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PAYING FOR DEBTS OF SON DISMISSED FROM HARVARD
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(SUPREME COURT.) MARSHALL, JOHN. Autograph Letter Signed,
“J.Marshall,” to Harvard tutor Joseph G. Cogswell, expressing gratitute for the efforts
expended on behalf of his own son, sending a check drawn on a New York bank, regret-
ting that he could not send one drawn on a Boston bank, asking that he convey
compliments to Harvard President John T. Kirkland, expressing embarrassment that
Kirkland had incurred expenses in correcting his own son’s misbehavior, and, in a post-
script, requesting that no receipts be sent. Addressed in his hand on terminal page. 2
1
/
2
pages, 4to, written on two sheets; remnants of prior mounting at left edge of first page,
small hole in top margin of first page repaired with paper verso, bottom edge of first page
trimmed, second leaf inlaid, small hole from torn seal repaired with tissue on terminal
page.
Richmond, 25 May 1815
[3,500/5,000]
“
. . . Finding it impracticable to obtain bills on Boston at present, & being unwilling to suspend
payment of debts which ought never to have been contracted, I have taken the liberty to forward
you a draft on New York which I trust will pass, though perhaps at some discount, in the
banks of your city. . . .
“
. . . [P]resent my respectful compliments to the President . . . . I am much obliged by the mea-
sures he took for the correction of John, & am truely chagrined that a son of mine should have
proved so unworthy of his attentions, & should have thrown away the advantages he might
have derived from the instruction which he might have received.
“
My son will never forget his obligations to you, & I entreat you to believe that they will ever
be retained in grateful recollection . . . .”
In the spring of 1815, Marshall’s son had been expelled from Harvard for repeated offences
involving the drinking of alcohol.
Published in “John Marshall & ‘Debts Which Ought Never to Have Been Contracted’: An
Unpublished Letter,” in
Green Bag
, vol. 4, no. 1.