The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1859-07-18

| Ihe power OF his eloquence was aa we have
stated, most remarkable He had, as it we're.
h,s oeau,nui ga,,ery oI pictures on the walls OF
l mand OF words lit was said he alyyay, carried
adictionary in his pocket,) retanflya memo
ry, extended reading and eccentric manner. he
commanded the wrnpt attention of his hear
! ers, however, trivial the snbjec eht be peal.
| ing forth, in q clear, sonorious voice. yoiamns
of eloduence IN single sentence
In TINS latter peculiarity he was u,ita 30
| markable. Some Of his sentences were s,naII
orations in themselves. He has actually been
known to speak on an ordinary OCCASION a
| singie sentence the report of which occupied q
| naif column Of a Boston newspaper Yat
! though siniie and metaphor, and iliustrat;on
| ana argument, were thrown in wit hardly a
moment to catch breath, the whole, when fin
| ished, formed clear, explicit, lucid grammat
ical, classical structure, which the nice,t ritic
| might yainly assail On one occasion. befnre
| the Mass sachusetts Senate, where he was am
| pIoyed on behalf OF a railroad company to
| argue IN favor of one of two routes tn no
| adopted, only two miles apart he held the
senate and crowd of eager listeners enchsin-
| ed by the fire Of his eloquence-even ON that
dry sublect-for two hours. The impression
| left upon those who heard that wonderful ef
| fort had little to do with the merits of the
| railroad question, but was decidedly TO the
ehect that Mr Choate had made an excellent
| speech. Perhaps this latter effect was the
| result of his best efforts. On one occasion in
| a celebrated bank case, after Choate had made
| a lengthy argument, one of the jurors was
}
advocate. (. The reply was that "he was great
| man; oh, yes, good speaker of wonderful
power; but he could not remember much of
what was said, because he was afraid the
| learned counsel was going to throw himself
| into the jury box
Another gentleman remarked of him, she is
! the very Niagara of eioqucnce, with the silver
| spray, the effnlgent glow and the roaring wa
| ters, gurginS and foamng through narrow
| channel Of rocks" His speeches abound in
| classic illusions, now rambling through He
| rod, Homer, Virgil, Eoltaire, Shakespeare and
| Milton. His sarcastic ability was notorious,
and woe to the unfortunate counsel who un-
dertook to get laugh on him. His impetuOs-
| ity was terrible, and often carried him through
difficulties, and past even blunders which
would have swamped any other man. His i'm
pulsireness was intense. As an advocate he
was undoubtedly successful and powerful,
although we have had numbers of sounder
| lawyers. His eloquence would hardly allow
the hearer time for cool reflection.
One OF Mr.. Choates ecceutricities was his
| hieroglyphic handwriting, which few but him.
| self, and ottentimes not even he, could deci-
pher. On the occasion of the delivery of his
| famous eulogy on Daniel Webster, in July,
| 1853, before the faculty, students and alumni
| Of Dartmouth College, a reporter was dis
| patched to procure the oraton. Upon arrv-
| ing on the ground he informed that Mr..
Choate would willingly furnish his manu-
| script, and therefore did not trouble himself to
take notes of the address. Upon receiving the
manuscript he was at first of the opinion that
Hebrew or Egyptian manuscript. But being
assured that such was not the case, and after
repeated attempts falling to find any one who
could decipher the document, derBier resort
was made to the orator of the day. He how
J ever felt little confidence in his own ability,
| and suggested the proprety of sending for
| former amanuensis of his, residing about fifty
miles distant, which was actually done, and
| that beautiful production presented to
| posterity. The opening sentence of it is so
| charac teristic of Mr.. Choate that We cannot
avoid inserting it here
1t would be Il strange neglect of a beautiful
and approved custom of the schools of learn
| ing, and Of one of the most pious and appro-
pirate OF the offices of literature, if the college
| in which the in ntellectual life of Daniel Web
ster began, and TO which his name imparts
| charm and illustration, should give no formal
| expression to her grief in the common sorrow;
| if she should not draw near, one of the most
| sad, in the procession Of the bereayed, to the
| tomb at the sea, and find in her classic shades
! one afectionate and grateful leaf TO set in the
| garland with which they have bound the brow
| of her child, the mightiest departed
An anecdote is related of Chief Justice
| Shaw. of Massachusetts, which fifty illustrates
Choate's command of language. 1t appears
| that some one had spoken 10 the Judge of
| new edition of Webster's dictionary, with
number of words added. For Gods sake
! gasped The Judge, don't tell Choate of it,
| So convinced We're many Of the power of his
logic, That men guilty of the most desperate
| crimes have been heard 10 say, 1t would be
| all right if they could only get Choate for
counsel" His own idea of the power of coun-
| sci is Illustrated by an anecdote of his remark
| of being informed of the arrest OF pennilesS
man in the act of q brutal murder. "What,'
| said Choate, dyed in blood, and not cent of
| money. He is dead man."
| Many stories are told of the utter impOSsi-
| bility of reporting Mr. Choate, but, eIpe-
| rienced reporters say he was not a more rapid
| speaker than either Beecher or Chaplin His
| eccentricity much resembled that of Mr..
| Beecher. His logic, however, was less power
| ful, and his appeals to sentiment and feeling
| more effective. You might have heard him
speak for two hours and be unabln to give q
summary OF his address-he seemed to carry
his hearers with him.
In boldness Mr.. Choaie was not wanting
He spoke Just what he wanted TO- whether lie
felt it or not Every remembers his fit
nous remark i'll reply 10 an appeal on behalf
of the negro, on the ground that "all men are
born free and equal'' This Mr. Choate en-
phaticaily denied, and pronounced this and
other sentiments OF the Declaration as "glit-
quoted TO his disadvantage, and, perhaps, was
construed to imply more than he meant. 1t
has been stated that Mr.. Choate's boldness ant.
impetuosity, and the piercing brilllancy of his
eyes might be attributed to the animus of De
Quincy. This, however, has not been gene
rally known.
OF late years, since the demise of his much
loved old Whig party, Mr.. Choate had become
a gradual convert to the Democratic faith. His
last Fourth of July oration, in 1855, before the
Boston Democratic Club, was his first great
public effort behalf of that party, and at
tracted much attention-N Y. Herald.
THREATENING ASPECT OF OUR AFFAIRS WITH