PAGE OF A LETTER FROM JOHN MARSHALL TO HIS WIFE DESCRIBING THEIR COURTSHIP DATED AT WASHINGTON, FEBRUARY 23, 1824
(Facsimile)
So every door in Yorktown was thrown open to Captain John Marshall. But in Jacquelin Ambler's house was the lodestone which drew him. April had come and the time of blossoming. On mellow afternoons, or by candlelight when the sun had set, the young lover spent as much time as the proprieties would permit with Mary Ambler, telling her of the war, no doubt; and, as her sister informs us, reading poetry by the hour.[494] Through it all he made love as hard as he could. He wooed as ardently and steadily as he had fought.[495]
The young lover fascinated the entire Ambler family. "Under the slouched hat," testifies Mary Ambler's sister, "there beamed an eye that penetrated at one glance the inmost recesses of the human character; and beneath the slovenly garb there dwelt a heart complete with every virtue. From the moment he loved my sister he became truly a brother to me.... Our whole family became attached to him, and though there was then no certainty of his becoming allied to us, we felt a love for him that can never cease.... There was no circumstance, however trivial, in which we were concerned, that was not his care."
He would "read to us from the best authors, particularly the Poets, with so much taste and feeling, and pathos too, as to give me an idea of their sublimity, which I should never have had an idea of. Thus did he lose no opportunity of blending improvement with our amusements, and thereby gave us a taste for books which probably we might never otherwise have had."[496]
The time had come when John Marshall must acquire a definite station in civil life. This was especially necessary if he was to take a wife; and married he would be, he had decided, whenever Mary Ambler should be old enough and would consent. He followed his parents' wishes[497] and began his preparation for the bar. He told his sweetheart of his purpose, of course, and her family "learned [of it] with pleasure."[498] William and Mary College, "the only public seminary of learning in the State,"[499] was only twelve miles from Yorktown; and there the young officer attended the law lectures of George Wythe for perhaps six weeks[500]—a time so short that, in the opinion of the students, "those who finish this Study [law] in a few months, either have strong natural parts or else they know little about it."[501] Recalling a criticism of one of Marshall's "envious contemporaries" some years later, Mrs. Carrington says: "Allusion was made to his short stay at William and Mary, and that he could have gained little there."[502]
It is said also that Marshall took a course in philosophy under President Madison, then the head of the little college and afterwards Bishop of Virginia; but this is unlikely, for while the soldier-student took careful notes of Wythe's lectures, there is not a word in his notebook[503] concerning any other college activity. The faculty consisted of five professors.[504] The college was all but deserted at that time and closed entirely the year after John Marshall's flying attendance.[505]
Although before the Revolution "the Necessary Expence of each Scholar yearly ... [was] only 15 £ Currency,"[506] one of Marshall's fellow students testifies that: "The amazing depreciation of our Currency has raised the price of Every Article so enormously that I despair'd of my Father's ability to support me here another year.... Board & entring under two Professors amounts to 4000wt of Tobacco."[507]
The intercourse of students and faculty was extremely democratic. There was a "college table" at which the students took their meals. According to the college laws of that time, beer, toddy, and spirits and water might be served, if desired.[508] The students were not required to wear either coats or shoes if the weather was warm.[509]