The Democratic Whig. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 1842-1843, 1843-02-09
Ffo1n tho Trcpic CORES onddfer
SKETCHES or THE lIsS1a.
SIPPT BAR-CHANCERY
No. 4.
sARoEANr 8. PRENTIss.
COITRT

stature, whose head is a model oc clas
sic beauty, and whose eye, mingling
the softness of the gazelle's with the
Gre pT the basilisk's, s -,
WINS whore it wanders, dazsles y here it
dwells." f ,a a
Heis talking with groupioflawyers---
his face Is radiant with good humor,
under which you may nevertheless
discern . spirit Of sarcasm, lurking
s.like an asp beneath flowers" You
are ut no loss for his name. He en-
joys to the full, wherever he goes, the
honor Of which Henry Nv. was go am
bilious, Of hearing men ask each other
--.'Where- (which is Bolingbroke?''
Although he has not acquired it by fol-
lowing the example Of that monarch,
who says of himself
"Bg being seldom seen, could not stir
But like comet pas ronder'd at; &.
Thusdid keep my person fresh and new''-
But rather like Prince Hal,
"Hesdoth permit the base contagious clouds
To smother up his beauty from the world,
That when he please again to be himself
Being wanted he may more be acondered Gt''--
Wherever he moves he is surrounded
by a group, listening to those ''iests
and jibes and flashes Of merriment,
which are wont TO set the table in a
roar" But those who judge his char
acter by this criterion are egregiousIy
10 error. He is a contradiction Of
that too common opinion, that wit and
fuency are inconsistent with logical
and profound thought. When en-
gagged in the argument of cause, cal
culated TO arouse his genius into action,
they will discover that his Imagination
is but the rainbow of his intellect, ador-
ming that to which il is indebted for
its hues. In the course Of such an al
gument, these scintilIations of fancy
emanate from q mind felvid with its
own action, like the sparks that fly
from the heated iron--dsnoting the in.
tensity of its glow, without impairing
its soiidity. His mind exhibits all the
lights and shades Of panorama-not
only the sublin ity Of a.mountain crag,
nor the terror ofthe .foaming cataract
not only the luxuriance of the valley,
nor the geLtleness Of the rivuIet that
winds across its bosom-it is not any
one, but all of these, whose images
blend themselves into the likeness oil
his mind, and constitute him one oil
the most powerful and captivating or
ators of the age. He possesses both
the attributes by which the sun and
wind once coutended for mastery
which he cannotaccomplish by strength
he carries by persuasion-and where
both these fail his "wit can cut its
bright way through"
One of the most extraordinary in
stances of the power of his eIoquence
was his speech at Harrodsburg, in de-
fence of Murdough and others. On
that occasion, Redding, the fonentor
OF the afffay, appeared as prosecutor.
Against him as the real murderer, the
orator directed his most envenomed
shafts. The first effect produced on
his victim was an expression of inso-
lent detiance-the next, of resentment
= but as the storm Of sarcasm and de-
nunciatipn thickened In vio3aace and
Increased in fury, hurting like hail
around his devoted head-as bis IN
relenting executioner led him TO the
brink OF eternity and pointed out the
torments prepared for his false, per-
jured soul--the victim tembled with
emotion, and finally, unable to control
his agony Of shame and humiliation,
buried his face in his hands and burst
into conTulsiye sobs. That was a tri-
umph of genius not surpassed by the
most splendid efforts Of Cicero. His
speech on this occasion infinitely sur
passed IN eloque nce the published copy
OF 1.-THE latter having been written
out by him from memory, at the request
OF the publisher, Tong after it was de-
llyered. His. success before juries is
very great, and cannot be more stri-
kingly exelnpIi6ed than by the follow
ing anecdote. He was engaged in a
cause pending 10 circuit east of Pearl
river. where juries are usually com
posed of men who shape their verlicts
in their own language. leaving TO the
court the irkseme task nf moulding
them into legal form. On this oc-
casion the jury were SO csptiYated
with P's eloquence and humor that
they cppfopnded ham with the defan-
dant, whom he represented and brought
in the verdict il these Words-ssW
the jury, find for lawyer Prentiss. and
plaintiff to pay the costs, (which of
course unsettled the gravity Of the
court bar, and audience, as It has done
thar Of all who have heard i related
slnce.8d 5snaasasn sasaa sf .tsa8Fassl
= 3 i