THE GREAT CHIEF JUSTICE
I have always thought from my earliest youth till now, that the greatest scourge an angry Heaven ever inflicted upon an ungrateful and a sinning People, was an ignorant, a corrupt, or a dependent Judiciary.
John Marshall
Respected by All
When the venerable life of the Chief Justice was near its close, he was called to give his parting counsel to his native State, in the revision of her Constitution.
A spectacle of greater dignity than the Convention of Virginia in the year 1829, has been rarely exhibited. At its head was James Monroe, conducted to the chair by James Madison and John Marshall, and surrounded by the strength of Virginia, including many of the greatest names of the Union.
The reverence manifested for Chief Justice Marshall, was one of the most beautiful features of the scene. The gentleness of his temper, the purity of his motives, the sincerity of his convictions and his wisdom, were confessed by all.
He stood in the centre of his native State, in his very home of fifty years, surrounded by men who had known him as long as they had known anything, and there was no one to rise up even to question his opinions, without a tribute to his personal excellence.
The True Man
This admirable man, extraordinary in the powers of his mind, illustrious by his services, exalted by his public station, was one of the most warm-hearted, unassuming, and excellent of men.