Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-06-01
UNION AND AMERICAN.
EVARTS.
His Appearance and style Of OratOry.
New York Special to the St Louis Globe-Dem.
OCrat.

His Appearance and style Of OFatOry
New York Special to the st. Louis Globe-Dem,
ocrat.
Evarts Is fifty seven years old, looks
older, and is so thin that his HEIGHT
seems greater than five feet ten, which
is really about his stature. He looks
more like the conventional conceptiou
OF the lawyer than any other Of the
counsel IN the case. He is hOmely, but
1t Is correct to say that he is Ratchet
faced. 1t Is less hOmely, but equally
correct to say that his profile is re-
markably ike the one Of Julius Caesar
often reproduced from the original bas-
relief, and that he strikingly resembles
Raiph Waldo Emerson. He wears IN.
fashionable clothes, and high stock,
with collar just turning down over the
top Of it, which is enough to make a
much commoner kind of man look like
portraits painted in a former and stiff
er period Of art and dress.
Promptly at II o'clock Evarts stood
up and bowed twice-frst TO the Judge.
and then to the jury. He spoke at the
start just as he did an hour afterward,
and exactly as he always does, In a
high, unmUsical tone, and with clear,
distinct utterance. The most remote
of auditors seldom missed word, ex-
cept through inattentiOn. His OratOrv
was entirely unimpassioned, and conse-
qUently IN marked contrast with what
had been listened to for six previous
days in the trial. He spoke mvre as
though debating 10 an amanuensis
than as addressing palpable people.
dis gestures we're 1nfrequent, his man.
ner Unconditional and his face unvary-
ing in expression. His long sentences
were articulated with the regularity.of
the ticking Of a clock, and an occa.
slOnal pause Of uncommon length sug-
gested a suddenly clogged wheel or an
interruption of the pendulum. Arti-
cles, conjunctiOns, and propositions
were equal IN emphasis with adjectives.
verbs, and nouns. There was no tinge
Of excitement in him, and not much
more than colloquial animation in his
delivery. 1t was simply slow, cool,
careful, artistic putting together Of
words into shape that could not be
criticised, Judged of by printed report.
EYarts' speaking lacked thehelpof ges-
tlculatiOn and evolutionary tricks, and its
hold upon the hearers was, therefore,
wholly intellectual The length and
involvement Of his sentences, although
violating no rules Of syntax IN their
elaborate construction, required the
close attention of an educated person
to be thoroughly understood. To an
auditor OF less than ordinary Intelli-
gence much Of his language must have
meant as little as did to them one
Latin sentence that he introduced. The
table behind which Evarts stood and
used, upon which his few notes were
spread out, was placed against the rail
ingo the jury box. This brought him
into close proximity with the important
twelve Of his hearers, and to them be
almost exclusively addressed himself,
and seldom turned to the rest of the
audience.
At the start the Jurors were open
eyed in their attention, but the weather
was hot and conducive Of sleep. Fore
man Carpenter set an examplsof steady
attention, but 1t was apparent that the
first day Of Evarts' speech did not In
terest more than four or five Of the
Jury. There was the same variance of
effect upon the general audience. Some
followed the address with keen and IN
telIigent interest, and others lacked
patience or capacity to hear 1t under
standingly: After four hours, Evarts
was as fresh as at the start.