might never
+otherwise have had."[496]
+
+The time had come when John Marshall must acquire a definite station in
+civil life. This was especially necessary if he was to take a wife; and
+married he would be, he had decided, whenever Mary Ambler should be old
+enough and would consent. He followed his parents' wishes[497] and began
+his preparation for the bar. He told his sweetheart of his purpose, of
+course, and her family "learned [of it] with pleasure."[498] William and
+Mary College, "the only public seminary of learning in the State,"[499]
+was only twelve miles from Yorktown; and there the young officer
+attended the law lectures of George Wythe for perhaps six weeks[500]--a
+time so short that, in the opinion of the students, "those who finish
+this Study [law] in a few months, either have strong natural parts or
+else they know little about it."[501] Recalling a criticism of one of
+Marshall's "envious contemporaries" some years later, Mrs. Carrington
+says: "Allusion was made to his short stay at William and Mary, and that
+he could have gained little there."[502]
+
+It is said also that Marshall took a course in philosophy under
+President Madison, then the head of the little college and afterwards
+Bishop of Virginia; but this is unlikely, for while the soldier-student
+took careful notes of Wythe's lectures, there is not a word in his
+notebook[503] concerning any other college activity. The faculty
+consisted of five professors.[504] The college was all but deserted at
+that time and closed entirely the year after John Marshall's flying
+attendance.[505]
+
+Although before the Revolution "the Necessary Expence of each Scholar
+_yearly_ ... [was] only 15 £ Currency,"[506] one of Marshall's fellow
+students testifies that: "The amazing depreciation of our Currency has
+raised the price of Every Article so enormously that I despair'd of my
+Father's ability to support me here another year.... Board & entring
+under two Professors amounts to 4000^{wt} of Tobacco."[507]
+
+The intercourse of students and faculty was extremely democratic. There
+was a "college table" at which the students took their meals. According
+to the college laws of that time, beer, toddy, and spirits and water
+might be served, if desired.[508] The students were not required to wear
+either coats or shoes if the weather was warm.[509]
+
+At a later period the students boarded at private houses in the
+town.[510] Jefferson, who, several years before Marshall's short
+attendance, was a student at William and Mary, describes the college and
+another public building as "rude, mis-shapen piles, which, but that they
+have roofs, would be taken for brick-kilns."[511] Chastellux, however,
+declares that "the beauty of the edifice is surpassed [only] by the
+richness of its library and that still farther, by the distinguished
+merit of several of the professors," and he describes the college as "a
+noble establishment ... which does honour to Virginia."[512]
+
+The youths attending William and Mary during Marshall's brief sojourn
+were disgusted by the indifference of the people of the vicinity toward
+the patriot cause. "The want of Men, Money, Provisions, & still more of
+Public Virtue & Patriotism is universal--a melancholy Lethargick
+disposition pervades all Ranks in this part of the Country, they appear
+as if determined to struggle no more, but to 'stand still & see what the
+Lord will do for them,'" wrote John Brown in July, 1780.[513]
+
+Mr. Wythe, the professor of law, was the life of the little institution
+in this ebbing period of war-time. He established "a Moot Court, held
+monthly or oftener ... Mr. Wythe & the other professors sit as Judges.
+Our Audience consists of the most respectable of the Citizens, before
+whom we plead our Causes, given out by Mr. Wythe Lawyer like I assure
+you." The law professor also "form'd us into a Legislative Body,
+Consisting of about 40 members." Wythe constituted himself Speaker of
+these seedling lawmakers and took "all possible pains to instruct us in
+the Rules of Parliament." These nascent Solons of old William and Mary
+drew original bills, revised existing laws, debated, amended, and went
+through all the performances of a legislative body.[514]
+
+The parent chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society had been instituted at
+the college; and to this Marshall was immediately elected. "At a meeting
+of the Society the 18 of May, 1780, Capt. John Marshall being
+recommended as a gentleman who would make a worthy member of this
+Society was balloted for & received."[515] This is an important date;
+for it fixes with reasonable certainty the time of Marshall's entrance
+at William and Mary. He was probably the oldest of all the students; his
+army service made him, by far, the most interesting and notable; his
+extraordinary social qualities never failed to render him popular. It
+is, therefore, certain that he was made a member of Phi Beta Kappa
+without much delay. He probably entered college about May 1.[516]
+
+At once we find the new member appointed on the society's debating team.
+Two students were selected to "declaim" the question and two to "argue"
+it.
+
+"Mr. Cabell & Mr. Peyton Short appointed to declaim the Question whether
+any form of government is more favorable to our new virtue than the
+Commonwealth.
+
+"Mr. Joseph Cabell and Mr. Marshall to argue the same. An adjournment.
+William Short President.
+
+"At a meeting in course Saturday June y^e 3^{rd}, 1780, Mr. President
+leaving y^e chair with Mr. Fitzhugh to y^e same. Mr. W^m Cabell
+according to order delivered his declamation on y^e question given out.
+Mr. Peyton Short, being unprepared, was silent on y^e occasion. Mr.
+Marshall, a gentleman not immediately interested, argued y^e
+Question."[517]
+
+But it was not debating on which John Marshall was intent, nor any other
+college duties. He had hard work, it appears, to keep his mind on the
+learned words that fell from the lips of Mr. Wythe; for on the inside
+cover and opposite page of the book in which he made notes of Wythe's
+law lectures,[518] we find in John Marshall's handwriting the words,
+"Miss Maria Ambler"; and again "Miss M. Ambler"; and still again, this
+time upside down, "Miss M. Ambler--J. Marshall"; and "John Marshall,
+Miss Polly Am."; and "John, Maria"; and "John Marshall, Miss Maria"; and
+"Molly Ambler"; and below this once more, "Miss M. Ambler"; on the
+corner of the page where the notes of the first lecture are recorded is
+again inscribed in large, bold letters the magic word, "Ambler."[519]
+
+Jacquelin Ambler had been made Treasurer of State, and, early in June,
+1780, the family removed from Yorktown to Richmond, stopping for a day
+or two in Williamsburg. While there "a ball was ... given ... by certain
+gentlemen in compliment ... 'to the Misses Amblers.'" Eliza Ambler
+describes the incidents of this social event. The affair was "simple and
+frugal as to its viands," she writes, "but of the brilliancy of the
+company too much cannot be said; it consisted of more Beauty and
+Elegance than I had ever witnessed before.... I was transported with
+delight." Yet she could not "treat ... the prime mover in this civility
+with common good manners.... His more successful friend Marshall, was
+devoted to my sister."[520]
+
+This "ball" ended John Marshall's college studies; the lure of Mary
+Ambler was greater than that of learning to the none too studious
+captain. The abrupt ending[521] of the notes he was making of Mr.
+Wythe's lectures, in the midst of the course, otherwise so inexplicable,
+was caused by her two days' sojourn in the college town. Forthwith he
+followed to Richmond, where, for two weeks he gayly played the part of
+the head of the family (acted "Pa," as Marshall quaintly expresses it),
+apparently in Jacquelin Ambler's absence.[522]
+
+Although he had scarcely begun his studies at William and Mary; although
+his previous instruction by professional teachers was meager and
+fragmentary; and although his father could well afford the small expense
+of maintaining him at Williamsburg long enough for him to secure at
+least a moderate education, John Marshall never returned to
+college.[523] No more lectures of Professor Wythe for the young lover.
+He would begin his professional career at once and make ready for the
+supreme event that filled all his thoughts. So while in Richmond he
+secured a license to practice law. Jefferson was then Governor, and it
+was he who signed the license to the youth who was to become his
+greatest antagonist. Marshall then went to Fauquier County, and there,
+on August 28, 1780, was admitted to the bar. "John Marshall, Gent.,
+produced a license from his Excellency the Governor to practice law and
+took the oaths prescribed by act of Assembly," runs the entry in the
+record.[524]
+
+He waited for the recruiting of the new troops he was to command, and
+held himself in readiness to take the field, as indeed he rushed to do
+without orders when Arnold's invasion came. But the new troops never
+were raised and Marshall finally left the service. "I continued in the
+army until the year 1781," he tells us, "when, being without a command,
+I resigned my commission in the interval between the invasion of
+Virginia by Arnold and Phillips."[525]
+
+During this season of inaction he resolved to be inoculated against the
+smallpox. This was another effect which falling in love had on the young
+soldier; for he could, had he wished, have had this done more than once
+while with Washington's army.[526] He would now risk his health no
+longer. But the laws of Virginia made the new method of treating
+smallpox almost impossible.[527] So away on foot[528] went John Marshall
+to Philadelphia to be made proof against this disfiguring malady.
+
+According to Marshall's own account, he covered the ground at an amazing
+pace, averaging thirty-five miles a day; but when he arrived, so
+disreputable did he appear that the tavern refused to take him in.[529]
+Long-bearded and slovenly clothed, with battered hat and uncouth
+manners, he gave the unfavorable first impression which the same causes
+so often produced throughout his life. This is not to be wondered at,
+for, writing twenty years afterward, when Marshall as Chief Justice was
+at the height of his career, his sister-in-law testifies that his "total
+negligence of person ... often produced a blush on her [Marshall's
+wife's] cheek."[530] But he finally secured lodgings, was inoculated,
+and, made secure from the attacks of the dreaded scourge, back he fared
+to Virginia and Mary Ambler.
+
+And Marshall made love as he made war, with all his might. A very
+hurricane of a lover he must have been; for many years afterward he
+declared to his wife's sister that "he looked with astonishment at the
+present race of lovers, so totally unlike what he had been
+himself."[531] In a touching letter to his wife, written almost half a
+century later, Marshall thus recalls the incidents of his courtship:--
+
+"I begin with the ball at York, and with the dinner on the fish at your
+house the next day: I then retrace my visit to York, our splendid
+assembly at the Palace[532] in Williamsburg, my visit to Richmond where
+I acted Pa for a fortnight, my return the ensuing fall and the very
+welcome reception you gave me on your arrival from Dover, our little
+tiffs & makings up, my feelings while Major Dick[533] was courting you,
+my trip to the cottage,[534] the lock of hair, my visit again to
+Richmond the ensuing fall, and all the thousand indescribable but deeply
+affecting instances of your affection or coldness which constituted for
+a time the happiness or misery of my life and will always be recollected
+with a degree of interest which can never be lost while recollection
+remains."[535]
+
+When he left the army in 1781, Marshall, although a member of the bar,
+found no legal business to do.[536] He probably alternated between the
+Oak Hill plantation in Fauquier County, where his help was sadly needed,
+and Richmond, where the supreme attraction drew him. Thus another year
+wore on. In this interval John Marshall engaged in politics, as was the
+custom of young gentlemen of standing and ambition; and in the fall of
+1782 was elected to the House of Delegates from Fauquier County.[537]
+This honor was a material help, not only in his career, but in his suit
+for the hand of Mary Ambler.
+
+Also, membership in the Legislature required him to be, where his heart
+was, in Richmond, and not two months had John Marshall been in the
+Capital as a member of Virginia's Legislature when he was married. "In
+January [3d] 1783," writes Marshall, "I intermarried with Mary Willis
+Ambler, the second daughter of Mr. Jacquelin Ambler, then Treasurer of
+Virginia, who was the third son of Mr. Richard Ambler, a gentleman who
+had migrated from England, and settled at York Town, in Virginia."[538]
+
+The Ambler abode in Richmond was not a romantic place for the wedding.
+The primitive town was so small that when the Ambler family reached it
+Eliza exclaimed, "_where_ we are to lay our weary heads Heaven knows!"
+And she describes the house her father rented as "a little dwelling" so
+small that "our whole family can scarcely stand up altogether in it";
+but Jacquelin Ambler took it because, poor as it was, it was "the only
+decent tenement on the hill."[539]
+
+The elder Ambler sister thus pictures the Richmond of 1780: "This little
+town is made up of Scotch factors who inhabit small tenements scattered
+here and there from the river to the hill. Some of them look, as Colonel
+[Thomas] Marshall has observed, as if the poor Caledonians had brought
+them over on their backs, the weakest of whom being glad enough to stop
+at the bottom of the hill, others a little stronger proceeding higher,
+whilst a few of the stoutest and the boldest reached the summit."[540]
+Eight years after the Amblers moved to Richmond, Jefferson wrote: "The
+town below Shockoe creek is so deserted you cannot get a person to live
+in a house there rent free."[541]
+
+But Mary's cousin, John Ambler, who, at twenty-one years of age, found
+himself "one of the richest men in the State of Virginia,"[542] solved
+the difficulty by offering his country seat for the wedding.[543] Mary
+Ambler was only seventeen when she became the young lawyer's bride,[544]
+and John Marshall was a little more than ten years older. After the
+bridegroom had paid the minister his fee, "he had but one solitary
+guinea left."[545]
+
+This does not mean that John Marshall was without resources, but it
+indicates the scarcity of ready money in Virginia at the close of the
+war. Indeed, Marshall's father, while not yet the wealthy man he
+afterwards became,[546] had, as we have seen, already acquired very
+considerable property. He owned at this time at least two thousand acres
+in Fauquier County;[547] and twenty-two negroes, nine of them tithable
+(sixteen years old), twelve horses, and twenty-two head of cattle.[548]
+
+When John Marshall married Miss Ambler, his father gave him one negro
+and three horses.[549] The following year (1784) the Tithable Book shows
+but five tithable negroes, eight young negroes, eight horses, and
+eighteen head of cattle in Thomas Marshall's name. He evidently sold his
+other slaves and personal property or took them with him to Kentucky. So
+it is likely that the slaves, horses, and cattle left behind were given
+to his son, together with a part of Thomas Marshall's Fauquier County
+farm.[550]
+
+During the Revolution Thomas Marshall was, like most other Continental
+officers, in sore need of money. He tried to sell his land to Washington
+for cash. Washington was anxious to buy "Lands in my own Neck at
+(almost) any price ... in ye way of Barter ... for Negroes ... or ...
+for any thing else (except Breeding Mares and Stock)." But he could not
+pay money. He estimated, by memory, Thomas Marshall's land at £3000, at
+a time when, because of depreciated money and inflated prices, "a Barrl.
+of Corn which used to sell for 10/ will now fetch 40--when a Barl. of
+Porke that formerly could be had for £3 sells for £15." So Washington
+in 1778 thought that "Marshall is not a necessitous man." When it came
+to trading, the father of his country was keen and suspicious, and he
+feared, it would seem, that his boyhood friend and comrade in arms would
+"practice every deception in his power in order to work me ... up to his
+price."[551]
+
+Soon after John Marshall met Mary Ambler at the "ball" at Yorktown, and
+just before he went to William and Mary College, his father sold this
+very land that Washington had refused to purchase. On March 28, 1780,
+Thomas Marshall conveyed to Major Thomas Massey [Massie] one thousand
+acres in Fauquier County for "thirty thousand pounds Currency."[552]
+This was a part of the seventeen hundred acres for which the elder
+Marshall had paid "nine hundred and twelve pounds ten shillings" seven
+years before.[553] The change shows the startling depreciation of
+Virginia currency as well as Continental paper, both of which in 1780
+had reached a very low point and were rapidly going down.[554]
+
+[Illustration: _Mary Ambler Marshall_]
+
+It reveals, too, the Marshall family's extreme need of cash, a want
+sorely felt by nearly everybody at this period; and the familiar fact
+that ownership of land did not mean the ready command of money. The year
+after John Marshall's marriage he wrote to James Monroe: "I do not know
+what to say to your scheme of selling out. If you can execute it you
+will have made a very capital sum, if you can retain your lands you
+will be poor during life unless you remove to the western country, but
+you have secured for posterity an immense fortune"; and Marshall tells
+Monroe that the latter can avail himself of the knowledge of Kentucky
+lands possessed by the members of the Marshall family who were on the
+ground.[555]
+
+Writing twenty years later of economic conditions during the period now
+under review, Marshall says: "Real property was scarcely vendible; and
+sales of any article for ready money could be made only at a ruinous
+loss.... In every quarter were found those who asserted it to be
+impossible for the people to pay their public or private debts."[556]
+
+So, although his father was a very well-to-do man when John Marshall
+began married life, he had little or no ready money, and the son could
+not expect much immediate paternal assistance. Thomas Marshall had to
+look out for the bringing-up of a large number of other children and to
+consider their future; and it is this fact which probably induced him to
+seek fortune anew in the Kentucky wilderness after he was fifty years of
+age. Legend has it that Thomas Marshall made his venture on Washington's
+advice. At any rate, he settled, permanently, in Kentucky in the fall of
+1783.[557]
+
+The fledgling lawyer evidently expected to start upon a legal career in
+the county of his birth; but immediately after marrying Miss Ambler, he
+established himself at Richmond, where her family lived, and there began
+the practice of the law. While his marriage into the Ambler family was
+inspired exclusively by an all-absorbing love, the alliance was a
+fortunate one for John Marshall from the practical point of view. It
+gave him the support of a powerful State official and one of the
+best-liked men in all Virginia. A favor asked by Jacquelin Ambler was
+always granted if possible; and his recommendation of any one was final.
+The Ambler household soon became the most attractive in Richmond, as it
+had been in Yorktown; and Marshall's marriage to Mary Ambler gave him a
+social standing which, in the Virginia of that day, was a very great
+asset in business and politics.
+
+The house to which he took his bride was a tiny one-story affair of
+wood, with only two rooms; the best house the Amblers themselves could
+secure, as we have seen, was so small that the "whole family" could
+scarcely crowd into it. Three years before John Marshall and his young
+wife set up housekeeping, Richmond could "scarce afford one comfort in
+life."[558] According to Mrs. Carrington the dwelling-houses had no
+curtains for the windows.[559] The streets were open spaces of earth,
+unpaved and without sidewalks. Many years after Marshall established
+himself at the new and raw Virginia Capital, Main Street was still
+unpaved, deep with dust when dry and so muddy during a rainy season that
+wagons sank up to the axles. Footways had been laid only at intervals
+along the town's chief thoroughfare; and piles of ashes and cinders were
+made to serve as street-crossings, from which, if one misstepped on a
+dark and rainy night, he found himself deep in the mire. A small stream
+flowed diagonally across Main Street, flooding the surface; and the
+street itself ended in gullies and swamps.[560] In 1783 the little town
+was, of course, still more primitive.
+
+There were no brick or stone buildings in Richmond when Marshall was
+married. The Capitol, itself, was an ugly structure--"a mere wooden
+barn"--on an unlovely site at the foot of a hill.[561] The private
+dwellings, scattered about, were the poor, mean, little wooden houses
+already described by Eliza Ambler.
+
+Trade was in the hands of British merchants who managed to retain their
+commercial hold in spite of the Revolution.[562] Rough, heavy wagons
+drawn by four or six horses brought in the produce of the country, which
+included "deer and bear skins, furs, ginseng, snake-root," and even
+"dried rattlesnakes ... used to make a viper broth for consumptive
+patients."[563] These clumsy vehicles were sometimes a month in covering
+less than two hundred miles.[564] Specie was the money chiefly used in
+the back country and the frontier tradesmen made remittances to Richmond
+by placing a "bag of gold or silver in the centre of a cask of melted
+wax or tallow ... or [in a] bale of hemp."[565]
+
+There was but one church building and attendance was scanty and
+infrequent.[566] The principal amusement was card-playing, in which
+everybody indulged,[567] and drinking was the common practice.[568] The
+town sustained but one tavern which was kept by a Neapolitan named
+Farmicola. This hostelry had two large rooms downstairs and two above.
+The beds were under the roof, packed closely together and unseparated by
+partitions. When the Legislature met, the inn was crowded; and
+"Generals, Colonels, Captains, Senators, Assembly-men, Judges, Doctors,
+Clerks, and crowds of Gentlemen of every weight and calibre and every
+hue of dress, sat altogether about the fire, drinking, smoking,
+singing, and talking ribaldry."[569]
+
+Such were conditions in the town of Richmond when John Marshall hazarded
+his adventure into the legal profession there in 1783. But it was the
+seat of the State Government, and the place where the General Court of
+Appeals and the High Court of Chancery were located. Yet small, poor,
+and mean as was the Virginia Capital of that day, not even Philadelphia,
+New York, or Boston could boast of a more brilliant bar.
+
+Randolph and Wickham, Innes and Ronald, Campbell and Call, and others
+whose distinction has made the bar of the Old Dominion historic,
+practiced at Richmond. And the court around which this extraordinary
+constellation gathered was equally eminent. Pendleton, whose intellect
+and industry more than supplied early defects in education, was
+president of the Court of Appeals; Wythe was one of the judges of the
+High Court of Chancery, of which he afterwards became sole chancellor;
+Paul Carrington and others of almost equal stature sat with Pendleton on
+the Supreme Bench. Later on appeared the erudite, able, and commanding
+Roane, who, long afterwards, when Marshall came into his own, was to be
+his most formidable antagonist in the clash of courts.
+
+Among such lawyers and before a court of this high quality the young
+attorney from the backwoods of Fauquier County began his struggle for a
+share of legal business. He had practically no equipment except his
+intellect, his integrity, and his gift for inspiring confidence and
+friendship. Of learning in the law, he had almost none at all. He had
+read Blackstone, although not thoroughly;[570] but the only legal
+training that Marshall had received was acquired during his few weeks at
+William and Mary College. And in this romantic interval, as we have
+seen, he was thinking a good deal more about Mary Ambler than about
+preparing himself for his career.
+
+We know exactly to which of Wythe's lectures Marshall had listened; for
+he took notes of them. He procured a thick, blank book strongly bound in
+calf. In this he wrote in a large, firm hand, at the top of the page,
+the topics of lectures which Wythe had announced he would give, leaving
+after each headline several pages for notes.[571] Since these notes are
+a full record of Marshall's only formal instruction in the law, a
+complete list of the subjects, together with the space allotted to each,
+is as important as it is interesting.
+
+On the subject of Abatement he wrote three pages; on Accounts, two
+pages; on Accord and Satisfaction, one page; Actions in General, one and
+a half pages; Actions Local and Transitory, one fourth page; Actions Qui
+Tam, one and one fourth pages; Actions on the Case, three and one half
+pages; Agreements, three pages; Annuity and Rent Charge, two pages;
+Arbitrament and Award, one and one half pages; Assault and Battery, two
+thirds of a page; Assignment, one half page; Assumpsit, one and a half
+pages; Attachment, one half page; Audita Querela, one fourth page;
+Authority, one fourth page; Bail in Civil Causes, one half page; Bail in
+Criminal Causes, one and two thirds pages; Bailment, two pages; Bargain
+and Sale, one half page; Baron and Feme, four pages; Bastardy, three
+quarters page; Bills of Sale, one half page; Bills of Exceptions, one
+half page; Burglary, one page; Carriers, one page; Certiorari, one half
+page; Commitments, one half page; Condition, five and one half pages;
+Coparceners, one and one half pages; Costs, one and one fourth pages;
+Covenant, three pages; Curtesy of England, one half page; Damages, one
+and one half pages; Debt, one and one half pages; Descent, one and one
+half pages; Detinue, one half page; Devises, six and one half pages;
+Disseisin, two lines; Distress, one and two thirds pages; Dower, two
+pages; Duress, one third page; Ejectment, two and two thirds pages;
+Election, two thirds page; Error, two and one third pages; Escape in
+Civil Cases, one and one fifth pages; Estates in Fee Simple, three
+fourths page; Estate for Life and Occupancy, one and four fifths pages;
+Evidence, four pages, two lines; Execution, one and five sixths pages;
+Executors and Administrators, eleven pages; Extinguishment, two thirds
+page; Extortion, one half page; Felony, three and one sixth pages;
+Forcible Entry and Detainer, three fourths page; Forgery, three pages;
+Forfeiture, two and four fifths pages; Fraud, three pages, one line;
+Grants, three and three fourths pages; Guardian, two and five sixths
+pages; Heir and Ancestor, five pages, two lines; Idiots and Lunatics,
+three pages; Indictments, four pages, three lines; Infancy and Age, nine
+and one half pages; Information, one and one fifth pages; Injunction,
+one and two thirds pages; Inns and Innkeepers, two and two thirds pages;
+Joint Tenants and Tenants in Common, nine and one sixth pages; Jointure,
+three pages.
+
+We find six pages he had reserved for notes on the subject of Juries
+left blank, and two blank pages follow the caption, "Justice of the
+Peace." But he made seventeen and two thirds pages of notes on the
+subjects of Leases and Terms for Years, and twelve and one half pages on
+the subject of Legacies. This ended his formal legal studies; for he
+made no notes under the remaining lecture subjects.[572]
+
+Not an ideal preparation to attract clients, we must admit, nor to serve
+them well when he got them. But slender and elementary as was his store
+of learning, his apparel, manners, and habits were even less likely to
+bring business to this meagerly equipped young advocate.
+
+Marshall made practically no money as a lawyer during his first year in
+Richmond. Most of his slender income seems to have been from his salary
+as a member of the Legislature.[573] He enters in his Account Book in
+1783 (where it begins) several receipts "by my civil list warrants,"
+and several others, "Rec^d. from Treasury." Only four fees are entered
+for the whole year--one for three pounds, another for two pounds, eleven
+shillings, one for two pounds, ten shillings, and a fourth for two
+pounds, eight shillings.
+
+On the contrary, he paid one pound, two shillings, sixpence for "advice
+fee given the attorney for opinion on surveyors fees." He bought "one
+pair Spectacles" for three shillings and ninepence. His sociable nature
+is revealed at the beginning of his career by entries, "won at Whist
+24-1-4" and "won at Whist 22/"; and again "At Backgammon 30/-1-10." Also
+the reverse entry, "Lost at Whist £3 14/."[574]
+
+The cost of living in Richmond at the close of the Revolution is shown
+by numerous entries. Thirty-six bushels of oats cost Marshall three
+pounds, ten shillings, sixpence. He paid one pound for "one pair
+stockings"; and one pound, eighteen shillings, sixpence for a hat. In
+1783 a tailor charged him one pound, eight shillings, sixpence for
+"making a Coat." He enters "stockings for P.[olly][575] 6 dollars." A
+stove "Dutch Oven" cost fourteen shillings and eightpence; and "150
+bushels coal for self 7-10" (seven pounds, ten shillings).
+
+In October of the year of his marriage he paid six shillings for wine
+and "For rum £9-15." His entries for household expenditures for these
+months give an idea of the housekeeping: "Given Polly 6 dollars
+£4-10-6; ... a coffe pot 4/; 1 yd. Gauze 3/6; 2 Sugar boxes £1-7-6;
+Candlestick &c. 3/6 1 y^{d}. Linnen for P. 2/6; 2 pieces of bobbin 1/6;
+Tea pot 3/; Edging 3/6; Sugar pot 1/6; Milk 1/; Thimble 4/2;
+Irons 9/,... Tea 20/."[576]
+
+The entries in Marshall's Account Book for the first year and a half of
+his married life are indiscriminately and poorly made, without dates of
+receipts and expenditures. Then follows a period up to June, 1785, where
+the days of the month are stated. Then come entries without dates; and
+later, the dates sometimes are given and sometimes not. Marshall was as
+negligent in his bookkeeping as he was in his dress. Entries in the
+notebook show on their face his distaste for such details. The Account
+Book covers a period of twelve years, from 1783 to 1795.
+
+He was exceedingly miscellaneous in his expenses. On January 14, 1784,
+he enters as items of outlay: "Whist 30/" and "Whist 12/," "cow
+£3-12-8" and "poker 6/," "To Parson 30/." This date is jammed in,
+plainly an afterthought, and no more dates are specified until June 7.
+Other characteristic entries at this time are, on one day, "Turkeys 12/
+Wood 24/ Whist £18"; and on another day, "Beef 26/8--Backgammon £6." An
+important entry, undated, is, "Paid the University in the hands of Mr.
+Tazewell for Col^o Marshall as Surveyor of Fayette County 100"
+(pounds).[577]
+
+On July 5, 1784, he enters among receipts "to my service in the Assembly
+34-4" (pounds and shillings); and among his expenses for June 22 of that
+year, he enters "lost at Whist £19" and on the 26th, "Col^o [James]
+Monroe & self at the Play 1-10"[578] (one pound, ten shillings). A week
+later the theater again cost him twelve shillings; and on the third he
+enters an outlay "to one Quarter cask wine 14" (pounds, or about fifty
+dollars Virginia currency). On the same day appears a curious entry of
+"to the play 13/" and "Pd for Col^o Monroe £16-16." He was lucky at
+whist this month, for there are two entries during July, "won at whist
+£10"; and again, "won at whist 4-6" (four pounds, six shillings). He
+contributes to St. John's Church one pound, eight shillings. During this
+month their first child was born to the young couple;[579] and there are
+various entries for the immediate expenses of the event amounting to
+thirteen pounds, four shillings, and threepence. The child was
+christened August 31 and Marshall enters, "To house for christening 12/
+do. 2/6."
+
+The Account Book discloses his diversified generosity. Preacher,
+horse-race, church, festival, card-game, or "ball" found John Marshall
+equally sympathetic in his contributions. He was looking for business
+from all classes in exactly the same way that young lawyers of our own
+day pursue that object. Also, he was, by nature, extremely sociable and
+generous. In Marshall's time the preachers bet on horses and were
+pleasant persons at balls. So it was entirely appropriate that the young
+Richmond attorney should enter, almost at the same time, "to Mr.
+Buchanan 5" (pounds)[580] and "to my subscription for race £4-4";[581]
+"Saint Taminy 11 Dollars--3-6"[582] (three pounds, six shillings); and
+still again, "paid my subscription to the ball 20/-1"; and later,
+"expenses at St. John's [church] 2-3" (pounds and shillings).
+
+Marshall bought several slaves. On July 1, 1784, he enters, "Paid for
+Ben 90-4"[583] (ninety pounds, four shillings). And in August of that
+year, "paid for two Negroes £30" and "In part for two servants £20."
+And in September, "Paid for servants £25," and on November 23, "Kate &
+Evan £63." His next purchase of a slave was three years later, when he
+enters, May 18, 1787, "Paid for a woman bought in Gloster £55."
+
+Shoeing two horses in 1784 cost Marshall eight shillings; and a hat for
+his wife cost three pounds. For a bed-tick he paid two pounds, nine
+shillings. We can get some idea of the price of labor by the following
+entry: "Pd. Mr. Anderson for plaistering the house £10-2." Since he was
+still living in his little rented cottage, this entry would signify that
+it cost him a little more than thirty-five dollars, Virginia currency,
+to plaster two rooms in Richmond, in 1784. Possibly this might equal
+from seven to ten dollars in present-day money. He bought his first
+furniture on credit, it appears, for in the second year of his married
+life he enters, December "31st P^d. M^r. Mason in part for furniture 10"
+(pounds).
+
+At the end of the year, "Pd balance of my rent 43-13" (pounds and
+shillings). During 1784, his third year as a lawyer, his fees steadily
+increased, most of them being about two pounds, though he received an
+occasional fee of from five to nine pounds. His largest single fee
+during this year was "From Mr. Stead 1 fee 24" (pounds).
+
+He mixed fun with his business and politics. On February 24, 1784, he
+writes to James Monroe that public money due the latter could not be
+secured. "The exertions of the Treasurer & of your other friends have
+been ineffectual. There is not one shilling in the Treasury & the keeper
+of it could not borrow one on the faith of the government." Marshall
+confides to Monroe that he himself is "pressed for money," and adds that
+Monroe's "old Land Lady Mrs. Shera begins now to be a little
+clamorous.... I shall be obliged I apprehend to negotiate your warrants
+at last at a discount. I have kept them up this long in hopes of drawing
+Money for them from the Treasury."
+
+But despite financial embarrassment and the dull season, Marshall was
+full of the gossip of a convivial young man.
+
+"The excessive cold weather," writes Marshall, "has operated like magic
+on our youth. They feel the necessity of artificial heat & quite wearied
+with lying alone, are all treading the broad road to Matrimony. Little
+Steward (could you believe it?) will be married on Thursday to Kitty
+Haie & Mr. Dunn will bear off your old acquaintance Miss Shera.
+
+"Tabby Eppes has grown quite fat and buxom, her charms are renovated &
+to see her & to love her are now synonimous terms. She has within these
+six weeks seen in her train at least a score of Military & Civil
+characters. Carrington, Young, Selden, Wright (a merchant), & Foster
+Webb have alternately bow'd before her & been discarded.
+
+"Carrington 'tis said has drawn off his forces in order to refresh them
+& has march'd up to Cumberland where he will in all human probability be
+reinforced with the dignified character of Legislator. Webb has returned
+to the charge & the many think from their similitude of manners &
+appetites that they were certainly designed for each other.
+
+"The other Tabby is in high spirits over the success of her antique
+sister & firmly thinks her time will come next, she looks quite spruce &
+speaks of Matrimony as of a good which she yet means to experience.
+Lomax is in his county. Smith is said to be electioneering. Nelson has
+not yet come to the board. Randolph is here and well.... Farewell, I am
+your J. Marshall."[584]
+
+Small as were the comforts of the Richmond of that time, the charm,
+gayety, and hospitality of its inhabitants made life delightful. A young
+foreigner from Switzerland found it so. Albert Gallatin, who one day was
+to be so large a factor in American public life, came to Richmond in
+1784, when he was twenty-two years old. He found the hospitality of the
+town with "no parallel anywhere within the circle of my travels....
+Every one with whom I became acquainted," says Gallatin, "appeared to
+take an interest in the young stranger. I was only the interpreter of a
+gentleman, the agent of a foreign house that had a large claim for
+advances to the State.... Every one encouraged me and was disposed to
+promote my success in life.... John Marshall, who, though but a young
+lawyer in 1783, was almost at the head of the bar in 1786, offered to
+take me in his office without a fee, and assured me that I would become
+a distinguished lawyer."[585]
+
+During his second year in Richmond, Marshall's practice showed a
+reasonable increase. He did not confine his legal activities to the
+Capital, for in February we find thirteen fees aggregating thirty-three
+pounds, twelve shillings, "Rec^d. in Fauquier" County. The accounts
+during this year were fairly well kept, considering that happy-go-lucky
+John Marshall was the bookkeeper. Even the days of the month for
+receipts and expenditures are often given. He starts out with active
+social and public contributions. On January 18, 1785, he enters, "my
+subscription to Assemblies [balls] 4-4" (pounds and shillings), and
+"Jan. 29 Annual subscription for Library 1-8" (pound, shillings).
+
+On January 25, 1785, he enters, "laid out in purchasing Certificates
+35-4-10." And again, July 4, "Military Certificates pd for self £13-10-2
+at 4 for one £3-7-7. Interest for 3 years £2-8 9." A similar entry is
+made of purchases made for his father; on the margin is written, "pd
+commissioners."
+
+[Illustration: _Richmond in 1800_]
+
+He made his first purchase of books in January, 1785, to the amount of
+"£4-12/." He was seized with an uncommon impulse for books this year, it
+appears. On February 10 he enters, "laid out in books £9-10-6." He
+bought eight shillings' worth of pamphlets in April. On May 5, Marshall
+paid "For Mason's Poems" nine shillings. On May 14, "books 17/-8" and
+May 19, "book 5/6" and "Blackstones Commentaries[586] 36/," and May
+20, "Books 6/." On May 25, there is a curious entry for "Bringing books
+in stage 25/." On June 24, he purchased "Blair's Lectures" for one
+pound, ten shillings; and on the 2d of August, a "Book case" cost him
+six pounds, twelve shillings. Again, on September 8, Marshall's entries
+show, "books £1-6," and on October 8, "Kaim's Principles of Equity 1-4"
+(one pound, four shillings). Again in the same month he enters, "books
+£6-12," and "Spirit of Law" (undoubtedly Montesquieu's essay), twelve
+shillings.
+
+But, in general, his book-buying was moderate during these formative
+years as a lawyer. While it is difficult to learn exactly what
+literature Marshall indulged in, besides novels and poetry, we know that
+he had "Dionysius Longinus on the Sublime"; the "Works of Nicholas
+Machiavel," in four volumes; "The History and Proceedings of the House
+of Lords from the Restoration," in six volumes; the "Life of the Earl of
+Clarendon, Lord High Chancellor of England"; the "Works of C.
+Churchill--Poems and Sermons on Lord's Prayer"; and the "Letters of Lord
+Chesterfield to his son." A curious and entertaining book was a
+condensed cyclopædia of law and business entitled "Lex Mercatoria
+Rediviva or The Merchant's Directory," on the title-page of which is
+written in his early handwriting, "John Marshall Richmond."[587]
+Marshall also had an English translation of "The Orations of Æschines
+and Demosthenes on the Crown."[588]
+
+Marshall's wine bills were very moderate for those days, although as
+heavy as a young lawyer's resources could bear. On January 31, 1785, he
+bought fourteen shillings' worth of wine; and two and a half months
+later he paid twenty-six pounds and ten shillings "For Wine"; and the
+same day, "beer 4d," and the next day, "Gin 30/." On June 14 of the same
+year he enters, "punch 2/6," the next day, "punch 3/," and on the next
+day, "punch 6/."[589]
+
+Early in this year Marshall's father, now in Kentucky and with opulent
+prospects before him, gave his favorite son eight hundred and
+twenty-four acres of the best land in Fauquier County.[590] So the
+rising Richmond attorney was in comfortable circumstances. He was
+becoming a man of substance and property; and this condition was
+reflected in his contributions to various Richmond social and religious
+enterprises.
+
+He again contributed two pounds to "S^t. Taminy's" on May 9, 1785, and
+the same day paid six pounds, six shillings to "My club at
+Farmicolas."[591] On May 16 he paid thirty shillings for a "Ball" and
+nine shillings for "music"; and May 25 he enters, "Jockie Club 4-4"
+(pounds and shillings). On July 5 he spent six shillings more at the
+"Club"; and the next month he again enters a contribution to "S^t. Johns
+[Episcopal Church] £1-16." He was an enthusiastic Mason, as we shall
+see; and on September 13, 1785, he enters, "p^d. Mason's Ball
+subscription for 10" (pounds). October 15 he gives eight pounds and four
+shillings for an "Episcopal Meeting"; and the next month (November 2,
+1785) subscribes eighteen shillings "to a ball." And at the end of the
+year (December 23, 1785) he enters his "Subscription to Richmond Assem.
+3" (pounds).
+
+Marshall's practice during his third year at the Richmond bar grew
+normally. The largest single fee received during this year (1785) was
+thirty-five pounds, while another fee of twenty pounds, and still
+another of fourteen pounds, mark the nearest approaches to this
+high-water mark. He had by now in Richmond two negroes (tithable), two
+horses, and twelve head of cattle.[592]
+
+He was elected City Recorder during this year; and it was to the efforts
+of Marshall, in promoting a lottery for the purpose, that the Masonic
+Hall was built in the ambitious town.[593]
+
+The young lawyer had deepened the affection of his wife's family which
+he had won in Yorktown. Two years after his marriage the first husband
+of his wife's sister, Eliza, died; and, records the sorrowing young
+widow, "my Father ... dispatched ... my darling Brother Marshall to
+bring me." Again the bereaved Eliza tells of how she was "conducted by
+my good brother Marshall who lost no time" about this errand of comfort
+and sympathy.[594]
+
+February 15, 1786, he enters an expense of twelve pounds "for moving my
+office" which he had painted in April at a cost of two pounds and
+seventeen shillings. This year he contributed to festivities and social
+events as usual. In addition to his subscriptions to balls, assemblies,
+and clubs, we find that on May 22, 1786, he paid nine shillings for a
+"Barbecue," and during the next month, "barbecue 7/" and still again,
+"barbecue 6/." On June 15, he "paid for Wine 7-7-6," and on the 26th,
+"corporation dinner 2-2-6." In September, 1786, his doctor's bills were
+very high. On the 22d of that month he paid nearly forty-five pounds
+for the services of three physicians.[595]
+
+Among the books purchased was "Blair's sermons" which cost him one pound
+and four shillings.[596] In July he again "P^d. for S^t. Taminy's feast
+2" (pounds). The expense of traveling is shown by several entries, such
+as, "Expenses up & down to & from Fauquier 4-12" (four pounds, twelve
+shillings); and "Expenses going to Gloster &c 5" (pounds); "expenses
+going to W^{ms}burg 7" (pounds); and again, "expenses going to and
+returning from Winchester 15" (pounds); and still again, "expenses going
+to W^{ms}burg 7" (pounds). On November 19, Marshall enters, "For quarter
+cask of wine 12-10" (twelve pounds and ten shillings). On this date we
+find, "To Barber 18" (shillings)--an entry which is as rare as the
+expenses to the theater are frequent.
+
+He appears to have bought a house during this year (1786) and enters on
+October 7, 1786, "P^d. Mr. B. Lewis in part for his house £70 cash & 5£
+in an order in favor of James Taylor----75"; and November 19, 1786,
+"Paid Mr. B. Lewis in part for house 50" (pounds); and in December he
+again "P^d. Mr. Lewis in part for house 27-4" (twenty-seven pounds, four
+shillings); and (November 19) "P^d. Mr. Lewis 16" (pounds); and on the
+28th, "Paid Mr. Lewis in full 26-17-1 1/4."
+
+In 1786, the Legislature elected Edmund Randolph Governor; and, on
+November 10, 1786, Randolph advertised that "The General Assembly having
+appointed me to an office incompatible with the further pursuit of my
+profession, I beg leave to inform my clients that John Marshall Esq.
+will succeed to my business in General &c."[597]
+
+At the end of this year, for the first time, Marshall adds up his
+receipts and expenditures, as follows: "Received in the Year 1786
+according to the foregoing accounts 508-4-10." And on the opposite page
+he enters[598]--
+
+  To my expenses  432______________________
+                    1               8
+                ---------------------------
+                  433      --       8
+
+In 1787 Marshall kept his accounts in better fashion. He employed a
+housekeeper in April, Mrs. Marshall being unable to attend to domestic
+duties; and from February, 1787, until May of the following year he
+enters during each month, "Betsy Mumkins 16/." The usual expenditures
+were made during this year, and while Marshall neglects to summarize his
+income and outlay, his practice was still growing, although slowly. On
+December 3, 1787, his second child was born.[599]
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration: PAGE OF MARSHALL'S ACCOUNT BOOK, MAY, 1787
+(_Facsimile_)]
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+IN THE LEGISLATURE AND COUNCIL OF STATE
+
+    The proceedings of the Assembly are, as usual, rapidly
+    degenerating with the progress of the session. (Madison.)
+
+    Our Assembly has been employed chiefly in rectifying the mistakes
+    of the last and committing new ones for emendation at the next.
+    (Washington.)
+
+    It is surprising that gentlemen cannot dismiss their private
+    animosities but will bring them in the Assembly. (Marshall.)
+
+
+In 1783, a small wooden building stood among the two or three hundred
+little frame houses[614] which, scattered irregularly from the river to
+the top of the hill, made up the town of Richmond at the close of the
+Revolution. It was used for "balls," public banquets, and other
+functions which the merriment or inclination of the miniature Capital
+required. But its chief use was to house the legislative majesty of
+Virginia. In this building the General Assembly of the State held its
+bi-yearly sessions. Here met the representatives of the people after
+their slow and toilsome journey on horseback through the dense forests
+and all but impassable roads from every county of the Commonwealth.[615]
+
+The twenty years that had passed since Marshall's father entered the
+House of Burgesses had brought changes in the appearance and deportment
+of Virginia's legislative body corresponding to those in the government
+of the newly established State. But few elegancies of velvet coat, fine
+lace, silk stocking, and silver buckle were to be seen in the Virginia
+Legislature of 1783. Later these were to reappear to some extent; but at
+the close of the Revolution democracy was rampant, and manifested itself
+in clothing and manners as well as in curious legislation and strange
+civil convulsions.
+
+The visitor at a session of the Old Dominion's lawmakers beheld a
+variegated array--one member in homespun trousers thrust into high
+boots; still another with the fringed Indian leggings and hunting-shirt
+of the frontier. Some wore great-coats, some jackets, and, in general,
+an ostentatious disregard of fashionable apparel prevailed, which
+occasional silk knee-breeches and stockings emphasized.
+
+The looker-on would have thought this gathering of Virginia lawmakers to
+be anything but a deliberative body enacting statutes for the welfare of
+over four hundred thousand people. An eye-witness records that movement,
+talk, laughter went on continuously; these Solons were not quiet five
+minutes at a time.[616] All debating was done by a very few men.[617]
+The others "for most part ... without clear ... ideas, with little
+education or knowledge ... merely ... give their votes."[618]
+
+Adjoining the big room where this august assembly sat, was an anteroom;
+and at the entrance between these two rooms stood a burly doorkeeper,
+who added to the quiet and gravity of the proceedings by frequently
+calling out in a loud voice the names of members whom constituents or
+visitors wanted to see; and there was a constant running back and
+forth. The anteroom itself was a scene of conversational tumult.
+Horse-racing, runaway slaves, politics, and other picturesque matters
+were the subjects discussed.[619] Outsiders stood in no awe of these
+lawgivers of the people and voiced their contempt, ridicule, or dislike
+quite as freely as their approval or admiration.[620]
+
+Into this assembly came John Marshall in the fall of 1782. Undoubtedly
+his father had much to do with his son's election as one of Fauquier
+County's representatives. His predominant influence, which had made
+Thomas Marshall Burgess, Sheriff, and Vestryman before the Revolution,
+had been increased by his admirable war record; his mere suggestion that
+his son should be sent to the House of Delegates would have been
+weighty. And the embryo attorney wanted to go, not so much as a step in
+his career, but because the Legislature met in the town where Mary
+Ambler lived. In addition to his father's powerful support, his late
+comrades, their terms of enlistment having expired, had returned to
+their homes and were hotly enthusiastic for their captain.[621] He was
+elected almost as a matter of course.
+
+No one in that motley gathering called the House of Delegates was
+dressed more negligently than this young soldier-lawyer and politician
+from the backwoods of Fauquier County. He probably wore the short "round
+about" jacket, which was his favorite costume. And among all that
+free-and-easy crowd no one was less constrained, less formal or more
+sociable and "hail-fellow, well-met" than this black-eyed,
+laughter-loving representative from the up country.
+
+But no one had a sounder judgment, a more engaging personality, or a
+broader view of the drift of things than John Marshall. And notable men
+were there for him to observe; vast forces moving for him to study.
+Thomas Jefferson had again become a member of the House after his
+vindication from threatened impeachment. Patrick Henry was a member,
+too, and William Cabell, Richard Henry Lee, Benjamin Harrison, and other
+men whose names have become historic. During Marshall's later years in
+the Legislature, James Madison, George Mason, William Grayson, Edmund
+Randolph, George Nicholas, and others of like stature became Marshall's
+colleagues.
+
+It took eighteen days to organize the House at the first session John
+Marshall attended.[622] The distance that members had to come was so
+great, traveling so hard and slow, that not until November 9 had enough
+members arrived to make a quorum.[623] Thomas Jefferson and Patrick
+Henry were two of the absent and several times were ordered to be taken
+into the custody of the sergeant-at-arms.[624] The Journal for Friday,
+November 8, gravely announces that "it was ordered that Mr. Thomas
+Jefferson, one of the members for Albemarle county who was taken
+into the custody of a special messenger by Mr. Speaker's warrant,
+agreeable to an order of the 28th ult., be discharged out of custody;
+it appearing to the House that he has good cause for his present
+non-attendance."[625]
+
+Marshall must have favorably impressed the Speaker; for he was
+immediately appointed a member of the important Committee for Courts of
+Justice;[626] and two days later a member of a special committee "To
+form a plan of national defense against invasions"; to examine into the
+state of public arms, accouterments, and ammunition, and to consult with
+the Executive "on what assistance they may want from the Legislature for
+carrying the plan into execution."[627] Two days afterwards Marshall was
+appointed on a special committee to frame a bill to amend the ordinance
+of Convention.[628]
+
+His first vote was for a bill to permit John M'Lean, who, because of
+illness, went to England before the outbreak of the war, and who had
+returned, to remain in Virginia and live with his family.[629]
+Marshall's next two votes before taking his place as a member of the
+Council of State are of no moment except as indicating the bent of his
+mind for honest business legislation and for a strong and efficient
+militia.[630] During November, Marshall was appointed on several other
+committees.[631] Of these, the most important was the select committee
+to bring in a bill for the reorganization of the militia,[632] which
+reported a comprehensive and well-drawn measure that became a law.[633]
+He was also on the Standing Committee of Privileges and Elections.[634]
+
+The Virginia Legislature, during these years, was not a body to inspire
+respect.[635] Madison had a great contempt for it and spoke with disgust
+of the "temper of the Legislature & the wayward course of its
+proceedings."[636] Indeed, the entire government of the State was an
+absurd medley of changing purposes and inefficiency. "Nothing," wrote
+Madison to Jefferson, "can exceed the confusion which reigns throughout
+our Revenue department.... This confusion indeed runs through all of our
+public affairs, and must continue as long as the present mode of
+legislating continues"; the method of drawing bills "must soon bring our
+laws and our Legislature into contempt among all orders of
+Citizens."[637]
+
+Nor did Virginia's lawmakers improve for several years. Madison in 1787
+advised Washington that "The proceedings of the Assembly are, as usual,
+rapidly degenerating with the progress of the session."[638] And the
+irritated soldier at Mount Vernon responded with characteristic heat
+that "Our Assembly has been ... employed ... chiefly in rectifying some
+of the mistakes of the last, and committing new ones for emendations at
+the next."[639] Washington, writing to Lafayette of American affairs in
+1788, said, with disgust, that "Virginia in the very last session ...
+was about to pass some of the most extravagant and preposterous
+edicts ... that ever stained the leaves of a legislative code."[640]
+
+Popular as he was with the members of the Legislature, Marshall shared
+Madison's opinion of their temper and conduct. Of the fall session of
+the Assembly of 1783, he writes to Colonel Levin Powell: "This long
+session has not produced a single bill of Public importance except that
+for the readmission of Commutables.[641] ... It ought to be perfect as
+it has twice passed the House. It fell the first time (after an
+immensity of labor and debate) a sacrifice to the difference of opinion
+subsisting in the House of Delegates and the Senate with respect to a
+money bill. A bill for the regulation of elections and inforcing the
+attendance of members is now on the Carpet and will probably
+pass.[642]... It is surprising that Gentlemen of character cannot
+dismiss their private animosities, but will bring them in the
+Assembly."[643]
+
+Early in the session Marshall in a letter to Monroe describes the
+leading members and the work of the House.
+
+"The Commutable bill,"[644] writes he, "has at length pass'd and with
+it a suspension of the collections of taxes till the first of January
+next.... Colo. Harry Lee of the Legionary corps" is to take the place of
+"Col^o. R. H. Lee" whose "services are lost to the Assembly forever";
+and Marshall does not know "whether the public will be injur'd by the
+change." Since the passage of the "Commutable bill ... the attention of
+the house has been so fix'd on the Citizen bill that they have scarcely
+thought on any other subject.... Col. [George] Nicholas (politician not
+fam'd for hitting a medium) introduced one admitting into this country
+every species of Men except Natives who had borne arms against the
+state.... Mr. Jones introduc'd by way of amendment, one totally new and
+totally opposite to that which was the subject of deliberation. He spoke
+with his usual sound sense and solid reason. Mr. Henry opposed him.
+
+"The Speaker replied with some degree of acrimony and Henry retorted
+with a good deal of tartness but with much temper; 'tis his peculiar
+excellence when he altercates to appear to be drawn unwillingly into the
+contest and to throw in the eyes of others the whole blame on his
+adversary. His influence is immense."[645]
+
+Marshall's strange power of personality which, in after years, was so
+determining an influence on the destiny of the country, together with
+the combined influence of his father and of the State Treasurer,
+Jacquelin Ambler, Marshall's father-in-law, now secured for the youthful
+legislator an unusual honor. Eleven days after the House of Delegates
+had organized, Marshall was elected by joint ballot of the Senate and
+the House a member of the Council of State,[646] commonly called the
+Executive Council. The Journal of the Council for November 20, 1782,
+records: "John Marshall esquire having been elected a Member of the
+Privy Council or Council of State in the room of John Bannister esquire
+who hath resigned and producing a Certificate from under the hand of
+Jaq. Ambler esq^r of his having qualified according to law; he took his
+seat at the board."[647]
+
+Marshall had just turned his twenty-seventh year, and the Council of
+State was supposed to be made up of men of riper years and experience.
+Older men, and especially the judges of the courts, resented the
+bestowal of this distinction upon so youthful a member serving his first
+term. Edmund Pendleton, Judge of the High Court of Chancery and
+President of the Court of Appeals, wrote to Madison that: "Young Mr.
+Marshall is elected a Councillor.... He is clever, but I think too
+young for that department, which he should rather have earned as a
+retirement and reward, by ten or twelve years hard service in the
+Assembly."[648]
+
+The Council consisted of eight members elected by the Legislature either
+from the delegates or from the people at large. It was the Governor's
+official cabinet and a constitutional part of the executive power. The
+Governor consulted the Council on all important matters coming before
+him; and he appointed various important officers only upon its
+advice.[649]
+
+The Constitution of Virginia of 1776 was the basis upon which was built
+one of the most perfect political machines ever constructed; and this
+machine in later years came to be Marshall's great antagonist. As a
+member of the Council of State, Marshall learned by actual experience
+the possible workings of this mechanism, first run by Patrick Henry,
+perfected by Thomas Jefferson, and finally developed to its ultimate
+efficiency by Spencer Roane and Thomas Ritchie.[650] Thus Marshall took
+part in the appointment of surveyors, justices of the peace, tobacco
+inspectors, and other officers;[651] and passed on requisitions from
+other States for the delivery of fugitive criminals.[652]
+
+[Illustration: MARSHALL'S SIGNATURE AS A MEMBER OF THE COUNCIL OF
+STATE, 1784]
+
+[Illustration: MARSHALL'S SIGNATURE IN 1797]
+
+[Illustration: SIGNATURE OF THOMAS MARSHALL AS COLONEL OF THE 3D
+VIRGINIA REGIMENT]
+
+Marshall's signature to the minutes of the Council is totally unlike
+that of his more mature years, as, indeed, is the chirography of his
+letters of that period. He signed the Council records in large and
+dashing hand with flourishes--it is the handwriting of a confident,
+care-free, rollicking young man with a tinge of the dare-devil in him.
+These signatures are so strangely dissimilar to his later ones that they
+deserve particular attention. They denote Marshall's sense of his own
+importance and his certainty of his present position and future
+prospects.
+
+The criticisms from the judges--first expressed by Pendleton, before
+whom Marshall was trying to practice law--of his membership of the
+Executive Council continued. Because of these objections, Marshall
+finally resigned and at once sought another election from his native
+county to the House of Delegates. The accepted version of this incident
+is that Marshall resigned from the Executive Council because the duties
+of that position took too much time from his profession; and that,
+without his request or desire, his old neighbors in Fauquier, from
+"their natural pride in connecting his rising name with their county,
+spontaneously elected him to the Legislature."[653]
+
+Thus does greatness, once achieved, throw upon a past career a glory
+that dazzles the historian's eye; and the early steps of advancement are
+seen and described as unasked and unwished honors paid by a discerning
+public to modest and retiring merit. Thus, too, research and fact are
+ever in collision with fancy and legend. The cherished story about
+Marshall's resignation from the Council and "spontaneous" election to
+the Legislature from his home county is a myth. The discontent of the
+judges practically forced him out of the Council and he personally
+sought another election from Fauquier County to the House of Delegates.
+Marshall himself gives the true account of these important incidents.
+
+"I am no longer a member of the Executive [Council]," Marshall informs
+his friend James Monroe, "the opinion of the Judges with regard to a
+Councillor's standing at the bar determined me to retire from the
+Council board. Every person is now busied about the ensuing election."
+Certainly Marshall was thus occupied; for he writes Monroe that "I had
+made a small excursion into Fauquier to enquire into the probability of
+my being chosen by the people, should I offer as a candidate at the next
+election." Marshall tells the political news, in which he shows minute
+information, and finally advises Monroe that "I have been maneuvering
+amazingly to turn your warrants into cash if I succeed I shall think
+myself a first rate speculator."[654]
+
+Marshall's personal attention[655] to his candidacy bore fruit; and for
+the second time he was chosen as Delegate from Fauquier, although he now
+lived in Henrico County.[656]
+
+[Illustration: FIRST PAGE OF A LETTER FROM MARSHALL TO JAMES MONROE
+(_Facsimile_)]
+
+When the Legislature convened, nine days again passed before enough
+members were in Richmond to make up a House.[657] Marshall was among the
+tardy. On May 13, the sergeant-at-arms was ordered to take him and other
+members into custody; and later in the day he and four others were
+brought in by that officer and "admitted to their seats on paying
+fees."[658]
+
+He was at once appointed to his old place on the Committee for Courts of
+Justice and upon the immensely important Standing Committee on
+Propositions and Grievances, to which was referred the flood of
+petitions of soldiers and officers, the shower of applications of
+counties and towns for various laws and other matters of pressing local
+and personal concern in every part of Virginia.[659] To the cases of his
+old comrades in arms who applied to the Legislature for relief, Marshall
+was particularly attentive.[660] He became the champion of the
+Revolutionary veterans, most of whom were very poor men.[661]
+
+Upon Washington's suggestion a bill was brought in for the relief of
+Thomas Paine by vesting in him a moderate tract of public lands. Upon
+the third reading it was "committed to a committee of the whole house"
+and there debated. Marshall, who apparently led the fight for Paine,
+"read in his place" several amendments. But notwithstanding Washington's
+plea, the immense services of Paine to the American cause during the
+Revolution, and the amendments which, obviously, met all objections, the
+bill was defeated.[662]
+
+Numerous things of human interest happened during this session which
+show the character of the Legislature and the state of the people. An
+Englishman named Williamson[663] had gone to Essex County a year before
+by permission of the Governor, but in violation of the law against
+British refugees. When he refused to leave, the people tarred and
+feathered him and drove him out of the country in this condition.[664]
+The Attorney-General began prosecutions against the leaders of the
+mob; and the offending ones petitioned the Legislature to interfere.
+The petition was referred to the Committee on Propositions and
+Grievances[665] of which Marshall was a member. This committee reported
+that the petition ought to be granted "and that all irregularities
+committed by any citizen of this state on the person or properties
+of refugees previous to the ratification of the definitive treaty
+of peace ... should be indemnified by law and buried in utter
+oblivion."[666] But when the bill came to a vote, it was defeated.[667]
+
+It was reported to the House that a certain John Warden had insulted its
+dignity by saying publicly that if the House had voted against paying
+the British debts, some of its members had voted against paying for the
+coats on their backs--a charge which was offensively true. The Committee
+on Privileges and Elections was instructed to take this serious matter
+up and order the offender before it. He admitted the indiscretion and
+apologized for it. The committee read Warden's written acknowledgment
+and apology before the House and thus he was purged of the contempt of
+that sensitive body.[668]
+
+A William Finnie, who had been deputy quartermaster in the military
+service, had purchased, at the request of the Board of War, a large
+quantity of boots for a corps of cavalry in active service and then on
+the march. Although the seller of the boots knew that they were bought
+for the public service, he sued Finnie and secured judgment against him,
+which was on the point of being executed. Finnie petitioned the
+Legislature that the debt be paid by the State. The Committee on
+Propositions and Grievances took charge of this petition, reported the
+facts to be as Finnie had stated them, and recommended that the debt
+"ought to be paid him by the public and charged to the United
+States."[669] But the House rejected the resolution. Incidents like
+these, as well as the action of the Legislature and the conduct of the
+people themselves, had their influence on the radical change which
+occurred in Marshall's opinions and point of view during the decade
+after the war.
+
+Marshall was appointed on many special committees to prepare sundry
+bills during this session. Among these was a committee to frame a bill
+to compel payment by those counties that had failed to furnish their
+part of the money for recruiting Virginia's quota of troops to serve in
+the Continental army. This bill was passed.[670]
+
+A vote which gives us the first sight of Marshall's idea about changing
+a constitution was taken during this session. Augusta County had
+petitioned the Legislature to alter Virginia's fundamental law. The
+committee reported a resolution against it, "such a measure not being
+within the province of the House of Delegates to assume; but on the
+contrary, it is the express duty of the representatives of the people at
+all times, and on all occasions, to preserve the same [the Constitution]
+inviolable, until a majority of all the people shall direct a reform
+thereof."[671]
+
+Marshall voted to amend this resolution by striking out the words
+quoted. Thus, as far as this vote indicates, we see him standing for the
+proposition that a form of government could be changed by convention,
+which was the easiest, and, indeed, at that time the only practicable,
+method of altering the constitution of the State. Madison also favored
+this plan, but did nothing because of Patrick Henry's violent
+opposition. The subject was debated for two days and the project of a
+convention with full powers to make a new Constitution was
+overwhelmingly defeated, although nearly all of the "young men of
+education & talents" were for it.[672]
+
+A few of the bills that Marshall voted for or reported from committee
+are worthy of note, in addition to those which had to do with those
+serious questions of general and permanent historic consequence to the
+country presently to be considered. They are important in studying the
+development of Marshall's economic and governmental views.
