The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1878-10-24
Choate Before a Jury.
Edwin P. whipple, in Harper's Mag

In jury trials his main object was to
influence the wills of the twelve men be-
fore him. He addressed their under
standings; he fascinated their imagina-
tions; he stirred their feelings; but,
after all, he used all his powers in sub
ordination to that one primal power
which dwelt in his magnetic individu-
ality, by which he subdued them, bring.
ing on that part of their being which
uttered its reluctant eyes" or "no :"
the pressure of stronger nature as
well as of larger mind. As an
advocate, he thoroughly understood
that men in the aggregate are not
reasonable beings, but men with the
capacity of being occasionally made
reasonable, if their prejudices are once
blown away by a 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 powerful man, victorious over
men because he had stronger man
hood, stronger selfhood, than any body
on the jury he addressed. On one oc-
casion I happened to be a witness in
case where trader was prosecuted for
obtaining goods under false pretenses.
Mr.. Choate took the ground that the
seeming knavery of the accused was due
to the circumstance that he had a
defcientb business intelligence-in short,
that he unconsciously rated all his geese
as swans. He was right in his view.
The foreman of the jury, however, was
a hard-headed practical man, model
of business intellect and integrity, but
with an incapacity of understanding
any intellect or conscience radically
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 elo-
quence, repeating and recapitulating,
without any seeming reason, facts which
he had already stated and arguments
which he had already urged. The truth
was, as l gradually learned, that he was
engaged in hand-to-hand-or rather in
a brain-to-brain and heart-to-heart-
contest with the foreman, whose re-
sistance he was determined to break
down, but who confronted him for
three hours with defiance observable in
every rigid line of his honest counte-
nance. " You ooll'twas the burden of
the advocates encouragement" you
rascal" was the phrase legibly printed
on the foreman's incredulous face.
But at last the features of the foreman
began to relax, and at the end the stern
lines melted into acquiescence with the
opinion of the advocate, who had been
storming at the defenses of his mind,
his heart, and his conscience for five
| hours, and had now entered as victor.
He compelled the foreman to 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, Not guilty" 1t was Just yer
dict, but it was mercilessly assailed by
merchants who had lost money by the
prisoner, and who were bounding hin
down as an enemy to the human race, al
another instance of Choate's lack ot
mental and moral honesty in the defense
of persons accused of crime. The fac
that the foreman of the jury. that re
turned the verdict belonged to the clas'
that most vehemently attacked Choat.
was sufficient of itself to disprove sucl
allegations. As l listened to Choate'
argument in, this case, felt assured tina
he would go on speaking until he drop
| ped dead on the floor rather than hav
relinquished his clutch on the soul o
the one man on the jury whom b
knew would control the opinion of tn
others.