Albert Beveridge - The Life of John Marshall, Volume 1 - Frontiersman, soldier, lawmaker, 1755-1788

These letters were written while the laughing young Tarleton was riding after the flying Virginia Government, of which Eliza Ambler's father was a part. They throw peculiar light on the opinions of Marshall, who at that time was in love with this lady's sister, whom he married two years later. (See infra , chap. v.)

An inquiry into Jefferson's conduct was formally moved in the Virginia Legislature. But the matter was not pressed and the next year the Legislature passed a resolution of thanks for Jefferson's "impartial, upright, and attentive Administration." (See Eckenrode's thorough treatment of the subject in his Revolution in Virginia , chap. vii. And see Tucker, i, 149-56, for able defense of Jefferson; and Dodd, 63-64; also Ambler, 37.)

Monroe, Bland, and Grayson are the only conspicuous exceptions.

Story, in Dillon, iii, 338.

This prevalent idea is well stated in one of Mrs. Carrington's unpublished letters. "What sacrifice would not an American, or Virginian (even) at the earliest age have made for so desireable an end – young as I was [twelve years old when the war began] the Word Liberty so continually sounding in my ears seemed to convey an idea of everything that was desirable on earth – true that in attaining it, I was to see every present comfort abandoned; a charming home where peace and prosperous fortune afforded all the elegancies of life, where nature and art united to render our residence delightful, where my ancestors had acquired wealth, and where my parents looked forward to days of ease and comfort, all this was to be given up; but in infancy the love of change is so predominant that we lose sight of consequences and are willing to relinquish present good for the sake of novelty, this was particularly the case with me." (Mrs. Carrington to her sister Nancy, March, 1809; MS.; and see infra , chap. VIII.)

Marshall, i, 355-65.

Ib. , 422-24.

Ib. , 425.

Marshall, i, 425.

Mrs. Carrington to her sister Nancy, 1810; Atlantic Monthly , lxxxiv, 546; and same to same, March, 1809; MS. Thomas Marshall was now Colonel of the Virginia State Regiment of Artillery and continued as such until February 26, 1781, when his men were discharged and he became "a reduced officer." (Memorial of Thomas Marshall, supra. See Appendix IV.) This valuable historical document is the only accurate account of Thomas Marshall's military services. It disproves the statement frequently made that he was captured when under Lincoln at Charleston, South Carolina, May 12, 1780. Not only was he commanding the State Artillery in Virginia at that time, but on March 28 he executed a deed in Fauquier County, Virginia, and in June he was assisting the Ambler family in removing to Richmond. (See infra. ) If a Thomas Marshall was captured at Charleston, it must have been one of the many others of that name. There was a South Carolina officer named Thomas Marshall and it is probably he to whom Heitman refers. Heitman (ed. 1914), 381. For account of the surrender of Charleston, see McCrady, iii, 507-09.

"Certain it is that another Revolutionary War can never happen to affect and ruin a family so completely as ours has been!" It "involved our immediate family in poverty and perplexity of every kind." (Mrs. Carrington to her sister Nancy; Atlantic Monthly , lxxxiv, 545-47.)

Ib.

Dog Latin and crude pun for "bell in day."

Jefferson to Page and to Fleming, from Dec. 25, 1762, to March 20, 1764; Works : Ford, i, 434-52. In these delightful letters Jefferson tells of his infatuation, sometimes writing "Adnileb" in Greek.

"He is a boy and is indisputably in love in this good year 1763, and he courts and sighs and tries to capture his pretty little sweetheart, but like his friend George Washington, fails. The young lady will not be captured!" (Susan Randolph's account of Jefferson's wooing Rebecca Burwell; Green Bag , viii, 481.)

Tradition says that George Washington met a like fate at the hands of Edward Ambler, Jacquelin's brother, who won Mary Cary from the young Virginia soldier. While this legend has been exploded, it serves to bring to light the personal attractiveness of the Amblers; for Miss Cary was very beautiful, heiress of a moderate fortune, and much sought after. It was Mary Cary's sister by whom Washington was captivated. (Colonel Wilson Miles Cary, in Pecquet du Bellet, i, 24-25.)

Mrs. Carrington to her sister Nancy; Atlantic Monthly , lxxxiv, 547. Of the letters which John Marshall wrote home while in the army, not one has been preserved.

Ib.

Ib.

Mrs. Carrington to her sister Nancy; Atlantic Monthly , lxxxiv, 547.

Hist. Mag. , iii, 165. While this article is erroneous as to dates, it is otherwise accurate.

Ib. , 167.

Mrs. Carrington to her sister Nancy; Atlantic Monthly , lxxxiv, 547.

Hist. Mag. , iii, 167.

Mrs. Carrington to her sister Nancy; Atlantic Monthly , lxxxiv, 547.

Supra , chap. II.

Mrs. Carrington to her sister Nancy; Atlantic Monthly , lxxxiv, 547.

"Notes on Virginia": Jefferson; Works : Ford, iv, 65.

Mrs. Carrington to her sister Nancy; supra. William and Mary was the first American institution of learning to adopt the modern lecture system. (Tyler; Williamsburg , 153.) The lecture method was inaugurated Dec. 29, 1779 ( ib. , 174-75), only four months before Marshall entered.

John Brown to Wm. Preston, Feb. 15, 1780; W. and M. C. Q. , ix, 76.

Mrs. Carrington to her sister Nancy; MS.

See infra.

The Reverend James Madison, Professor of Natural Philosophy and Mathematics; James McClung, Professor of Anatomy and Medicine; Charles Bellini, Professor of Modern Languages; George Wythe, Professor of Law; and Robert Andrews, Professor of Moral and Intellectual Philosophy. ( History of William and Mary College , Baltimore, 1870, 70-71.) There was also a fencing school. (John Brown to Wm. Preston, Feb. 15, 1780; W. and M. C. Q. , ix, 76.)

History of William and Mary College , Baltimore, 1870, 45. "Thirty Students and three professors joined the army at the beginning of the Revolutionary War." ( Ib. , 41.) Cornwallis occupied Williamsburg, June, 1781, and made the president's house his headquarters. (Tyler: Williamsburg , 168.)

Fithian, 107.

John Brown to Wm. Preston, Jan. 26, 1780; W. and M. C. Q. , ix, 75. Seventeen years later the total cost to a student for a year at the college was one hundred and fifty to one hundred and seventy dollars. (La Rochefoucauld, iii, 49-56.) The annual salary of the professors was four hundred dollars and that of the president was six hundred dollars.