F..C. HICXi, Editor and proprietor.
JTTST JFEmllt jvoar,"
Wilmington, North Carolina'.'
VOL. VI. NO. 3.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, l&li
WHOLE NO. 263
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Til K COLISEUM.
"His form
Seems stately and enlarged beyqnd its wont ; -:
And in his countenance, oft turn'd to heaven,
There is a look as if some god dwelt in liim."
Towards the close of the fourth century
; the Christain faith was so widely extended
'throughout the Roman empire that it might
be. considered as having secured for itself
a firm foundation. There were now num
bered within its pale many ,of the noble
boxft, and more of those whose cultivated
minu's ;gve respectability to their princi
ples. The gorgeous temples once devoted
to the service of imaginary deities were
no w consecrated to the worship of the true
XZod. The followers of the new faith
isrere n0 longer looked upon as the ene-
3nries of th.r species, as the pioselytes of
5i gloomy superstition; arid the superiority
of a rational m of faith over fauoifI
ceremonies began to c perceived. Indeed
it could hardly be other ."lse- The Punty
of life, characteristic of the e.y Christians
was a lively comment upon their" doctrines
and became still more apparent twhe con"
rasterl with the laxitv of morals tolerated
"Yea, brother, I have heard it proclaim
ed, and my soul has beentfisfressed-at the
thought. How can we expect to see this
people brought to a knowledge of the true
faith, while'tfieir passions are inflamed,
and their senses bluntetl in witnessing the
sufferings of their miserable victims? 5 But
in the still watches of rthe night, calling
upon me to interpose an arm for the deliv
erance ef this sinful generation."
In the enthusiasm of the moment he
Cut although he perished in his philan
thropic design; his death was not without
effect. The feelings of the people under
went a strong reaction, after their excite
ment had subsided, and, influenced by their
urgent appeals, the Emperor Honorius fi
nally abolished the inhuman custom
it 'shall be-so no longer; I have heard a voice 'Thus, by the generous self-devotion of. a
single individual, a great obstacle to the
progress of true religion among the people
was removed, and a gross istain upon their
character blotted otft. "Dwelling in pbscu-
stood erect, and with his eyes raised toirity, and untrammelled by the selfish mo
heaven, 'seemed like a prophet, inspired j tives of the world, his zeal was nurtured
for the accomplishment of some high mis- j until it was called into action in the man
sion. His less resolute companion looked j tier we have narrated.
upon him with wonder at this sudden burst j Christianity owes much to this generous
of enthusiasm, and fearing lest' his "feelings enthusiasm of its early disciples. Influenc
might urge him to the commission of some ed by principles, they looked not to con
dangerous act, thus addressed him: - sequences. The world was before them,
t "Brother, as thou sayest, it 'is a griev- j lying dormant in heathenism. How dreary
ous sin; but how can one man .withstand the prospect, had -they looked 'beyond!
jucjuuiucB ui hiu liiuuiLuue: . ji ne pco- : Avcpeuumg upon ineir own eitorts, and the
pie are wedded to this custom, and to in
terfere would . be to encounter certain
death."
"With man," he replied, "it would in
deed be impossible; but not so with God.
My resolution is fixed, if need be, even to
suffer the pains of martyrdom. But it
grows late, and we must separate. Fare
thee well; be faithful, and, if we never see
each other in this, world, .we shall meet
in another and better."
So saying, he pressed his companion to
his bosom, and both pursued their way
homeward.
Morning had scarce dawned upon the
imperial city, before its countless streets
arid the surrounding country were crowded
with a dense mass of human beings, mov
ing towards the seene of the expected ex
hibitition, the Coliseum. This immense
by mythology. But although its prospect 'structure, calculated to accommodate be
were favorable, and its progress no longer
checked by the hand of arbitrary power, it
was far from exercising its legitimate influ
ence. , Many of the inhuman customs
which had originated in a darker age, and
which were made sacred by the example
of successive generations, s ill remained,
although hostile to the mild arid benevo
lent sDirit of Christianity. It was about
- this period that the order of monks arose,
whose motives, at Jeast, were never ques
tioned, however much' they may have ert
ed in their notions of duty. Accustomed
to the pleasures of social intercourse, to
the endearments of the domestic circle,
they assumed the cowl, and separated
from their fellow men, sought in some ob
scure retreat to realize their mistaken ideas
of devotion. Seldom did they revisit the
"scenes endeared to them by the ties of kin
dred j and the voice of friendship. Alone in
the solitude of the desert they sought com
munication with heaven, arid there engaged
. in the officers of religion, spent their days
unless 'called again to the haunts of men
by the affairs of the infant church. It is
with an "individual of this class that the
following incident is connected.
