Some Virginia Lawyers of the Past and Present. appointment? The salary annexed thereto and the prospect of a lucrative practice in this city, the present seat of the government, must be as well known to you, better perhaps, than they are to me and therefore I shall say nothing concern ing them. If your answer is in the affirmative, it will readily occur to you, that no unnecessary time should be lost in repairing to this place. If on the contrary it should be in the negative, which I should be very sorry for, it might be as well to say nothing of this offer. But in either case I pray you give me an answer as promptly as you can. With esteem and regard, I am, etc., George Washington. A French peer, the Duke de Liancourt, who was traveling in this country at that time said : " Mr. J. Marshall is beyond all doubt one of those who rank highest in the public opinion in Richmond. Even his political enemies allow him to possess great talents but accuse him of ambition." He went to Philadelphia to argue the British debt case, on appeal to the Supreme Court. He was associated with Patrick Henry for the American debtors. The question involved was the validity of the British debts, due from Virginia, which had been, during the Revolutionary War, con fiscated by an Act of the Assembly of Vir
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ginia. William Wirt says : " The case won for him unqualified praise and great renown, and from that time Marshall was justly pro nounced one of the greatest men of the country. He was followed by crowds, looked upon and courted with every evidence of admiration and respect for the great powers of his mind. Marshall's maxim seems always to have been, 'Aim exclusively at strength,' and from his eminent success I say, if I had my life to go over again, I would practice on his maxim with the most vigorous severity." His practice paid him only between five and six thousand dollars, although it ex ceeded that of any other lawyer in Virginia. Francis W. Gilmer said : " When Marshall begins an argument he reminds one of a great bird, which flounders on the earth for a while before it acquires impetus to sustain its soaring flight." President John Adams made him secre tary of state and on the 4th of February, 1 80 1, chief justice of the United States, which office he held until his death, July 6, 1835. I have written of his private life, of his will, and of him as Secretary of State, so this sketch is to represent him only as a lawyer.