+
+In 1784, Washington brought vividly before the Virginia Legislature the
+necessity of improving the means of transportation.[673] At the same
+time this subject was also taken up by the Legislature of Maryland. A
+law was passed by the Virginia Legislature for "opening and extending
+the navigation of the Potowmack river from tidewater to the highest
+place practicable on the north branch"; and Maryland took similar
+action. These identical laws authorized the forming of a corporation
+called the "Potowmack Company" with a quarter of a million dollars
+capital. It was given the power of eminent domain; was authorized to
+charge tolls "at all times forever hereafter"; and the property and
+profits were vested in the shareholders, "their heirs and assigns
+forever."[674]
+
+John Marshall voted for this bill, which passed without opposition.[675]
+He became a stockholder in the corporation and paid several assessments
+on his stock.[676] Thus early did Marshall's ideas on the nature of a
+legislative franchise to a corporation acquire the vitality of property
+interest and personal experience.
+
+Marshall was on the Committee for Courts of Justice during every session
+when he was a member of the House and worked upon several bills
+concerning the courts. On November 2, 1787, he was appointed upon a
+special committee to bring in a bill "to amend the act establishing the
+High Court of Chancery."[677] Three weeks later he reported this bill
+to the House;[678] and when the bill passed that body it was "ordered
+that Mr. Marshall do carry the bill to the Senate and desire their
+concurrence." The committee which drew this bill was made up from among
+the ablest men in the House: Henry, Mason, Nicholas, Matthews, Stuart,
+and Monroe being the other members,[679] with Marshall who was chairman.
+
+The act simplified and expedited proceedings in equity.[680] The High
+Court of Chancery had been established by an act of the Virginia
+Legislature of 1777.[681] This law was the work of Thomas Jefferson. It
+contained one of the reforms so dear to his heart during that
+period--the right of trial by jury to ascertain the facts in equity
+causes. But six years' experience proved that the reform was not
+practical. In 1783 the jury trial in equity was abolished, and the old
+method that prevailed in the courts of chancery before the Revolution
+was reinstated.[682] With this exception the original act stood in
+Virginia as a model of Jeffersonian reforms in legal procedure; but
+under its provisions, insufferable delays had grown up which defeated
+the ends of justice.[683] It was to remedy this practical defect of
+Jefferson's monumental law that Marshall brought in the bill of 1787.
+
+But the great matters which came before the Legislature during this
+period, between the ending of the war and the adoption of the
+Constitution, were: The vexed question of the debts owed by Virginia
+planters to British subjects; the utter impotence of the so-called
+Federal Government and the difficulty of getting the States to give it
+any means or authority to discharge the National debts and uphold the
+National honor; and the religious controversy involving, at bottom, the
+question of equal rights for all sects.[684]
+
+The religious warfare[685] did not greatly appeal to Marshall, it would
+seem, although it was of the gravest importance. Bad as the state of
+religion was at the beginning of the Revolution, it was worse after that
+struggle had ended. "We are now to rank among the nations of the world,"
+wrote Mason to Henry in 1783; "but whether our independence shall prove
+a blessing or a curse must depend upon our wisdom or folly, virtue or
+wickedness.... The prospect is not promising.... A depravity of manners
+and morals prevails among us, to the destruction of all confidence
+between man and man."[686] The want of public worship "increases daily;
+nor have we left in our extensive State three churches that are
+decently supported," wrote Mrs. Carrington, the sister of John
+Marshall's wife, a few years later.[687]
+
+Travelers through Virginia during this period note that church buildings
+of all denominations were poor and mean and that most of these were
+falling into ruins; while ministers barely managed to keep body and soul
+together by such scanty mites as the few pious happened to give them or
+by the miserable wages they earned from physical labor.[688] These
+scattered and decaying little church houses, the preachers toiling with
+axe or hoe, formed, it appears, an accurate index of the religious
+indifference of the people.[689]
+
+There were gross inequalities of religious privileges. Episcopal
+clergymen could perform marriage ceremonies anywhere, but ministers of
+the other denominations could do so only in the county where they lived.
+The property of the Episcopal Church came from the pockets of all the
+people; and the vestries could tax members of other churches as well as
+their own for the relief of the poor.[690] It was a curious swirl of
+conflicting currents. Out of it came the proposition to levy an
+assessment on everybody for the support of religion; a bill to
+incorporate the Episcopal Church which took away its general powers of
+vestry taxation, but confirmed the title to the property already held;
+and the marriage law which gave ministers of all denominations equal
+authority.[691]
+
+Although these propositions were debated at great length and with much
+spirit and many votes were taken at various stages of the contest,
+Marshall recorded his vote but twice. He did not vote on the resolution
+to incorporate the Episcopal Church;[692] or to sell the glebe
+lands;[693] nor did he vote on the marriage bill.[694] He voted against
+Madison's motion to postpone consideration of the bill for a general
+assessment to support religion, which carried,[695] thus killing the
+bill. When the bill to incorporate the Episcopal Church came to a final
+vote, Marshall voted "aye," as, indeed, did Madison.[696]
+
+But if Marshall took only a languid interest in the religious struggle,
+he was keen-eyed and active on the other two vital matters--the payment
+of debts, both public and private, and the arming of the Federal
+Government with powers necessary to its existence. Throughout this whole
+period we see the rapid and solid growth of the idea of Nationality, the
+seeds of which had been planted in John Marshall's soul by the fingers
+of military necessity and danger. Here, too, may be found the beginning
+of those ideas of contract which developed throughout his life and
+hardened as they developed until finally they became as flint. And here
+also one detects the first signs of the change in what Marshall himself
+called "the wild and enthusiastic notions"[697] with which, only a few
+years earlier, he had marched forth from the backwoods, to fight for
+independence and popular government.
+
+Virginia planters owed an immense amount of money to British merchants.
+It had been the free-and-easy habit of Virginians to order whatever they
+wanted from England and pay for it in the produce of their fields,
+chiefly tobacco. The English merchants gave long credit and were always
+willing to extend it when the debt fell due. The Virginians, on their
+part, found the giving of new notes a convenient way of canceling old
+obligations and thus piled up mountains of debt which they found hard to
+remove. After the war was over, they had little means with which to
+discharge their long overdue accounts.[698]
+
+During the Revolution stringent and radical laws were passed, preventing
+the recovery of these debts in the courts, sequestering the property and
+even forfeiting the estates owned by British subjects in Virginia; and a
+maze of acts, repealing and then reviving the statutes that prevented
+payment, were passed after the war had ended.[699] The Treaty between
+the United States and Great Britain provided as one of the conditions of
+peace that all these legal impediments to the recovery of British debts
+should be removed.[700] Failure to repeal the anti-debt legislation
+passed during the war was, of course, a plain infraction of this
+contract between the two countries; while the enactment of similar laws
+after the Treaty had become binding, openly and aggressively violated
+it.
+
+Within two weeks after Marshall took his seat in the House in 1784, this
+sorely vexed question came up. A resolution was brought in "that so much
+of all and every act or acts of the Assembly, now in force in this
+commonwealth as prevents a due compliance with the stipulation contained
+in the definitive Treaty of Peace entered into between Great Britain
+and America ought to be repealed"; but a motion to put the question to
+agree with this resolution was defeated by a majority of twenty. John
+Marshall voted to put the question.[701]
+
+Those resisting the effort to carry out the Treaty of Peace declared
+that Great Britain itself had not complied with it, because the British
+had not surrendered the American posts retained by them at the close of
+the war and had not returned or paid for the slaves carried away by the
+British forces.[702] A fortnight after the first defeat of the movement
+against the anti-debt law, a resolution was laid before the House
+instructing Virginia's Representatives in Congress to request that body
+to protest to the British Government against this infraction of the
+Treaty and to secure reparation therefor, and stating that the Virginia
+Legislature would not cooperate "in the complete fulfillment of said
+treaty" until this was done. The intent of the resolution was that no
+British debts should be paid for a long time to come.
+
+But the resolution did provide that, when this reparation was made, or
+when "Congress shall adjudge it indispensably necessary," the anti-debt
+laws "ought to be repealed and payment made to all [creditors] in such
+time and manner as shall consist with the exhausted situation of this
+Commonwealth"; and that "the further operation of all and every act or
+acts of the Assembly concerning escheats and forfeitures from British
+subjects ought to be prevented."[703] An amendment was offered
+containing the idea that the debtors might deduct their losses from
+their debts, thus taking a little step toward payment. Another amendment
+to strengthen this was also proposed.
+
+Had these amendments carried, the policy of an early payment of the
+British debts would have prevailed. Marshall voted for both as did
+Madison. The amendments, however, were overwhelmingly defeated.[704] The
+situation and point of view of the British merchants to whom these debts
+were due and who, depending upon the faithful performance of the Treaty,
+had come to Virginia to collect the money owing them, is illustrated by
+a petition which George F. Norton presented to the House. He was a
+member of the mercantile firm of Norton and Sons, of London, from whom
+Virginians had made purchases on credit for a generation before the war.
+He declared that his firm had "been compelled to pay many debts due from
+the said company, but he has been unable to collect any due to them, in
+consequence of the laws prohibiting recovery of British debts, by which
+he has been reduced to the greatest extremes."[705]
+
+After the summer adjournment the irrepressible conflict between keeping
+or breaking the National faith once more arose. Henry, who was the
+champion of the debtors, had been elected Governor and was "_out of the
+way_."[706] Several British merchants had proposed to accept payments of
+their debts in installments. Ratifications of the Treaty had been
+exchanged. The friends of National honor and private good faith had
+gathered headway. Finally a bill passed the House repealing the
+anti-debt laws. The Senate and the House came to an agreement.
+
+Here arose a situation which pictures the danger and difficulty of
+travel in that day. Before the bill had been sent back to the House,
+enrolled, examined, and signed by both presiding officers, several
+members went across the river to spend the night at the neighboring
+hamlet of Manchester. It was the day before adjournment and they
+expected to return the next morning. But that night the river froze[707]
+and they could not get back. So this important measure fell through for
+the session.[708]
+
+No "ayes" and "noes" were called for during this final battle, but
+Marshall probably took part in the debate and it is certain that he used
+the influence which his popularity among members gave him for the
+passage of this law.
+
+"I wish with you," wrote Marshall to Monroe, in early December, "that
+our Assembly had never passed those resolutions respecting the British
+Debts which have been so much the subject of reprehension throughout the
+States. I wish it because it affords a pretext to the British to retain
+possession of the posts on the lakes but much more because I ever
+considered it as a measure tending to weaken the federal bands which in
+my conception are too weak already. We are about, tho reluctantly, to
+correct the error."
+
+Marshall despondently summed up the work of the session: "We have as yet
+done nothing finally. Not a bill of public importance, in which an
+individual was not particularly interested, has passed."[709]
+
+Marshall was not a candidate for the Legislature in 1785-86, but sought
+and secured election in 1787, when he was sent from Henrico County,
+where Richmond was situated. During this hiatus in Marshall's public
+life another effort was made to repeal the anti-debt laws, but so bitter
+was the resistance that nothing was accomplished. Madison was
+distressed.[710] When Marshall again became a member of the General
+Assembly the question of the British debts was brought forward once
+more. This time the long-delayed bill was passed, though not until its
+foes had made their point about the runaway slaves and the unevacuated
+posts.[711]
+
+A resolution was brought in that the anti-debt laws "ought to be
+repealed," but that any act for this purpose should be suspended until
+the other States had passed similar laws. An amendment was defeated for
+making the suspension until Great Britain complied with the Treaty. John
+Marshall voted against it, as did his father Thomas Marshall, who was
+now a member of the Virginia Legislature from the District of
+Kentucky.[712] Another amendment to pay the British debts "in such time
+and manner as shall consist with the exhausted situation of this
+Commonwealth" met a similar fate, both Marshalls, father and son, voting
+against it.[713] The resolution was then passed, the two Marshalls
+voting for it.[714]
+
+Marshall was then appointed a member of the special committee to prepare
+and bring in a bill to carry out the resolution.[715] In a few days this
+bill was laid before the House. Except the extension clause, this bill
+was probably drawn by Marshall. It was short and to the point. It
+repealed everything on the statute books repugnant to the Treaty of
+Peace. It specifically "directed and required" the courts to decide all
+cases "arising from or touching said treaty" "according to the tenor,
+true intent, and meaning of same" regardless of the repealed laws. But
+the operation of the law was suspended until Congress informed the
+Governor "that the other states in the Union have passed laws enabling
+British creditors to recover their debts agreeably to the terms of the
+treaty."[716] The bill was emphasized by a brief preamble which stated
+that "it is agreed by the fourth article of the treaty of peace with
+Great Britain that creditors on either side shall meet with no lawful
+impediment to the recovery of the full value in sterling money, of all
+bona fide debts heretofore contracted."
+
+The opponents of the bill tried to emasculate it by an amendment that
+the law should not go into effect until the Governor of Virginia made
+public proclamation "that Great Britain hath delivered up to the United
+States the posts therein now occupied by British troops" and was taking
+measures to return the runaway slaves or to pay for them. They
+succeeded. Whether from agitation outside the legislative hall[717] or
+from the oratory of Patrick Henry, or from a greater power of the
+leaders in lobbying among their fellow members, a quick and radical
+transformation of sentiment took place. Probably all these causes joined
+to produce it. By a crushing majority of forty-nine the amendment was
+adopted and the bill denatured. Both John Marshall and his father voted
+against the amendment, as did George Mason, Benjamin Harrison, and James
+Monroe.[718]
+
+Thus, in two weeks, a majority of thirty-three against this very scheme
+for breaking the force of the bill was changed to a majority of
+forty-nine in favor of it. The bill as amended passed the next day.[719]
+Such were the instability of the Virginia Legislature at this period and
+the people's bitter opposition to the payment of the debts owed to
+British subjects.
+
+The effect on Marshall's mind was very great. The popular readiness to
+escape, if not to repudiate, contracted obligations, together with the
+whimsical capriciousness of the General Assembly, created grave
+misgivings in his mind. His youthful sympathy with the people was
+beginning to disappear. Just as the roots of his Nationalist views run
+back to Valley Forge, so do the roots of his economic-political opinions
+penetrate to the room in the small frame building where sat the
+Legislature of Virginia in the first years that followed the close of
+the war.
+
+But the mockery of government exhibited by the Federal establishment at
+this period of chaos impressed Marshall even more than the spirit of
+repudiation of debts and breaking of contracts which was back of the
+anti-debt legislation.[720] The want of the National power during the
+Revolution, which Marshall had seen from the "lights ... which glanced
+from the point of his sword,"[721] he now saw through the tobacco smoke
+which filled the grimy room where the Legislature of Virginia passed
+laws and repealed them almost at the same time.[722] The so-called
+Federal Government was worse than no government at all; it was a form
+and a name without life or power. It could not provide a shilling for
+the payment of the National debt nor even for its own support. It must
+humbly ask the States for every dollar needed to uphold the National
+honor, every penny necessary for the very existence of the masquerade
+"Government" itself. This money the States were slow and loath to give
+and doled it out in miserable pittances.
+
+Even worse, there was as yet little conception of Nationality among the
+people--the spirit of unity was far weaker than when resistance to Great
+Britain compelled some kind of solidarity; the idea of cooperation was
+even less robust than it was when fear of French and Indian depredations
+forced the colonists to a sort of common action. Also, as we shall see,
+a general dislike if not hostility toward all government whether State
+or National was prevalent.[723]
+
+As to the National Government, it would appear that, even before the war
+was over, the first impulse of the people was to stop entirely the
+feeble heart that, once in a while, trembled within its frail bosom: in
+1782, for instance, Virginia's Legislature repealed the law passed in
+May of the preceding year authorizing Congress to levy a duty on imports
+to carry on the war, because "the permitting any power other than the
+general assembly of this commonwealth, to levy duties or taxes upon the
+citizens of this state within the same, is injurious to its sovereignty"
+and "may prove destructive of the rights and liberty of the
+people."[724]
+
+A year later the Legislature was persuaded again to authorize Congress
+to levy this duty;[725] but once more suspended the act until the other
+States had passed "laws" of the same kind and with a proviso which would
+practically have nullified the working of the statute, even if the
+latter ever did go into effect.[726] At the time this misshapen dwarf of
+a Nationalist law was begotten by the Virginia Legislature, Marshall was
+a member of the Council of State; but the violent struggle required to
+get the Assembly to pass even so puny an act as this went on under his
+personal observation.
+
+When Marshall entered the Legislature for the second time, the general
+subject of the debts of the Confederation arose. Congress thought that
+the money to pay the loans from foreign Governments by which the war had
+been carried on, might be secured more easily by a new mode of
+apportioning their quotas among the thirteen States. The Articles of
+Confederation provided that the States should pay on the basis of the
+value of lands. This worked badly, and Congress asked the States to
+alter the eighth Article of Confederation so as to make the States
+contribute to the general treasury on a basis of population. For fear
+that the States would not make this change, Congress also humbly
+petitioned the thirteen "sovereignties" to ascertain the quantity and
+value of land as well as the number of people in each State.
+
+On May 19, 1784,[727] after the usual debating, a strong set of
+Nationalist resolutions was laid before the Virginia House of Delegates.
+They agreed to the request of Congress to change the basis of
+apportioning the debt among the States; favored providing for the
+payment of a part of what each State owed Congress on the requisition of
+three years before; and even went so far as to admit that if the States
+did not act, Congress itself might be justified in proceeding. The last
+resolution proposed to give Congress the power to pass retaliatory trade
+laws.[728] These resolutions were adopted with the exception of one
+providing for the two years' overdue payment of the Virginia share of
+the requisition of Congress made in 1781.
+
+Marshall was appointed a member of a special committee to "prepare and
+bring in bills" to carry out the two resolutions for changing the basis
+of apportionment from land to population, and for authorizing Congress
+to pass retaliatory trade laws. George Mason and Patrick Henry also were
+members of this committee on which the enemies of the National idea had
+a good representation. Two weeks later the bills were reported.[729]
+Three weeks afterwards the retaliatory trade bill was passed.[730] But
+all the skill and ability of Madison, all the influence of Marshall with
+his fellow members, could not overcome the sentiment against paying the
+debts; and, as usual, the law was neutralized by a provision that it
+should be suspended until all the other States had enacted the same kind
+of legislation.
+
+The second contest waged by the friends of the Nationalist idea in which
+Marshall took part was over the extradition bill which the Legislature
+enacted in the winter of 1784. The circumstances making such a law so
+necessary that the Virginia Legislature actually passed it, draw back
+for a moment the curtain and give us a view of the character of our
+frontiersmen. Daring, fearless, strong, and resourceful, they struck
+without the sanction of the law. The object immediately before their
+eyes, the purpose of the present, the impulse or passion of the
+moment--these made up the practical code which governed their actions.
+
+Treaties of the American "Government" with the Governments of other
+countries were, to these wilderness subduers, vague and far-away
+engagements which surely never were meant to affect those on the
+outskirts of civilization; and most certainly could not reach the
+scattered dwellers in the depths of the distant forests, even if such
+international compacts were intended to include them. As for the
+Government's treaties or agreements of any kind with the Indian tribes,
+they, of course, amounted to nothing in the opinion of the frontiersmen.
+Who were the Indians, anyway, except a kind of wild animal very much in
+the frontiersman's way and to be exterminated like other savage beasts?
+Were not the Indians the natural foes of these white Lords of the
+earth?[731]
+
+Indeed, it is more than likely that most of this advance guard of the
+westward-marching American people never had heard of such treaties until
+the Government's puny attempt to enforce them. At any rate, the settlers
+fell afoul of all who stood in their way; and, in the falling, spared
+not their hand. Madison declared that there was "danger of our being
+speedily embroiled with the nations contiguous to the U. States,
+particularly the Spaniards, by the licentious & predatory spirit of some
+of our Western people. In several instances, gross outrages are said to
+have been already practiced."[732] Jay, then Secretary of State,
+mournfully wrote to Jefferson in Paris, that "Indians have been murdered
+by our people in cold blood, and no satisfaction given; nor are they
+pleased with the avidity with which we seek to acquire their lands."
+
+Expressing the common opinion of the wisest and best men of the country,
+who, with Madison, were horrified by the ruthless and unprovoked
+violence of the frontiersmen, Jay feared that "to pitch our tents
+through the wilderness in a great variety of places, far distant from
+each other," might "fill the wilderness with white savages ... more
+formidable to us than the tawny ones which now inhabit it." No wonder
+those who were striving to found a civilized nation had "reason ... to
+apprehend an Indian war."[733]
+
+To correct this state of things and to bring home to these sons of
+individualism the law of nations and our treaties with other countries,
+Madison, in the autumn of 1784, brought in a bill which provided that
+Virginia should deliver up to foreign Governments such offenders as had
+come within the borders of the Commonwealth. The bill also provided for
+the trial and punishment by Virginia courts of any Virginia citizen who
+should commit certain crimes in "the territory of any Christian nation
+or Indian tribe in amity with the United States." The law is of general
+historic importance because it was among the first, if not indeed the
+very first, ever passed by any legislative body against
+filibustering.[734]
+
+The feebleness of the National idea at this time; the grotesque notions
+of individual "rights"; the weakness or absence of the sense of civic
+duty; the general feeling that everybody should do as he pleased; the
+scorn for the principle that other nations and especially Indian tribes
+had any rights which the rough-and-ready settlers were bound to respect,
+are shown in the hot fight made against Madison's wise and moderate
+bill. Viewed as a matter of the welfare and safety of the frontiersmen
+themselves, Madison's measure was prudent and desirable; for, if either
+the Indians or the Spaniards had been goaded into striking back by
+formal war, the blows would have fallen first and heaviest on these very
+settlers.
+
+Yet the bill was stoutly resisted. It was said that the measure, instead
+of carrying out international law, violated it because "such surrenders
+were unknown to the law of nations."[735] And what became of Virginia's
+sacred Bill of Rights, if such a law as Madison proposed should be
+placed on the statute books, exclaimed the friends of the predatory
+backwoodsmen? Did not the Bill of Rights guarantee to every person
+"speedy trial by an impartial jury of twelve men of his vicinage," where
+he must "be confronted with the accusers and witnesses," said they?
+
+But what did this Nationalist extradition bill do? It actually provided
+that men on Virginia soil should be delivered up for punishment to a
+foreign nation which knew not the divine right of trial by jury. As for
+trying men in Virginia courts and before Virginia juries for something
+they had done in the fastnesses of the far-away forests of the West and
+South, as Madison's bill required, how could the accused "call for
+evidence in his favor"? And was not this "sacred right" one of the
+foundation stones, quarried from Magna Charta, on which Virginia's
+"liberties" had been built?[736] To be sure it was! Yet here was James
+Madison trying to blast it to fragments with his Nationalism!
+
+So ran the arguments of those early American advocates of
+_laissez-faire_. Madison answered, as to the law of nations, by quoting
+Vattel, Grotius, and Puffendorf. As to the Bill of Rights, he pointed
+out that the individualist idealism by which the champions of the
+settlers interpreted this instrument "would amount to a license for
+every aggression, and would sacrifice the peace of the whole community
+to the impunity of the worst members of it."[737] Such were the
+conservative opinions of James Madison three years before he helped to
+frame the National Constitution.
+
+Madison saw, too,--shocking treason to "liberty,"--"the necessity of a
+qualified interpretation of the bill of rights,"[738] if we were to
+maintain the slightest pretense of a National Government of any kind.
+The debate lasted several days.[739] With all the weight of argument,
+justice, and even common prudence on the side of the measure, it
+certainly would have failed had not Patrick Henry come to the rescue of
+it with all the strength of his influence and oratory.[740]
+
+The bill was so mangled in committee that it was made useless and it was
+restored only by amendment. Yet such was the opposition to it that even
+with Henry's powerful aid this was done only by the dangerous margin of
+four votes out of a total of seventy-eight.[741] The enemies of the bill
+mustered their strength overnight and, when the final vote came upon its
+passage the next morning, came so near defeating it that it passed by a
+majority of only one vote out of a total of eighty-seven.[742]
+
+John Marshall, of course, voted for it. While there is no record that he
+took part in the debate, yet it is plain that the contest strengthened
+his fast-growing Nationalist views. The extravagance of those who saw in
+the Bill of Rights only a hazy "liberty" which hid evil-doers from the
+law, and which caused even the cautious Madison to favor a "qualified
+interpretation" of that instrument, made a lasting impression on
+Marshall's mind.
+
+But Marshall's support was not wholly influenced by the prudence and
+Nationalism of the measure. He wished to protect the Indians from the
+frontiersmen. He believed, with Henry, in encouraging friendly relations
+with them, even by white and red amalgamation. He earnestly supported
+Henry's bill for subsidizing marriages of natives and whites[743] and
+was disappointed by its defeat.
+
+"We have rejected some bills," writes Marshall, "which in my conception
+would have been advantageous to the country. Among these, I rank the
+bill for encouraging intermarriages with the Indians. Our prejudices
+however, oppose themselves to our interests, and operate too powerfully
+for them."[744]
+
+During the period between 1784 and 1787 when Marshall was out of the
+Legislature, the absolute need of a central Government that would enable
+the American people to act as a Nation became ever more urgent; but the
+dislike for such a Government also crystallized. The framing of the
+Constitution by the Federal Convention at Philadelphia in 1787 never
+could have been brought about by any abstract notions of National honor
+and National power, nor by any of those high and rational ideas of
+government which it has become traditional to ascribe as the only
+source and cause of our fundamental law.
+
+The people at large were in no frame of mind for any kind of government
+that meant power, taxes, and the restrictions which accompany orderly
+society. The determination of commercial and financial interests to get
+some plan adopted under which business could be transacted, was the most
+effective force that brought about the historic Convention at
+Philadelphia in 1787. Indeed, when that body met it was authorized only
+to amend the Articles of Confederation and chiefly as concerned the
+National regulation of commerce.[745]
+
+Virginia delayed acting upon the Constitution until most of the other
+States had ratified it. The Old Dominion, which had led in the
+Revolution, was one of the last Commonwealths to call her Convention to
+consider the "new plan" of a National Government. The opposition to the
+proposed fundamental law was, as we shall see, general and determined;
+and the foes of the Constitution, fiercely resisting its ratification,
+were striving to call a second general Convention to frame another
+scheme of government or merely to amend the Articles of Confederation.
+
+To help to put Virginia in line for the Constitution, John Marshall, for
+the third time, sought election to the Legislature. His views about
+government had now developed maturely into a broad, well-defined
+Nationalism; and he did not need the spur of the wrathful words which
+Washington had been flinging as far as he could against the existing
+chaos and against everybody who opposed a strong National Government.
+
+If Marshall had required such counsel and action from his old commander,
+both were at hand; for in all his volcanic life that Vesuvius of a man
+never poured forth such lava of appeal and denunciation as during the
+period of his retirement at Mount Vernon after the war was over and
+before the Constitution was adopted.[746]
+
+But Marshall was as hot a Nationalist as Washington himself. He was
+calmer in temperament, more moderate in language and method, than his
+great leader; but he was just as determined, steady, and fearless. And
+so, when he was elected to the Legislature in the early fall of 1787, he
+had at heart and in mind but one great purpose. Army life, legislative
+experience, and general observation had modified his youthful democratic
+ideals, while strengthening and confirming that Nationalism taught him
+from childhood. Marshall himself afterwards described his state of mind
+at this period and the causes that produced it.
+
+"When I recollect," said he, "the wild and enthusiastic notions with
+which my political opinions of that day were tinctured, I am disposed to
+ascribe my devotion to the Union and to a government competent to its
+preservation, at least as much to casual circumstances as to judgment.
+I had grown up at a time when the love of the Union, and the resistance
+to the claims of Great Britain were the inseparable inmates of the same
+bosom; when patriotism and a strong fellow-feeling with our suffering
+fellow-citizens of Boston were identical; when the maxim, 'United we
+stand, divided we fall,' was the maxim of every orthodox American.
+
+"And I had imbibed these sentiments so thoroughly that they constituted
+a part of my being. I carried them with me into the army, where I found
+myself associated with brave men from different States, who were risking
+life and everything valuable in a common cause, believed by all to be
+most precious; and where I was confirmed in the habit of considering
+America as my country, and Congress as my government.... My immediate
+entrance into the State Legislature opened to my view the causes which
+had been chiefly instrumental in augmenting those sufferings [of the
+army]; and the general tendency of State politics convinced me that no
+safe and permanent remedy could be found but in a more efficient and
+better organized General Government."[747]
+
+On the third day of the fall session of the Virginia Legislature of
+1787, the debate began on the question of calling a State Convention to
+ratify the proposed National Constitution.[748] On October 25 the debate
+came to a head and a resolution for calling a State Convention passed
+the House.[749] The debate was over the question as to whether the
+proposed Convention should have authority either to ratify or reject the
+proposed scheme of government entirely; or to accept it upon the
+condition that it be altered and amended.
+
+Francis Corbin, a youthful member from Middlesex, proposed a flat-footed
+resolution that the State Convention be called either to accept or
+reject the "new plan." He then opened the debate with a forthright
+speech for a Convention to ratify the new Constitution as it stood.
+Patrick Henry instantly was on his feet. He was for the Convention, he
+said: "No man was more truly federal than himself." But, under Corbin's
+resolution, the Convention could not propose amendments to the
+Constitution. There were "errors and defects" in that paper, said Henry.
+He proposed that Corbin's resolution should be changed so that the State
+Convention might propose amendments[750] as a condition of ratification.
+
+The debate waxed hot. George Nicholas, one of the ablest men in the
+country, warmly attacked Henry's idea. It would, declared Nicholas,
+"give the impression" that Virginia was not for the Constitution,
+whereas "there was, he believed, a decided majority in its favor."
+Henry's plan, said Nicholas, would throw cold water on the movement to
+ratify the Constitution in States that had not yet acted.
+
+George Mason made a fervid and effective speech for Henry's resolution.
+This eminent, wealthy, and cultivated man had been a member of the
+Philadelphia Convention that had framed the Constitution; but he had
+refused to sign it. He was against it for the reasons which he
+afterwards gave at great length in the Virginia Convention of 1788.[751]
+He had "deeply and maturely weighed every article of the new
+Constitution," avowed Mason, and if he had signed it, he "might have
+been justly regarded as a traitor to my country. I would have lost this
+hand before it should have marked my name to the new government."[752]
+
+At this juncture, Marshall intervened with a compromise. The
+Constitutionalists were uncertain whether they could carry through
+Corbin's resolution. They feared that Henry's plan of proposing
+amendments to the Constitution might pass the House. The effect of such
+an Anti-Constitutional victory in Virginia, which was the largest and
+most populous State in the Union, would be a blow to the cause of the
+Constitution from which it surely could not recover. For the movement
+was making headway in various States for a second Federal Convention
+that should devise another system of government to take the place of the
+one which the first Federal Convention, after much quarreling and
+dissension, finally patched up in Philadelphia.[753]
+
+So Marshall was against both Corbin's resolution and Henry's amendment
+to it; and also he was for the ideas of each of these gentlemen. It was
+plain, said Marshall, that Mr. Corbin's resolution was open to the
+criticism made by Mr. Henry. To be sure, the Virginia Convention should
+not be confined to a straight-out acceptance or rejection of the new
+Constitution; but, on the other hand, it would never do for the word to
+go out to the other States that Virginia in no event would accept the
+Constitution unless she could propose amendments to it. He agreed with
+Nicholas entirely on that point.
+
+Marshall also pointed out that the people of Virginia ought not to be
+given to understand that their own Legislature was against the proposed
+Constitution before the people themselves had even elected a Convention
+to pass upon that instrument. The whole question ought to go to the
+people without prejudice; and so Marshall proposed a resolution of his
+own "that a Convention should be called and that the new Constitution
+should be laid before them for their free and ample discussion."[754]
+
+Marshall's idea captured the House. It placated Henry, it pleased Mason;
+and, of course, it was more than acceptable to Corbin and Nicholas, with
+whom Marshall was working hand in glove, as, indeed, was the case with
+all the Constitutionalists. In fact, Marshall's tactics appeared to let
+every man have his own way and succeeded in getting the Convention
+definitely called. And it did let the contending factions have their own
+way for the time being; for, at that juncture, the friends of the new
+National Constitution had no doubt that they would be able to carry it
+through the State Convention unmarred by amendments, and its enemies
+were equally certain that they would be able to defeat or alter it.
+
+Marshall's resolution, therefore, passed the House "unanimously."[755]
+Other resolutions to carry Marshall's resolution into effect also passed
+without opposition, and it was "ordered that two hundred copies of these
+resolutions be printed and dispersed by members of the general assembly
+among their constituents; and that the Executive should send a copy of
+them to Congress and to the Legislature and Executive of the respective
+states."[756] But the third month of the session was half spent before
+the Senate passed the bill.[757] Not until January 8 of the following
+year did it become a law.[758]
+
+In addition, however, to defining the privileges of the members and
+providing money for its expenses, the bill also authorized the
+Convention to send representatives "to any of the sister states or the
+conventions thereof which may be then met," in order to gather the views
+of the country "concerning the great and important change of government
+which hath been proposed by the federal convention."[759] Thus the
+advocates of a second general Convention to amend the Articles of
+Confederation or frame another Constitution scored their point.
+
+So ended the first skirmish of the historic battle soon to be fought out
+in Virginia, which would determine whether the American people should
+begin their career as a Nation. Just as John Marshall was among the
+first in the field with rifle, tomahawk, and scalping-knife, to fight
+for Independence, so, now, he was among those first in the field with
+arguments, influence, and political activities, fighting for
+Nationalism.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[614] Richmond grew rapidly thereafter. The number of houses was trebled
+within a decade.
+
+[615] Schoepf, ii, 55-56.
+
+[616] Schoepf, ii, 55-56.
+
+[617] _Ib._; and see Journals.
+
+[618] _Ib._, ii, 57.
+
+[619] Schoepf, 55-56.
+
+[620] _Ib._, 58.
+
+[621] Story, in Dillon, iii, 337. Marshall was a prime favorite of his
+old comrades all his life. (_Ib._)
+
+[622] Journal, H.D. (Oct. Sess., 1782), 3-10.
+
+[623] The roads were so bad and few that traveling even on horseback was
+not only toilsome but dangerous. (See _infra_, chap. VII.)
+
+[624] Journal, H.D. (Oct. Sess., 1782), 4-8.
+
+[625] Journal, H.D. (Oct. Sess., 1782.), 9-10.
+
+[626] _Ib._, 10.
+
+[627] _Ib._, 13-15.
+
+[628] _Ib._, 15.
+
+[629] _Ib._, 22; Hening, xi, 111. The "ayes" and "noes" were taken on
+this bill and Marshall's vote is, of course, without any importance
+except that it was his first and that it was a little straw showing his
+kindly and tolerant disposition. Also the fact that the "ayes" and
+"noes" were called for--something that was very rarely done--shows the
+popular feeling against Englishmen.
+
+[630] Journal, H.D. (Oct. Sess., 1782), 27-28. Marshall voted in favor
+of bringing in a bill for strengthening the credit account; and against
+postponing the consideration of the militia bill. (_Ib._, 45.)
+
+[631] _Ib._, 23, 25, 27, 36, 42, 45.
+
+[632] _Ib._, 23.
+
+[633] Hening, xi, 173-75.
+
+[634] Journal, H.D., 36.
+
+[635] "It greatly behoves the Assembly to revise several of our laws,
+and to abolish all such as are contrary to the fundamental principles of
+justice; and by a strict adherence to the distinctions between Right and
+Wrong for the future, to restore that confidence and reverence ... which
+has been so greatly impaired by a contrary conduct; and without which
+our laws can never be much more than a dead letter." (Mason to Henry,
+May 6,1783, as quoted in Henry, ii, 185.)
+
+[636] _Writings_: Hunt, ii, 397. This notable fact is worthy of
+repetition if we are to get an accurate view of the Virginia Legislature
+of that day. Yet that body contained many men of great ability.
+
+[637] Madison to Jefferson, July 3,1784; _Writings_: Hunt, ii, 62.
+
+[638] Madison to Washington, Dec. 14,1787; _ib._, v, 69-70.
+
+[639] Washington to Madison, Jan. 10, 1788; _Writings_: Ford, xi, 208.
+
+[640] Washington to Lafayette, April 28, 1788; _ib._, 254. Washington
+wrote bitterly of State antagonism. "One State passes a prohibitory law
+respecting some article, another State opens wide the avenue for its
+admission. One Assembly makes a system, another Assembly unmakes it."
+(_Ib._)
+
+[641] Hening, xi, 299-306. This statement of Marshall's was grossly
+incorrect. This session of the Legislature passed several laws of the
+very greatest public consequence, such as the act to authorize Congress
+to pass retaliatory trade laws against Great Britain (_ib._, 313); an
+immigration and citizenship act (_ib._, 322-24); an act prohibiting
+British refugees from coming to Virginia; and a quarantine act (_ib._,
+29-31). It was this session that passed the famous act to authorize
+Virginia's delegates in Congress to convey to the United States the
+Northwest Territory (_ib._, 326-28).
+
+This remarkable oversight of Marshall is hard to account for. An
+explanation is that this was the year of his marriage; and the year also
+in which he became a resident of Richmond, started in the practice of
+the law there, and set up his own home. In addition to these absorbing
+things, his duty as a member of the Council of State took his attention.
+Also, of course, it was the year when peace with Great Britain was
+declared. Still, these things do not excuse Marshall's strange
+misstatement. Perhaps he underestimated the importance of the work done
+at this particular session.
+
+[642] Hening, xi, 387-88. This bill became a law at the spring session
+of the following year. The impracticable part enforcing attendance of
+members was dropped. The bill as passed imposes a penalty of fifty
+pounds on any sheriff or other officer for failure to return
+certificates of elections; a forfeit of two hundred pounds upon any
+sheriff interfering in any election or showing any partiality toward
+candidates.
+
+[643] Marshall to Powell, Dec. 9, 1783; _Branch Historical Papers_, i,
+130-31.
+
+[644] An act allowing one half of the taxes to be paid in tobacco, hemp,
+flour, or deerskins, and suspending distress for taxes until January,
+1784. (Hening, xi, 289.) The scarcity of specie was so great and the
+people so poor that the collection of taxes was extremely difficult. In
+1782 the partial payment of taxes in commutables--tobacco, hemp, flour,
+or deerskins--was introduced. This occasioned such loss to the treasury
+that in May, 1783, the Commutable Acts were repealed; but within five
+months the Legislature reversed itself again and passed the Commutable
+Bill which so disgusted Marshall.
+
+[645] Marshall to Monroe, Dec. 12, 1783; MS., Draper Collection,
+Wisconsin Historical Society; also printed in _Amer. Hist. Rev._, iii,
+673. This letter is not addressed, but it has been assumed that it was
+written to Thomas Jefferson. This is incorrect; it was written to James
+Monroe.
+
+[646] Journal, H.D. (Oct. Sess., 1782), 27. It is almost certain that
+his father and Jacquelin Ambler were pushing him. The Speaker and other
+prominent members of the House had been colleagues of Thomas Marshall in
+the House of Burgesses and Ambler was popular with everybody. Still,
+Marshall's personality must have had much to do with this notable
+advancement. His membership in the Council cannot be overestimated in
+considering his great conflict with the Virginia political "machine"
+after he became Chief Justice. See volume III of this work.
+
+[647] Journal of the Council of State, Nov. 20, 1782; MS., Va. St. Lib.
+
+[648] Pendleton to Madison, Nov. 25, 1782; quoted in Rives, i, 182.
+
+[649] Constitution of Virginia, 1776.
+
+[650] Dodd, in _Amer. Hist. Rev._, xii, 776.
+
+[651] Marshall participated in the appointment of General George Rogers
+Clark to the office of Surveyor of Officers' and Soldiers' lands.
+(Journal, Ex. Council, 1784, 57: MS., Va. St. Lib.)
+
+[652] _Ib._
+
+[653] Binney, in Dillon, iii, 291-92. This story is repeated in almost
+all of the sketches of Marshall's life.
+
+[654] Marshall to Monroe, April 17, 1784; MS., N.Y. Pub. Lib.
+
+[655] His father, now in Kentucky, could no longer personally aid his
+son in his old home. Thus Marshall himself had to attend to his own
+political affairs.
+
+[656] Marshall did not try for the Legislature again until 1787 when he
+sought and secured election from Henrico. (See _infra._)
+
+[657] Journal, H.D. (Spring Sess., 1784), 5. A Robert Marshall was also
+a member of the House during 1784 as one of the representatives for Isle
+of Wight County. He was not related in any way to John Marshall.
+
+[658] _Ib._
+
+[659] _Ib._
+
+[660] Story, in Dillon, iii, 335-36.
+
+[661] As an example of the number and nature of these soldier petitions
+see Journal, H.D. (Spring Sess., 1784), 7, 9, 11, 16, 18, 44.
+
+[662] See chap, VIII and footnote to p. 288.
+
+[663] Williamson was a Tory of the offensive type. He had committed
+hostile acts which embittered the people against him. (See _Cal. Va. St.
+Prs._, ii. And see Eckenrode: _R. V._, chap, xi, for full account of
+this and similar cases.)
+
+[664] The gentle pastime of tarring and feathering unpopular persons and
+riding them on sharp rails appears to have been quite common in all
+parts of the country, for a long time before the Revolution. Men even
+burned their political opponents at the stake. (See instances in
+Belcher, i, 40-45.) Savage, however, as were the atrocities committed
+upon the Loyalists by the patriots, even more brutal treatment was dealt
+out to the latter by British officers and soldiers during the
+Revolution. (See _supra_, chap. IV, footnote to p. 116.)
+
+[665] Journal, H.D. (Spring Sess., 1784), 19.
+
+[666] Journal, H.D. (Spring Sess., 1784), 23, 27.
+
+[667] _Ib._, 45. For thorough examination of this incident see
+Eckenrode: _R. V._, chap. xi.
+
+[668] Journal, H.D. (Spring Sess., 1784), 57.
+
+[669] _Ib._, 14.
+
+[670] Hening, xi, 390.
+
+[671] Journal, H.D., 70-71.
+
+[672] Madison to Jefferson, July 3, 1794; _Writings_: Hunt, ii, 56-57.
+The Constitution of 1776 never was satisfactory to the western part of
+Virginia, which was under-represented. Representation was by counties
+and not population. Also suffrage was limited to white freeholders; and
+this restriction was made more onerous by the fact that county
+representation was based on slave as well as free population. Also, the
+Constitution made possible the perpetuation of the Virginia political
+machine, previously mentioned, which afterward played a part of such
+vast importance in National affairs. Yet extreme liberals like the
+accomplished and patriotic Mason were against the Legislature turning
+itself into a convention to make a new one. (Mason to Henry, May 6,
+1783; Henry, ii, 185.)
+
+[673] Madison to Jefferson, Jan. 9, 1785; _Writings_: Hunt, ii, 104.
+
+[674] Hening, xi, 510-18. This law shows the chief articles of commerce
+at that time and the kind of money which might be received as tolls. The
+scale of equivalents in pounds sterling vividly displays the confused
+currency situation of the period. The table names Spanish milled pieces
+of eight, English milled crowns, French silver crowns, johannes, half
+johannes, moidores, English guineas, French guineas, doubloons, Spanish
+pistoles, French milled pistoles, Arabian sequins; the weight of each
+kind of money except Spanish pieces of eight and English and French
+milled crowns being carefully set out; and "other gold coin (German
+excepted) by the pennyweight." If any of this money should be reduced in
+value by lessening its weight or increasing its alloy it should be
+received at "its reduced value only." (_Ib._)
+
+[675] Madison to Jefferson, Jan. 9, 1785; _Writings_: Hunt, ii, 102.
+Madison gives a very full history and description of this legislation.
+
+[676] Marshall's Account Book contains entries of many of these
+payments.
+
+[677] Journal, H.D. (Nov. 1787), 27-127.
+
+[678] Journal, H.D. (Nov. 1787), 70.
+
+[679] _Ib._, 27.
+
+[680] Hening, xii, 464-67. The preamble of the act recites that it is
+passed because under the existing law "justice is greatly delayed by the
+tedious forms of proceedings, suitors are therefore obliged to waste
+much time and expense to the impoverishment of themselves and the state,
+and decrees when obtained are with difficulty carried into execution."
+(_Ib._)
+
+[681] _Ib._, ix, 389-99.
+
+[682] _Ib._, xi, 342-44.
+
+[683] See Jefferson's letter to Mazzei, explaining the difference
+between law and equity and the necessity for courts of chancery as well
+as courts of law. This is one of the best examples of Jefferson's calm,
+clear, simple style when writing on non-political subjects. (Jefferson
+to Mazzei, Nov., 1785; _Works_: Ford, iv, 473-80.)
+
+[684] For the best contemporaneous description of Virginia legislation
+during this period see Madison's letters to Jefferson when the latter
+was in Paris. (_Writings_: Hunt, i and ii.)
+
+[685] For a thorough account of the religious struggle in Virginia from
+the beginning see Eckenrode: _S. of C. and S._ On the particular phase
+of this subject dealt with while Marshall was a member of the Virginia
+Legislature see _ib._, chap. v.
+
+[686] Mason to Henry, May 6, 1783, as quoted in Rowland, ii, 44.
+
+[687] Meade, i, footnote to 142. And see _Atlantic Monthly, supra_.
+
+[688] Eckenrode:_ S. of C. and S._, 75. On this general subject see
+Meade, i, chaps. i and ii. "Infidelity became rife, in Virginia,
+perhaps, beyond any other portion of land. The Clergy, for the most
+part, were a laughing stock or objects of disgust." (_Ib._, 52.) Even
+several years later Bishop Meade says that "I was then taking part in
+the labours of the field, which in Virginia was emphatically _servile
+labour_." (_Ib._, 27.)
+
+"One sees not only a smaller number of houses of worship [in Virginia]
+than in other provinces, but what there are in a ruinous or ruined
+condition, and the clergy for the most part dead or driven away and
+their places unfilled." (Schoepf, ii, 62-63.)
+
+[689] Henry, ii, 199-206.
+
+[690] Eckenrode: _S. of C. and S._, 77.
+
+[691] Journal, H.D. (2d Sess., 1784), 19.
+
+[692] _Ib._, 27.
+
+[693] _Ib._, 82.
+
+[694] _Ib._
+
+[695] _Ib._
+
+[696] _Ib._, 97. For the incorporation law see Hening, xi, 532-37; for
+marriage law see _ib._, 532-35. Madison describes this law to Jefferson
+and excuses his vote for it by saying that "the necessity of some sort
+of incorporation for the purpose of holding & managing the property of
+the Church could not well be denied, nor a more harmless modification of
+it now be obtained. A negative of the bill, too, would have doubled the
+eagerness and the pretexts for a much greater evil, a general
+Assessment, which, there is good ground to believe, was parried by this
+partial gratification of its warmest votaries." (Madison to Jefferson,
+Jan. 9, 1785; _Writings_: Hunt, ii, 113.)
+
+[697] Story, in Dillon, iii, 338.
+
+[698] "Virginia certainly owed two millions sterling [$10,000,000] to
+Great Britain at the conclusion of the war. Some have conjectured the
+debt as high as three millions [$15,000,000].... These debts had become
+hereditary from father to son for many generations, so that the planters
+were a species of property annexed to certain mercantile houses in
+London.... I think that state owed near as much as all the rest put
+together." Jefferson's explanation of these obligations is extremely
+partial to the debtors, of whom he was one. (Jefferson to Meusnier, Jan.
+24, 1786; _Works_: Ford, v, 28.)
+
+Most of Jefferson's earlier debts were contracted in the purchase of
+slaves. "I cannot decide to sell my lands.... nor would I willingly sell
+the slaves as long as there remains any prospect of paying my debts with
+their labor." This will "enable me to put them ultimately on an easier
+footing, which I will do the moment they have paid the [my] debts,...
+two thirds of which have been contracted by purchasing them." (Jefferson
+to Lewis, July 29, 1787; _ib._, 311.)
+
+[699] For Virginia legislation on this subject see Hening, ix, x, and
+xi, under index caption "British Debts."
+
+[700] Definitive Treaty of Peace, 1783, art. 4.
+
+[701] Journal, H.D. (1st Sess.), 1784, 41.
+
+[702] _Ib._, 54; 72-73. The Treaty required both.
+
+[703] Journal, H.D. (1st Sess., 1784), 74.
+
+[704] _Ib._, 74-75. Henry led the fight against repealing the anti-debt
+laws or, as he contended, against Great Britain's infraction of the
+Treaty.
+
+[705] Journal, H.D. (1st Sess., 1784), 25.
+
+[706] Madison to Jefferson, Jan. 9, 1785; _Writings_: Hunt, ii, 114.
+
+[707] See Madison's vivid description of this incident; _ib._, 116; also
+Henry, ii, 233.
+
+[708] _Ib._
+
+[709] Marshall to Monroe, Dec. 2, 1784; MS., Monroe Papers, Lib. Cong.
+
+[710] Madison to Monroe, Dec. 24, 1785; _Writings_: Hunt, ii, 205.
+
+"Being convinced myself that nothing can be now done that will not
+extremely dishonor us, and embarass Cong^s my wish is that the report
+may not be called for at all. In the course of the debates no pains were
+spared to disparage the Treaty by insinuations ag^{st} Cong^s, the
+Eastern States, and the negociators of the Treaty, particularly J.
+Adams. These insinuations & artifices explain perhaps one of the motives
+from which the augmention of the foederal powers & respectability has
+been opposed." (Madison to Monroe, Dec. 30, 1785; _ib._, 211.)
+
+[711] Curiously enough, it fell to Jefferson as Secretary of State to
+report upon, explain, and defend the measures of Virginia and other
+States which violated the Treaty of Peace. (See Jefferson to the British
+Minister, May 29, 1792; _Works_: Ford, vii, 3-99.) This masterful
+statement is one of the finest argumentative products of Jefferson's
+brilliant mind.
+
+[712] Journal, H.D. (1787), 51.
+
+[713] _Ib._, 52.
+
+[714] _Ib._ James Monroe was a member of the House at this session and
+voted against the first amendment and for the second. On the contrary,
+Patrick Henry voted for the first and against the second amendment.
+George Mason voted against both amendments. So did Daniel Boone, who
+was, with Thomas Marshall, then a member of the Virginia Legislature
+from the District of Kentucky. On the passage of the resolution, James
+Monroe and Patrick Henry again swerved around, the former voting for and
+the latter against it.
+
+[715] Journal, H.D. (1787), 52.
+
+[716] Journal, H.D. (1787), 79.
+
+[717] "If we are now to pay the debts due to the British merchants, what
+have we been fighting for all this while?" was the question the people
+"sometimes" asked, testifies George Mason. (Henry, ii, 187.) But the
+fact is that this question generally was asked by the people. Nothing
+explains the struggle over this subject except that the people found it
+a bitter hardship to pay the debts, as, indeed, was the case; and the
+idea of not paying them at all grew into a hope and then a policy.
+
+[718] Journal, H.D. (1787), 80.
+
+[719] Hening, xii, 528. Richard Henry Lee thought that both countries
+were to blame. (Lee to Henry, Feb. 14, 1785; quoted in Henry, iii, 279.)
+
+[720] For an excellent statement regarding payment of British debts, see
+letter of George Mason to Patrick Henry, May 6, 1783, as quoted in
+Henry, ii, 186-87. But Mason came to put it on the ground that Great
+Britain would renew the war if these debts were not paid.
+
+[721] Story, in Dillon, iii, 338.
+
+[722] Hening, x, chaps. ii and ix, 409-51.
+
+[723] For a general review of the state of the country see _infra_,
+chaps. VII and VIII.
+
+[724] Hening, xi, chap. xlii, 171.
+
+[725] _Ib._, chap. xxxi, 350.
+
+[726] Journal, H.D., 52.
+
+[727] In order to group subjects such as British debts, extradition, and
+so forth, it is, unfortunately, essential to bring widely separated
+dates under one head.
+
+[728] Journal, H.D. (1st Sess., 1784), 11-12.
+
+[729] Journal, H.D. (1st Sess., 1784), 37.
+
+[730] _Ib._, 81; also, Hening, xi, 388.
+
+[731] "The white people who inhabited the frontier, from the constant
+state of warfare in which they lived with the Indians, had imbibed much
+of their character; and learned to delight so highly in scenes of
+crafty, bloody, and desperate conflict, that they as often gave as they
+received the provocation to hostilities. Hunting, which was their
+occupation, became dull and tiresome, unless diversified occasionally by
+the more animated and piquant amusement of an Indian skirmish." (Wirt,
+257.)
+
+[732] Madison to Jefferson, Jan. 9, 1785; _Writings_: Hunt, ii, 110-11.
+
+[733] Jay to Jefferson, Dec. 14, 1786; _Jay_: Johnston, iii, 224.
+
+[734] Hening, xi, 471; and Henry, ii, 217.
+
+[735] Madison to Jefferson, Jan. 9, 1785; _Writings_: Hunt, ii. 111.
+
+[736] Article VIII, Constitution of Virginia, 1776.
+
+[737] Madison to Jefferson, Jan. 9, 1785; _Writings_: Hunt, ii, 111.
+
+[738] _Ib._
+
+[739] Journal, H.D. (2d Sess., 1784), 34-41.
+
+[740] "The measure was warmly patronized by Mr. Henry." (Madison to
+Jefferson, Jan. 9, 1785; _Writings_: Hunt, ii, 111.) The reason of
+Henry's support of this extradition bill was not its Nationalist spirit,
+but his friendship for the Indians and his pet plan to insure peace
+between the white man and the red and to produce a better race of human
+beings; all of which Henry thought could be done by intermarriages
+between the whites and the Indians. He presented this scheme to the
+House at this same session and actually carried it by the "irresistible
+earnestness and eloquence" with which he supported it. (Wirt, 258.)
+
+The bill provided that every white man who married an Indian woman
+should be paid ten pounds and five pounds more for each child born of
+such marriage; and that if any white woman marry an Indian they should
+be entitled to ten pounds with which the County Court should buy live
+stock for them; that once each year the Indian husband to this white
+woman should be entitled to three pounds with which the County Court
+should buy clothes for him; that every child born of this Indian man and
+white woman should be educated by the State between the age of ten and
+twenty-one years, etc., etc. (_Ib._)
+
+This amazing bill actually passed the House on its first and second
+reading and there seems to be no doubt that it would have become a law
+had not Henry at that time been elected Governor, which took him "_out
+of the way_," to use Madison's curt phrase. John Marshall favored this
+bill.
+
+[741] Journal, H.D. (2d Sess., 1784), 41.
+
+[742] _Ib._
+
+[743] See note 5, p. 239, _ante_.
+
+[744] Marshall to Monroe, Dec., 1784; MS. Monroe Papers, Lib. Cong.;
+also partly quoted in Henry, ii, 219.
+
+[745] See _infra_, chap. IX.
+
+[746] One of the curious popular errors concerning our public men is
+that which pictures Washington as a calm person. On the contrary, he was
+hot-tempered and, at times, violent in speech and action. It was with
+the greatest difficulty that he trained himself to an appearance of
+calmness and reserve.
+
+[747] Story, in Dillon, iii, 338, 343.
+
+[748] Journal, H.D. (Oct. Sess., 1787), 7.
+
+[749] _Ib._, 11, 15.
+
+[750] _Pennsylvania Packet_, Nov. 10, 1787: Pa. Hist. Soc.
+
+[751] _Infra_, chaps. XI and XII.
+
+[752] _Pennsylvania Packet_, Nov. 10, 1787; also see in Rowland, ii,
+176.
+
+[753] _Infra_, chaps. IX, XII; and also Washington to Lafayette, Feb. 7,
+1788; _Writings_: Ford, xi, 220.
+
+[754] _Pennsylvania Packet_, Nov. 10, 1787; Pa. Hist. Soc.
+
+[755] Journal, H.D. (Oct. Sess., 1787), 15.
+
+[756] _Ib._
+
+[757] _Ib._, 95.
+
+[758] _Ib._ (Dec., 1787), 143, 177.
+
+[759] Hening, xii, 462-63.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+LIFE OF THE PEOPLE: COMMUNITY ISOLATION
+
+    An infant people, spreading themselves through a wilderness
+    occupied only by savages and wild beasts. (Marshall.)
+
+    Of the affairs of Georgia, I know as little as of those of
+    Kamskatska. (James Madison, 1786.)
+
+
+"Lean to the right," shouted the driver of a lumbering coach to his
+passengers; and all the jostled and bethumped travelers crowded to that
+side of the clumsy vehicle. "Left," roared the coachman a little later,
+and his fares threw themselves to the opposite side. The ruts and
+gullies, now on one side and now on the other, of the highway were so
+deep that only by acting as a shifting ballast could the voyagers
+maintain the stage's center of gravity and keep it from an upset.[760]
+
+This passageway through the forest, called a "road," was the
+thoroughfare between Philadelphia and Baltimore and a part of the trunk
+line of communication which connected the little cities of that period.
+If the "road" became so bad that the coach could not be pulled through
+the sloughs of mud, a new way was opened in the forest; so that, in some
+places, there were a dozen of such cuttings all leading to the same spot
+and all full of stumps, rocks, and trees.[761]
+
+The passengers often had to abandon this four-wheeled contraption
+altogether and walk in the mud; and were now and again called upon to
+put their shoulders to the wheels of the stage when the horses, unaided,
+were unable to rescue it.[762] Sometimes the combined efforts of horses
+and men could not bring the conveyance out of the mire and it would have
+to be left all night in the bog until more help could be secured.[763]
+Such was a main traveled road at the close of the Revolutionary War and
+for a long time after the Constitution was adopted.
+
+The difficulty and danger of communication thus illustrated had a direct
+and vital bearing upon the politics and statesmanship of the times. The
+conditions of travel were an index to the state of the country which we
+are now to examine. Without such a survey we shall find ourselves
+floating aimlessly among the clouds of fancy instead of treading, with
+sure foothold, the solid ground of fact. At this point, more perhaps
+than at any other of our history, a definite, accurate, and
+comprehensive inventory of conditions is essential. For not only is this
+phase of American development more obscure than any other, but the want
+of light upon it has led to vague consideration and sometimes to
+erroneous conclusions.
+
+We are about to witness the fierce and dramatic struggle from which
+emerged the feeble beginnings of a Nation that, even to-day, is still in
+the making; to behold the welter of plan and counterplot, of scheming
+and violence, of deal and trade, which finally resulted in the formal
+acceptance of the Constitution with a certainty that it would be
+modified, and, to some extent, mutilated, by later amendments. We are
+to listen to those "debates" which, alone, are supposed to have secured
+ratification, but which had no more, and indeed perhaps less effect than
+the familiar devices of "practical politics" in bringing about the
+adoption of our fundamental law.
+
+Since the victory at Yorktown a serious alteration had taken place in
+the views of many who had fought hardest for Independence and popular
+government. These men were as strong as ever for the building of a
+separate and distinct National entity; but they no longer believed in
+the wisdom or virtue of democracy without extensive restrictions. They
+had come to think that, at the very best, the crude ore of popular
+judgment could be made to enrich sound counsels only when passed through
+many screens that would rid it of the crudities of passion,
+whimsicality, interest, ignorance, and dishonesty which, they believed,
+inhered in it. Such men esteemed less and less a people's government and
+valued more and more a good government. And the idea grew that this
+meant a government the principal purpose of which was to enforce order,
+facilitate business, and safeguard property.
+
+During his early years in the Legislature, as has appeared, Marshall's
+opinions were changing. Washington, as we shall see, soon after peace
+was declared, lost much of his faith in the people; Madison arrived at
+the opinion that the majority were unequal to the weightier tasks of
+popular rule; and Marshall also finally came to entertain the melancholy
+fear that the people were not capable of self-government. Indeed,
+almost all of the foremost men of the period now under review were
+brought to doubt the good sense or sound heart of the multitude. The
+fires of Jefferson's faith still burned, and, indeed, burned more
+brightly; for that great reformer was in France and neither experienced
+nor witnessed any of those popular phenomena which fell like a drenching
+rain upon the enthusiasm of American statesmen at home for democratic
+government.
+
+This revolution in the views of men like Washington, Madison, and
+Marshall was caused largely by the conduct of the masses, which, to such
+men, seemed to be selfish, violent, capricious, vindictive, and
+dangerous. The state of the country explains much of this popular
+attitude and disposition. The development of Marshall's public ideas
+cannot be entirely understood by considering merely his altered
+circumstances and business and social connections. More important is a
+review of the people, their environment and condition.
+
+The extreme isolation of communities caused by want of roads and the
+difficulties and dangers of communication; the general ignorance of the
+masses; their childish credulity, and yet their quick and acute
+suspicion springing, largely, from isolation and lack of knowledge;
+their savage and narrow individualism, which resisted the establishment
+of a central authority and was antagonistic to any but the loosest local
+control; their envy and distrust of the prosperous and successful which
+their own economic condition strengthened, if, indeed, this
+circumstance did not create that sullen and dangerous state of mind--an
+understanding of all these elements of American life at that time is
+vital if we are to trace the development of Marshall's thinking and
+explore the origins of the questions that confronted our early
+statesmen.
