The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1854-01-11

but for that eternal twitch that came and went
lperPetualty in his shallow cheeks, you would
| have taken him for mere man Of marble, or
human form carved in ice. Even his dim.
dreamy eyes were invisible between those gray.
shaggy eyebrows.
But now at last, he rises before The bar rail-
ing-not behind, and 80 near 10 the wandering
jury that he might have touched the fireman
WI b his long bony finger With eyes siilfhalf
SHUT, and standing rigid, as pillar Of iron, hi
thin lips in mcasureless scorn, slightly part, and
the voice comes for h. A. first I, s l,w and
sweet insinuating itself through the Lfain, as an
artless tune winding its way intc the deepest
heart, like the melody a'f magic incan,c,ion;
while the speaker proceeds without gesture or
the least sign of exc iement to tear in pieces the
argument of Ashley, that dissolves and melts
away at his touch as frost before the sunlight.
| Every one looked surprised His logic was at
once 50 brief, and SO lumnously true. that the
| rudest peasant could easily comprehend it.
l Anon, he came to the dazzling wit Of the
| poet lawyer, Pike. Then the curl Of bis Iip
grew sharper--hs shallow face kindled up-
AID his eyes began to open, dim and dreamy no
longer. but vivid as lightning. red as fre-globes,
and glaring ke twin metrorf. The whole
soul was in the eyt-the full heart ! reamed out
on the face. In fivr minues, P,ke's Wit seem
ed the foam of { l.y. and h e. es satire, hor-
:
able sales and ext-rmnaing sue SINS Of the
stranger, interpreted with tests and anec-
dets that SIZED the forum with roars Of laugh
Ter .
Then without SO much as bestowine an allu-
sen on Prentiss, he turned short on the periur.
ed witnesses of Hopkins, tore their testimony
INTO atoms, and hurled in their faces such terri
Die 'nvectves that all trembled as with an ague,
and two Of them actually fled dismayed from
the court house.
The excitement of the crowd was becoming
tremendous. Thcir life and soul appeared to
han2 on the burning tongue or The stranQer.-
He Inspired them with the powers Of his own
maliciops feelings. lie seemed to have stolen
natures long hidden 9reret Of attraction He
was fhe sun to the sea Of emotion which rose
and fell as he chose. But this great triumph
was to come. -
His eyes began to glare fnrtively at the assas
sin Hopkins, and his lean, taper fingers slowly
assumed the same direction He hemmed the
wretch in with a circumvallatinn Of strong evi-
dence and lmpregnable argument, cutting off al
hope of escape. lie piled up huge basiions Of
insurmountable facts.
He dug beneath the murderer md slandercr's
feet ditches Of dilemmas, such as no sophistry
could overleap, ana no stretch Of ingenuity
pounded his victim and grt him about like
scorpion in circle Of hre, he stripped himself
to the massacre
Oh then, but it was vieion both glorious
and dreadful TO behold the oraior His actions
before graceful as The wave oi a golden willow
in the breeze, grew impctuous as the motion Of
an oak in the hurricane. His voice became 4
trulanet filled with wild whirpools deafenine the
ear ".th crashes Of power, and ye, informing.
lea al tife while with sweet under-song Of
the sottcst cadence His face was as red as a
drunkasd's-h,s courtcnancc looked hapgard
like that o. maniac; and ever anon he Hung
nus long, bony arms on high, as if gr lsping after
thunderBolts e drew picture Of murder in
such appalling eolars, that in comparison hell
itself mghi be considered beautiful He pain
ted the slandercr so black that the sun seemed
aark At noon day, when shining on such an
accursed monster and then he SO fixed both
portraits on the shrinking brow 81 Hopkins that
he nailed them there forever. The agitation
Of the audience now nearly amounted to mad
ness tfssss
All Al aase the speak'r descended from his
perlous freight Ills voice walled out for the
murdered dead, and the living, beautiful Mary,
more beautiful every moment, as her tears
flowed faster-till men wept, aud lovely women
sobhed like children.
He closed w strong eyhorafinn to the jury
through them to the bystanders. He entreated
the panel, after they should bring in the verdict
for the plaintiff, moi to offer violence to the de-,
fendant. however he might deserve il; in other
words, not to lynch the villain, Hopkins, but 10
leave his punishment TO God. This was the
most artful trick Of all, and best calculated TO in-
sure vengeance.
The jury returned verdict Of fifty thousand
dollars, and the night afterwards Hopkins was
taken off his bed by lynchers, and beaten nearly
TO death.
haye listened TO Clay, Webster and Calhoun
Ito Dewey, Tying and Rascom--but have
never heard anything in the form Of sublime
words even remotely approximating to the elo-
quence of John Taylor, massive as a mountain,
and wildly hotly rushing as cataract Of fire:
ana inns y tlie unanimous opinion of all who
Weekly.