New-York daily tribune., 1859-12-24

r;sceiioneous person" When be came TO comment on
him in the argument, be said This man seems to me-
your Honor 70 have a sort iHciPtens-issermReHt
n .madnes,." The way he brought out these sue
cessye qualifying adectves produced great hsrity IN
all who had watched the progress Of tho case.
Every one at the Suffolk bar knows his famous de-
scription Of the secondhand harness" which was
The subject Of suit. Holding up 10 his hand pars OF
the barness, Mr. Choate said To be sure gentlemen
this harnese has Mt upon it all that gloss and glitter
which takes the eye Of the vulgar crowd bat put n
10 you inelg enl jurors, acquainted with Ihe ord-
nary affairs of life whether il If Mt safe, sound, sub
stantia suitable second rate secondhand harness..
critic Of his has quoted this anecdote bat expresses
the opinion that il is b 1t is not 80 considered how
ewes think, by TIE lawyers generally for Is Is ex-
actly in the style Of his exaggeraons when he was
excited even on the most trivial ubject; and anybody
who knew him WELL can picture 10 himself exactly the
manner in which he would shoot out every one OF
these secondary adjectiyes The same critic, just al
luded to- adds another little anecdOte OF a different
kind "a friend Of mine, speaking TO him Of N &C
ready art in acting said that person once he Ard
man crying murder, for two hours in succession, IN
the room under his own at hotel. On inquiry he
found il was Mr. Macready practcing on the word, to
get the rieh; agouized tone Ifs man. said Choste,
should cry murder for two hours, under my window,
would commit g." The reviewer goes on 20 OBJ
serve very Justly that sentences cut apart from the
main body of one Of his productions can only suggest
hs manner through the process Of caricsture. Thus
he says, eve recoleet that an honest master mason,
in Of bis arguments, rose TO the dignity OF build
er and beaufer of cities In another he represented
the skinner of a merchant vessel who had been pros
ecued by his crew for not giving them enough to eat
as being busily studying some law book, while passing
the island of St. Helena to find out his duty in case the
vessel was short Of provisions. such, said Mr.
Cboate were bis meditaons the invisible currents
of the ocean bore him by the grave of Napoleon
witness testified in reference to one OF his clients
that he had called upon him Friday evening, found
him or, ing, and on asking him what was the matter,
received In answer I'm afraid I've run against
arad hv Mr. ChoQte what
this way Such his feelings and such his actions
down to that fatal Friday night when at ten O'clock
in that hoOd of tears, his hope went out IKE candle;
These instances convey idea of the process by which
Mr. Choate makes strange combinations out OF COM
mon things but little more accurate than al lhIen-
tional parody of his manner
An anecdOte of a cODstables return, ana ms cOm-
ment upon it, has been told before but not IN iui' IL
was an action of repeyn and the constable was or
dered to attach certain goods according to the schedule
furnished him. He returned the writ into Court, with
the schedule attached and the goods Inc reI ,S;s
after this fashion: On this day, hav'ng attached lhis
haring taken that hGving done the other thng, etc
Choate objected 10 this return OF seryice on sne
ground frst generally, that it was bad. lhe Juage
remarked that though inelegant and ungram msscaA IN
its structure the paper st seemed to be good IN Ie-
gal sense at may be 90, your Honor, repheu mr.
Choate "but it must be confessed that he has greatly
overrorked the participe:"
When the laugh which greeted this sally nih SUD
sided little he took the second objection; which was,
that the officer had not returned the same goods as
those in bis schedule. His schedule for example said
ginghams he returned cassimeres, ETC. Tie oiu CheI
took up his copy, and read along, comparing IN MS
copy the schedule and the return AT lat he came 70
one item which was right in bis copy and the copy be-
fore bm was the original-Choate had IN his hands
transcript Of the original" Very well, Mr.. Cnoate
said be- f he has taken article according to the
schedule it will support the writ" Yes, your Honor,
but he has not one6 Certainly he has; here is one.
He is ordered to sach shrtings and he returns tnAs
he has attached shirtings." mol" replied Choate,
respectfully but firmly "he is ordered 70 attach shirt
ings and he returns sheetHgs; rery rery different
thing" "No, Mr.. Choate; look at your paper and
will look at nine. SO the old Chief buried his great
head in the papers moment, and Choate spelled oui
his again. A pause ensued. "Well, Mr.. Choate, you
see you are wrong" was the next remark OF the
Bench somewhat testify. "No Sir persisted Choate,
see am right" The Chief by this time quite In
dgnant took the paper in his hand and looking on It
and standing up roared olt each letter in portenous
tones "S-h-i-r-t spells sbir, does not Mr.. Choate"
Choate saw at that the mistake must have arisen
from in copying bis transcript from the Judges
original. "Well, your Honor" said he, with look
of great gravity, 81 should have supposed did spell
sbi without express decision Of the Supreme Court
Of Massachusetts upon H."
The impression produced by this volume, as q
-,tvso, iiginy mvorapie inc sKin ana ingenuity
of Mr. Choate as IN advocate, to the soundness aud
extent of bis legal knowledge, 10 his wonderful
command of language and illustration, though it
must be admitted their spendor was that Of ths
Kaleidoscope, rather than of cabinet of precious
stones, to his magnetic, magical influence over
jury, and TO his and solid acquisitions in litera
ture. It does not, however, so clearly testify to
the sanity of his intellect the justness of his views,
the wisdom of his convictions or the elevation Of
bis moral purposes. Nor does it appear that his
abilities, magnificent as they undoubtedly were,
possessed the character which will secure to them
permanent influence and place in the memory Of
man. He has apparently left nothing to recall the
power which he exercised by the physical energy Of
his gestures the miraculous play of his features, and
the cOpious stream of impassioned, burning Ian
guage which flowed from bis fervent lips. Apart
from the field Of legal argument, be would seem to
have been singuarly destitute Of the power Of con-
structiOn. His literary efforts, though of gigantic
aim, remind of torso, rather than of finished
statue. Destitute of symmetry, of artistic proper
ton, of lucid statement, of the simplicity of true
genius they present tangled wilderness of thoughts
and images, gorgeOusly adorned indeed by aowess
of tropical luxurance, but without the delicious
pose and harmony of scene that constitute an en-
chanting landscape.
AN OVERLAND JOURNEY FROM NEw-YoRK TO SAN
FRANCISCO IN THE SUMNER OF 1859 BY HoRioR
GREELEY. limo. PIP. Sss. C. NJ. Ssxton, Barker Co.
The letters written TO THR TRIBUNE, descriptive Of
tour through Kansas, Utah, and California during
the past Summer, by the senior editor, form the
tents Of this volume. OF the topics which are here
treated, the most interesting relate to the condition Of