Elizabeth-Town gazette. [volume] (Elizabeth-Town, N.J.) 1818-1821, 1820-09-05

case, he mad been retained; and, TO the
unuttefable amszement OF the agent that
had feed him, and the absolute horror Of
the poor client behind, he uttered a long
and fervent speech, exactly IN the teeth Of
the interests he had been hired to defend
Such was the zeal Of his eloqueDce, that
no whispered remonstrance from the rear,
no Juggling at bis elbow, could stop him IN
medic gftTgite dieendi. Bit just IS be
was about 10 sit down. the trembling wri-
ter put a slip OF paper into bis hands, with
these plain words You have plead for
the wrong party whereupon with an air
OF infinite composure, he resumed the
thread Of his Grafton, saying, 80 Such,
my Lord, is the statement wtich you mill
probably hear from; sssy brother, s:s .:.Asss
posite side Of this case. shall now beg
leave, in very few words, to show your
Lordship, how utterly untenabIe are the
principles, aud how distorted are the facts,
upon which this very specious statement
has proceeded" And so he vent once
more over the same ground, and did not
take bis seat until he had most energet-
ically refuted himself from one end Of his
former pleading to the other"
Ifthis snecdote be literally correct, for
Notwithstanding the authors assurances of
its truth, il certainly borders on the mar
veIlous--we consider il new evidence Of
the ingenuity Of yers-unquessionably
without parallel in our own country, if
not 10 our own age. We have more than
once atiesied to the artificial coloring i'm
parted to cause essentially weak in it
self, by able counsel: we have further
more Witnessed examples Of abstraction
IRON every thing which ought to be Pc
culiarly urged upon the attention of
court bat never yet have We been called
on to remark an instance like the present,
where an attorney, from mere iDvolution
of thought, ia the first place entered SO
zealousiy into the views OF bis adversary,
and in the next, succeeded so admirably
III putting him down.
We shall offer but one more illustration
Of this subject from the " Letters" aud it
relates 10 Lord HermaDd, distinguished
Judge upon The Scottish bench, and Wall
ter Scott, the supposed author Of those
novels which have conferred so much hon-
or upon his country. and so much celebrity
upon his name. 1t is also an impressive
memorial Of the fidelity Of the descrip-
tons contained in them, as we'll as the Da-
tional emotions that are called forth by
their perusal.
g When Guy ManBeriag came out, the
Judge was SO much delighted with the
picture of the life of the old Scottish law
yers, in that most charming nosel, that he
could talk of nothing else but Pleydell,
Dandie, aud the High Jinks. for many
weeks. He usually carried one volume
Of the book about with him, and one NOR
ming, on the bench, his love for il so com-
pletely got the better of him, that be lug
ged in the subject, head and shoulders,
into the midst Of a speech about some
most dry point Of the law; nay, getting
warmer every moment he spoke of it, he
at last fairly plucked the volume from his
pocket, and 10 spite of all the remonstran-
ces of his brethren, Insisted upon reading
aloud the whole passage for their edifica-
ton. He went through the task with bis
vented vivacity, gave great effect 10 every
speech, and most appropriate expression
to every joke; aud when it was done,
suppose the Court would have no diff
Guilty in confessing that they had very
seldom been so well entertained During
the whole scene, Mr.. w S. was pres
ent, seated, indeed, in his official capacity,
close under the Judge"
We wish it were 10 our power to recall
some of the Instances Of similar abstraction,
which have occurred among our country
men but the impressions of which, the
lapse of time has rendered indistinct. A.
mong those which are still retained, We
cannot forget, however. the following
whimsical incident which took place 10
Boston, some years ago. 1t is said, that
a distinguished legislator, whose pursuits
in common life were rather speculative
than profound, and who. withaL was re-
markable for communing aud conyersing
with himself, once invited a friend to ac-
company him TO his seat in the country,
and partake of dinner. He according
~ came TO town partly for that purpose,
and partly TO attend to his other concerns.
He proceeded to one of the wharves, with
the horse aud chaise, by which he in-
tended 10 convey his friend. and there left
it--wheu, after having finished his pc
cuniary affairs, he deliberately walked
out of town, and arrived at his residence,
distant about eight miles. without
thought Of the vehicle he had left behind
him, or OF the gentleman whom he had
invited TO partake Of his bounty. G.
Peace Of conscience is not only atesti-
mony. but likewise a reward Of good