+
+The majority of the people everywhere were poor; most of them owed
+debts; and they were readily influenced against any man who favored
+payment, and against any plan of government that might compel it. Also,
+the redemption of State and Continental debts, which was a hard and
+ever-present problem, was abhorrent to them. Much of the scrip had
+passed into the hands of wealthy purchasers. Why, exclaimed the popular
+voice, should this expedient of war be recognized? Discharge of such
+public obligations meant very definite individual taxes. It was as easy
+to inflame a people so situated and inclined as it was hard to get
+accurate information to them or to induce them to accept any reasoning
+that made for personal inconvenience or for public burdens.
+
+Marshall could not foresee the age of railway and telegraph and
+universal education. He had no vision of a period when speedy and
+accurate information would reach the great body of our population and
+the common hearthstone thus become the place of purest and soundest
+judgment. So it is impossible to comprehend or even apprehend his
+intellectual metamorphosis during this period unless we survey the
+physical, mental, and spiritual state of the country. How the people
+lived, their habits, the extent of their education, their tendency of
+thought, and, underlying all and vitally affecting all, the means or
+rather want of means of communication--a knowledge of these things is
+essential to an understanding of the times.[764] The absence of roads
+and the condition of the few that did exist were thoroughly
+characteristic of the general situation and, indeed, important causes of
+it. It becomes indispensable, then, to visualize the highways of the
+period and to picture the elements that produced the thinking and acting
+of the larger part of the people. Many examples are necessary to bring
+all this, adequately and in just proportion, before the eye of the
+present.
+
+When Washington, as President, was on his way to meet Congress, his
+carriage stuck in the mud, and only after it had been pried up with
+poles and pulled out by ropes could the Father of his Country proceed on
+his journey;[765] and this, too, over the principal highway of Maryland.
+"My nerves have not yet quite recovered the shock of the _wagon_," wrote
+Samuel Johnston of a stage trip from Baltimore to New York two years
+after our present Government was established.[766] Richard Henry Lee
+objected to the Constitution, because, among other things, "many
+citizens will be more than three hundred miles from the seat of this
+[National] government";[767] and "as many assessors and collectors of
+federal taxes will be above three hundred miles from the seat of the
+federal government as will be less."[768]
+
+The best road throughout its course, in the entire country, was the one
+between Boston and New York; yet the public conveyance which made
+regular trips with relays of horses in the most favorable season of the
+year usually took an entire week for the journey.[769] The stage was
+"shackling"; the horses' harness "made of ropes"; one team hauled the
+stage only eighteen miles; the stop for the night was made at ten
+o'clock, the start next morning at half-past two; the passengers often
+had to "help the coachman lift the coach out of the quagmire."[770]
+
+Over parts even of this, the finest long highway in the United States,
+the stage had to struggle against rocks and to escape precipices. "I
+knew not which to admire the most in the driver, his intrepidity or
+dexterity. I cannot conceive how he avoided twenty times dashing the
+carriage to pieces,"[771] testifies a traveler. In central
+Massachusetts, the roads "were intolerable" even to a New Englander; and
+"the country was sparsely inhabited by a rude population."[772] In
+Rhode Island not far from Providence the traveler was forced to keep
+mounting and dismounting from his horse in order to get along at
+all.[773] Dr. Taylor, in the Massachusetts Convention of 1788, arguing
+for frequent elections, said that it would take less than three weeks
+for Massachusetts members of Congress to go from Boston to
+Philadelphia.[774]
+
+Farmers only a short distance from New York could not bring their
+produce to the city in the winter because the roads were
+impassable.[775] Up State, in Cooper's Otsego settlement, "not one in
+twenty of the settlers had a horse and the way lay through rapid
+streams, across swamps or over bogs.... If the father of a family went
+abroad to labour for bread, it cost him three times its value before he
+could bring it home."[776] As late as 1790, after forty thousand acres
+in this region had been taken up "by the poorest order of men ... there
+were neither roads nor bridges"; and about Otsego itself there was not
+even "any trace of a road."[777] Where Utica now stands, the opening
+through the wilderness, which went by the name of a road, was so nearly
+impassable that a horseback traveler could make no more than two miles
+an hour over it. Rocks, stumps, and muddy holes in which the horse sank,
+made progress not only slow and toilsome, but dangerous.[778]
+
+Twenty days was not an unusual time for ordinary wagons, carrying
+adventurous settlers to the wilderness west of the Alleghanies, to cross
+Pennsylvania from Philadelphia to Pittsburg;[779] and it cost a hundred
+and twenty dollars a ton to haul freight between these points.[780]
+Three years after our present Government was established, twenty out of
+twenty-six lawsuits pending in Philadelphia were settled out of court
+"rather than go ninety miles from Phil^a for trial."[781]
+
+Talleyrand, journeying inland from the Quaker City about 1795, was
+"struck with astonishment" at what he beheld: "At less than a hundred
+and fifty miles distance from the Capital," he writes, "all trace of
+men's presence disappeared; nature in all her primeval vigor confronted
+us. Forests old as the world itself; decayed plants and trees covering
+the very ground where they once grew in luxuriance." And Talleyrand
+testifies that the fields, only a few miles' walk out of the "cities,"
+had been "mere wildernesses of forest" at the time the Constitution was
+adopted.[782]
+
+"The length and badness of the roads from hence [Mount Vernon] to
+Philadelphia" made Washington grumble with vexation and disgust;[783]
+and Jefferson wrote of the President's Southern tour in 1791: "I shall
+be happy to hear that no accident has happened to you in the bad
+roads ... that you are better prepared for those to come by lowering
+the hang [body] of your carriage and exchanging the coachman for two
+postilions ... which [are] ... essential to your safety."[784]
+
+No more comfortable or expeditious, if less dangerous, was travel by
+boat on the rivers. "Having lain all night in my Great Coat and Boots in
+a berth not long enough for me," chronicles Washington of this same
+Presidential journey, "we found ourselves in the morning still fast
+aground."[785]
+
+So difficult were the New Jersey roads that the stout and well-kept
+harness with which Washington always equipped his horses was badly
+broken going through New Jersey in 1789.[786] "The roads [from Richmond
+to New York] thro' the whole were so bad that we could never go more
+than three miles an hour, some times not more than two, and in the
+night, but one," wrote Jefferson[787] in March, 1790.
+
+A traveler starting from Alexandria, Virginia, to visit Mount Vernon,
+nine miles distant, was all day on the road, having become lost, in the
+"very thick woods." So confusing was the way through this forest that
+part of this time he was within three miles of his destination.[788]
+Twelve years after our present Government was established James A.
+Bayard records of his journey to the Capital: "Tho' traveling in the
+mail stage ... we were unable to move at more than the rate of two or
+three miles an hour."[789]
+
+Throughout Virginia the roads were execrable and scarcely deserved the
+name. The few bridges usually were broken.[790] The best road in the
+State was from Williamsburg, the old Capital, to Richmond, the new, a
+distance of only sixty-three miles; yet, going at highest speed, it
+required two days to make the trip.[791] Traveling in Virginia was
+almost exclusively by horseback; only negroes walked.[792] According to
+Grigsby, the familiar vision in our minds of the picturesque coach
+comfortably rolling over attractive highways, with postilions and
+outriders, which we now picture when we think of traveling in old
+Virginia, is mostly an historical mirage; for, says Grigsby, "coaches
+were rarely seen. There were thousands of respectable men in the
+Commonwealth who had never seen any other four-wheeled vehicle than a
+wagon and there were thousands who had never seen a wagon" at the time
+when the Constitution was ratified.[793]
+
+If horseback journeys were sore trials to the rider, they were
+desperately hard and sometimes fatal to the poor brute that carried
+him. In crossing unfordable rivers on the rude ferryboats, the horses'
+legs frequently were broken or the animals themselves often killed or
+drowned.[794] From Fredericksburg to Alexandria the roads were
+"frightfully bad."[795] As late as 1801 the wilderness was so dense just
+above where the City of Washington now stands that Davis called it "the
+wilds of the Potomac." In most parts of Virginia a person unacquainted
+with the locality often became lost in the forests.[796] South of
+Jamestown the crude and hazardous highways led through "eternal
+woods."[797]
+
+A short time before the Revolution, General Wilkinson's father bought
+five hundred acres on the present site of the National Capital,
+including the spot where the White House now stands; but his wife
+refused to go there from a little hamlet near Baltimore where her family
+then lived, because it was so far away from the settlements in the
+backwoods of Maryland.[798] A valuable horse was stolen from a Virginia
+planter who lived one hundred and forty miles from Richmond; but,
+although the thief was known, the expense of going to the Capital with
+witnesses was double the value of the horse, and so the planter pocketed
+his loss.[799] It cost more to transport tobacco from Augusta County,
+Virginia, to market than the tobacco was worth, so difficult and
+expensive was the carriage.[800]
+
+A sergeant in a Virginia regiment during the Revolutionary War, living
+in a part of the State which at present is not two hours' ride from the
+Capital, petitioned the House of Delegates in 1790 for payment of his
+arrears because he lived so far away from Richmond that he had found it
+impossible to apply within the time allowed for the settlement of his
+accounts in the regular way.[801] In 1785 the price of tobacco on the
+James River or the Rappahannock, and in Philadelphia varied from twenty
+to ninety-five per cent, although each of these places was "the same
+distance from its ultimate market,"[802] so seriously did want of
+transportation affect commerce. "The trade of this Country is in a
+deplorable Condition ... the loss direct on our produce & indirect on
+our imports is not less than 50 per ct.," testifies Madison.[803]
+
+Only in the immediate neighborhood of Philadelphia, Boston,[804] or New
+York, neither of which "cities" was as large as a moderate-sized inland
+town of to-day, were highways good, even from the point of view of the
+eighteenth century. In all other parts of America the roads in the
+present-day sense did not exist at all. Very often such trails as had
+been made were hard to find and harder to keep after they had been
+found. Near the close of the Revolution, Chastellux became tangled up in
+the woods on his way to visit Jefferson at Monticello "and travelled a
+long time without seeing any habitation."[805]
+
+Whoever dared to take in North Carolina what, at present, would be a
+brief and pleasant jaunt, then had to go through scores of miles of
+"dreary pines" in which the traveler often lost his way and became
+bewildered in the maze of the forest.[806] Again, the wanderer would
+find himself in a desolation of swamp and wood without the hint of a
+highway to follow out of it; and sleeping on the ground beneath the
+trees of this wilderness, with only wild animals about him, was, for the
+ordinary traveler, not an uncommon experience.[807]
+
+Even when the road could be traced, bears would follow it, so much was
+it still a part of their savage domain.[808] The little traveling
+possible when the weather was good was sometimes entirely suspended for
+days after a rain or snowfall, even out of a "city" like Baltimore.[809]
+Six years after the Constitution was adopted, Talleyrand found the
+buildings of that ambitious town "disput[ing] the ground with trees
+whose stumps have not yet been removed."[810]
+
+Such were the means of communication of a people scattered over a
+territory of almost half a million square miles. The total population of
+the United States was about three and a quarter millions; the same part
+of the country to-day has a population of not far from fifty-five
+millions. Including cities, and adding to these the more thickly settled
+portions adjoining them, there were not in the original States seven
+men, women, and children, all told, to the square mile. If we add
+Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana, into which the
+restless settlers already were moving, the people then living in the
+United States were fewer than five persons to the square mile.
+
+The various little clusters of this scanty and widely separated
+population were almost entirely out of touch one with another.
+Inhabitants were scattered through those far-flung stretches called the
+United States, but they were not a people. Scarcely any communication
+existed between them; while such a thing as mail service was unknown to
+all but a comparatively few thousands. It required six days and
+sometimes nine to carry mail between Boston and New York. As late as
+1794 a letter of Jefferson, then in Charlottesville, Virginia, to
+Madison at Philadelphia, reached the latter nine days after it was
+sent; and another letter between the same correspondents was eight days
+on the journey.[811]
+
+Yet this was unusually expeditious. One month later, on January 26,
+1795, Madison wrote Jefferson that "I have received your favor of Dec^r.
+28, but [not] till three weeks after the date of it."[812] Summer, when
+the post-riders made better time, seemed not greatly to increase the
+dispatch of mail; for it took more than a month for a letter posted in
+New York in that season of the year to reach an accessible Virginia
+county seat.[813] Letters from Richmond, Virginia, to New York often did
+not arrive until two months after they were sent.[814] But better time
+was frequently made and a letter between these points was, commonly,
+hurried through in a month.[815]
+
+Many weeks would go by before one could send a letter from an interior
+town in Pennsylvania. "This Uniontown is the most obscure spot on the
+face of the globe.... I have been here seven or eight weeks without one
+opportunity of writing to the land of the living," complains a disgusted
+visitor.[816] A letter posted by Rufus King in Boston, February 6, 1788,
+to Madison in New York was received February 15;[817] and although
+anxiously awaiting news, Madison had not, on February 11, heard that
+Massachusetts had ratified the Constitution, although that momentous
+event had occurred five days before.[818] New York first learned of that
+historic action eight days after it was taken.[819] But for the
+snail-like slowness of the post, the Constitution would certainly have
+been defeated in the Virginia Convention of 1788.[820]
+
+Transatlantic mail service was far more expeditious considering the
+distance; a letter from Jay in London reached Wolcott at Philadelphia in
+less than eight weeks.[821] But it sometimes required five months to
+carry mail across the ocean;[822] even this was very much faster than
+one could travel by land in America. Four weeks from Cowes, England, to
+Lynnhaven Bay, Virginia, was a record-breaking voyage.[823]
+
+Such letters as went through the post-offices were opened by the
+postmasters as a matter of course, if these officials imagined that the
+missives contained information, or especially if they revealed the
+secret or familiar correspondence of well-known public men.[824] "By
+passing through the post-office they [letters] should become known to
+all" men, Washington cautioned Lafayette in 1788.[825] In 1791, the
+first year of the Post-Office under our present Government, there were
+only eighty-nine post-offices in the entire country.[826] "As late as
+1791 there were only six post-offices in New Jersey and none south of
+Trenton."[827]
+
+Yet letters were the principal means by which accounts of what was
+happening in one part of the country were made known to the people who
+lived in other sections; and this personal correspondence was by far the
+most trustworthy source of information, although tinctured as it
+naturally was by the prejudice of the writer and often nothing but
+report of mere rumor.
+
+Newspapers were few in number and scanty in news. When the Constitution
+was adopted, not many regularly issued newspapers were printed in the
+whole country. Most of these were published in Philadelphia, Boston, New
+York, and in two or three of the other larger towns. Only ten papers
+were printed in Connecticut, one of the best informed and best served of
+all the States, and of these several soon expired;[828] in Ridgefield,
+with twelve hundred inhabitants, there were but four newspaper
+subscribers.[829] In 1784, Virginia had only one newspaper, published at
+Richmond twice a week.[830]
+
+These papers carried scarcely any news and the little they published was
+often weeks and sometimes months old, and as uncertain as it was stale.
+"It is but seldom that I have an opportunity of peeping into a
+newspaper," wrote "Agricola" to the Salem (Massachusetts) "Gazette,"
+September 13, 1791, "and when it happens it is commonly a stale one of 2
+or 3 weeks back; but I lately met with your fresh Gazette of August
+30th--may be I shan't see another for months to come."[831] "Newspaper
+paragraphs, unsupported by other testimony, are often contradictory and
+bewildering," wrote Washington of so big, important, and exciting news
+as the progress of Shays's Rebellion.[832] On the same day Washington
+complained to General Knox that he was "bewildered with those vague and
+contradictory reports which are presented in the newspapers."[833]
+
+But what this pygmy press lacked in information it made up in personal
+abuse. Denunciation of public men was the rule, scandal the fashion.
+Even the mild and patient Franklin was driven to bitter though witty
+protest. He called the press "THE SUPREMEST COURT OF JUDICATURE," which
+"may judge, sentence, and condemn to infamy, not only private
+individuals, but public bodies, &c. with or without inquiry or hearing,
+_at the court's discretion_." This "Spanish Court of Inquisition,"
+asserts Franklin, works "in the dark" and so rapidly that "an honest,
+good Citizen may find himself suddenly and unexpectedly accus'd, and in
+the same Morning judg'd and condemn'd, and sentence pronounced against
+him, that he is a _Rogue_ and a _Villian_."
+
+"The liberty of the press," writes Franklin, operates on citizens
+"somewhat like the _Liberty of the Press_ that Felons have, by the
+Common Law of England, before Conviction, that is, to be _press'd_ to
+death or hanged." "Any Man," says he, "who can procure Pen, Ink, and
+Paper, with a Press, and a huge pair of BLACKING BALLS, may
+commissionate himself" as a court over everybody else, and nobody has
+any redress. "For, if you make the least complaint of the _judge's_
+[editor's] conduct, he daubs his blacking balls in your face wherever he
+meets you, and, besides tearing your private character to flitters marks
+you out for the odium of the public, as an _enemy to the liberty of the
+press_." Franklin declared that the press of that day was supported by
+human depravity.
+
+Searching for a remedy which would destroy the abuse but preserve the
+true liberty of the press, Franklin finally concludes that he has found
+it in what he calls "the _liberty of the cudgel_." The great philosopher
+advised the insulted citizen to give the editor "a good drubbing"; but
+if the public should feel itself outraged, it should restrain itself
+and, says Franklin, "in moderation content ourselves with tarring and
+feathering, and tossing them [editors] in a blanket."[834]
+
+Even Jefferson was sometimes disgusted with the press. "What do the
+foolish printers of America mean by retailing all this stuff in our
+papers?--As if it were not enough to be slandered by one's enemies
+without circulating the slanders among his friends also."[835] An
+examination of the newspapers of that period shows that most of the
+"news" published were accounts of foreign events; and these, of course,
+had happened weeks and even months before.
+
+Poor, small, and bad as the newspapers of the time were, however, they
+had no general circulation many miles from the place where they were
+published. Yet, tiny driblets trickled through by the belated posts to
+the larger towns and were hastily read at villages where the post-riders
+stopped along the way. By 1790 an occasional country newspaper appeared,
+whose only source of news from the outside world was a fugitive copy of
+some journal published in the city and such tales as the country editor
+could get travelers to tell him: whether these were true or false made
+not the slightest difference--everything was fish that came to his
+net.[836]
+
+Common schools in the present-day understanding of the term did not
+exist. "There was not a grammar, a geography, or a history of any kind
+in the school," testifies Samuel G. Goodrich[837] (Peter Parley) of
+Ridgefield, Connecticut; and this at a time when the Constitution had
+been adopted and our present Government was in operation. "Slates &
+pencils were unknown, paper was imported, scarce and costly"; most
+pupils in New England "cyphered on birch bark"; and a teacher who could
+compute interest was considered "great in figures."[838] "The teacher
+was not infrequently a person with barely education enough to satisfy
+the critical requirements of some illiterate committeemen.... The pay
+was only from three to five dollars a month, and two months during the
+winter season was the usual term."[839] The half-dozen small but
+excellent colleges and the few embryonic academies surrounded by
+forests, where educated and devout men strove to plant the seeds of
+institutions of learning, could not, altogether, reach more than a few
+hundred pupils.
+
+"_Anthony McDonald_ teaches boys and girls their grammar tongue; also
+Geography terrestrial and celestial--Old hats made as good as new." So
+read the sign above the door of McDonald's "school" in Virginia, a dozen
+years after Washington was elected President.[840] For the most part
+children went untaught, except in "the three R's," which, in some
+mysterious manner, had been handed down from father to son. Yet in the
+back settlements it was common to find men of considerable property who
+could not read or write; and some of those who could make out to read
+did not know whether the earth was round or flat.[841] There were but
+thirty students at Virginia's historic college in 1795. Weld dined with
+President Madison, of William and Mary's, and several of the students
+were at the table. Some of these young seekers after culture were
+without shoes, some without coats; and each of them rose and helped
+himself to the food whenever he liked.[842]
+
+Parts of the country, like the Mohawk Valley in New York, were fairly
+settled and well cultivated.[843] In the more thickly inhabited parts of
+New England there were order, thrift, and industry.[844] The houses of
+the most prosperous farmers in Massachusetts, though "frequently but one
+story and a garret," had "their walls papered"; tea and coffee were on
+their tables when guests appeared; the women were clad in calicoes and
+the men were both farmers and artisans.[845] Yet on the road from Boston
+to Providence houses were seen already falling into decay; "women and
+children covered with rags."[846] In Newport, Rhode Island, idle men
+loafed on the street corners, houses were tumbling down from negligence,
+grass grew in the public square, and rags were stuffed into the
+windows.[847]
+
+In Connecticut the people were unusually prosperous; and one
+enthusiastic Frenchman, judging that State from the appearance of the
+country around Hartford, exclaimed: "It is really the Paradise of the
+United States."[848] Weld found that, while the "southeast part of ...
+Pennsylvania is better cultivated than any other part of America, yet
+the style of farming is ... very slovenly.... The farmer ... in
+England ... who rents fifty acres ... lives far more comfortably in
+every respect than the farmer in Pennsylvania, or any other of the
+middle states, who owns two hundred acres."[849]
+
+In the homes of Quaker farmers near Philadelphia, however, the furniture
+was of black walnut, the beds and linen white and clean, the food varied
+and excellent.[850] Yet a settler's house in the interior of
+Pennsylvania was precisely the reverse, as the settler himself was the
+opposite of the industrious and methodical Quaker husbandman. A log
+cabin lighted only by the open door, and with the bare earth for a
+floor, housed this pioneer and his numerous family. Often he was a man
+who had lost both fortune and credit and therefore sought regions where
+neither was necessary. When neighbors began to come in such numbers that
+society (which to him meant government, order, and taxes) was formed, he
+moved on to a newer, more desolate, and more congenial spot. Mostly
+hunter and very little of a farmer, he with his nomad brood lived "in
+the filth of his little cabin," the rifle or rod, and corn from the
+meager clearing, supplying all his wants except that of whiskey, which
+he always made shift to get.
+
+One idea and one alone possessed this type--the idea of independence,
+freedom from restraint. He was the high priest of the religion of
+do-as-you-like. He was the supreme individualist, the ultimate democrat
+whose non-social doctrine has so cursed modern America. "He will not
+consent to sacrifice a single natural right for all the benefits of
+government,"[851] chronicles a sympathetic observer of these men.
+
+Freneau, a fervent admirer of this shiftless and dissolute type, thus
+describes him and his home:--
+
+/*
+  "Far in the west, a paltry spot of land,
+  That no man envied, and that no man owned,
+  A woody hill, beside a dismal bog--
+  This was your choice; nor were you much to blame;
+  And here, responsive to the croaking frog,
+  You grubbed, and stubbed,
+  And feared no landlord's claim."[852]
+*/
+
+Nor was hostility to orderly society confined to this class. Knox wrote
+Washington that, in Massachusetts, those who opposed the Constitution
+acted "from deadly principle levelled at the existence of all government
+whatever."[853]
+
+The better class of settlers who took up the "farms" abandoned by the
+first shunners of civilization, while a decided improvement, were,
+nevertheless, also improvident and dissipated. In a poor and slip-shod
+fashion, they ploughed the clearings which had now grown to fields,
+never fertilizing them and gathering but beggarly crops. Of these a part
+was always rye or corn, from which whiskey was made. The favorite
+occupation of this type was drinking to excess, arguing politics,
+denouncing government, and contracting debts.[854] Not until debts and
+taxes had forced onward this second line of pioneer advance did the
+third appear with better notions of industry and order and less hatred
+of government and its obligations.[855]
+
+In New England the out-push of the needy to make homes in the forests
+differed from the class just described only in that the settler remained
+on his clearing until it grew to a farm. After a few years his ground
+would be entirely cleared and by the aid of distant neighbors, cheered
+to their work by plenty of rum, he would build a larger house.[856] But
+meanwhile there was little time for reading, small opportunity for
+information, scanty means of getting it; and mouth-to-mouth rumor was
+the settler's chief informant of what was happening in the outside
+world. In the part of Massachusetts west of the Connecticut Valley, at
+the time the Constitution was adopted, a rough and primitive people were
+scattered in lonesome families along the thick woods.[857]
+
+In Virginia the contrast between the well-to-do and the masses of the
+people was still greater.[858] The social and economic distinctions of
+colonial Virginia persisted in spite of the vociferousness of democracy
+which the Revolution had released. The small group of Virginia gentry
+were, as has been said, well educated, some of them highly so,
+instructed in the ways of the world, and distinguished in manners.[859]
+Their houses were large; their table service was of plate; they kept
+their studs of racing and carriage horses.[860] Sometimes, however, they
+displayed a grotesque luxury. The windows of the mansions, when broken,
+were occasionally replaced with rags; servants sometimes appeared in
+livery with silk stockings thrust into boots;[861] and again dinner
+would be served by naked negroes.[862]
+
+The second class of Virginia people were not so well educated, and the
+observer found them "rude, ferocious, and haughty; much attached to
+gaming and dissipation, particularly horse-racing and cock-fighting";
+and yet, "hospitable, generous, and friendly." These people, although by
+nature of excellent minds, mingled in their characters some of the
+finest qualities of the first estate, and some of the worst habits of
+the lower social stratum. They "possessed elegant accomplishments and
+savage brutality."[863] The third class of Virginia people were lazy,
+hard-drinking, and savage; yet kind and generous.[864] "Whenever these
+people come to blows," Weld testifies, "they fight just like wild
+beasts, biting, kicking, and endeavoring to tear each other's eyes out
+with their nails"; and he says that men with eyes thus gouged out were a
+common sight.[865]
+
+The generation between the birth of Marshall and the adoption of the
+Constitution had not modified the several strata of Virginia society
+except as to apparel and manners, both of which had become worse than in
+colonial times.
+
+Schoepf found shiftlessness[866] a common characteristic; and described
+the gentry as displaying the baronial qualities of haughtiness, vanity,
+and idleness.[867] Jefferson divides the people into two sections as
+regards characteristics, which were not entirely creditable to either.
+But in his comparative estimate Jefferson is far harsher to the Southern
+population of that time than he is to the inhabitants of other States;
+and he emphasizes his discrimination by putting his summary in parallel
+columns.
+
+"While I am on this subject," writes Jefferson to Chastellux, "I will
+give you my idea of the characters of the several States.
+
+    In the North they are             In the South they are
+  cool                              fiery
+  sober                             voluptuary
+  laborious                         indolent
+  persevering                       unsteady
+  independent                       independent
+  jealous of their own liberties,   zealous for their own liberties, but
+      and just to those of others       trampling on those of others
+  interested                        generous
+  chicaning                         candid
+  superstitious and hypocritical    without attachment or pretensions to
+      in their religion                 any religion but that of the
+                                        heart.
+
+"These characteristics," continues Jefferson, "grow weaker and weaker by
+graduation from North to South and South to North, insomuch that an
+observing traveller, without the aid of the quadrant may always know his
+latitude by the character of the people among whom he finds himself."
+
+"It is in Pennsylvania," Jefferson proceeds in his careful analysis,
+"that the two characters seem to meet and blend, and form a people free
+from the extremes both of vice and virtue. Peculiar circumstances have
+given to New York the character which climate would have given had she
+been placed on the South instead of the north side of Pennsylvania.
+Perhaps too other circumstances may have occasioned in Virginia a
+transplantation of a particular vice foreign to its climate." Jefferson
+finally concludes: "I think it for their good that the vices of their
+character should be pointed out to them that they may amend them; for a
+malady of either body or mind once known is half cured."[868]
+
+A plantation house northwest of Richmond grumblingly admitted a lost
+traveler, who found his sleeping-room with "filthy beds, swarming with
+bugs" and cracks in the walls through which the sun shone.[869] The most
+bizarre contrasts startled the observer--mean cabins, broken windows, no
+bread, and yet women clad in silk with plumes in their hair.[870] Eight
+years after our present National Government was established, the food of
+the people living in the Shenandoah Valley was salt fish, pork, and
+greens; and the wayfarer could not get fresh meat except at Staunton or
+Lynchburg,[871] notwithstanding the surrounding forests filled with game
+or the domestic animals which fed on the fields where the forests had
+been cleared away.
+
+Most of the houses in which the majority of Virginians then lived were
+wretched;[872] Jefferson tells us, speaking of the better class of
+dwellings, that "it is impossible to devise things more ugly,
+uncomfortable, and happily more perishable." "The poorest people,"
+continues Jefferson, "build huts of logs, laid horizontally in pens,
+stopping the interstices with mud.... The wealthy are attentive to the
+raising of vegetables, but very little so to fruits.... The poorer
+people attend to neither, living principally on ... animal diet."[873]
+
+In general the population subsisted on worse fare than that of the
+inhabitants of the Valley.[874] Even in that favored region, where
+religion and morals were more vital than elsewhere in the Commonwealth,
+each house had a peach brandy still of its own; and it was a man of
+notable abstemiousness who did not consume daily a large quantity of
+this spirit. "It is scarcely possible," writes Weld, "to meet with a man
+who does not begin the day with taking one, two, or more drams as soon
+as he rises."[875]
+
+Indeed, at this period, heavy drinking appears to have been universal
+and continuous among all classes throughout the whole country[876] quite
+as much as in Virginia. It was a habit that had come down from their
+forefathers and was so conspicuous, ever-present and peculiar, that
+every traveler through America, whether native or foreign, mentions it
+time and again. "The most common vice of the inferior class of the
+American people is drunkenness," writes La Rochefoucauld in 1797.[877]
+And Washington eight years earlier denounced "drink which is the source
+of all evil--and the ruin of half the workmen in this country."[878]
+Talleyrand, at a farmer's house in the heart of Connecticut, found the
+daily food to consist of "smoked fish, ham, potatoes, strong beer and
+brandy."[879]
+
+Court-houses built in the center of a county and often standing entirely
+alone, without other buildings near them, nevertheless always had
+attached to them a shanty where liquor was sold.[880] At country taverns
+which, with a few exceptions, were poor and sometimes vile,[881]
+whiskey mixed with water was the common drink.[882] About Germantown,
+Pennsylvania, workingmen received from employers a pint of rum each day
+as a part of their fare;[883] and in good society men drank an
+astonishing number of "full bumpers" after dinner, where, already, they
+had imbibed generously.[884] The incredible quantity of liquor, wine,
+and beer consumed everywhere and by all classes is the most striking and
+conspicuous feature of early American life. In addition to the very
+heavy domestic productions of spirits,[885] there were imported in 1787,
+according to De Warville, four million gallons of rum, brandy, and other
+spirits; one million gallons of wine; three million gallons of molasses
+(principally for the manufacture of rum); as against only one hundred
+and twenty-five thousand pounds of tea.[886]
+
+Everybody, it appears, was more interested in sport and spending than in
+work and saving. As in colonial days, the popular amusements continued
+to be horse-racing and cock-fighting; the first the peculiar diversion
+of the quality; the second that of the baser sort, although men of all
+conditions of society attended and delighted in both.[887] But the
+horse-racing and the cock-fighting served the good purpose of bringing
+the people together; for these and the court days were the only
+occasions on which they met and exchanged views. The holding of court
+was an event never neglected by the people; but they assembled then to
+learn what gossip said and to drink together rather than separately, far
+more than they came to listen to the oracles from the bench or even the
+oratory at the bar; and seldom did the care-free company break up
+without fights, sometimes with the most serious results.[888]
+
+Thus, scattered from Maine to Florida and from the Atlantic to the
+Alleghanies, with a skirmish line thrown forward almost to the
+Mississippi, these three and a quarter millions of men, women, and
+children, did not, for the most part, take kindly to government of any
+kind. Indeed, only a fraction of them had anything to do with
+government, for there were no more than seven hundred thousand adult
+males among them,[889] and of these, in most States, only
+property-holders had the ballot. The great majority of the people seldom
+saw a letter or even a newspaper; and the best informed did not know
+what was going on in a neighboring State, although anxious for the
+information.
+
+"Of the affairs of Georgia, I know as little as of those of
+Kamskatska," wrote Madison to Jefferson in 1786.[890] But everybody did
+know that government meant law and regulation, order and mutual
+obligation, the fulfillment of contracts and the payment of debts. Above
+all, everybody knew that government meant taxes. And none of these
+things aroused what one would call frantic enthusiasm when brought home
+to the individual. Bloated and monstrous individualism grew out of the
+dank soil of these conditions. The social ideal had hardly begun to
+sprout; and nourishment for its feeble and languishing seed was sucked
+by its overgrown rival.
+
+Community consciousness showed itself only in the more thickly peopled
+districts, and even there it was feeble. Generally speaking and aside
+from statesmen, merchants, and the veterans of the Revolution, the idea
+of a National Government had not penetrated the minds of the people.
+They managed to tolerate State Governments, because they always had
+lived under some such thing; but a National Government was too far away
+and fearsome, too alien and forbidding for them to view it with
+friendliness or understanding. The common man saw little difference
+between such an enthroned central power and the Royal British Government
+which had been driven from American shores.
+
+To be sure, not a large part of the half-million men able for the
+field[891] had taken much of any militant part in expelling British
+tyranny; but these "chimney-corner patriots," as Washington stingingly
+described them, were the hottest foes of British despotism--after it had
+been overthrown. And they were the most savage opponents to setting up
+any strong government, even though it should be exclusively American.
+
+Such were the economic, social, and educational conditions of the masses
+and such were their physical surroundings, conveniences, and
+opportunities between the close of the War for Independence and the
+setting-up of the present Government. All these facts profoundly
+affected the thought, conduct, and character of the people; and what the
+people thought, said, and did, decisively influenced John Marshall's
+opinion of them and of the government and laws which were best for the
+country.
+
+During these critical years, Jefferson was in France witnessing
+government by a decaying, inefficient, and corrupt monarchy and
+nobility, and considering the state of a people who were without that
+political liberty enjoyed in America.[892] But the vagaries, the
+changeableness, the turbulence, the envy toward those who had property,
+the tendency to repudiate debts, the readiness to credit the grossest
+slander or to respond to the most fantastic promises, which the newly
+liberated people in America were then displaying, did not come within
+Jefferson's vision or experience.
+
+Thus, Marshall and Jefferson, at a time destined to be so important in
+determining the settled opinions of both, were looking upon opposite
+sides of the shield. It was a curious and fateful circumstance and it
+was repeated later under reversed conditions.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[760] Weld, i, 37-38; also, Morris, ii, 393-94.
+
+[761] Weld, i, 38.
+
+[762] Baily's _Journal_ (1796-97), 108.
+
+[763] _Ib._, 109-10.
+
+[764] Professor Beard, in his exposition of the economic origins of the
+Constitution, shows that nearly all of the men who framed it were
+wealthy or allied with property interests and that many of them turned
+up as holders of Government securities. (Beard: _Econ. I. C._, chap. V.)
+As a matter of fact, none but such men could have gone to the Federal
+Convention at Philadelphia, so great were the difficulties and so heavy
+the expenses of travel, even if the people had been minded to choose
+poorer and humbler persons to represent them; at any rate, they did not
+elect representatives of their own class until the Constitution was to
+be ratified and then, of course, only to State Conventions which were
+accessible.
+
+[765] Weld, i, 47-48.
+
+[766] Johnston to Iredell, Jan. 30, 1790; McRee, ii, 279.
+
+[767] "Letters of a Federal Farmer," no. 2; Ford: _P. on C._, 292.
+
+[768] _Ib._, no. 3, 302.
+
+[769] De Warville made a record trip from Boston to New York in less
+than five days. (De Warville, 122.) But such speed was infrequent.
+
+[770] Josiah Quincy's description of his journey from Boston to New York
+in 1794. (Quincy: _Figures of the Past_, 47-48.)
+
+[771] De Warville, 138-39.
+
+[772] Watson, 266.
+
+[773] "The road is execrable; one is perpetually mounting and descending
+and always on the most rugged roads." (Chastellux, 20.)
+
+[774] Elliott, ii, 21-22.
+
+[775] "In December last, the roads were so intollerably bad that the
+country people could not bring their forage to market, though _actually
+offered the cash on delivery_." (Pickering to Hodgdon; _Pickering_:
+Pickering, i, 392.)
+
+[776] Cooper, 1875-86, as quoted in Hart, iii, 98.
+
+[777] _Ib._
+
+[778] Watson, 270. Along one of the principal roads of New York, as late
+as 1804, President Dwight discovered only "a few lonely plantations" and
+he "occasionally found a cottage and heard a distant sound of an axe and
+of a human voice. All else was grandeur, gloom, and solitude." (Halsey:
+_Old New York Frontier_, 384.)
+
+[779] Hart, iii, 116.
+
+[780] _Mag. Western Hist._, i, 530.
+
+[781] Justice Cushing to Chief Justice Jay, Oct. 23, 1792; _Jay_:
+Johnston, iii, 450.
+
+[782] _Memoirs of Talleyrand_: Broglie's ed., i, 176-77.
+
+[783] Washington to Jay, Nov. 19, 1790; _Jay_: Johnston, iii, 409.
+
+[784] Jefferson to Washington, March 27, 1791; _Cor. Rev._: Sparks, iv,
+366.
+
+[785] Washington's _Diary_: Lossing, Feb. 25, 1791.
+
+[786] Washington to Jay, Dec. 13, 1789; _Jay_: Johnston, iii, 381.
+
+[787] Jefferson to T. M. Randolph, March 28, 1790; _Works_: Ford, vi,
+36.
+
+[788] Weld, i, 91.
+
+[789] Bayard to Rodney, Jan. 5, 1801; _Bayard Papers_: Donnan, ii, 118.
+
+[790] Schoepf, ii, 46.
+
+[791] _Ib._, 78.
+
+[792] _Ib._, 45.
+
+[793] Grigsby, i, 26.
+
+[794] Weld, i, 170.
+
+[795] Watson, 60.
+
+[796] Davis, 372.
+
+[797] Schoepf, ii, 95.
+
+[798] Wilkinson: _Memoirs_, i, 9-10. The distance which General
+Wilkinson's mother thought "so far away" was only forty miles.
+
+[799] Schoepf, ii, 53.
+
+[800] Zachariah Johnson, in Elliott, iii, 647.
+
+[801] Journal, H.D. (1790), 13.
+
+[802] Madison to Lee, July 7, 1785; _Writings_: Hunt, ii, 149-51.
+
+[803] _Ib._
+
+[804] Boston was not a "city" in the legal interpretation until 1822.
+
+[805] Chastellux, 225. "The difficulty of finding the road in many parts
+of America is not to be conceived except by those strangers who have
+travelled in that country. The roads, which are through the woods, not
+being kept in repair, as soon as one is in bad order, another is made in
+the same manner, that is, merely by felling trees, and the whole
+interior parts are so covered that without a compass it is impossible to
+have the least idea of the course you are steering. The distances, too,
+are so uncertain as in every county where they are not measured, that no
+two accounts resemble each other. In the back parts of Pennsylvania,
+Maryland, and Virginia, I have frequently travelled thirty miles for
+ten, though frequently set right by passengers and negroes." (_Ib._
+Translator's note.)
+
+[806] Smyth, _Tour of the United States_, i, 102-103.
+
+[807] Watson, 40. "Towards the close of the day I found myself entangled
+among swamps amid an utter wilderness, and my horse almost exhausted in
+my efforts to overtake Harwood. As night closed upon me I was totally
+bewildered and without a vestige of a road to guide me. Knowing the
+impossibility of retracing my steps in the dark, through the mazes I had
+traversed, I felt the necessity of passing the night in this solitary
+desert ... in no trifling apprehension of falling a prey to wild beasts
+before morning." (_Ib._)
+
+[808] _Ib._
+
+[809] "I waited at Baltimore near a week before I could proceed on my
+journey the roads being rendered impassable." (Baily's _Journal_
+(1796-97), 107.)
+
+[810] _Memoirs of Talleyrand_: Broglie's ed., i, 177.
+
+[811] Madison to Jefferson, Dec. 21, 1794; _Writings_: Hunt, vi, 227.
+
+[812] Madison to Jefferson, Jan. 26, 1795; _ib._, 230.
+
+[813] "Your favor of July 6 having been address^d to Williamsburg,
+instead of _Orange C. Ho[u]se_, did not come to hand till two days ago."
+(Madison to Livingston, Aug. 10, 1795; _ib._, vi, 234.)
+
+[814] Lee to Henry, May 28, 1789; Henry, iii, 387.
+
+[815] Lee to Henry, Sept. 27, 1789; Henry, iii, 402.
+
+[816] Ephraim Douglass to Gen. James Irvine, 1784; _Pa. Mag. Hist. and
+Biog._, i, 50.
+
+[817] Madison to Washington, Feb. 15, 1788; and King to Madison, Feb. 6,
+1788; _Writings_: Hunt, v, footnote to p. 100.
+
+[818] Madison to Washington, Feb. 11, 1788: _Writings_: Hunt, v, 99.
+
+[819] Madison to Washington, Feb. 15, 1788; _ib._, 100.
+
+[820] The Randolph-Clinton Correspondence; see _infra_, chap. x.
+
+[821] Jay to Wolcott, mailed June 23, and received by Wolcott Aug. 16,
+1794; Gibbs, i, 157.
+
+[822] _Ib._, 160.
+
+[823] Jefferson to Short, Nov. 21, 1789; _Works_: Ford, vi, 20.
+
+[824] So notorious was this practice that important parts of the
+correspondence of the more prominent politicians and statesmen of the
+day always were written in cipher. Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe appear
+to have been especially careful to take this precaution. (See
+Washington's complaint of this tampering with the mails in a letter to
+Fairfax, June 25, 1786; _Writings_: Sparks, ix, 175.) Habitual violation
+of the mails by postmasters continued into the first decades of the
+nineteenth century.
+
+[825] Washington to Lafayette, Feb. 7, 1788; _Writings_: Ford, xi, 218.
+
+[826] Kettell, in _Eighty Years' Progress_, ii, 174.
+
+[827] _Pa. Mag. Hist. and Biog._, ix, 444.
+
+[828] _Am. Ant. Soc. Pubs._, xxiii, Part ii, 254-330.
+
+[829] Goodrich, i, 61.
+
+[830] Schoepf, ii, 61; see note, _ib._ Even this journal died for want
+of subscribers.
+
+[831] Salem _Gazette_, Sept. 13, 1791; Hist. Col., Topsfield (Mass.)
+Hist. Soc., iii, 10.
+
+[832] Washington to Humphreys, Dec. 26, 1786; _Writings_: Ford, xi,
+98-103.
+
+[833] Washington to General Knox, Dec. 26, 1786; _ib._, 103-05.
+
+[834] _Writings_: Smyth, x, 36 _et seq._ This arraignment of the press
+by America's first journalist was written when Franklin was eighty-three
+years old and when he was the most honored and beloved man in America,
+Washington only excepted. It serves not only to illuminate the period of
+the beginning of our Government, but to measure the vast progress during
+the century and a quarter since that time.
+
+[835] Jefferson to Mrs. Adams, Paris, Sept. 25, 1785; _Works_: Ford, iv,
+465.
+
+[836] "Country Printer," in Freneau, iii, 60. Freneau thus describes the
+country editor of that day:--
+
+  "Three times a week, by nimble geldings drawn,
+  A stage arrives; but scarcely deigns to stop.
+  Unless the driver, far in liquor gone,
+  Has made some business for the black-smith-shop;
+  Then comes this printer's harvest-time of news,
+  Welcome alike from Christians, Turks, or Jews.
+
+  "Each passenger he eyes with curious glance,
+  And, if his phiz be mark'd of courteous kind,
+  To conversation, straight, he makes advance,
+  Hoping, from thence, some paragraph to find,
+  Some odd adventure, something new and rare,
+  To set the town a-gape, and make it stare.
+
+  "All is not Truth ('tis said) that travellers tell--
+  So much the better for this man of news;
+  For hence the country round, that know him well,
+  Will, if he prints some lies, his lies excuse.
+  Earthquakes, and battles, shipwrecks, myriads slain--
+  If false or true--alike to him are gain.
+
+  "Ask you what matter fills his various page?
+  A mere farrago 'tis, of mingled things;
+  Whate'er is done on Madam Terra's stage
+  He to the knowledge of his townsmen brings:
+  One while, he tells of monarchs run away;
+  And now, of witches drown'd in Buzzard's bay.
+
+  "Some miracles he makes, and some he steals;
+  Half Nature's works are giants in his eyes;
+  Much, very much, in wonderment he deals,--
+  New-Hampshire apples grown to pumpkin size,
+  Pumpkins almost as large as country inns,
+  And ladies bearing, each,--three lovely twins."
+
+Freneau was himself a country printer in New Jersey, after editing the
+_National Gazette_ in Philadelphia. Thus the above description was from
+his personal experience and in a town in a thickly settled part, on the
+main road between New York and Philadelphia.
+
+[837] Goodrich, i, 38.
+
+[838] A letter from Salem Town about 1786-87; in _American Journal of
+Education_, xiii, 738.
+
+[839] Van Santvoord: _Memoirs of Eliphalet Nott_, 19.
+
+[840] Davis, 333.
+
+[841] "Many cannot read or write, and many that can, know nothing of
+geography and other branches. The country is too thinly settled to carry
+out a system of common schools." (Howe, 153, speaking of western
+Virginia about 1830.)
+
+[842] Weld, i, 168. But President Tyler says that the boys Weld saw were
+grammar-school pupils.
+
+[843] Watson, 269.
+
+[844] Chastellux, 319-20.
+
+[845] De Warville, 126-27.
+
+[846] _Ib._, 145 and 450.
+
+[847] _Ib._, 145. All travelers agree as to the wretched condition of
+Rhode Island; and that State appears to have acted as badly as it
+looked. "The ... infamous [scenes] in Rhode Island have done
+inexpressable injury to the Republican character," etc. (Madison to
+Pendleton, Feb. 24, 1787; _Writings_: Hunt, ii, 319.)
+
+[848] De Warville, 132.
+
+[849] Weld, i, 113.
+
+[850] De Warville, 186-87.
+
+[851] De Warville, 186 and 332. See La Rochefoucauld's description of
+this same type of settler as it was several years after De Warville
+wrote. "The Dwellings of the new settlers ... consist of huts, with
+roofs and walls which are made of bark and in which the husband, wife
+and children pass the winter wrapped up in blankets.... Salt pork and
+beef are the usual food of the new settlers; their drink is water and
+whiskey." (La Rochefoucauld, i, 293-96.)
+
+[852] Freneau, iii, 74.
+
+[853] Knox to Washington, Feb. 10, 1788; _Writings_: Ford, xi, footnote
+to 229. And see _infra_, chap. VIII.
+
+[854] De Warville, 187. In 1797, La Rochefoucauld speaks of "the
+credulity and ignorance of the half-savage sort of people who inhabit
+the back settlements." (La Rochefoucauld, i, 293.)
+
+[855] "A relaxation is observable among all orders of society.
+Drunkenness is the prevailing vice, and with few exceptions, the source
+of all other evils. A spirit, or rather a habit, of equality is diffused
+among this people as far as it possibly can go.... The inhabitants
+exhibit to strangers striking instances both of the utmost cleanliness
+and excessive nastiness," (La Rochefoucauld, i, 125.)
+
+During Washington's second term as President, La Rochefoucauld thus
+describes manners in western Pennsylvania: "They are much surprised at a
+refusal to sleep with one, two, or more men, in the same bed, or between
+dirty sheets, or to drink after ten other persons out of the same dirty
+glass.... Whiskey mixed with water is the common drink in the country."
+(_Ib._)
+
+[856] _Ib._, i, 293-96. See _infra_, note 4, pp. 281-82.
+
+[857] Watson, 266.
+
+[858] "You see [in Maryland and Virginia] real misery and apparent
+luxury insulting each other." (De Warville, 159.)
+
+[859] Chastellux, 279, and translator's note.
+
+[860] Anburey, ii, 331-32.
+
+[861] De Warville, 242.
+
+[862] "Soon after entering Virginia, and at a highly respectable house,
+I was shocked ... at seeing for the first time, young negroes of both
+sexes, from twelve even to fifteen years old, not only running about the
+house but absolutely tending table, as naked as they came into the
+world.... Several young women were at the table, who appeared totally
+unmoved." (Watson, 33.) Watson's statement may perhaps be questionable;
+a livelier description, however, was given with embellishments, some
+years later. (See translator's note to Chastellux, 245; and see Schoepf,
+ii, 47.)
+
+[863] Anburey, ii, 331-32.
+
+[864] _Ib._, 332-33.
+
+[865] Weld, i, 192. See Weld's description of "gouging." And see
+Fithian's interesting account; Fithian, 242-43.
+
+[866] Schoepf, ii, 89.
+
+[867] _Ib._, 91-95.
+
+[868] Jefferson to Chastellux, Sept. 2, 1785; _Thomas Jefferson
+Correspondence_, Bixby Collection: Ford, 12; and see Jefferson to
+Donald, July 28, 1787; Jefferson's _Writings_: Washington, ii, 193,
+where Jefferson says that the qualities of Virginians are "indolence,
+extravagance, and infidelity to their engagements."
+
+[869] Weld, i, 199.
+
+[870] Schoepf, ii, 34. This strange phenomenon was witnessed everywhere,
+even in a place then so far remote as Maine. "Elegant women come out of
+log or deal huts [in Maine] all wearing fashionable hats and head
+dresses with feathers, handsome cloaks and the rest of their dress
+suitable to this." (La Rochefoucauld, ii, 314.)
+
+[871] _Ib._, 89; and Weld, i, 199, 236. The reports of all travelers as
+to the want of fresh meat in the Valley are most curious. That region
+was noted, even in those early days, for its abundance of cattle.
+
+[872] _Ib._, 144.
+
+[873] "Notes on Virginia": Jefferson; _Works_: Ford, iv, 69; and see
+Weld, i, 114, for similar diet in Pennsylvania.
+
+[874] _Ib._, 183-84.
+
+[875] Weld, i, 206. "Sigars and whiskey satisfy these good people who
+thus spend in a quarter of an hour in the evening, the earnings of a
+whole day. The landlord of the Inn has also a distillery of whiskey,"
+writes La Rochefoucauld, in 1797, of the mountain people of Virginia. He
+thus describes the houses and people living in the valley towards
+Staunton: "The habitations are in this district more numerous than on
+the other side of the Blue Mountains, but the houses are miserable;
+mean, small log houses, inhabited by families which swarm with children.
+There exists here the same appearance of misery as in the back parts of
+Pennsylvania." (La Rochefoucauld, iii, 173-76.)
+
+[876] "It took a good deal of New England rum to launch a 75 ton
+schooner ... to raise a barn ... or to ordain a regular minister....
+Workingmen in the fields, in the woods, in the mills and handling logs
+and lumber on the river were supplied with regular rations of spirits."
+(Maine Hist. Soc. Col. (2d Series), vi, 367-68.)
+
+The rich people of Boston loved picnic parties in the near-by country,
+at which was served "Punch, warm and cold, before dinner; excellent
+beef, Spanish and Bordeaux wines, cover their tables ... Spruce beer,
+excellent cyder, and Philadelphia porter precede the wines." (De
+Warville, 58.) This inquiring Frenchman called on Hancock, but found
+that he had a "marvelous gout which dispenses him from all attentions
+and forbids the access to his house." (_Ib._, 66.) As to New England
+country stores, "you find in the same shop, hats, nails, liquors."
+(_Ib._, 127.)
+
+[877] La Rochefoucauld, iv, 577.
+
+[878] Washington to Green (an employee) March 31, 1789; _Writings_:
+Ford, xi, 377.
+
+[879] _Memoirs of Talleyrand_: Broglie's ed., i, footnote to 181; and
+see Talleyrand's description of a brandy-drinking bout at this house in
+which he participated.
+
+[880] Schoepf, ii, 47.
+
+[881] Watson, 252.
+
+[882] Chastellux, 224; see also 243.
+
+[883] La Rochefoucauld, iv, 119.
+
+[884] _Ib._, 590.
+
+[885] See _infra_, II, chap. II.
+
+[886] De Warville, 262.
+
+[887] Watson, 261-62. "The indolence and dissipation of the middling and
+lower classes of white inhabitants in Virginia are such as to give
+pain.... Horse-racing, cock-fighting, and boxing-matches are standing
+amusements, for which they neglect all business." (_Ib._; and see
+Chastellux, 292, translator's note. Also see Chastellux's comments on
+the economic conditions of the Virginians, 291-93.) For habits of
+Virginians nearly twenty years after Watson wrote, see La Rochefoucauld,
+iii, 75-79.
+
+[888] "The session assembles here, besides the neighboring judges,
+lawyers, and parties whose causes are to be tried, numbers of idle
+people who come less from desire to learn what is going forward than to
+drink together," says La Rochefoucauld; and see his picturesque
+description of his arrival at the close of court day at Goochland
+Court-House. (La Rochefoucauld, iii, 126-29.)
+
+[889] One man to every five men, women, and children, which is a high
+estimate.
+
+[890] Madison to Jefferson, Aug. 12, 1786; _Writings_: Hunt, ii, 261.
+
+[891] Randolph in the Virginia Constitutional Convention estimated that
+the colonies could have put four hundred thousand soldiers in the field.
+(Elliott, iii, 76-77.)
+
+[892] It is a curious fact, however, that in his journey through France
+Jefferson observed no bad conditions, but, on the whole, his careful
+diary states that he found the people "well clothed and well fed," as
+Professor Hazen expresses it. For impartial treatment of this subject
+see Hazen, 1-21.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+POPULAR ANTAGONISM TO GOVERNMENT
+
+    Mankind, when left to themselves, are unfit for their own
+    government. (George Washington, 1786.)
+
+    There are subjects to which the capacities of the bulk of mankind
+    are unequal and on which they must and will be governed by those
+    with whom they happen to have acquaintance and confidence. (James
+    Madison, 1788.)
+
+    I fear, and there is no opinion more degrading to the dignity of
+    man, that these have truth on their side who say that man is
+    incapable of governing himself. (John Marshall, 1787.)
+
+
+"Government, even in its best state," said Mr. Thomas Paine during the
+Revolution, "is but a necessary evil."[893] Little as the people in
+general had read books of any kind, there was one work which most had
+absorbed either by perusal or by listening to the reading of it; and
+those who had not, nevertheless, had learned of its contents with
+applause.
+
+Thomas Paine's "Common Sense," which Washington and Franklin truly said
+did so much for the patriot cause,[894] had sown dragon's teeth which
+the author possibly did not intend to conceal in his brilliant lines.
+Scores of thousands interpreted the meaning and philosophy of this
+immortal paper by the light of a few flashing sentences with which it
+began. Long after the British flag disappeared from American soil, this
+expatriated Englishman continued to be the voice of the people;[895] and
+it is far within the truth to affirm that Thomas Paine prepared the
+ground and sowed the seed for the harvest which Thomas Jefferson
+gathered.
+
+"Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence; the palaces of
+kings are built on the ruins of the bowers of paradise." And again,
+"Society is produced by our wants, and government by our
+wickedness."[896] So ran the flaming maxims of the great iconoclast; and
+these found combustible material.
+
+Indeed, there was, even while the patriots were fighting for our
+independence, a considerable part of the people who considered "all
+government as dissolved, and themselves in a state of absolute liberty,
+where they wish always to remain"; and they were strong enough in many
+places "to prevent any courts being opened, and to render every attempt
+to administer justice abortive."[897] Zealous bearers, these, of the
+torches of anarchy which Paine's burning words had lighted. Was it not
+the favored of the earth that government protected? What did the poor
+and needy get from government except oppression and the privilege of
+dying for the boon? Was not government a fortress built around property?
+What need, therefore, had the lowly for its embattled walls?
+
+Here was excellent ammunition for the demagogue. A person of little
+ability and less character always could inflame a portion of the people
+when they could be assembled. It was not necessary for him to have
+property; indeed, that was a distinct disadvantage to the Jack Cades of
+the period.[898] A lie traveled like a snake under the leaves and could
+not be overtaken;[899] bad roads, scattered communities, long distances,
+and resultant isolation leadened and delayed the feet of truth. Nothing
+was too ridiculous for belief; nothing too absurd to be credited.
+
+A Baptist preacher in North Carolina was a candidate for the State
+Convention to pass upon the new National Constitution, which he bitterly
+opposed. At a meeting of backwoodsmen in a log house used for a church,
+he told them in a lurid speech that the proposed "Federal City" (now the
+District of Columbia) would be the armed and fortified fortress of
+despotism. "'This, my friends,' said the preacher, 'will be walled in or
+fortified. Here an army of 50,000, or, perhaps 100,000 men, will be
+finally embodied and will sally forth, and enslave the people who will
+be gradually disarmed.'" A spectator, who attempted to dispute this
+statement, narrowly escaped being mobbed by the crowd. Everything
+possible was done to defeat this ecclesiastical politician; but the
+people believed what he said and he was elected.[900]
+
+So bizarre an invention as the following was widely circulated and
+generally believed as late as 1800: John Adams, it was said, had
+arranged, by intermarriage, to unite his family with the Royal House of
+Great Britain, the bridegroom to be King of America. Washington, attired
+in white clothing as a sign of conciliation, called on Adams and
+objected; Adams rebuffed him. Washington returned, this time dressed in
+black, to indicate the solemnity of his protest. Adams was obdurate.
+Again the Father of his Country visited the stubborn seeker after
+monarchical relationship, this time arrayed in full regimentals to show
+his earnestness; Adams was deaf to his pleas. Thereupon the aged warrior
+drew his sword, avowing that he would never sheathe it until Adams gave
+up his treasonable purpose; Adams remained adamant and the two parted
+determined enemies.[901]
+
+Such are examples of the strange tales fed to the voracious credulity of
+the multitude. The attacks on personal character, made by setting loose
+against public men slanders which flew and took root like thistle seed,
+were often too base and vile for repetition at the present day, even as
+a matter of history; and so monstrous and palpably untruthful that it is
+difficult to believe they ever could have been circulated much less
+credited by the most gossip-loving.
+
+Things, praiseworthy in themselves, were magnified into stupendous and
+impending menaces. Revolutionary officers formed "The Society of the
+Cincinnati" in order to keep in touch with one another, preserve the
+memories of their battles and their campfires, and to support the
+principles for which they had fought.[902] Yet this patriotic and
+fraternal order was, shouted the patriots of peace, a plain attempt to
+establish an hereditary nobility on which a new tyranny was to be
+builded. Jefferson, in Paris, declared that "the day ... will certainly
+come, when a single fibre of this institution will produce an
+hereditary aristocracy which will change the form of our governments
+[Articles of Confederation] from the best to the worst in the
+world."[903]
+
+Ædanus Burke,[904] one of the Justices of the Supreme Court of South
+Carolina, wrote that the Society of the Cincinnati was "deeply planned";
+it was "an hereditary peerage"; it was "planted in a fiery hot ambition,
+and thirst for power"; "its branches will end in Tyranny ... the country
+will be composed only of two ranks of men, the patricians, or nobles,
+and the rabble."[905] In France, Mirabeau was so aroused by Burke's
+pamphlet that the French orator wrote one of his own. Mirabeau called
+the Cincinnati "that nobility of barbarians, the price of blood, the
+off-spring of the sword, the fruit of conquest." "The distinction of
+Celts and Ostrogoths," exclaimed the extravagant Frenchman, "are what
+they claim for their inheritance."[906]
+
+The "Independent Chronicle" of Boston was so excited that it called on
+"legislators, Governors, and magistrates _and their_ ELECTORS" to
+suppress the Cincinnati because it "is concerted to establish a
+complete and perpetual _personal_ discrimination between" its members
+"and the whole remaining body of the people who will be styled
+Plebeians."[907]
+
+John Marshall was a member of this absurdly traduced patriotic
+fraternity. So were his father and fellow officers of our War for
+Independence. Washington was its commander. Were the grotesque charges
+against these men the laurels with which democracy crowned those who had
+drawn the sword for freedom? Was this the justice of liberty? Was this
+the intelligence of the masses? Such must have been the queries that
+sprang up in the minds of men like Marshall. And, indeed, there was
+sound reason for doubt and misgiving. For the nightmares of men like
+Burke and Mirabeau were pleasant dreams compared with the horrid visions
+that the people conjured.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Nor did this popular tendency to credit the most extraordinary tale,
+believe the most impossible and outrageous scandal, or accept the most
+impracticable and misshapen theory, end only in wholesome hatred of rank
+and distinction. Among large numbers there was the feeling that equality
+should be made real by a general division of property. Three years after
+peace had been established, Madison said he "strongly suspected" that
+many of the people contemplated "an abolition of debts public & private,
+and a new division of property."[908] And Jay thought that "a reluctance
+to taxes, an impatience of government, a rage for property, and
+little regard to the means of acquiring it, together with a desire for
+equality in all things, seem to actuate the mass of those who are uneasy
+in their circumstances."[909] The greed and covetousness of the people
+is also noted by all travelers.[910]
+
+Very considerable were the obligations "public and private" which
+Madison wrote his father that he "strongly suspected" a part of the
+country intended to repudiate. The public debt, foreign and domestic, of
+the Confederation and the States, at the close of the Revolutionary War,
+appeared to the people to be a staggering sum.[911] The private debt
+aggregated a large amount.[912] The financial situation was chaos. Paper
+money had played such havoc with specie that, in Virginia in 1786, as we
+have seen, there was not enough gold and silver to pay current
+taxes.[913] The country had had bitter experience with a fictitious
+medium of exchange. In Virginia by 1781 the notes issued by Congress
+"fell to 1000 for 1," records Jefferson, "and then expired, as it had
+done in other States, without a single groan."[914]
+
+Later on, foreigners bought five thousand dollars of this Continental
+scrip for a single dollar of gold or silver.[915] In Philadelphia,
+toward the end of the Revolution, the people paraded the streets wearing
+this make-believe currency in their hats, with a dog tarred and covered
+with paper dollars instead of feathers.[916] For land sold by Jefferson
+before paper currency was issued he "did not receive the money till it
+was not worth Oak leaves."[917]
+
+Most of the States had uttered this fiat medium, which not only
+depreciated and fluctuated within the State issuing it, but made trade
+between citizens of neighboring States almost impossible. Livingston
+found it a "loss to shop it in New York with [New] Jersey Money at the
+unconscionable discount which your [New York] brokers and merchants
+exact; and it is as damnifying to deal with our merchants here [New
+Jersey] in that currency, since they proportionably advance the price of
+their commodities."[918] Fithian in Virginia records that: "In the
+evening I borrowed of _Ben Carter_ 15/--I have plenty of money with me
+but it is in Bills of Philadelphia Currency and will not pass at all
+here."[919]
+
+Virginia had gone through her trial of financial fiction-for-fact,
+ending in a law fixing the scale of depreciation at forty to one, and in
+other unique and bizarre devices;[920] and finally took a determined
+stand against paper currency.[921] Although Virginia had burned her
+fingers, so great was the scarcity of money that there was a formidable
+agitation to try inflation again.[922] Throughout the country there once
+more was a "general rage for paper money."[923] Bad as this currency
+was, it was counterfeited freely.[924] Such coin as existed was cut and
+clipped until Washington feared that "a man must travel with a pair of
+money scales in his pocket, or run the risk of receiving gold of one
+fourth less by weight than it counts."[925]
+
+If there was not money enough, let the Government make more--what was a
+government for if not for that? And if government could not make good
+money, what was the good of government? Courts were fine examples of
+what government meant--they were always against the common people. Away
+with them! So ran the arguments and appeals of the demagogues and they
+found an answer in the breasts of the thoughtless, the ignorant, and the
+uneasy. This answer was broader than the demand for paper money, wider
+than the protest against particular laws and specific acts of
+administration. This answer also was, declared General Knox, "that the
+property of the United States ... ought to be the common property of
+all. And he that attempts opposition to this creed is an enemy to equity
+and justice, and ought to be swept from off the face of the earth." Knox
+was convinced that the discontented were "determined to annihilate all
+debts, public and private."[926]
+
+Ideas and purposes such as these swayed the sixteen thousand men who, in
+1787, followed Daniel Shays in the popular uprising in Massachusetts
+against taxes, courts, and government itself.[927] "The restlessness
+produced by the uneasy situation of individuals, connected with lax
+notions concerning public and private faith, and erroneous[928]
+opinions which confound liberty with an exemption from legal control,
+produced ... unlicensed conventions, which, after voting on their
+own constitutionality, and assuming the name of the people, arrayed
+themselves against the legislature," was John Marshall's summary of the
+forces that brought about the New England rebellion.
