Washington telegraph., 1850-05-15

Slfnpe as chlld $, nad convinced every
body; satisfied the demands of the intel
lect; had accomplished the work. too, in
twenty minutes.
He then changed his posture, so as to
swee, the bar with his glance; and began
to tea and rend his legal adversaries =
His allow face glowed as heated fur.
mace; his eyes resembIed living Goals;
and hs voice became the clangor OF
trumPt. | have never before or since,
listened to such murderous denunciations
1t was like Jove's eagle charging aools
of crows; twas like Jove himself hurting
red-hot thundev-bolts among the quaking
ranks OF a conspiracy of inferior gods.
And yet in tie highest tempest of his fury,
he seemed calm; he employed no gesture
save one-he fash Of long, bony fore
finger directin the eyes of his foes He
painted theirvenality and unmanlv mean
ness. in coaesing for mouey, to hunt
down poor and friendIess woman, till
shout of led rage arose from the null
titude, and e,en some of the jury cried
'Shame!'
And thus tie orator had carried another
point; had arMsed a perfect storm of i'll
dignation; am this too, in twenty min
utes.
He changed his theme once more. His
voice grew mol:nful as funeral song,
and his eyes filhd with tears, as he traced
vivid picture o mans cruelties and wo-
mans wrongs, with particular illustrations
in the case of hiscient: till Ole half the
audience wept likP children.
But it was in tie peroration that he
reached his zenith at once of terror and
sublimity. His features were livid as
those of corpse; his very hair appeared
to stand on end; hi; nerves shook as with
palsy; he tossed his hands wildly to.
wards heaven, eact finger stretched apart
and quivering like the flame of candle;
as he closed with the last words of the
deceased Hiram Shore: Tell my mother
that am dead and gone to hell"' His
emphasis on the word hell embodied the
acme and adeaI Of all horror; it was a
wall of immeasurable despair. No Ian
gnage can depict the effect on us who
heard it. Men groand; females screamed,
and one poor mother tainted, aud was
borne away in convulsions.
The whole speech occupied but an hour
The jury rendered verdict of mot
G Guilty," without leaving the box; and
three cheers, like successive roars of an
earthquake, shook the old court house
from dome 10 cornerstone, testiiying the
Joy of the people.
After the adjournment, which occurred
near sunset, the triumphant advocate
arose and gave ont an appointment: IL
will preach in this hall tonight. at s
o'clock" He then glided through the
crowd, speaking to no one, though many
attempted to draw him into conversation.
At 8 clock the courthouse W as again
thronged, and the stranger, according to
promise, delivered his sermon. Iteviuced
The same attributes as his previous elo-
quence of the bar; the same compact
logic, the same burning vehemence, and
increased bitterness Of denunciation. In
deed misanthropy revealed itself as the
prominent emotion. The discourse was
TRADE against infdels, in which class the
preacher seemed TO include every body
but himself; it was picture Of hell. such
as Lucifer nigh have drawn. with a world
i'll flames for his pencil. But one para
graph pointed to heaven, and that only
demonstrated the utter impossibility that
any human being should ever get there.
As to effect, the lecture was a failure;
the people were not mnch pleased TO hear
themselves foredoomed, in advance of the
day of judgment! lie ended, and left the
village Immediately. without even so
much as his name being known.
Such was the strange ecceTtrici,y OF
john Taylor. l met him afterwards in
his remarkable history. AT twenty-five
years of age he was one of the most pro-
missing juniors of the Philadelphia bar;
and such was the confidence inspired by
the integrity of his character, that dis
tinguished wholesale merchant OF the
Quaker city engaged him at higl, salary,
to travel in the western states as col
lecting agent Taylor bade tender adieu
to his young and beautiful wife, and his
infant boy, and set out Oh his laborlous
:our. But from that hour he heard no
more from his tickle consort till the end
of year; and then the intelligence came
in the letter of friend with newspap pei
enveloped Shortly after his departure
the false lady had changed her domicll to
Mississippi; Obtained divorce by the act
of the Legislature; married again: and pro-
cured statute changing the name OF
Taylor's son to that of Marks, tor heI
second husband.
This was a cruel blow in the most sen
sitive of all human hearts; and John lay
lor lost his reason. For several years
afterwards he wandered over the wildes
regions of the west, melancholy maniac
At length, however. he recovered iron
the shock. professed religion, and JON
ed the Methodist itinerancy, where ms
matchless eloquence must have soon rais
ed him to the highest station, could hl'