Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1856-09-17

was then on trial.
AS for the stranger, he seemed to pay not
the slightest attention to the opponents, but
remained motionless, with his forehead bowed
on his hands, like one buried in deep thought
or slumber.
When the proper time came, however, he
suddenly sprang to his feet, crossed the bar,
and took his place almost touching the jury
He then commenced in a whisper, but it was
a whisper so mild, so clear, SO unutteraby
ringing and distinct, as to fill the hall from
door to galleries. At the outset he dealt in
pure logic, separating and combining the pro-
ven facts, till the whole mass Of confused ey-
idence looked transparent as globe Of glass,
through which the innocence Of the client
shone, brilliant as a sunbeam and the jurors
nodded to each other signs Of thorough con-
viction; that thrilling whisper, and fixed con-
centration, and the language, simple as a
child's, had convinced all.
He then changed his posture, so as to sweep
the bar with his glance, and began to tear and
rend his legal adversaries. His sallsw face
glowed heated furnace; his eyes resem-
bled living Goals, and his voice became the
clangOr of 4 trumpet. l have never, before
or since, listened to such murderouS denun-
Citations. 1t was like Jove's eagle charging
flock of crows; it was like Jove himself hurl-
ing red-hot thunder bolts among the quaking
ranks Of a conspiracy of inferior gods And
yet in the highest temper of his fury. he
| seemed calm he employed no gesture save
one-the fash of a long, bony forefinger direct
| in the eyes of his foes. He painted their ve
nalty and unmanly meanness, in coalescing
| for money to hunt down poor friendless wo-
man, till shout of stided rage arose from the
multitude, and even some of the jury cried
| Shame =
He changed his theme once more. His
voice grew mournful funeral song, and
| his eyes filled with tears, as he traced vivid
picture of mans crueties and woman'S wrongs
with particular illustrations in the case of his
| client. till one half of the audience wept like
| children. But it in the peroration that
| he reached his zenith, at once, of terror and
sublmity. His features were livid as those
of a corpse; his very hair seemed to stand
/ on end his nerves shook with a palsy !;
| he tossed his hands wildly toward heaven,
each finger stretched apart and quiyering 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 embod-
led the acme and ideal of all horror; it was
| that wall of immeasurable despair. No Ian
| guage can depict the effect on us who heard it.
Men groaned, females screamed, and one poor
mother tainted and was born away in convul-
siOns.
The whole speech occupied but an hour.
The jury rendered verdict of Not Guilty,
without leaving the box, and three cheers, like
successive roars of an earthquake, shook the
old court house from dome to cornerstone.
testifying the JOY of the people.
After the adjournment, which occurred neal
sunset, the triumphant advocate arose and
gave out appointment IL will preach in
this hall tonight, at o'clock He then gil
ded off through the crowd, speaking to no one
though many attempted to draw him into {
conversation.
At eight o'clock the court house was agaiI
thronged, and the stranger according to prom
Use, delivered his sermon. 1t evinced the
same attributes as his previous eloquence o
the bar the same burning vehemence, and in
creased bitterness of denunciation. Indeed
misanthropy revealed itself as the prominen
emotion. The discourse was TRADE agains
infdels, in which class the preacher seemed
to include everybody but himself; it was {
picture of hell, such Lucfer might have
drawn, with world in flames for his pencil
But one paragraph pointed to heaven, and tina
only demonstrated the utter impossibility tina
any human being should ever get there.
s.BtRps OF A FEATHER FLOCK ToGETHER."-