+
+The "army" of lawlessness, led by Shays, took the field, says Marshall,
+"against taxes, and against the administration of justice; and the
+circulation of a depreciated currency was required, as a relief from
+the pressure of public and private burdens, which had become, it was
+alleged, too heavy to be borne. Against lawyers and courts the strongest
+resentments were manifested; and to such a dangerous extent were these
+dispositions indulged, that, in many instances, tumultuous assemblages
+of people arrested the course of law, and restrained the judges from
+proceeding in the execution of their duty."
+
+"The ordinary recourse to the power of the country was found
+insufficient protection," records Marshall, "and the appeals made to
+reason were attended with no beneficial effect. The forbearance of the
+government was attributed to timidity rather than moderation, and the
+spirit of insurrection appeared to be organized into a regular system
+for the suppression of courts."[929] Such was Marshall's analysis of the
+Northern convulsion; and thus was strengthened in him that tendency of
+thought started at Valley Forge, and quickened in the Virginia House of
+Delegates.
+
+"It rather appears to me," wrote David Humphries to Washington, in an
+attempt to explain the root of the trouble, "that there is a licentious
+spirit prevailing among many of the people; a levelling principle; and a
+desire of change; with a wish to annihilate all debts, public and
+private."[930] Unjust taxes were given as the cause of the general
+dislike of government, yet those who composed the mobs erupting from
+this crater of anarchy, now located in New England, paid few or no
+taxes.
+
+"High taxes are the ostensible cause of the commotions, but that they
+are the real cause is as far remote from truth as light from darkness,"
+asserts Knox. "The people who are the insurgents have never paid any, or
+but very little taxes," testifies this stanch Revolutionary officer.
+"But," continues Knox, "they see the weakness of the government. They
+feel at once their own poverty, compared with the opulent, and their own
+force, and they are determined to make use of the latter, in order to
+remedy the former."[931]
+
+This condition brought to a head a distrust of the good sense, justice,
+and moderation of the people, which had been forming in the minds of
+many of the best and ablest men of the time.[932] "The knaves and fools
+of this world are forever in alliance," was the conclusion reached in
+1786[933] by Jay, who thought that the people considered "liberty and
+licentiousness" as the same thing.[934] The patient but bilious
+Secretary of State felt that "the wise and the good never form the
+majority of any large society, and it seldom happens that their measures
+are uniformly adopted, or that they can always prevent being overborne
+themselves by the strong and almost never-ceasing union of the wicked
+and the weak."[935] The cautious Madison was equally doubtful of the
+people: "There are subjects to which the capacities of the bulk of
+mankind are unequal and on which they must and will be governed by those
+with whom they happen to have acquaintance and confidence" was Madison's
+judgment.[936]
+
+Washington, black with depression, decided and bluntly said "that
+mankind, when left to themselves, are unfit for their own government."
+Lee had suggested that Washington use his "influence" to quiet the
+disorders in New England; but, flung back Washington, "_Influence_ is no
+_government_. Let us have one by which our lives, liberties, and
+properties will be secured, or let us know the worst at once.... To be
+more exposed in the eyes of the world, and more contemptible than we
+already are, is hardly possible."[937]
+
+"No morn ever dawned more favorably than ours did; and no day was ever
+more clouded than the present.... We are fast verging to anarchy,"[938]
+cried the great captain of our war for liberty. The wings of
+Washington's wrath carried him far. "Good God!" cried he, "Who, besides
+a Tory, could have foreseen, or a Briton predicted" the things that were
+going on! "The disorders which have arisen in these States, the present
+prospect of our affairs ... seems to me to be like the vision of a
+dream. My mind can scarcely realize it as a thing in actual
+existence.... There are combustibles in every State, which a spark might
+set fire to."[939]
+
+Marshall echoed his old commander's views. The dreams of his youth were
+fading, his confidence in the people declining. He records for us his
+altered sentiments: "These violent, I fear bloody, dissensions in a
+state [Massachusetts] I had thought inferior in wisdom and virtue to no
+one in the union, added to the strong tendency which the politics of
+many eminent characters among ourselves have to promote private and
+public dishonesty, cast a deep shade over the bright prospect which the
+revolution in America and the establishment of our free governments had
+opened to the votaries of liberty throughout the globe. I fear, and
+there is no opinion more degrading to the dignity of man, that these
+have truth on their side who say that man is incapable of governing
+himself."[940] Thus wrote Marshall in 1787, when he was not yet
+thirty-two years old.
+
+But Jefferson in Paris was beholding a different picture that
+strengthened the views which he and Marshall held in common when
+America, in arms, challenged Great Britain. "The Spirit of resistance to
+government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be
+always kept alive. It will often be exercised when wrong, but better so
+than not to be exercised at all. I like a little rebellion now & then.
+It is like a storm in the atmosphere." So wrote Jefferson after the
+Massachusetts insurrection had been quelled.[941]
+
+The author of our Declaration of Independence was tasting the delights
+of the charming French Capital at this time, but he also was witnessing
+the shallowness and stupidity of the peculiarly weak royalty and
+nobility; and although it was this same Royal Government that had aided
+us with men and money in our struggle to throw off the yoke of England,
+Jefferson's heart grew wrathful against it and hot for popular rule in
+France. Yet in the same apostrophe to rebellion, Jefferson declares that
+the French people were too shallow for self-rule. "This [French]
+nation," writes Jefferson, "is incapable of any serious effort but under
+the word of command."[942]
+
+After having had months to think about it, this enraptured enthusiast of
+popular upheaval spread his wings and was carried far into crimson
+skies. "Can history produce an instance of rebellion so honourably
+conducted?" exclaimed Jefferson, of the Massachusetts anarchical
+outburst, nearly a year after it had ended; and continued thus:--
+
+"God forbid! we should ever be 20 years without such a rebellion....
+What country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned
+from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance?
+Let them take arms!... What signify a few lives lost in a century or
+two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the
+blood of patriots & tyrants. It is its natural manure."[943]
+
+Thus did his contact with a decadent monarchy on the one hand and an
+enchanting philosophy on the other hand, help to fit him for the
+leadership of American radicalism. No better training for that mission
+could have been afforded. French thought was already challenging all
+forms of existing public control; it was a spirit Gamaliel which found
+in Jefferson an eager Saul at its feet; and American opinion was
+prepared for its doctrines. In the United States general dislike and
+denunciation of the established governments had uncovered the feeling
+against government itself which lay at the root of opposition to any
+stronger one.
+
+The existing American system was a very masterpiece of weakness. The
+so-called Federal Government was like a horse with thirteen bridle
+reins, each held in the hands of separate drivers who usually pulled the
+confused and powerless beast in different directions. Congress could
+make treaties with foreign nations; but each of the States could and
+often did violate them at will. It could borrow money, but could not
+levy taxes or impose duties to pay the debt. Congress could get money
+only by making humble requests, called "requisitions," on the
+"sovereign" Commonwealths. It had to depend upon the whims of the
+various States for funds to discharge principal and interest of public
+obligations; and these springs of revenue, when not entirely dry,
+yielded so little that the Federal establishment was like to die of
+financial thirst.[944]
+
+The requisitions of Congress upon the various States for money to pay
+the National obligations to foreign creditors were usually treated with
+neglect and often with contempt by those jealous and pompous
+"Sovereignties." "Requisitions are a perfect nullity where thirteen
+sovereign, independent, disunited States are in the habit of discussing
+and refusing compliance with them at their option. Requisitions are
+actually little better than a jest and a by-word throughout the land. If
+you tell the legislatures they have violated the treaty of peace, and
+invaded the prerogatives of the confederacy, they will laugh in your
+face."[945] Thus raged Washington. "Congress cannot command money" even
+to redeem Americans held in slavery in Algiers,[946] testified the
+powerless and despondent Secretary of State. Indeed, Congress amounted
+to so little that the delegates from many States often refused to
+attend.[947]
+
+Though debts were great and financial confusion maddening, they
+furnished no solid excuse for the failure of the States to enable
+Congress to preserve American honor by the payment of our admitted
+National debt. Jay reviewed the situation and showed that "the resources
+of the country ... notwithstanding all appearances to the contrary, are
+abundant.... Our country is fertile, abounding in useful productions,
+and those productions in demand and bearing a good price."[948] The
+general opinion appears to have been that the people did not want to
+support the Government.
+
+"The treasury is empty, though the country abounds in resources, and our
+people are far more unwilling than unable to pay taxes," wrote Jay,
+early in 1787.[949] Madison excused his support of the bill authorizing
+tobacco to be taken for specie in payment of taxes, upon the ground that
+it "could not be rejected without ... exciting some worse project of a
+popular cast";[950] and "by a fear that some greater evil under the name
+of relief to the people would be substituted."[951] Debt "made it
+extremely inconvenient to most people to submit to a regular
+government," was the conclusion Rutledge finally reached.[952]
+
+But, whatever the cause, the States did not act. Washington thought it a
+combination of the scheming of demagogues and the ignorance and
+dishonesty of the people. "I think there is more wickedness than
+ignorance mixed in our councils.... Ignorance and design are difficult
+to combat.... To be so fallen! so lost!... Virtue, I fear has in a great
+degree taken its departure from our land and the want of a disposition
+to do justice is the source of the national embarrassments; for,
+whatever guise or colorings are given to them, this I apprehend is the
+origin of the evils we now feel."[953] Such was Washington's cry of
+despair four years after he had wrested American liberty from Great
+Britain.
+
+Look where one will among the class of men of whom Washington was the
+highest representative, one finds that they believed the fountain head
+of the country's desperate conditions to be in the people themselves.
+Jay put this opinion in a nutshell when he said, "The mass of men are
+neither wise nor good."[954] Not that these leaders despaired that an
+American People would finally be evolved who should realize the exalted
+expectations of the patriot leaders of the Revolution; not that out of
+the flux of popular heedlessness and dishonor, indifference and
+disorder, idleness and avarice, the nobler qualities of human nature
+would not, in the end, bring forth a nation and rule it for the
+happiness and well-being of its people. But they thought that only a
+strong government could fashion the clay and breathe into its nostrils
+the breath of life. "Virtue, like the other resources of a country, can
+only be drawn to a point and exerted by strong circumstances ably
+managed, or a strong government ably administered," said Jay.[955]
+
+The shield of all this turmoil and baseness was the State Governments.
+"Their unreasonable jealousy of that body [Congress] and of one
+another ... will, if there is not a change in the system, be our
+downfall as a nation," exclaimed Washington only a few months after
+peace had been established.[956] It was the States, he declared, which
+made the Federal establishment "a half-starved, limping government, that
+appears to be always moving upon crutches and tottering at every
+step."[957]
+
+It was the States which always were thwarting every plan for the general
+welfare; the States which were forever impairing the National
+obligations; the States which bound hand and foot the straw man of the
+central power, clothed it in rags and made it a mere scarecrow of
+government. And it was State pride, prejudice, and ignorance which gave
+provincial demagogues their advantage and opportunity. The State
+Governments were the "people's" Governments; to yield State
+"sovereignty" was to yield the "people's" power over their own affairs,
+shouted the man who wished to win local prominence, power, and office.
+
+Those who did not want to pay taxes and who disliked much government of
+any kind felt that they could make shift with mere State
+establishments.[958] "A thirst for power, and the bantling, I had liked
+to have said monster for sovereignty, which have taken such fast hold of
+the States individually, will, when joined by the many whose personal
+consequence in the control of State politics will in a manner be
+annihilated, form a strong phalanx against"[959] the National
+Constitution, prophesied the leader of the Revolution.
+
+But it was not alone the powerlessness of the Federal Government to keep
+the National faith, plighted by solemn treaties with foreign
+Governments; or to uphold the National honor by paying debts made to win
+American independence, that wrought that bloodless revolution[960] which
+produced the Constitution. Nor was it the proud and far-seeing plans of
+a few great minds whose heart's desire was to make the American People a
+Nation.
+
+Finance, commerce, and business assembled the historic Philadelphia
+Convention; although it must be said that statesmanship guided its
+turbulent councils. The senseless and selfish nagging at trade in which
+the States indulged, after peace was declared, produced a brood of civil
+abuses as noisome as the military dangers which State control of troops
+had brought forth during the Revolution. Madison truly said that "most
+of our political evils may be traced up to our commercial ones."[961]
+The States passed tariff laws against one another as well as against
+foreign nations; and, indeed, as far as commerce was concerned, each
+State treated the others as foreign nations.[962] There were
+retaliations, discriminations, and every manner of trade restrictions
+and impediments which local ingenuity and selfishness could devise.
+
+The idea of each State was to keep money from going outside its borders
+into other States and to build up its own business and prosperity at the
+expense of its neighbors.[963] States having no seaports were in a
+particularly hard case. Madison picturesquely describes their unhappy
+plight: "New Jersey placed between Phil^a & N. York, was likened to a
+cask tapped at both ends; And N. Carolina, between Virg^a & S. Carolina
+to a patient bleeding at both Arms."[964] Merchants and commercial
+bodies were at their wits' end to carry on business and petitioned for a
+general power over commerce.[965]
+
+The commercial view, as stated by Madison, was that "the National
+Government should be armed with positive and compleat authority in all
+cases which require uniformity; such as the regulation of trade,
+including the right of taxing both exports & imports, the fixing the
+terms and forms of naturalization, &c., &c."
+
+Madison then lays down this extreme Nationalist principle as the central
+article of his political faith: "Over and above this positive power, a
+negative in _all cases whatsoever_ on the legislative acts of the
+States, as heretofore exercised by the Kingly prerogative, appears to me
+to be absolutely necessary, and to be the least possible encroachment on
+the State jurisdictions. Without this defensive power, every positive
+power that can be given on paper will be evaded & defeated. The States
+will continue to invade the National jurisdiction, to violate treaties
+and the law of nations & to harass each other with rival and spiteful
+measures dictated by mistaken views of interest."[966]
+
+Too much emphasis cannot be put upon the fact that the mercantile and
+financial interests were the weightiest of all the influences for the
+Constitution; the debtors and agricultural interests the strongest
+groups against it. It deserves repetition, for a proper understanding of
+the craft and force practiced by both sides in the battle over
+ratification, that those who owed debts were generally against the
+Constitution and practically all to whom debts were due were for the
+new Government. "I have little prospect of bringing Banks [a debtor] to
+terms as the Law of this State now stands," wrote a Virginia agent of a
+creditor, "but I hope when the New Federal constitution is adopted that
+the Laws will be put upon a better footing.... Three fourths of the
+people that oppose it [the Constitution] are those that are deeply in
+debt & do not wish to pay."[967]
+
+London merchants were very anxious for a new order of things. "I hope
+ere long your Federal Government will be established, and that honest
+Men will again have the Assendency in your Country, for without such a
+change it must ever remain a poor place to live in," was the opinion of
+a business man living in the British Capital.[968]
+
+A few weeks after Virginia ratified the Constitution, Minton Collins
+reported to his principal about a person named Banks, who, says Collins,
+"begins to be a little alarmed from the adoption of the Federal
+Constitution. I hope it will alarm every such R[asca]l. He had run his
+rig long enough for he boasts of being worth from 150,000£ to 200,000
+pounds; this is not bad for a man that six years ago could scarcely
+raise a suit of clothes to his back."[969]
+
+Marshall was becoming a prosperous lawyer and his best clients were from
+the mercantile interests. His family relationships were coming to be
+more and more with the property classes. He had no ambition for a
+political career, which might have given to his thinking and conclusions
+a "more popular cast," to use Madison's contemptuous phrase. Thus
+Marshall's economic and political convictions resulting from experience
+and reasoning were in harmony with his business connections and social
+environment.
+
+Undoubtedly he would have taken the same stand had none of these
+circumstances developed; his constructive mind, his conservative
+temperament, his stern sense of honor, his abhorrence of disorder and
+loose government, his army experience, his legislative schooling, his
+fidelity to and indeed adoration of Washington, would have surely placed
+him on the side of the Constitution. Still, the professional and social
+side of his life should not be ignored, if we are to consider fully all
+the forces which then surrounded him, and which, with ever-growing
+strength, worked out the ultimate Marshall.
+
+Jefferson, in France, experienced only the foreign results of the sharp
+and painful predicament which John Marshall was sadly witnessing in
+America. While not busy with the scholars and society of the French
+Capital, Jefferson had been engaged in the unhappy official task of
+staving off our French creditors and quieting, as well as he could,
+complaints of our trade regulations and other practices which made it
+hard and hazardous for the French to do business with us.[970] He found
+that "the nonpaiment of our debts and the want of energy in our
+government ... discourage a connection with us";[971] and "want of
+punctuality & a habitual protection of the debtor" prevented him from
+getting a loan in France to aid the opening of the Potomac.[972] All
+this caused even Jefferson to respond to the demand for unifying the
+American Government as to foreign nations; but he would not go further.
+"Make the States one as to every thing connected with foreign nations, &
+several as to everything purely domestic," counseled Jefferson while the
+Constitutional Convention was quarreling at Philadelphia.[973]
+
+But he did not think badly of the weakness of the Articles of
+Confederation which so aroused the disgust, anger, and despair of
+Washington, Madison, Jay, and other men of their way of thinking, who
+were on the ground. "With all the imperfections of our present
+government [Articles of Confederation]," wrote Jefferson in Paris, in
+1787, "it is without comparison the best existing or that ever did
+exist";[974] and he declared to one of his French friends that "the
+confederation is a wonderfully perfect instrument."[975] Jefferson found
+but three serious defects in the Articles of Confederation: no general
+rule for admitting States; the apportionment of the State's quota of
+money upon a land instead of a population basis; and the imperfect power
+over treaties, import duties, and commerce.[976]
+
+He frankly said: "I am not a friend to a very energetic government"; and
+he thought that "our governments will remain virtuous for many
+centuries"--but added with seer-like vision: "as long as ... there shall
+be vacant lands in America."[977] Jefferson wished the United States "to
+practice neither commerce nor navigation, but to stand with respect to
+Europe precisely on the footing of China."[978] Far from thinking that
+the low state of our credit was a bad thing for us, he believed that its
+destruction would work an actual benefit to America. "Good will arise
+from the destruction of our credit," he asserted in a letter to Stuart
+written from Paris in 1786. "I see nothing else which can restrain our
+disposition to luxury, and the loss of those manners which alone can
+preserve republican government."[979]
+
+We have now seen the state of the country and the condition of the
+people, their situation and habits, their manner of life and trend of
+feeling. We have witnessed the change thus wrought in the leading men
+during this period, so destructive of confidence in the wisdom or virtue
+of majorities, at least on first impulse and without abundant time for
+reflection and second thought. Thus we have measured, with some degree
+of accuracy, the broad and well-marked space that separated the hostile
+forces which were to meet in what was for the moment a decisive conflict
+when Virginia's Constitutional Convention should assemble at Richmond.
+
+In one camp the uninformed and credulous, those who owed debts and
+abhorred government, with a sprinkling among them of eminent, educated,
+and well-meaning men who were philosophic apostles of theoretical
+liberty; and in the other camp men of property and lovers of order, the
+trading and moneyed interests whose first thought was business; the
+veterans of the Revolution who had learned on the battlefield the need
+of a strong central Government; and, here and there, a prophetic and
+constructive mind who sought to build a Nation. John Marshall was one of
+the latter; and so he promptly took his place by the side of his old
+general and leader in the camp of the builders.
+
+At last the supreme hour is striking. The Virginians, about to assemble
+in State Convention, will determine the fate of that unauthorized and
+revolutionary plan for a National Government,[980] the National
+Constitution. The movement for a second general Convention to have
+another try at framing a Constitution has made distinct progress by the
+time the Virginia representatives gather at the State Capital.[981]
+There is widespread, positive, and growing resentment at the proposed
+new form of government; and if Virginia, the largest and most populous
+of the States, rejects it, the flames of opposition are certain to break
+out in every part of the country. As Washington asserts, there is,
+indeed, "combustible material" everywhere.
+
+Thus it is that the room where Virginia's Convention is about to meet in
+June, 1788, will become the "bloody angle" in the first great battle for
+Nationalism. And Marshall will be there, a combatant as he had been at
+Great Bridge and Brandywine. Not for John Marshall the pallid rôle of
+the trimmer, but the red-blooded part of the man of conviction.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[893] _Writings_: Conway, i, 69 _et seq._
+
+[894] "_Common Sense_ had a prodigious effect." (Franklin to Le
+Veillard, April 15, 1787; _Writings_: Smyth, ix, 558.) "Its popularity
+was unexampled.... The author was hailed as our angel sent from Heaven
+to save all from the horrors of Slavery.... His pen was an appendage [to
+the army] almost as necessary and formidable as its cannon."
+(Cheetenham, 46-47, 55.) In America alone 125,000 copies of _Common
+Sense_ were sold within three months after the pamphlet appeared.
+(Belcher, i, 235.)
+
+"Can nothing be done in our Assembly for poor Paine? Must the merits of
+_Common Sense_ continue to glide down the stream of time unrewarded by
+this country? His writings certainly have had a powerful effect upon the
+public mind. Ought they not, then, to meet an adequate return?"
+(Washington to Madison, June 12, 1784; _Writings_: Ford, x, 393; and see
+Tyler, i, 458-62.) In the Virginia Legislature Marshall introduced a
+bill for Paine's relief. (_Supra_, chap, VI.)
+
+[895] Graydon, 358.
+
+[896] _Common Sense_: Paine; _Writings_: Conway, i, 61. Paine's genius
+for phrase is illustrated in the _Crisis_, which next appeared. "These
+are the times that try men's souls"; "Tyranny like hell, is not easily
+conquered"; "The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot," are examples
+of Paine's brilliant gift.
+
+[897] Moore's _Diary_, ii, 143-44. Although this was a British opinion,
+yet it was entirely accurate.
+
+[898] "They will _rise_ and for lack of argument, say, M^r. Speaker,
+this measure will never do, the _People_ Sir, will never bear it....
+These small Politicians, returned home, ... tell their Constituents such
+& such measures are taking place altho' I did my utmost to prevent
+it--The People must take care of themselves or they are undone. Stir up
+a County Convention and by Trumpeting lies from Town to Town get one [a
+convention] collected and Consisting of Persons of small Abilities--of
+little or no property--embarrass'd in their Circumstances--and of no
+great Integrity--and these Geniouses vainly conceiving they are
+competent to regulate the affairs of State--make some hasty incoherent
+Resolves, and these end in Sedition, Riot, & Rebellion." (Sewell to
+Thatcher, Dec., 1787; _Hist. Mag._ (2d Series), vi, 257.)
+
+[899] More than a decade after the slander was set afoot against Colonel
+Levin Powell of Loudoun County, Virginia, one of the patriot soldiers of
+the Revolution and an officer of Washington, that he favored
+establishing a monarchy, one of his constituents wrote that "detraction
+& defamation are generally resorted to promote views injurious to
+you.... Can you believe it, but it is really true that the old & often
+refuted story of your predilection for Monarchy is again revived."
+(Thomas Sims to Colonel Levin Powell, Leesburg, Virginia, Feb. 5 and 20,
+1801; _Branch Historical Papers_, i, 58, 61.)
+
+[900] Watson, 262-64. This comic prophecy that the National Capital was
+to be the fortified home of a standing army was seriously believed by
+the people. Patrick Henry urged the same objection with all his dramatic
+power in the Virginia Convention of 1788. So did the scholarly Mason.
+(See _infra_, chaps. XI and XII.)
+
+[901] Graydon, 392-93.
+
+[902] _Memorials of the Society of the Cincinnati_, 1790, 3-24.
+
+[903] Jefferson to Washington, Nov. 14, 1786; _Works_: Ford, v, 222-23;
+and see Jefferson's denunciation of the Cincinnati in Jefferson to
+Madison, Dec. 28, 1794; _ib._, viii, 156-57. But see Jefferson's fair
+and moderate account of the Cincinnati before he had learned of its
+unpopularity in America. (Jefferson to Meusnier, June 22, 1786; _ib._,
+V, 50-56.)
+
+[904] The same who broke the quorum in the Continental Congress.
+(_Supra_, chap. IV.)
+
+[905] Burke: _Considerations on the Society of the Order of Cincinnati_;
+1784.
+
+[906] Mirabeau: _Considerations on the Order of Cincinnati_; 1786.
+Mirabeau here refers to the rule of the Cincinnati that the officer's
+eldest son might become a member of the order, as in the Military Order
+of the Loyal Legion of the present time.
+
+[907] As quoted in Hudson: _Journalism in the United States_, 158.
+
+[908] Madison to James Madison, Nov. 1, 1786; _Writings_: Hunt, ii, 278.
+
+[909] Jay to Jefferson, Oct. 27, 1786; _Jay_: Johnston, iii, 212.
+
+[910] See Weld, i, 114-15, as a fair example of foreign estimate of this
+American characteristic at that period.
+
+[911] See chap. II, vol. II, of this work.
+
+[912] Private debts which Virginia planters alone owed British merchants
+were "20 or 30 times the amount of all money in circulation in that
+state." (Jefferson to Meusnier, Jan. 24, 1786; _Works_: Ford, v, 17-18;
+and see Jefferson to McCaul, April 19, 1786; _ib._, 88.)
+
+[913] "It cannot perhaps be affirmed that there is gold & silver en^o in
+the Country to pay the next tax." (Madison to Monroe, June 4, 1786;
+_Writings_: Hunt, ii, 245.)
+
+[914] Jefferson to Meusnier, Jan. 24, 1786; _Works_: Ford, v, 27.
+
+[915] Jefferson to Meusnier, Jan. 24, 1786: _Works_: Ford, v, 27.
+
+[916] Moore's _Diary_, ii, 425-26. The merchants of Philadelphia shut
+their shops; and it was agreed that if Congress did not substitute
+"solid money" for paper, "all further resistance to" Great Britain "must
+be given up." (_Ib._)
+
+[917] Jefferson to McCaul, April 19, 1786; _Works_: Ford, v, 90; also to
+Wm. Jones, Jan. 5, 1787; _ib._, 247.--"Paiment was made me in this money
+when it was but a shadow."
+
+[918] Livingston to Jay, July 30, 1789; _Jay_: Johnston, iii, 373-74.
+
+[919] Fithian, 91.
+
+[920] Virginia's paper money experiment was the source of many lawsuits
+in which Marshall was counsel. See, for example, Pickett _vs._ Claiborne
+(Call, iv, 99-106); Taliaferro _vs._ Minor (Call, i, 456-62).
+
+[921] The House of Delegates toward the end of 1786 voted 84 to 17
+against the paper money resolution. (Madison to James Madison, Nov. 1,
+1786; _Writings_: Hunt, ii, 277.)
+
+[922] "The advocates for paper money are making the most of this handle.
+I begin to fear exceedingly that no efforts will be sufficient to parry
+this evil." (Madison to Monroe, June 4, 1786; _ib._, 245.)
+
+[923] Madison to Jefferson, Aug. 12, 1786; _ib._, 259.
+
+[924] "Enclosed are one hundred Dollars of new Emmission Money which
+Col. Steward desires me to have exchanged for Specie. Pray, inform him
+they are all counterfeit." (Gerry to King, April 7, 1785; King, i, 87.)
+
+[925] Washington to Grayson, Aug. 22, 1785; _Writings_: Ford, X, 493-94.
+
+[926] Knox to Washington, Oct. 28, 1786; _Writings_: Hunt, ii, footnote
+to p. 407-08.
+
+[927] Minot: _History of the Insurrections in Massachusetts in 1786_ (2d
+ed.), 1810.
+
+[928] Printed in the first edition (1807) "enormous"--a good example of
+the haste of the first printing of Marshall's _Life of Washington_. (See
+vol. III of this work.)
+
+[929] Marshall, ii, 117.
+
+[930] _Ib._, 118.
+
+[931] Knox to Washington, Oct. 28, 1786; _Writings_: Hunt, ii, footnote
+to 408.
+
+[932] Shays's Rebellion was only a local outburst of a general
+feeling throughout the United States. Marshall says, "those causes of
+discontent ... existed in every part of the union." (Marshall, ii, 117.)
+
+[933] Jay to Jefferson, Oct. 27, 1786; _Jay_: Johnston, iii, 213.
+
+[934] Jay to Reed, Dec. 12, 1786; _ib._, 222.
+
+[935] Jay to Price, Sept. 27, 1786; _ib._, 168.
+
+[936] Madison to Randolph, Jan. 10, 1788; _Writings_: Hunt, v, 81.
+
+[937] Washington to Lee, Oct. 31, 1786; _Writings_: Ford, xi, 76-77.
+
+[938] Washington to Madison, Nov. 5, 1786; _ib._, 81.
+
+[939] Washington to Knox, Dec. 26, 1786; _ib._, 103-04. And Washington
+wrote to Lafayette that "There are seeds of discontent in every part of
+the Union." (_Writings_: Sparks, ix, 263.)
+
+[940] Marshall to James Wilkinson, Jan. 5, 1787; _Amer. Hist. Rev._,
+xii, 347-48.
+
+[941] Jefferson to Mrs. Adams, Feb. 22, 1787; _Works_: Ford, v, 265.
+
+[942] Jefferson to Mrs. Adams, Feb. 22, 1787; _Works_: Ford, v, 263.
+
+[943] Jefferson to Smith, Nov. 13, 1787; _ib._, 362.
+
+[944] "The payments from the States under the calls of Congress have
+in no year borne any proportion to the public wants. During the last
+year ... the aggregate payments ... fell short of 400,000 doll^{rs}, a
+sum neither equal to the interest due on the foreign debts, nor even to
+the current expenses of the federal Government. The greatest part of
+this sum too went from Virg^a, which will not supply a single shilling
+the present year." (Madison to Jefferson, March 18, 1786; _Writings_:
+Hunt, ii, 228.)
+
+[945] Washington to Jay, Aug. 1, 1786; _Writings_: Ford, xi, 54-55.
+
+[946] Jay (Secretary of State under the Confederation) to Jefferson,
+Dec. 14, 1786; _Jay_: Johnston, iii, 223.
+
+[947] "We are wasting our time & labour in vain efforts to do business"
+(because of State delegates not attending), wrote Jefferson in 1784.
+(Jefferson to Washington, March 15, 1784; _Works_: Ford, iv, 266.) And
+at the very climax of our difficulties "a sufficient number of States to
+do business have not been represented in Congress." (Jay to Wm.
+Carmichael, Jan. 4, 1786; _Jay_: Johnston, iii, 225.) During half of
+September and all of October, November, December, January, and February,
+nine States "have not been represented in congress"; and this even after
+the Constitution had been adopted. (Jay to Jefferson, March 9, 1789;
+_Jay_: Johnston, iii, 365.)
+
+[948] Jay to Jefferson, Dec. 14, 1786; _Jay_: Johnston, iii, 223-24. And
+Melancton Smith declared that "the farmer cultivates his land and reaps
+the fruit.... The merchant drives his commerce and none can deprive him
+of the gain he honestly acquires.... The mechanic is exercised in his
+art, and receives the reward of his labour." (1797-98; Ford: _P. on C._,
+94.) Of the prosperity of Virginia, Grigsby says, "our agriculture was
+most prosperous, and our harbors and rivers were filled with ships. The
+shipping interest ... was really advancing most rapidly to a degree of
+success never known in the colony." (Grigsby, i, footnote to p. 82; and
+see his brilliant account of Virginia's prosperity at this time; _ib._,
+9-19.) "The spirit of industry throughout the country was never greater.
+The productions of the earth abound," wrote Jay to B. Vaughan, Sept. 2,
+1784. (_Jay_: Johnston, iii, 132.)
+
+[949] Jay to John Adams, Feb. 21, 1787; _Jay_: Johnston, iii, 235. Jay
+thought that the bottom of the trouble was that "relaxation in
+government and extravagance in individuals create much public and
+private distress, and much public and private want of good faith."
+(_Ib._, 224.)
+
+[950] Madison to Jefferson, Dec. 4, 1786; _Writings_: Hunt, ii, 293.
+"This indulgence to the people as it is called & considered was so
+warmly wished for out of doors, and so strenuously pressed within that
+it could not be rejected without danger of exciting some worse project
+of a popular cast." (_Ib._)
+
+[951] Madison to Washington, Dec. 24, 1786; _ib._, 301. "My acquiescence
+in the measure was against every general principle which I have
+embraced, and was extorted by a fear that some greater evil under the
+name of relief to the people would be substituted." (_Ib._)
+
+[952] Rutledge to Jay, May 2, 1789; _Jay_: Johnston, iii, 368.
+
+[953] Washington to Jay, May 18, 1786; _Writings_: Ford, xi, 31-32.
+
+[954] Jay to Washington, June 27, 1786; _Jay_: Johnston, iii, 204.
+
+[955] _Ib._, 205.
+
+[956] Washington to Harrison, Jan. 18, 1784; _Writings_: Ford, x, 345.
+
+[957] _Ib._
+
+[958] See Madison's masterful summary of the wickedness, weakness, and
+folly of the State Governments in _Writings_: Hunt, ii, 361-69.
+
+[959] Washington to Jay, March 10, 1787; _Writings_: Ford, xi, 125.
+
+[960] See _supra_, chap. VI.
+
+[961] Madison to Jefferson, March 18, 1786; _Writings_: Hunt, ii, 228.
+"Another unhappy effect of a continuance of the present anarchy of our
+commerces will be a continuance of the unfavorable balance on it, which
+by draining us of our metals, furnishes pretexts for the pernicious
+substitution of paper money, for indulgencies to debtors, for
+postponements of taxes." (_Ib._)
+
+[962] Virginia carefully defined her revenue boundaries as against
+Pennsylvania and Maryland; and provided that any vessel failing to enter
+and pay duties as provided by the Virginia tariff laws might be seized
+by any person and prosecuted "one half to the use of the informer, and
+the other half to the use of the commonwealth." (Va. Statutes at Large
+(1785), chap. 14, 46.)
+
+Virginia strengthened her tariff laws against importations by land. "If
+any such importer or owner shall unload any such wagon or other carriage
+containing any of the above goods, wares, or merchandise brought into
+this state by land without first having entered the same as directed
+above, every such wagon or other carriage, together with the horses
+thereto belonging and all such goods wares and merchandise as shall be
+brought therein, shall be forfeited and recovered by information in the
+court of the county; two-thirds to the informer and one-third toward
+lessening the levy of the county where such conviction shall be made."
+(_Ib._)
+
+Even Pennsylvania, already the principal workshop of the country, while
+enacting an avowedly protective tariff on "Manufactures of Europe and
+Other foreign parts," included "cider, malted barley or grain, fish,
+salted or dried, cheese, butter, beef, pork, barley, peas, mustard,
+manufactured tobacco" which came, mostly, from sister States. The
+preamble declares that the duties are imposed to protect "the artisans
+and mechanics of this state" without whose products "the war could not
+have been carried on."
+
+In addition to agricultural articles named above, the law includes
+"playing cards, hair powder, wrought gold or silver utensils, polished
+or cut stones, musical instruments, walking canes, testaments, psalters,
+spelling books or primers, romances, novels and plays, and horn or
+tortoise shell combs," none of which could be called absolutely
+indispensable to the conduct of the war. The preamble gives the usual
+arguments for protective tariffs. It is the first protective tariff law,
+in the present-day sense, ever passed. (Pa. Statutes at Large (1785),
+99.)
+
+[963] Even at the present time the various States have not recovered
+from this anti-National and uneconomic practice, as witness the tax laws
+and other statutes in almost every State designed to prevent investments
+by the citizens of that State in industries located in other States.
+Worse, still, are the multitude of State laws providing variable control
+over railways that are essentially National.
+
+[964] _Writings_: Hunt, ii, 395.
+
+[965] Marshall (1st ed.), v, 76-79.
+
+[966] Madison to Washington, April 16, 1787; _Writings_: Hunt, ii,
+345-46. This ultra-Nationalist opinion is an interesting contrast to
+Madison's States' Rights views a few years later. (See _infra_, vol. II,
+chaps. II, III, and IV.)
+
+[967] Minton Collins at Richmond to Stephen Collins at Philadelphia, May
+8, 1788; MS., Lib. Cong.
+
+[968] Sam Smith in London to Stephen Collins in Philadelphia, July 21,
+1788; _ib._
+
+[969] Minton Collins to Stephen Collins, Aug. 9, 1788; _ib._
+
+[970] "Vergennes complained, and with a good deal of stress, that they
+did not find a sufficient dependence on arrangements taken with us. This
+was the third time, too, he had done it.... He observed too, that the
+administration of justice with us was tardy, insomuch that their
+merchants, when they had money due to them within our States, considered
+it as desperate; and that our commercial regulations, in general, were
+disgusting to them." (Jefferson's Report; _Works_: Ford, iv, 487.)
+
+[971] Jefferson to Stuart, Jan. 25, 1786; _ib._, v, 74.
+
+[972] Jefferson to Madison, Dec. 16, 1786; _ib._, v, 230.
+
+[973] Jefferson to Carrington, Paris, Aug. 4, 1787; _ib._, 318; also
+332; and Jefferson to Wythe, Sept. 16, 1787; _ib._, 340.
+
+[974] Jefferson to Carrington, Paris, Aug. 4, 1787; _ib._, 318.
+
+[975] Jefferson to Meusnier, Jan. 24, 1786; _ib._, 8.
+
+[976] Jefferson to Meusnier, Jan. 24, 1786; _Works_: Ford, v, 8.
+
+[977] Jefferson to Madison, Dec. 20, 1787; _ib._, 373-74. Jefferson
+concluded, prophetically, that when the people "get piled upon one
+another, in large cities, as in Europe, they will become as corrupt as
+Europe." (_Ib._)
+
+[978] Jefferson to Hogendorp, Oct. 13, 1785; _ib._, iv, 469.
+
+[979] Jefferson to Stuart, Jan. 25, 1786; _ib._, v, 74.
+
+[980] See _infra_, chap. IX.
+
+[981] For a careful study of this important but neglected subject see
+Professor Edward Payson Smith's paper in Jameson, 46-115.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE STRUGGLE FOR RATIFICATION
+
+    The plot thickens fast. A few short weeks will determine the
+    political fate of America. (Washington.)
+
+
+On Sunday, June 1, 1788, the dust lay deep in the streets of the little
+town of Richmond. Multitudes of horses were tethered here and there or
+stabled as best the Virginia Capital's meager accommodations permitted.
+Cavalcades of mounted men could be seen from Shockoe Hill, wending their
+way over the imperfect earthen roads from every direction to the center
+of interest.[982] Some of these had come hundreds of miles and arrived
+in the garb of the frontier, pistol and hanger at belt.[983] Patrick
+Henry, prematurely old at fifty-two, came in a one-horse, uncovered gig;
+Pendleton, aged, infirm, and a cripple, arrived in a phaeton.[984]
+
+As we have seen, it was very hard for members of Virginia's Legislature
+to get to the seat of the State Government even from counties not far
+distant; and a rainy season, or even one week's downpour during the
+latter part of May, would have kept large numbers of the members of the
+Virginia Convention from reaching their destination in time and perhaps
+have decided the impending struggle[985] before it began. The year's
+great social and sporting event added to the throng and colored the dark
+background of political anxiety and apprehension with a faint tinge of
+gayety.[986]
+
+Although seven months had elapsed since the Federal Convention had
+finished its work, there was, nevertheless, practically no accurate
+knowledge among the people of the various parts of the "New Plan" of
+government. Even some members of the Virginia State Convention had never
+seen a copy of the Constitution until they arrived in Richmond to
+deliberate upon it and decide its fate.[987] Some of the most inquiring
+men of this historic body had not read a serious or convincing argument
+for it or against it.[988] "The greater part of the members of the
+[Virginia] convention will go to the meeting without information on the
+subject," wrote Nicholas to Madison immediately after the election of
+delegates.[989]
+
+One general idea, however, had percolated through the distances and
+difficulties of communication to the uninformed minds of the people--the
+idea that the new Constitution would form a strong, consolidated
+National Government, superior to and dominant over the State
+Governments; a National Sovereignty overawing State Sovereignties,
+dangerous to if not entirely destructive of the latter; a general and
+powerful authority beyond the people's reach, which would enforce
+contracts, collect debts, impose taxes; above all, a bayonet-enforced
+rule from a distant point, that would imperil and perhaps abolish
+"liberty."[990]
+
+So a decided majority of the people of Virginia were against the
+proposed fundamental law;[991] for, as in other parts of the country,
+few of Virginia's masses wanted anything stronger than the weak and
+ineffective Government of the State and as little even of that as
+possible. Some were "opposed to any system, was it even sent from
+heaven, which tends to confirm the union of the States."[992] Madison's
+father reported the Baptists to be "generally opposed to it"; and the
+planters who went to Richmond to sell their tobacco had returned foes of
+the "new plan" and had spread the uprising against it among others "who
+are no better acquainted with the necessity of adopting it than they
+themselves."[993] At first the friends of the Constitution deceived
+themselves into thinking that the work of the Philadelphia Convention
+met with approval in Virginia; but they soon found that "the tide next
+took a sudden and strong turn in the opposite direction."[994] Henry
+wrote to Lamb that "Four-fifths of our inhabitants are opposed to the
+new scheme of government"; and he added that south of the James River "I
+am confident nine-tenths are opposed to it."[995]
+
+That keen and ever-watchful merchant, Minton Collins, thus reported to
+the head of his commercial house in Philadelphia: "The New Federal
+Constitution will meet with much opposition in this State [Virginia] for
+many pretended patriots has taken a great deal of pains to poison the
+minds of the people against it.... There are two Classes here who oppose
+it, the one is those who have power & are unwilling to part with an atom
+of it, & the others are the people who owe a great deal of money, and
+are very unwilling to pay, as they are afraid this Constitution will
+make them _Honest Men_ in spite of their teeth."[996]
+
+And now the hostile forces are to meet in final and decisive conflict.
+Now, at last, the new Constitution is to be really _debated_; and
+debated openly before the people and the world. For the first time, too,
+it is to be opposed in argument by men of the highest order in ability,
+character, and standing--men who cannot be hurried, or bullied, or
+shaken, or bought. The debates in the Virginia Convention of 1788 are
+the only masterful discussions on _both_ sides of the controversy that
+ever took place.
+
+While the defense of the Constitution had been very able in Pennsylvania
+and Massachusetts (and later in New York was to be most brilliant), the
+attack upon it in the Virginia Convention was nowhere equaled or
+approached in power, learning, and dignity. Extravagant as the assertion
+appears, it nevertheless is true that the Virginia contest was the only
+real _debate_ over the whole Constitution. It far surpassed, especially
+in presenting the reasons against the Constitution, the discussion in
+the Federal Convention itself, in weight of argument and attractiveness
+of presentation, as well as in the ability and distinction of the
+debaters.
+
+The general Federal Convention that framed the Constitution at
+Philadelphia was a secret body; and the greatest pains were taken that
+no part of its proceedings should get to the public until the
+Constitution itself was reported to Congress. The Journals were confided
+to the care of Washington and were not made public until many years
+after our present Government was established. The framers of the
+Constitution ignored the purposes for which they were delegated; they
+acted without any authority whatever; and the document, which the
+warring factions finally evolved from their quarrels and dissensions,
+was revolutionary.[997] This capital fact requires iteration, for it is
+essential to an understanding of the desperate struggle to secure the
+ratification of that then unpopular instrument.
+
+"Not one legislature in the United States had the most distant idea when
+they first appointed members for a [Federal] convention, entirely
+commercial ... that they would without any warrant from their
+constituents, presume on so bold and daring a stride," truthfully writes
+the excitable Gerry of Massachusetts in his bombastic denunciation of
+"the fraudulent usurpation at Philadelphia."[998] The more reliable
+Melancton Smith of New York testifies that "previous to the meeting of
+the Convention the subject of a new form of government had been little
+thought of and scarcely written upon at all.... The idea of a government
+similar to" the Constitution "never entered the minds of the
+legislatures who appointed the Convention and of but very few of the
+members who composed it, until they had assembled and heard it proposed
+in that body."[999]
+
+"Had the idea of a total change [from the Confederation] been started,"
+asserts the trustworthy Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, "probably no
+state would have appointed members to the Convention.... Probably not
+one man in ten thousand in the United States ... had an idea that the
+old ship [Confederation] was to be destroyed. Pennsylvania appointed
+principally those men who are esteemed aristocratical.... Other
+States ... chose men principally connected with commerce and the
+judicial department." Even so, says Lee, "the non-attendance of eight or
+nine men" made the Constitution possible. "We must recollect, how
+disproportionately the democratic and aristocratic parts of the
+community were represented" in this body.[1000]
+
+This "child of fortune,"[1001] as Washington called the Constitution,
+had been ratified with haste and little or no discussion by Delaware,
+New Jersey, Connecticut, and Georgia. The principal men in the first
+three Commonwealths felt that the Constitution gave those States large
+commercial advantages and even greater political consequence;[1002] and
+Georgia, with so small a population as to be almost negligible, felt the
+need of some strong Government to defend her settlers against the
+Indians. It is doubtful whether many of the people of these four States
+had read the Constitution or had heard much about it, except that, in a
+general way, they were to be better off under the new than under the old
+arrangement. Their ratification carried no weight other than to make up
+four of the nine States necessary to set the new system in motion.
+
+In other States its friends had whipped up all possible speed. Not a
+week had passed after the Federal Convention had laid the proposed
+Constitution before Congress when a resolution was introduced in the
+Legislature of Pennsylvania for the election, within five weeks,[1003]
+of delegates to a State Convention to ratify the "New Plan." When its
+opponents, failing in every other device to delay or defeat it, refused
+to attend the sessions, thus breaking a quorum, a band of
+Constitutionalists "broke into their lodgings, seized them, dragged them
+though the streets to the State House and thrust them into the Assembly
+room with clothes torn and faces white with rage." And there the
+objecting members were forcibly kept until the vote was taken. Thus was
+the quorum made and the majority of the Legislature enabled to "pass"
+the ordinance for calling the Pennsylvania State Convention to ratify
+the National Constitution.[1004] And this action was taken before the
+Legislature had even received from Congress a copy of that document.
+
+The enemies in Pennsylvania of the proposed National Government were
+very bitter. They said that the Legislature had been under the yoke of
+Philadelphia--a charge which, indeed, appears to be true. Loud were the
+protests of the minority against the feverish haste. When the members of
+the Pennsylvania Convention, thus called, had been chosen and had
+finished their work, the Anti-Constitutionalists asserted that no fair
+election had really taken place because it "was held at so early a
+period and want of information was so great" that the people did not
+know that such an election was to be held; and they proved this to their
+own satisfaction by showing that, although seventy thousand
+Pennsylvanians were entitled to vote, only thirteen thousand of them
+really had voted and that the forty-six members of the Pennsylvania
+Convention who ratified the Constitution had been chosen by only
+sixty-eight hundred voters. Thus, they pointed out, when the State
+Convention was over, that the Federal Constitution had been ratified in
+Pennsylvania by men who represented less than one tenth of the voting
+population of the State.[1005]
+
+Indeed, a supporter of the Constitution admitted that only a small
+fraction of the people did vote for members of the Pennsylvania State
+Convention; but he excused this on the ground that Pennsylvanians seldom
+voted in great numbers except in contested elections; and he pointed out
+that in the election of the Convention which framed the State's
+Constitution itself, only about six thousand had exercised their right
+of suffrage and that only a little more than fifteen hundred votes had
+been cast in the whole Commonwealth to elect Pennsylvania's first
+Legislature.[1006]
+
+The enemies of the proposed plan for a National Government took the
+ground that it was being rushed through by the "aristocrats"; and the
+"Independent Gazetteer" published "The humble address of the _low born_
+of the United States of America, to their fellow slaves scattered
+throughout the world," which sarcastically pledged that "we, the _low
+born_, that is, all the people of the United States, except 600 or
+thereabouts, _well born_," would "allow and admit the said 600 _well
+born_ immediately to establish and confirm this most noble, most
+excellent, and truly divine constitution."[1007]
+
+James Wilson, they said, had been all but mobbed by the patriots during
+the Revolution; he never had been for the people, but always "strongly
+tainted with the spirit of _high aristocracy_."[1008] Yet such a man,
+they declared, was the ablest and best person the Constitutionalists
+could secure to defend "that political monster, the proposed
+Constitution"; "a monster" which had emerged from "the thick veil of
+secrecy."[1009]
+
+When the Pennsylvania State Convention had assembled, the opponents of
+the Constitution at once charged that the whole business was being
+speeded by a "system of precipitancy."[1010] They rang the changes on
+the secret gestation and birth of the Nation's proposed fundamental law,
+which, said Mr. Whitehill, "originates in mystery and must terminate in
+despotism," and, in the end, surely would annihilate the States.[1011]
+Hardly a day passed that the minority did not protest against the
+forcing tactics of the majority.[1012] While much ability was displayed
+on both sides, yet the debate lacked dignity, courtesy, judgment, and
+even information. So scholarly a man as Wilson said that "Virginia has
+no bill of rights";[1013] and Chief Justice McKean, supported by Wilson,
+actually declared that none but English-speaking peoples ever had known
+trial by jury.[1014]
+
+"Lack of veracity," "indecent," "trifling," "contempt for arguments and
+person," were a few of the more moderate, polite, and soothing epithets
+that filled Pennsylvania's Convention hall throughout this so-called
+debate. More than once the members almost came to blows.[1015] The
+galleries, filled with city people, were hot for the Constitution and
+heartened its defenders with cheers. "This is not the voice of the
+people of Pennsylvania," shouted Smilie, denouncing the partisan
+spectators. The enemies of the Constitution would not be "intimidated,"
+he dramatically exclaimed, "were the galleries filled with
+bayonets."[1016] The sarcastic McKean observed in reply that Smilie
+seemed "mighty angry, merely because somebody was pleased."[1017]
+
+Persons not members of the Convention managed to get on the floor and
+laughed at the arguments of those who were against the Constitution.
+Findley was outraged at this "want of sense of decency and order."[1018]
+Justice McKean treated the minority with contempt and their arguments
+with derision. "_If the sky falls, we shall catch larks; if the rivers
+run dry, we shall catch eels_," was all, said this conciliatory
+advocate of the Constitution, that its enemies' arguments amounted to;
+they made nothing more than a sound "like _the working of small
+beer_."[1019]
+
+The language, manners, and methods of the supporters of the Constitution
+in the Pennsylvania Convention were resented outside the hall. "If
+anything could induce me to oppose the New Constitution," wrote a
+citizen signing himself "Federalist," "it would be the indecent,
+supercilious carriage of its advocates towards its opponents."[1020]
+
+While the Pennsylvania State Convention was sitting, the Philadelphia
+papers were full of attacks and counter-attacks by the partisans of
+either side, some of them moderate and reasonable, but most of them
+irritating, inflammatory, and absurd. A well-written petition of
+citizens was sent to the Convention begging it to adjourn until April or
+May, so that the people might have time to inform themselves on the
+subject: "The people of Pennsylvania have not yet had sufficient time
+and opportunity afforded them for this purpose. The great bulk of the
+people, from the want of leisure from other avocations; their remoteness
+from information, their scattered situation, and the consequent
+difficulty of conferring with each other" did not understand the
+Constitution, declared this memorial.
+
+"The unaccountable zeal and precipitation used to hurry the people into
+premature decision" had excited and alarmed the masses, "and the
+election of delegates was rushed into before the greater part of the
+people ... knew what part to take in it." So ran the cleverly drawn
+indictment of the methods of those who were striving for ratification in
+Pennsylvania.[1021] In the State Convention, the foes of the
+Constitution scathingly denounced to the very last the jamming-through
+conduct of its friends; and just before the final vote, Smilie dared
+them to adjourn that the sense of the people might be taken.[1022]
+
+Even such of the people as could be reached by the newspapers were not
+permitted to be enlightened by the Convention "debates"; for reports of
+them were suppressed.[1023] Only the speeches of James Wilson and Chief
+Justice McKean, both ardent advocates of the Constitution, were allowed
+to be published.[1024]
+
+But although outnumbered two to one, cuffed and buffeted without mercy
+in debate, scoffed at and jeered at by the people of the Quaker City,
+the minority was stiff-necked and defiant. Their heads were "bloody but
+unbowed." Three days after the vote for ratification, forty-six "ayes"
+to twenty-three "nays," had been taken, the minority issued an address
+to their constituents.[1025] It relates the causes which led to the
+Federal Convention, describes its members, sets forth its usurpation of
+power, details the efforts to get popular support for the Constitution
+even "whilst the gilded chains were forging in the secret conclave."
+
+The address recounts the violence by which the State Convention was
+called, "not many hours" after the "New Plan" had "issued forth from the
+womb of suspicious secrecy"; and reaffirms the people's ignorance of the
+Constitution, the trifling vote, the indecorous, hasty, "insulting"
+debate. It gives the amendments asked for by the minority, and finally
+presents most if not all the arguments which before had been or since
+have been advanced against the Constitution, and especially the National
+principle which pervades it.
+
+The powers given Congress would produce "one consolidated government,
+which, from the nature of things, will be an _iron handed despotism_";
+the State Governments would be annihilated; the general welfare clause
+would justify anything which "_the will and pleasure_ of congress"
+dictated; that National body, "with complete and unlimited power over
+the _purse_ and the _sword_," could[1026] by taxation "command the whole
+or any part of the property of the people"--imposts, land taxes, poll
+taxes, excises, duties--every kind of tax on every possible species of
+property and written instrument could be laid by the "monster" of
+National power. By the Judiciary provided in the Constitution "the rich
+and wealthy suitors would eagerly lay hold of the infinite mazes,
+perplexities and delays ... and the poor man being plunged in the
+bottomless pit of legal discussion" could not get justice.[1027]
+
+Two coördinate "sovereignties," State and National, "would be contrary
+to the nature of things"; the Constitution without a bill of rights
+"would of itself necessarily produce a despotism"; a standing army might
+be used to collect the most burdensome taxes and with it "an ambitious
+man ... may step up into the throne and seize upon absolute
+power"[1028]--such are the broad outlines of the document with which the
+undismayed enemies of the Constitution began their campaign against it
+among the people of Pennsylvania after the Convention had ratified it.
+
+The wrath of the Pennsylvania foes of the Constitution fed and grew upon
+its own extravagance. The friends of the "New Plan" tried to hold a
+meeting in Carlisle to rejoice over its ratification; but the crowd
+broke up their meeting, wrecked their cannon, and burned the
+Constitution in the very bonfire which the Constitutionalists had
+prepared to celebrate its victory. Blows were struck and violence
+done.[1029] For almost a year, an Anti-Constitutionalist paper in
+Philadelphia kept up the bombardment of the Constitution and its
+advocates, its gunner being a writer signing himself "Centinel."[1030]
+His ammunition was a mixture of argument, statement, charge, and abuse,
+wrapped up in cartridge paper of blistering rhetoric. The Constitution
+was, wrote "Centinel," a "spurious brat"; "the evil genius of darkness
+presided at its birth" and "it came forth under the veil of
+mystery."[1031]
+
+Should the small fraction of the people who had voted for the members of
+the Pennsylvania State Convention bind the overwhelming majority who had
+not voted, asked "Centinel." No, indeed! The people, wrote he with pen
+of gall, had nothing but contempt for the "solemn mummery" that had been
+acted in their name.[1032] As to the citizens of Philadelphia, everybody
+understood, asserted "Centinel," that the "spirit of independency" was
+dead within _their_ breasts; Philadelphia merchants, as was well known,
+were mere vassals to a commercial "colossus" (Robert Morris) who held
+the city in "thraldom."[1033]
+
+"Mankind in the darkest ages, have never been so insulted," cried
+"Centinel," as the men of Pennsylvania had been by this "flagrant ...
+audacious ... conspiracy [the Constitution] against the liberties of a
+free people."[1034] The whole thing, he declared, was a dastardly plot.
+The conspirators had disarmed the militia, kept out of the mails such
+newspapers as had dared to voice the "people's rights";[1035] and "all
+intercourse between the patriots of America is as far as possible cut
+off; whilst on the other hand the conspirators have the most exact
+information, a common concert is everywhere evident; they move in
+unison."[1036]
+
+The Constitutionalists were not content with their vile work in
+thrusting upon Pennsylvania "the empire of delusion," charged
+"Centinel,"[1037] but their agents were off for Virginia to do the like
+there.[1038] The whole world knew, said he, that the Constitutionalists
+had rushed the Constitution through in Pennsylvania;[1039] and that the
+"immaculate convention [that framed the Constitution] ... contained a
+number of the principal public defaulters,"[1040] chief of whom was
+Robert Morris, who, though a bankrupt in the beginning of the
+Revolution, had, by "peculation and embezzlement of the public
+property," accumulated "the immense wealth he has dazzled the world with
+since."[1041]
+
+If only the address of Pennsylvania's heroic minority, "Centinel"
+lamented, had reached Boston in time, it would "have enabled patriotism
+to triumph" there; but, of course, the "_high born_" Constitutionalist
+managers of post-offices kept it back.[1042] Was not the scandal so
+foul, asked "Centinel," that, on the petition of Philadelphia printers,
+Pennsylvania's Legislature appealed to Congress against the suppression
+of the mails?[1043] Of course Philadelphia was for "this system of
+tyranny"; but three fourths of the people in the eastern counties and
+nineteen twentieths of those in the middle, northern, and western
+counties were against it.[1044]
+
+The grape and canister which its enemies poured upon the Constitution
+and its friends in Pennsylvania brought an answering fire. The attacks,
+said the Constitutionalists, had been written by "hireling writers" and
+"sowers of sedition"; their slanders showed "what falsehoods
+disappointed ambition is capable of using to impose upon the public."
+According to the Constitutionalists, their opponents were "incendiaries"
+with "infamous designs."[1045] "If every lie was to be punished by
+clipping, as in the case of other forgeries, not an ear would be left
+amongst the whole party," wrote a Constitutionalist of the conduct of
+the opposition.[1046]
+
+But the Constitutionalists were no match for their enemies in the
+language of abuse, recklessness in making charges, or plausibility in
+presenting their case. Mostly they vented their wrath in private
+correspondence, which availed nothing. Yet the letters of business men
+were effective in consolidating the commercial interests. Also they
+illuminate the situation.