The naoon was shining with mild ami
. beneficent beams over the lofty palaces and
pillared temples of Rome, as two persons
apparently connected with some religious,
order, were leisurely moving along one of
the more retired streets. They had both
passed the meridian of life. "The long white
beard & silver hair of one of them indicated
advanced age. But although venerable fin
his appearance, he exhibited no sign , of
innrmity. ins step was nrm, anu ms.
tall erect form, dignified in itself, was ren
dered still more striking by the long robe ii
which he was wrapped. The other, though
similarly habited, possessed a less striking
-exterior. In the lofty forehead and undim
jned eye of th(? former, an observer would
perceive the spirit of command, energy
and resolution; while the amiable features
;and unmarked expression of the latter bes
poke a manbetterfitted-fcHr thie-- duties -of
the cloister than tor a situation of difficulty
or danger.
They bad for a time pursued their way
in silence, Vhen the elder of the two thus
addressed his companion:
"Hilarionj" said he, "dost thou not lon
to return once more to the peace and repose
of they hermitagel For myself I am
wearied at the sight of evils th&t I cannot
remedy, and miseries that I cannot re
lieve." ' " Mas! brother Telemachus," replied the
other, there is here, too much to grieve
the mind, as thou sayest: tiut yet I
would fain learn sornething of the xtdrld,
from which I have been secluded."
Beware that thou art not thyself en
tangled in the meshes of the evil one. Be
hold what multitudes still blindly bow to
, their idols. O, when shall we see every
, iempie cleansed, eyery heart renewed!"
With these words the old man gather
. '""""i- Auuufc uiiu, ana ine two con
tinued their walk in- silence. .Tlley had
VIVl jiiuwcucu lar, waert xne con
versation was renewed.
. "Teletnachus," sard the younger person
age, "hast thou heard that on the morrow
the -unfeeling multitude are again to be
"... j -uviexntomonsoiineam-
favoriijff ahl of heaven, thev dreadml no
danger, were undeterred by the pangs of
an ignominious death; and of the great re
sult we. ourselves are witnesses. The
shades of oblivion have fallen around the
memory of the heroes of primitive Christi
anity but they regarded not, nor expected
the honors of the world a bright, an en
during inheritance was the object of their
hopes, a crown of glory their reward. L.
the mother country. Seventy years of
democratic institutions may not be suffi-
cient to form a style or perfect a School of
art, but they are enough, in all conscience,
to show what atiation can do in eloquence
and'snatesmanshipl ' " j
Patrick If enry,! the writer considers the
greatesl bT our early orators, andj goes at
considerable length 'into his early
and subsequent Career.
history,
his name
the appellation of "the gentle shepherd."! the tone and taste of Mr. Webster obser;
- - fc" , - 1 - . ,A VI
fauuas. coniu oi mem may surprise sum v
our readers as are not aware that -the most en-
twte'3 eighty and ninety thousand specta
tors, WaJ? soon filled to overflowing. In
i f ,1..
ail upper gtv. -cl U,IU eparaie irom ine
rest, sat females. 1 ne seats next tIie are
na were occupied by th? Senators and am
bassadors from foreign nations. Elevat
ed above these, and covered" with a rich
pavilion of gold, was the tribunal of the
Emperor. Behind the senators Were sta
tioned the knights, and -still: further back
upon rude seats of stone sat the common
herd.
After the noise and confusion usual upon
such occasions had in a measure subsided,
the immense concourse gazed with anxious
curiosity over the arena, j The time at
length came for the entrance of the gladi
ators. The trumpet sounded; all discord
died away, and an uninterrupted silence
reigned as the first pair was led before them
They were two young captives, yvhoy in
fighting for their homes and freedom, had
fallen into the hands of their enemy, and
were now, according to tBe savage custom
of the times, about to hazard their li ves to
gratify the inhuman appetite of their cap
tofS: They took their stand and commenc
ed by a feigned contest with wooden
swords. This did not however excite
hiiich interest, and was only intended to
draw forth their skill. After this the com
batants received their weapons and prepar
ed for the deadly strife They were in
this case so equally matched that after the
lapse of an hour, neither seemed to have
the advantage. The spectators became
impatient, and their murmurs rise like the
roar of distant wares. The two unfor
tunate combatants step b2ck, and gazing
upon each other with melancholy interest,
bare their bosoms, and rush each one up
on the sword of has opponent They fall,
writhing upon the sanded floor of the arena,
and expire. Friends in their native land,
they had fought in vaiii for their liberty,
and now, neither would save his- life at
the expense of1 his companion.
