NEW YORK:
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY,

346 & 348 BROADWAY.
LONDON: 16 LITTLE BRITAIN.

ENTERED according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York.

CONTENTS OF VOL. II.

PAGE

WILLIAM WIRT:

Speech on the Missouri Question, .

Sketch of his Life,

439

Eulogy on Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, 443 WILLIAM GASTON:

Speech in the Trial of Aaron Burr,

461 Sketch of his Life,

Extract from the Argument in the Cherokee

Speech on the Loan Bill,

Case,

469

Religious Toleration; an extract, .

JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN:

Sketch of his Life,

ROBERT Y. HAYNE:

471

Sketch of his Life,

Speech on the Increase of the Army,

475

Speech on Internal Improvement,

Speech on Mr. Foot's Resolution, .

479

Speech on the Revenue Collection (Force)

SEARGENT S. PRENTISS:

Bill,

488

Sketch of his Life,

JOHN SERGEANT:

Address before the New England Societ

Sketch of his Life,

. 506

New Orleans : 1845,

AMERICAN ELOQUENCE.

JOHN MARSHALL.

John MARSHALL, the most illustrious of America's Judges, was the eldest son of Colonel Thomas Marshall, and Mary Keith, his wife. He was born on the twenty-fourth day of September, 1755, in Germantown, Fauquier County, Virginia. His youthful days were passed on the family estate, where he acquired the rndiments of an education, under the instruction of his father. At the age of fourteen he commenced his classical studies with a Mr. Campbell, with whom he remained a year, after which he returned to his home, and continued his studies with a Scotch gentleman, who had been inducted as pastor of the parish, and resided in his father's family. Here he made rapid progress, but on the expiration of a year, his instructor left him to his own unassisted resources; and his subsequent knowledge of the classics was attained without any other aid than his grammar and dictionary. In the literature of his native tongue he continued to receive the assistance of his father, who directed his studies, and contributed to cherish his love of knowledge. “It is to this circumstance,” says his friend and associate, “that we are mainly to attribute that decided attachment to the writers of the golden age of English literature, which at all times he avowed, and vindicated with a glowing confidence in its importance, and its superior excellence.” This parental care and attention was neither lost nor forgotten. It was a theme on which Mr. Marshall, in his mature years, delighted to expatiate. “My father,” he would say, "was a far abler man than any of his sons. To him I owe the solid foundation of all my own success in life.”

Mr. Marshall was entering upon his eighteenth year, when the difficulties between the American colonies and Great Britain began to assume a threatening aspect. In those affairs he manifested a deep interest. Relinquishing his literary labors, he devoted himself with spirit and energy to the acquisition of military knowledge, and to the diligent study of the politics of the day. In the summer of 1775, he was chosen a lieutenant in a company of minute-men, and in September of that year marched against Lord Dunmore, to obstruct that officer's progress through the lower counties of Virginia. Hearing of their approach, Lord Dunmore took a very judicious position on the north side of Elizabeth river, at the great bridge, where it was necessary for the provincials to cross in order to reach Norfolk, at which place he had established himself in some force. Here he erected a small fort on a piece of firm ground, surrounded by a marsh, which was only accessible on either side by a long causeway. The American troops took post within cannon shot of the enemy, in a small village at the south end of the causeway, across which, just at its termination, they constructed a breastwork, but being without artillery, were unable to make any attempt upon the fort. In this position both parties continued for a few days, when Lord Danmore, participating probably in that contempt for the Americans,