Page:The Supreme Court in United States History vol 1.djvu/179

Rh it was a cause of such magnitude that counsel should have an opportunity to investigate the principles and consider the authorities. **It is a matter of great moment," said Judge Chase, "and ought to be deliber- ately and finally settled/* In this way, a subject productive of excited controversy disappeared from the Court's docket for nearly twenty years.

At the February and August Terms in 1797, eight cases were decided, none of which were of great im- portance. The Terms in 1798 were equally barren.

On August 21, 1798, Judge Wilson, whose health had been bad for the past two years, and who had been over- whelmed by serious financial troubles, died at the early age of fifty-six. He had been a profound lawyer and a great Judge, and as Judge Iredell wrote in 1794, his "aflFability and politeness gave great satisfaction to both the Bar and the people." His end amidst such misfortune was, therefore, peculiarly sad. To succeed Wilson, five men were mentioned — Jacob Rush,^ Samuel Sitgreaves, and Richard Peters (United States District Judge) of Pennsylvania, and Bushrod Wash- ington and John Marshall of Virginia. Rush withdrew his name; Sitgreaves was too inexperienced; Peters would not accept the appointment even if offered, owing to the inadequacy of the salary and the onerous Circuit Court duties imposed upon Supreme Court Judges. Marshall, while not as eminent at the Bar as several other lawyers of Virginia, had just returned from his mission with Pinckney and Gerry in France, and was now highly popular with the American people as a result of the revelation of the mysterious X. Y. Z. correspondence. Washington, who had studied law

^ Rush was bora in 1747, a graduate of Princeton in 1765 and of the Middle Temple in London in 1771, a Judge of The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 1784, President of the Third Circuit in 1791. See Jacob Rusk and the Early Pennsylvania 8Mt6 JudioiaTy, by Louis Richards, Penn, Bar As9. (1914), XX.