Daily Iowa State Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1859, 1859-04-19

Kaam rose-took . giass Of water
his hand trembled . little-l could
sec that; took pinch Of snutf, and led
of in q voice slow aud measured, but
slightly, very slightly tremulous. by
a strong effort he had recovered bis
compoeure. The bar was surprised at
his calmness. They oil knew It was
affected but they all wondered that
he couId affect it. Nobody was de-
cei,ed by il. We felt assured that ut
was ,he torrents smoothness ere It
dashed below" ] thought he would
come down on me in tempest, asd
flattered myself it would soon be over.
but malice is cunning. He had no
idea Of letting me of SO easily.
lie commenced by saying that be
had been some years 10 the practice
He would not say he was an old man;
that would be in bad taste, perhaps
The young gentleman who had just
closed his remarkable speech, harangue
poetic effusion, rigmarole, or whatever
il might be cal d, if indeed, any name
could be safel given to bis motley
mixture Of incongruous slang-the
Young gentleman evidently did not
think he was an old man, for he could
hardly be guilty of such rank indie
decency as to have treated age with
such disrespect-he would not say
with such insuflcrable impertinence
"and yet | am" he continued, "of age
enough to recollect, if had charged
nv memory with so uncomfortable an
event, the day Of his birth, and then
was in full practice in this court house.
confess, though, gentlemen, am old
enough to remember the period when .
Youths first appearance ut the bar was
was not signal'zcd by impertinence to-
wards his seniors; and when public
opinion did not commend fstulent
bombast and florid trash, picked out Of
ffth-ratc romances, and Mandy pam
by rhymes, repeated by theI upstart
sauciness Of raw popinjay toward
the experienced members Of the pro-
fession he disgraccd. And yet to
some extent this ranting youth may
be right. am not old in the sense
which disables me from defending my
self here, by words, or elsewhere, if
need be, by blows; and this young
gentleman right we'll know it before |
have done with him. You will bear
in mind, gentlemen, that what | say is
in self-defence-that l did not begin
this quarrel-that it was forced on me;
and that l am bound by no restraints
of kindness, or of courtesy, or Of res
pect. Let him charge to the account
Of his own rashness and rudeness what
ever he receives in return therefor.
Let me Ictort on the youth that he
is a worthy advocate of his butcher
client. lie fights with the dirty wea-
pons of his barbarous trade and brings
into his speech the reeking odor Of his
clients slaughter house.
Perhaps something Of this congo
niality commended him to the notice
of his worthy client, and to this, his
first retainer; and no wonder, for when
we heard his vehement roaring, we
might have supposed that his client
had brought his moat unruly bull calf
into court to defend him, had not the
matter of the roaring soon convinced
us the animal was more remarkable
for the length Of his ears, than the
power of his lungs. Perhaps the young
gentleman has taken his retainer, and
contracted for butchering my client on
the same terms as his client contracts
in his line-that is, on the shares
But l think, gentleman, he will find
the contract moro dirty than profit
able job. Or, perhaps, it might not be
uncharitable to suggest that his client
who seems to be pretty well up to the
business Of saving other peoples
Bacon may have desired, as far as pos
sible, to save his own; and, therefore,
turning from the members Of the bar
who would have charged him for their
services according to their value, took
this occasion of getting Oft some of his
stale wares; for has not Shakespeare
sa.d-thc gentleman will allow me to
quote Shakespeare, too, while yet bis
reputation. survives his barbareus mouth
ing of the poets words he knew
an attorney who would defend a
cause for a starved hen, or a leg OF
mutton fly blown ltrnst, however,
whatever was the contract, the gentle
man will make his equally worthy
client stand up to it; for should like
that on one occasion it might be said
the excellent butcher was made to pay
for his sacine.
I find it difficult gentlemen, to reply
to any party Of this young mans effort,
except his argument, which is the
smallest part in compass, and next to
his pathos the most amusing. His
figures of speech are some of them
quite good, and have been so consider
ed by the best judges for the last thou
sand years. must confess, that as to
these, find no other fault than that
they were badly applied and ridicu-
lousy pronounced; aud this further
fault, that they have become so COM
mon place by constant use, that unless
some new vamping or felicity of appli-
cation be given them, they tire nearly
as much as his original matter-videli.
Get, that matter which being more re-
diculous than we have ever heard be-
fore, carries internal evidence of it,
being his own. Indeed, it Was never
hard to tell when the gentleman recur-
red to his own ideas. He Is like a cat
bird-the only intolerable discord she