he thought likely to affect the independence and tenure of the judicial office. I have spoken of Marshall's patience and modesty as the presiding judge of a great court. This was but an exhibition of his habitual bearing. He was ever simple, modest, gentle and considerate of others. Kindliness of heart, reverence for women, and gentleness of demeanor, won for him the love and respect of all whose contact was close enough to know his real self. Though a great student and given to much communing with himself, as is the habit of the thinking man, he enjoyed the genial companionship of his brethren at the bar and is reputed to have indulged in story and anecdote down to the last years of his life. But neither these amiable personal qualities nor his conspicuous abilities, nor his shining services to his country, enabled him to escape bitter criticism and even calumnious assault. He lived in a day of fierce political controversy and bitter factional and personal rivalries. A small political faction conceived that the political antagonism between President Jefferson and the Chief Justice had resulted in partial rulings which brought about the acquittal of Burr. So intemperate was the expression of disappointment at the result of that trial that the distinguished Chief Justice was subjected to the humilitation of being burned in effigy by a Baltimore mob. Gifted as he was in endearing personal qualities, conspicuous as he was in all the virtues which ennoble and elevate man, he was also endowed with an intellect of exceeding rare qualities. In power of deep perception and close logical analysis he had no superior among the men of his generation. The thoughtful student of his speeches, addresses and judicial opinions can but perceive VOL II-14 that he saw deeper into the heart of a question and with a clearer vision than any of his contemporaries. With this power of insight and logical analysis, he possessed the rare faculty which belongs to the creator, the builder of institutions. The post-revolutionary period abounds with men of high intellectual and moral attainments, men of learning, genius, eloquence and courage. At no time in our history and perhaps never in the history of the world did any nation possess at one time so great a number of men illustrious for public virtues and conspicuous as leaders of public opinion. "A glorious Company, The flower of men to serve As models for the mighty world, And be the fair beginning Of a time." But in this group of gifted and illustrious men, there were a few who, in addition to the gifts of the others, possessed to an unusual degree the constructive faculty, that of creative wisdom at work. It is the rarest of rare gifts. When we find it in combination with character, eloquence, courage, learning and ardor, we have before us a file leader in human progress. It is the highest gift of the gods. "To the souls of fire, I, Pallas Athena, Give more fire, and to those Who are manful A might more than man's." In Washington, Madison, Jefferson, Hamilton and Marshall we have a group of mighty men, who in constructive faculties far outshone all of their contemporaries. These were the real architects of this great and complex government, the real founders of a republic preserving liberty through law. Marshall early saw the necessity for strengthening the bonds of union between the States and devoted himself to that work. While he did not directly participate in the making of the Constitution as it was submitted to the people for adoption, he threw himself ardently into the work of securing its acceptance. But the problem as to whether a paper constitution could be made to work remained for solution. The Federal system was complex. Sovereign States had surrendered many of their sovereign powers to the new government and had retained many others. Each government was supreme within its own sphere. The line which marked the boundary between the powers retained and those delegated was not always clearly distinguishable. Conflicts of jurisdiction must arise. The powers which were granted by the States to the Federal Government were large powers, conferred in general terms and rarely defined. The instrument itself was the work of human hands and could but contain some words and phrases of ambiguous meaning. Would the new government for want of vitality share the fate of that created by the old Articles of Confederation or would it live? If there was no final arbiter by which the Constitution might be construed and enforced; if there were to be as many interpretations as there were States, it could not live, it must die. In what spirit should it be interpreted? Was it to be approached as an obligation resting heavily upon unwilling shoulders and construed as a penal bond would be? This was not the attitude of John Marshall. He saw in it a Constitution. It was to him the organic law which gave expression to the highest aspirations of a free people for a Federal Union which should be as efficient within its sphere of action as were the States within their own reserved jurisdiction. "The letter killeth but the spirit giveth life." He came to the duty of construing and applying the Constitution in the spirit of those whose handiwork it was. He read its short but majestic lines with that insight into their meaning which came from a knowledge of the great objects which it was the purpose of that instrument to subserve and with the larger conceptions which come from a sympathetic attitude. With a steady and impartial hand he upheld the exercise by the Union of all the powers which had been granted to it, and with an equally firm determination protected the States against encroachment. His influence upon the Constitution and upon our institutions cannot be too strongly expressed. I cannot go into details. I must on such an occasion deal in general statements. Into our complex government he breathed the breath of life, and the dead letter of a paper Constitution became a living spirit. Under ⚫ his masterful impulse the Constitution has been made to march. Whether we agree or disagree with all of his interpretations is not a matter of contention now. Constitutions like other instruments get themselves construed, and when construed authoritatively that is the end of controversy in a government of law and order. The debt of gratitude which we owe to Marshall can never be paid. To him, my countrymen, more than to any other single influence may we attribute the fact that our experiment in self-government has vindicated itself and that the nations of the earth behold a strong and free people, whose liberties rest upon the solid foundation of law. The struggling republic whose right to live was doubted, whose future none could foresee, still lives. A century of achievement lies behind us and now we stand in the forefront of the nations. We have not attained this vantage ground without bitter internal differences and strenuous conflict. Questions there were which acquired temporary importance through their bearing upon an inherited institution, which so deeply involved the nature of the Union and the fundamental purposes and objects of government as to defy solution through discussion or the judgment of courts, and to which answer could only be made through trial by battle. But through all the conflicts and trials which have beset us we have emerged a united people more closely cemented in sentiment and aspiration than when the century began. Dark as may have seemed the promise at moments, the great fundamental principles of civil liberty have suffered no impairment. The orbit of the United States and of the States united has been marked. The sovereignty of each within its constitutional sphere is no longer disputed. The mighty problem as to whether the great powers of government could be efficiently restrained and limited by a self-imposed organic law has found its answer. We know now that "a government of the people, for the people and by the people" need not perish from the earth. Let us, therefore, give hearty thanks for the great services and good example of the illustrious patriot whose memory we this day do honor. We give below that portion of the address of Judge Caldwell, above mentioned, which relates to Chief Justice Marshall as a jurist. |