passion was the game of quoits, and he was a member of the club which met, as it still meets, at Buchanan’s Spring, near the city, to play at this game.  Here the Governor of Virginia, the Chief Justice, and the most eminent lawyers of the Court of Appeals, were found by a French gentleman, Baron Quinet, with their coats off, gayly pitching quoits, with the ardor of a party of urchins.  In these simple amusements passed the hours of leisure which Judge Marshall could steal from his exhausting judicial toil.  At such times he seemed to become a boy again, and to forget the ermine.  His fondness for other social enjoyments was great.  He was the center of a brilliant circle of men, many of whom were famous, and the tradition of their dinner parties, and the jests which they circulated, is still preserved.”

It was his custom always to provide for his table himself when at home, and he might be seen every morning at the Shockoe Hill Market, with his basket on his arm, engaged in making his purchases.  Upon one of these occasions he noticed a fashionably-dressed young man, swearing violently because he could not find any one willing to carry home for him a turkey which he had just purchased, and which his foolish pride would not permit him to carry himself.  Approaching him quietly, the Judge asked where he lived, and upon being told, said, “I am going that way, and will carry it for you.”  Taking the turkey, he set out and soon reached the young man’s door.  Upon receiving his turkey, the young man thanked him for his trouble, and asked, “How much shall I pay you?” “Oh, nothing,” replied the Judge, smiling, “you are welcome.  It was on my way, and no trouble.”  So saying, the Judge departed, and the young man, with a faint suspicion of the truth, turned to a bystander, and asked, in some confusion, “Who is that polite old gentleman who brought home my turkey for me?” “That is John Marshall, the Chief Justice of the United States,” was the reply.  “Why, then, did he bring home my turkey?” stammered the fop.  “To give you a deserved rebuke,” said the gentleman, “and to teach you to conquer your silly pride.”

Reference has been made to his carelessness in regard to his personal appearance.  A wager was once laid among his friends in Richmond that he could not dress himself without leaving about his clothing some mark of his carelessness.  The Judge good-humoredly accepted the wager.  A supper was to be given to him upon these conditions.  If his dress was found faultless upon that occasion, the other parties were to pay for the entertainment; but if any carelessness could be detected about his dress or in his appearance, the expense was to fall upon him.  Upon the appointed evening the gentlemen and the Judge met at the place agreed upon, and to the surprise of all, the Judge’s dress seemed faultless.  He appeared the very perfection of neatness and taste.  The supper followed, the Judge being in high glee over his victory.  Near the close of the repast, however, one of the guests, who sat next to Judge Marshall, chanced to drop his napkin, and stooping down to pick it up, discovered that the Judge had put on one of his stockings with the wrong side out.  Of course the condition of affairs was immediately reversed, and, amid roars of laughter, the Chief Justice acknowledged his defeat.