Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 18.djvu/40

 40 Southern Historical Society Papers.

But, like many others, the fascinations of public life proved too strong for him, and he again plunged into politics with his accus- tomed ardor. He was successful in his candidature, and twice rep- resented the city of Louisville in the legislature of Kentucky. In 1837 he made the race for Congress against Mr. Graves, the regular nominee of the Whig party. The congressional district being a Whig stronghold, stood staunchly by the regular candidate, and Mr. Marshall was defeated by almost two thousand majority. He was deeply disappointed and did not attempt to conceal the bitterness of his feelings. As he said, "the iron entered into his soul." He left Louisville immediately and returned to his old home in Versailles. During the ensuing year he announced himself as a candidate for the legislature from Woodford, and was elected without opposition. The legislature having adjudged him ineligible for want of the full year's residence in the county, rejected him. After this he was twice elected, and each time without opposition. It was at these sessions of the legislature that he distinguished himself as a powerful debater on the question of the Charleston, Lexington and Cincinnati Railroad. He opposed the measure with all his fiery earnestness, contending for the city of Louisville as the terminus, " heaping coals of fire," as he said, " upon her ungrateful [head for the manner in which she had treated him two years before."

At every session of the legislature of which he was a member Mr. Marshall was the zealous and fearless advocate of the slave law of 1832, which forbade the importation of slaves into the State. Many attempts were made to repeal this law, but he resisted them with all the might of his logic and all the force of his eloquence. In 1840 he refused to run again for the legislature. In the session of that winter the most strenous efforts were made to repeal this law that he so earnestly desired to keep upon the statute books of the State. He had no seat in the legislature, but, at the urgent solicitation of the friends of the law, he presented the arguments he had so often made on the floor of the House in a series of letters addressed to the Commonwealth, a newspaper published in the city of Frankfort. In 1841, when forty years of age, he was elected to the Twenty- seventh Congress of the United States from the Ashland district without opposition, and entered upon his congressional duties at the celebrated called session, under John Tyler, acting President. During his brief but brilliant career in Washington he spoke often and well. There are, however, but two of his congressional speeches fully re- ported. Disgusted with the manner in wK ^h his first speech was