Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1878-10-31
Miseellanrous. M
RUFUS Choate.
BY EDWIN l.. wHIPPLE.

by EDWIN l.. wHIPPLE.
From Harpei'- Magazine Tor No,cmber
CHoATE BLFoRE jury In jury trials
his main object Was TO influence the tciAs
of the twelve men before him. lie ad-
dressed their understandings he lascin-
ated their imaginatiOus; he stirred their
feelings; but. after ali, he used all his
powers in subordination to that one primal
power which dwelt in the magnetic indiyid-
ualiiy. by which he suLdHed them. bringing
on that part of their being which uttered
its reluctant yes" or mo" the pressure
OF stronger nature as well ds of q larger
mind. As an advocate. he thoroughly un-
derstood that men in the aggregate are
not reasonable beings. but men with the
capacity of being occasionally made rra-
sonable. ii their prejudices are once blown
away by superior force OF blended reason
and emotion--in other words, by force of
being. His triumphs at the bar were due
to the fact that he was Il powerful man.
victorious over other men because he had
a stronger manhood, stronger sclfhood.
than anybody on the jury he addressed.
On one occasion happened to be a witness
in case where trader was prosecuted
for obtaining goods under false pretences.
Mr.. Choate took the ground that the SEEM
circumstance that ne had deficient bust
ness intelligence-il short, that he uncon-
sclously rated all his geese as swans. He
was right in his view. The foreman OF the
jury. however. was a hard-headed practi-
cal man. a model of business intellect and
integrity, but with an incapacity of under
standing any Intellect or conscience radi-
caly differing from his own. Mr.. Choate's
argument. as far as the facts and the law
were concerned. was through in AN hour.
Still he went on speaking. Hour after
hour passed, and yet he continued to speak
with constantly increasing eloquence, re-
peating and recapitulating, without any
seeming reason, facts which he had already
urged. The truth was. as | gradually
learned. that he was engaged in hand-to-
hand or rather in brain-to-brain and a
heart-to- to-heart-con:est with the foreman.
whose resistance he was determined to
break down, but who confronted him for
three hours with defiance observable in
every rigid line of his honest counteDance.
You fool" was the burden of the advo-
Gates ingenious argument; ''you rascal. ~
was the phrase legibly printed on the tore
mans incredulous face. But at last the
features of the foreman began to relax, and
at the end the stern lines melted into &C
quiescence with the opinion of the advo-
cate, who had been stormng at the de-
fences of the mind, his heart, and his con-
science for five hours, and had now entered
| as victor. He compelled the foreman 10
admit the unpleasant fact that there were
| existing human beings whose mental and
moral constitution differed from his own.
| and who were yet as honest in intention as
| he was, but lacked his clear perception
and sound Judgment. The verdict was,
..Nnf npilfr - a VarIicf hut in
was mercilessly assailed by merchants who
had lost money by the prisoner, and who
were bounding him down as an enemy TO
| the human race. as another instance OF
| Choate's lack of mental and moral honesty
| in the defence of persons accused Of crime.
| The fact that the foreman OF the jury that
returned the verdict belonged to the class
that most yehemently attacked ChOate was
sufficient of itself to disprOve such allega-
tions. AS listened to Choate's argumen,
in this case, | felt assured that he would
go on speaking until be dropped dead on
the floor rather than have relinquished his
| clutch on the soul of the one man on the
jury who he knew would control the Opin
ion of the others.
CHoATE's CRIMINAL CLIENTs.-In hi.
arguments for persons who had become
complicated in seemingly criminal acts o.
which they were, at least, not SO guilty a,
they were accused of being, his mastery
way of putting himself. by imagination, il
the place of his clients, and exhibiting al
the pathos that could be elected from thei
embarrassmenrs and struggles, oftei
drenched his clients themselves in irrepres
sibie tears. They hardly knew befor'
what heroes and martyrs they were. They
wept at the eloquent recapitulatiOn o
what they had suffered and done; the!