=_Joseph Story, 1779-1845._= (Manual, pp. 487, 531.)

From his “Miscellaneous Writings.”

=_89._= CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL.

When can we expect to be permitted to behold again so much moderation united with so much firmness, so much sagacity with so much modesty, so much learning with so much experience, so much solid wisdom with so much purity, so much of every thing to love and admire, with nothing—­absolutely nothing, to regret?  What, indeed, strikes us as the most remarkable in his whole character, even more than his splendid talents, is the entire consistency of his public life and principles.  There is nothing in either which calls for apology or concealment.  Ambition has never seduced him from his principles, nor popular clamor deterred him from the strict performance of duty.  Amid the extravagances of party spirit he has stood with a calm, and steady inflexibility, neither bending to the pressure of adversity, nor bounding with the elasticity of success.  He has lived as such a man should live, (and yet, how few deserve the commendation!) by and with, his principles.  Whatever changes of opinion have occurred in the course of his long life, have been gradual and slow; the results of genius acting upon larger materials, and of judgment matured by the lessons of experience.

If we were tempted to say, in one word, what it was in which he chiefly excelled other men, we should say, in wisdom—­in the union of that virtue, which has ripened under the hardy discipline of principles, with that knowledge which has constantly sifted and refined its old treasures, and as constantly gathered new.  The constitution, since its adoption, owes more to him than to any other single mind, for its true interpretation and vindication.  Whether it lives or perishes, his exposition of its principles will be an enduring monument to his fame, as long as solid reasoning, profound analysis, and sober views of government, shall invite the leisure, or command the attention, of statesmen and jurists....  Yet it may be affirmed by those who have had the privilege of intimacy with Mr. Chief Justice Marshall, that he rises, rather than falls, with the nearest survey; and that in the domestic circle he is exactly what a wife, a child, a brother, and a friend would most desire.  In that magical circle, admiration of his talents is forgotten in the indulgence of those affections and sensibilities which are awakened only to be gratified.

* * * * *

From his “Miscellanies.”

=_90._= DIGNITY OF AMERICAN JURISPRUDENCE.