Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1870-08-11

He began Life poer boy at Hsvre de
Grace. He wsut into lawyers ofhce 10
sveep his hBo.s. He worIi spend spare
ftime In hooking into she bseks. He eaiti-
tyased quite foudaess far legal SUBJECTS.
friends let him have tie moHey, and he
studied law. He was at once very sue
cessfal. He had an immense command
Of language and Of authoeities He had
great sagacity in resorting to jus, wha, ke
wanted. He never used saperauous ci-
.tation, but If there was In all the range OF
/ legal literature anything he wished 10 use
in his argument. he had il. TWAS dis
putsd point who Was the stronger in logic,
he or Webster In rhetoric he MAS Tar
ahead. He had all of Choat's elegance of
language. but great deal more elegance
of delivery. = sA--5 sac T' q
| As legal orator he had . mysterious
power, now Frequently called magnetism.
He had an attractive manner Of delivery,
securing and holding the attention Of his
hearers until he brought TO hear the pow
er of subining their mindls Webster op-
posed him in his last case--a patent ques-
! ton. involving something about part Of
cotton loom. There could be no drier
subject in all the range Of the law His
argument covered two whole DAYS There
was no time during the whole Of it whea
the court house and AL the ways around
it was not crowded full Of the elite of " ash
ington. He had a peculiar charm Of ges-
ture which attracted the attention of eve
ry one. He would not coniine himself to
one spot, but in the course of his argu-
ment he would move about the Court
Let him talk upon what subject he would
I-yoa could not help listening, and lis
tening being convinced. As man he
was perfectly kind and courteous toward
all, but he had one weakness which swal-
lowed up all the rest He was the vain
est person alive. He was vain Of his VAN
ity. While | was in Russia. | and an
other attache were sitting in his parlor,
waiting for him to come to dinner. He
came in, after long while. black and dir
ty as any man. Withou. saying a word
he walked up to the sofa, jerked of his
hat. threw it and his sword down. At
last Mrs. Pinhncy returned, and asked,
What is the matter :" Matter. have
been insulted, madam That is what is
the matter" AT this (our narrator savs)
my sword and that of my friend, as if by
magic, leapel from their scabbards to
avenge the insult l ventured to ask
How p Turning to me he said l.: Sir !.
Is not man of my name, my position,
my country, insulted when he is to get up
at eight o'clock to pay homage to little
girl On Russian Prirccss) ?" | vcntured
to suggest that we were invited at elcv-
en-. "Can gentleman dress in less than
three hours ~
He used TO battle every day. and after
bathing he would throw thin gauzc over
himself and have two body servants throw
fine salt at him. He had heard. he said, /,
Salt would preserve the skin" 1t was
true tha: his complexion was fine. 80 much
SO that thcr" was a rumor spread that he
painted This was not true, for our narra-
tor had time and again seen him plunge his
head into basin and give his face such T.
rubbing that no paint in the world could
remain on il H., paraded his efforts in
making this show. He liked to hear such
rumors Of himself. He was ifty-four when
in ST. Petersburg and sixty when in
Washington, though he looked ike thirty
when he went into company. He was
not very fond # society. and would not
remain longer than ten o'clock at party
When he came out he would say, Let
us 90 home and have chat" which our
narrator was most willing to do. When
he got there he would begin to unmakc
himself Tie was laced in every direc-
ton. He would wear the fashionable
cravat Of that day. which was an immense
piece Of silk about a yard and hall
square I, was folded diagonally, corn
ers turned in, and that fillea with a long
piece of padding, or. as il was commonly
called. pudding. which Was made for that
purpose |. was then folded and drawn
tightly around the neck, his more than
ordinarily so His whole dress was fault
less and beautiful. as well As most fash
ionablc The only thing that troubled
him was his thin hair, though he was not
bald After he had ali his tight clothes
of, he would fall back in his chair and
tell his servant To bring him a glass of
peach drink" which was no other than
most excellent punch. made with old peach
brandy. He would turn to our narrator
and say ..Mr. p, will you have a
glass of peach drink :" ''Yes-I think
viii. There We would sit and talk until
very late.
On one occasion told him / would
like very much ~ hear him in the Son
ate. and | would bc glad if he would le,
me know when he was going to speak upon
any question He replied: Il do no,
know that | viii have much to say thi-
term. do not Know of any topic which
will rome before the Senate upon which
viii b. likely "a speak. unless the Senat,
gets into confused. chaotic state, ami
will need me 10 set th"m right" Our
narrator once tod Webster of this
who did not ike him He said: -.
(! wa all exactly 80. only he was grea,
fool 10 say it.
After night hard study he would
come into court and in discussing ques-
ton, would IN the course Of his argumen;
| say /: Il think yopr Honors will find
authority for-that -in-,he first Of East
about G0i-ye,-I should say abou, 60l
, and on the right hand side Whil,
hc knew Il, having jus; e1an.ineih. 81
this was done for effect. in order 10 max,
the s.opulace think he knew not only thi
law tr. he knew IRE fc.rss;nn on the n. 90