+
+"That restless firebrand, the Printer of your city [Oswald, editor of
+the "Independent Gazetteer"], is running about as if driven by the
+Devil," wrote a New York merchant to a Philadelphia business
+correspondent, "seemingly determined to do all the mischief he can;
+indeed, in my opinion he is an actual incendiary & ought to be the
+object of legal restraint. He is in his own person a strong argument of
+the necessity of speedily adopting the new System & putting it into
+immediate motion."[1047]
+
+And "firebrands," indeed, the Anti-Constitutionalists prove themselves
+in every possible way.
+
+Madison was alarmed. He writes to Jefferson that the "minority ... of
+Pennsylvania has been extremely intemperate and continues to use very
+bold and menacing language."[1048] Little did Madison then foresee that
+the very men and forces he now was fighting were laying the foundation
+for a political party which was to make him President. Far from his
+thought, at this time, was the possibility of that antipodal change
+which public sentiment and Jefferson's influence wrought in him two
+years later. When the fight over the Constitution was being waged, there
+was no more extreme Nationalist in the whole country than James Madison.
+
+So boiled the stormy Pennsylvania waters through which the Constitution
+was hastened to port and such was the tempest that strained its moorings
+after it was anchored in the harbor of ratification.
+
+In Massachusetts, "all the men of abilities, of property and of
+influence,"[1049] were quite as strong for the Constitution as the same
+class in Pennsylvania; but, impressed by the revolt against the tactics
+of hurry and force which the latter had employed, the Constitutionalists
+of the Bay State took an opposite course. Craft, not arrogance, was
+their policy. They were "wise as serpents," but appeared to be "as
+harmless as doves." Unlike the methods of the Pennsylvania
+Constitutionalists, they were moderate, patient, conciliatory, and
+skillful. They put up Hancock for President of the Convention, in order,
+as they said, "that we might have advantage of [his] ... name--whether
+capable of attending or not."[1050]
+
+The Massachusetts adversaries of the Constitution were without a leader.
+Among them "there was not a single character capable of uniting their
+wills or directing their measures."[1051] Their inferiority greatly
+impressed Madison, who wrote to Pendleton that "there was scarce a man
+of respectability" among them.[1052] They were not able even to state
+their own case.
+
+"The friends of the Constitution, who in addition to their own
+weight ... represent a very large proportion of the good sense and
+property of this State, have the task not only of answering, but also of
+stating and bringing forward the objections of their opponents," wrote
+King to Madison.[1053] The opponents admitted this themselves. Of
+course, said they, lawyers, judges, clergymen, merchants, and educated
+men, all of whom were in favor of the Constitution, could make black
+look white; but "if we had men of this description on our side" we could
+run these foxes to earth.[1054] Mr. Randall hoped "that these great men
+of eloquence and learning will not try to _make_ arguments to make this
+Constitution go down, right or wrong.... It takes the best men in this
+state to gloss this Constitution.... Suppose ... these great men would
+speak half as much against it, we might complete our business and go
+home in forty-eight hours."[1055]
+
+The election of members to the Massachusetts Convention had shown
+widespread opposition to the proposed establishment of a National
+Government. Although the Constitutionalists planned well and worked
+hard, some towns did not want to send delegates at all; forty-six towns
+finally refused to do so and were unrepresented in the Convention.[1056]
+"Biddeford has backsliden & fallen from a state of Grace to a state of
+nature, met yesterday & a dumb Devil seized a Majority & they voted not
+to send, & when called on for a Reason they were dumb, _mirabile
+dictu_!"[1057] King Lovejoy was chosen for Vassalborough; but when the
+people learned that he would support the Constitution they "called
+another Meeting, turned him out, & chose another in his room who was
+desidedly against it."[1058]
+
+The division among the people in one county was: "The most reputable
+characters ... on ... _the right_ side [for the Constitution] ... but
+the middling & common sort ... on the opposite";[1059] and in another
+county "the Majority of the Common people" were opposed,[1060] which
+seems to have been generally true throughout the State. Of the sentiment
+in Worcester, a certain E. Bangs wrote: "I could give you but a very
+disagreeable account: The most of them entertain such a dread of
+arbitrary power, that they are afraid even of limited authority.... Of
+upwards of 50 members from this county not more than 7 or 8 delegates
+are" for the Constitution, "& yet some of them are good men--Not all
+[Shays's] insurgents I assure you."[1061]
+
+Judge Sewall reported from York that the delegates there had been
+chosen "to Oppose the Business.... Sanford had one meeting and Voted not
+to Send any--But M^r. S. come down full charged with Gass and Stirred up
+a 2^{nd} Meeting and procured himself Elected, and I presume will go up
+charged like a Baloon."[1062] Nathaniel Barrell of York, a successful
+candidate for the Massachusetts Convention, "behaved so indecently
+before the Choice, as extorted a severe Reprimand from Judge Sewall, and
+when chosen modestly told his Constituents, he would sooner loose his
+Arm than put his Assent to the new proposed Constitution, it is to be
+feared many of his Brethern are of his mind."[1063]
+
+Barrell explained to Thatcher: "I see it [the Constitution] pregnant
+with the fate of our libertys.... I see it entails wretchedness on my
+posterity--Slavery on my children; ... twill not be so much for our
+advantage to have our taxes imposed & levied at the pleasure of Congress
+as [by] the method now pursued ... a Continental Collector at the head
+of a standing army will not be so likely to do us justice in collecting
+the taxes.... I think such a Government impracticable among men with
+such high notions of liberty as we americans."[1064]
+
+The "Address of the Minority" of Pennsylvania's Convention had reached a
+few men in Massachusetts, notwithstanding the alleged refusal of the
+post-office to transmit it; and it did some execution. To Thomas B. Wait
+it "was like the Thunder of Sinai--its lightenings were irresistible"
+to him. He deplored the "darkness, duplicity and studied ambiguity ...
+running thro' the whole Constitution," which, to his mind, made it
+certain that "as it now stands but very few individuals do or ever will
+understand it.... The vast Continent of America cannot long be subjected
+to a Democracy if consolidated into one Government--you might as well
+attempt to rule Hell by Prayer."[1065]
+
+Christopher Gore condensed into one sentence the motives of those who
+favored the Constitution as the desire for "an honorable & efficient
+Govt. equal to the support of our national dignity--& capable of
+protecting the property of our citizens."[1066]
+
+The spirit of Shays's Rebellion inspired the opponents of the
+Constitution in Massachusetts. "Many of the [Shays's] insurgents are in
+the Convention," Lincoln informed Washington; "even some of Shays's
+officers. A great proportion of these men are high in the opposition. We
+could hardly expect any thing else; nor could we ... justly suppose that
+those men, who were so lately intoxicated with large draughts of
+liberty, and who were thirsting for more would ... submit to a
+Constitution which would further take up the reins of Government, which,
+in their opinion, were too straight before."[1067]
+
+Out of three hundred and fifty-five members of the Massachusetts
+Convention, one hundred and sixty-eight held out against the
+Constitution to the very last, uninfluenced by the careful, able, and
+convincing arguments of its friends, unmoved by their persuasion,
+unbought by their promises and deals.[1068] They believed "that some
+injury is plotted against them--that the system is the production of the
+rich and ambitious," and that the Constitution would result in "the
+establishment of two orders in Society, one comprehending the opulent
+and great, the other the poor and illiterate."[1069] At no time until
+they won over Hancock, who presided over the Massachusetts Convention,
+were the Constitutionalists sure that a majority was not against the new
+plan.
+
+The struggle of these rude and unlearned Massachusetts men against the
+cultured, disciplined, powerful, and ably led friends of the
+Constitution in that State was pathetic. "Who, sir, is to pay the debts
+of the yeomanry and others?" exclaimed William Widgery. "Sir, when oil
+will quench fire, I will believe all this [the high-colored prophesies
+of the Constitutionalists] and not till then.... I cannot see why we
+need, for the sake of a little meat, swallow a great bone, which, if it
+should happen to stick in our throats, can never be got out."[1070]
+
+Amos Singletary "wished they [the Constitutionalists] would not play
+round the subject with their fine stories like a fox round a trap, but
+come to it."[1071] "These lawyers," said he, "and men of learning and
+moneyed men, that talk so finely, and gloss over matters so smoothly,
+to make us poor illiterate people swallow down the pill, expect to get
+into Congress themselves; they expect to be the managers of this
+Constitution, and get all the power and all the money, into their own
+hands, and then they will swallow up all us little folks like the great
+_Leviathan_; ... yes, just as the whale swallowed up _Jonah_."[1072]
+Replying to the Constitutionalist argument that the people's
+representatives in Congress would be true to their constituents, Abraham
+White said that he "would not trust a 'flock of Moseses.'"[1073]
+
+The opposition complained that the people knew little or nothing about
+the Constitution--and this, indeed, was quite true. "It is strange,"
+said General Thompson, "that a system which its planners say is so
+plain, _that he that runs may read it_, should want so much
+explanation."[1074] "Necessity compelled them to hurry,"[1075] declared
+Widgery of the friends of the Constitution. "Don't let us go too
+fast.... Why all this racket?" asked the redoubtable Thompson.[1076] Dr.
+John Taylor was sure that Senators "once chosen ... are chosen
+forever."[1077]
+
+Time and again the idea cropped out of a National Government as a kind
+of foreign rule. "I beg the indulgence of this honorable body," implored
+Samuel Nason, "to permit me to make a short apostrophe to Liberty. O
+Liberty! thou greatest good! thou fairest property! with thee I wish to
+live--with thee I wish to die! Pardon me if I drop a tear on the peril
+to which she is exposed: I cannot, sir, see this brightest of jewels
+tarnished--a jewel worth ten thousand worlds; and shall we part with it
+so soon? O no."[1078] And Mr. Nason was sure that the people would part
+with this brightest of jewels if the Constitution was adopted. As to a
+standing army, let the Constitutionalists recall Boston on March 5,
+1770. "Had I a voice like Jove," cried Nason, "I would proclaim it
+throughout the world; and had I an arm like Jove, I would hurl from the
+globe those villains that would dare attempt to establish in our country
+a standing army."[1079]
+
+These "poor, ignorant men," as they avowed themselves to be, were rich
+in apostrophes. The reporter thus records one of General Thompson's
+efforts: "Here the general broke out in the following pathetic
+apostrophe: 'O my country, never give up your annual elections! Young
+men, never give up your jewel.'"[1080] John Holmes showed that the
+Constitution gave Congress power to "institute judicatories" like "that
+diabolical institution, the _Inquisition_." "_Racks_," cried he, "and
+_gibbets_, may be amongst the most mild instruments of their
+[Congress's] discipline."[1081] Because there was no religious test,
+Major Thomas Lusk "shuddered at the idea that Roman Catholics, Papists,
+and Pagans might be introduced into office, and that Popery and the
+Inquisition may be established in America";[1082] and Singletary pointed
+out that under the Constitution a "Papist, or an Infidel, was as
+eligible as ... a Christian."[1083]
+
+Thus the proceedings dragged along. The overwhelming arguments of the
+advocates of the Constitution were unanswered and, apparently, not even
+understood by its stubborn foes. One Constitutionalist, indeed, did
+speak their language, a farmer named Jonathan Smith, whom the
+Constitutionalist managers put forward for that purpose. "I am a plain
+man," said Mr. Smith, "and get my living by the plough. I am not used to
+speak in public, but I beg leave to say a few words to my brother
+plough-joggers in this house"; and Mr. Smith proceeded to make one of
+the most effective speeches of the Convention.[1084] But all to no
+purpose. Indeed, the pleadings and arguments for the Constitution seemed
+only to harden the feeling of those opposed to it. They were obsessed by
+an immovable belief that a National Government would destroy their
+liberties; "and," testifies King, "a distrust of men of property or
+education has a more powerful effect upon the minds of our opponents
+than any specific objections against the Constitution."[1085]
+
+Finally, in their desperation, the Constitutionalist managers won
+Hancock,[1086] whose courting of the insurgents in Shays's Rebellion had
+elected him Governor. He had more influence with the opposition than
+any other man in New England. For the same reason, Governor Bowdoin's
+friends, who included most of the men of weight and substance, had been
+against Hancock. By promising the latter their support and by telling
+him that he would be made President if Washington was not,[1087] the
+Constitutionalist leaders induced Hancock to offer certain amendments
+which the Massachusetts Convention should recommend to Congress along
+with its ratification of the Constitution. Hancock offered these
+proposals as his own, although they were drawn by the learned and
+scholarly Parsons.[1088] Samuel Adams, hitherto silent, joined in this
+plan.
+
+Thus the trick was turned and the Massachusetts Convention ratified the
+Constitution a few days later by a slender majority of nineteen out of a
+vote of three hundred and fifty-five.[1089] But not without bitter
+protest. General Thompson remarked that "he could not say amen to them
+[the amendments], but they might be voted for by some men--he did not
+say Judases."[1090] The deal by which the Constitutionalists won Hancock
+was suspected, it appears, for Dr. Charles Jarvis denied that "these
+amendments have been artfully introduced to lead to a decision which
+would not otherwise be had."[1091] Madison in New York, watching the
+struggle with nervous solicitude, thought that the amendments influenced
+very few members of the Massachusetts opposition because of "their
+objections being levelled against the very essence of the proposed
+Government."[1092] Certainly, those who changed their votes for
+ratification had hard work to explain their conversion.
+
+Nathaniel Barrell, who had pledged his constituents that he would part
+with his arm rather than vote for the "Slavery of my children," had
+abandoned his vow of amputation and decided to risk the future bondage
+of his offspring by voting for the Constitution. In trying to justify
+his softened heroism, he said that he was "awed in the presence of this
+august assembly"; he knew "how little he must appear in the eyes of
+those giants of rhetoric, who have exhibited such a pompous display of
+declamation"; but although he did not have the "eloquence of Cicero, or
+the blaze of Demosthenian oratory," yet he would try to explain. He
+summarized his objections, ending with his wish that "this Constitution
+had not been, in some parts of the continent, hurried on, like the
+driving of Jehu, very furiously." So he hoped the Convention would
+adjourn, but if it would not--well, in that case, Mr. Barrell would
+brave the wrath of his constituents and vote for ratification with
+amendments offered by Hancock.[1093]
+
+Just as the bargain with Hancock secured the necessary votes for the
+Constitution in the Massachusetts Convention, so did the personal
+behavior of the Constitutionalists forestall any outbreak of protest
+after ratification. "I am at Last overcome," wrote Widgery, "by a
+majority of 19, including the president [Hancock] whose very Name is an
+Honour to the State, for by his coming in and offering Som Amendments
+which furnished many with Excuses to their Constituants, it was adopted
+to the great Joy of all Boston."[1094] The triumphant Constitutionalists
+kept up their mellowing tactics of conciliation after their victory and
+with good results, as appears by Mr. Widgery's account.
+
+The "great bone" which had been thrust into his throat had not stuck
+there as he had feared it would. The Constitutionalists furnished
+materials to wash it down. "After Taking a parting Glass at the Expense
+of the Trades men in Boston we Disolved";[1095] but not before the
+mollified Widgery announced that the Constitution "had been carried by a
+majority of wise and understanding men.... After expressing his thanks
+for the civility which the inhabitants of this town [Boston] have shown
+to the Convention, ... he concluded by saying that he should support
+the ... Constitution" with all his might.[1096]
+
+"One thing I mus menchen," relates Widgery, "the Gallerys was very much
+Crowded, yet on the Desition of so emportant a Question as the present
+you might have heard a Copper fall on the Gallery floor, their was Sush
+a profound Silance; on thirs Day we got throw all our Business and on
+Fry Day, there was a federal Ship Riged and fix^d on a Slead, hald by 13
+Horses, and all Orders of Men Turn^d out and formed a procession in the
+following ordor Viz first the Farmers with the plow and Harrow Sowing
+grain, and Harrowing it in as they went Som in a Cart Brakeing and
+Swingeing Flax ... Tradesmen of all sorts, ... the Bakers [with] their
+Bread peal ... the Federal Ship ful Riged ... the Merchants ... a nother
+Slead, Halled by 13 Horses on which was a Ship yard, and a Number of
+smaul Ships &c. on that. in this order thay march^d to the House of Each
+of their Delegates in the Town of Boston, and returned to Fanuels Aall
+where the Merchants gave them 3 or 4 Hogsheads of Punch and as much wine
+cake & cheese as they could make way with ... one thing more
+Notwithstanding my opposition to the Constitution, and the anxiety of
+Boston for its adoption I most Tel you I was never Treated with So much
+politeness in my Life as I was afterwards by the Treadesmen of Boston
+Merchants & every other Gentleman."[1097]
+
+Thus did the Massachusetts Constitutionalists take very human and
+effective measures to prevent such revolt against the Constitution,
+after its ratification, as the haughty and harsh conduct of their
+Pennsylvania brothers had stirred up in the City and State of Brotherly
+Love. "The minority are in good temper," King advises Madison; "they
+have the magnanimity to declare that they will devote their lives and
+property to support the Government."[1098] While there was a little
+Anti-Constitutionalist activity among the people after the Convention
+adjourned, it was not virulent. Gerry, indeed, gave one despairing
+shriek over departing "liberty" which he was sure the Constitution would
+drive from our shores; but that lament was intended for the ears of New
+York. It is, however, notable as showing the state of mind of such
+Anti-Constitutionalists as the Constitution's managers had not taken
+pains to mollify.
+
+Gerry feared the "Gulph of despotism.... On these shores freedom has
+planted her standard, diped in the purple tide that flowed from the
+veins of her martyred heroes" which was now in danger from "the
+deep-laid plots, the secret intrigues, ... the bold effrontery" of those
+ambitious to be aristocrats, some of whom were "speculating for fortune,
+by sporting with public money." Only "a few, a very few
+[Constitutionalists] ... were ... defending their country" during the
+Revolution, said Gerry. "Genius, Virtue, and Patriotism seems to nod
+over the vices of the times ... while a supple multitude are paying a
+blind and idolatrous homage to ... those ... who are endeavouring ... to
+betray the people ... into an acceptance of a most complicated system of
+government; marked on the one side with the _dark_, _secret_ and
+_profound intrigues_ of the statesman, long practised in the purlieus of
+despotism; and on the other, with the ideal projects of _young
+ambition_, with its wings just expanded to soar to a summit, which
+imagination has painted in such gawdy colours as to intoxicate the
+_inexperienced votary_ and send _him_ rambling from State to State, to
+collect materials to construct the ladder of preferment."[1099]
+
+Thus protested Gerry; but if the people, in spite of his warnings,
+_would_ "give their voices for a voluntary dereliction of their
+privileges"--then, concluded Gerry, "while the statesman is plodding for
+power, and the courtier practicing the arts of dissimulation without
+check--while the rapacious are growing rich by oppression, and fortune
+throwing her gifts into the lap of fools, let the sublimer characters,
+the philosophic lovers of freedom who have wept over her exit, retire to
+the calm shades of contemplation, there they may look down with pity on
+the inconsistency of human nature, the revolutions of states, the rise
+of kingdoms, and the fall of empires."[1100]
+
+Such was the resistance offered to the Constitution in Massachusetts,
+such the debate against it, the management that finally secured its
+approval with recommendations by that Commonwealth,[1101] and the after
+effects of the Constitutionalists' tactics.
+
+In New Hampshire a majority of the Convention was against the
+Constitution. "Almost every man of property and abilities ... [was] for
+it," wrote Langdon to Washington; but "a report was circulated ... that
+the liberties of the people were in danger, and the great men ... were
+forming a plan for themselves; together with a thousand other
+absurdities, which frightened the people almost out of what little
+senses they had."[1102]
+
+Very few of the citizens of New Hampshire knew anything about the
+Constitution. "I was surprised to find ... that so little information
+respecting the Constitution had been diffused among the people," wrote
+Tobias Lear. "The valuable numbers of _Publius_ are not known.... The
+debates of the Pennsylvania and Massachusetts Conventions have been read
+by but few persons; and many other pieces, which contain useful
+information have never been heard of."[1103]
+
+When the New Hampshire Convention assembled, "a great part of whom had
+positive instructions to vote against it," the Constitutionalists, after
+much argument and persuasion, secured an adjournment on February 22
+until June.[1104] Learning this in New York, nine days later, Madison
+wrote Pendleton that the adjournment had been "found necessary to
+prevent a rejection."[1105] But, "notwithstanding our late
+Disappointments and Mortification," the New Hampshire Constitutionalists
+felt that they would win in the end and "make the people happy in spight
+of their teeth."[1106]
+
+When, therefore, Virginia's great Convention met on June 2, 1788, the
+Nation's proposed fundamental law had not received deliberate
+consideration in any quarter; nor had it encountered weighty debate from
+those opposed to it. New York's Convention was not to assemble until two
+weeks later and that State was known to be hostile. The well-arranged
+plan was working to combine the strength of the leading enemies of the
+Constitution in the various States so that a new Federal Convention
+should be called.[1107]
+
+"Had the influence of character been removed, the intrinsic merits of
+the instrument [Constitution] would not have secured its adoption.
+Indeed, it is scarcely to be doubted, that in some of the adopting
+States, a majority of the people were in the opposition," writes
+Marshall many years afterwards in a careful review of the thorny path
+the Constitution had had to travel.[1108] Its foes, says Marshall, were
+"firmly persuaded that the cradle of the constitution would be the grave
+of republican liberty."[1109]
+
+In Virginia's Convention, the array of ability, distinction, and
+character on both sides was notable, brilliant, and impressive. The
+strongest debaters in the land were there, the most powerful orators,
+and some of the most scholarly statesmen. Seldom, in any land or age,
+has so gifted and accomplished a group of men contended in argument and
+discussion at one time and place. And yet reasoning and eloquence were
+not the only or even the principal weapons used by these giant
+adversaries. Skill in political management, craft in parliamentary
+tactics, intimate talks with the members, the downright "playing of
+politics," were employed by both sides. "Of all arguments that may be
+used at the convention," wrote Washington to Madison, more than four
+months before the Convention, "the most prevailing one ... will be that
+nine states at least will have acceded to it."[1110]
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[982] Grigsby, i, 25.
+
+[983] Travelers from the District of Kentucky or from the back
+settlements of Virginia always journeyed fully armed, in readiness to
+defend themselves from attack by Indians or others in their journey
+through the wilderness.
+
+[984] Grigsby, i, 27-28.
+
+[985] _Ib._, 25.
+
+[986] The Jockey Club was holding its annual races at Richmond when the
+Constitutional Convention of 1788 convened. (Christian, 31.)
+
+[987] Grigsby, i. 31.
+
+[988] Humphrey Marshall, from the District of Kentucky, saw for the
+first time one number of the _Federalist_, only after he had reached the
+more thickly peopled districts of Virginia while on his way to the
+Convention. (_ib._, footnote to 31.)
+
+[989] George Nicholas to Madison, April 5, 1788; _Writings_: Hunt, v,
+footnote to p. 115.
+
+[990] "The most common and ostensible objection was that it [the
+Constitution] would endanger state rights and personal liberty--that it
+was too strong." (Humphrey Marshall, i, 285.)
+
+[991] Tyler, i, 142. Grigsby estimates that three fourths of the people
+of Virginia were opposed to the Constitution. (Grigsby, i, footnote to
+160.)
+
+[992] Lee to Madison, Dec. 1787; _Writings_: Hunt, v, footnote to p. 88.
+
+[993] Madison's father to Madison, Jan. 30, 1788; _Writings_: Hunt, v,
+footnote to p. 105.
+
+[994] Madison to Jefferson, Feb. 19, 1788; _ib._, 103.
+
+[995] Henry to Lamb, June 9, 1788; Henry, ii, 342.
+
+[996] Minton Collins to Stephen Collins, March 16, 1788; Collins MSS.,
+Lib. Cong.
+
+[997] Even Hamilton admitted this. "The framers of it [the Constitution]
+will have to encounter the disrepute of having brought about a
+revolution in government, without substituting anything that was worthy
+of the effort; they pulled down one Utopia, it will be said, to build up
+another." (Hamilton to Washington, Sept., 1788; Hamilton's _Works_:
+Lodge, ix, 444; and also in Jefferson, _Writings_: Ford, xi, footnote to
+330.) Martin Van Buren describes the action of the Federal Convention
+that framed the Constitution, in "having ... set aside the instructions
+of Congress by making a new Constitution ... an heroic but lawless act."
+(Van Buren, 49-50.)
+
+Professor Burgess does not overstate the case when he declares: "Had
+Julius or Napoleon committed these acts [of the Federal Convention in
+framing and submitting the Constitution], they would have been
+pronounced _coups d'état_." (Burgess, i, 105.)
+
+Also see Beard: _Econ. I. C._, 217-18.
+
+[998] Ford: _P. on C._, 14.
+
+[999] _Ib._, 100-01.
+
+[1000] Ford: _P. on C._, 284-85. And see Jameson, 40-49.
+
+[1001] Washington to Lafayette, Sept. 18, 1788; _Writings_: Sparks, ix,
+265.
+
+[1002] Connecticut, New Jersey, and Delaware had practically no ports
+and, under the Confederation, were at the mercy of Massachusetts, New
+York, and Pennsylvania in all matters of trade. The Constitution, of
+course, remedied this serious defect. Also, these smaller States had
+forced the compromise by which they, with their comparatively small
+populations, were to have an equal voice in the Senate with New York,
+Pennsylvania, and Virginia, with their comparatively great populations.
+And therefore they would have practically equal weight in the law--and
+treaty-making power of the Government. This was the most formidable of
+the many rocks on which the Federal Convention all but broke up.
+
+[1003] One proposition was to call the State Convention "within _ten_
+days." (See "Address of the Minority of the Pennsylvania Convention," in
+McMaster and Stone, 458.)
+
+[1004] _Ib._, 3-4; and see _ib._, 75. An excuse for these mob methods
+was that the Legislature previously had resolved to adjourn _sine die_
+on that very day. This would put off action until the next session. The
+Anti-Constitutionalists urged--with entire truthfulness--that even this
+delay would give the people too little time to inform themselves upon
+the "New Plan" of government, as it was called, which the Convention was
+to pass upon in the people's name. "Not one in twenty know anything
+about it." (Mr. Whitehall in debate in the Legislature; _ib._, 32.)
+
+[1005] McMaster and Stone, 459-60. This charge was wholly accurate.
+Both sides exerted themselves to carry the "election." The
+Anti-Constitutionalists declared that they stood for "the principles of
+the Revolution"; yet, asserts Graydon, who was at Reading at the time,
+they sought the support of the Tories; the country lawyers were opposed
+to the "New Plan" and agreed not "to practice or accept any office
+under the Constitution"; but the Constitutionalists promised
+"prothonotaryships, attorney generalships, chief justiceships, and what
+not," and the hostile attorneys "were tempted and did eat." Describing
+the spirit of the times, Graydon testifies that "pelf was a better goal
+than liberty and at no period in my recollection was the worship of
+Mammon more widely spread, more sordid and disgusting."
+
+Everybody who wanted it had a military title, that of major being "the
+very lowest that a dasher of any figure would accept." To "clap on a
+uniform and a pair of epaulettes, and scamper about with some militia
+general for a day or two" was enough to acquire the coveted rank. Thus,
+those who had never been in the army, but "had played a safe and
+calculating game" at home and "attended to their interests," were not
+only "the men of mark and consideration," but majors, colonels, and
+generals as well. (Graydon, 331-33.)
+
+Noting, at a later time, this passion for military titles Weld says: "In
+every part of America a European is surprised at finding so many men
+with military titles ... but no where ... is there such a superfluity of
+these military personages as in the little town of Staunton; there is
+hardly a decent person in it ... but what is a colonel, a major, or a
+captain." (Weld, i, 236-37.)
+
+Such were the conditions in the larger towns when the members of the
+Pennsylvania Convention were chosen. The small vote cast seems to
+justify the charge that the country districts and inaccessible parts of
+the State did not even know of the election.
+
+[1006] McMaster and Stone, 503-04.
+
+[1007] McMaster and Stone, 173-74.
+
+[1008] _Independent Gazetteer_: _ib._, 183-84.
+
+[1009] _Ib._, 184-85.
+
+[1010] Pennsylvania Debates, in McMaster and Stone, 231. Elliott prints
+only a small part of these debates.
+
+[1011] _Ib._, 283-85.
+
+[1012] _Ib._, 219.
+
+[1013] McMaster and Stone, 253.
+
+[1014] Findley covered them with confusion in this statement by citing
+authority. Wilson irritably quoted in retort the words of Maynard to a
+student: "Young Man! I have forgotten more law than ever you learned."
+(_Ib._, 352-64.)
+
+[1015] _Ib._, 361-63.
+
+[1016] _Ib._, 365.
+
+[1017] _Ib._
+
+[1018] _Ib._, 419.
+
+[1019] McMaster and Stone, 365.
+
+[1020] _Ib._, 453. The conduct of the Pennsylvania supporters of the
+Constitution aroused indignation in other States, and caused some who
+had favored the new plan of government to change their views. "On
+reception of the Report of the [Federal] Convention, I perused, and
+admir'd it;--Or rather, like many who still _think_ they admire it, I
+loved Geo. Washington--I venerated Benj. Franklin--and therefore
+concluded that I must love and venerate all the works of their
+hands;--.... The honest and uninformed _freemen_ of America entertain
+the same opinion of those two gentlemen as do European _slaves_ of their
+Princes,--'_that they can do no wrong_.'"
+
+But, continues Wait, "on the unprecedented Conduct of the Pennsylvania
+Legislature [and Convention] I found myself Disposed to lend an ear to
+the arguments of the opposition--not with an expectation of being
+convinced that the new Constitution was defective; but because I thought
+the minority had been ill used; and I felt a little curious to hear the
+particulars," with the result that "I am dissatisfied with the proposed
+Constitution." (Wait to Thatcher, Jan. 8, 1788; _Hist. Mag._ (2d
+Series), vi, 262; and see _infra_.)
+
+Others did not, even then, entertain Mr. Wait's reverence for
+Washington, when it came to accepting the Constitution because of his
+support. When Hamilton asked General Lamb how he could oppose the
+Constitution when it was certain that his "good friend Genl. Washington
+would ... be the first President under it," Lamb "reply'd that ... after
+him Genl. Slushington might be the next or second president." (Ledlie to
+Lamb; MS., N.Y. Hist. Soc.)
+
+[1021] McMaster and Stone, 432-35.
+
+[1022] _Ib._, 424.
+
+[1023] _Ib._, 14-15.
+
+[1024] _Ib._
+
+[1025] "Address of the Minority"; McMaster and Stone, 454-83.
+
+[1026] "Address of the Minority"; McMaster and Stone, 466.
+
+[1027] _Ib._, 469-70.
+
+[1028] _Ib._, 480.
+
+[1029] See various contemporary accounts of this riot reprinted in
+McMaster and Stone, 486-94.
+
+[1030] The authorship of the "Letters of Centinel" remains unsettled. It
+seems probable that they were the work of Eleazer Oswald, printer of the
+_Independent Gazetteer_, and one George Bryan, both of Philadelphia.
+(See _ib._, 6-7, and footnote.)
+
+[1031] "Letters of Centinel," no. 4, _ib._, 606.
+
+[1032] _Ib._, 620.
+
+[1033] _Ib._, 625.
+
+[1034] McMaster and Stone, 624.
+
+[1035] _Ib._, 630, 637, 639, 642, 653, 655.
+
+[1036] _Ib._, 629.
+
+[1037] _Ib._, 641.
+
+[1038] _Ib._, 631; and see _infra_, chap. XI.
+
+[1039] _Ib._, 639.
+
+[1040] _Ib._, 658.
+
+[1041] _Ib._, 661.
+
+[1042] _Ib._, 667.
+
+[1043] McMaster and Stone, 667.
+
+[1044] _Ib._, 668.
+
+[1045] "A Real Patriot," in _Independent Gazetteer_, reprinted in
+McMaster and Stone, 524.
+
+[1046] "Gomes," in _ib._, 527.
+
+[1047] H. Chapman to Stephen Collins, June 20, 1788; MS., Lib. Cong.
+Oswald, like Thomas Paine, was an Englishman.
+
+[1048] Madison to Jefferson, Feb. 19, 1788; _Writings_: Hunt, v, 102.
+
+[1049] Madison to Jefferson, Feb. 19, 1788; _Writings_: Hunt, v, 101.
+
+[1050] Gore to Thatcher, June 9, 1788; _Hist. Mag._ (2d Series), vi,
+263. This was a very shrewd move; for Hancock had not yet been won over
+to the Constitution; he was popular with the protesting delegates, and
+perhaps could not have been defeated had they made him their candidate
+for presiding officer; the preferment flattered Hancock's abnormal
+vanity and insured the Constitutionalists against his active opposition;
+and, most of all, this mark of their favor prepared the way for the
+decisive use the Constitutionalist leaders finally were able to make of
+him. Madison describes Hancock as being "weak, ambitious, a courtier of
+popularity, given to low intrigue." (Madison to Jefferson, Oct. 17,
+1788; _Writings_: Hunt, v, 270.)
+
+[1051] Madison to Jefferson, Feb. 19, 1788; _Writings_: Hunt, v, 101.
+
+[1052] Madison to Pendleton, Feb. 21, 1788; _ib._, 108.
+
+[1053] King to Madison, Jan. 27, 1788; King, i, 316.
+
+[1054] _Ib._, 317.
+
+[1055] Elliott, ii, 40.
+
+[1056] Harding, 48. These towns were bitterly opposed to the
+Constitution. Had they sent delegates, Massachusetts surely would have
+rejected the Constitution; for even by the aid of the deal hereafter
+described, there was a very small majority for the Constitution. And if
+Massachusetts had refused to ratify it, Virginia would, beyond the
+possibility of a doubt, have rejected it also. (See _infra_, chaps. X,
+XI, and XII.) And such action by Massachusetts and Virginia would, with
+absolute certainty, have doomed the fundamental law by which the Nation
+to-day exists. Thus it is that the refusal of forty-six Massachusetts
+towns to send representatives to the State Convention changed the
+destiny of the Republic.
+
+[1057] Hill to Thatcher, Dec. 12, 1787; _Hist. Mag._ (2d Series), vi,
+259.
+
+[1058] Lee to Thatcher, Jan. 23, 1788; _ib._, 266-67.
+
+[1059] _Ib._, 267.
+
+[1060] _Ib._
+
+[1061] Bangs to Thatcher, Jan. 1, 1788; _Hist. Mag._ (2d Series), vi,
+260.
+
+[1062] Sewall to Thatcher, Jan. 5, 1788; _Hist. Mag._ (2d Series), vi,
+260-61.
+
+[1063] Savage to Thatcher, Jan. 11, 1788; _ib._, 264.
+
+[1064] Barrell to Thatcher, Jan. 15, 1788; _ib._, 265.
+
+[1065] Wait to Thatcher, Jan. 8, 1788; _Hist. Mag._ (2d Series), vi,
+261. Wait was an unusually intelligent and forceful editor of a New
+England newspaper, the _Cumberland Gazette_. (_Ib._, 258.)
+
+[1066] Gore to Thatcher, Dec. 30, 1787; _ib._, 260.
+
+[1067] Lincoln to Washington, Feb. 3, 1788; _Cor. Rev._: Sparks, iv,
+206.
+
+[1068] See _infra_.
+
+[1069] King to Madison, Jan. 27, 1788; King, i, 317.
+
+[1070] Elliott, ii, 105-06.
+
+[1071] _Ib._, 101.
+
+[1072] Elliott, ii, 102.
+
+[1073] _Ib._, 28.
+
+[1074] _Ib._, 96.
+
+[1075] _Ib._, 94.
+
+[1076] _Ib._, 80.
+
+[1077] _Ib._, 48.
+
+[1078] Elliot, ii, 133.
+
+[1079] _Ib._, 136-37.
+
+[1080] _Ib._, 16.
+
+[1081] _Ib._, 111.
+
+[1082] _Ib._, 148.
+
+[1083] _Ib._, 44.
+
+[1084] Elliott, ii, 102-04. Mr. Thatcher made the best summary of the
+unhappy state of the country under the Confederation. (_Ib._, 141-48.)
+
+[1085] King to Madison, Jan. 20, 1788; King, i, 314.
+
+[1086] Rives, ii, 524-25. "To manage the cause against them (the jealous
+opponents of the Constitution) are the present and late governor, three
+judges of the supreme court, fifteen members of the Senate, twenty-four
+among the most respectable of the clergy, ten or twelve of the first
+characters at the bar, judges of probate, high sheriffs of counties, and
+many other respectable people, merchants, &c., Generals Heath, Lincoln,
+Brooks, and others of the late army." (Nathaniel Gorham to Madison,
+quoted in _ib._)
+
+[1087] "Hancock has committed himself in our favor.... You will be
+astonished, when you see the list of names that such an union of men has
+taken place on this question. Hancock will, hereafter, receive the
+universal support of Bowdoin's friends; _and we told him, that, if
+Virginia does not unite, which is problematical, he is considered as the
+only fair candidate for President_." (King to Knox, Feb. 1, 1788; King,
+i, 319. The italics are those of King.)
+
+[1088] _Ib._, ii, 525.
+
+[1089] Elliott, ii, 178-81.
+
+[1090] _Ib._, 140.
+
+[1091] Elliott, ii, 153.
+
+[1092] Madison to Randolph, April 10, 1788; _Writings_: Hunt, v, 117.
+
+[1093] Elliott, ii, 159-61.
+
+[1094] Widgery to Thatcher, Feb. 8, 1788; _Hist. Mag._ (2d Series), vi,
+270.
+
+[1095] _Ib._
+
+[1096] Elliott, ii, 218.
+
+[1097] Widgery to Thatcher, Feb. 8, 1788; _Hist. Mag._ (2d Series), vi,
+270-71.
+
+[1098] King to Madison, Feb. 6, 1788; King, i, 320.
+
+[1099] Gerry, in Ford: _P. on C._, 1-23.
+
+[1100] _Ib._, 23. When a bundle of copies of Gerry's pamphlet was
+received by the New York Anti-Constitutionalists in Albany County, they
+decided that it was "in a style too sublime and florid for the common
+people in this part of the country." (_Ib._, 1.)
+
+[1101] During the debates the _Boston Gazette_ published the following
+charge that bribery was being employed to get votes for the
+Constitution:--
+
+/#
+     _BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION!!!_
+
+     "The most diabolical plan is on foot to corrupt the members of
+     the Convention, who oppose the adoption of the new Constitution.
+     Large sums of money have been brought from a neighboring state
+     for that purpose, contributed by the wealthy. If so, is it not
+     probable there may be collections for the same accursed purpose
+     nearer home? CENTINEL." (Elliott, ii, 51.)
+#/
+
+The Convention appointed a committee to investigate (_ib._); it found
+that the charge was based on extremely vague rumor. (Harding, 103.)
+There the matter appears to have been dropped.
+
+More than eighty years afterward, Henry B. Dawson, the editor of the
+_Historical Magazine_, a scholar of standing, asserted, personally, in
+his publication: "It is very well known--indeed, the son and biographer
+of one of the great leaders of the Constitutionalists in New York has
+frankly admitted to us--_that enough members of the Massachusetts
+Convention were bought with money_ from New York _to secure the
+ratification of the new system by Massachusetts_." (_Hist. Mag._ (2d
+Series), vi, 268, footnote, referring to Savage's letter to Thatcher
+telling of the charge in the _Boston Gazette_.)
+
+Professor Harding discredits the whole story. (Harding, 101-05.) It is
+referred to only as showing the excited and suspicious temper of the
+times.
+
+[1102] Langdon to Washington, Feb. 28, 1788; _Cor. Rev._: Sparks, iv,
+212. "At least three fourths of the property, and a large proportion of
+the abilities in the State are friendly to the proposed system. The
+opposition here, as has generally been the case, was composed of men who
+were involved in debt." (Lear to Washington, June 22, 1788; _ib._,
+224-25.)
+
+[1103] Lear to Washington, June 2, 1788; _Cor. Rev._: Sparks, iv, 220.
+
+[1104] Langdon to King, Feb. 23, 1788; King, i, 321-22.
+
+[1105] Madison to Pendleton, March 3, 1788 (_Writings_: Hunt, v, 110),
+and to Washington, March 3, 1788 (_ib._, 111); and to Randolph; March 3,
+1788 (_ib._, 113).
+
+[1106] Langdon to King, May 6, 1788; King, i, 328.
+
+[1107] Washington to Lafayette, Feb. 7, 1788; _Writings_: Ford, xi, 220.
+
+[1108] Marshall, ii, 127.
+
+[1109] _Ib._
+
+[1110] Washington to Madison, Jan. 10, 1788; _Writings_: Ford, xi, 208.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+IN THE GREAT CONVENTION
+
+    There is no alternative between the adoption of it [the
+    Constitution] and anarchy. (Washington.)
+
+    I look on that paper as the most fatal plan that could possibly
+    be conceived to enslave a free people. (Henry.)
+
+
+More, much more, went forward in the Virginia struggle than appeared
+upon the surface. Noble as was the epochal debate in Virginia's
+Constitutional Convention, it was not so influential on votes of the
+members as were other methods[1111] employed by both sides. Very
+practical politicians, indeed, were these contending moulders of
+destiny.
+
+Having in mind the Pennsylvania storm; with the picture before them of
+the delicate and skillful piloting by which alone the Constitution had
+escaped the rocks in the tempestuous Massachusetts seas; with the
+hurricane gathering in New York and its low thunders heard even from
+States that had ratified--the Virginia Constitutionalists took no
+chances, neglected no precaution. Throughout the country the
+Constitutionalists were now acting with disciplined dispatch.
+
+Intelligence of the New Hampshire Convention, of their success in which
+the Constitutionalists finally had made sure, was arranged to be carried
+by swift riders and relays of horses across country to Hamilton in New
+York; and "any expense which you may incur will be cheerfully repaid,"
+King assured Langdon.[1112] As to Virginia, Hamilton wrote Madison to
+send news of "_any decisive_ question ... if favorable ... by an
+express ... with pointed orders to make all possible diligence, by
+changing horses etc."; assuring Madison, as King did Langdon, that
+"all expense shall be thankfully and liberally paid."[1113]
+
+The Constitutionalists, great and small, in other States were watching
+Virginia's Convention through the glasses of an infinite apprehension.
+"I fear that overwhelming torrent, Patrick Henry," General Knox confided
+to King.[1114] Even before Massachusetts had ratified, one Jeremiah Hill
+thought that "the fate of this Constitution and the political Salvation
+of the united States depend cheifly on the part that Virginia and this
+State [Massachusetts] take in the Matter."[1115] Hamilton's lieutenant,
+King, while in Boston helping the Constitutionalists there, wrote to
+Madison: "You can with difficulty conceive the real anxiety experienced
+in Massachusetts concerning your decision."[1116] "Our chance of success
+depends on you," was Hamilton's own despairing appeal to the then leader
+of the Southern Constitutionalists. "If you do well there is a gleam of
+hope; but certainly I think not otherwise."[1117] The worried New York
+Constitutionalist commander was sure that Virginia would settle the fate
+of the proposed National Government. "God grant that Virginia may
+accede. The example will have a vast influence."[1118]
+
+Virginia's importance justified the anxiety concerning her action. Not
+only was the Old Dominion preëminent in the part she had taken in the
+Revolution, and in the distinction of her sons like Henry, Jefferson,
+and Washington, whose names were better known in other States than those
+of many of their own most prominent men; but she also was the most
+important State in the Confederation in population and, at that time, in
+resources. "Her population," says Grigsby, "was over three fourths of
+all that of New England;... not far from double that of Pennsylvania;...
+or from three times that of New York ... over three fourths of all the
+population of the Southern States;... and more than a fifth of the
+population of the whole Union."[1119]
+
+The Virginia Constitutionalists had chosen their candidates for the
+State Convention with painstaking care. Personal popularity, family
+influence, public reputation, business and financial power, and
+everything which might contribute to their strength with the people, had
+been delicately weighed. The people simply would not vote against such
+men as Pendleton, Wythe, and Carrington;[1120] and these and others
+like them accordingly were selected by the Constitutionalists as
+candidates in places where the people, otherwise, would have chosen
+antagonists to the Constitution.
+
+More than one fourth of the Virginia Convention of one hundred and
+seventy members had been soldiers in the Revolutionary War; and nearly
+all of them followed Washington in his desire for a strong National
+Government. Practically all of Virginia's officers were members of the
+Cincinnati; and these were a compact band of stern supporters of the
+"New Plan."[1121] Some of the members had been Tories, and these were
+stingingly lashed in debate by Mason; but they were strong in social
+position, wealth, and family connections, and all of them were for the
+Constitution.[1122]
+
+No practical detail of election day had been overlooked by the
+Constitutionalists. Colonel William Moore wrote to Madison, before the
+election came off: "You know the disadvantage of being absent at
+elections.... I must therefore entreat and conjure you--nay, command
+you, if it were in my power--to be here."[1123] The Constitutionalists
+slipped in members wherever possible and by any device.
+
+Particularly in Henrico County, where Richmond was situated, had
+conditions been sadly confused. Edmund Randolph, then Governor of the
+State, who next to Washington was Virginia's most conspicuous delegate
+to the Federal Convention, had refused to sign the Constitution and was,
+therefore, popularly supposed to be against it. October 17, 1787, he
+wrote a letter to the Speaker of the House of Delegates explaining his
+reasons for dissent. He approved the main features of the proposed plan
+for a National Government but declared that it had fatal defects, should
+be amended before ratification, a new Federal Convention called to pass
+upon the amendments of the various States, and, thereafter, the
+Constitution as amended again submitted for ratification to State
+Conventions.[1124] Randolph, however, did not send this communication to
+the Speaker "lest in the diversity of opinion I should excite a contest
+unfavorable to that harmony with which I trust that great subject will
+be discussed."[1125] But it was privately printed in Richmond and
+Randolph sent a copy to Washington. On January 3, 1788, the letter was
+published in the _Virginia Gazette_ together with other correspondence.
+In an additional paragraph, which does not appear in Randolph's letter
+as reproduced in Elliott, he said that he would "regulate himself by the
+spirit of America" and that he would do his best to amend the
+Constitution prior to ratification, but if he could not succeed he would
+accept the "New Plan" as it stood.[1126] But he had declared to Richard
+Henry Lee that "either a monarchy or aristocracy will be generated" by
+it.[1127]
+
+Thus Randolph to all appearances occupied middle ground. But, publicly,
+he was in favor of making strenuous efforts to amend the Constitution as
+a condition of ratification, and of calling a second Federal Convention;
+and these were the means by which the Anti-Constitutionalists designed
+to accomplish the defeat of the "New Plan." The opponents of the
+proposed National Government worked hard with Randolph to strengthen his
+resolution and he gave them little cause to doubt their success.[1128]
+
+But the Constitutionalists were also busy with the Governor and with
+greater effect. Washington wrote an adroit and persuasive letter
+designed to win him entirely over to a whole-hearted and unqualified
+advocacy of the Constitution. The question was, said Washington, the
+acceptance of the Constitution or "a dissolution of the Union."[1129]
+Madison, in a subtle mingling of flattery, argument, and insinuation,
+skillfully besought his "dear friend" Randolph to come out for the
+Constitution fully and without reserve. If only Randolph had stood for
+the Constitution, wrote Madison, "it would have given it a decided and
+unalterable preponderancy," and Henry would have been "baffled."
+
+The New England opposition, Madison assured Randolph, was from
+"that part of the people who have a repugnance in general to good
+government ... a part of whom are known to aim at confusion and are
+suspected of wishing a reversal of the Revolution.... Nothing can be
+further from your [Randolph's] views than the principles of the
+different sets of men who have carried on their opposition under the
+respectability of your name."[1130]
+
+Randolph finally abandoned all opposition and resolved to support the
+Constitution even to the point of resisting the very plan he had himself
+proposed and insisted upon; but nobody, with the possible exception of
+Washington, was informed of this Constitutionalist master-stroke until
+the Convention met;[1131] and, if Washington knew, he kept the secret.
+Thus, although the Constitutionalists were not yet sure of Randolph,
+they put up no candidate against him in Henrico County, where the people
+were very much opposed to the Constitution. To have done so would have
+been useless in any event; for Randolph could have been elected almost
+unanimously if his hostility to the proposed Government had been more
+vigorous, so decided were the people's dislike and distrust of it, and
+so great, as yet, the Governor's popularity. He wrote Madison a day or
+two before the election that nothing but his personal popularity "could
+send me; my politicks not being sufficiently strenuous against the
+Constitution."[1132] The people chose their beloved young Governor,
+never imagining that he would appear as the leading champion of the
+Constitution on the Convention floor and actually oppose amending it
+before ratification.[1133]
+
+But the people were not in the dark when they voted for the only
+candidate the Constitutionalists openly brought out in Henrico County.
+John Marshall was for the proposed National Government, outright and
+aboveboard. He was vastly concerned. We find him figuring out the result
+of the election in northern Virginia and concluding "that the question
+will be very nice."[1134] Marshall had been made the Constitutionalist
+candidate solely because of his personal popularity. As it was, even the
+people's confidence in him barely had saved Marshall.
+
+"Marshall is in danger," wrote Randolph; "but F. [Dr. Foushee, the
+Anti-Constitutionalist candidate] is not popular enough on other scores
+to be elected, altho' he is perfectly a Henryite."[1135] Marshall
+admitted that the people who elected Randolph and himself were against
+the Constitution; and declared that he owed his own election to his
+individual strength with the people.[1136] Thus two strong champions of
+the Constitution had been secured from an Anti-Constitutionalist
+constituency; and these were only examples of other cases.
+
+The Anti-Constitutionalists, too, straining every nerve to elect their
+men, resorted to all possible devices to arouse the suspicions,
+distrust, and fears of the people. "The opposition to it [the
+Constitution] ... is addressed more to the passions than to the reason,"
+declared Washington.[1137]
+
+Henry was feverishly active. He wrote flaming letters to Kentucky that
+the Mississippi would be lost if the new plan of government were
+adopted.[1138] He told the people that a religious establishment would
+be set up.[1139] The Reverend John Blair Smith, President of Hampden
+Sidney College, declared that Henry "has descended to lower artifices
+and management ... than I thought him capable of."[1140] Writing to
+Hamilton of the activities of the opposition, Washington asserted that
+"their assiduity stands unrivalled";[1141] and he informed Trumbull
+that "the opponents of the Constitution are indefatigable."[1142]
+
+"Every art that could inflame the passions or touch the interests of men
+have been essayed;--the ignorant have been told that should the proposed
+government obtain, their lands would be taken from them and their
+property disposed of;--and all ranks are informed that the prohibition
+of the Navigation of the Mississippi (their favorite object) will be a
+certain consequence of the adoption of the Constitution."[1143]
+
+Plausible and restrained Richard Henry Lee warned the people that "by
+means of taxes, the government may command the whole or any part of the
+subjects' property";[1144] and that the Constitution "promised a large
+field of employment to military gentlemen, and gentlemen of the law; and
+in case the government shall be executed without convulsions, it will
+afford security to creditors, to the clergy, salary-men and others
+depending on money payments."[1145]
+
+Nor did the efforts of the Virginia opponents of a National
+establishment stop there. They spread the poison of personal slander
+also. "They have attempted to vilify & debase the characters who formed"
+the Constitution, complained Washington.[1146] These cunning expedients
+on one side and desperate artifices on the other were continued during
+the sitting of the Virginia Convention by all the craft and guile of
+practical politics.
+
+After the election, Madison reported to Jefferson in Paris that the
+Northern Neck and the Valley had elected members friendly to the
+Constitution, the counties south of the James unfriendly members, the
+"intermediate district" a mixed membership, with Kentucky divided. In
+this report, Madison counts Marshall fifth in importance of all
+Constitutionalists elected, and puts only Pendleton, Wythe, Blair, and
+Innes ahead of him.[1147]
+
+When the Convention was called to order, it made up a striking and
+remarkable body. Judges and soldiers, lawyers and doctors, preachers,
+planters, merchants, and Indian fighters, were there. Scarcely a field
+fought over during the long, red years of the Revolution but had its
+representative on that historic floor. Statesmen and jurists of three
+generations were members.[1148]
+
+From the first the Constitutionalists displayed better tactics and
+discipline than their opponents, just as they had shown greater skill
+and astuteness in selecting candidates for election. They arranged
+everything beforehand and carried their plans out with precision. For
+the important position of President of the Convention, they agreed on
+the venerable Chancellor, Edmund Pendleton, who was able, judicial, and
+universally respected. He was nominated by his associate, Judge Paul
+Carrington, and unanimously elected.[1149]
+
+In the same way, Wythe, who was learned, trusted, and beloved, and who
+had been the teacher of many members of the Convention, was made
+Chairman of the Committee of the Whole. The Anti-Constitutionalists did
+not dare to oppose either Pendleton or Wythe for these strategic places.
+They had made the mistake of not agreeing among themselves on strong and
+influential candidates for these offices and of nominating them before
+the Constitutionalists acted. For the first time in Virginia's history,
+a shorthand reporter, David Robertson, appeared to take down a
+stenographic report of the debates; and this innovation was bitterly
+resented and resisted by the opposition[1150] as a Constitutionalist
+maneuver.[1151] Marshall was appointed a member of the committee[1152]
+which examined the returns of the elections of members and also heard
+several contested election cases.[1153]
+
+[Illustration: GEORGE WYTHE]
+
+At the beginning the Anti-Constitutionalists did not decide upon a plan
+of action--did not carefully weigh their course of procedure. No sooner
+had rules been adopted, and the Constitution and official documents
+relating to it laid before the Convention, than their second tactical
+mistake was made; and made by one of their very ablest and most
+accomplished leaders. When George Mason arose, everybody knew that the
+foes of the Constitution were about to develop the first move in their
+order of battle. Spectators and members were breathless with suspense.
+Mason was the author of Virginia's Constitution and Bill of Rights and
+one of the most honorable, able, and esteemed members of the
+Legislature.
+
+He had been a delegate to the Federal Convention and, with Randolph, had
+refused to sign the Constitution. Sixty-two years old, his snow-white
+hair contrasting with his blazing dark eyes, his commanding stature clad
+in black silk, his full, clear voice deliberate and controlled, George
+Mason was an impressive figure as he stood forth to strike the first
+blow at the new ordinance of Nationality.[1154] On so important a
+subject, he did not think any rules should prevent "the fullest and
+clearest investigation." God's curse would be small compared with "what
+will justly fall upon us, if from any sinister views we obstruct the
+fullest inquiry." The Constitution, declared Mason, should be debated,
+"clause by clause," before any question was put.[1155]
+
+The Constitutionalists, keen-eyed for any strategic blunder of their
+adversaries, took instant advantage of Mason's bad generalship. Madison
+suavely agreed with Mason,[1156] and it was unanimously resolved that
+the Constitution should be "discussed clause by clause through all its
+parts,"[1157] before any question should be put as to the instrument
+itself or any part of it. Thus the opposition presented to the
+Constitutionalists the very method the latter wished for, and had
+themselves planned to secure, on their own initiative.[1158] The
+strength of the foes of the proposed National Government was in
+attacking it as a whole; their weakness, in discussing its specific
+provisions. The danger of the Constitutionalists lay in a general debate
+on the large theory and results of the Constitution; their safety, in
+presenting in detail the merits of its separate parts.
+
+While the fight over the Constitution was partly an economic class
+struggle, it was in another and a larger phase a battle between those
+who thought nationally and those who thought provincially. In hostile
+array were two central ideas: one, of a strong National Government
+acting directly on men; the other, of a weak confederated league merely
+suggesting action to States. It was not only an economic contest, but
+also, and even more, a conflict by those to whom "liberty" meant
+unrestrained freedom of action and speech, against those to whom such
+"liberty" meant tumult and social chaos.
+
+The mouths of the former were filled with those dread and sounding words
+"despotism" and "arbitrary power"; the latter loudly denounced "enemies
+of order" and "foes of government." The one wanted no bits in the mouth
+of democracy, or, at most, soft ones with loose reins and lax hand; the
+other wished a stout curb, stiff rein, and strong arm. The whole
+controversy, on its popular side, resounded with misty yet stirring
+language about "liberty," "aristocracy," "tyranny," "anarchy,"
+"licentiousness"; and yet "debtor," "creditor," "property and taxes,"
+"payment and repudiation," were heard among the more picturesque and
+thrilling terms. In this fundamental struggle of antagonistic theories,
+the practical advantage for the hour was overwhelmingly with those who
+resisted the Constitution.
+
+They had on their side the fears of the people, who, as has appeared,
+looked on all government with suspicion, on any vital government with
+hostility, and on a great central Government as some distant and
+monstrous thing, too far away to be within their reach, too powerful to
+be resisted, too high and exalted for the good of the common man, too
+dangerous to be tried. It was, to the masses, something new, vague, and
+awful; something to oppress the poor, the weak, the debtor, the settler;
+something to strengthen and enrich the already strong and opulent, the
+merchant, the creditor, the financial interests.
+
+True, the people had suffered by the loose arrangement under which they
+now lived; but, after all, had not they and their "liberties" survived?
+And surely they would suffer even more, they felt, under this stronger
+power; but would they and their "liberties" survive its "oppression"?
+They thought not. And did not many of the ablest, purest, and most
+trusted public characters in the Old Dominion think the same? Here was
+ammunition and to spare for Patrick Henry and George Mason, Tyler and
+Grayson, Bland and Harrison--ammunition and to spare, with their guns
+planted on the heights, if they could center their fire on the
+Constitution as a single proposition.
+
+But they had been sleeping and now awoke to find their position
+surrendered, and themselves compelled, if Mason's resolutions were
+strictly followed, to make the assault in piecemeal on detached parts of
+the "New Plan," many of which, taken by themselves, could not be
+successfully combated. Although they tried to recover their lost ground
+and did regain much of it, yet the Anti-Constitutionalists were hampered
+throughout the debate by this initial error in parliamentary
+strategy.[1159]
+
+And now the Constitutionalists were eager to push the fighting. The
+soldierly Lee was all for haste. The Anti-Constitutionalists held back.
+Mason protested "against hurrying them precipitately." Harrison said
+"that many of the members had not yet arrived."[1160] On the third day,
+the Convention went into committee of the whole, with the astute and
+venerable Wythe in the chair. Hardly had this brisk, erect little
+figure--clad in single-breasted coat and vest, standing collar and white
+cravat, bald, except on the back of the head, from which unqueued and
+unribboned gray hair fell and curled up from the neck[1161]--taken the
+gavel before Patrick Henry was on his feet.
+
+Henry moved for the reading of the acts by authority of which the
+Federal Convention at Philadelphia had met,[1162] for they would show
+the work of that Convention to be illegal and the Constitution the
+revolutionary creature of usurped power. If Henry could fix on the
+advocates of stronger law and sterner order the brand of lawlessness and
+disorder in framing the very plan they now were championing, much of the
+mistake of yesterday might be retrieved.
+
+But it was too late. Helped from his seat and leaning on his crutches,
+Pendleton was recognized by Wythe before Henry could get the eye of the
+chair to speak upon his motion; and the veteran jurist crushed Henry's
+purpose before the great orator could make it plain. "We are not to
+consider," said Pendleton, "whether the Federal Convention exceeded
+their powers." That question "ought not to influence our deliberations."
+Even if the framers of the Constitution had acted without authority,
+Virginia's Legislature afterwards had referred it to the people who had
+elected the present Convention to pass upon it.[1163] Pendleton's brief
+speech was decisive;[1164] Henry withdrew his motion; the preamble and
+the first two sections of the first article of the Constitution were
+laid before the committee and the destiny-determining debate began.
+
+The Constitutionalists, who throughout the contest never made a mistake
+in the men they selected to debate or the time when they should speak,
+had chosen skillfully the parliamentary artillerist to fire their
+opening gun. They did not wait for the enemy's attack, but discharged
+the first shot themselves. Quickly there arose a broad, squat, ungainly
+man, "deformed with fat," shaggy of brow, bald of head, gray-eyed, with
+a nose like the beak of an eagle, and a voice clear and
+emotionless.[1165] George Nicholas had been a brave, brilliant soldier
+and was one of the ablest and best-equipped lawyers in the State. He was
+utterly fearless, whether in battle on the field or in debate on the
+floor. His family and connections were powerful. In argument and
+reasoning he was the equal if not the superior of Madison himself; and
+his grim personality made the meek one of Madison seem tender in
+comparison. Nothing could disconcert him, nothing daunt his cold
+courage. He probably was the only man in the Convention whom Henry
+feared.[1166]
+
+Nicholas was glad, he said, that the Convention was to act with the
+"fullest deliberation." First he thrust at the method of the opposition
+to influence members by efforts outside the Convention itself; and went
+on with a clear, logical, and informed exposition of the sections then
+under consideration. He ended by saying "that he was willing to trust
+his own happiness, and that of his posterity, to the operation of that
+system."[1167]
+
+The Constitution's enemies, thus far out-pointed by its perfectly
+trained and harmonious supporters, could delay no longer. Up rose the
+idol and champion of the people. Although only fifty-two years old, he
+had changed greatly in appearance since the days of his earlier
+triumphs. The erect form was now stooped; spectacles now covered the
+flashing eyes and the reddish-brown hair was replaced by a wig, which,
+in the excitement of speech, he frequently pushed this way and that. But
+the wizard brain still held its cunning, the magic tongue which,
+twenty-three years ago had trumpeted Independence, still wrought its
+spell.[1168] Patrick Henry began his last great fight.
