Marshall had scarcely taken his seat in Congress, in
1799, when Washington died, and he officially announced the death at
Philadelphia, and followed his remarks by introducing the resolutions
drafted by General Lee, which contained the words, "First in war, first
in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."
ON THE BENCH.
John Marshall was next Secretary of State of John Adams, succeeding
Timothy Pickering. Adams was defeated for re-election, but before he
went out of office he appointed Marshall chief-justice, at the age of
forty-five.
At the head of that great bench sat Marshall more than one-third of a
century. Before him pleaded all the great lawyers of the country, like
William Pinckney, Hugh Legare, Daniel Webster, Horace Binney, Luther
Martin, and Walter Jones.
John Marshall left as his great legacy to the United States his
interpretation of the Constitution. While chief-justice he became a
member of the Constitutional Convention of Virginia in company with
Madison and Monroe, both of whom had been President. He gave the Federal
Constitution its liberal interpretation, that it was not merely a bone
thrown to the general government, which must be watched with suspicion
while it ate, but that it was a document with something of the
elasticity of our population and climate, and that it was designed to
convey to the general state powers noble enough to give us respect.
Without a spot on his reputation, without an upright enemy, the old man
attended to his duty absolutely, loved argument, encouraged all young
lawyers at the bar, and he lived down to the time of nullification, and
when General Jackson issued his proclamation against the nullifiers John
Marshall and Judge Story went up to the White House and took a glass of
wine with him.
Pages:
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283