In 1788, Mr. Marshall was elected to the Virginia Convention which met in June of that year for the purpose of considering the question of the adoption or rejection of the Federal Constitution.  The debates in this body were among the most brilliant in history.  Marshall took a decided stand in favor of the Constitution, and is believed to have done more than any other man, save Mr. Madison, to secure its adoption.  He added greatly to his reputation by his labors in this body, and the close of the session found his practice very much enlarged.  He was anxious to devote himself entirely to his professional duties; but he was urged so vehemently to accept a seat in the Legislature from the city of Richmond, that he was forced to consent.  He sat in that body from 1789 to 1791, and in those sessions which were marked by the brilliant contests between the Federalists and Republicans took a decided stand with the former, and sustained his position by an array of arguments against which his opponents were powerless.  The struggle was one of great bitterness, but Marshall, although victorious in it, made no enemies among his antagonists.

For the next three years he devoted himself industriously to his profession, appearing in public only to defend with masterly eloquence the course of President Washington with reference to the insolent conduct of Citizen Genet, the French Agent.  In 1795, he was again elected to the Legislature, “not only without his approbation, but against his known wishes;” but yielding to the desires of his friends he took his seat in that body.  The great question of the day was the adoption of “Jay’s Treaty” with Great Britain.  In Virginia, a bitter opposition assailed the treaty, and the entire State rang with denunciations of it.  Even the influence of Washington was powerless to stay the tide of popular passion excited against the treaty and those who upheld it.  Meetings were held in Richmond, and the treaty was fiercely denounced.  Marshall now came to the rescue, and before a meeting of the citizens of that place made such an unanswerable argument in favor of the treaty, that the men who had been foremost in assailing it now united in the adoption of resolutions indorsing the policy of the Administration.  In the Legislature his efforts were equally successful, and the opponents of the Administration were forced to abandon their constitutional objections to the treaty, and to content themselves with a simple denial of the expediency of the measure at that time.  President Washington attached so much importance to these services that he offered to his old friend and comrade the position of Attorney-General of the United States, but Marshall declined the offer, as he wished to devote himself to his practice, which had now become very lucrative.  He continued to sit in the Legislature, which did not interfere with his private business, and remained the constant and vigilant friend of Washington’s Administration.  In 1796, he was offered the post