New-York daily tribune., 1859-01-15

ACt, Ia as true noW III 10 oPF"''i". =" -" S~N
generally, as it was then Speaking Of Grouvle,
Rurke ,aid, :" He was bred in profession. He
90 WAS bred to the law, which is, in my opinion,
" one oftbe first and noblest Of human sciences;
- a science which does more to quicken and iu-
yigortte tbe understanding than all tae other
"kinds of learning put together; but is not apt,
Except in persons very happily born, to open
land 10 liberalize the mind exactly in the same
"proportion.'' Mr.. Fessenden was bred to the
law, and like bis distinguished father, he has been
sble and successful in his profession. But his
mind is cast in so liberal mold, and his political
associations have been Of progressyea character
that though the discipline Of the bar has given him
the quickness and vigor Of Burke's lawyer, he has
escaped the narr5vness which that great man
Attributes 10 the profession generally.
In scanning the Republican side Of the Chamber,
the obserysnt eye promptly assigns Mr. Trumbul
20 the same class Of diaectlcisns with Mr.. Fes-
senden. Judge T. possesses remarkable power
Of anslysis. His logic goes right to the mark.
His first speech in the Senate was on Douglass
Kansas report Of March, 1856, which he dissected
limb by limb, joint by joint, muscle By muscle,
causing its author to writhe in his seat as if Is
cushion were of iron. and stuffed with Goals of fire.
TIE "lttle giant" unused to such treatment. at
tempted in reply to browbeat his colleague, and
got severely punished in return. This forensic
mdte, protracted through two or three hours, and
drawing Sumner and CritteDden into the ring with
the principal combatants, convinced all parties 10
the Senate, and the everhaDgiDg galleries and the
lobbies packed with excited spectators, that the
debating force on the Republican side bad received
a powerful accession in the lucid, analytical, pun
gent mid Of the new member from Illinois.
We are speaking only of debators, strictly so
called. 10 placing Messr'. Fessenden and Trum-
bull in the front rank of debators on the Republican
side, we do not dispsrage the forensic powers of
Seward, Hale, and the Sumner that was (aud We
hope will be agaiD), each of whom stands pre-
eminent in his own sphere-a sphere more attract.
i've 90 most minds and broader, perhaps, in the
general estimation than that of Messrs. Fessenden
and TTunbul.
Mr.. Fessenden (of whom we are particularly
wr,ting) compares fsvorably with the best deba-
ters on the other side Cf the Chamber. With
Douglas for instaRce-vigorods but cautious in at
tack, quick to detect and expose q sophism or an
error of fact in bis opponents argument, and mer
cilsss in torturing him with an unguarded admission
or some unfortunate allusiOn-as witness his psin-
ful broDgs of Biger over quick fire at the last
session. And with Toombs--dashiog into the
thick of the fight, like Murat at the head of the
cuirassiers dealing blows right and left, but get
ting badly cut up himself for lack Of weD-adjusted
cOIslet and helmet; or, to change the figure, his
many apt ideas almost smothered under his multi
fold serbiage, and making up in the audacity of
the dictOn what is wanting ia the intrinsic strength
of the argument. And with Benjamin, who cx-
hibits in debate happy combination of the rigid
discipline of the lawyer, with the liberal culture OF
the scholar. Aud with Pugh, who affects argu-
ment, but whose sharp. thin, county y-court mind,
is better fitted for the techncalities of nisi prns
than the discussion OF national questions in the
Senate Chambers. And with Cnttenden, the
nobest Roman Of them all, who, though he has
passed the era of three score and ten, can, when
pressed with the weight of great subject, or
reused to repel vigorous attack reason As closely,
and retort as severely, as he could twenty years
and more ago, when he cOntended with Benton,
Wright Forsyth, aud the other " choice and mas
ter spirits of the age" in the Bank struggle; or
cowed the crest of Stentor Allen by turning short
upon bin, when Allen attempted to dictate to the
Senate, and asking with cutting emphasis
"NOw in the name, of all the gods at once,
Upon what meat doth this our CGsM feed,
That he is grown so greatF
But, we are treadiDg on delicate ground Was
it Mrs. Malaprop or Mrs. Partington, who said
that comparisons are oderous, and smell to Heaven
We must return to Mr.. Wilson.
Gen. Wilson is one of the most valuable men,
bers of the Senate. He has three important qual.
ifications for a national legislator in crooked.
craven, perilous tunes, viz: a clear head a stout
heart, and sound body. Industrious. labOrious,
always in his place, and ever ready to 60 when and
where duty calls; he is the faithful representative
of model constituency. lie is remarkable for
the patience and zeal with which he studies and
masters all subjects he attemps to handle. If he
is stimulated to this habit by a consciousne" of
defects in his early education it affords another
proof of the truism that " self-made men are the
" best-made men," and ia another Illustration of
the too high estimate placed by common people
upon the advantages of a so called a." liberal educa-
ton" Wilson is manly, strait-forward speaker,
caring more about the quality of the kernel than
the hue of the husk and aboriDg rather to set his
subject in clear light than to surround himself
with blaze of rhetoric. Though no man knows
better than himself that he must look upward
when surveying the colossal intellect Of Daniel
Webster, and that he displays neither the Cicero