His great passion was the game of quoits, and he was a member
of the club which met, as it still meets, at Buchanan's Spring, near the
city, to play at this game. Here the Governor of Virginia, the Chief
Justice, and the most eminent lawyers of the Court of Appeals, were
found by a French gentleman, Baron Quinet, with their coats off, gayly
pitching quoits, with the ardor of a party of urchins. In these simple
amusements passed the hours of leisure which Judge Marshall could steal
from his exhausting judicial toil. At such times he seemed to become a
boy again, and to forget the ermine. His fondness for other social
enjoyments was great. He was the center of a brilliant circle of men,
many of whom were famous, and the tradition of their dinner parties, and
the jests which they circulated, is still preserved."
It was his custom always to provide for his table himself when at home,
and he might be seen every morning at the Shockoe Hill Market, with his
basket on his arm, engaged in making his purchases. Upon one of these
occasions he noticed a fashionably-dressed young man, swearing violently
because he could not find any one willing to carry home for him a turkey
which he had just purchased, and which his foolish pride would not
permit him to carry himself.
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