abandoned his course; but
Marshall did neither. The better answer to Sedgwick's fears was given in
1805 when John Randolph declared that Marshall's "real worth was never
known until he was appointed Chief Justice." And Sedgwick is further
confuted by the portraits of the Chief Justice, which, with all their
diversity, are in accord on that stubborn chin, that firm placid mouth,
that steady, benignant gaze, so capable of putting attorneys out of
countenance when they had to face it overlong. Here are the lineaments
of self-confidence unmarred by vanity, of dignity without condescension,
of tenacity untouched by fanaticism, and above all, of an easy
conscience and unruffled serenity. It required the lodestone of a great
and thoroughly congenial responsibility to bring to light Marshall's
real metal.

CHAPTER III. Jefferson's War On The Judiciary

By a singular coincidence Marshall took his seat as Chief Justice at the
opening of the first term of Court in Washington, the new capital, on
Wednesday, February 4, 1801. The most beautiful of capital cities was
then little more than a swamp, athwart which ran a streak of mire named
by solemn congressional enactment "Pennsylvania Avenue." At one end of
this difficult thoroughfare stood the President's mansion--still in
the hands of the builders but already sagging and leaking through the
shrinkage of the green timber they had used--two or three partially
constructed office-buildings, and a few private edifices and boarding
houses. Marshall never removed his residence to Washington but occupied
chambers in one or other of these buildings, in company with some of
the associate justices. This arrangement was practicable owing to the
brevity of the judicial term, which usually lasted little more than six
weeks, and was almost necessitated by the unhealthful climate of
the place. It may be conjectured that the life of John Marshall was
prolonged for some years by the Act of 1802, which abolished the August
term of court, for in the late summer and early autumn the place swarmed
with mosquitoes and reeked with malaria.

The Capitol, which stood at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, was in
1801 even less near completion than the President's house; at this time
the south wing rose scarcely twenty feet above its foundations. In
the north wing, which was nearer completion, in a basement chamber,
approached by a small hall opening on the eastern side of the Capitol
and flanked b