, 1885-12-03

Al OLA naa Di.esnrse. on the DeciIas Of
oratory-new suits We're Won.

'" 80" f
New yesk Tribun-1
II e Judge and Jury were quietly dok-
ing ia one OF the New York court rooms
the ether day, while counsel was trying
TO prove By long lists of figures and in.
comprelicnSi le accounts that his
client WAS ono OF the salt of the
earth Til. attendance was small. N
one o. the back seats was n white haired
Old man with a smooth shayen face,
who seemed 10 watch the proceedings
with more interest than any OF tho
other specfi tors. lie leaned forward
in his set with his hands folded o err
the head OF an old fashioned walking
stick. and shook his head ~mournfully
from time TO time. as IL to EXPRESS a
sort OF indulgent pity for the counsel,
the court aud the jury. At last his
feelings seemed to demand relief in
speech and he began to unbosom him
self 10 his neighbor.
Well, well. WE'LL said he, dropping
the pitch Of the voice as he pronounced
each Successive exclamation, lis that
the kind OF lawyers you have nowadays:
Why, folks would rather go to meeting
than come to hear a man talk like that.
An auctioneer makes q better speech
than his'n, noiding toward the lawyer
who was struggling with the figures,
when he ant TO make you believe
that a spawned horse is sound as a nut.
what 5 the good of your colleges and
your law schools if you re going to turn
Out such Wheeling little monkeys as
that fellow Why. sir, | ain t been in-
idle a court OF law these forty years,
tut when / was q young fellow used
10 iollow all the cases and | used to lie
ale TO make a Letter speech than any
OF the lawyers I hear now.
All | tell you in my day it was diff
ferent. \ lawyer that was going to
argue a case would get up and look all
around the court room, and then lie d
look at the jury, and then he d look at
the floor. as If he wasn't quite certain
how he'd best begin. At last he d get
his inspiration, as they used to say, and
he'd run his fingers through his hair to
bel along his ideas like. Then, Cen
tlemen Of the jury says he, very i'm
pressive and in a low voice. Blu he'd
soun get we'll under way, and give you
a regular RATHER. There'd be a deal OF
pathos, and sometimes his voice would
sort of fail him. and then he'd take out
his handkerchief aud blow his nose very
loud TO get control OF his feelings. Then
he'd get very mad, and you'd ha We sup
posed that he was going to walk right
in and tight the jury and judge to boot.
There'd be gestures and SMILES and
Latin quotations a yard or more long.
Latin quotations always had a great
convincing power, and a nan
was sure to win his case ii
he had enough of them. Well,
with all this %eloquence he'd finally get
the Judge and the jury SO mixed that
they wouldn't know which side of the
question he was speaking for, and the
more he mixed them up the better law
yer we used to think him.
Put, bless you, listen to that fellow.
He talks away as quietly as if he'd just
dropped in to say good morning He
hasnt made a single gesture yet, nor
shouted "a single quotation. He don't
seem to get worked up with his subject
as the men OF my day used to do They
tell me the judges won't let the lawye rs
get too fowery nowadays, and say they
haven t time TO listen to long winded
quotations. More's the pity. They're
discouraging eloquence, and they'll 10
have the lawyers presenting their cases
from their Offices over the telephone. "
SO saying tho old man took up his hat,
busted it with his handkerchief, and
went out, still ~bemoaning the decline OF
oratory and the degeneration Of the
legal profession.