Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1868-04-16
THE RUTLAND HERALD
WEDNESDAY, ArmL Is. l>es
sketch 81 ard rlunAstl--a noasi
lawyer,

lux AMI tttt A. law tt AAt VS. l4MN
li,hrl by lAul, lrNu \ Co.. hSton, In
April ISIS, Ia, been t,a,'ysl and is llllr.i
With legal kfr valuable h lhe Woit ,sian
and IL the general reader who ls,iu, Z.
he enlightened upau he lraamg lrst'
questions ot the day II contains ana AZ
tiele on the lin 81 l.ord Flunkettl wha il
declared 10 have been au advocate eom-
parable only with Irskiue, aud an orator
competent Ia cope with hrauSham or
Pitt" from which article, and from the
Life Of Lord rluukett hy hi, grandson, thr
Hon, Daniel flunkett, with an iutroluc-
tory preface by Lord Brougham, the col.
lowing sketch Is condensed, which cannot
fail to interest the legal profession, and
all intelligent lovers of the geographic, Of
the great and good men u uur tim,s
Lord rlunket,, who became lorl
Chancellor Of Ireland, was u high cStrae-
'ion and was contemporary with Chaueel-
lors lyndhurst, Brougham, Campbell 81
Leonards. Traro, a. also with Wensley.
dale, Ahinger, Washington and nusle,
list OF brilliant names Of which any nation
might be proud, OF these, nruugham
survives in his ninetieth year; ST. Leon.
ards IA hI- rigirty-sixtir; Washington in
his eighty.iirst Recently. the Atlantic
Cable has brought intelligence Of the
death Of Wensleydale in his eighty.sixth
year, No period Of the English Bar af.
fords - many brilliant names Of those
who lived TO such an advanced age, or
affords such abundant proof that constant
and iaborious application 10 the duties Of
legal practice is not incompatible with
length of days. Lord plunkett's span of
hie extended over ninety years, and
found its end in 1874 lie was six wear.
older than Wellington, seven years older
than Canning, and a few years younger
than Erskine, sheridan and Pitt Ills
name, in this country, is less familiar than
that of most of the great English lawyers.
from the fact tina. his early life was spent
at the Irish Bar, and in the Irish rarlia. I
ment; while his English life was devoted
mainly to the Advancement Of Catholic
Emancipation. Plunkett was the leader
OF the Dublin bar at its golden age, but in
the oblivion awaiting the contests, the
victories, the brilliant cloqucnee. the
learned arguments Of the profession Of the
law, his name, like that of pinekncy, and
Choate, and Dexter, and Mason, and
Prentiss, and Writ, has become a mere
shade, by the side Of that Of the soldier.
who has won great battles aud the states.
man. who links his name to great qucs.
tons OF national policy and human adj
yancement. Lord Brougham said Of him
" There never was more argumentatiye
speaker, or one, erIerto crede, more diff
cult to grape with or answer" Like /
Erskine, his first effort was made in dis "
cussing subject well nigh exhausted bv
the previous remarks of three learned
counsel. He attended closely to his pro-
fession. and kept aloof from the allure
ments of political life, until 1870, when ,
he entered the Irish Commons, where he
exhibited great eloquence, strong and
heartfelt passion and sarcasm. not often !"
found in his more elaborate orations deliy. II
cred afterwards in the English Parlia-
ment 1t has been said of him, that he II
thought fer the people, not nth them, and IT
80 was an enlightened statesman and phi ,
lanthropist, and not mere politician. A
Ills words stand with the efforts of
Rongham and Denman in behalf of Queen 5.
Caroline, and the arguments of Erskine, a Il
lasting memorial for boldness, force and r.
satire, in the trials for libel and in the a
language of his grandson, "his metallic Il
voice rang out with words Of awful warn
ing and dennnciation, and all other sounds {
were hushed in death-like silence" His r,
eloquent contemporary has thus sketched "
him "Who is that solitary looking per- e
son, his hands crossed behind his back, so ii
absorbed in sclf-the observer O
OF all and yet the companion of none
Perhaps never was person less Ia be es. ,,
timated by appearances. He il precisely "
the reverse of what he seems EXTERNALLY Il
bold, yet ardent in his nature: in manner II
iepulsive, yet warm. sincere, and stead W
fast in his friendships, severe in aspect,
yet in reality soeiablo and eompaniouabie. .,
That is Plunkett, IA man Of the foremost r
rank, wit, lurist, q statesman, an ora o.,
Tor, a logioian-the Irish Gysippus, as 50
Canning called him, in whom are concen- n
trated all the energies and talent Of the /,
'ountry.' lie possessed unsupported ear
nestness Of tone and Of manner, and in his
address to the court, his apparent anxiety .,
that the tribunal should not violate the :,
uniformity Of its decisions by establishing
! precedent fraught with anomaly and dan :,
ger, gave him the air Of some high legal
lnnctionary appearing in behalf Of the
public, not so much 10 defend the inter
'sts Of his client, as TO testify TO the law y
that should decide the questions involved y
Ills manner was vigorous and earnest y
his gestures not so graceful, as foreiblc .,
When warmed to his subject he fercely y
'losed his hands, raising them slowly =
above his head and then suddenly striking -
them down with extraordinary force. His r
success before juries is said to have been y
great; but it was in chancery cases that
his reasoning powers had their fullest n
effect, and it was there that his greatest u
practice lay He disdained anything like u
'ubtlety; always simple and clear, he II
his propositions in such an or A
der as to command assent TO them success m