The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1879-02-06
Choate Before q Jury.

The power with which kufuS ChOate.
the eloquent Massachusetts, lawyer, con-
trolled minds Of jury, is depicted by
L. T. Whipplc, who says, in Harper's
Magazine
In jury trials his main object VI ITO
influence the wills of the twelve meH be-
fore him. He addressed their under
standings; he fascinated their magma
tons; he stirred their feelings; but, after
all, he used all his pow ers in subordina-
ton of that one primal power which
dwelt in his magnetic individuality, by
which he subducd them, bringing on that
part Of their being which uttered its re-
luctant eyes" or 'no," the pressure of
stronger nature aswelIas Of alArSermind.
As an advocate, he thoroughly under
stood that men i'll thc aggregate are not
reasonable beings, but men with the ca
pacity of being occasionally made rea-
ssaa5le, if their prejudices are once
kaow1 away by superior force of blended
reason and emotion--in other words, by
force of beng. His triumphs at the bar
were due to the fact that he was a pow
erful man, victorious over other men be-
cause he had stronger manhood, a
stronger sclfhood, than any body on the
jury addressed. On one occasion | hap
pened to be Il witness in case why're a
trader was prosecuted for obtaining
goods under false pretenses Mr.. Choate
took the ground that the seeming lSnave-
ry of the accused was due to the circum-
stance that he had proficient business
intelligence in short, he had rated all
his geese as swans. He was right in his
view. The foreman of the jury, however,
was hard-headed practical man,
model of business intellect and integrity,
but with an incapacity of understanding
any intellect or conscience radically diff
fcring from his own. Mr. Choatc's ar
gument; as far as the facts and the law
We're concerned. was through in an
hour. Still he went on speaking.
Hour after hour passed, and yet
he continued to speak with con-
stantly increasing eloquence, repeating
and ecapitulating, without any seeming
reason, facts which he had already st..t-
ed and arguments which he had already
urged repeatedly. The truth was,
as gradually learned, that he was en-
gagged in hand, on rather brain to brain
and heart to heart contest with the fore
man, whose resistance he was determined
to break down: but who confronted him
for three hours with defiant observable
in every rigid line of his honest XSun-
tonance. "Iou fool - was the l,kden
of the advocates argument "you lyls-
cal was the phrase lcsiby printed ON
tic fcroraans incrcdulo,is face But at
last the features OF the foreman began
to relax, and ut the end the stern lines
began to melt into acquiescence with the |
opinion of the advocate, who mad been /
stormng at the defcnscs o. his mind, his |
heart and his conscience for the last i've
hours, and had now entered as victor
He compelled the foreman to admit the
unpleasant fact that there were existingJ
human beings whose mental and moralf
constitution differed from his own, andI
who were yet as homes, in intention asl
he was, but lacked his clear perceptioni
and sound .jud ,ment. The verdict was
mot guilty" 1t was ust verdict, but
it was mercilessly assailed bv the ;ner1
chants who had lost money by The priso-
rcr, and who We're houndiug him down
as an enemy 20 the human race. as an
other instance of Choate's lack of moral
honesty in the defense o. persons ac-
cnsed OF crime The fact that the forc-I
man Of the jury that returned the YER
diet belonged to the class that most We
hementlv attacked Choate was of itself
sufficient to disprovc such allegations.
AS listened to Choatcs argument I'M
this case, | felt assured that he would
go on speaking until he dropped dead on
the floor rather than have reinqiNfhe
his clutch on the soul OF one man on the
jury whom he knew would control the
opinion Of the others.