After the war, John Marshall studied law, and began practice in Virginia courts. He served in many important offices both of his State and of the Nation.
Here is a little story told of him when he first began his practice. At that time, he was very simple though neat, in his dress.
He was one morning strolling, we are told, through the streets of Richmond, attired in a plain linen roundabout and shorts, with his hat under his arm, from which he was eating cherries, when he stopped in the porch of the Eagle Hotel, indulged in a little pleasantry with the landlord, and then passed on.
A gentleman from the country was present, who had a case coming on before the Court of Appeals, and was referred by the landlord to Marshall as the best lawyer to employ. But “the careless languid air” of Marshall, had so prejudiced the man that he refused to employ him.
The clerk, when this client entered the courtroom, also recommended Marshall, but the other would have none of him.
A venerable-looking lawyer, with powdered wig and in black cloth, soon entered, and the gentleman engaged him.
In the first case that came up, this man and Marshall spoke on opposite sides. The gentleman listened, saw his mistake, and secured Marshall at once, frankly telling him the whole story, and adding, that while he had come with one hundred dollars to pay his lawyer, he had but five dollars left.
Marshall good-naturedly took this, and helped in the case.
Learned in the Law of Nations
In time, John Marshall became a great lawyer. He declined the office of District Attorney of the United States at Richmond, that of Attorney General of the United States, and that of Minister to France, all offered him by Washington.