"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: "Genl. 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 Tents. Fairfax Ads 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, "Pḍ for Lucy entering into dancing school 2-2" (two pounds, two shillings).