Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1868-05-07
Nnion aud dispatch.
THURSDAY. MAY :. 1855.
Largest Circulation in City and state.
MIR. EVARTS' APPEARANCE AND
STYLE OF ORAT0RY.

IN consequence OF the illness of Mr. STAN
berry, the main responsibility of the
trial devolved upon Mr. Evarts, who
became known to the nation at large as
the special orator and spokesman Of VIM.
II. Seward, in the days when that states
man was the acknowledged head Of the
Republican party and who, Eat Chiea
go, when the faithful efforts of the Sew
ard party had ended in the triumph of
the almost unknown rail-splitter from
Illinois, was put forward to express, on
their behalf, their acquiescence."
" Agate" characterizes Mr. EVarts speech
on that occasion as "the most stirring
rhetoric of that stirring and rhetorical
convention. And so, "a leading Re-
publican became the leading lawyer for
the defense against the Republican im~
parchment" "Agate" gives, in his let
ter of the LIST inst, this description of
Mr. Evarts appearance and style of ora
tory
Figure TO yourselves a slender, nervous,
hollow chested person of about the medium
height. straight as an arrow, with what Is
called "long head" marrow from ear
10 ear. bat swelling nObly above the tenn
plesO covered with short black hair, with
a pinched, parchment-sklnned face, that
always reminds one of the pictures and
desciptionso Of the opium eater, De Quincy.
The nose is long and hooked, and the chin
proiecta as II halfminded 10 meet 1t.
| This IL Evarls, as he stood up al the conn
sePs table TO address the Senate for mao
whom personally he detested, but whose
defense he believed to be legitimate. His
voice il more remarkable than his appear
| ance II seems to be- a shrill tenor, of very
| little volume, bat il is wonderfully we'll
managed. The enunciation Is simply per-
| fret and SO this thin-voiced, narrow
chesled speaker, rarely rising above con-
yersational tones, is heard with distinct
ness that becomes a positive pleasure. No
man ever seemed to speak more easily
sometimes. in the sarcastic, or more i'm
pressive passages, he throws some force in
20 his utterance; but generally without
seeming effort, the sentences fall from his
lips slow and rounded, like drops from
fountain, in a steady, easy succession, every
word in its place, every clause polished,
without a moments hesitation for an ex-
pression. or single recalled phrase. Ii is
seldom stirring, bat il is throughout one Of
the rarest and most attractive Of intellec-
tual displays, the perfection of unim-
passioned exiempore speaking. lie gesticu-
iates freely, but not often with any vehe-
mence. A favorite position is with the
left hand thrust into the back pocket of his
frock coat, while the right, holding the
gold trimmed eyeglasses which he uses
whenever he has occasion to refer TO his
notes or read an authority, comes down
toward the audience at every emphatic
word Of the sentence. His whole manner
is that of perfect ease, of perfect satisfac-
ton with his audience and himself, of per-
feca deliberation Nothing, it seems, could
hurry this man-nOthing discOncert his
easy dignity and selfpossession. What he
would do in the hurly-burly of the House
no mortal can conjecture but here in the
dienifed quiet of the Senate chamber, his
elegant bearing and deliberate mode OF
speech make the happiest impression.
Mr.. Evarts spoke apparently without
having reduced any passage of his speech
10 writing. The Introduction seemed a
litae labored, and sounded as il prepared
and reoiied from memory, but it glided SC
naturally into passages that could not have
been 80 prepared and yet were equally fin
: ished that the impression of extemporC
speaking was produced throughout. But
the array Of notes was unique. Each day
| Mr.. Eyarts cleared his table and arranged
1 a. IL = To-,
a | npss on a belle at her toilette. Not les!
: ! than a dozen huge envelopes, each larg'
enough to take in n dozen or more unfoldeC
sheets Of foolscap, filled the bulky portfolio
: These we're spread ont in the precise orde
= in which they would be wanted. As thu
: argument advanced, each in turn wa
e opened, and its dozen or two pages wer
o turned, and from time TO time referred to
y Then as each set of pages was finished
= was as carefully returned TO its envelope an'
= laid ont Of the way. Withal, these refer
{ ences TO notes made very little delay, ant
rarely seemed to interrupted all the progress
Of The discussion.
The speech was, throughout, an intellec
tusl treat. Probably, ne other man il
Washington could have held the audienc
40 perfectly for four successive days. Tn
temper, both Of the Senate and of the at
tendant public, has been very much agains
protracted speech-making but Radica
p Senators were among the most delighte'
listeners to Mr.. Evarts, and the readiest {
fnd excuses for the constantly expanding
!, nature Of his oratery. tFl...
Still, with all the delight one felt NOR
and mere distinctly two impressions cor
corning this remarkable effort Thing
we're said in the daintiest of ways, with th
choicest selections Of words, with the mo-
delightful hHmor, with sarcasm as good n;
tured as it was severe but, after all, ther
was what think Artemus Ward called ii
sense of muchness. The things said wei
ne well said hut il took too long to say then
~ The sarcastic hits were inimitahle, but
10 took toe long TO lay the train for them.
fact, many passages were verbose tsu
very natural 10 one who speaks with sur
ls perfect ease
al Nothing could have been more adro
~ ihan Mr.. Evarls' quotations t.om speech
ID of Senators, arguments Of managers an
the like. Thus he made telling use Of Sci
ator Sherman's whole curious record on q
subject OF whether the tenure of office a
% included Cabinet ministers. 40 he co
trasted the opinions of the managers as
the respective merits of the several article
and introduced, in most ssiilful style, q
Is. incahtious declaration Of Mr.. Stevens, th
ns unless his article was adopted, the Sena
,ur would be- greener, il il did not acquit q
M President on the rect, than he ever was
ON any casa he ever undertook before the Cou
IS Of Quarter Sessions.
EVery pow and then. TOO, the legal arg
meni, as il began to grow dall, would 7
ceive an electric shock In the way OF
terse, epigrammatie sentence that won
put his whole case in a nutshell. ~,
10 think Adiuiant General Thomas was co
40 spring against the country, was mediii
h., ing, with the President coup d etdt, VIII
mr. he said be should kick Stanton out N,
10 this kicking would be rather a person
ms than national act il attempted, Il mig
rs. have provoked breach of the peace |
al surely il would no; have been such an 4
am a. thai by which Louis Napoleon seiz
ia he liberties OF France" "Hour unit
"a Judgment, it seems" he said again, "a
proved Mr. Sherman's explanations Of {
. civil tenure act, as not including Stante
II now your united judgment should a
approve these articles Of Impeachment
we'll then we shall have great dIihoniiy