+
+What, asked Henry, were the reasons for this change of government? A
+year ago the public mind was "at perfect repose"; now it was "uneasy and
+disquieted." "A wrong step now ... and our republic may be lost." It was
+a great consolidated Government that the Constitutionalists proposed,
+solemnly asserted Henry. What right, he asked, had the framers of the
+Constitution to say, "_We, the people_, instead of _We, the states_"? He
+demanded the cause of that fundamental change. "Even from that
+illustrious man [Washington] who saved us by his valor, I would have a
+reason for his conduct." The Constitution-makers had no authority except
+to amend the old system under which the people were getting along very
+well. Why had they done what they had no power to do?[1169]
+
+Thus Henry put the Constitutionalists on the defensive. But they were
+ready. Instantly, Randolph was on his feet. He was thirty-seven years of
+age, fashioned on noble physical lines, with handsome face and flowing
+hair. His was one of Virginia's most distinguished families, his
+connections were influential, and he himself was the petted darling of
+the people. His luxuriant mind had been highly trained, his rich and
+sonorous voice gave an added charm to his words.[1170] He was the
+ostensible author[1171] of the plan on the broad lines of which the
+Constitution finally had been built. His refusal to sign it because of
+changes which he thought necessary, and his conversion to the extreme
+Constitutionalist position, which he now, for the first time, was fully
+to disclose, made him the strongest single asset the Constitutionalists
+had acquired. Randolph's open, bold, and, to the public, sudden
+championship of the Constitution was the explosion in the opposition's
+camp of a bomb which they had hoped and believed their own ammunition.
+
+Never before, said Randolph, had such a vast event come to a head
+without war or force. It might well be feared that the best wisdom would
+be unequal to the emergency and that passion might prevail over reason.
+He warned the opposition that the chair "well knows what is order, how
+to command obedience, and that political opinions may be as honest on
+one side as on the other." Randolph then tried to explain his change. "I
+had not even the glimpse of the genius of America," said he of his
+refusal to sign the report of the Federal Convention. But it was now so
+late that to insist on amendments before ratification would mean
+"inevitable ruin to the Union";[1172] and he would strike off his arm
+rather than permit that.
+
+Randolph then reviewed the state of the country under the Confederation:
+Congress powerless, public credit ruined, treaties violated, prices
+falling, trade paralyzed, "and justice trampled under foot." The world
+looks upon Americans "as little wanton bees, who had played for liberty,
+but had no sufficient solidity or wisdom" to keep it. True, the Federal
+Convention had exceeded its authority, but there was nothing else to be
+done. And why not use the expression "We, the people"? Was the new
+Government not for them? The Union is now at stake, and, exclaimed he,
+"I am a friend to the Union."[1173]
+
+The secret was out, at last; the Constitutionalists' _coup_ was
+revealed. His speech placed Randolph openly and unreservedly on their
+side. "The Governor has ... thrown himself fully into the federal
+scale," gleefully reported the anxious Madison to the supreme
+Nationalist chieftain at Mount Vernon.[1174] "The G[overno]r exhibited
+a curious spectacle to view. Having refused to sign the paper [the
+Constitution] everybody supposed him against it," was Jefferson's
+comment on Randolph's change of front.[1175] Washington, perfectly
+informed, wrote Jay in New York that "Mr. Randolph's declaration
+will have considerable effect with those who had hitherto been
+wavering."[1176] Theodoric Bland wrote bitterly to Arthur Lee
+that, "Our chief magistrate has at length taken his party and appears
+to be reprobated by the honest of both sides.... He has openly
+declared for posterior amendments, or in other words, unconditional
+submission."[1177]
+
+All of Randolph's influence, popularity, and prestige of family were to
+be counted for the Constitution without previous amendment; and this was
+a far weightier force, in the practical business of getting votes for
+ratification, than oratory or argument.[1178] So "the sanguine friends
+of the Constitution counted upon a majority of twenty ... which number
+they imagine will be greatly increased."[1179]
+
+Randolph's sensational about-face saved the Constitution. Nothing that
+its advocates did during these seething three weeks of able discussion
+and skillful planning accomplished half so much to secure ratification.
+Washington's tremendous influence, aggressive as it was tactful, which,
+as Monroe truly said, "carried" the new National plan, was not so
+practically effective as his work in winning Randolph. For, aside from
+his uncloaked support, the Virginia Governor at that moment had a
+document under lock and key which, had even rumor of it got abroad,
+surely would have doomed the Constitution, ended the debate abruptly,
+and resulted in another Federal Convention to deal anew with the
+Articles of Confederation.
+
+By now the Anti-Constitutionalists, or Republicans as they had already
+begun to call themselves, also were acting in concert throughout the
+country. Their tactics were cumbersome and tardy compared with the
+prompt celerity of the well-managed Constitutionalists; but they were
+just as earnest and determined. The Society of the Federal Republicans
+had been formed in New York to defeat the proposed National Government
+and to call a second Federal Convention. It opened correspondence in
+most of the States and had agents and officers in many of them.
+
+New York was overwhelmingly against the Constitution, and her Governor,
+George Clinton, was the most stubborn and resourceful of its foes. On
+December 27, 1787, Governor Randolph, under the formal direction of
+Virginia's Legislature, had sent the Governors of the other States a
+copy of the act providing for Virginia's Convention, which included the
+clause for conferring with her sister Commonwealths upon the calling of
+a new Federal Convention. The one to Clinton of New York was delayed in
+the mails for exactly two months and eleven days, just long enough to
+prevent New York's Legislature from acting on it.[1180]
+
+After pondering over it for a month, the New York leader of the
+Anti-Constitutionalist forces wrote Governor Randolph, more than three
+weeks before the Virginia Convention assembled, the now famous letter
+stating that Clinton was sure that the New York Convention, to be held
+June 17, "will, with great cordiality, hold a communication with any
+sister State on the important subject [a new Federal Convention] and
+especially with one so respectable in point of importance, ability, and
+patriotism as Virginia"; and Clinton assumed that the Virginia
+Convention would "commence the measures for holding such
+communications."[1181]
+
+When Clinton thus wrote to Randolph, he supposed, of course, that the
+Virginia Governor was against the Constitution. Had the New York
+Executive known that Randolph had been proselyted by the
+Constitutionalists, Clinton would have written to Henry, or Mason, or
+taken some other means of getting his letter before the Virginia
+Convention. Randolph kept all knowledge of Clinton's fatal communication
+from everybody excepting his Executive Council. He did not make it
+public until after the long, hard struggle was ended; when, for the
+first time, too late to be of any effect, he laid the New York
+communication before the Virginia Legislature which assembled just as
+the Convention was adjourning.[1182]
+
+Weighty as were the arguments and brilliant the oratory that made the
+Virginia debate one of the noblest displays of intellect and emotion
+which the world ever has seen, yet nothing can be plainer than that
+other practices on both sides of that immortal struggle were more
+decisive of the result than the amazing forensic duel that took place on
+the floor of the Convention hall.
+
+When one reflects that although the weight of fact and reason was
+decisively in favor of the Constitutionalists; that their forces were
+better organized and more ably led; that they had on the ground to help
+them the most astute politicians from other States as well as from
+Virginia; that Washington aggressively supported them with all his
+incalculable moral influence; that, if the new National Government were
+established, this herculean man surely would be President with all the
+practical power of that office, of which patronage was not the
+least--when one considers that, notwithstanding all of these and many
+other crushing advantages possessed by the Constitutionalists, their
+majority, when the test vote finally came, was only eight out of a total
+vote of one hundred and sixty-eight; when one takes into account the
+fact that, to make up even this slender majority, one or two members
+violated their instructions and several others voted against the known
+will of their constituents, it becomes plain how vitally necessary to
+their cause was the Constitutionalists' capture of the Virginia
+Governor.[1183]
+
+The opponents of the proposed National Government never forgave him nor
+was his reputation ever entirely reëstablished. Mason thereafter
+scathingly referred to Randolph as "young A[rno]ld."[1184]
+
+Answering Randolph, Mason went to the heart of the subject. "Whether the
+Constitution be good or bad," said he, "it is a national government and
+no longer a Confederation ... that the new plan provides for." The power
+of direct taxation alone "is calculated to annihilate totally the state
+governments." It means, said Mason, individual taxation "by two
+different and distinct powers" which "cannot exist long together; the
+one will destroy the other." One National Government is not fitted for
+an extensive country. "Popular governments can only exist in small
+territories." A consolidated government "is one of the worst curses that
+can possibly befall a nation." Clear as this now was, when the
+Convention came to consider the Judiciary clause, everybody would, Mason
+thought, "be more convinced that this government will terminate in the
+annihilation of the state governments."
+
+But here again the author of Virginia's Bill of Rights made a tactical
+mistake from the standpoint of the management of the fight, although it
+was big-hearted and statesmanlike in itself. "If," said he, "such
+amendments be introduced as shall exclude danger ... I shall most
+heartily make the greatest concessions ... to obtain ... conciliation
+and unanimity."[1185] No grindstone, this, to sharpen activity--no
+hammer and anvil, this, to shape and harden an unorganized opposition
+into a single fighting blade, wielded to bring victory or even to force
+honorable compromise. The suggestion of conciliation before the first
+skirmish was over was not the way to arouse the blood of combat in the
+loose, undisciplined ranks of the opposition.
+
+Swift as any hawk, the Constitutionalists pounced upon Mason's error,
+but they seized it gently as a dove. "It would give me great pleasure,"
+cooed Madison, "to concur with my honorable colleague in any
+conciliatory plan." But the hour was now late, and he would postpone
+further remarks for the time being.[1186]
+
+So the Convention adjourned and the day ended with the
+Constitutionalists in high spirits.[1187] Madison wrote to Washington
+that "Henry & Mason made a lame figure & appeared to take different and
+awkward ground. The Federalists [Constitutionalists][1188] are a good
+deal elated by the existing prospect." Nevertheless, the timid Madison
+fluttered with fear. "I dare not," wrote he, "speak with certainty as to
+the decision. Kentucky has been extremely tainted and is supposed to be
+generally adverse, and every possible piece of address is going on
+privately to work on the local interests & prejudices of that & other
+quarters."[1189]
+
+The next day the building of the New Academy, where the Convention met,
+was packed with an eager throng. Everybody expected Madison to engage
+both Henry and Mason as he had intimated that he would do. But once more
+the excellent management of the Constitutionalists was displayed.
+Madison, personally, was not popular,[1190] he was physically
+unimpressive, and strong only in his superb intellect. The time to
+discharge the artillery of that powerful mind had not yet come. Madison
+was not the man for this particular moment. But Pendleton was, and so
+was "Light-Horse Harry" Lee. The Constitutionalists combined the ermine
+and the sword. Virginia's most venerated jurist and her most dashing
+soldier were ordered to the front. In them there was an appeal to much
+that the Old Dominion still reverenced and loved, in spite of the
+"levelling spirit" manifest there as well as in Massachusetts and other
+States. So when all eyes were turned on Madison's seat, they beheld it
+vacant. Madison had stayed away. Had he been present, he could not have
+avoided speaking.
+
+Dramatic, indeed, appeared the white-haired, crippled jurist, as,
+struggling to his feet, he finally stood upon his crutches and faced the
+Convention. He had been unused to public debate for many years, and was
+thought to be so infirm that no one expected him to do more than make or
+decide points of order and give his vote. Yet there the feeble old man
+stood to answer the resistless Henry and the learned Mason. His ancient
+friend and brother justice, Wythe, leaned forward from his chair to
+catch the tones of the beloved voice. Tears rolled down the cheeks of
+some of the oldest members who for decades had been Pendleton's
+friends.[1191] The Constitutionalists had set the stage to catch the
+emotions which they affected to despise, with the very character whose
+strength was in that pure reasoning on which they pretended solely to
+rely.
+
+Without wasting a word, Pendleton came to the point. Henry, he said, had
+declared that all was well before "this Federal system was thought of."
+Was that accurate? In a few short sentences he showed that it was not.
+There was, said Pendleton, "no quarrel between government and liberty;
+the former is shield and protector of the latter. The war is between
+government and licentiousness, faction, turbulence, and other violations
+of the rules of society to preserve liberty." Why are the words "We, the
+people," improper? "Who but the people have a right to form
+government?... What have the state governments to do with it?" Had the
+Federal Convention exceeded its powers? No. Because those powers were
+"to propose, not to determine."
+
+"Suppose," asked the venerable Pendleton, "the paper on your table [the
+Constitution] dropped from one of the planets; the people found it, and
+sent us here to consider whether it was proper for their adoption; must
+we not obey them?" Of course. "Then the question must be between this
+government and the Confederation," which "is no government at all." The
+Confederation did not carry us through the war; "common danger and the
+spirit of America" did that. The cry "United we stand--divided we fall,"
+which "echoed and reëchoed through America--from Congress to the drunken
+carpenter"--saved us in that dark hour. And Pendleton clearly, briefly,
+solidly, answered every objection which Mason and Henry had made.
+Nothing could have been more practically effective than his close. He
+was of no party, Pendleton avowed; and his "age and situation" proved
+that nothing but the general good influenced him.[1192]
+
+The smouldering fires in Henry's blood now burned fiercely. This was the
+same Pendleton who had fought Henry in his immortal resolution on the
+Stamp Act in 1765 and in every other of those epochal battles for
+liberty and human rights which Henry had led and won.[1193] But the
+Constitutionalists gave the old war horse no chance to charge upon his
+lifelong opponent. A young man, thirty-two years of age, rose, and,
+standing within a few feet of the chair, was recognized. Six feet tall,
+beautiful of face, with the resounding and fearless voice of a warrior,
+Henry Lee looked the part which reputation assigned him. Descended from
+one of the oldest and most honorable families in the colony, a graduate
+of Princeton College, one of the most daring, picturesque, and
+attractive officers of the Revolution, in which by sheer gallantry and
+military genius he had become commander of a famous cavalry command, the
+gallant Lee was a perfect contrast to the venerable Pendleton.[1194]
+
+Lee paid tribute to Henry's shining talents; but, said he, "I trust that
+he [Henry] is come to judge, and not to alarm." Henry had praised
+Washington; yet Washington was for the Constitution. What was there
+wrong with the expression "We, the people," since upon the people "it
+is to operate, if adopted"? Like every Constitutionalist speaker, Lee
+painted in somber and forbidding colors the condition of the country,
+"all owing to the imbecility of the Confederation."[1195]
+
+At last Henry secured the floor. At once he struck the major note of the
+opposition. "The question turns," said he, "on that poor little
+thing--the expression, 'We, the _people_; instead of the _states_.'" It
+was an "alarming transition ... a revolution[1196] as radical as that
+which separated us from Great Britain.... Sovereignty of the states ...
+rights of conscience, trial by jury, liberty of the press, ... all
+pretensions of human rights and privileges" were imperiled if not lost
+by the change.
+
+It _was_ the "despised" Confederation that had carried us through the
+war. Think well, he urged, before you part with it. "Revolutions like
+this have happened in almost every country in Europe." The new
+Government may prevent "licentiousness," but also "it will oppress
+and ruin the people," thundered their champion. The Constitution
+was clear when it spoke of "sedition," but fatally vague when it
+spoke of "privileges." Where, asked Henry, were the dangers the
+Constitutionalists conjured up? Purely imaginary! If any arose, he
+depended on "the American spirit" to defend us.
+
+The method of amendment provided in the Constitution, exclaimed Henry,
+was a mockery--it shut the door on amendment. "A contemptible minority
+can prevent the good of the majority." "A standing army" will "execute
+the execrable commands of tyranny," shouted Henry. And who, he asked,
+will punish them? "Will your mace-bearer be a match for a disciplined
+regiment?" If the Constitution is adopted, "it will be because we like a
+great splendid" government. "The ropes and chains of consolidation" were
+"about to convert this country into a powerful and mighty empire." The
+Constitution's so-called checks and balances, sneered Henry, were
+"rope-dancing, chain-rattling, ridiculous ... contrivances."
+
+The Constitutionalists talked of danger if the Confederation was
+continued; yet, under it, declared Henry, "peace and security, ease and
+content" were now the real lot of all. Why, then, attempt "to terrify us
+into an adoption of this new form of government?... Who knows the
+dangers this new system may produce? They are out of sight of the common
+people; they cannot foresee latent consequences." It was the operation
+of the proposed National Government "on the middling and lower classes
+of people" that Henry feared. "This government" [the Constitution],
+cried he, "is not a Virginian but an American government."
+
+Throughout Henry's speech, in which he voiced, as he never failed to do,
+the thought of the masses, a National Government is held up as a foreign
+power--even one so restricted as the literal words of the Constitution
+outlined. Had the Constitutionalists acknowledged those Nationalist
+opinions which, in later years, were to fall from the lips of a young
+member of the Convention and become the law of the land, the defeat of
+the Constitution would have been certain, prompt, and overwhelming.
+
+In the Constitution's chief executive, Henry saw "a great and mighty
+President" with "the powers of a King ... to be supported in extravagant
+magnificence." The National Government's tax-gatherers would "ruin you
+with impunity," he warned his fellow members and the people they
+represented. Did not Virginia's own "state sheriffs, those unfeeling
+blood-suckers," even "under the watchful eye of our legislature commit
+the most horrid and barbarous ravages on our people? ... Lands have been
+sold," asserted he, "for 5 shillings which were worth one hundred
+pounds." What, then, would happen to the people "if their master had
+been at Philadelphia or New York?" asked Henry. "These harpies may
+search at any time your houses and most secret recesses." Its friends
+talked about the beauty of the Constitution, but to Henry its features
+were "horribly frightful. Among other deformities, it has an awful
+squinting; it squints toward monarchy."
+
+The President, "your American chief," can make himself absolute,
+dramatically exclaimed the great orator. "If ever he violates the
+laws ... he will come at the head of his army to carry everything before
+him; or he will give bail, or do what Mr. Chief Justice will order him."
+But will he submit to punishment? Rather, he will "make one bold push
+for the American throne," prophesied Henry. "We shall have a king; the
+army will salute him monarch: your militia will leave you, and assist in
+making him king and fight against you."[1197] It would be infinitely
+better, he avowed, to have a government like Great Britain with "King,
+Lords, and Commons, than a government so replete with such insupportable
+evils" as the Constitution contained.
+
+Henry spoke of the danger of the power of Congress over elections, and
+the treaty-making power. A majority of the people were against the
+Constitution, he said, and even "the adopting states have already
+heart-burnings and animosity and repent their precipitate hurry....
+Pennsylvania has been tricked into" ratification. "If other states who
+have adopted it have not been tricked, still they were too much
+hurried.[1198] ... I have not said the one hundred thousandth part of
+what I have on my mind and wish to impart"--with these words of warning
+to the Constitutionalists, Henry closed by apologizing for the time he
+had taken. He admitted that he had spoken out of order, but trusted that
+the Convention would hear him again.[1199]
+
+Studying this attack and defense of master swordsmen, following the
+tactical maneuvers of America's ablest politicians, a partisan on one
+side, yet personally friendly with members of the other, John Marshall
+was waiting for the call that should bring him into the battle and, by
+the method which he employed throughout his life, preparing to respond
+when the Constitutionalist managers should give the word. He was
+listening to the arguments on both sides, analyzing them, and, by that
+process of absorption with which he was so peculiarly and curiously
+gifted, mastering the subjects under discussion. Also, although casual,
+humorous, and apparently indifferent, he nevertheless was busy, we may
+be sure, with his winning ways among his fellow members.
+
+Patrick Henry's effort was one of the two or three speeches made during
+the three weeks of debate which actually may have had an effect upon
+votes.[1200] The Constitutionalists feared that Henry would take the
+floor next morning to follow up his success and deepen the profound
+impression he had made. To prevent this and to break the force of
+Henry's onslaught, they put forward Governor Randolph, who was quickly
+recognized by the chair. Madison and Nicholas were held in
+reserve.[1201]
+
+But in vain did Randolph employ his powers of oratory, argument, and
+persuasion in the great speech beginning "I am a child of the
+Revolution," with which he attempted to answer Henry. There is no peace;
+"the tempest growls over you.... Justice is suffocated," he said; legal
+proceedings to collect debts are "obscured by legislative mists." As an
+illustration of justice, consider the case of Josiah Philips, executed
+without trial or witness, on a bill of attainder passed without debate
+on the mere report of a member of the Legislature: "_This made the
+deepest impression on my heart and I cannot contemplate it without
+horror_."[1202] As to "the American spirit" expressed through the
+militia being competent to the defense of the State, Randolph asked:
+"Did ever militia defend a country?"
+
+Randolph's speech was exhaustive and reached the heights of real
+eloquence. It all came to this, he said, Union or Dissolution, thus
+again repeating the argument Washington had urged in his letter to
+Randolph. "Let that glorious pride which once defied the British
+thunder, reanimate you again," he cried dramatically.[1203] But his
+fervor, popularity, and influence were not enough.
+
+Marshall, when he came to speak later in the debate, made the same
+mistake. No more striking illustration exists of how public men, in the
+hurry and pressure of large affairs, forget the most important events,
+even when they themselves were principal actors in them.
+
+Although the time had not properly come for the great logician of the
+Constitution to expound it, the situation now precipitated the
+psychological hour for him to strike. The chair recognized a slender,
+short-statured man of thirty-seven, wearing a handsome costume of blue
+and buff with doubled straight collar and white ruffles on breast and at
+wrists. His hair, combed forward to conceal baldness, was powdered and
+fell behind in the long beribboned queue of fashion. He was so small
+that he could not be seen by all the members; and his voice was so weak
+that only rarely could he be heard throughout the hall.[1204] Such was
+James Madison as he stood, hat in hand and his notes in his hat, and
+began the first of those powerful speeches, the strength of which, in
+spite of poor reporting, has projected itself through more than a
+hundred years.
+
+At first he spoke so low that even the reporter could not catch what he
+said.[1205] He would not, remarked Madison, attempt to impress anybody
+by "ardent professions of zeal for the public welfare." Men should be
+judged by deeds and not by words. The real point was whether the
+Constitution would be a good thing or a bad thing for the country. Henry
+had mentioned the dangers concealed in the Constitution; let him specify
+and prove them. One by one he caught and crushed Henry's points in the
+jaws of merciless logic.
+
+What, for the gentle Madison, was a bold blow at the opposition shows
+how even he was angered. "The inflammatory violence wherewith it [the
+Constitution] was opposed by designing, illiberal, and unthinking minds,
+begins to subside. I will not enumerate the causes from which, in my
+conception, the heart-burnings of a majority of its opposers have
+originated." His argument was unanswerable as a matter of pure reason
+and large statesmanship, but it made little headway and had only slight
+if any influence. "I am not so sanguine," reported Washington's nephew
+to the General at Mount Vernon, "as to ... flatter myself that he made
+many converts."[1206]
+
+The third gun of the powerful battery which the Constitutionalists had
+arranged to batter down the results of Henry's speech was now brought
+into action. George Nicholas again took the floor. He was surprised that
+Mason's resolution to debate the Constitution clause by clause had not
+been followed. But it had not been, and therefore he must speak at
+large. While Nicholas advanced nothing new, his address was a
+masterpiece of compact reasoning.[1207]
+
+Age and middle age had spoken for the Constitution; voices from the
+bench and the camp, from the bar and the seats of the mighty, had
+pleaded for it; and now the Constitutionalists appealed to the very
+young men of the Convention through one of the most attractive of their
+number. The week must not close with Henry's visions of desolation
+uppermost in the minds of the members. On Saturday morning the chair
+recognized Francis Corbin of Middlesex. He was twenty-eight years old
+and of a family which had lived in Virginia from the early part of the
+seventeenth century. He had been educated in England at the University
+of Cambridge, studied law at the Inner Temple, was a trained lawyer, and
+a polished man of the world.
+
+Corbin made one of the best speeches of the whole debate. On the
+nonpayment of our debts to foreign nations he was particularly strong.
+"What!" said he, "borrow money to discharge interest on what was
+borrowed?... Such a plan would destroy the richest country on earth." As
+to a Republican Government not being fitted for an extensive country, he
+asked, "How small must a country be to suit the genius of
+Republicanism?" The power of taxation was the "lungs of the
+Constitution." His defense of a standing army was novel and ingenious.
+The speech was tactful in the deference paid to older men, and so
+captivating in the pride it must have aroused in the younger members
+that it justified the shrewdness of the Constitutionalist generals in
+putting forward this youthful and charming figure.[1208]
+
+Of course Henry could not follow a mere boy. He cleverly asked that
+Governor Randolph should finish, as the latter had promised to
+do.[1209] Randolph could not avoid responding; and his speech, while
+very able, was nevertheless an attempt to explode powder already
+burned.[1210] Madison saw this, and getting the eye of the chair
+delivered the second of those intellectual broadsides, which, together
+with his other mental efforts during the Constitutional period, mark him
+as almost the first, if not indeed the very first, mind of his
+time.[1211] The philosophy and method of taxation, the history and
+reason of government, the whole range of the vast subject were
+discussed,[1212] or rather begun; for Madison did not finish, and took
+up the subject four days later. His effort so exhausted him physically
+that he was ill for three days.[1213]
+
+Thus fortune favored Henry. The day, Saturday, was not yet spent. After
+all, he could leave the last impression on the members and spectators,
+could apply fresh color to the picture he wished his hearers to have
+before their eyes until the next week renewed the conflict. And he could
+retain the floor so as to open again when Monday came. The art of Henry
+in this speech was supreme. He began by stating the substance of Thomas
+Paine's terrific sentence about government being, at best, "a necessary
+evil"; and aroused anew that repugnance to any sturdy rule which was a
+general feeling in the breasts of the masses.
+
+Both the Confederation and the proposed Constitution were "evils,"
+asserted Henry, and the only question was which was the less. Randolph
+and Madison incautiously had referred to maxims. Henry seized the word
+with infinite skill. "It is impiously irritating the avenging hand of
+Heaven ... to desert those maxims which alone can preserve liberty," he
+thundered. They were lowly maxims, to be sure, "poor little, humble
+republican maxims"; but "humble as they are" they alone could make a
+nation safe or formidable. He rang the changes on the catchwords of
+liberty.
+
+Then Henry spoke of Randolph's change of front. The Constitution "was
+once execrated" by Randolph. "It seems to me very strange and
+unaccountable that that which was the object of his execration should
+now receive his encomiums. Something extraordinary must have operated so
+great a change in his opinion." Randolph had said that it was too late
+to oppose the "New Plan"; but, answered Henry, "I can never believe that
+it is too late to save all that is precious." Henry denied the woeful
+state of the country which the Constitutionalist speakers had pictured.
+The "imaginary dangers" conjured by them were to intimidate the people;
+but, cried Henry, "fear is the passion of slaves." The execution of
+Josiah Philips under the bill of attainder was justifiable. Philips had
+been a "fugitive murderer and an outlaw" leader of "an infamous
+banditti," perpetrator of "the most cruel and shocking barbarities ...
+an enemy to human nature."[1214]
+
+It was not true, declared Henry, that the people were discontented under
+the Confederation--at least the common people were not; and it was the
+common people for whom he spoke. But, of course, sneered that consummate
+actor, "the middling and lower ranks of people have not those
+illuminated ideas" which the "well-born" are so happily possessed of;
+"they [the common people] cannot so readily perceive latent objects." It
+was only the "illuminated imaginations" and the "microscopic eyes of
+modern statesmen" that could see defects where there were none.
+
+Henry hinted with great adroitness at the probable loss of the
+Mississippi, which was the sorest point with the members from Kentucky;
+and, having injected the poison, passed on to let it do its work against
+the time when he would strike with all his force. Then he appealed to
+state pride. "When I call this the most mighty state in the Union, do I
+not speak the truth? Does not Virginia surpass every state?" Of course!
+There was no danger, then, that Virginia would be left out of the Union,
+as the Constitutionalists had hinted might happen if Virginia rejected
+the Constitution; the other States would be glad to have her on her own
+terms.
+
+Henry went over a variety of subjects and then returned to his favorite
+idea of the National Government as something foreign. Picking up a
+careless word of Randolph, who had spoken of the people as a "herd,"
+Henry said that perhaps the words "We, the people," were used to
+recommend it to the masses, "to those who are likened to a _herd_; and
+by the operation of this blessed system are to be transformed from
+respectable, independent citizens, to abject, dependent subjects or
+slaves."[1215] Finally, when he felt that he had his hearers once more
+under his spell, Henry, exclaiming that a Bill of Rights was vital,
+asked for adjournment, which was taken, the great orator still holding
+the floor.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1111] Though "practical," these methods were honorable, as far as the
+improper use of money was concerned.
+
+[1112] King to Langdon, June 10, 1788; King, i, 331.
+
+[1113] Hamilton to Madison, May 19, 1788; _Works_: Lodge, ix, 430. See
+also _ib._, 432.
+
+[1114] Knox to King, June 19, 1788; King, i, 335.
+
+[1115] Hill to Thatcher, Jan. 1, 1788; _Hist. Mag._ (2d Series), vi,
+261.
+
+[1116] King to Madison, May 25, 1788; King, i, 329.
+
+[1117] Hamilton to Madison, June 27, 1788; _Works_: Lodge, ix, 436.
+Virginia had ratified the Constitution two days before Hamilton wrote
+this letter, but the news did not reach New York until long afterward.
+
+[1118] Hamilton to Madison, June 8, 1788; _Works_: Lodge, ix, 432-34.
+
+[1119] Grigsby, i, 8. About three eighths of Virginia's population were
+slaves valued at many millions of dollars.
+
+[1120] Grigsby, i, footnote to 50; also 32; and see examples given by
+Judge Scott, in Scott, 235-38.
+
+[1121] Grigsby, i, footnote to 36; and see 29, 62, 339.
+
+[1122] Henry, ii, 339; and Rowland, ii, 223 _et seq._
+
+[1123] Rives, ii, 549.
+
+[1124] Randolph to the Speaker of the House of Delegates, Oct. 10, 1787;
+Elliott, i, 482-91; also Ford: _P. on C._, 261-76.
+
+[1125] Randolph to Page and others, Dec. 2, 1787; _American Museum_,
+iii, 61 _et seq._
+
+[1126] _Ib._
+
+[1127] Lee to Randolph, Oct. 16, 1787; Elliott, i, 503. Upon the
+publication of this correspondence a young Richmond attorney, Spencer
+Roane, the son-in-law of Patrick Henry, in an article signed "Plain
+Dealer," published in the _Virginia Gazette_, attacked Randolph for
+inconsistency. "Good God! How can the first magistrate and father of a
+pure republican government ... before his proposed plan of amendment has
+been determined upon, declare that he will accept a Constitution which
+is to beget a monarchy or an aristocracy?... Can he foretell future
+events? How else can he at this time discover what the 'spirit of
+America' is?... How far will this principle carry him? Why, ... if the
+dominion of Shays, instead of that of the new Constitution, should be
+generally accepted, and become 'the spirit of America,' his Excellency
+would turn Shayite." (Plain Dealer to Randolph, Feb. 13, 1788; Ford:
+_Essays on the Constitution_, 385; also _Branch Hist. Papers_, 47.)
+Roane's letter is important as the first expression of his hostility to
+the Constitution. He was to become the determined enemy of Marshall;
+and, as the ablest judge of the Virginia Court of Appeals, the chief
+judicial foe of Marshall's Nationalism. (See vol. III of this work.)
+
+[1128] "The importunities of some to me in public and private are
+designed to throw me unequivocally and without condition, into the
+opposition." (Randolph to Madison, Feb. 29, 1788; Conway, 101.)
+
+[1129] Washington to Randolph, Jan. 8, 1788; _Writings_: Ford, xi,
+204-06.
+
+[1130] Madison to Randolph, Jan. 10, 1788; _Writings_: Hunt, v, 79-84;
+and see same to same, Jan. 20, 1788 (_ib._, 86-88); and March 3, 1788
+(_ib._, 113-14).
+
+[1131] "If he [Randolph] approves it at all, he will do it feebly."
+(Washington to Lafayette, April 28, 1788; _Writings_: Ford, xi, 255; and
+see Madison to Jefferson, April 22, 1788; _Writings_: Hunt, v, 121.)
+
+[1132] Randolph to Madison, Feb. 29, 1788; quoted in Conway, 101.
+
+[1133] "Randolph was still looked upon as an Anti-Federalist by the
+uninitiated." But his "position ... was evidently no secret to
+Washington." (Rowland, ii, 210. See also _ib._, 225, 227, 231.)
+
+[1134] _Ib._
+
+[1135] Randolph to Madison, Feb. 29, 1788; Conway, 101.
+
+[1136] Scott, 160.
+
+[1137] Washington to Carter, Dec. 14, 1787; _Writings_: Ford, xi,
+footnote to 210.
+
+[1138] Smith to Madison, June 12, 1788; Rives, ii, footnote to p. 544.
+
+[1139] _Ib._ "The Baptist interest ... are highly incensed by Henry's
+opinions and public speeches." (Randolph to Madison, Feb. 29, 1788;
+Conway, 101.)
+
+[1140] Smith to Madison, June 12, 1788; Rives, ii, 544.
+
+[1141] Washington to Hamilton, Nov. 10, 1787; _Writings_: Ford, xi,
+footnote to p. 181.
+
+[1142] Washington to Trumbull, Feb. 5, 1788; _Writings_: Ford, 212. From
+the first Washington attributed much of the opposition throughout the
+country to the fact that popular leaders believed that the new National
+Government would lessen their importance in their respective States.
+"The governors elect or to be elected, the legislators, with a long
+tribe of others whose political importance will be lessened if not
+annihilated" were, said Washington, against a strong central Government.
+(Washington to Knox, Feb. 3, 1787; Sparks, ix, 230; and see Graydon,
+340.)
+
+[1143] Washington to Lincoln, April 2, 1788; _ib._, xi, footnote to
+239-40.
+
+[1144] "Letters of a Federal Farmer," no. 3; Ford: _P. on C._, 301.
+
+[1145] _Ib._, no. 5, 319.
+
+[1146] Washington to Armstrong, April 25, 1788; _Writings_: Ford, xi,
+252; and to Petit, Aug. 16, 1788; _ib._, 300.
+
+[1147] Madison to Jefferson, April 22, 1788; _Writings_: Hunt, v,
+120-22.
+
+[1148] Grigsby, i, 34-35; and footnote to 49.
+
+[1149] Grigsby, i, 64-66; and Elliott, iii, 1.
+
+[1150] Rowland, ii, 222.
+
+[1151] Henry, ii, 345. So angered were the Anti-Constitutionalists that
+they would not correct or revise Robertson's reports of their speeches.
+(_Ib._)
+
+[1152] Elliott, iii, 1.
+
+[1153] _Ib._, 5-6; also, Journal of the Convention, 7-11.
+
+[1154] Grigsby, i, 69-70. In the descriptions of the dress, manners, and
+appearance of those who took part in the debate, Grigsby's account has
+been followed. Grigsby took infinite pains and gave many years to the
+gathering and verifying of data on these picturesque subjects; he was
+personally intimate with a large number of the immediate descendants of
+the members of the Convention and with a few who were eye-witnesses; and
+his reconstruction of the scenes in the Convention is believed to be
+entirely accurate.
+
+[1155] Elliott, iii, 3.
+
+[1156] Mason's clause-to-clause resolve was, "contrary to his
+expectations, concurred in by the other side." (Madison to Washington,
+June 4, 1788; _Writings_: Hunt, v, footnote to 124.) And see
+Washington's gleeful report to the New York Constitutionalists of
+Mason's error: "This [Mason's resolve] was as unexpected as acceptable
+to the federalists, and their ready acquiescence seems to have somewhat
+startled the opposite side for fear they had committed themselves."
+(Washington to Jay, June 8, 1788; _Writings_: Ford, xi, 271.)
+
+[1157] Elliott, iii, 4.
+
+[1158] Grigsby, i, 77.
+
+[1159] For a discussion of this tactical blunder of the opponents of the
+Constitution, see Grigsby, i, 72.
+
+[1160] Elliott, iii, 4.
+
+[1161] Grigsby, i, 75.
+
+[1162] Elliott, iii, 6.
+
+[1163] _Ib._
+
+[1164] Grigsby, i, 77.
+
+[1165] _Ib._, 79.
+
+[1166] _Ib._, 78, 79, 140, 141, 246, 247.
+
+[1167] Elliott, iii, 7-21.
+
+[1168] Grigsby, i, 76.
+
+[1169] Elliott, iii, 21-23.
+
+[1170] Grigsby, i, 83-84.
+
+[1171] Madison was the real designer of the Virginia plan. (Rives, ii,
+chap. xxvii.)
+
+[1172] This was the point Washington had made to Randolph. It is
+interesting that, throughout the debate, Randolph, over and over again,
+used almost the exact language of Washington's letter.
+
+[1173] Elliott, iii, 23-29. Randolph's speech was apologetic for his
+change of heart. He was not "a candidate for popularity": he had
+"satisfied his conscience," etc.
+
+[1174] Madison to Washington, June 4, 1788; _Writings_: Hunt, v, 124.
+
+[1175] Jefferson to Short, Sept. 20, 1788; quoting a private letter from
+Virginia of July 12; _Works_: Ford, v, 431.
+
+[1176] Washington to Jay, June 8, 1788; _Writings_: Ford, xi, 271.
+
+[1177] Bland to Lee, June 13, 1788; Rowland, ii, 243-44. Evidently the
+opposition was slow to believe that Randolph had irrevocably deserted
+them; for Bland's letter was not written until Randolph had made his
+fourth extended speech ten days later.
+
+[1178] Scott, 160.
+
+[1179] Washington to Jay, June 8, 1788; _Writings_: Ford, xi, 271.
+
+[1180] From this delay Randolph's enemies have charged that his letter
+to Clinton was not posted in time. Much as Randolph had to answer for,
+this charge is unjust. Letters between Richmond and New York sometimes
+were two or three months on the way. (See _supra_, chap. VII.)
+
+[1181] Clinton to Randolph, May 8, 1788; Conway, 110-12.
+
+[1182] Clinton to Randolph, May 8, 1788; Conway, 110-12; Henry, ii, 363;
+Rowland, ii, 276-79; and see _infra_, chap. XII.
+
+[1183] Randolph's change was ascribed to improper motives. Mason was
+almost offensive in his insinuations during the debate and Henry openly
+so, as will appear. Randolph's last words to the Convention were
+explanatory and defensive.
+
+Washington made Randolph his first Attorney-General and he exercised
+great power for a time. "The Government is now solely directed by
+Randolph," complained Jefferson. (Conway, 140.) While Washington
+certainly did not appoint Randolph as a reward for his conduct in the
+struggle over the Constitution, it is a reasonable inference that he
+would not have been made a member of the Cabinet if he had not abandoned
+his opposition, supported the Constitution, and suppressed Clinton's
+letter.
+
+Virginia had the head of the Cabinet in Jefferson as Secretary of State;
+Washington himself was from Virginia; and since there were numerous men
+from other States as well as or better equipped than Randolph for the
+Attorney-Generalship, his selection for that place is, at least,
+noteworthy. It gave Virginia the Presidency and two members of a Cabinet
+which numbered only four in all.
+
+When the Attorney-Generalship was tendered to Randolph, he wrote to
+Madison bitterly resenting "the load of calumny which would be poured
+upon" him if he should accept. "For," writes Randolph, "it has been
+insinuated ... that my espousal of the Constitution had alienated even
+its friends from me, who would not elect me to the house of
+representatives. The insinuation has been carried so far as to apply it
+to the disposal of offices under the government." (Randolph to Madison,
+July 19, 1789; Conway, 127-28.)
+
+[1184] Rowland, ii, 308.
+
+[1185] Elliott, iii, 29-34.
+
+[1186] Elliott, iii, 34-35.
+
+[1187] Grigsby, i, 99.
+
+[1188] Those who supported the Constitution were called "Federalists"
+and its opponents "Anti-Federalists"; but, for sake of clearness, the
+terms "Constitutionalists" and "Anti-Constitutionalists" are employed in
+these chapters.
+
+[1189] Madison to Washington, June 4, 1788; _Writings_: Hunt, v,
+footnote to 123-24.
+
+[1190] Grigsby, i, footnote to 46.
+
+[1191] Grigsby, i, 101-02. Scenes of a similar character occurred
+several times in both Senate and House between 1900 and 1911, when one
+of our elder statesmen, who plainly was nearing the end of life, rose to
+speak. More than one notable contest, during that decade, was decided by
+the sympathetic votes of aged friends who answered the call of long
+years of affection.
+
+[1192] Elliott, iii, 35-41.
+
+[1193] See _infra_, chap, III; also Grigsby, i, 105-06.
+
+[1194] _Ib._, 106-09.
+
+[1195] Elliott, iii, 41-43.
+
+[1196] Elliott, iii, 44. The word "revolution" is printed "resolution"
+in Elliott's _Debates_. This is a good example of the inaccuracy of
+Elliott's reprint of Robertson's stenographic report. In Robertson's
+_Debates_, published in 1805, the word is correctly printed
+"revolution." I have cited Elliott only because it is accessible. Even
+Robertson's report is admittedly meager and unsatisfactory; all the
+more, therefore, is it to be regretted that Elliott's reprint should be
+so inaccurate.
+
+[1197] At this point the reporter, unable to follow Henry's speech,
+notes that he "strongly and pathetically expatiated on the probability
+of the President's enslaving America and the horrid consequences that
+must result." (Elliott, iii, 60.)
+
+[1198] Henry had not heard of the Constitutionalists' bargain with
+Hancock in Massachusetts.
+
+[1199] Elliott, iii, 43-64.
+
+[1200] General Posey, a Revolutionary officer, who was for the
+Constitution, afterwards said that Henry's speech made him believe that
+the Constitution would destroy liberty. Another intelligent man who
+heard Henry's speech said that when the great orator pictured the
+President at the head of the army, he felt his own wrists for the
+shackles, and that his place in the gallery suddenly seemed like a
+dungeon. (Grigsby, i, 118-19.)
+
+[1201] Grigsby, i, 121.
+
+[1202] Elliott, iii, 64-86. In the debate, much was made of this famous
+case. Yet Philips was not executed under the provisions of the law
+Randolph referred to. When arrested, he was indicted, tried, and
+convicted in the General Court; and he was hanged by sentence of the
+court, December 4, 1778.
+
+Although, at that time, Randolph was Attorney-General of Virginia and
+actually prosecuted the case; and although Henry was Governor and
+ordered the arrest of Philips (Henry, i, 611-13), yet, ten years later,
+both had forgotten the facts, and Randolph charged, and Henry in reply
+admitted, that Philips had been executed under the bill of attainder
+without trial. (Jefferson to Wirt, Oct. 14, 1814; _Works_: Ford, xi,
+407.) The bill of attainder was drawn by Jefferson. It appears in _ib._,
+ii, 330-36.
+
+[1203] Again, Randolph's speech was marred by the note of personal
+explanation that pervaded it. "The rectitude of my intentions";
+"ambition and popularity are no objects with me"; "I expect, in the
+course of a year, to retire to that private station which I most
+sincerely and cordially prefer to all others,"--such expressions gave to
+his otherwise aggressive and very able appeal a defensive tone.
+
+[1204] Grigsby, i, 130. Madison's apparel at this Convention was as
+ornate as his opinions were, in his opponents' eyes, "aristocratic."
+
+[1205] Elliott, iii, 86. See entire speech, _ib._, 86-96.
+
+[1206] Bushrod Washington to Washington, June 6, 1788; _Writings_:
+Sparks, ix, 378. But Madison gave Henry an opening through which that
+veteran orator drove like a troop of horse, as far as practical and
+momentary effect was concerned. Madison described the new government as
+partly National and partly Federal. (Elliott, iii, 94; and see Henry's
+use of this, _ib._, 171; also _infra_.)
+
+[1207] Elliott, iii, 97-103.
+
+[1208] Elliott, iii, 104-14.
+
+[1209] Elliott, iii, 114.
+
+[1210] _Ib._, 114-28.
+
+[1211] Madison was equaled only by Hamilton in sheer intellectuality,
+but he was inferior to that colossus in courage and constructive genius.
+
+[1212] _Ib._, 128-37.
+
+[1213] Madison to Hamilton, June 9, 1788; Hamilton MSS., Lib. Cong.
+Madison's four famous speeches in this Convention, are properly parts of
+one comprehensive exposition. (See Madison's own notes for the third of
+these speeches in _Writings_: Hunt, v, 148.) Mr. Hunt also prints
+accurately Robertson's report of the speeches themselves in that volume.
+They cannot be summarized here, but should be read in full.
+
+[1214] See _supra_, footnote to 393.
+
+[1215] Elliott, iii, 137-50.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE SUPREME DEBATE
+
+    There will undoubtedly be a greater weight of abilities against
+    the adoption in this convention than in any other state.
+    (Washington.)
+
+    What are the objects of the National Government? To protect the
+    United States and to promote the general welfare. (Marshall, in
+    his first debate.)
+
+
+Now appeared the practical political managers from other States. From
+Saturday afternoon until Monday morning there was great activity in both
+camps. The politicians of each side met in secret conference to plan the
+operations of the coming week and to devise ways and means of getting
+votes. For the Constitutionalists, Gouverneur Morris was on the ground
+from New York;[1216] Robert Morris and probably James Wilson, both from
+Philadelphia, had been in Virginia at the time of the elections and the
+former remained for the Convention.[1217] During the second week the
+Philadelphia financier writes Gates from Richmond, lamenting "the
+depredations on my purse," but "inclined to think the Constitution will
+be adopted by Virginia."[1218]
+
+For the opposition, Oswald, publisher of the "Independent Gazetteer,"
+came on from Philadelphia and arrived in Richmond at the close of the
+first week's debate. He at once went into secret conference with Henry,
+Mason, and the other Anti-Constitutionalist leaders. Madison reports to
+Hamilton that "Oswald of Phil^a came here on Saturday; and he has closet
+interviews with the leaders of the opposition."[1219] By the same mail
+Grayson advises the general Anti-Constitutionalist headquarters in New
+York that he is "sorry ... that our affairs in the convention are
+suspended by a hair." Randolph's conduct "has not injured us," writes
+Grayson, thus proving how poorly the Anti-Constitutionalists estimated
+the real situation. But they were practical enough to know that "there
+are seven or eight dubious characters whose opinions are not known" and
+upon whose decisions the fate of the Constitution "will ultimately
+depend." Grayson cautions Lamb not to let this get into the
+newspapers.[1220]
+
+Just what was devised and decided by the leaders of both sides in these
+behind-the-doors meetings and what methods were used outside the
+Convention hall to influence votes, there is no means of learning
+exactly; though "the opposition" committee seems to have been occupied
+chiefly in drawing amendments.[1221] But the frequent references,
+particularly of the Constitutionalist speakers on the floor, to improper
+conduct of their adversaries "out of doors" show that both sides were
+using every means known to the politics of the day to secure support. In
+the debate itself Henry certainly was making headway.[1222]
+
+On Monday, Henry and Mason made a dramatic entrance into the Convention
+hall. Walking arm in arm from their quarters in "The Swan,"[1223] they
+stopped on the steps at the doors of the New Academy and conferred
+earnestly for some minutes; so great was the throng that the two
+Anti-Constitutionalist chieftains made their way to their seats with
+great difficulty.[1224] When Henry rose to go on with his speech, the
+plan decided on during Sunday quickly was revealed. The great prize for
+which both sides now were fighting was the votes from Kentucky.[1225]
+Henry held up before them the near forfeiture to the Spanish of our
+right to navigate the Mississippi.[1226] This, he said, was the work of
+seven Northern States; but under the Confederation they had been
+thwarted in their fell purpose by six Southern States; and the
+Mississippi still remained our own. But if the Constitution was adopted,
+what would happen? The Senate would be controlled by those same Northern
+States that had nearly succeeded in surrendering the great waterway and
+the West and South would surely be deprived of that invaluable
+commercial outlet. He asked the members of Congress who were in the
+Convention to tell the facts about the Mississippi business. Jefferson,
+he avowed, had counseled Virginia to "reject this government."[1227]
+
+Henry answered the Constitutionalists' prophecy of foreign war,
+ridiculed danger from the Indians, proved that the Constitution would
+not pay Virginia's debts; and, in characteristic fashion, ranged at
+large over the field. The Constitution, he asserted, would "operate like
+an ambuscade ... destroy the state governments ... swallow the liberties
+of the people without" warning. "How are our debts to be discharged
+unless taxes are increased?" asked he; and demonstrated that under the
+Constitution taxes surely would be made heavier. Time and again he
+warned the Convention against the loss of liberty: "When the deprivation
+of our liberty was attempted, what did ... the genius of Virginia tell
+us? '_Sell all and purchase liberty!_'... Republican maxims,... and the
+genius of Virginia landed you safe on the shore of freedom."
+
+Once more he praised the British form of government--an oversight which
+a hawk-eyed young member of the Convention, John Marshall, was soon to
+use against him. Henry painted in darkest colors the secrecy of the
+Federal Convention. "_Look at us--hear our transactions!_--if this had
+been the language of the Federal Convention," there would have been no
+Constitution, he asserted, and with entire accuracy. Yet, the
+Constitution itself authorized Congress to keep its proceedings as
+secret as those of the Constitution's makers had been kept: "The
+transactions of Congress," said Henry, "may be concealed a century from
+the public."[1228]
+
+Seizing Madison's description of the new Government as partly National
+and partly Federal, Henry brought to bear all his power of satire. He
+was "amused" at Madison's "treatise of political anatomy.... In the
+brain it is national; the stamina are federal; some limbs are federal,
+others national." Absurd! The truth was, said Henry, that the
+Constitution provided for "a great consolidation of government." Why not
+abolish Virginia's Legislature and be done with it? This National
+Government would do what it liked with Virginia.
+
+As to the plan of ratifying first and amending afterwards, Henry
+declared himself "at a loss what to say. You agree to bind yourselves
+hand and foot--for the sake of what? Of being unbound. You go into a
+dungeon--for what? To get out.... My anxiety and fears are great lest
+America by the adoption of this system [the Constitution], should be
+cast into a fathomless bottom."
+
+Tradition has it that during this speech Henry, having frozen his
+hearers' blood by a terrific description of lost "liberty," with one of
+his sudden turns set both Convention and spectators into roars of
+laughter by remarking with a grimace, and as an aside, "why, _they'll
+free your niggers_."[1229] And then, with one of those lightning changes
+of genius, which Henry alone could make, he solemnly exclaimed, "I look
+on that paper [the Constitution] as the most fatal plan that could
+possibly be conceived to enslave a free people."[1230]
+
+Lee, in reply, spoke of the lobbying going on outside the Convention.
+"Much is said by gentlemen out of doors," exclaimed Lee; "they ought to
+urge all their objections here." He taunted Henry, who had praised the
+militia, with not having been himself a soldier. "I saw what the
+honorable gentleman did not see," cried Lee, "our men fight with the
+troops of that King whom he so much admires."[1231]
+
+When the hot-blooded young soldier had finished his aggressive speech,
+Randolph could no longer restrain himself. Henry's bold challenge of
+Randolph's change of front had cut that proud and sensitive nature to
+the heart. "I disdain," thundered he, "his aspersions and his
+insinuations." They were "warranted by no principle of parliamentary
+decency, nor compatible with the least shadow of friendship; and if our
+friendship must fall, _let it fall, like Lucifer, never to rise again_!"
+It was not to answer Henry that he spoke, snarled Randolph, "but to
+satisfy this respectable audience." Randolph then explained his conduct,
+reading part of the letter[1232] that had caused all the trouble,
+and dramatically throwing the letter on the clerk's table, cried
+"that it might lie there for _the inspection of the curious and
+malicious_."[1233] Randolph spoke for the remainder of the day and
+consumed most of the next forenoon.[1234]
+
+No soldier had yet spoken for the Anti-Constitutionalists; and it
+perhaps was Lee's fling at Henry that now called a Revolutionary officer
+to his feet against the Constitution. A tall, stiff, raw-boned young man
+of thirty years arose. Poorly educated, slow in his mental
+processes,[1235] James Monroe made a long, dull, and cloudy speech,
+finally declaring of the Constitution, "I think it a dangerous
+government"; and asking "why ... this haste--this wild precipitation?"
+Long as Monroe's speech was, he reminded the Convention that he had "not
+yet said all that I wish upon the subject" and that he would return to
+the charge later on.[1236]
+
+Monroe did not help or hurt either side except, perhaps, by showing the
+members that all the Revolutionary veterans were not for the
+Constitution. Neither members nor spectators paid much attention to him,
+though this was no reflection on Monroe, for the Convention did not
+listen with patience to many speakers except Henry. When Henry spoke,
+every member was in his seat and the galleries were packed. But only the
+most picturesque of the other speakers could hold the audience for
+longer than half an hour; generally members walked about and the
+spectators were absent except when Henry took the floor.[1237]
+
+As usual, the Constitutionalists were ready with their counter-stroke.
+Wythe in the chair recognized a tall, ungainly young man of thirty-two.
+He was badly dressed in a loose, summer costume, and his blazing black
+eyes and unkempt raven hair made him look more like a poet or an artist
+than a lawyer or statesman.[1238] He had bought a new coat the day the
+Convention met; but it was a most inexpensive addition to his raiment,
+for it cost but one pound, Virginia currency, then greatly
+depreciated.[1239] He probably was the best liked of all the members of
+the Convention. Sociable to extreme good-fellowship, "his habits," says
+Grigsby, "were convivial almost to excess";[1240] and it is more than
+likely that, considering the times, these habits in his intimate social
+intercourse with his fellow members helped to get more votes than his
+arguments on the floor, of which he now was to make the first.[1241] His
+four years' record as a soldier was as bright and clean as that of any
+man from any State who had fought under Washington.
+
+So when John Marshall began to speak, he was listened to with the ears
+of affection; and any point the opposition had made by the fact that
+Monroe the soldier had spoken against the Constitution was turned by
+Marshall's appearance even before he had uttered a word. The young
+lawyer was also accounted an "orator" at this time,[1242] a fact which
+added to the interest of his fellow members in his speech.
+
+The question, Marshall said, was "whether democracy or despotism be most
+eligible."[1243] He was sure that the framers and supporters of the
+Constitution "intend the establishment and security of the former"; they
+are "firm friends of the liberty and the rights of mankind." That was
+why they were for the Constitution. "We, sir, idolize democracy." The
+Constitution was, said he, the "best means of protecting liberty." The
+opposition had praised monarchy, but, deftly avowed Marshall, "We prefer
+this system to any monarchy"; for it provides for "a well regulated
+democracy."
+
+He agreed with Henry that maxims should be observed; they were
+especially "essential to a democracy." But, "what are the ... maxims of
+democracy?... A strict observance of justice and public faith, and a
+steady adherence to virtue. These, Sir, are the principles of a good
+government,"[1244] declared the young Richmond Constitutionalist.
+
+"No mischief, no misfortune, ought to deter us from a strict observance
+of justice and public faith," cried Marshall. "Would to Heaven," he
+exclaimed, "that these principles had been observed under the present
+government [the Confederation]." He was thinking now of his experience
+in the Legislature and appealing to the honesty of the Convention. If
+the principles of justice and good faith had been observed, continued
+he, "the friends of liberty would not be so willing now to part with it
+[the Confederation]."
+
+Could Virginians themselves boast that their own Government was based on
+justice? "Can we pretend to the enjoyment of political freedom or
+security, when we are told that a man has been, by an act of Assembly,
+struck out of existence without a trial by jury, without examination,
+without being confronted with his accusers and witnesses, without the
+benefits of the law of the land?"[1245] Skillfully he turned against
+Henry the latter's excuse for the execution of Philips, and dramatically
+asked: "Where is our safety, when we are told that this act was
+justifiable because the person was not a Socrates?... Shall it be a
+maxim that a man shall be deprived of his life without the benefit of
+the law?"
+
+As to the navigation of the Mississippi, he asked: "How shall we retain
+it? By retaining that weak government which has hitherto kept it from
+us?" No, exclaimed Marshall, but by a Government with "the power of
+retaining it." Such a Government, he pointed out, was that proposed in
+the Constitution. Here again the Constitutionalist managers displayed
+their skill. Marshall was the best man they could have chosen to appeal
+to the Kentucky members on the Mississippi question. His father, mother,
+and his family were now living in Kentucky, and his relative, Humphrey
+Marshall, was a member of the Convention from that district.[1246]
+Marshall himself was the legislative agent of the District of Kentucky
+in Richmond. The development of the West became a vital purpose with
+John Marshall, strengthening with the years; and this was a real force
+in the growth of his views on Nationality.[1247]
+
+Henry's own argument, that amendments could not be had after adoption,
+proved, said Marshall, that they could not be had before. In all the
+States, particularly in Virginia, there were, he charged, "many who are
+decided enemies of the Union." These were inspired by "local interests,"
+their object being "disunion." They would not propose amendments that
+were similar or that all could agree upon. When the Federal Convention
+met, said Marshall, "we had no idea then of any particular system. The
+formation of the most perfect plan was our object and wish"; and, "it
+was imagined" that the States would with pleasure accept that
+Convention's work. But "consider the violence of opinions, the
+prejudices and animosities which have been since imbibed"; and how
+greatly they "operate against mutual concessions."
+
+Marshall reiterated that what the Constitutionalists were fighting for
+was "a well-regulated democracy." Could the people themselves make
+treaties, enact laws, or administer the Government? Of course not. They
+must do such things through agents. And, inquired he, how could these
+agents act for the people if they did not have power to do so? That the
+people's agents might abuse power was no argument against giving it, for
+"the power of doing good is inseparable from that of doing some evil."
+If power were not given because it might be misused, "you can have no
+government." Thus Marshall stated that principle which he was to
+magnify from the Supreme Bench years later.
+
+"Happy that country," exclaimed the young orator, "which can avail
+itself of the misfortunes of others ... without fatal experience!"
+Marshall cited Holland. The woes of that country were caused, said he,
+by "the want of proper powers in the government, the consequent deranged
+and relaxed administration, the violence of contending parties"--in
+short, by such a government, or rather absence of government, as America
+then had under the Confederation. If Holland had had such a government
+as the Constitution proposed, she would not be in her present sorry
+plight. Marshall was amused at Henry's "high-colored eulogium on such a
+government."
+
+There was no analogy, argued he, between "the British government and the
+colonies, and the relation between Congress and the states. We _were
+not_ represented in Parliament. Here [under the Constitution] we are
+represented." So the arguments against British taxation "do not hold
+against the exercise of taxation by Congress." The power of taxation by
+Congress to which Henry objected was "essentially necessary; for without
+it there will be no efficiency in the government." That requisitions on
+the States could not be depended on had been demonstrated by experience,
+he declared; the power of direct taxation was, therefore, necessary to
+the very existence of the National Government.
+
+"The possibility of its being abused is urged as an argument against
+its expediency"; but, said Marshall, such arguments would prevent all
+government and result in anarchy. "All delegated powers are liable to be
+abused." The question was, whether the taxing power was "necessary to
+perform the objects of the Constitution?... What are the objects of
+national government? To protect the United States, and to promote the
+general welfare. Protection, in time of war, is one of its principal
+objects. Until mankind shall cease to have ambition and avarice, wars
+will arise."
+
+Experience had shown, said Marshall, that one State could not protect
+the people or promote general welfare. "By the national government only"
+could these things be done; "shall we refuse to give it power to do
+them?" He scorned the assertion "that we need not be afraid of war. Look
+at history," he exclaimed, "look at the great volume of human nature.
+They will foretell you that a defenseless country cannot be secure. The
+nature of men forbids us to conclude that we are in no danger from war.
+The passions of men stimulate them to avail themselves of the weakness
+of others. The powers of Europe are jealous of us. It is our interest to
+watch their conduct and guard against them. They must be pleased with
+our disunion. If we invite them by our weakness to attack us, will they
+not do it? If we add debility to our present situation, a partition of
+America may take place."
+
+The power of National taxation, therefore, was necessary, Marshall
+asserted. "There must be men and money to protect us. How are armies to
+be raised? Must we not have money for that purpose?" If so, "it is,
+then, necessary to give the government that power in time of peace,
+which the necessity of war will render indispensable, or else we shall
+be attacked unprepared." History, human nature, and "our own particular
+experience, will confirm this truth." If danger should come upon us
+without power to meet it, we might resort to a dictatorship; we once
+were on the point of doing that very thing, said he--and even Henry and
+Mason did not question this appeal of Marshall to the common knowledge
+of all members of the Convention.
+
+"Were those who are now friends to this Constitution less active in the
+defense of liberty, on that trying occasion, than those who oppose it?"
+scathingly asked Marshall. "We may now ... frame a plan that will enable
+us to repel attacks, and render a recurrence to dangerous expedients
+unnecessary. If we be prepared to defend ourselves, there will be little
+inducement to attack us. But if we defer giving the necessary power to
+the general government till the moment of danger arrives, we shall give
+it then, and with an _unsparing hand_."
