raises, as before their marriage. During the summer months, it was
his almost yearly custom to retire to the mountains of the interior. She
was always his companion. On such occasions, he was guilty of a piece
of military ostentation of which nobody could have accused him while a
military man. He had preserved carefully, as memorials of an eventful
history, his marquee, camp bed, and cooking utensils, just as he had
done while in the Brigade, during the last twelve months of his military
life. These were carefully taken with him; and, with his faithful
servant Oscar, and his two sumpter mules, were still the companions of
his wanderings. They were coupled no doubt with many associations as
interesting to his heart as they were trying to his experience. They
were, perhaps, doubly precious, as they constituted the sum total of
all that he had gathered--besides an honorable fame--from his various
campaignings.

The marriage of Marion, like that of Washington, was without fruits.
This may have baffled some hopes, and in some degree qualified his
happiness, but did not impair his virtues. He adopted the son of a
relative, to whom he gave his own name, in the hope of perpetuating it
in the family, but even this desire has been defeated, since the
heir thus chosen, though blessed with numerous children, was never so
fortunate as to own a son.

In the decline of life, in the modest condition of the farmer, Marion
seems to have lived among his neighbors, very much as the ancient
patriarch, surrounded by his flock. He was honored and beloved by all.
His dwelling was the abode of content and cheerful hospitality. Its
doors were always open; and the chronicler records that it had many
chambers. Here the stranger found a ready welcome, and his neighbors
a friendly counsellor, to the last. His active habits were scarcely
lessened in the latter years of life. His agricultural interests were
managed judiciously, and his property underwent annual increase. Nor did
his domestic interests and declining years prevent him from serving the
public still. He still held a commission in the militia, and continued
to represent the parish of St. John's, in the Senate of the State. In
May, 1790, we find him sitting as a member of the Convention for forming
the State Constitution; but from this period he withdrew from public
life, and, in 1794, after the reorganization of the State militia, he
resigned his commission in that service to which he had