Litchfield enquirer., 1831-07-21
From ths AiinOis Monthly Rlaguziae. THE PATRIOTS GRAVE.
Catch our manners, living as

to the lower part of the State of Kcntucky l-that part which lies south of Green Riv. CT, and which, at that time, was but little advanced in improvement and population
 One day-and very hot day it was--the rapid approach of thunder storm induced
 me to rein up my steed at log tavern, in the little town Of-. Though stran- ger in the country, could at once discov- CT, by the "signs," that something more than common was going on in the village. A large number of people were crowded round the door of the inn. Horses, of all sizes, colors, and conditions, whose eduip- ments were as various as themselves, were tied to the branches ofthe forest trees that siillgrew upon the public square. The oc- 1 casional discharge of rife indicated. .ha { some of the company were cutting the centre' for kalf-pints; while others who had : the best quarter nags in all Kentuck, were prancing them up and down the streets. The conversation of those around me induced me to believe that the court was holding its usual session, in this seat of ba ck-woods justice, and had doubt re- mained, the stentorian voice of the sheriff, issuing from the door of long school house, with the usual Oh yes oh yes oh yes!' must have satisfied me that gener- al settlement of the rights of mcum and tMuns, was about to take place. I felt a curiosity to witness this scene and having disposed of my portion of corn bread and bacon, which found at table surround ed by promiscuous throng of jurors, witt nesses, suffers, lawyers, indictees, specta- tors, and county officers, concluded to spend the little time had to remain, in personally viewing the dispensation of jus tice in so rude temper.
 The house was in a single story, built of logs. unhewed. The judge was elevated on small plank frame, little raised a. bove the puncheon floor. The clerk was placed at small table directly before him. The members of the bar were seated a. round on temporary benches, made of rough blanks, placed upon blocks of wood but could not be distinguished by their appearance from the people who sat with, or stood around, them. The usual forms and ceremonies of opening court were gone through with a celerity aud precision that would have astonished Westminster lawyer.
 The first case on the civil docket was an action of islander, brought up by alather- an old soldier and early settler-as 'guardi- an and next friend,' for words falsely and maliciously uttered, published ,and spoken,' by the defendant, of and concerning the plaintiffs daughter, a lovely girl about seventeen. On the calling of the cause, person's name was mentioned which did not distinctly hear there was hustle in the crowd; and after a few minutes of pushing and elbowing, an individual ap- pearcd who announced that he was ready to proceed as council for the plaintiff. He was tall, athletic man, of about thirty-five years of age-with fine, manly intelligent countenance-dressed in hunting shirt of decp blue, trimmed with yellow fringe.- His face bore those indubitable marks of genius, and those traces of study and re- llection, which cannot be mistaken when his fine form bore evidence equally strong, of habitual fatigue and exposure to the ele- | ments. ! pass over the incidents of the trial- the evidence which fully sustained the plaintiff, and left the pretty client of the buckskin lawyer, pure and spotless as the driven snow-and several speeches, which though strong and forcible, did not strike me as extraordinary. During all this,, thc manner of the stranger in the hunting shirt was distinguished by little else than an appearance of indifference but when he arose to make the concluding address to the jury, every eye was fixed on him-while the deep silence, the suppressed breathing, and the eager looks of the audience attest ed that sense of superior mind pervaded the whole assembly. Even that rough and miscellaneous crowd composed of men some sober, some not sober, and some not sober at all--was at once awed into silence. The orator commenced in low tone of voice, and recapitulated the evidence in a style of colloquial breviiy and plainness- yet even in doing this, there was sOme- thing about him that convinced the specta- tor that he was more than an ordinary man.
 But when he began to warm and rise with his subject-when the fire began to illumine his eye, and his voice swelled out in its full lest tOnes-when every sentence was filled and rounded with rich thought and richer language-when argument and satire, per. suassion and invective, burst from him ir rapid attenuation, the orator stood comics. sed in all his powers. He spoke of thu aL1 Ia1: an1 Nho snahs1ses,