Mr. JUSTICE GRAY, in his recent address at Richmond, Va., says; "Of all the portraits by various artists, that which best accords with the above description, especially in the ' eyes dark to blackness, strong and penetrating, beaming with intelligence and good nature,' is one by Jarvis (perhaps the best American portrait painter of his time, next to Stuart), which I have had the good fortune to own for thirty years, and of which, before I bought it, Mr. Middleton, then the clerk of the Supreme Court, who had been deputy clerk for eight years under Chief Justice Marshall, wrote me : ' It is an admirable likeness; better than the one I have, which has always been consid ered one of the best.' This portrait was taken while his hair was still black, or nearly so; and, as shown by the judicial robe, and by the cur tain behind and above the head, was evidently intended to represent him as he sat in court. "The most important of the later portraits are those painted by Harding in 1828-30, and by Inman in 1831, with a graver expression of countenance, with the hair quite gray, and with deep lines on his face. "Harding's portraits were evidently thought well of, by the subject, as well as by the artist. One of them, afterwards bequeathed by Mr. Jus tice Story to Harvard College, was sent to him by the Chief Justice in March, 1828, with a let ter, saying, ' I beg you to accept my portrait, for which I sat in Washington to Mr. Harding, to be preserved when I shall sleep with my fathers, as a testimonial of sincere and affection ate friendship : ' and in the same letter he gave directions for paying Harding ' for the head and shoulders I have bespoke for myself.' Harding's principal portrait of Marshall was painted in 1830 for the Boston Athenaeum, in whose pos session it still is; it has the advantage of being a full length, showing that in his seventy-fifth year he retained the erect and slender figure of his youth; and the artist wrote of it in his autobiography : ' I consider it a good picture. I had great pleasure in painting the whole of such a man.' "Inman's careful portrait, in the possession of the Philadelphia Law Association, has often been engraved, and is, perhaps, the best known of all. '• The crayon portrait in profile, drawn by
St. Mémin in 1808, which has always remained in the family of the Chief Justice, and been considered by them an excellent likeness, and is now owned by a descendant in Baltimore; the bust by Frazee . . . familiarly known by numerous casts; and that executed by Powers, by order of Congress, soon after the Chief Jus tice's death, for the Supreme Court Room — all show that, while his hair grew rather low on the forehead, his head was high and well-shaped, and that, as was then not unusual, he wore his hair in a queue. "His dress, as shown in the full length por trait by Harding, and as described by his con temporaries, was a simple and appropriate, but by no means fashionable, suit of black, with knee breeches, long stockings, and low shoes with buckles."
AMONG the illustrations in our May number, which will contain the more strictly legal part of the Marshall article, will be the bust of the Chief Justice, by Frazee, in the Boston Athe naeum, and the portrait by Rembrandt Peale, in the rooms of the Long Island Historical Soci ety, Brooklyn, N.Y. We hope to reproduce, also, some of the less well-known portraits. The Jarvis, Harding, and Inman portraits, and one by an unknovn artist, may be found in the Feb ruary number of THE GREEN BAG.
CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL was the first president of the old, unchartered, Washington Monu ment Association. Among the records, which have been stored in the monument, has been found, his letter of acceptance of the office. This letter discloses that the Chief Justice had a crest, a fact which, when brought to the atten tion of Justice Gray, was pronounced as one which had escaped the notice of the historians of the great jurist. The letter is written on a double sheet, the outside one being used to form the envelope, and, where the paper is folded, the letter is sealed with wax. The seal is very im perfect, only the upper part of the impression being discernible. This shows two stags, one recumbent, the other, standing behind, is in the position of defense, seeming to be waiting for an attack upon its mate lying upon the ground.
