Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1857-05-01

denly sprang to his feet, crossed the bar
and took his place almost touching thu
jury. He then commenced in whisper
but it was whisper SO mild, so clear, Sc
unutterably ringing and distinct, as tc
fill the hall from door to galleries. Al
the outset he dealt in pure logic, separa-
ting and combining the proven facts, til
the whole mass of combined evidence
looked transparent as globe of glass,
through which the innocence of the client
shone, brilliant as sunbeam, and the
jurors nodded to each other signs of thor.
ough conviction; the thrilling whisper,
and fixed concentration, and the Ian
guogc, simple as child's, had convinced
all.
He then changed his position, so as to
sweep the bar with his glance. and began
to tear and rend his legal Anniversaries. -
His sallow face glowed as a heated fur
mace; his eyes resembled heated Goals,
and his voice became the clangor of a
trumpet. have never, before or since,
listened to such murderous dcnunciation
1t was like Jove's eagle charging a aock
of crows; it was like Jove himself hurl-
ing rcd hot thundcrbolts among the qua
king ranks of conspiracy of inferior
gods And yet in the highest temper
of his fury, he seemed calm; he employed
no gestures save one-the flash of long
bony forcinger direct in the eyes of his
foes. He painted their venality and I'M
manly mcanncss, coalescing for money to
hunt down a poor, fricndlcss woman, till
shout of stiAed rage arose from the
multitude, and even some Of the jury
cried-"Shame ~
He changed his theme once more. -
His voice grew mournful as funeral
song, and his eyes filled with tears, as he
traced vivid picture of mans cructies
and woman's wrongs, with particular il
lustration in the case of his client, till
one half the audience wept like children.
But it was in the peroration that he
reached his zenith of terror and sublim-
ity. His features were livid as those of
corpse; his very hair seemed to stand
on end; his nerves shook as with palsy /;
he tossed his hands wildly toward heaven,
each finger stretched apartand quivering
like the flame of candle, as he closed
with the last words of the deceased Hi
ram Shore" Tell my mother that am
dead and gone to help His emphasis
of the word hell embodied the achme and
ideal of horror; it was that wall of i'm.
measurable despair. No language cal
depict the effect on us who heard it,
Men groane6, females screamed, and one
poor woman tainted and was borne away
in commissions.
The whole speech occupied but an
hour.
The jury returned a verdict of "Not
Guilty" without leaving the box, and
three cheers, like successive roars of an
earthquake, shook the old courthouse
from dome to cornerstone, testifying the
joy of the people.
After the adjournment, which occurred
near sunset, the triumphant advocate
arose and gave an appointment !: 81 will
preach in this hall to-nightat 8 o'clock"
He then glidcd off through the crowd
speaking to no one, though many at
tempted to draw him into conversation.
At eight o'clock the courthouse was
again thronged, and the stranger, accor-
ding to promise, delivered his sermon. 1t
evinced the same attributes as his prcvi-
GUS eloquencc at the bar, the same burn
ing vengeance and increased bitterness Of
denunciation. Indeed, misanthropy re-
vealcd itself as the prominent emotion.
The discourse was a TRADE against infidels,
in which class the preacher seemed to in
cludc everybody but himself; it was a
picture of hell, such as Lucfer might
have drawn, with world in flames for
| his pencil. But one paragraph pointed
to heaven, and that only demonstrated
the utter impossibility of any human
being ever getting there.