"On the 25th of December, 1831, it was the will of Heaven to take to itself the companion who had sweetened the choicest part of my life, had rendered toil a pleasure, had partaken of all my feelings, and was enthroned in the inmost recess of my heart. Never can I cease to feel the loss and to deplore it. Grief for her is too sacred ever to be profaned on this day, which shall be, during my existence, marked by a recollection of her virtues.
"On the 3d of January, 1783, I was united by the holiest bonds to the woman I adored. From the moment of our union to that of our separation, I never ceased to thank Heaven for this its best gift. Not a moment passed in which I did not consider her as a blessing from which the chief happiness of my life was derived. This never-dying sentiment, originating in love, was cherished by a long and close observation of as amiable and estimable qualities as ever adorned the female bosom. To a person which in youth was very attractive, to manners uncommonly pleasing, she added a fine understanding, and the sweetest temper which can accompany a just and modest sense of what was due to herself.
"She was educated with a profound reverence for religion, which she preserved to her last moments. This sentiment, among her earliest and deepest impressions, gave a colouring to her whole life. Hers was the religion taught by the Saviour of man. She was a firm believer in the faith inculcated by the Church (Episcopal) in which she was bred.
"I have lost her, and with her have lost the solace of my life! Yet she remains still the companion of my retired hours, still occupies my inmost bosom. When alone and unemployed, my mind still recurs to her. More than a thousand times since the 25th of December, 1831, have I repeated to myself the beautiful lines written by General Burgoyne, under a similar affliction, substituting 'Mary' for 'Anna':
"'Encompass'd in an angel's frame,
An angel's virtues lay:
Too soon did Heaven assert its claim
And take its own away!
My Mary's worth, my Mary's charms,
Can never more return!
What now shall fill these widow'd arms?
Ah, me! my Mary's urn!
Ah, me! ah, me! my Mary's urn!'"[1404]
After his wife's death, Marshall arranged to live at "Leeds Manor," Fauquier County, a large house on part of the Fairfax estate which he had given to his son, James Keith Marshall. A room, with very thick walls to keep out the noise of his son's many children, was built for him, adjoining the main dwelling. Here he brought his library, papers, and many personal belongings. His other sons and their families lived not far away; "Leeds Manor" was in the heart of the country where he had grown to early manhood; and there he expected to spend his few remaining years.[1405] He could not, however, tear himself from his Richmond home, where he continued to live most of the time until his death.[1406]
When fully recovered from his operation, Marshall seemed to acquire fresh strength. He "is in excellent health, never better, and as firm and robust in mind as in body," Story informs Charles Sumner.[1407]
The Chief Justice was, however, profoundly depressed. The course that President Jackson was then pursuing—his attitude toward the Supreme Court in the Georgia controversy,[1408] his arbitrary and violent rule, his hostility to the second Bank of the United States—alarmed and distressed Marshall.
"Leeds Manor"
The principal house in the Fairfax purchase and the home of Marshall's son,
James Keith Marshall, where he expected to spend his declining years.