LESSON CXVII.

THE IMPRESSION MADE BY MR. WEBSTER'S SPEECH.

His Peroration. From March's Reminiscences of Congress.

1. No one who was not present can understand the excitement of the scene. No one who was can give an adequate description of it. No word-painting can convey the deep, intense enthusiasm, the reverential attention, of that vast assembly, nor limner transfer to canvas their earnest, eager, awe-struck countenances. Though language were as subtile and flexible as thought, it still would be impossible to represent the full idea of the scene. There is something intangible in an emotion which can not be transferred. nicer shades of feeling elude pursuit. Every description, therefore, of the occasion seems to the narrator himself most tame, spiritless, unjust.

The

2. Much of the instantaneous effect of the speech arose, of course, from the orator's delivery-the tones of his voice, his countenance, and manner. These die mostly with the occasion that calls them forth: the impression is lost in the attempt at transmission from one mind to another. They can only be described in general terms. "Of the effectiveness of Mr. Webster's manner in many parts," says Mr. Everett, "it would be in vain to attempt to give any one not present the faintest idea. It has been my fortune to hear some of the ablest speeches of the greatest living orators on both sides of the water, but I must confess I never heard any thing else which so completely realized my conception of what Demosthenes was when he delivered the Oration for the Crown."

3. The exulting rush of feeling with which he uttered the now famous peroration of that speech, threw a glow over his countenance like inspiration. Eye, brow, each feature, every line of the face, seemed touched as with a celestial fire. The swell and roll of his voice struck upon the ears of the spellbound audience, in deep and melodious cadence, as waves upon the shore of the "far resounding” sea. The Miltonic

grandeur of his words was the fit expression of his thought, and raised his hearers up to his theme. His voice, exerted to its utmost power, penetrated every recess or corner of the Senate-penetrated even the anterooms and stairways, as he pronounced, in deepest tones of pathos, these words of solemn significance:

MR. WEBSTER'S PERORATION.

4. "I have not allowed myself, sir, to look beyond the Union, to see what might lie hidden in the dark recess behind. I have not coolly weighed the chances of preserving liberty when the bonds that unite us together shall be broken asunder.

5. "I have not accustomed myself to hang over the precipice of disunion, to see whether, with my short sight, I can fathom the depth of the abyss below; nor could I regard him as a safe counselor in the affairs of this government whose thoughts should be mainly bent on considering, not how the Union should be best preserved, but how tolerable might be the condition of the people when it shall be broken up and destroyed.

6. "While the Union lasts we have high, exciting, gratifying prospects spread out before us for us and our children. Beyond that, I seek not to penetrate the veil. God grant that, in my day, at least, that curtain may not rise. God grant that, on my vision, never may be opened what lies behind. When my eyes shall be turned to behold, for the last time, the sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and dishonored fragments of a once glorious Union; on states dissevered, discordant, belligerent; on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched, it may be, in fraternal blood!

7. "Let their last feeble and lingering glance rather behold the gorgeous ensign of the republic, now known and honored throughout the earth, still full high advanced, its arms and trophies streaming in their original lustre, not a stripe erased or polluted, nor a single star obscured, bearing for its motto no such miserable interrogatory as, What is all this worth? nor those other words of delusion and folly,

Liberty first, and Union afterward: but every where, spread all over in characters of living light, blazing on all its ample folds, as they float over the sea and over the land, and in every wind under the whole heavens, that other sentiment, dear to every true American heart-Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable."

LESSON CXVIII.

THE PERFECT ORATOR.

SHERIDAN.

1. IMAGINE to yourselves a Demosthenes addressing the most illustrious assembly in the world upon a point whereon the fate of the most illustrious of nations depended. How awful such a meeting! how vast the subject! And yet the augustness of the assembly is lost in the dignity of the orator, and the importance of the subject is for a while superseded by admiration for his talents.

2. With what strength of argument, with what powers of the fancy, with what emotions of the heart, does he assault and subjugate the whole man, and at once captivate his reason, his imagination, and his passions! Not a faculty that he possesses but is here exerted to its highest pitch. All his internal powers are at work; all his external testify their energies.

3. Within, the memory, the fancy, the judgment, the passions, are all busy; without, every muscle, every nerve is exerted; not a feature, not a limb, but speaks. The organs of the body, attuned to the exertions of the mind, through the kindred organs of the hearers instantaneously vibrate those energies from soul to soul. Notwithstanding the diversity of minds in such a multitude, by the lightning of eloquence they are melted into one mass; the whole assembly, actuated in one and the same way, become, as it were, but one man, and have but one voice. The universal cry is, Let us march against Philip! let us fight for our liberties! let us conquer or die!

NATURE OF THE SUBJECT, AND REQUISITES FOR A GOOD LAWYER.

[Analysis.-1. Eloquence of the Bar compared with that of Popular Assemblies.2. The aims of the popular orator.-3. The aims and objects of the eloquence of the Bar. Requisites for success.-4. Advice of the ancient rhetoricians. The practice adopted by Cicero.-5. Wherein the advocate may still fail. The advantages of eloquence to the lawyer.-6. Management of the pleadings in a criminal case:-What the ancients advise in relation thereto. The point at which the prosecutor aims.7. The business of the defending attorney:-the points at which he aims.-8. Subjects of controversy in civil cases. The more extensive field which is here opened to the lawyer.-9. Treatment of the arguments of an adversary.-10. Policy of Mr. Fox in this respect. Mr. Butler's description of him.-11. The degree of zeal appropriate to an advocate.-12. Policy to be observed in the management of odious and unjust causes.-13. Concluding remarks. Nature of the field that is open to the advocate. His advantages. His success.]

1. MUCH of what is peculiar to the eloquence of popular assemblies is also applicable to the eloquence of the Bar: but there is, nevertheless, a broad distinction between the

ends at which they severally aim. In the former, the great object is to persuade; in the latter, to convince.

2. Where the end is persuasion, the orator aims to influence his hearers to some choice of conduct, as good, fit, or useful; and hence he applies himself to all the principles of action in our nature. Although he would convince the understanding, yet he aims, also, to move the feelings, and to excite, or appease, and sway the passions to his will, because through their influence human conduct is controlled.

3. Where the end is to convince-to prove or to disprove a charge or an accusation, the speaker's business is not to persuade judges or jury to what is good, or useful, or expedient, but to show them what is just and true-what is equity and law. Hence the eloquence of the Bar is to be chiefly, if not solely, addressed to the understanding. Facts, and the best mode of using them, are here the great instruments of the orator's power; and the foundation of his reputation and success must always be laid in a knowledge of his own profession.

4. The ancient rhetoricians not only urge upon the young lawyer a profound knowledge of the law, but they dwell at great length upon the importance of making himself fully acquainted with all the circumstances of every case presented to him. Thus Cicero tells us that he always conversed at great length with every client in private; that he was wont to start every objection, and to plead the cause of the adverse party with him, that he might come at the whole truth, and be fully prepared on every point that might arise; and that, after his client had retired, he would balance all the facts with himself, from three different positions-from his own view of the case, from that of the judge, and from that of the advocate on the opposite side.

5. But, although an advocate be well grounded in a knowle edge of the law in general, and with its application to the case in hand, yet, if opposed by a wily adversary, he may still fail, even with a good cause, if he can not present his case fairly and forcibly to the judge and jury. In an intricate case, much will depend upon the clearness with which all the points, on either side, are presented; and here the