The Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1822-1829, 1825-07-14
From the london Magazine.
TIE ENGLISH RAR-

| I'D ucsCi1Dc MI. trkkIiie, when
at The bar, is to ascertain tho high
est intellectual eminence 10 which n
bariister, under the most favorable
circumstances. may safely aspire
lie had no imaginative power, no o.
originality of thought, no great COM
prchension of intellect 10 cucumber
his progress. Inimitable as plead
lngs. his corrected speeches supply
nothing which, taken apart from its
context and the occasion, is worthy
OF place in the memory. Their
most brilliant passages are but COM
mon places exquisitely wrought, and
curiously adapted to design. Had
his mind been pregnant with greater
things, teeming with beautiful ina
ges, or endued with great wisdom.
lo would have been less fitted tn
shed the lustre on the ordinary feel
'ings and transactions of life. II he
had been able to answer Pitt without
falntlnS. or to support Fox without
sinking into insignifc he would
not have been the delight Of special
iuries, and the glory of the Court Of
Kings Bench. For that sphere, his
powers, his acquisitions, and his
temperament were exactly framed
He brought into it, indeed. accom-
plishments never displayed there be-
fore in equal Notwithstanding
wit, rich humour, infinite grace of
action, singular felicity of language,
and a memory elegantly stored, yet
not crowded, with subjects OF CLASH
cal and fanCiEul illustration. Above
his audience, he was not beyond their
sight, and he possessed rare facilities
of raising them to his own level
In this purpose he was aided by his
connection with noble family, by
musical voice, and by an eloquent
eye. which cnticed men to forgive
and even admire his natural polish
and refined illusions. But his mo-
raj qualities tended even more to win
them. Who could resist d sposi-
ton Overlooking with kindness, ami
NAL spirits as elastic as those OF n
school boy, and love of gaicty and
pleasure which shone out amidst the
most anxious lab0urs His very
Weaknesses became Instruments of
fascination. His egotIsm, his vani-
ty, his personal trailties, were all
genial, and gave him an irresistible
claim to sympathy. His warmest
colours were drawn not from the
fancy but the affec tons. 1T lie touch
ed on the romantic, it WAS ON the lit
tie Chaplcrof romance which belongs
to the most hurried and teterish life.
The unlettcrcd clown and the ASST
dnouS tradesman understood him
when he rcNiN cd some bright recol-
lection of childhood, or brought bach
on tho nearer the enioyments Of old
friendship, OF touched the chords Of
domestic love and SORROW. lie wiel-
dcd with skill and power the wea-
pons which precedent supplied, but
he rarely sought for others. When
he defended the rights Of the subject,
it was not by abstract disquisition,
but by treshcninS up anew the yene-
rablG customs and immunities which
no found sanctioned by courts and
parllaments, and infusing into them
new energy. He cntrcnched him
self within the forms Of pleading, c.
ven when he yentured to glance into
literature and history. Those forms
he rendered dignIGed as a fence a
gainst oppression. and cast on them
sometimes the playful haes Of his
fancy. His powers were not only
adapted to his sphere, but directed
by admirable discretion and TASTE
In small causes he was never betray-
cd into cxaggeration, but contriyed
to give an interest to their details,
and to conduct them at once with
dcxtcrity and grace. His .lests told
for arguments; his digYssions only
threw the Jury off their guard that
lie might strike a decisive blow his
audacity was always wise his
firmncss was no less under right di-
rection than his weaknesses. lie
withstood the bench and rendered
the bar immortal service, not so
much by the courage Of resistance as
by the happy selection Of its time aud
the exact propriety of its manner
He was, in short, the most eonsum-
mate adv ocate of whom We have a
ny trace; lie left his profession
higher than he found it; and Vet.
beyond its pale, he was only an IN
comparable companion, lively