Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1853-08-11

10 toL Ashley spoke first He DAT tso ,u.-
dish Of that close dry logic which wears .e.o.S,.s
rendered him famous in the Senate Of the H.,
The poet, Albert Pike. followed, with r;ck t-.;,,
y OF wit and hail torrent Of caustic riSicu.e :
which You may be sure neither plaintiff nor a.
plaintiffs ragged attorney was either foroot.a. -
spared.
The great Prentiss concluded for the defsptzns
with glow Of gorgeous words, brilliant as showers
Of falling stars, and with a final burst Of er,torv
that brought the house down in cheers in which the
sworn jury themselves Joined, notwithstanding the
order ORDER of the bench Thus wonderfully
susceptible are the south western people 10 tbe
charms Of impassioned eloquence.
1t was then the strangers turn. He had reaaio-
ed apparently abstracted during all the previous
speeches. Still and straight, aud notioness ia bis
seat, his pale smooth forehead soaring up Ike
mountain cone of snow; bat for that eternal txitch
that came and went perpetually in his saIlow cees.
you would have taken him for a mere man Of mar
Bile, or human form carved in ice Even his dim,
dreamy eyes, were invisible beneath those gray
shaggy eyebrows.
But at last he rises-befere the bar railing. uot
behndit-and 50 near to the wondering jarv sl,at
be might touch the foreman with his long bous I'm
ger. With eyes stiH half shut, and s.aniiug rigss
as pillar of iron, his thin lips curl as if in ness
ureess scorn slightly part and the voice comes frth
At first it is low and sweet insinuating itself thro'
the brain, as an artless tune, winding its way into
the deepest heart like the melody of an incantaton:
while the speaker proceeds without gesture or the
least sign of excitement to tear in pieces the ara
ment Of Ashley which melts away at his touch as
the frost before the sunbeam. Every one looked
surprised. His logic was at once 50 brief aHi SO
luminously clear, that the radest psssant could com
prehend it without effort.
Anon he came 60 the dazzling wit Of tue poet,
lawyer Pike. Then the curl of his lip grew sharper,
his sallow face kindled up and his eyes began to
open, dim, and dreamy no longer, but VIVID as
lightning, red as FIRE globes and gIsring ike twin
meteors. The whole soul was in the eye--the full
heart streamed out on the face. In Eve minutes
Pixies wit seemed the eervescence Of folly and his
finest satire horrible profanity, when contrasted
with the ihimitable salies and exteriitatiDg sar-
Casus of the stranger, iuterspersed with jest and
anecdote that filed the forum with roars Of laugh
ter. .,zil.. sla
Then without so much as 5estowing an aTlusiou
on Prentiss, he turned short on the puriured wit
nesses of Hopkins, tore their testimony into atoms
and hurled into their faces such terrible uvectye
that all tremblcd as with an ague and swo Of them
actually fed disnlayed from the court house.
The excitement of the crowd was becoming ire
mendOus. Their united life and soui appeared to
hang on the burning tongue Of the stranger. He
inspired them with the powers of his own passion
He saturated them with TIE poison Of his own ma
licious feelings he seemed TO have stolen nslure's
long-hidden secret Of attention He was tie sun
to the sea of all thought and emotion. which rose
and fell and boiled in bill0ws as be chosc. But his
greatest triumph was 70 come.
His eyes began to glare furtively at the assassin,
Hopkins, as his lean taser finger slowly assumetltae
same direction. He hemmed tie wretch around
with decentralization Of strong evidence and in
pregnable argument cutting Of all hopes Of escape
He dug beneath the murderers and slanderer's feet
bitches of demmas, such as no sOphistry could
oyerleap, and no stretch of ingenuity evade, asd
stripped himself to the work Of massacre
OH then it was a vision both glorious aud dread
full to behold the orator. His action before grace
full as the wave of golden willow in the breezs,
grew impetuOus as the motion of the oak in a bur
rieane. His voice became trumpet filed with
whirlwinds, deafenng the ear with crashes Of pow
er, and yet mingled all the while with sweet m
dersoug of the softest cadence He drew picture
of murder in such appalling eolors that, in cesn-
parison hell itself might be considered beautiful
He painted the slanderer so black, that the sun
seemed dark at noon day, when shining on suchsn
accused monster; and then fixed both potTaits On
the burning brow of Hopkins, and nailed them
there forever.-The agitation of the audience near
ly amounted to madness.
Ali at once the speaker descended from his pe--
lous height. His voice walled out for the rurler-
ed dead and described the sorrows Of the widowed
Iumg-the beautiful Mary more beautiful every
moment as her tears flowed laster-tiIl men wspt.
and lovely women sobbed like children.
He closee by strange exhoFtation to the jury,
and through them to the by-standers. he entreat-
ed the panel, after they should bring IN their YER
diet for the epaintif not to Offer violence to thede-
iendant however richly he might deserve it, in 9th
er words, mot to lynch the william, Hopkins, bat
leave his punishment to God This was the most
artful trick Of all, and the best calculated to in
sure vengeance.
@ The jury returned 3 verdict of fifty tbousand dol
larsiand the night afterwards Hopkins was taken
ont of his bed by Iynekers, and beaten almost TO
death: e.t
As the court adjourned the stranger nihde known
his name, and called The attention Of he people
with the announceInent-~Joln Taylor wiil preach
here this evening at carly candle lightr
49, The crowd of course turned out and Taylors
sermon equaled if It did not surpass the spIendor
of his forensic efforts. This is no exaggerafion-
I have listened to Clay, Webster and CaIhoua--to
Dewey Tying and BascOm; but have never heard
anything in the form Of sublime words even reote-
ly apprOximating the eloquence of John TaylsE--
massive as mountain, and wildly rushing IS a cat
araet of fire. And this is the opinion of all who
have ever heard the marvellous man.