The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-11-03
HOlIE NEW nOOhs.


INC great Amman may 1.-TWO I'~tpWeu upon
motion gesture. facial expression and all tho
staro business Of his art. we may be suro that
he gave infinitely moro timo and study to the
construction " his Style. which. as his rival
said smcllcd 60 strongly Of the lamp. Wcro It
othcrw.,e we could nut read with interest anil
admiration his private orations. or those of Tys-
las and Iso,tatos written Tor Individual -uiturs
before the disastcrics or law courts II Athens.
Hero doubtless. as in all forensic performances.
Tho object WAS To- persuade, hut the quality Of
the audience was very different from that Of m
English or an American petit jury. You cannot
bllow the argumeniatiyn and rhetorical merits
Of those speeches without u conviction that the
men addressed were NJ high average grade Of
Intelligence. and that the means Of uasion
bud to be Of corresponding dignity. On the
other hand The masters Of Greek oratory. who
had always practical aim before them. would
never have wasted ;hc treasures Of invention. ar
rangemcnt. aud diction upon Jurors incapable Of
measuring them orof Welding to their influence.
In an English or American court room and boz
fore an ordinary Jury they would havo spoken
no better than Scarlet or than Choatc for they
could not have spoken more effectively. In
trials for murder or cmbczlcmcut even De-
mosthenos would be satisfied with the nvaria-
ble acquital OF Lis clients We cannot expect
therefore. that forensic triumphs under exist
ing conditions should leave to succeeding times
other than the iaintcst echo. or that the reputa-
ton Of a great advocate. ike an actors should
rest on anything more solid than the record OF
a fugitive impression.
II Rufus Choatc had been nothing larger or
higher than the most successful jury lawyer
thnt American courts have seen. his name
would be rs certain 60 fall into swift oblivion rs
That Of Lord Ahing"r. Nor would the range.
accuracy and mlnut"n'ss OF his lurisiic
learning. wherein he differed honorably from
his English counterpart have nvaled tn keep
him in our memories. since his research and
penetration were not applied 10 th" COMPOST
ton OF any code or commentary. nor are even
embodied IN Judicial opinions. Here ana mere
uhe curious student 81 state or Federal deeis-
IONS may hnd Mr. 'hoatcs argument or sug-
gestion on this or thnt she OF ease cithd with
profound respect ana called upon To oniress
OF lliunllhe inc sentence "l inc court but that
Is al Iha' is al the most z'alou- ana INDUS
l1ious IN inc next generation VIII ma To Justify
uho inu'hE lus're oil legai accomplishments
hroo"'y uhpara'i''eu on inc part oil any
n'ilui''"h VINO mas preferred tr"v''e at ulo
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,nna,ni ~ its r,,.,,,,,i1 -, - ,i,a -. !.
which This man q, co,i,s u,,orc1 ~, sn,.h ,i,,,.
nro ,r,soryo1 "a ~ ,rI ,ho, L.,., r.,,,,,,i
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tuod iIl.,ss.s All o..,,,o,,,,r p,,n,s o..
lI.i,,Ie prorr 4 70, Twin vol ro,,,,rs -
,-lanc.bri,av at ,bas, l,,tie ,,orfrn,o,,.s
from tho Are, delivoret whom tho sroal,o ,,os
In tbo eneb ~ manhood 10 tho Inc, nroro,,,,c1
under molancboly circumstance ~ sho,,nr.J
homes md brokon health lint n fsVv month. lac.
toro no died
In the wear 1saa Mr. Choote thcp Al veors
old. was practising law in salem from which
he had gone succcssivcly to the General
Court and the State Senate. and finally, in the
previous year to Congress At this time he was
requested By his fellow townsmen 10 deliver m
address and he chose for his subject the i'm
por,Rnce Of illustrating New England history
by n series Of romances like the Waverley
Novels. At that time. we may remember Haw-
thorne had printed nothing except the Rnony-