This melancholy occurrence made but
little irapressioli tipbn the heartless multi
tude. Accustoriied from infancy to the
siffht of blood, they witnessed its effusion
with savage pleasure, and in this instance
at best, with indifference.
After the bodies had been dragged out, i
and the stains of the recent conflict remov
ed the trumpet again sounded for the en
counter. The combatants this time-jwere
professors in the art, and their entrance was
tailed with pleasure. Their stolid features
and rough, muscular frames contrasted
strangely with the generous and youthful
appearance of the precedirig pair. 'They
took their positions with practised caution,
and had already poised their swords, when
they were thus strangely interrupted. An
old man of venerable appearane'e rushed
i -.t - V-
Detween tnem; ine speciaiurs, asiuiuau-
ed at his temerity, artd awed by his enthu
siastic bearinsr. looked upon him in won
der. He raised his hand, ann, tearless ot
his perilous situation, was apparently about
to address them, when the crowd recover
insr from their stupor, rushed simultaneous
ly into the street. He was still standing
in the midst of the arena, silently awaiting
his fate. The enraged mob return j-or
a moment the air was darkened by a show
er of missive?, and Telemachus fell to the
earth, a" crushed and mangled corse rthe
martyr of humanity."
AMERICAN ORATORS AND STATES
MEN. In the leading article of the London
Quartely Review for December, the char
acter and style of eloquence in the United
States is taken up, and a comparison as to
the respective excellence of the two coun
tries in this art, instituted. Orators are
considered in two clases, those who lived
before and during iherevolutiou', and those
who have become famous since.' From
the former the names of Patrick Henry Jno.
Adams, John Rutledge and James Otis are
selected,, and from the latter Alexander
Hamilton', Fisher Ames, John Q. Adams
Josiah Quincy, Rufus King, Samuel Dex
ter, Chief Justice Marshall, John Wells,
Thomas Emmett, H. G. Otis, John Ran
dolph, William Wirt, Joseph Hopkinson,
Horace Bimiey, Luther Martin,. Wtti'.
Finckney, Robert Harper, Robt. Y. Hayne,
James Madison, James Bayard, Wil
Ham C. Preston, Joseph Storey,, Henry
Clay, John C. Callioun, Daniel Webster,
and EdAvard Everett. c
Wc copy from the article.
The Rev. Sydney Smith once wrote an
article in the "Edinburgh Review" (re
published amongst his works), proving, to
the entire dissatisfaction of the Americans,
that they had produced no names in art,
science, .or literature, since they became a
nation, capable of stauding a minute's com
petition with those produced by England
within the same period. This was a lit
tle too much; arid one of their crack review
ers was commissioned to answer the divine.
After a little preliminary castigaiion, he
proceeded to demolish him by a set of
searching interrogatories, commencing
somewhat in this fashion:
"Has this writer never heard of Jared
Sparks, or Timothy D wight? Has he nev
er heard of Buekminster, Griscou, Ames,
Wirt, Bromn, Fitch, Flint, Frisbie and
Silliman?"
Now it is most assuredly no matter of
boast; for many of the writers on the list
were men of undoubted talent, and have
since obtained well mbrited celebrity; but
we much fear that Mr. Sydney Smith nev
er had heard of one of them. If he had,
he would certainly have been proportional
ly in advance of the great majority of the
reading English public at the time. We
have since done a little towards supplying
our deficiencies in this respect; but if we
were put thro' the same sort of catechism,
most of us should still betray a lamentable
degree of ignorance as to the indigenous
literature of the United States, and not
less as to their oratory.' During Mr. Wreb-
ster and JMiss feedgwick s visit to En
gland last spring,, it was quite amusing to
watch the puzzled faces of the company on
the announcement of their names in a draw-
ingroom; for notwithstanding the reprint of
We cannot well err in placing
at the heard of ouy lisf. "His authenticated
remains consist merely of a Tew jfnsulated
passages, enchased in the notebook of
some zealous admirer, or handed down from
mouth to mouth; but what are called, 'Hen
ry's Speeches' form the favorite subjects
of declamation in the schools; anil the tra
ditionary accounts; of the effects produced
by his voice and j manner, with all those
.other nameless attributes which Demos
thenes included under the word action,
transcend most things or the kind recorded
in history; except the consummate acting
of Lord Chatham, who folded his flannels
round him like a toga, and awed his adver
saries into silence by a sweep of his crutch
Jefferson, no mean authority, declared Hen
ry to be the greatest orator that ever lived;
and a firm conviction of the justice of this
estimate has been the means of obtaining
for him so distinguished a biographer Mr.