+
+It was not true, asserted Marshall, that the Confederation carried us
+through the Revolution; "had not the enthusiasm of liberty inspired us
+with unanimity, that system would never have carried us through it." The
+war would have been won much sooner "had that government been possessed
+of due energy." The weakness of the Confederation and the conduct of the
+States prolonged the war. Only "the extreme readiness of the people to
+make their utmost exertions to ward off solely the pressing danger,
+supplied the place of requisitions." But when this danger was over, the
+requisition plan was no longer effective. "A bare sense of duty," said
+he, "is too feeble to induce men to comply with obligations."
+
+It was plain, then, Marshall pointed out, that "the government must have
+the sinews of war some other way." That way was by direct taxation which
+would supply "the necessities of government ... in a peaceable manner";
+whereas "requisitions cannot be rendered efficient without a civil war."
+
+What good would it do for Congress merely to remonstrate with the
+States, as Henry had proposed, if we were at war with foreign enemies?
+There was no danger that Congress, under the Constitution, would not lay
+taxes justly, asserted Marshall; for if members of Congress laid unjust
+taxes, the people would not reëlect them. Under the Constitution, they
+were chosen by the same voters who elected members of the State
+Legislature. These voters, said he, "have nothing to direct them in the
+choice but their own good." Men thus elected would not abuse their power
+because that would "militate against their own interest.... To procure
+their reelection, it will be necessary for them to confer with the
+people at large, and convince them that the taxes laid are for their own
+good."
+
+Henry had asked whether the adoption of the Constitution "would pay our
+debts." "It will compel the states to pay their quotas," answered
+Marshall. "Without this, Virginia will be unable to pay. Unless all the
+states pay, she cannot.... Economy and industry are essential to our
+happiness"; but the Confederation "takes away the incitements to
+industry, by rendering property insecure and unprotected." The
+Constitution, on the contrary, "will promote and encourage industry."
+
+The statement of the Anti-Constitutionalists that the extent of the
+country was too great for a strong National Government was untrue,
+argued Marshall. Also, said he, this objection was from writers who
+criticized those governments "where representation did not exist." But,
+under the Constitution, representation would exist.
+
+Answering Henry's objection, that there were no effective checks in the
+Constitution, Marshall inquired, "What has become of his enthusiastic
+eulogium on the American spirit?" There, declared Marshall, was the real
+check and control. "In this country, there is no exclusive personal
+stock of interest. The interest of the community is blended and
+inseparably connected with that of the individual. When he promotes his
+own, he promotes that of the community. When we consult the common good,
+we consult our own." In such considerations were found the greatest
+security from an improper exercise of power.
+
+"Is not liberty secure with us, where the people hold all powers
+in their own hands, and delegate them cautiously, for short
+periods, to their servants, who are accountable for the smallest
+mal-administration?... We are threatened with the loss of our liberties
+by the possible abuse of power, notwithstanding the maxim that those who
+give may take away. It is the people that give power, and can take it
+back. What shall restrain them? They are the masters who give it, and of
+whom their servants hold it."
+
+Returning to the subject of amendments, "what," asked Marshall, "shall
+restrain you from amending it, if, in trying it, amendments shall be
+found necessary.... When experience shall show us any inconvenience, we
+can then correct it.... If it be necessary to change government, let us
+change that government which has been found to be defective." The
+Constitution as it stood filled the great objects which everybody
+desired--"union, safety against foreign enemies, and protection against
+faction [party]--against what has been the destruction of all
+republics."
+
+He turned Henry's unhappy praise of the British Constitution into a
+weapon of deadly attack upon the opposition. The proposed Constitution,
+said Marshall, was far better than the British. "I ask you if your House
+of Representatives would be better than it is, if a hundredth part of
+the people were to elect a majority of them? If your senators were for
+life, would they be more agreeable to you? If your President were not
+accountable to you for his conduct,--if it were a constitutional maxim,
+that he could do no wrong,--would you be safer than you are now? If you
+can answer, Yes, to these questions, then adopt the British
+constitution. If not, then, good as that government may be, this
+[Constitution] is better."
+
+Referring to "the confederacies of ancient and modern times" he said
+that "they warn us to shun their calamities, and place in our government
+those necessary powers, the want of which destroyed them." The ocean
+does not protect us from war; "Sir," exclaimed Marshall, "the sea makes
+them neighbors to us.... What dangers may we not apprehend to our
+commerce! Does not our naval weakness invite an attack on our commerce?"
+Henry had said "that our present exigencies are greater than they will
+ever be again." But, asked he, "Who can penetrate into futurity?"
+
+Henry's objection that the National Government, under the Constitution,
+would "call forth the virtue and talents of America," to the
+disadvantage of the States, was, Marshall said, the best guarantee that
+the National Government would be wisely conducted. "Will our most
+virtuous and able citizens wantonly attempt to destroy the liberty of
+the people? Will the most virtuous act the most wickedly?" On the
+contrary, "the virtue and talents of the members of the general
+government will tend to the security instead of the destruction of our
+liberty.... The power of direct taxation is essential to the existence
+of the general government"; if not, the Constitution was unnecessary;
+"for it imports not what system we have, unless it have the power of
+protecting us in time of war."[1248]
+
+This address to the Virginia Convention is of historic interest as John
+Marshall's first recorded utterance on the Constitution of which he was
+to become the greatest interpreter. Also, it is the first report of
+Marshall's debating. The speech is not, solely on its merits,
+remarkable. It does not equal the logic of Madison, the eloquence of
+Randolph or Lee, or the brilliancy of Corbin. It lacks that close
+sequence of reasoning which was Marshall's peculiar excellence. In
+provoking fashion he breaks from one subject when it has been only
+partly discussed and later returns to it. It is rhetorical also and
+gives free rein to what was then styled "Marshall's eloquence."
+
+The warp and woof of Marshall's address was woven from his military
+experience; he forged iron arguments from the materials of his own
+soldier life. Two thirds of his remarks were about the necessity of
+providing against war. But the speech is notable as showing, in their
+infancy, those views of government which, in the shaggy strength of
+their maturity, were to be so influential on American destiny.[1249] It
+also measures the growth of those ideas of government which the camp,
+the march, and the battlefield had planted in his mind and heart. The
+practical and immediate effect of the speech, which was what the
+Constitutionalists, and perhaps Marshall himself, cared most about, was
+to strengthen the soldier vote for the Constitution and to cause the
+Kentucky members to suspend judgment on the Mississippi question.
+
+[Illustration: _John Marshall_
+
+_From a painting by Martin in the Robe Room of the U. S. Supreme
+Court._]
+
+For the Anti-Constitutionalists there now arose a big-statured old man
+"elegantly arrayed in a rich suit of blue and buff, a long queue tied
+with a black ribbon dangling from his full locks of snow, and his
+long black boots encroaching on his knees."[1250] His ancestors had been
+Virginians even before the infant colony had a House of Burgesses. When
+Benjamin Harrison now spoke he represented the aristocracy of the Old
+Dominion, and he launched all his influence against the Constitution.
+For some reason he was laboring "under high excitement," and was almost
+inaudible. He lauded the character of the Virginia Legislature, of which
+he had been a member. The Constitution, insisted Harrison, "would
+operate an infringement of the rights and liberties of the
+people."[1251]
+
+George Nicholas answered at length and with characteristic ability and
+learning.[1252] But his speech was quite unnecessary, for what Harrison
+had said amounted to nothing. On the morning of the ninth day of the
+Convention Madison continued his masterful argument, two sections of
+which he already had delivered.[1253] He went out of his way to praise
+Marshall, who, said Madison, had "entered into the subject with a great
+deal of ability."[1254]
+
+Mason, replying on taxation, said that under the Constitution there were
+"some land holders in this state who will have to pay twenty times as
+much [taxes] as will be paid for all the land on which Philadelphia
+stands." A National excise tax, he declared, "will carry the exciseman
+to every farmer's house, who distills a little brandy where he may
+search and ransack as he pleases." And what men, asked Mason, would be
+in Congress from Virginia? Most of them would be "chosen ... from the
+higher order of the people--from the great, the wealthy--the
+_well-born_--the _well-born_, Mr. Chairman, that aristocratic idol--that
+flattering idea--that _exotic_ plant which has been lately imported from
+the ports of Great Britain, and planted in the luxurious soil of this
+country."
+
+It is significant to find the "well-born," wealthy, learned, and
+cultivated Mason taking this tone. It shows that the common people's
+dislike of a National Government was so intense that even George Mason
+pandered to it. It was the fears, prejudices, and passions of the
+multitude upon which the enemies of the Constitution chiefly depended;
+and when Mason stooped to appeal to them, the sense of class distinction
+must have been extreme. His statement also reveals the economic line of
+cleavage between the friends and foes of the Constitution.
+
+It was in this speech that Mason made his scathing "cat and Tory"
+comparison. He knew those who were for the Constitution, "their
+connections, their conduct, their political principles, and a number of
+other circumstances. There are a great many wise and good men among
+them"; but when he looked around and observed "who are the warmest and
+most zealous friends to this new government," it made him "think of the
+story of the cat transformed to a fine lady: forgetting her
+transformation and happening to see a rat, she could not restrain
+herself, but sprang upon it out of the chair."[1255]
+
+Mason denounced Randolph for the latter's apostasy. "I know," said
+Mason, "that he once saw as great danger in it as I do. What has
+happened since this to alter his opinion?" Of course, the Confederation
+was defective and reform needed; but the Constitution was no reform.
+Without previous amendments, "we never can accede to it. Our duty to God
+and to our posterity forbids it,"[1256] declared the venerable author of
+Virginia's Bill of Rights and the Constitution of the State.
+
+Henry Lee answered with fire and spirit, first rebuking "the irregular
+and disorderly manner" in which the opposition had carried on the
+debate. As to the cat story, Mason ought to know "that ridicule is not
+the test of truth. Does he imagine that he who can raise the loudest
+laugh is the soundest reasoner?" And Mason's "insinuations" about the
+"well-born" being elected to Congress were "unwarrantable." He hoped
+that "we shall hear no more of such groundless aspersions." Lee's speech
+is valuable only as showing the rising spirit of anger which was
+beginning to appear even in Virginia's well-conducted, parliamentary,
+and courteous debate.[1257]
+
+The Anti-Constitutionalists were now bringing all their guns into
+action. The second Revolutionary soldier to speak for the opposition now
+arose. William Grayson was almost as attractive a military figure as
+Henry Lee himself. He had been educated at Oxford, had studied law in
+the Inner Temple; and his style of speech was the polished result of
+practice in the English political clubs, in Congress, and at the
+bar.[1258] There were few men in America with more richly stored or
+better trained minds. He was a precise Latinist and a caustic wit. When,
+during the debate, some of the Constitutionalist speakers used Latin
+phrases with a wrong pronunciation, Grayson, _sotto voce_, would correct
+them. Once he remarked, loud enough to be heard by the other members
+whom he set roaring with laughter, that he was not surprised that men
+who were about to vote away the liberties of a living people should take
+such liberties with a dead language.
+
+Grayson now brought into action the heaviest battery the
+Anti-Constitutionalists had in reserve. He did not blame Virginia's
+delegates to the Federal Convention, said Grayson suavely. It was
+unfortunate "that they did not do more for the general good of
+America"; but "I do not criminate or suspect the principles on which
+they acted." Of course, the Confederation had defects; but these were
+"inseparable from the nature of such [Republican] governments." The
+Constitutionalists had conjured up "phantoms and ideal dangers to lead
+us into measures which will ... be the ruin of our country." He argued
+that we were in no danger from our default in paying foreign loans; for
+most European nations were friendly. "Loans from nations are not like
+loans from private men. Nations lend money ... to one another from views
+of national interest. France was willing to pluck the fairest feather
+out of the British crown. This was her hope in aiding us"--a truth
+evident to every man in the Convention. Such loans were habitually
+delayed,--for instance, "the money which the Dutch borrowed of Henry IV
+is not yet paid"; these same Dutch "passed Queen Elizabeth's loan at a
+very considerable discount," and they "made their own terms with that
+contemptible monarch," James I.
+
+The people had no idea, asserted Grayson, that the Federal Convention
+would do more than to give the National Government power to levy a five
+per cent tariff, but since then "horrors have been greatly magnified."
+He ridiculed Randolph's prophecy of war and calamity. According to
+Randolph, "we shall be ruined and disunited forever, unless we adopt
+this Constitution. Pennsylvania and Maryland are to fall upon us from
+the north, like the Goths and Vandals of old; the Algerines, whose
+flat-sided vessels never came farther than Madeira, are to fill the
+Chesapeake with mighty fleets, and to attack us on our front; the
+Indians are to invade us with numerous armies on our rear, in order to
+convert our cleared lands into hunting-grounds; and the Carolinians,
+from the South (mounted on alligators, I presume), are to come and
+destroy our cornfields, and eat up our little children! These,
+sir, are the mighty dangers which await us if we reject [the
+Constitution]--dangers which are merely imaginary, and ludicrous
+in the extreme!"
+
+At bottom, thought Grayson, the controversy was between two
+opinions--"the one that mankind can only be governed by force; the other
+that they are capable" of governing themselves. Under the second theory,
+which Grayson favored, all that was necessary was to "give congress the
+regulation of commerce" and to "infuse new strength and spirit into the
+state governments."
+
+This, he remarked, was the proper course to pursue and to maintain "till
+the American character be marked with some certain features. We are yet
+too young to know what we are fit for." If this was not to be done and
+we must have a government by force, then Grayson "would have a President
+for life, choosing his successor at the same time; a Senate for life,
+with the powers of the House of Lords; and a triennial House of
+Representatives, with the powers of the House of Commons in
+England."[1259] Consider the Judiciary. Suppose a man seized at the same
+time under processes from Federal and State Courts: "Would they divide
+the man in two, as Solomon directed the child to be divided who was
+claimed by two women?"
+
+Evidently Grayson was making a strong impression as the day grew to a
+close, for Monroe, seconded by Henry, moved that the Convention adjourn
+that Grayson might go on next day; and Madison, plainly nervous,
+"insisted on going through the business regularly, according to the
+resolution of the house." Grayson consumed most of the next forenoon,
+displaying great learning, but sometimes drawing the most grotesque
+conclusions. For example, he said that Congress might grant such
+privileges that "the whole commerce of the United States may be
+exclusively carried on by merchants residing within the seat of
+government [now the District of Columbia] and those places of arms which
+may be purchased of the state legislature." The Constitution did not
+give equality of representation; for "the members of Delaware will
+assist in laying a tax on our slaves, of which they will pay no part
+whatever." In general, Grayson's conclusion was that "we have asked for
+bread and they have given us a stone."[1260]
+
+Pendleton answered. Henry's treatment of Randolph's unhappy reference to
+the people as a "herd" seems to have had some effect; for Pendleton
+regretted its use and tried to explain it away. Henry and he differed
+"at the threshold" on government. "I think government necessary to
+protect liberty.... Licentiousness" was "the natural offspring of
+liberty"; and "therefore, all free governments should endeavor to
+suppress it, or else it will ultimately overthrow that liberty of which
+it is the result." Henry "professes himself an advocate for the middling
+and lower classes of men, I profess to be a friend to the equal liberty
+of all men, from the palace to the cottage."
+
+The appeal to class hatred, said Pendleton, had been made by the
+opposition exclusively; the Constitutionalists knew no distinction among
+men except that of good and bad men. Why did the opposition make "the
+distinction of _well-born_ from others?... Whether a man be great or
+small, he is equally dear to me." He wished "for a regular government in
+order to secure and protect ... honest citizens ... the industrious
+farmer and planter." The purpose of the proposed National Government was
+to cherish and protect industry and property. Pendleton spoke at great
+length, but frequently his voice was so feeble that he could not be
+understood or reported.[1261]
+
+Madison followed with the fourth section of what might properly be
+called his treatise on government. Henry replied, striking again the
+master chord of the people's fears--that of a National Government as
+something alien. "The tyranny of Philadelphia may be like the tyranny of
+George III." That the Constitution must be amended "re-echoed from every
+part of the continent"; but that could not be done "if we ratify
+unconditionally." Henry remade his old points with his consummate art.
+
+He mentioned a new subject, however, of such high practical importance
+that it is astonishing that he had not advanced it at the beginning and
+driven it home persistently. "There are," he said, "thousands and
+thousands of contracts, whereof equity forbids an exact literal
+performance.... Pass that government [the Constitution] and you will be
+bound hand and foot.... An immense quantity of depreciated Continental
+paper money ... is in the hands of individuals to this day. The holders
+of this money may call for the nominal value, if this government be
+adopted. This State may be compelled to pay her proportion of that
+currency, pound for pound. Pass this government and you will be carried
+to the federal court ... and you will be compelled to pay, shilling for
+shilling."
+
+Returning to this point later on, Henry said: "Some of the states owe a
+great deal on account of paper money; others very little. Some of the
+Northern States have collected and barrelled up paper money. Virginia
+has sent thither her cash long ago. There is little or none of the
+Continental paper money retained in this State. Is it not their business
+to appreciate this money? Yes, and it will be your business to prevent
+it. But there will be a majority [in Congress] against you and you will
+be obliged to pay your share of this money, in its nominal value."[1262]
+
+Referring to Pendleton's assertion that the State Court had declared
+void legislative acts which violated the State Constitution, Henry
+exclaimed: "Yes, sir, our judges opposed the acts of the legislature.
+We have this landmark to guide us. They had the fortitude to declare
+that they were the judiciary and would oppose unconstitutional acts. Are
+you sure your federal judiciary will act thus? Is that judiciary as well
+constructed, and as independent of the other branches, as our state
+judiciary? Where are your landmarks in this government? I will be bold
+to say you cannot find any in it. I take it as the highest encomium on
+this country [Virginia] that the acts of the legislature, if
+unconstitutional, are liable to be opposed by the judiciary."[1263]
+
+As usual, Henry ended with a fearsome picture and prophecy, this time of
+the danger to and destruction of Southern interests at the hands of the
+Northern majority. This, said he, "is a picture so horrid, so wretched,
+so dreadful, that I need no longer dwell upon it"; and he "dreaded the
+most iniquitous speculation and stock-jobbing, from the operation of
+such a system" as the Constitution provided.[1264] Madison replied--the
+first spontaneous part he had taken in the debate.[1265]
+
+The next morning the opposition centered their fire on the Mississippi
+question. Henry again demanded that the members of the Convention who
+had been in Congress should tell what had been done.[1266] The members
+of Congress--Lee, Monroe, Grayson, and Madison--then gave their
+versions of the Jay-Gardoqui transaction.[1267]
+
+The Constitutionalists rightly felt that "the whole scene has been
+conjured by Henry to affect the ruin of the new Constitution,"[1268] and
+that seasoned gladiator now confirmed their fears. He astutely threw the
+blame on Madison and answered the charge of the Constitutionalists that
+"we [the opposition] are scuffling for Kentucky votes and attending to
+local circumstances." With all of his address and power, Henry bore down
+upon the Mississippi question. Thus he appealed for Kentucky votes:
+"Shall we appear to care less for their interests than for that of
+distant people [the Spaniards]?"
+
+At Henry's word a vision rose before all eyes of the great American
+valley sustaining "a mighty population," farms, villages, towns, cities,
+colleges, churches, happiness, prosperity; and "the Mississippi covered
+with ships laden with foreign and domestic wealth"--a vision of a
+splendid West "the strength, the pride, and the flower of the
+Confederacy." And then quickly succeeded on the screen the picture of
+the deserted settlers, the West a wilderness, the Father of Waters
+flowing idly to the sea, unused by commerce, unadorned by the argosies
+of trade. Such, said he, would be the Mississippi under the Constitution
+"controlled by those who had no interest in its welfare."[1269]
+
+At last the Constitutionalists were stunned. For a while no one spoke.
+Pendleton, "his right hand grasping his crutch, sat silent and
+amazed."[1270] Nicholas, the dauntless, was first to recover himself,
+and repeated Marshall's argument on the Mississippi question. Evidently
+the opposition had lobbied effectively with the Kentucky members on that
+sore point; for, exclaimed Nicholas, "we have been alarmed about the
+loss of the Mississippi, in and _out_ of doors."[1271]
+
+The Constitutionalists strove mightily to break the force of Henry's
+_coup_ on the Kentucky delegates. He had "seen so many attempts made,"
+exclaimed Randolph, "and so many wrong inducements offered to influence
+the delegation from Kentucky," that he must speak his mind about
+it.[1272] Corbin called the Mississippi trick "reprehensible." And well
+might the Constitutionalists tremble; for in spite of all they could do,
+ten out of fourteen of the Kentucky delegates voted against ratifying
+the Constitution.
+
+That night Pendleton fell ill and John Tyler, "one of the staunchest
+opponents of the new Constitution," was elected Vice-President.[1273]
+The Mississippi question was dropped for the moment; the
+Constitutionalists rallied and carried Corbin's motion to debate the new
+Government clause by clause in accordance with the original resolution.
+Several sections of the first article were read and debated, Henry,
+Mason, and Grayson for the opposition; Madison bearing the burden of the
+debate for the Constitutionalists.
+
+The rich man and the poor, the State Government a thing of the "people"
+and the National Government something apart from the "people," were
+woven throughout the Anti-Constitutionalists' assaults. "Where,"
+exclaimed Henry, "are the purse and the sword of Virginia? They must go
+to Congress. What has become of your country? The Virginian government
+is but a name.... We are to be consolidated."[1274]
+
+The second week's debate closed with the advantage on the side of the
+opposition. Gouverneur Morris, the New York Constitutionalist, who,
+still on the ground, was watching the fight in Richmond and undoubtedly
+advising the Virginia Constitutionalists, reported to Hamilton in New
+York that "matters are not going so well in this State as the Friends of
+America could wish." The Anti-Constitutionalists had been making
+headway, not only through Henry's tremendous oratory, but also by other
+means; and the Constitutionalists acknowledged that their own arguments
+in debate were having little or no effect.
+
+"If, indeed, the Debates in Convention were alone attended to," wrote
+Gouverneur Morris, "a contrary Inference would be drawn for altho M^r.
+Henry is most warm and powerful in Declamation being perfectly Master of
+'Action Utterrance and Power of Speech to stir Men's Blood' yet the
+Weight of Argument is so strong on the Side of Truth as wholly to
+destroy even on weak Minds the Effects of his Eloquence. But there are
+as you well know certain dark Modes of operating on the Minds of Members
+which like contagious Diseases are only known by their Effects on the
+Frame and unfortunately our moral like our phisical Doctors are often
+mistaken in their Judgment from Diagnostics. Be of good Chear. My
+Religion steps in where my Understanding falters and I feel Faith as I
+loose Confidence. Things will yet go right but when and how I dare not
+predicate. So much for this dull Subject."[1275]
+
+"We have conjectured for some days," Madison advised Hamilton, "that the
+policy is to spin out the Session in order to receive overtures from
+your [New York's] Convention: or if that cannot be, to weary the members
+into a adjournment without taking any decision. It [is] presumed at the
+same time that they do not despair of carrying the point of previous
+amendments which is preferable game. The parties continue to be nearly
+balanced. If we have a majority at all, it does not exceed three or
+four. If we lose it Kentucke will be the cause; they are generally if
+not unanimously against us."[1276]
+
+On the back of Madison's letter, Henry Lee wrote one of his own to the
+New York Constitutionalist chieftain. "We possess as yet," said Lee, "in
+defiance of great exertions a majority, but very small indeed. A
+correspondence has certainly been opened thro a Mr. O.[swald] of
+Philad^a from the Malcontents of B. & N. Y. to us--it has its operation,
+but I believe we are still safe, unless the question of adjournment
+should be introduced, & love of home may induce some of our friends to
+abandon their principles."[1277]
+
+"The business is in the most ticklish state that can be imagined,"
+Madison informed Washington; "the majority will certainly be very small
+on whatever side it may finally lie; and I dare not encourage much
+expectation that it will be on the favorable side. Oswald of Philad^a
+has been here with letters for the anti-Federal leaders from N. York and
+probably Philad^a. He Staid a very short time here during which he was
+occasionally closeted with H----y M--s--n &c."[1278]
+
+On Monday the Anti-Constitutionalists were first in the field. They were
+by now displaying improved tactics. Henry opened on the dangers of a
+standing army. "If Congress shall say that the general welfare requires
+it, they may keep armies continually on foot.... They may billet them on
+the people at pleasure." This is "a most dangerous power! Its principles
+are despotic."[1279] Madison followed,[1280] and Mason, Corbin, and
+Grayson also spoke,[1281] the latter asserting that, under the
+Constitution, the States could not "command the militia" unless by
+implication.
+
+Here Marshall again took part in the debate.[1282] He asked whether
+Grayson was serious in stating that the Constitution left no power in
+the States over the militia unless by implication. Under the
+Constitution, State and National Governments "each derived its powers
+from the people, and each was to act according to the powers given it."
+Were "powers not given retained by implication?" asked Marshall. Was
+"this power [over the militia] not retained by the states, as they had
+not given it away?"
+
+It is true, he admitted, that "Congress may call forth the militia" for
+National purposes--"as to suppress insurrections and repel invasions";
+but the power given the States by the people "is not taken away, for the
+Constitution does not say so." The power of Congress over the ten miles
+square where the National Capital was to be located is "exclusive ...
+because it is expressed [in the Constitution] to be exclusive." Marshall
+contended that any power given Congress which before was in the States
+remained in both unless the Constitution said otherwise or unless there
+was incompatibility in its exercise. So the States would have the same
+control over the militia as formerly. "When invaded or in imminent
+danger they [the States] can engage in war."
+
+Grayson had said, declared Marshall, that if the National Government
+disciplined the militia, "they will form an aristocratic government,
+unsafe and unfit to be trusted." Grayson interrupted Marshall in an
+unsuccessful attempt to squirm out of the position in which the latter
+had placed him. He had only said that in its military features the
+Constitution "was so constructed as to form a great aristocratic body."
+
+Marshall retorted that "as the government was drawn from the people, the
+feelings and interests of the people would be attended to"; and,
+therefore, there would be no military aristocracy. "When the government
+is drawn from the people and depending on the people for its
+continuance, oppressive measures will not be attempted," argued
+Marshall, "as they will certainly draw on their authors the resentment
+of those on whom they depend." No! cried he: "On this government, thus
+depending on ourselves for its existence, I will rest my safety."
+
+Again Marshall expressed his military experience and instincts. If war
+should come "what government is able to protect you?" he asked. "Will
+any state depend on its own exertions?" No! If the National Government
+is not given the power "state will fall after state and be a sacrifice
+to the want of power in the general government." Uttering the motto of
+American Nationalism, which, long years afterward, he declared to have
+been the ruling maxim of his entire life, Marshall cried, "_United we
+are strong, divided we fall._" If the National militia cannot "draw the
+militia of one state to another ... every state must depend upon
+itself.... It requires a superintending power, ... to call forth the
+resources of all to protect all."
+
+Replying to Grayson's assertion that "a general regulation [of the
+militia] may be made to inflict punishments," Marshall asked whether
+Grayson imagined that a militia law would be "incapable of being
+changed?" Grayson's idea "supposes that men renounce their own
+interests." And "if Congress neglect our militia, we can arm them
+ourselves. Cannot Virginia import arms ... [and] put them into the hands
+of her militia men?" Marshall summed up with the statement that the
+States derived no powers from the Constitution "but retained them,
+though not acknowledged in any part of it."[1283]
+
+Marshall's speech must have been better than anything indicated in the
+stenographer's report; for the resourceful Grayson was moved to answer
+it at once[1284] and even Henry felt called upon to reply to it.[1285]
+Henry was very fond of Marshall; and this affection of the mature
+statesman for the rising young lawyer saved the latter in a furious
+political contest ten years afterwards.[1286] The debate was continued
+by Madison, Mason, Nicholas, Lee, Pendleton, and finally ended in a
+desultory conversation,[1287] but nothing important or notable was said
+in this phase of the debate. One statement, however, coming as it did
+from Mason, flashes a side-light on the prevailing feeling that the
+proposed National Government was something apart from the people. Mason
+saw the most frightful dangers from the unlimited power of Congress over
+the ten miles square provided for the National Capital.
+
+"This ten miles square," cried Mason, "may set at defiance the laws of
+the surrounding states, and may, like the custom of the superstitious
+days of our ancestors, become the sanctuary of the blackest crimes. Here
+the Federal Courts are to sit.... What sort of a jury shall we have
+within the ten miles square?" asked Mason, and himself answered, "The
+immediate creatures of the government. What chance will poor men get?...
+If an attempt should be made to establish tyranny over the people, here
+are ten miles square where the greatest offender may meet protection. If
+any of the officers or creatures [of the National Government] should
+attempt to oppress the people or should actually perpetrate the blackest
+deed, he has nothing to do but to get into the ten miles square."[1288]
+
+The debate then turned upon amending the Constitution by a Bill of
+Rights, the Constitutionalists asserting that such an amendment was not
+necessary, and the opposition that it was absolutely essential. The
+question was "whether rights not given up were reserved?" Henry, as
+usual, was vivid. He thought that, without a Bill of Rights, "excisemen
+may come in multitudes ... go into your cellars and rooms, and search,
+and ransack, and measure, everything you eat, drink, and wear." And the
+common law! The Constitution did not guarantee its preservation.
+"Congress may introduce the practice of the civil law, in preference to
+that of the common law; ... the practice of ... torturing, to extort a
+confession of the crime.... We are then lost and undone."[1289]
+
+The slavery question next got attention, Mason, Madison, Tyler, Henry,
+and Nicholas continuing the discussion.[1290] Under the first clause of
+the tenth section of article one, Henry again brought up the payment of
+the Continental debt. "He asked gentlemen who had been high in
+authority, whether there were not some state speculations on this
+matter. He had been informed that some states had acquired vast
+quantities of that money, which they would be able to recover in its
+nominal value of the other states." Mason said "that he had been
+informed that some states had speculated most enormously in this matter.
+Many individuals had speculated so as to make great fortunes on the ruin
+of their fellow-citizens." Madison in reply assured the Convention that
+the Constitution itself placed the whole subject exactly where it was
+under the Confederation; therefore, said he, it is "immaterial who holds
+those great quantities of paper money,... or at what value they
+acquired it."[1291] To this extent only was the point raised which
+became most vital when the National Government was established and under
+way.[1292]
+
+Madison's point, said Mason, was good as far as it went; but, under the
+Confederation, Congress could discharge the Continental money "at its
+depreciated value," which had gone down "to a thousand for one." But
+under the Constitution "we must pay it shilling for shilling or at least
+at the rate of one for forty"; which would take "the last particle of
+our property.... We may be taxed for centuries, to give advantage to a
+few particular states in the Union and a number of rapacious
+speculators." Henry then turned Madison's point that "the new
+Constitution would place us in the same situation with the old"; for
+Henry saw "clearly" that "this paper money must be discharged shilling
+for shilling."[1293] Then Henry brought up the scarecrow of the British
+debts, which had more to do with the opposition to the Constitution in
+Virginia[1294] than any other specific subject, excepting, perhaps, the
+threatened loss of the Mississippi and the supreme objection that a
+National Government would destroy the States and endanger "liberty."
+
+The opposition had now come to the point where they were fighting the
+separate provisions of the Constitution one by one. When the first
+section of the second article, concerning the Executive Department, was
+reached, the opposition felt themselves on safe ground. The Constitution
+here sapped the "great fundamental principle of responsibility in
+republicanism," according to Mason.[1295] Grayson wanted to know how the
+President would be punished if he abused his power. "Will you call him
+before the Senate? They are his counsellors and partners in
+crime."[1296]
+
+The treaty-making power, the command of the army, the method of electing
+the President, the failure of the Constitution to provide for his
+rotation in office, all were, to the alarmed Anti-Constitutionalists,
+the chains and shackles of certain and inevitable despotism. The simple
+fears of the unlettered men who sullenly had fought the Constitution in
+the Massachusetts Convention were stated and urged throughout the great
+debate in Virginia by some of her ablest and most learned sons. Madison
+was at his best in his exposition of the treaty-making power. But if the
+debate on the Executive Department had any effect whatever in getting
+votes for or against the Constitution, the advantage was with the
+enemies of the proposed new Government.
+
+Grayson wrote to Dane: "I think we got a Vote by debating the powers of
+the President. This, you will observe, is confidential." But this was
+cold comfort, for, he added, "our affairs ... are in the most ticklish
+situation. We have got ten out of thirteen of the Kentucke members but
+we wanted the whole: & I don't know that we have got one yet of the four
+upper counties: this is an important point & which both sides are
+contending for by every means in their power. I believe it is absolutely
+certain that we have got 80 votes on our side which are inflexible &
+that eight persons are fluctuating & undecided."[1297]
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1216] "I am to acknowledge yours of the 19th of May, which reached me a
+few days since." (Gouverneur Morris from Richmond, June 13, 1788, to
+Hamilton in New York; Hamilton MSS., Lib. Cong.)
+
+[1217] Robert Morris to Horatio Gates, Richmond, June 12, 1788; MS.,
+N.Y. Pub. Lib. "James [Wilson] the Caladonian, Leut. Gen. of the
+myrmidons of power, under Robert [Morris] the cofferer, who with his
+aid-de-camp, _Gouvero_ [Gouverneur] the cunning man, has taken the field
+in Virginia." (_Centinel_, no. 10, Jan. 12, 1788; reprinted in McMaster
+and Stone, 631.)
+
+Robert Morris was in Richmond, March 21, 1788. (Morris to _Independent
+Gazetteer_ on that date; _ib._, 787, denying the charge that paper had
+made against him. See _supra_, chap. X.) He was in Richmond in May and
+paid John Marshall four pounds, four shillings as a "retainer." (Account
+Book, May 2, 1788.) He had heavy business interests in Virginia; see
+Braxton _vs._ Willing, Morris & Co. (4 Call, 288). Marshall was his
+lawyer.
+
+[1218] Morris to Gates, June 12, 1788, _supra_. Morris's remark about
+depredations on his purse may or may not refer to the work of the
+Convention. He was always talking in this vein about his expenses; he
+had lost money in his Virginia business ventures; and, having his family
+with him, may, for that reason, have found his Southern trip expensive.
+My own belief is that no money was used to get votes; for Henry, Mason,
+and Grayson surely would have heard of and, if so, denounced such an
+attempt.
+
+[1219] Madison to Hamilton, June 9, 1788; Hamilton MSS., Lib. Cong.
+
+[1220] Grayson to Lamb, June 9, 1788; quoted in Leake: _Lamb_, 311.
+
+[1221] Grayson to Lamb, June 9, 1788; quoted in Leake: _Lamb_, 311.
+
+[1222] Grigsby, i, 149-50.
+
+[1223] The new tavern at Richmond--competitor of Formicola's inn.
+
+[1224] Grigsby, i, 151.
+
+[1225] Kentucky had fourteen members. On the final vote, the
+Constitution was ratified by a majority of only 10 out of 168 members
+present and voting. At the opening of the Convention, Grayson said that
+"the district of Kentucke is with us, and if we can get all of the four
+Counties, which lye on the Ohio between the Pennsylv^y line and Big
+Sandy Creek, the day is our own." (Grayson to Dane, June 4, 1788; Dane
+MSS., Lib. Cong.) The Constitutionalists finally succeeded in getting
+four of these Kentucky votes.
+
+[1226] The Jay-Gardoqui agreement.
+
+[1227] Jefferson to Donald, Feb. 7, 1788; Jefferson's _Writings_:
+Washington, ii, 355; and see Monroe to Jefferson, July 12, 1788;
+_Writings_: Hamilton, i, 186-87.
+
+[1228] Elliott, iii, 170-71. The reporter noted that "Mr. Henry in a
+very animated manner expatiated on the evil and pernicious tendency of
+keeping secret the common proceedings of government." (_Ib._, 170.)
+
+[1229] Grigsby, i, footnote to 157.
+
+[1230] Elliott, iii, 150-76.
+
+[1231] Lee, while pretending to praise the militia, really condemned it
+severely; and cited the militia's panic and flight at Guilford
+Court-House, which lost the battle to the Americans. "Had the line been
+supported that day," said he, "Cornwallis, instead of surrendering at
+Yorktown, would have laid down his arms at Guilford." (Elliott, iii,
+178.)
+
+[1232] Randolph's letter explaining why he had refused to sign the
+Constitution.
+
+[1233] This was the only quarrel of the Convention which threatened
+serious results. A duel was narrowly averted. Colonel William Cabell, as
+Henry's friend, called on Randolph that night; but matters were arranged
+and the tense situation relieved when it was learned, next morning, that
+no duel would take place. (Grigsby, i, 162-65.)
+
+[1234] Elliott, iii, 187-207.
+
+[1235] Grigsby, i, 167-68.
+
+[1236] Elliott, iii, 207-22.
+
+[1237] "When any other member spoke, the members of the audience would,
+in half an hour, be going out or moving from their seats." (Winston to
+Wirt, quoted in Henry, ii, 347.) Henry spoke every day of the twenty-two
+days' debate, except five; and often spoke several times a day. (_Ib._,
+350.)
+
+[1238] Grigsby, i, 176.
+
+[1239] Marshall's Account Book. The entry is: "[June] 2 Paid for coat
+for self 1." Two months earlier Marshall paid "for Nankin for breeches
+for self 1.16." (_Ib._, April 1, 1788.) Yet about the same time he spent
+one pound, nine shillings at a "barbecue."
+
+[1240] Grigsby, i, 176.
+
+[1241] Marshall had provided for entertaining during the Convention. His
+Account Book shows the following entry on May 8, 1788: "Paid McDonald
+for wine 20" (pounds); and "bottles 9/" (shillings). This was the
+largest quantity of wine Marshall had purchased up to that time.
+
+[1242] Marshall's reputation for "eloquence" grew, as we shall see,
+until his monumental work on the Supreme Bench overshadowed his fame as
+a public speaker.
+
+[1243] Elliott, iii, 222.
+
+[1244] Marshall's idea was that government should be honest and
+efficient; a government by the people, whether good or bad, as a method
+of popular self-development and progress did not appeal to him as much
+as excellence in government.
+
+[1245] Marshall here referred to the case of Josiah Philips, and fell
+into the same error as had Randolph, Henry, and others. (See _supra_,
+393, footnote 1.)
+
+[1246] Humphrey Marshall, i, 254. Humphrey Marshall finally voted for
+the Constitution, against the wishes of his constituents. (Scott,
+135-38.)
+
+[1247] See vol. III of this work.
+
+[1248] See entire speech in Elliott, iii, 223-36.
+
+[1249] Some of the sentences used in this unprepared speech are similar
+to those found in the greatest of his opinions as Chief Justice. (See
+vol. III of this work.)
+
+[1250] Grigsby, i, 183-85.
+
+[1251] Elliott, iii, 236.
+
+[1252] _Ib._, 236-47.
+
+[1253] _Ib._, 247-62.
+
+[1254] _Ib._, 254.
+
+[1255] This caustic reference was to the members of the Convention who
+had been Tories. (Grigsby, i, 193; Elliott, iii, 269; also Rowland, ii,
+240.) As we have seen most of the Tories and Revolutionary soldiers were
+united for the Constitution. These former enemies were brought together
+by a common desire for a strong National Government.
+
+[1256] Elliott, iii, 262-72.
+
+[1257] _Ib._, 272-73.
+
+[1258] Grigsby, i, 194-205. William Grayson was one of the strongest men
+in Virginia. He became Virginia's first Senator under the Constitution.
+(See _infra_, vol. II, chap. II.) He filled and satisfied the public eye
+of his day as a soldier, scholar, and statesman. And yet he has dropped
+out of history almost completely. He is one of those rare personalities
+whom the whims of time and events have so obscured that they are to be
+seen but dimly through the mists. His character and mind can be measured
+but vaguely by fragments buried in neglected pages. William Grayson's
+talents, work, and vanished fame remind one of the fine ability, and all
+but forgotten career of Sir James Mackintosh.
+
+[1259] Elliott, iii, 279.
+
+[1260] Elliott, iii, 273-93 (especial passage, 280).
+
+[1261] Elliott, iii, 293-305.
+
+[1262] Elliott, iii, 319-22; and see chap. II, vol. II, of this work.
+Although this, like other economic phases of the contest, was of
+immediate, practical and serious concern to the people, Henry touched
+upon it only twice thereafter and each time but briefly; and Mason
+mentioned it only once. This fact is another proof of the small place
+which this grave part of the economic problem occupied in the minds of
+the foes of the Constitution, in comparison with that of "liberty" as
+endangered by a strong National Government.
+
+[1263] Elliott, iii, 325. At this time the fears of the
+Anti-Constitutionalists were principally that the powers given the
+National Government would "swallow up" the State Governments; and it was
+not until long afterward that objection was made to the right and power
+of the National Supreme Court to declare a law of Congress
+unconstitutional. (See vol. III of this work.)
+
+[1264] _Ib._, 313-28.
+
+[1265] _Ib._, 328-32.
+
+[1266] _Ib._, 332-33.
+
+[1267] Elliott, iii, 333-51.
+
+[1268] Grigsby, i, 230 and 243.
+
+[1269] _Ib._, 245; Elliott, iii, 251-56. This, the real vote-getting
+part of Henry's speech, is not reported by Robertson.
+
+[1270] Grigsby, i, 245.
+
+[1271] Elliott, iii, 356.
+
+[1272] _Ib._, 361-65.
+
+[1273] Grigsby, i, 248.
+
+[1274] Elliott, iii, 366-410.
+
+[1275] Gouverneur Morris from Richmond to Hamilton in New York, June 13,
+1788; Hamilton MSS., Lib. Cong.
+
+[1276] Madison to Hamilton, June 16, 1788; Hamilton MSS., Lib. Cong.
+
+[1277] Lee to Hamilton; Hamilton MSS., Lib. Cong. The first paragraph of
+Lee's letter to Hamilton shows that the latter was helping his friend
+financially; for Lee wrote, "God bless you & your efforts to save me
+from the manifold purse misfortunes which have & continue to oppress me,
+whenever I attempt to aid human nature. You will do what you think best,
+& whatever you do I will confirm--Hazard has acted the part of a decided
+rascal, & if I fail in my right, I may not in personal revenge." (_Ib._)
+
+[1278] Madison to Washington, June 13, 1788; _Writings_: Hunt, v, 179
+and footnote.
+
+[1279] Elliott, iii, 410-12.
+
+[1280] _Ib._, 412-15.
+
+[1281] _Ib._, 415-18.
+
+[1282] Elliott, iii, 419-20.
+
+[1283] Elliott, iii, 419-21.
+
+[1284] _Ib._, 421-22.
+
+[1285] _Ib._, 422-24.
+
+[1286] Henry turned the tide in Marshall's favor in the latter's hard
+fight for Congress in 1798. (_Infra_, vol. II, chap. X.)
+
+[1287] Elliott, iii, 434.
+
+[1288] Elliott, iii, 431. Throughout the entire debate Henry often
+sounded his loudest alarms on the supreme power of Congress over the ten
+miles square where the National Capital was to be located; and, indeed,
+this seems to have been one of the chief sources of popular
+apprehension. The fact that the people at large looked upon the proposed
+National Government as something foreign, something akin to the British
+rule which had been overthrown, stares the student in the face wherever
+he turns among the records of the Constitutional period. It is so
+important that it cannot too often be repeated.
+
+Patrick Henry, of course, who was the supreme popular orator of our
+history and who drew his strength from his perfect knowledge of the
+public mind and heart, might have been expected to make appeals based on
+this general fear. But when such men as George Mason and William
+Grayson, who belonged to Virginia's highest classes and who were
+carefully educated men of conservative temper, did the same thing, we
+see how deep and strong was the general feeling against any central
+National power.
+
+[1289] Elliott, iii, 447-49.
+
+[1290] _Ib._, 452-57.
+
+[1291] Elliott, iii, 473.
+
+[1292] It is exceedingly strange that in the debates on the Constitution
+in the various State Conventions, so little, comparatively, was made of
+the debt and the speculations in it. The preciousness of "liberty" and
+the danger of "monarchy," the security of the former through State
+sovereignty and the peril of the latter through National Government,
+received far more attention than did the economic problem.
+
+[1293] Elliott, 472-74. And see vol. II, chap. II, of this work.
+
+[1294] "The recovery of the British debts can no longer be postponed and
+there now seems to be a moral certainty that your patrimony will all go
+to satisfy the unjust debt from your papa to the Hanburys." (Tucker to
+his stepsons, June 29, 1788, quoted in Conway, 106; and see comment,
+_ib._)
+
+[1295] Elliott, iii, 484.
+
+[1296] _Ib._, 491.
+
+[1297] Grayson to Dane, June 18, 1788; Dane MSS., Lib. Cong. This shows
+the loose management of the Anti-Constitutionalist politicians: for
+Kentucky had fourteen votes in the Convention, instead of thirteen, as
+Grayson declared; and so uncertain was the outcome that to omit a single
+vote in calculating the strength of the contending forces was
+unpardonable in one who was, and was accounted to be, a leader.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE STRATEGY OF VICTORY
+
+    Washington's influence carried this government [Virginia's
+    ratification of the Constitution]. (Monroe to Jefferson, July 12,
+    1788.)
+
+    If I shall be in the minority, I shall have those painful
+    sensations which arise from a conviction of _being overpowered in
+    a good cause_. Yet I will be a peaceable citizen. (Henry, in his
+    last debate.)
+
+
+Now came the real tug-of-war. The debate on the Judiciary was the
+climax of the fight. And here John Marshall was given the place of
+chief combatant. The opposition felt that again they might influence
+one or two delegates by mere debate, and they prepared to attack
+with all their might. "Tomorrow the Judiciary comes on when we
+[Anti-Constitutionalists] shall exert our whole force. It is expected we
+shall get two Votes if the point is conducted in an able & masterly
+manner," Grayson advised the opposition headquarters in New York.[1298]
+
+The Judiciary was, indeed, the weakest part of the Constitutionalists'
+battle line. The large amount of the British debts; the feeling, which
+Virginia's legislation against the payment of them had fostered, that
+the day would be far distant and perhaps would never come when those
+debts would have to be paid; the provision of the Constitution
+concerning the making of treaties, which were to be the supreme law of
+the land; the certainty that the Treaty of Peace would be covered by the
+new fundamental law; the fear that another treaty would be negotiated
+governing the British obligations more specifically, if the
+Constitution were adopted; the fact that such a treaty and all other
+National laws would be enforced by National Courts--all these and many
+other germane considerations, such as land grants and confused titles,
+were focused on the fears of the planters.
+
+The creditor class were equally anxious and alarmed. "If the new
+Constitution should not be adopted or something similar, we are of the
+opinion that such is the interest and influence of Debtors in our State
+that every thing ... will be at Risk" was the opinion of the legal
+representatives in Virginia of the Collins mercantile house.[1299]
+
+Great quantities of land granted under the Royal Government by Great
+Britain, but which the State had confiscated, had been bought and
+settled by thousands of men whose families now lived upon this land; and
+these settlers felt that, in some way, their titles would be in danger
+if they were dragged before a National Court.[1300]
+
+The Constitutionalists did not underestimate their peril, and at no
+point during the three weeks' debate did they prepare for battle with
+greater care. They returned to their original tactics and delivered the
+first blow. Pendleton, of course, was the ideal man to lead the
+Constitutionalist attack. And never in his whole life did that
+extraordinary man make a more convincing argument.[1301] Mason tried his
+best to answer Pendleton, although he admitted that the Judiciary "lies
+out of my line." Still he was clear, in his own mind, that the National
+Judiciary was "so constructed as to destroy the dearest rights of the
+community," and thought it would "destroy the state governments,
+whatever may have been the intention."
+
+While Mason spoke with uncertainty, it was in this brief speech that
+this eminent Virginian uncovered the hidden thought and purpose of many
+of the Constitutionalists; and uttered an unconscious prophecy which it
+was the destiny of John Marshall to realize. "There are," said Mason,
+"many gentlemen in the United States who think it right that we should
+have one great, national, consolidated government, and that it was
+better to bring it about slowly and imperceptibly rather than all at
+once. This is no reflection on any man, for I mean none. To those who
+think that one national, consolidated government is best for America,
+this extensive judicial authority will be agreeable"; and he further
+declared, "I know from my own knowledge many worthy gentlemen" of this
+opinion. Madison demanded of Mason "an unequivocal explanation." Mason
+exonerated Madison, personally, and admitted that "neither did I ever
+hear any of the delegates from this state advocate it." Thus did the
+extreme courtesy of the Virginia debate cause the opposition to yield
+one of its most effective weapons.[1302]
+
+But Mason made the most out of the Constitution's proposed Judiciary
+establishment. Take it at its best, said he: "Even suppose the poor man
+should be able to obtain judgment in the inferior court, for the
+greatest injury, what justice can he get on appeal? Can he go four or
+five hundred miles? Can he stand the expense attending it?"[1303] As to
+the jurisdiction of National Courts in controversies between citizens of
+different States, "Can we not trust our state courts with a decision of
+these?" asked Mason. "What!" cried he, "carry me a thousand miles from
+home--from my family and business--to where, perhaps, it will be
+impossible for me to prove that I paid" the money sued for.
+
+"Is not a jury excluded absolutely?" by the Constitution, asked Mason.
+And even if a jury be possible in National Courts, still, under the
+Constitution, where is there any right to challenge jurors? "If I be
+tried in the Federal Court for a crime which may effect my life, have I
+a right of challenging or excepting to the jury?" This omission was a
+serious and immediate peril to great numbers of Virginians, said he. "I
+dread the ruin that will be wrought on thirty thousand of our people
+[deriving their titles through Fairfax] with respect to disputed lands.
+I am personally endangered as an inhabitant of the Northern Neck." Under
+the Constitution "the people of that part will be obliged ... to pay the
+quit rent of their lands." This was to Mason, "a most serious
+alarm...."
+
+"Lord Fairfax's title was clear and undisputed," he continued. The State
+had "taxed his lands as private property"; but "after his death"
+Virginia, in 1782, "sequestered the quit rents due at his death, in the
+hands of his debtors. The following year" they were restored to his
+executor. Then came the Treaty of Peace providing against "further
+confiscation"; but, "after this, an act of Assembly passed, confiscating
+his [Fairfax's] whole property."
+
+So, concluded Mason, "as Lord Fairfax's title was indisputably good, and
+as treaties [under the Constitution] are to be the supreme law of the
+land, will not his representatives be able to recover all in the federal
+court? How will gentlemen like to pay an additional tax on lands in the
+Northern Neck?" Yet that was what they would be compelled to do if the
+Constitution were adopted. Thus they would be "doubly taxed." "Were I
+going to my grave, I would appeal to Heaven that I think it [this]
+true," fervently avowed the snowy-haired Mason.
+
+Thus Mason made one of the cleverest appeals of the whole debate to the
+personal and pecuniary interests of a considerable number of the people
+and to several members of the Convention. In this artful and somewhat
+demagogic argument he called attention to the lands involved in other
+extensive land grants. As we have seen, John Marshall was then
+personally interested in the Fairfax title,[1304] and he was soon to
+possess it; in after years, it was to develop one of the great legal
+contests of history; and the court over which Marshall was to preside
+was to settle it definitively.
+
+Although not a lawyer,[1305] Madison now made an argument which was one
+of the distinguished intellectual performances of the Convention. But he
+did not comprehend the sweep of the National Judiciary's power. "It is
+not in the power of individuals," said Madison, "to call any state into
+court." It may be that this statement influenced John Marshall, who soon
+followed, to repeat it.[1306]
+
+But it was Henry who gave the subject of the Judiciary that thrill,
+anticipation of which filled every seat on the floor and packed the
+galleries. "Mournful," to Henry, were the recollections which the debate
+already had produced. "The purse is gone; the sword is gone," and now
+the scales of Justice are to be given away. Even the trial by jury is to
+be abandoned. Henry spoke long and effectively; and, extravagant as most
+of his statements were, his penetrating mind was sometimes more nearly
+right in its forecast than even that of Madison.
+
+As he closed, the daring of the Patrick Henry of 1765 and 1775 displayed
+itself. "Shall Americans give up that [jury trial] which nothing could
+induce the English people to relinquish?" he exclaimed. "The idea is
+abhorrent to my mind. There was a time when we should have spurned at
+it.... Old as I am, it is probable I may yet have the appellation of
+_rebel_.... As this government [Constitution] stands, I despise and
+abhor it," cried the unrivaled orator of the people.[1307]
+
+Up now rose John Marshall, whom the Constitutionalist leaders had agreed
+upon for the critical task of defending the Judiciary article. Marshall,
+as we have seen, had begun the practice of law in Richmond only five
+years before; and during much of this period his time and attention had
+been taken by his duties as a delegate in the Legislature. Yet his
+intellectual strength, the power of his personality, his likableness,
+and all the qualities of his mind and character had so impressed every
+one that, by common consent, he was the man for the hour and the work at
+hand. And Marshall had carefully prepared his speech.[1308]
+
+The Judiciary provided by the Constitution was, said Marshall "a great
+improvement on that system from which we are now departing. Here [in the
+Constitution] are tribunals appointed for _the decision of
+controversies_ which were before either not at all, or improperly,
+provided for. That many benefits will result from this to the members of
+the collective society, every one confesses." The National Judiciary
+deserved the support of all unless it was "defectively organized and so
+constructed as to injure, instead of accommodate, the convenience of the
+people."
+
+After the "fair and able" discussion by its supporters, Marshall
+supposed that its opponents "would be convinced of the impropriety of
+some of their objections. But," he lamented, "they still continue the
+same opposition." And what was their complaint? This: That National
+Courts would not be as fair and impartial as State Courts.
+
+But why not? asked Marshall. Was it because of their tenure of office or
+the method of choosing them? "What is it that makes us trust our [State]
+judges? Their independence in office and manner of appointment."[1309]
+But, under the Constitution, are not National judges "chosen with as
+much wisdom as the judges of the state governments? Are they not
+equally, if not more independent? If so," will they not be equally fair
+and impartial? "If there be as much wisdom and knowledge in the United
+States as in a particular state," will they "not be equally exercised in
+the selection of [National] judges?" Such were the questions which
+Marshall poured upon the Anti-Constitutionalists.
+
+The kernel of the objection to National Courts was, declared Marshall,
+"a belief that there will not be a fair trial had in those courts." But
+it was plain, he argued, that "we are as secure there as anywhere else.
+What mischief results from some causes being tried there [in the
+National Courts]?" Independent judges "wisely appointed ... will never
+countenance an unfair trial." Assuming this to be true "what are the
+subjects of the jurisdiction" of National Courts? To Mason's objection
+that Congress could create any number of inferior courts it might deem
+necessary, Marshall replied that he had supposed that those who feared
+Congress would say that "no inferior courts" would be established, "but
+that we should be dragged to the centre of the Union." On the contrary,
+the greater the number of these inferior courts, the less danger "of
+being dragged to the centre of the United States."
+
+Mason's point, that the jurisdiction of National Courts would extend to
+all cases, was absurd, argued Marshall. For "has the government of the
+United States power to make laws on every subject?... laws affecting the
+mode of transferring property, or contracts, or claims, between citizens
+of the same state? Can" Congress "go beyond the delegated powers?"
+Certainly not. Here Marshall stated the doctrine which, fifteen years
+later, he was to announce from the Supreme Bench:--
+
+"If," he asserted, "they [Congress] were to make a law not warranted by
+any of the powers enumerated, it would be considered by the [National]
+judges as an infringement of the Constitution which they are to guard.
+They would not consider such a law as coming under their jurisdiction.
+_They would declare it void_.... To what quarter will you look for
+protection from an infringement of the Constitution, if you will not
+give the power to the judiciary? There is no other body that can afford
+such a protection."
+
+The National Courts would not supplant the State tribunals. The
+Constitution did not "exclude state courts" from those cases which they
+now possess. "They have concurrent jurisdiction with the Federal courts
+in those cases in which the latter have cognizance," expounded the
+nascent jurist. "Are not controversies respecting lands claimed under
+the grants of different states the only controversies between citizens
+of the same state which the Federal Judiciary can take [exclusive]
+cognizance of?"
+
+The work of the National Courts would make the State Courts more
+efficient because it would relieve them of a mass of business of which
+they were not able to dispose. "Does not every gentleman know that the
+causes in our [State] courts are more numerous than they can decide?"
+asked Marshall. "Look at the dockets," he exclaimed. "You will find them
+crowded with suits which the life of man will not see determined.[1310]
+If some of these suits be carried to other courts, will it be wrong?
+They will still have business enough."
+
+How vain and fanciful, argued Marshall, the contention that National
+judges would screen "officers of the [National] government from merited
+punishment." Does anybody really believe that "the Federal sheriff will
+go into a poor man's house and beat him or abuse his family and the
+Federal court will protect him," as Mason and Henry had said would be
+the case? Even if a law should be passed authorizing "such great insults
+to the people ... it would be void," declared Marshall. Thus he stated
+for the second time the doctrine which he was, from the Supreme Bench,
+to put beyond controversy.
+
+Why, asked Marshall, "discriminate [in the Constitution] between ...
+chancery, admiralty and the common law" as the Anti-Constitutionalists
+insisted upon doing? "Why not leave it to Congress? They ... would not
+wantonly infringe your rights." If they did, they would "render
+themselves hateful to the people at large." Therefore, "something may be
+left to the legislature [Congress] freely chosen by ourselves from among
+ourselves, who are to share the burdens imposed upon the community and
+who can be changed at our pleasure. Where power may be trusted and there
+is no motive to abuse it, it ... is as well to leave it undetermined as
+to fix it in the Constitution."
+
+These sentences had prophecy in them. Indeed, they were to be repeated
+almost without change by the same man that now uttered them in debate,
+when he should ascend to the ultimate place of official interpretation
+of our fundamental law. While Hamilton's immortal state papers
+profoundly impressed Marshall, as we shall see, they were not, as many
+have supposed, the source of his convictions. In the Virginia
+Constitutional Convention of 1788 Marshall stated in debate the elements
+of most of his immortal Nationalist opinions.
+
+But there was one exception. As to "disputes between _a state and the
+citizens of another state_," Marshall hoped "that no gentleman will
+think that a state will be called at the bar of a Federal court.... It
+is not rational to suppose that the Sovereign power should be dragged
+before a court. The intent is to enable states to recover claims of
+individuals residing in other states." If there were partiality in
+this--"if an individual cannot ... obtain judgment against a state,
+though he may be sued by a state"--it was a difficulty which could "not
+be avoided"; let the claimant apply to the State Legislature for relief.
+
+The objection to suits in the National Courts between citizens of
+different States went "too far," contended Marshall. Such actions "may
+not in general be absolutely necessary," but surely in some such cases
+"the citizen ... ought to be able to recur to this [National] tribunal."
+What harm could it do? "Will he get more than justice there? What has he
+to get? Justice! Shall we object to this because the citizen of another
+state can obtain justice without applying to our state courts?" Indeed,
+"it may be necessary" in causes affected by "the laws and regulations of
+commerce" and "in cases of debt and some other controversies."... "In
+claims for land it is not necessary--but it is not dangerous."
+
+These suits between citizens of different States "will be instituted in
+the state where the defendant resides, and nowhere else," expounded the
+youthful interpreter of the Constitution; and the case "will be
+determined by the laws of the state where the contract was made.
+According to those laws, and those only, can it be decided." That was no
+"novelty," but "a principle" long recognized in the jurisprudence of
+Virginia. "The laws which governed the contract at its formation, govern
+it in its decision." National Courts, in such controversies, would
+"preserve the peace of the Union," because if courts of different States
+should not give justice between citizens of those States, the result
+would be "disputes between the states." Also the jurisdiction of
+National Courts in "controversies between a state and a foreign
+state ... will be the means of preventing disputes with foreign
+nations"; for since "the previous consent of the parties is
+necessary ... each party will acquiesce."
+
+As to "the exclusion of trial by jury, in this case," Marshall asked,
+"Does the word _court_ only mean the judges? Does not the determination
+of the jury necessarily lead to the judgment of the court? Is there
+anything" in the Constitution "which gives the [National] judges
+exclusive jurisdiction of matters of fact? What is the object of a jury
+trial? To inform the court of the facts." If "a court has cognizance of
+facts," it certainly "can make inquiry by a jury," dryly observed
+Marshall.
+
+He ridiculed Mason's and Henry's statement that juries, in the ten miles
+square which was to be the seat of the National Government, would be
+"mere tools of parties with which he would not trust his person or
+property." "What!" exclaimed Marshall, "Will no one stay there but the
+tools and officers of the government?... Will there not be independent
+merchants and respectable gentlemen of fortune ... worthy farmers and
+mechanics" in the National Capital just as there were in Richmond? And
+"will the officers of the government become improper to be on a jury?
+What is it to the government whether this man or that man succeeds? It
+is all one thing."
+
+As to jury trial not being guaranteed by the National Constitution in
+civil cases, neither did Virginia's Constitution, said Marshall, "direct
+trials by jury"; and the provision was "merely recommendatory"
+concerning jury trials in the Bill of Rights, which, as everybody knew,
+was no part of the State Constitution. "Have you a jury trial when a
+judgment is obtained on a replevin bond or by default?" Or "when a
+motion is made by the Commonwealth against an individual ... or by one
+joint obligor against another, to recover sums paid as security." Of
+course not! "Yet they are all civil cases.... The Legislature of
+Virginia does not give a trial by jury where it is not necessary, but
+gives it wherever it is thought expedient." And Congress would do the
+same, he reassured the Convention.
