Daniel Webster

Oliver Wendell Holmes once observed that the life of the law is not of logic but of experience. That being so, it is safe to say that Thurgood Marshall brought more authentic life into the musty halls of the Supreme Court than any of his fellow jurists.Marshall's experience was both bitter and sweet -- bitter, because he endured personally the cruelties of segregation and abuse; sweet, because as a result of his own Herculean efforts, that legacy was overcome, at least in a formal sense.Who can possibly fill the shoes of Justice Marshall, the liberal lion who is now retiring after 24 years on the high bench?

Bakari Ward had a game-high 31 points with five steals and Mike Doyle added 19 points and seven steals to lead Goucher to a season-opening, 91-71 victory over Villa Julie last night in the first round of the S.W. Sponaugle Classic at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa.Ward and Doyle combined to convert 18 of 27 field goals as the Gophers broke from a four-point lead at halftime by shooting 59 percent in the second half.Darrian Lee (15 points), Todd Sykes (13) and Vince Williams (11)

THE NATION'S new president is not known for short speeches. But no president is likely to repeat the most notorious inaugural speech ever -- the one-hour-forty-minute ramble of the luckless William Henry Harrison, who took office March 4, 1841. Nominated as a figurehead by a cynical Whig party, Mr. Harrison fell for the heroic campaign rhetoric the party put out about him -- and it killed him. On a raw and windy day, he insisted on making a two-hour trip to the Capitol on a white horse, bareheaded and without an overcoat.

Your front-page analysis of the recent federal court decision striking down Maryland's "right to carry" handgun law conveys the misimpression that the law is ill-conceived and too "restrictive" ("Gun ruling likely to be upheld, say legal experts," March 7). Nothing could be further from the truth. The handgun permit law has served Marylanders well for 40 years, and has survived a number of earlier challenges in the Maryland courts. Even your article concedes that only 5 percent of last year's applicants were denied for lacking a "good and substantial reason" for wanting a permit.

Want to know how many shootings took place in Maryland last year? And where? Easier said than done. After a violent Labor Day weekend that saw 16 people shot in Baltimore, six fatally, The Baltimore Sun wanted to know how city shooting trends compared with those in other parts of Maryland. But because there's no requirement to report shootings, it's difficult to develop a statewide analysis. Maryland's Uniform Crime Report - the annual crime compilation of statistics required for all states by the federal government, with a nationwide version published - doesn't tally nonfatal shootings.

A reality of the far-reaching gun regulations approved by committees in the House of Delegates on Friday night: Marylanders likely will buy more assault-style weapons in the next six months than they would have without a new law. In fact, it seems like the current version of the legislation encourages sales. Gun dealers would be allowed to sell out their present inventories of assault-style rifles even after the ban takes effect Oct. 1. If a Marylander just places an order for such a gun before then, he could still legally own it. You might ask: If something warrants banning, why wait six months to implement it?

The current New Yorker magazine carries an intriguing profile of First Lady Hillary Clinton, who is using that role in new and powerful ways. The same issue carries tributes to a pace-setting First Lady of another era, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Here is a reminiscence from Clark Clifford, long a player in the Democratic Party:"In the first dream months of the Kennedy presidency, Mrs. Kennedy suggested that I come over for lunch. She said that she had been thinking about what her goals should be as First Lady.

It is, sir, as I have said, a small college -- and yet there are those who love it.-- Daniel WebsterTwo of Maryland's small liberal arts colleges, Mount St. Mary's in Emmitsburg and Goucher in Towson, have ventured out-of-state to replace long-time presidents. "The Mount" has named George R. Houston Jr., a fund-raiser at Georgetown University, while Goucher has selected Judy Jolley Mohraz, an administrator at Southern Methodist University.Although both Mr. Houston, a certified public accountant, and Dr. Mohraz, a historian, expect to continue to teach undergraduates, their immediate backgrounds reflect what is needed to steer small colleges through very rough seas: Mr. Houston helped increase Georgetown's endowment from $19 million to $342 million.

WASHINGTON -- For all that has changed in the Capitol in recent years, seniority still has its privileges. Last week, for example, Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski decided she wanted to switch seats with freshman Sen. Evan Bayh, so she could sit next to her Democratic colleague from Maryland, Paul S. Sarbanes.And so, Mikulski pulled rank, unceremoniously dumping the new Indiana senator from the desk once held by his father.Bayh, the son of former Sen. Birch Bayh, said yesterday that a Senate Democratic aide "informed me when I came to Washington that I was sitting in my father's seat.

Stories of one of the country's most contentious debates over slavery and westward expansion and the Underground Railroad filled the Bel Air library June 23. With more than 50 in attendance, Fergus Bordewich, author of "America's Great Debate," spoke about the about the epic story of the Compromise of 1850, bringing to life during his animated discussion the colorful characters like Daniel Webster and John Colhoon and their stances. Stories included those not found in history books about the longest debate in Congressional history - like the fights that broke out on the Senate floor; the extraordinary political strategies that were at work during this turbulent time in our history; and the untold heroes of the Underground Railroad.