Of her, he frankly says, "I have never heard what became; but for his four brothers, I am happy to state, that though not formidable as soldiers, they were very amiable as citizens." James tells us of two daughters, not naming either, but describing them as "grandmothers of the families of the Mitchells, of Georgetown, and of the Dwights, formerly of the same place, but now of St.Stephen's parish." Such particularity might be presumed to settle the question .-- The infancy of Marion was unpromising.

At birth he was puny and diminutive in a remarkable degree.

Weems, in his peculiar fashion, writes, "I have it from good authority, that this great soldier, at his birth, was not larger than a New England lobster, and might easily enough have been put into a quart pot." It was certainly as little supposed that he should ever live to manhood, as that he should then become a hero.

But, by the time that he had reached his twelfth year, his constitution underwent a change.

His health became good.