+
+Mason's objection, that the right to challenge jurors was not guaranteed
+in the Constitution, was trivial, said Marshall. Did Virginia's
+Constitution make such a guaranty? Did the British Constitution do so by
+any express provision? Was jury challenge secured by Magna Charta? Or by
+the Bill of Rights?[1311] Every Virginian knew that they were not. "This
+privilege is founded in their [English people's] laws," Marshall
+reminded the Convention. So why insert it in the American Constitution?
+
+Thus the inhabitants of the Northern Neck or anybody else were not in
+danger on that score. Neither were they placed in jeopardy in any other
+way by the Constitution. Here Marshall made a curious argument. Mason,
+he said, had "acknowledged that there was no complete title[1312] [in
+Fairfax].... Was he [Mason] not satisfied that the right of the legal
+representatives of the proprietor [to collect quitrents] did not exist
+at the time he mentioned [the date of the Treaty of Peace]? If so, it
+cannot exist now," declared Marshall. "I trust those who come from that
+quarter [the Northern Neck] will not be intimidated on this account in
+voting on this question" he pleaded; for let them remember that there
+was "a law passed in 1782 [sequestration of quitrents] which secured
+this."
+
+Let the "many poor men" who Mason had said might "be harassed by the
+representatives of Lord Fairfax" rest assured on that point; for "if he
+[Fairfax] has no right," they could not be disturbed. "If he has this
+right [to collect quitrents] and comes to Virginia, what laws will his
+claims be determined by?" By Virginia's laws. "By what tribunals will
+they be determined? By our state courts."[1313] So the "poor man" who
+was "unjustly prosecuted" would "be abundantly protected and satisfied
+by the temper of his neighbors."[1314]
+
+The truth was, said Marshall, that justice would be done in all cases by
+both National and State Courts. Laws would not be "tyrannically
+executed" as the opposition feared; the "independency of your judges"
+would prevent that. "If," he argued, "a law be exercised tyrannically in
+Virginia, to whom can you trust? To your Judiciary! What security have
+you for justice? Their independence! Will it not be so in the Federal
+court?"
+
+Like other objections to the power of Congress and the conduct of
+National Courts, the criticism that men might be punished for their
+political opinions was, declared Marshall, groundless and absurd; for,
+"the good opinion of the people at large must be consulted by their
+representatives--otherwise mischiefs would be produced which would shake
+the government to its foundations." Of course, then, he contended,
+neither Congress nor the courts would abuse their power. The charge that
+"unjust claims will be made, and the defendant had better pay them than
+go to the Supreme Court" was unthinkable. Would anybody incur great
+expense to oppress another? "What will he gain by an unjust demand?
+Does a claim establish a right? He must bring his witnesses to prove his
+claim"; otherwise "the expenses must fall on him." Will he take the
+chances that the injured man will not appear and defend the unjust suit?
+"Those who know human nature, black as it is," sarcastically observed
+Marshall, "must know that mankind are too attached to their own interest
+to run such a risk."
+
+"The Federal Government," exclaimed Marshall, "has no other motive, and
+has every reason for doing right which the members of our state
+legislature have. Will a man on the eastern shore be sent to be tried in
+Kentucky, or a man from Kentucky be brought to the eastern shore to have
+his trial? A government, by doing this, would destroy itself."[1315]
+
+This, in effect, was John Marshall's exposition of the second section of
+article three of the Constitution. Although Grigsby, whose accuracy on
+such details is not questioned, says that the speech was prepared,
+Robertson's report would not indicate that such was the case. The
+address is wanting in that close-knit continuity of reasoning and in
+that neatness of thought and expression which were Marshall's peculiar
+excellence. Like his first debate in the Convention, his speech on the
+Judiciary is disjointed. A subject is half treated in one part of his
+remarks and resumed in another.[1316] But he makes his principal points
+with clearness and power. His argument is based on the independence of
+the courts as the best guaranty against unjust decisions; the
+responsibility of Congress to the people as the strongest safeguard
+against oppressive laws; and the similarity of Virginia's Constitution
+and Courts to the National Constitution and Courts as proof of the
+security, fairness, and justice of the National Judiciary.
+
+Marshall's effort really closed the case for the Constitution on the
+Judiciary. That night Madison wrote to Hamilton that "a great effort is
+making" against the Judiciary. "The retrospection to cases antecedent to
+the Constitution, such as British debts and an apprehended revival of
+Fairfax--Indiana, Vandalia, &c., claims are also brought into view in
+all the terrific colours which imagination can give them.... Delay & an
+adjournment will be tried if the adverse party find their numbers
+inferior.... At present it is calculated that we still retain a majority
+of 3 or 4; and if we can weather the storm ag^{st}" the Judiciary, "I
+shall hold the danger to be pretty well over. There is nevertheless a
+very disagreeable uncertainty in the case; and the more so as there is a
+possibility that our present strength may be miscalculated."[1317]
+
+Marshall's speech alarmed the opposition, and Grayson used all his
+learning, wit, and cleverness in an attempt to break its force. Randolph
+replied. Thus the second week closed. Neither side was certain of the
+exact number of votes it had, though every member was observed with the
+politician's anxiety and care.[1318] The Constitutionalists had the
+greater confidence. Madison wrote his father that "The calculations on
+different sides do not accord;... I think however, the friends of the
+Constitution are most confident of superiority.... It is not probable
+that many proselytes will be made on either side."[1319]
+
+On Sunday Madison made his weekly report to Hamilton: "The Judiciary
+Department has been on the anvil for several days; and I presume will
+still be a further subject of disquisition. The attacks on it have
+apparently made less impression than was feared. But they may be
+secretly felt by particular interests that would not make the
+acknowledgment, and w^d chuse to ground their vote ag^{st} the
+Constitution on other motives."[1320]
+
+The Anti-Constitutionalists were becoming desperate. If they could not
+amend the Constitution as a condition of ratifying it, their game now
+was either an adjournment or a delay until the Legislature, scheduled to
+meet on the following Monday and known to be, in the main, opposed to
+the Constitution, should afford them relief.
+
+If these expedients should fail, there was open talk of secession.[1321]
+The Constitutionalists arranged for the utmost dispatch and planned to
+"withhold, by a studied fairness in every step on the side of the
+Constitution, every pretext for rash experiments." They hoped to avoid
+previous amendment by proposing "to preface the ratification with some
+plain & general matters that cannot effect the validity of the"
+Constitution. They felt that "these expedients are rendered prudent by
+the nice balance of members, and the scruples entertained by some who
+are in general well affected." But whether these devices "will secure us
+a majority," wrote Madison, "I dare not positively to declare."
+
+So small was their expected majority likely to be, that the
+Constitutionalists felt that "ordinary casualties ... may vary the
+result." They were exceedingly alarmed over the coming to town of the
+members of the Legislature who "as individuals ... may have some
+influence and as coming immediately from the people at large they can
+give any colour they please to the popular sentiments at this moment,
+and may in that mode throw a bias on the representatives of the people
+in Convention."[1322]
+
+From the adjournment on Saturday until the Convention again assembled on
+the following Monday, June 23, the opposition decided that something
+more must be done to counteract Marshall's exposition of the Judiciary
+article. For this purpose their leader and strongest men took the floor.
+The shorthand reporter was not present on this day, but the printer of
+the debates took notes.[1323]
+
+Nothing so well shows the esteem in which Marshall's ability was held as
+Patrick Henry's compliment to his young associate. "I have," said
+Henry, "the highest veneration and respect for the honorable gentleman,
+and I have experienced his candor on all occasions"; but "in this
+instance" Henry felt that Marshall was mistaken. "It is not on that
+paper before you we have to rely.... It is on those who may be appointed
+under it. It will be an empire of men, and not of laws."
+
+Marshall interrupted Henry to explain that the latter had not clearly
+understood him as to the trial by jury. Henry responded that "the
+gentleman's candor, sir, as I informed you before, I have the highest
+opinion of, and am happy to find he has so far explained what he meant;
+but, sir, has he mended the matter?" Then Henry enlarged upon what he
+thought was the Constitution's sacrifice of rights of trial by jury.
+What would become of this, that, and the other? What would be the end of
+this contract and that? And "what is to become of the _purchases of the
+Indians_?--those unhappy nations who ... by being made drunk, have given
+a thousand, nay I might say, ten thousand acres, for the trifling sum of
+sixpence!" And what of those who owed the British debts?--they will "be
+ruined by being dragged into Federal courts and the liberty and
+happiness of our citizens gone, never again to be recovered."[1324]
+
+The Constitutionalists had anticipated that Henry would touch on his
+hobby, the Indians; and they were ready with an answer far more
+effective on the votes of the members than any argument, however
+weighty. Hardly had Henry closed when a giant old man got upon his
+feet. For more than thirty years this bluff and ancient veteran had been
+a soldier. Since 1755 he had been one of the boldest and ablest of
+Virginia's famous Indian fighters and often had commanded the Virginia
+rangers that defended the frontier from the savages. His utter
+fearlessness and tremendous physical strength had made him the terror of
+the red man, and his name was a household word throughout Virginia as a
+bulwark against the savages. Throughout the Revolution he had borne
+himself as a hero. So when Colonel Adam Stephen spoke, his words were
+sword-thrusts.[1325]
+
+Henry, growled Stephen, "means to frighten us by his bugbears of
+hobgoblins, his sale of lands to pay taxes, Indian purchases and other
+horrors that I think I know as much about as he does." Colonel Stephen
+then described the Indian country, the Indian tribes, and Indian trade.
+He also knew "of several rich mines of gold and silver in the western
+country" which would pay the taxes Henry was so worried about. "If the
+gentleman [Henry] does not like this government, let him go and live
+among the Indians. I know of several nations that live very happily; and
+I can furnish him with a vocabulary of their language."[1326]
+
+Nothing can be plainer than that this personal assault on Henry was
+prearranged; for George Nicholas followed it up with what came near
+being an open insult. Answering Henry's insinuation about Indian lands
+being fraudulently purchased, Nicholas retorted, looking directly at
+Henry, "there are gentlemen who have come by large possessions that it
+is not easy to account for." This was taken as a reflection on some of
+Henry's land speculations. The latter felt the sting; for "here Mr.
+Henry interfered and hoped the honorable gentleman meant nothing
+personal." Nicholas snapped back, "I mean what I say, sir."
+
+The extremes to which the opposition went in lobbying with members and
+the nature of their conversation are shown by an acid sentence of
+Nicholas in this speech. He referred to "an observation I have heard out
+of doors; which was that, because the New England men wore black
+stockings and plush breeches, there can be no union with them."
+
+Henry was instantly on his feet when Nicholas finished. He thought the
+Convention floor "an improper place" to make "personal insinuations, or
+to wound my private reputation.... As to land matters, I can tell how I
+came by what I have ... I hold what I hold in right, and in a just
+manner." Henry was most courteous and dignified in this discussion,
+disclaiming any intention to offend any one. Nicholas responded that he
+"meant no personality ... nor ... any resentment." But, said he, "If
+such conduct meets the contempt of that gentleman [Henry] I can only
+assure him it meets with an equal degree of contempt from me."
+
+Here the President of the Convention interfered and "hoped the
+gentlemen would not be personal; that they would proceed to investigate
+the subject calmly, and in a peaceable manner." Thereupon Nicholas
+admitted that he had not referred to Henry when he first spoke, but to
+"those who had taken up large tracts of land in the western country";
+Nicholas had not, however, explained this before because he felt that
+Henry had said some things that one gentleman ought not to say to
+another. Thus ended the second of the only two instances in Virginia's
+long and masterful debate which approached a personal quarrel or
+displayed even the smallest discourtesy.[1327]
+
+The debate now drew swiftly to a close. Excitement ran high. The
+Anti-Constitutionalists, tense and desperate, threatened forcible
+opposition to the proposed National Government if it should be
+established. Mason "dreaded popular resistance" to the Constitution and
+was "emphatic" in his fears of "_the dreadful effects_ ... should the
+people resist." Gentlemen should pause before deciding "a question which
+involved such awful consequences." This so aroused Lee that he could "no
+longer suppress" his "utterance." Much as he liked and admired Mason,
+Lee asked him "if he has not pursued the very means to bring into action
+the horrors which he deprecates?"
+
+"Such speeches within these walls, from a character so venerable and
+estimable," declared Lee, "easily progress into overt acts, among the
+less thinking and the vicious." Lee implored that the "God of heaven
+avert from my country the dreadful curse!" But, he thundered, "if the
+madness of some and the vice of others" should arouse popular resistance
+to the Constitution, the friends of that instrument "will meet the
+afflicting call"; and he plainly intimated that any uprising of the
+people against the proposed National Government would be met with
+arms.[1328] The guns of Sumter were being forged.
+
+On the night of June 23, the Constitutionalists decided to deliver their
+final assault. They knew that it must be a decisive one. The time had
+arrived for the meeting of the Legislature which was hostile to the
+Constitution;[1329] and if the friends of the proposed new Government
+were to win at all, they must win quickly. A careful poll had shown them
+that straight-out ratification without amendment of some kind was
+impossible. So they followed the plan of the Massachusetts
+Constitutionalists and determined to offer amendments themselves--but
+amendments merely by way of recommendation and subsequent to
+ratification, instead of previous amendments as a condition of
+ratification. The venerable Wythe was chosen to carry out the programme.
+On Tuesday morning, June 24, Pendleton called to the chair Thomas
+Mathews, one of the best parliamentarians in the Convention, a stanch
+Constitutionalist, a veteran of the Revolution, and a popular man.
+
+Instantly Mathews recognized Wythe; for Henry was ready with his
+amendments, and, had an Anti-Constitutionalist been in the chair, would
+have been able to offer them before Wythe could move for ratification.
+Wythe, pale and fatigued, was so agitated that at first he could not
+speak plainly.[1330] After reviewing the whole subject, he said that to
+insist on previous amendments might dissolve the Union, whereas all
+necessary amendments could easily be had after ratification. Wythe then
+moved the Constitutionalists' resolution for ratification.
+
+In a towering rage, Henry rose for what, outside of the courtroom, was
+the last great speech of his life.[1331] He felt that he had been
+unjustly forestalled and that the battle against the Constitution was
+failing because of the stern and unfair tactics of his foes.[1332] The
+Constitutionalists admitted, said Henry, that the Constitution was
+"capitally defective"; yet they proposed to ratify it without first
+remedying its conceded faults. This was so absurd that he was "sure the
+gentleman [Wythe] meant nothing but to amuse the committee. I know his
+candor," said Henry. "His proposal is an idea dreadful to me.... The
+great body of yeomanry are in decided opposition" to the Constitution.
+
+Henry declared that of his own personal knowledge "nine tenths of the
+people" in "nineteen counties adjacent to each other" were against the
+proposed new National Government. The Constitutionalists' plan of
+"subsequent amendments will not do for men of this cast." And how do the
+people feel even in the States that had ratified it? Look at
+Pennsylvania! Only ten thousand out of seventy thousand of her people
+were represented in the Pennsylvania Convention.
+
+If the Constitution was ratified without previous amendments, Henry
+declared that he would "have nothing to do with it." He offered the Bill
+of Rights and amendments which he himself had drawn, proposing to refer
+them to the other States "for their consideration, previous to its
+[Constitution's] ratification."[1333] Henry then turned upon the
+Constitutionalists their own point by declaring that it was their plan
+of ratification without previous amendments which would endanger the
+Union.[1334] Randolph followed briefly and Dawson at great length.
+Madison for the Constitutionalists, and Grayson for the opposition,
+exerted themselves to the utmost. Nature aided Henry when he closed the
+day in an appeal such as only the supremely gifted can make.
+
+[Illustration: PATRICK HENRY]
+
+"I see," cried Henry, in rapt exaltation, "the awful immensity of the
+dangers with which it [the Constitution] is pregnant. I see it. I feel
+it. I see beings of a higher order anxious concerning our decision. When
+I see beyond the horizon that bounds human eyes, and look at the
+final consummation of all human things, and see those intelligent beings
+which inhabit the ethereal mansions reviewing the political decisions
+and revolutions which, in the progress of time, will happen in America,
+and the consequent happiness or misery of mankind, I am led to believe
+that much of the account, on one side or the other, will depend on what
+we now decide. Our own happiness alone is not affected by the event. All
+nations are interested in the determination. We have it in our power to
+secure the happiness of one half of the human race. Its adoption may
+involve the misery of the other hemisphere."[1335]
+
+In the midst of this trance-like spell which the master conjurer had
+thrown over his hearers, a terrible storm suddenly arose. Darkness fell
+upon the full light of day. Lightnings flashed and crashing thunders
+shook the Convention hall. With the inspiration of genius this unrivaled
+actor made the tempest seem a part of his own denunciation. The scene
+became insupportable. Members rushed from their seats.[1336] As Henry
+closed, the tempest died away.
+
+The spectators returned, the members recovered their composure, and the
+session was resumed.[1337] Nicholas coldly moved that the question be
+put at nine o'clock on the following morning. Clay and Ronald opposed,
+the latter declaring that without such amendments "as will secure the
+happiness of the people" he would "though much against his inclination
+vote against this Constitution."
+
+Anxious and prolonged were the conferences of the Constitutionalist
+managers that night. The Legislature had convened. It was now or never
+for the friends of the Constitution. The delay of a single day might
+lose them the contest. That night and the next morning they brought to
+bear every ounce of their strength. The Convention met for its final
+session on the historic 25th of June, with the Constitutionalists in
+gravest apprehension. They were not sure that Henry would not carry out
+his threat to leave the hall; and they pictured to themselves the
+dreaded spectacle of that popular leader walking out at the head of the
+enraged opposition.[1338]
+
+Into the hands of the burly Nicholas the Constitutionalists wisely gave
+command. The moment the Convention was called to order, the chair
+recognized Nicholas, who acted instantly with his characteristically icy
+and merciless decision. "The friends of the Constitution," said
+Nicholas, "wish to take up no more time, the matter being now fully
+discussed. They are convinced that further time will answer no end but
+to serve the cause of those who wish to destroy the Constitution. We
+wish it to be ratified and such amendments as may be thought necessary
+to be subsequently considered by a committee in order to be recommended
+to Congress." Where, he defiantly asked, did the opposition get
+authority to say that the Constitutionalists would not insist upon
+amendments after they had secured ratification of the Constitution? They
+really wished for Wythe's amendments;[1339] and would "agree to any
+others which" would "not destroy the spirit of the Constitution."
+Nicholas moved the reading of Wythe's resolution in order that a vote
+might be taken upon it.[1340]
+
+Tyler moved the reading of Henry's proposed amendments and Bill of
+Bights. Benjamin Harrison protested against the Constitutionalists'
+plan. He was for previous amendment, and thought Wythe's "measure of
+adoption to be unwarrantable, precipitate, and dangerously impolitic."
+Madison reassured those who were fearful that the Constitutionalists, if
+they won on ratification, would not further urge the amendments Wythe
+had offered; the Constitutionalists then closed, as they had begun, with
+admirable strategy.
+
+James Innes was Attorney-General. His duties had kept him frequently
+from the Convention. He was well educated, extremely popular, and had
+been one of the most gifted and gallant officers that Virginia had sent
+to the front during the Revolution. Physically he was a colossus, the
+largest man in that State of giants. Such was the popular and imposing
+champion which the Constitutionalists had so well chosen to utter their
+parting word.[1341] And Innes did his utmost in the hardest of
+situations; for if he took too much time, he would endanger his own
+cause; if he did not make a deep impression, he would fail in the
+purpose for which he was put forward.[1342]
+
+Men who heard Innes testify that "he spoke like one inspired."[1343] For
+the opposition the learned and accomplished Tyler closed the general
+debate. It was time wasted on both sides. But that nothing might be left
+undone, the Constitutionalists now brought into action a rough,
+forthright member from the Valley. Zachariah Johnson spoke for "those
+who live in large, remote, back counties." He dwelt, he said, "among the
+poor people." The most that he could claim for himself was "to be of the
+middle rank." He had "a numerous offspring" and he was willing to trust
+their future to the Constitution.[1344]
+
+Henry could not restrain himself; but he would better not have spoken,
+for he admitted defeat. The anxious Constitutionalists must have
+breathed a sigh of relief when Henry said that he would not leave the
+hall. Though "_overpowered in a good cause_, yet I will be a peaceable
+citizen." All he would try to do would be "to remove the defects of that
+system [the Constitution] in a constitutional way." And so, declared the
+scarred veteran as he yielded his sword to the victors, he would
+"patiently wait in expectation of seeing that government changed, so as
+to be compatible with the safety, liberty, and happiness, of the
+people."
+
+Wythe's resolution of ratification now came to a vote. No more carefully
+worded paper for the purposes it was intended to accomplish ever was
+laid before a deliberative body. It reassured those who feared the
+Constitution, in language which went far to grant most of their demands;
+and while the resolve called for ratification, yet, "in order to relieve
+the apprehensions of those who may be solicitous for amendments," it
+provided that all necessary amendments be _recommended_ to Congress.
+Thus did the Constitutionalists, who had exhausted all the resources of
+management, debate, and personal persuasion, now find it necessary to
+resort to the most delicate tact.
+
+The opposition moved to substitute for the ratification resolution one
+of their own, which declared "that previous to the ratification ... a
+declaration of rights ... together with amendments ... should be
+referred by this Convention to the other states ... for their
+consideration." On this, the first test vote of the struggle, the
+Constitutionalists won by the slender majority of 8 out of a total of
+168. On the main question which followed, the Anti-Constitutionalists
+lost but one vote and the Constitution escaped defeat by a majority of
+only 10.
+
+To secure ratification, eight members of the Convention voted against
+the wishes of their constituents,[1345] and two ignored their
+instructions.[1346] Grayson openly but respectfully stated on the floor
+that the vote was the result of Washington's influence. "I think," said
+he, "that, were it not for one great character in America, so many men
+would not be for this government."[1347] Followers of their old
+commander as the members from the Valley were, the fear of the Indians
+had quite as much to do with getting their support for a stronger
+National Government as had the weight of Washington's influence.[1348]
+
+Randolph "humbly supplicated one parting word" before the last vote was
+taken. It was a word of excuse and self-justification. His vote, he
+said, would be "ascribed by malice to motives unknown to his breast." He
+would "ask the mercy of God for every other act of his life," but for
+this he requested only Heaven's justice. He still objected to the
+Constitution, but the ratification of it by eight States had now
+"reduced our deliberations to the single question of _Union_ or no
+_Union_."[1349] So closed the greatest debate ever held over the
+Constitution and one of the ablest parliamentary contests of history.
+
+A committee was appointed to report "a form of ratification pursuant to
+the first resolution"; and another was selected "to prepare and report
+such amendments as by them shall be deemed necessary."[1350] Marshall
+was chosen as a member of both these important committees.
+
+The lengths to which the Constitutionalists were driven in order to
+secure ratification are measured by the amendments they were forced to
+bring in. These numbered twenty, in addition to a Bill of Rights, which
+also had twenty articles. The ten amendments afterwards made to the
+Constitution were hardly a shadow of those recommended by the Virginia
+Convention of 1788.
+
+That body actually proposed that National excise or direct tax laws
+should not operate in any State, in case the State itself should collect
+its quota under State laws and through State officials; that two thirds
+of both houses of Congress, present, should be necessary to pass
+navigation laws or laws regulating commerce; that no army or regular
+troops should be "raised or kept up in time of peace" without the
+consent of two thirds of both houses, present; that the power of
+Congress over the seat of the National Government should be confined to
+police and administrative regulation. The Judiciary amendment would have
+imprisoned the Supreme Court within limits so narrow as to render that
+tribunal almost powerless and would have absolutely prevented the
+establishment of inferior National Courts, except those of
+Admiralty.[1351] Yet only on such terms could ratification be secured
+even by the small and uncertain majority that finally voted for it.
+
+On June 25, Clinton's suppressed letter to Randolph was laid before the
+House of Delegates which had just convened.[1352] Mason was so furious
+that he drew up resolutions for an investigation of Randolph's
+conduct.[1353] But the deed was done, anger was unavailing, and the
+resolutions never were offered.[1354]
+
+So frail was the Constitutionalist strength that if the news of the New
+Hampshire ratification had not reached Virginia, it is more than
+probable that Jefferson's advice would have been followed and that the
+Old Dominion would have held back until all the amendments desired by
+the opposition had been made a part of the fundamental law;[1355] and
+the Constitution would have been a far different and infinitely weaker
+instrument than it is.
+
+Burning with wrath, the Anti-Constitutionalists held a meeting on the
+night of the day of the vote for ratification, to consider measures for
+resisting the new National Government. The character of Patrick Henry
+never shone with greater luster than when he took the chair at this
+determined gathering of furious men. He had done his best against the
+Constitution, said Henry, but he had done it in the "_proper place_";
+the question was settled now and he advised his colleagues that "as true
+and faithful republicans, they had all better go home!"[1356] Well might
+Washington write that only "conciliatory conduct" got the Constitution
+through;[1357] well might he declare that "it is nearly impossible for
+anybody who has not been on the spot (from any description) to conceive
+what the delicacy and danger of our situation have been."[1358]
+
+And Marshall had been on the spot. Marshall had seen it all. Marshall
+had been a part of it all. From the first careful election programme of
+the Constitutionalists, the young Richmond lawyer had been in every
+meeting where the plans of the managers were laid and the order of
+battle arranged. No man in all the country knew better than he, the
+hair's breadth by which the ordinance of our National Government escaped
+strangulation at its very birth. No one in America better understood how
+carefully and yet how boldly Nationalism must be advanced if it were to
+grow stronger or even to survive.
+
+It was plain to Marshall that the formal adoption of the Constitution
+did not end the battle. That conflict, indeed, was only beginning. The
+fight over ratification had been but the first phase of the struggle. We
+are now to behold the next stages of that great contest, each as
+dramatic as it was vital; and we shall observe how Marshall bore himself
+on every field of this mighty civil strife, note his development and
+mark his progress toward that supreme station for which events prepared
+him. We are to witness his efforts to uphold the National Government,
+not only with argument and political activity, but also with a
+readiness to draw the sword and employ military force. We shall look
+upon the mad scenes resulting in America from the terrific and bloody
+convulsion in Europe and measure the lasting effect the French
+Revolution produced upon the statesmen and people of the United States.
+In short, we are to survey a strange swirl of forces, economic and
+emotional, throwing to the surface now one "issue" and now another, all
+of them centering in the sovereign question of Nationalism or States'
+Rights.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1298] Grayson to Dane, June 18, 1788; Dane MSS., Lib. Cong.
+
+[1299] Logan and Story to Stephen Collins, Petersburg, Nov. 2, 1787;
+Collins MSS., Lib. Cong.
+
+[1300] See Grigsby, i, 278-79, for an able and sympathetic account from
+the point of view of the settler and debtor.
+
+[1301] _Ib._, 280-84; Elliott, iii, 517-21.
+
+[1302] Elliott, iii, 522; Grigsby, i, 284. So overwhelming was the
+popular feeling against a strong National Government that, if the
+Anti-Constitutionalists had concentrated their attack upon this secret
+purpose of the leading Constitutionalists to make it such by easy
+stages, it is more than probable that the Constitution would have been
+defeated.
+
+[1303] Elliott, iii, 524.
+
+[1304] His own and his father's lands in Fauquier County were derived
+through the Fairfax title.
+
+[1305] Grigsby, i, 290.
+
+[1306] Elliott, iii, 530-39. For Marshall's repetition see _ib._,
+551-62.
+
+[1307] Elliott, iii, 539-46.
+
+[1308] Grigsby, i, 297.
+
+[1309] Virginia judges were, at this period, appointed by the General
+Assembly. (Constitution, 1776.)
+
+[1310] "There are upwards of 4,000 suits now entered on the docket in
+the General Court; and the number is continually increasing. Where this
+will end the Lord only knows--should an Act pass to extend the term of
+the Courts sitting--it is thought that the number of Executors
+[executions] that would issue ... would be too heavy for our government
+to bear and that such a rapid transfer of Property would altogether stop
+the movement of our Machine." (Logan and Story, to Stephen Collins,
+Petersburg, Nov. 2, 1787; Collins MSS., Lib. Cong.)
+
+[1311] This form of argument by asking questions to which the answers
+must needs be favorable to his contention was peculiarly characteristic
+of Marshall.
+
+[1312] The reporter makes Mason assert the reverse.
+
+[1313] It is hard to see how Marshall arrived at this conclusion. But
+for the fact that Marshall prepared this speech, one would think the
+reporter erred.
+
+[1314] See Marshall's argument in Hite _vs._ Fairfax, chap, V, _supra_;
+and see vol. III of this work.
+
+Randolph made the clearest statement of the whole debate on the Fairfax
+question:--
+
+"Lord Fairfax ... died during the war. In the year 1782, an act passed
+sequestering all quitrents, then due, in the hands of the persons
+holding the lands, until the right of descent should be known, and the
+General Assembly should make final provision therein. This act directed
+all quitrents, thereafter becoming due, to be paid into the public
+treasury; so that, with respect to his descendants, this act confiscated
+the quitrents. In the year 1783, an act passed restoring to the legal
+representative of the proprietor the quitrents due to him at the time of
+his death. But in the year 1785 another act passed, by which the
+inhabitants of the Northern Neck are exonerated and discharged from
+paying composition and quitrents to the commonwealth." But Randolph then
+asserted that: "This last act has completely confiscated this property.
+It is repugnant to no part of the treaty, with respect to the quitrents
+confiscated by the act of 1782." So, continued he, "I ask the Convention
+of the free people of Virginia if there can be honesty in rejecting the
+government because justice is to be done by it? I beg the honourable
+gentleman to lay the objection to his heart." (Elliott, iii, 574-75.)
+
+[1315] Elliott, iii, 551-62.
+
+[1316] In summarizing Marshall's speech, it is necessary to collect his
+arguments on any given point, and present them consecutively. In
+Robertson's (Elliott) report Marshall scatters his points in distracting
+fashion.
+
+[1317] Madison to Hamilton, June 20, 1788; Hamilton MSS., Lib. Cong.
+
+[1318] The members of the Convention were carefully watched and each
+side made, every night, a minute estimate of its votes.
+
+[1319] Madison to his father, June 20, 1788; _Writings_: Hunt, v,
+footnote to 216.
+
+[1320] Madison to Hamilton, June 22, 1788; Hamilton MSS., Lib. Cong.
+
+[1321] _Ib._
+
+[1322] Madison to Hamilton, June 22, 1788; Hamilton MSS., Lib. Cong.
+
+[1323] Elliott, iii, 576.
+
+[1324] Elliott, iii, 577-80.
+
+[1325] Grigsby, i, 300. See Washington's letters to Stephen during the
+year of Marshall's birth, when Stephen, under Washington, was fighting
+the French and Indians. (_Writings_: Ford, i, 227, 322, 332, 360; also
+_Proceedings_, Council of War, Oct. 30, 1756; _ib._, 364-71; in which
+Colonel Adam Stephen was presiding officer.)
+
+[1326] Elliott, iii, 580.
+
+[1327] Elliott, iii, 581-82.
+
+[1328] Elliott, iii, 585-86.
+
+[1329] "Virginia is the only instance among the ratifying states in
+which the Politics of the Legislature are at variance with the sense of
+the people, expressed by their Representatives in Convention." (Madison
+to Washington, Nov. 5, 1788; _Writings_: Hunt, v, 302.)
+
+[1330] Grigsby, i, 307.
+
+[1331] The two amazing speeches which Henry made that day should be
+taken together. While both were inspired by what happened on the floor,
+yet they are in reality one. The reports give no idea of the tremendous
+effect which those who heard Henry tell us these speeches had.
+
+[1332] Grigsby, i, 307-08.
+
+[1333] Henry's amendments were practically the same as those which the
+Convention finally adopted as recommendations subsequent to ratification
+instead of previous amendment on which ratification was conditioned.
+
+[1334] Elliott, iii, 587-96.
+
+[1335] Elliott, iii, 625. This extract is badly mangled. The reporter
+confesses that he could take only a little of Henry's peroration.
+Elliott's reprint of Robertson's reports gives scarcely a suggestion of
+its dramatic appeal. We are indebted to Grigsby's patient work in
+collecting from eye and ear witnesses first-hand accounts, for a
+reasonably accurate description of the scene.
+
+[1336] Grigsby, i, 316-17; also Wirt, 313; Henry, ii, 370-71; and
+Conway, 113.
+
+[1337] Grigsby, i, 316-17.
+
+[1338] Grigsby, i, 317.
+
+[1339] Very few of the Constitutionalists wanted any amendments; and
+Madison sorrowfully offered in Congress the following year those that
+were reluctantly adopted. See vol. II, chap. II, of this work.
+
+[1340] Elliott, iii, 627.
+
+[1341] Grigsby, i, 323-29.
+
+[1342] _Ib._, 328.
+
+[1343] _Ib._, 332.
+
+[1344] Elliott, iii, 644-49.
+
+[1345] Henry, ii, 377. "At least ten members voted, either in
+disobedience of positive instructions of their constituents, or in
+defiance of their well known opinions." (Grigsby, i, 41.)
+
+[1346] Scott, 235-38.
+
+[1347] Elliott, iii, 616. Madison frankly admitted that only the
+prominence of the framers of the Constitution secured even a
+consideration of it by many of its warmest friends, much less by the
+people. "Had the Constitution been framed and recommended by an obscure
+individual," wrote Madison, "instead of a body possessing public respect
+and confidence, there cannot be a doubt, that, although it would have
+stood in the identical words, it would have commanded little attention
+from those who now admire its wisdom." (Madison to Randolph, Jan. 10,
+1788; _Writings_: Hunt, v, 81.)
+
+[1348] Grigsby, i, footnote to 110.
+
+[1349] Elliott, iii, 652.
+
+[1350] Elliott, iii. 653-63.
+
+[1351] _Ib._, 659-61.
+
+[1352] Clinton's letter was not read, however, because all the members
+of the Legislature had gone to hear Henry's last great speech. (Conway,
+112.)
+
+[1353] Conway, 114; Henry, ii, 363.
+
+[1354] For Mason's resolutions and a careful review of the incident, see
+Rowland, ii, 274-80.
+
+[1355] Henry, ii, 377.
+
+[1356] _Southern Literary Messenger_, i, 332; also quoted in Rowland,
+ii, 274.
+
+[1357] Washington to Pinckney, June 28, 1788; _Writings_: Ford, xi, 285.
+
+[1358] Washington to Jefferson, Aug. 31, 1788; _ib._, 321.
+
+
+END OF VOLUME I
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+WILL OF THOMAS MARSHALL, "CARPENTER"
+
+
+In the Name of God Amen! I, Thomas Marshall of the County of
+Westmoreland of Washington Parish, Carpenter, being very weak but of
+perfect memory thanks be to God for it doth ordain this my last will and
+testament in manner and form following, first I give and bequeath my
+soul into the hands of my blessed Creator & Redeemer hoping through
+meritts of my blessed Saviour to receive full pardon and remission of
+all my sins and my body to the Earth to be decently bur-yed according to
+the discretion of my Executrix which hereafter shall be named. Imps. I
+make and ordain my well beloved wife Martha Marshall to be my full and
+whole Executrix--Item, I will that my estate shall remain in the hands
+of my wife as long as she remain single but in case she marrys then she
+is to have her lawful part & the rest to be taken out of her hands
+equally to be divided among my children--Item, I will that if my wife
+marry, that David Brown Senr. and Jno. Brown to be guardians over my
+children and to take the estate in their hands bringing it to
+appraisement giving in good security to what it is valued and to pay
+my children their dues as they shall come to age. Item--I will that
+Elizabeth Rosser is to have a heifer delivered by my wife called
+White-Belly to be delivered as soon as I am deceast--Item, I will that
+my son William Marshall shall have my plantation as soon as he comes to
+age to him and his heirs forever, but in case that my son William die
+before he comes to age or die without issue then my plantation is to
+fall to the next heir apparent at law.
+
+                                                THOMAS MARSHALL (Seal)
+
+  Test EDW: TAYLOR, JOHN HEARFORD,
+       JOHN TAYLOR.
+
+                  { At a Court held for the said County the
+  WESTMORLD: SS.  { 31st day of May 1704.
+
+The last will and testament of Thomas Marshall within written was proved
+by the oaths of John Oxford and John Taylor two of the witnesses thereto
+subscribed and a Probat thereof granted to Martha Marshall his relict
+and Executrix therein named.
+
+                                        Test
+                                          IA: WESTCOMB Cler. Com. Ped.
+
+  Record aty: sexto die Juny:
+  1704. Pr.
+  _Eundm Clerum._
+
+  A Copy. Teste:
+    ALBERT STUART, Clerk.
+      By:
+        F. F. CHANDLER, Deputy Clerk.
+
+  [A Copy. Will of Thomas Marshall. Recorded in the Clerk's Office of
+  the Circuit Court of Westmoreland County, in Deed and Will Book no. 3
+  at page 232 _et seq._]
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+WILL OF JOHN MARSHALL "OF THE FOREST"
+
+  The last will and testament of John Marshall being very sick and
+  weak but of perfect mind and memory is as followeth.
+
+
+First of all I give and recommend my soul to God that gave it and my
+Body to the ground to be buried in a Christian like and Discent manner
+at the Discretion of my Executors hereafter mentioned? Item I give and
+bequeath unto my beloved daughter Sarah Lovell one negro girl named
+Rachel now in possession of Robert Lovell. Item I give and bequeath unto
+my beloved daughter Ann Smith one negro boy named Danniel now in
+possession of Augustine Smith. Item I give and bequeath unto my beloved
+daughter Lize Smith one negro boy named Will now in possession of John
+Smith. Item I give and bequeath unto my well beloved wife Elizabeth
+Marshall one negro fellow named Joe and one negro woman named Cate and
+one negro woman named pen after Delivering the first child next born of
+her Body unto my son John until which time she shall remain in the
+possession of my wife Likewise I leave my Corn and meat to remain
+unappraised for the use of my wife and children also I give and bequeath
+unto my wife one Gray mair named beauty and side saddle also six hogs
+also I leave her the use of my land During her widowhood, and afterwards
+to fall to my son Thomas Marshall and his heirs forever. Item I leave my
+Tobacco to pay my Debts and if any be over for the clothing of my small
+children. Item I give and bequeath unto my well Beloved son Thomas
+Marshall one negro woman named hanno and one negroe child named Jacob?
+Item I give and bequeathe unto my well beloved son John Marshall one
+negroe fellow named George and one negroe child named Nan. Item. I give
+and bequeathe unto my beloved son Wm. Marshall one negro woman named
+Sall and one negro boy named Hanable to remain in the possession of his
+mother until he come to the age of twenty years. Item I give and
+Bequeath unto my Beloved son Abraham Marshall one negro boy named Jim
+and one negroe girl named bett to remain in the possession of his mother
+until he come to the age of twenty years. Item I give and Bequeath unto
+my Beloved daughter Mary Marshall one negro girl named Cate and negro
+boy Gus to remain in possession of her mother until she come to the age
+of Eighteen years or until marriage. Item, I give and Bequeath unto my
+beloved Daughter Peggy Marshall one negro boy named Joshua and one negro
+girl named Liz to remain in possession of her mother until she come to
+the age of Eighteen or until marriage! Item. I leave my personal Estate
+Except the legacies abovementioned to be equally Divided Between my wife
+and six children last above mentioned. Item I constitute and appoint my
+wife and my two sons Thos. Marshall and John Marshall Executors of this
+my last will & testament In witness hereof I have hereunto set my hand
+and fixed my seal this first day of April One thousand seven hundred and
+fifty two.
+
+                                                  JOHN MARSHALL (Seal)
+  Interlined before assigned.
+
+  BENJAMIN RALLINS }
+  WILLIAM HOUSTON  }
+  AUGUSTINE SMITH  }
+
+                   { At a Court held for the said County the
+  WESTMORLAND SCT. { 26th day of May 1752.
+
+This Last will and testament of John Marshall decd. was presented into
+Court by Eliza. his relict and Thomas Marshall two of his Executors
+therein named who made oath thereto and being proved by the oaths of
+Benja. Rallings and Augustine Smith two of the witnesses thereto is
+admitted to record, and upon the motion of the said Eliza. & Thos. and
+their performing what the Law in such cases require Certificate is
+granted them for obtaining a probate thereof in due form.
+
+                                        Test
+                                                GEORGE LEE C. C. C. W.
+
+  Recorded the 22d. day of June 1752.
+    Per
+      G. L. C. C. W. C.
+
+  A Copy. Teste:
+
+  FRANK STUART, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Westmoreland County,
+  State of Virginia.
+
+  [A copy. John Marshall's Will. Recorded in the Clerk's Office of
+  Westmoreland County, State of Virginia, in Deeds and Wills, no. 11,
+  at page 419 _et seq._]
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+DEED OF WILLIAM MARSHALL TO JOHN MARSHALL "OF THE FOREST"
+
+
+This indenture made the 23d day of October in ye first year of ye reign
+of our sovereign Lord George ye 2d. by ye. grace of God of Great
+Brittain France & Ireland King defendr. of ye faith &c. and in ye year
+of our Lord God one thousand seven hundred & twenty seven, between
+William Marshall of ye. County of King & Queen in ye. Colony of Virginia
+planter of the one part & John Marshall of ye. County of Westmoreland
+Virginia of the other part: WITNESSETH that ye sd. William Marshall for
+and in consideration of ye. sum of five shillings sterling money of
+England to him in hand paid before ye sealing & delivery hereof ye.
+receipt whereof he doth hereby acknowledge & thereof & of every part
+thereof doth hereby acquit & discharge ye. sd John Marshall his heirs
+Exectrs & administrators by these presents, hath granted bargained &
+sold & doth hereby grant bargain & sell John Marshall his heirs Exectrs
+administrs & assigns all that tract or parsel of land (except ye parsel
+of land wch was sold out of it to Michael Hulburt) scitute lying & being
+in Westmoreland County in Washington parish on or near Appamattox Creek
+& being part of a tract of land containing 1200 acres formerly granted
+to Jno: Washington & Tho: Pope gents by Patent dated the 4th Septbr.
+1661 & by them lost for want of seating & since granted to Collo.
+Nicholas Spencer by Ordr. Genll. Court dated Septbr. ye 21st 1668 & by
+ye said Spencer assign'd to ye. sd. Jno: Washington ye 9th of Octobr.
+1669 which sd. two hundred acres was conveyed & sold to Thomas Marshall
+by Francis Wright & afterwards acknowledged in Court by John Wright ye.
+28th day of May 1707 which sd two hundred acres of land be ye. same more
+or less and bounded as follows beginning at a black Oak standing in ye.
+southermost line of ye sd. 1200 acres & being a corner tree of a line
+that divideth this two hundred acres from One hundred acres of Michael
+Halbarts extending along ye. sd southermost lines west two hundred poles
+to a marked red Oak, thence north 160 poles to another marked red Oak
+thence east 200 poles to a black Oak of ye sd. Halberts to ye place it
+began, with all houses outhouses Orchards water water courses woods
+under woods timbers & all other things thereunto belonging with the
+revertion & revertions remainder & remainders rents issues & yearly
+profits & every part & parcell thereof. To have and to hold ye. sd. land
+& premises unto ye. sd John Marshall his heirs Executors Administrs &
+assignes from ye. day of ye date thereof for & during & untill the full
+end & term of six months from thence next ensuing fully to be compleat &
+ended to ye. end that by virtue thereof & of the statutes for
+transferring uses into possessions ye. sd John Marshall might be in
+actual possession of ye premises & might be enabled to take and accept
+of a grant release of the same to him ye. sd John Marshall his heires &
+assignes forever. In Witness whereof the parties to these present
+Indentures interchangeably have set----hands & seals ye. day & year
+first above written.
+
+                                                    WM MARSHALL (seal)
+
+  Signd. Seald & d'd in sight & presence of--  }
+    FRANCIS LACON, JANE LACON, THOMAS THOMPSON }
+
+  WESTMORLD. SS. } At a Court held for the sd. County the 27th
+                 } day of March 1728.
+
+William Marshall personally acknowledged this lease of land by him
+passed to John Marshall to be his proper act and deed, which at the
+instance of the sd. John Marshall is admitted to record.
+
+                                              Test
+                                                 G. TURBERVILE, C.C.W.
+
+  Recorded the 29th day of March 1728.
+    Pr.
+      G. T. C. C. W.
+
+  A Copy. Teste:
+
+  FRANK STUART, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Westmoreland County,
+  State of Virginia.
+
+  [A copy. William Marshall to John Marshall. Deed. Recorded in the
+  Clerk's Office of Westmoreland County, State of Virginia, in Deeds
+  and Wills, no. 8-1, at page 276.]
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+MEMORIAL OF THOMAS MARSHALL FOR MILITARY EMOLUMENTS
+
+    To the Honorable the Speaker and members of the house of
+    Delegates, the Memorial of Thomas Marshall humbly sheweth.
+
+
+That your Memorialist in Aug^t 1775 was appointed Major to the first
+minute Battalion raisd within this Commonwealth and early in October the
+same year enterd into actual service in which he continued during the
+following winter campaign. That while your memorialist commanded at the
+Great Bridge he was appointed Major to the 3^d Virginia Continental
+Regim^t he did not however retire from service but retaind his command
+and continued at his post till the latter end of March 1776 when the
+troops under his command were relieved by those of the continent rais'd
+in this State, by which time the 3^d Virginia Regim^t was rais'd and
+your Memorialist immediately called on to take command in it. That in
+Aug^t 1776 he together with the regiment to which he belonged in
+obedience to the orders they had rec^d began their march to New York,
+where they join'd the Grand-Army. That your Memorialist continued in
+hard and unremitting service from this time till the close of the
+campaign of 1777. That in the latter end of November 1777 your
+Memorialist was informed by an official letter from the then Governor,
+of his haveing been appointed by the General Assembly of Virginia to the
+command of the State regiment of Artillery;--a command he was only
+induced to take by a preference he ever felt for Artillery Service. That
+your Memorialist however retain'd his command and continued his service
+in the Northern Army till the end of the Campaign when the Troops were
+ordered into winter quarters. That your Memorialist then return'd to
+Virginia and about the middle of January following took command of his
+Regim^t of Artillery, which command he rataind till the 26th of February
+1781 at which time, the term of enlistment of most of the soldiers of
+the Regim^t having expired, they were discharged and your Memorialist
+became a reduced officer. Your Memorialist conceived from the Laws
+existing at the time he enter'd into the particular service of this
+State and from the different acts respecting the State Troops which have
+since passd the Legislature, that he should be intitled to every
+emolument to which he would have had a just claim had he remaind in the
+Continental Service. If however only particular discriptions of State
+Officers are to receive such emoluments as Continental are intitled to,
+your Memorialist humbly presumes to hope that his haveing made three of
+the severest campaigns in the last war before he took command of the
+State Regim^t of Artillery, his haveing rendered, as he trusts, some
+services as commanding officer of that Regiment, his haveing remaind in
+service till there was no longer a command for him, his having held
+himself in readiness to return to service, had his regiment been
+recruited, give him as fair a claim to military emoluments as any
+officer who has been in the particular service of this State. Your
+memorialist therefore humbly prays that your honorable house will take
+his services into consideration and allow him those emoluments which may
+be given to other State Officers whose services may not be superior to
+his.
+
+                                                          T. MARSHALL.
+
+  A true copy
+    H. R. MCILWAIN,
+          State Librarian.
+                  June 20, 1916.
+
+  [Marshalls Pet^n Nov. 25th 1784 Referred to Propositions Props.
+  discharged and ref^d to whole on Bill for giving Commutation to
+  Officers of 1st and 2d State Regiments.]
+
+
+
+
+WORKS CITED IN THIS VOLUME
+
+
+
+
+WORKS CITED IN THIS VOLUME
+
+_The material given in parentheses and following certain titles
+indicates the form in which those titles have been cited in the
+footnotes._
+
+
+ADAMS, CHARLES FRANCIS, _editor_. _See_ Adams, John. Works.
+
+ADAMS, HENRY. The Life of Albert Gallatin. Philadelphia. 1879. (Adams:
+_Gallatin_.)
+
+  _See also_ Gallatin, Albert. Writings.
+
+ADAMS, JOHN. Works. Edited by Charles Francis Adams. 10 vols. Boston.
+1856. (_Works_: Adams.)
+
+---- Old Family Letters. Copied from the originals for Alexander Biddle.
+Philadelphia. 1892. _(Old Family Letters.)_
+
+ALLEN, ETHAN. Narrative of the Capture of Ticonderoga, and his Captivity
+in England, written by himself. Burlington. 1854. (Ethan Allen.)
+
+ALLEN, GARDNER WELD. A Naval History of the American Revolution. 2 vols.
+New York. 1913. (Allen: _Naval History of Revolution_.)
+
+---- Our Navy and the Barbary Corsairs, Boston. 1905. (Allen: _Our Navy
+and the Barbary Corsairs_.)
+
+AMBLER, CHARLES HENRY. Sectionalism in Virginia, from 1776 to 1861.
+Chicago. 1910. (Ambler.)
+
+_American Historical and Literary Curiosities._ _See_ Smith, John Jay,
+and Watson, John Fanning, _joint editors_.
+
+_American Historical Review._ Managing editor, J. Franklin Jameson.
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+_American Journal of Education._ Edited by Henry Barnard. Vols. 1-30.
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+---- Economic Origins of Jeffersonian Democracy. New York. 1915. (Beard:
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+---- Institutional History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century. 2
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+CRÈVECOEUR, MICHEL GUILLAUME SAINT JOHN DE. Letters from an American
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+_Eighty Years' Progress of the United States, from the Revolutionary War
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+FOOTE, REV. WILLIAM HENRY. Sketches of Virginia, Historical and
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+States. New York. 1892. (Ford: _Essays on the Constitution_.)
+
+---- Pamphlets on the Constitution of the United States. New York. 1888.
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+
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+FORD, WORTHINGTON CHAUNCEY, _editor_. _See_ Jefferson, Thomas.
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+
+  _See also_ Adams, Henry. Life of Albert Gallatin.
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+
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+
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+
+GOSSE, EDMUND. A History of Eighteenth Century Literature. London. 1889.
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+
+GRAYDON, ALEXANDER. Memoirs of His Own Time, with Reminiscences of the
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+
+_Green Bag, The_; an Entertaining Magazine for Lawyers. Edited by Horace
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+HALSEY, FRANCIS WHITING. The Old New York Frontier. New York. 1901.
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+
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+
+---- Works. Edited by Henry Cabot Lodge. [Federal Edition.] 12 vols. New
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+
+HAMILTON, JOHN C., _editor_. History of the Republic of the United
+States, as traced in the Writings of Alexander Hamilton and his
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+
+  _See also_ Hamilton, Alexander. Works.
+
+HAMILTON, STANISLAUS MURRAY, _editor_. _See_ Monroe, James. Writings.
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+HARDING, SAMUEL BANNISTER. The Contest over the Ratification of the
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+
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+HATCH, LOUIS CLINTON. Administration of the American Revolutionary Army.
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+
+HAZEN, CHARLES DOWNER. Contemporary American Opinion of the French
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+
+HEITMAN, FRANCIS BERNARD. Historical Register of Officers of the
+Continental Army, during the War of the Revolution. Washington, D.C.
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+
+---- Same. Revised and Enlarged Edition. Washington. 1914. (Heitman.)
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+HENING, WILLIAM WALLER. _See_ Virginia. Laws.
+
+HENRY, PATRICK. Life, Correspondence, and Speeches. Edited by William
+Wirt Henry. 3 vols. New York. 1891. (Henry.)
+
+  _See also_ Wirt, William. Sketches of Life and Character of
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+
+
+HENRY, WILLIAM WIRT, _editor_. _See_ Henry, Patrick. Life,
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+
+HINSDALE, B. A. The Old Northwest. 2 vols. New York. 1891. (Hinsdale.)
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+_Historical Magazine and Notes and Queries Concerning the Antiquities,
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+_History of William and Mary College_, from its foundation, 1693, to
+1870. Baltimore. 1870.
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+HOWE, HENRY. Historical Collections of Virginia. Charleston, S.C. 1845.
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+
+HUDSON, FREDERIC. Journalism in the United States from 1690 to 1872. New
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+
+HUNT, GAILLARD, _editor_. _See_ Madison, James. Writings.
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+James Iredell.
+
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+
+
+JAMESON, J. FRANKLIN, _editor_. Essays in the Constitutional History of
+the United States, 1775-1789, by Graduates and Former Members of Johns
+Hopkins University. Boston. 1889. (Jameson.)
+
+JAY, JOHN. Correspondence and Public Papers. Edited by Henry P.
+Johnston. 4 vols. New York. 1890. (_Jay_: Johnston.)
+
+JEFFERSON, THOMAS. Correspondence, from originals in the collections of
+William K. Bixby. Edited by Worthington Chauncey Ford. Boston. 1916.
+(_Thomas Jefferson Correspondence_: Ford.)
+
+---- Works. Edited by Paul Leicester Ford. Federal Edition. 12 vols. New
+York. 1904. (_Works_: Ford.)
+
+---- Writings. Edited by H. A. Washington. 9 vols. Washington, D.C.
+1853-54. (Jefferson's _Writings_: Washington.)
+
+  _See_ Morse, John T. Thomas Jefferson.
+  _And see_ Randall, Henry S. Life of Thomas Jefferson.
+  _Also see_ Tucker, George. Life of Thomas Jefferson.
+
+JOHNSTON, HENRY P., _editor_. _See_ Jay, John. Correspondence and Public
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+
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+KAPP, FRIEDRICH. Life of Major-General Von Steuben. New York. 1859.
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+
+KEITH, _Sir_ WILLIAM, _Bart._ The History of the British Plantations in
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+
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+
+KING, RUFUS. Life and Correspondence. Edited by Charles R. King. 6 vols.
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+
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+LAMB, _General_ JOHN. Memoir and Life. _See_ Leake, Isaac Q.
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+LANG, ANDREW. History of English Literature. New York. 1912. [2d
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+
+LA ROCHEFOUCAULD-LIANCOURT, FRANÇOIS ALEXANDRE FRÉDÉRIC, _Duc_ DE.
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+
+LEAKE, ISAAC Q. Memoir of the Life and Times of General John Lamb, an
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+Clinton, Patrick Henry, and other Distinguished Men. Albany. 1850.
+(Leake: _Lamb_.)
+
+LEE, EDMUND JENNINGS. Lee of Virginia. 1642-1892. Biographical and
+Genealogical Sketches of the Descendants of Colonel Richard Lee.
+Philadelphia. 1895. (Lee: _Lee of Virginia_.)
+
+LEE, _Colonel_ RICHARD. Lee of Virginia. _See_ Lee, Edmund Jennings.
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+LODGE, HENRY CABOT. Life and Letters of George Cabot. Boston. 1878.
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+
+---- George Washington. 2 vols. Boston. 1889. [American Statesmen.]
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+
+  _See also_ Hamilton, Alexander. Works.
+
+LOSSING, BENSON J. The Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution. 2 vols.
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+
+LOWDERMILK, WILL H. History of Cumberland (Maryland). Washington, D.C.
+1878. (Lowdermilk.)
+
+M'CLUNG, JOHN ALEXANDER. Sketches of Western Adventure. Philadelphia.
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+
+MCCRADY, EDWARD. The History of South Carolina. 4 vols. New York.
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+
+MCHENRY, JAMES. Life and Correspondence. _See_ Steiner, Bernard C.
+
+MCMASTER, JOHN BACH, _and_ STONE, FREDERICK D. Pennsylvania and the
+Federal Constitution. Philadelphia. 1888. (McMaster and Stone.)
+
+MCREE, GRIFFITH, J. Life and Correspondence of James Iredell. 2 vols.
+New York. 1857. (McRee.)
+
+MADISON, JAMES. Writings. Edited by Gaillard Hunt. 9 vols. New York.
+1900. (_Writings_: Hunt.)
+
+  _See also_ Rives, William C. History of Life and Times.
+
+_Magazine, The, of American History, with Notes and Queries._ Vols.
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+
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+
+MARSHALL, HUMPHREY. The History of Kentucky. 2 vols. Frankfort. 1824.
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+
+MARSHALL, JOHN. Autobiography. _See_ Smith, John Jay _and_ Watson, John
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+(_Autobiography._)
+
+---- Same. In National Portrait Gallery of Eminent Americans. Paintings
+by Alonzo Chappel, and Biographical and Historical Narratives by Evert
+A. Duyckinck. 2 vols. New York. 1862.
+
+---- Same, reprinted. _See_ Dillon, John F.
+
+---- Life of George Washington. [1st Edition.] 5 vols. Philadelphia.
+1805. [2d Edition.] 2 vols. Philadelphia. 1840. [The 2d Edition is cited
+in this work unless otherwise stated in the notes.] (Marshall.)
+
+  _See also_ Thayer, James Bradley. John Marshall.
+
+  _And see_ Flanders, Henry. Lives of the Chief Justices.
+
+  _Also see_ Van Santvoord, George. Sketches of the Lives of the
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+
+MINER, CHARLES. History of Wyoming, in a series of letters, from Charles
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+MORDECAI, SAMUEL. Richmond in By-Gone Days, Being Reminiscences of An
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+
+MORRIS, GOUVERNEUR. Diary and Letters. Edited by Anne Cary Morris. 2
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+
+MORSE, JOHN T. Thomas Jefferson. Boston. 1795. [American Statesmen.]
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+
+MUNFORD, WILLIAM. _See_ Virginia, Law Reports.
+
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+NEW JERSEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. Proceedings. Vols. 1-10. Newark.
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+
+PAXTON, WILLIAM M. The Marshall Family, or a Genealogical Chart of the
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+
+PECQUET DU BELLET, LOUISE. Some Prominent Virginia Families. 4 vols.
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+
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+
+PICKERING, OCTAVIUS. Life of Timothy Pickering, by his son and continued
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+PICKERING, TIMOTHY. Life. _See_ Pickering, Octavius.
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+
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+
+
+RANDALL, HENRY S. Life of Thomas Jefferson. 3 vols. New York. 1858.
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+
+RANDOLPH, EDMUND. Life and Papers. _See_ Conway, Moncure Daniel.
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+RANDOLPH, JOHN. Life. _See_ Garland, Hugh A.
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+RIVES, WILLIAM C. The History of the Life and Times of James Madison. 3
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+
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+
+---- A History of Bristol Parish, Virginia. Richmond. 1879. (Slaughter:
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+
+SMITH, JOHN JAY, _and_ WATSON, JOHN FANNING, _joint editors_. _American
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+
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+
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+  _See also_ Washington, George. Writings.
+
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+
+STEINER, BERNARD C. The Life and Correspondence of James McHenry.
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+
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+
+STEUBEN, FREIDRICH WILHELM AUGUST HEINRICH FERDINAND, _Baron_ VON. Life.
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+STORY, JOSEPH. Discourse on John Marshall, reprinted.
+
+  _See_ Dillon, John F.
+  _Also see_ Story, William Wirt.
+
+STORY, WILLIAM WIRT. Life and Letters of Joseph Story. 2 vols. Boston.
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+
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+TALLEYRAND-PÉRIGORD, CHARLES MAURICE DE, _Prince_ DE BÉNÉVENT. Memoirs.
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+TUCKER, GEORGE. Life of Thomas Jefferson. 2 vols. Philadelphia. 1837.
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+
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+
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+
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+
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+
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+
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+
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+
+WERTENBAKER, THOMAS J. Patrician and Plebeian in Virginia, or the Origin
+and Development of the Social Classes of the Old Dominion.
+Charlottesville, Va. 1910. (_Wertenbaker_: _P. and P._)
+
+---- Virginia Under the Stuarts, 1607-1688. Princeton University. 1914.
+(Wertenbaker: _V. U. S._)
+
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+
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+Philadelphia. 1816. (Wilkinson: _Memoirs_.)
+
+_William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine._ Richmond.
+Vols. 1-16. 1892-1908. (_W. and M. C. Q._)
+
+WIRT, WILLIAM. The Letters of the British Spy. [9th Edition.] Baltimore.
+1831. (Wirt: _British Spy_.)
+
+---- Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry. Philadelphia.
+1818. (Wirt.)
+
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+of Virginia, in the Seventeenth Century. Richmond. 1911. (Wise.)
+
+WOLCOTT, OLIVER. Memoirs of the Administrations of Washington and John
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+
+WOOD, WILLIAM. The Fight for Canada. Westminster, 1904. (Wood.)
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+1. Passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_.
+
+2. Obvious errors in spelling and punctuation have been corrected.
+
+3. Footnotes have been renumbered and moved from the page end to the
+end of their respective chapters.
+
+4. Images have been moved from the middle of a paragraph to the closest
+paragraph break.
+
+5. Certain words use an oe ligature in the original.
+
+6. Carat character (^) followed by a single letter or a set of letters
+in curly brackets is indicative of subscript in the original book.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Life of John Marshall (Volume 1 of
+4), by Albert J. Beveridge
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40388 ***