Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1853-12-01

ment Of Ashley. which melis away at bis touch
as frost before the sun beam. Every one looked
surprised. His logic wasat once so brief and lu-
minOusly clear, that the rudest peasant could
comprehend it without effort.
Anon he came to the dazzling wit Of the poet
lawyer, Pike. The curl of his lip grew sharp
er-his sallow face kindled up, and his eyes be-
gun to open, dim and dreamy no longer, but viz
id as lightning, red as fire globes, and glaring like
twin meteors. The whole soul was in the eye.
the full heart streamed out on the face. In FIVE
minutes Pixies wit seemed the foam of folly and
his finest satire horrible profanity, when COM
pared with the inimitable sallies and exterminat-
ing sarcasms of the stranger, interspersed with
jest and anecdote that filled The forum with roars
OF laughter
Then without SO much as bestowlng an aIluson
on Prenliss he turned short on the peflured wit
nesses OF Hopkins, tore their testimony into al
oms, and huredin their faces such terrible lnyec-
tive, that all Iembled rs with ague, and two of
them actually fed dismayed from the court
house.
The excitement of the crowd was becoming
tremendous. Their united life and soul appeared
TO hang on the burning tongue of the stranger.
He inspired them with the power Of his own
passions He saturated them with the poison of
his own malicious feelings. He seemed to have
stolen natures long hidden secret Of atmacton.-
He was the sun to the sea ofall thought and emo
tons, which rose and boiled in the pillows as
he chose. But his greatest triumph was to
come.
His eyes began 10 glare lurively at the assassin
Hopkins, as his lean taper fingers slowly as
suned the same direction. He hemmed The
wretch around with decentralization of strong
evidence ard inpregnabe- argument, cutting off
all hope of escape. He piled up huge baslions
IL, 4 i.
murderer's and slanderers feet, bitches of di-
lenmas such as no sophistry could overeap, and
no stretch Of ingenuity evade; and having thus,
as one might say, impoupded the victim, and git
him about like scorpion in the circle of ire,
stripped 10 the work OF massacre.
Oh! then, II was vision, both glorious and
dreadful, 10 behold the orator. His actions
before graceful as the wave Of a golden willow In
the breeze, grew mpeiuols as The motion Of an
oak in the hurricane. His voice became trum-
pet,illed with wild whirlwinds, deafening the ear
with crashes of power, and and yet intermingled
all the while with sweet undersong of The soft
est cadence. His face was as red as a drunk
ard's-his forehead gowed like heated furnace;
his countenance looked haggard like that Of
maniac; and ever and anon he flung bis long bony
arms on high, as if grasping after thunderbols
lie drew picture Of murder in such appalling
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considered beautiful. He painted the sanderer
SO black that the very sun seemed dark at noon
day, when shining on such an accused monster
and then he fixed both portraits on the shrink,
ing brow of Hopkins, and he nailed them there
forever. The agitation of the audience nearly
amounted TO madness.
All at once the speaker descends from his peril
Gus height. His voice walled out from the murder
ed dead, and described The sorrows of the wild
owed living the beautiful Mary, more beautiful
every moment, as her tears R6wed faster
TILL men wepl, and lovely women sobbed like
children.
lie closed by a strange exhortation to the jury,
and through them TO the bysanders. He en-,
treated the panel, after they should bring in their
verdict for the plaintiff, not to offer any violence
tothe defendant, however richly he might de-
serve it,n other words, "not to lynch the villain,
Hopkins. but leave the punishment to Code
This was the most arliuI trick of all; and the
best calculated TO insure Vengeance
The jury rendered verdict of fifty thousand
dollars, and the night afterwards Hopkins was
taken out Of his bed by lynchers, and beaten al
most to DEATH.
AS the Court adjourned, the stranger made
known his name, and called the attention Of the
people with the announcement, ''John Taylor will
preach here this evening at early candle-lght.'