As yet you little know what labor and perseverance can effect, nor the exalted pleasures which honorable exertion gives to an ingenious mind. May God take charge of you; lead you in the ways of uprightness and honor; make you all useful men, and ornaments to your country! LETTER FROM CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL TO MURPHY. RICHMOND, October 6, 1827. DEAR SIR:--Your oration, delivered in Person Hall, Chapel Hill, reached this place during a visit I had made to our mountain country. It was taken out of the post-office and placed on a general table, among a number of papers and pamphlets received during my absence, and was not perceived till to-day. I mention this circumstance as an apology for having permitted so much time to elapse without making any acknowledgments for the gratification derived from its perusal. I take a great deal of interest in your portraits of the eminent men of North Carolina, who have now passed away from the theatre of action. It was my happiness to be acquainted with those of whom you speak as being known to yourself, and I feel the justness of the eulogies you have bestowed upon them. I never heard Mr. Davie nor Mr. Moore at the bar, but the impressions they both made upon me in private circles were extremely favorable, and I think you have given to the character of each its true coloring. Neither have I ever heard Mr. Stanly, but I have known him also in private, and it was not possible to be in his company without noticing and being struck with his general talent, and most especially his vivacity, his wit, and his promptness. He appeared to be eminently endowed with a ready elocution, and almost intuitive perception of the subjects of discussion. With Mr. Haywood and Mr. Henderson I was well acquainted, and have heard them often at the bar. They were unquestionably among the ablest lawyers of their day. I saw not much of Mr. Duffy as a professional man, but thought him a pleasing, agreeable gentleman. You omitted one name which ranks, I think, among the considerable men of your State. It is that of the late Judge Iredell. I was well acquainted with him too, and always thought him a man of real talent. In the rapid sketch you have taken of the colonial government, some circumstances excite a good deal of surprise. The persecuting spirit of the High-church party was still more vindictive than I had supposed, and the principle of limiting your laws to two years was, I believe, peculiar to Carolina. The scarcity of books, too, which seems to have prevailed ever since the Revolution, is a very remarkable fact. Although I concur perfectly in the opinion you express that much more advantage is to be derived from the frequent and attentive perusal of a few valuable books, than from indiscriminate and multifarious reading--that cramming injures digestion--yet, some books are necessary, not only for ornament, but for use.