try to picture
costumes, houses, etc.

Among the great men of Virginia, John Marshall
will always be remembered with honor and esteem.
He was the son of a poor man, and his early life was spent
in poverty; but he was not afraid of labor, and everybody
saw that he was a person of more than common ability. 5

Little by little he rose to distinction, and there was
scarcely any public office in the gift of the people that he
might not have had for the asking. He served in the legislature
of Virginia; he was sent as envoy to France; he was
made Secretary of State; and finally he became Chief 10
Justice of the United States. When he died at the age of
eighty, he was one of the greatest and most famous men
in America.

My father knew him well and loved him, and told me
many things about him. He was very tall and thin, and 15
dressed very plainly. He wore a suit of plain black cloth,
and common yarn stockings, which fitted tightly to his legs
and showed how thin they were. He was a very great
walker, and would often walk out to his farm, which was
several miles from Richmond. But sometimes he went on
horseback, and once he was met riding out with a bag of
clover seed on the saddle before him.

His manners were plain and simple, and he liked to talk
about everyday matters with plain country people and
laugh and jest with them. In a word, he was so great a man 5
that he never thought of appearing greater than other
people, but was always the same unpretending John
Marshall.

It was the fashion among the gentlemen of Richmond to
walk to market early in the morning and buy fresh meats 10
and vegetables for their family dinners. This was a good
old fashion, and some famous gentlemen continued to do
so to the end of their lives. It was the habit of Judge
Marshall, and very often he took no servant with him. He
would buy what he wanted and return home, carrying his 15
purchases on his arm; and on one of these occasions a little
incident occurred which is well worth telling.

Judge Marshall had made his purchases at the market
and was just starting for home when he heard some one
using very rough and unbecoming language. He turned 20
round and saw what was the cause of the hubbub. A
finely dressed young man, who seemed to be a stranger,