Minnesota weekly times. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1854-1859, 1854-05-30

Anon. he came to the dazzling wit OF the poet
Pike. Then the curl of his lip grew sharper-his
shallow face kindled up-and his eyes began to
omen. dim and dreary no longer, but vivid as
lightning, red as fire globes, and glarnglke twin
meteors. The whole soul as in the eye-the
full heart streamed out in the face. In five
minutes, Pixies wit seemed the foam OF folly,
when contrasted with the inimitable sallies and
discriminating sarcasms Of the stranger, inter-
spersed with jests and anecdotes that filled the
forum with roars of laughter. -
Then without so much as bestowing an alluSloh
on Prentiss, he turned short on the perjured wit
nesses of Hopkins tore their testimony into atoms,
and hurled in their face such terrible invectlveS
that all trembled as with an aSue, ana TWO OF
them actually fed dismayed from the court mousse
The excitement of the crowd was becoming tre-
mendous. Their life and soul appeared to hang
on the burning tongue OF the stranger. ne hlsPiI-
ed them with the power Of his own malicious feel
ings. He seemed to have stolen natures long hid
den secret of attraction. lie was the sun to the
sea of emotion which rose and fell us he chose.
But his great triumph was to come.
His eyes began to glare furtively at the assas-
sin Hopkins, and his lean taper fingers slowly as
sumed the same direction. lie hemmed the wretch
in with decentralization of strong evidence and
impregnable argument, cutting Oft all hope OF es-
cape. He piled up huge bastions OF insurmount-
able facts.
He dug beneath the murderer and slanderer's
feet bitches of dlemmas such us no sophistry
could overleap, and no strength ofingenuty evade;
and having thus, one might say, impounded his
victim, and girt him about like a scorpion III Il
circle of fire, he stripped himself to the massacre
Oh, then! but it was vision both dreadful
and glorious to behold the orator. His actions
became graceful as the wave of a golden willow
in the breeze, grew impetuous as the motion OF an
oak in the hurricane. His voice became trum-
pot filed with wild whrpools, deafening the eai
with crashes of power, and yet interminged al
the while with Il sweet undersong OF the softes
his cuuntcnance looked haggard, like that of &:
maniac; and ever and anon he flung his long bo'
nv arms on high, if grasping after thunder
bolts. He drew picture of murder in such APP
palling colors that in comparison hell itself might
be considered beautiful.
lie painted the slanderer so black that the sun
seemed dark at nooday when shining on such IN
accursed monster: and then he so fixed both por-
traits on the shrinking brow of Hopkins that he
nailed them there forever.
The agitation of the audience now nearly
amounted to madness.
All at once the speaker descended from his per
ilous height. lie walled out for the murdered
dead, and the living beautiful Mary, more bcautl-
full every moment, as her tears flowed faster-un-
til men wept, and lovely women sobbed like chill
dren.
He closed by strong exhortation to the jury
and through them to the bystanders., He en-
treated the panel, after they should bring in a
verdict for the plaintiff, not to offer violence to
their defendant, however he might deserve it; in
other words not to lynch the villain Hopkins, but
leave his punishment with God!
This was the most artfuf trick OF all, and wa;
best caculatedto insure vengeance.
The jury returned Il verdict of fifty thousand
dollars and the night afterwards Hopkins was Ia
ken of his bed by lynchcrs, and beaten nearly to
death.
have listened to Clay, Webster and Calhoun
to Dewy, Tying and Bacon-but have never heard
anything in the form of sublime words even re-
motely approxmatng to the eioquenee !,S OF Johr
ly rushing as a cataract of fire. And this is tho
unanimous opinion of all who ever heard that tru
" marvellous man.