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THE consideration of the life of the great Chief Justice is a theme which rightly may challenge the highest efforts of the orators on John Marshall Day. Presiding over the Supreme Court for more than a third of a cen tury at the formative period of our national existence, when, more than at any later time, fundamental principles of constitutional law came before that tribunal, Chief Justice Marshall exercised on the character of our government an influence so strong, so far-reaching, so per manent and so beneficial that he stands, and humanly speaking ever will stand, the greatest figure in our judicial history. So command ing is his position on the bench that one may fail to realize his eminent services in polit ical life. During the twenty-one years between his admission to the bar and his elevation to the bench, he was almost constantly in public life, — not because he sought office, but because, first by his constituents, and afterwards by Washington and Adams, he was picked as a man pre-eminently .fitted to grapple with the great political questions of the time. In the halls of legislation his was one of the strong influences, as on the bench it was the strongest influence, which impressed the Federalist ideas upon our form of government. And his eminent services as envoy to France, considered by themselves, entitle him to an honored place among American statesmen; for, as President Adams wrote, " He has raised the American people in their own esteem, and if the influence of truth and justice, reason and argument, is not lost in Europe, he has raised the considera tion of the United States in that quarter." Washington, Lincoln, Hamilton and Marshall — these are the four greatest names in American history; and Marshall's right to a place in this illustrious group is beyond question.
IT is gratifying to note that the celebration of John Marshall Day, on February 4, bids fair to be worthy of the great event which it com memorates. A glance at the list of distinguished orators for that day makes it seem not unreason able to hope that among the addresses there may be some which will rank with the masterly eulogies of Mr. Justice Story, and of the Honor able E. J. Phelps at the first meeting of the American Bar Association, in 1879. There can be no question that the interest in the occasion is deep and genuine, and that it is shared by the bench and bar throughout the country. And it is a pleasure to offer congratulations to the mem bers of the committee of the American Bar Asso ciation having the celebration in charge, and especially to the officers of that committee on whom the active work has fallen; for to their energy and enthusiasm is due, in large measure, the success anticipated for the celebration. The following is the list of orators on " John Marshall Day," so far as known to us : Washington, D. C. : Hon. Wayne McVeagh, of Philadelphia. Addresses, also, by President McKinley and Mr. Chief Justice Fuller. Boston, Mass. : Hon. Henry St. George Tucker, of Virginia. Addresses, also, by Mr. Chief Justice Holmes, of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, and Hon. Richard Olney. Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. : Prof. James Bradley Thayer. Yale University, New Haven, Conn. : Hon. Charles E. Perkins, of Hartford; Mr. Justice Chipman, of the United States Court, and Mr. Justice Baldwin, of the Supreme Court of Conn. Albany, N. Y. : Hon John F. Dillon, of New York. Philadelphia, Pa. : Mr. Justice Mitchell, of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Wilmington, Del. : Prof. John Bassett Moore of Columbia University; Hon. George Gray, of the United States Court. Baltimore, Md. : Hon. Charles Marshall, Hon. William P. Whyte, Hon. Charles J. Bonaparte.
