The Life of John Marshall

This is a reproduction of a library book that was digitized by Google as part of an ongoing effort to preserve the information in books and make it universally accessible. https://books.google.com ^V^YNBSdURG COLLEGE JUNIONTOWN CENTER THE LIFE OF JOHN MARSHALL &tanfcati> fti&rarp <2£iritton IN FOUR VOLUMES VOLUME I JOHN MARSHALL AT 43 From a miniature painted in Paris THE LIFE OF JOHN MARSHALL BY ALBERT J. BEVEEIDGE Volume I FBONTIERSMAN, SOLDIEB LAWMAKER 1755-1788 BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE ^IVERSITX COMMONWEALTH CAMPUSES LIBRARIES^ FAYETTE CAMPUS. — COPYIUOBT, I9I0, DT ALBERT J. BEVBMDGt IOIO, BY HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANV ALL RIGHTS RISEKVBD 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, en comium 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, indis tinctly, 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 Mar shall 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 Mar PREFACE shall the frontiersman, soldier, legislator, lawyer, politician, diplomat, and statesman, and of the con ditions he faced in each of these capacities, is essen tial to a comprehension of Marshall the construc tive jurist and of the problems he solved. In order to make clear the significance of Mar shall'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 his torical 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 Jeffer son that a faithful account of the one requires a care ful examination of the other. Vitally important in their effect upon the conduct and attitude of Marshall and of the leading charac ters 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 theii significance. PREFACE The present volumes narrate the life of John Mar shall before his epochal labors as Chief Justice be gan. 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 In diana 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. Wbrthington C. Ford, of the Massachusetts Histori cal 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 PREFACE 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 His torical 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, Assist ant 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 PREFACE ix 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 in debted to Mrs. John K. Mason, of Richmond. A large number of original and unpublished letters of Marshall were furnished me by Mr. James M. Mar shall, of Front Royal, Virginia, Mr. Robert Y. Con- ■ rad, 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. Com plete 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, neces sarily, have been based on unsupported tradition. Among the many who have aided me, Judge James Keith, of Richmond, Virginia, until recently Presi dent of the Court of Appeals of Virginia; Judge J. K. M. Norton and the late Miss Nannie Burwell Nor ton of Alexandria, Virginia; Mr. William Marshall Bullitt, of Louisville, Kentucky; Mr. Thomas Mar shall Smith, of Baltimore, Maryland; Mr. and Mrs. Alexander H. Sands; Mr. W. P. Taylor and Dr. H. X PREFACE 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 Mar shall, 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 Ran dolph, Mary Isham, and Mary Randolph Keith; and to Mr. Charles Edward Marshall, of Glen Mary, Kentucky, for permission to photograph the por trait of Colonel Thomas Marshall. The large number of citations has made abbrevi ations necessary. At the end of each volume will be found a careful explanation of references, giv ing 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 , The defeat of Braddock — Influence

Load more