Wirt. !
.
A gentlemen who has examined several
ofErskine's briefsjinfbrms us that the notes
and interlineations; were fe w, but that par
ticular parts were doubled down and dash
ed with peculiar emphasis his plan being
to throw all his strength upon the grand
features of the case, instead of frittering
it away upon details. Henry's Imethod
was the same. He grouDed instead of an-
alysing, and produced, by a few i master
touches, eflects which laborious finish
would Irttve married.
4 j
We have -'already suggested a parallel;
and no one 'can help; being struck by the
striking resemblance which Henrv's orato-
ry (so far as it can; be collected from des
cription) bears to Lord Chatham's, riotwiih-
statiding the startling discrepancy between
their birth, breeding-, tastes, habits and
pursuits. The one, a born member of the
English aristocracy the blher, th'O ?on of
a Virginian farmer: the one,; educated at
Eton and Oxfordthe other, picking up a
little Latin grammar at a day school: the
one, reading Bailey's Dictionary twice
over; and articulating before a glass to per
fect his use of language the other, affect
ing a still greater carelessness of style and
rnsticy of pronunciation than were natural to
him: the one so fine a gentleman & so invet
erate an actor, that, before receivingthejmost
insignificant visiter, he was wont to call for
his wig, and settle himself in an imposing
attitude the other, slouching into the pro
vincial parliament with his leather gaiters
and shooting jacket. But they meet in all
the grand leading elemental points in fire,
force, energy and intrepidity the sagacity
that works by intuition the faculty of ta
king in the entire subject at a glance, or
lighting, up a whole question by a meta
phor the fondness for Saxon words, short
uninverted idiomatic sentences, downright
assertions, and hazardous apostrophes
above all, in the singular tact and felicity
with which their dramatic (or rather melo
dramatic) turns and touches were brought
in.
At the time in question, a song of Dr
Howard, which began with the words;
"Gentle shepherd, tell me where," each
stanza ending with that line, was in every
moutn. in the course of the debate; Mr.
Grenville exclaimed, "Where is our mo
ney? where are our means? Tsay again,
where arc our means? where is our mo
ney?". He then sat down, and Lord
Chatham paced slowly out of the House
humming the line, "Gentle shepherd, tell
me where.
Mr. Butler states that a gentleman men
tioned the two last circumstances to the
late Mr. Pitt; the minister observed that
they were proofs of his father's ascendan
cy jn the House; but that no specimens
remained of the eloquence by which that
ascendancy was procured. The gentleman
recommended him to read slowly his fath
er's speeches for the repeal of the stamp
act; and while he repeated them to bring
to nis mind, as well as tie could, the figure,
the look, and the voice, with which his fa
ther might be supposed to have pronounced
them. Mr. Pitt did so, and admitted the
probable effect of the speeches thus deliv
ered. '
In the case of his Transatlantic rival we
must go still further; we" must infer both
language and action from the wonders re
corded of him; but when we find Ameri
cans of all closes,, parties, of opinion, bear
ing concurrent testimony to. those, there is
obviously no alternative but to assume the
direct falsehood of their statements,' or ad
mit that Patrick Henry possessed the
genu ine vis vivhla, the in born genius of or
atory, as much perhaps as any other mo
dern, dead or living, witli the exception of
Chatham and Mirabeau.
Miss Sedge wick's "Tales," and the con
stant mention of Mr. Webster by the "Gen-
evese Traveller" of the "Times," nine per
sons out of ten in the elite of the English
society had about as accurate a notion of
their respective claims to celebrity as
Lord Melbourne of Mr. Faraday's, when
it was proposed to dd that gentleman's
name to the pension list.
To prevent the recurrence of such scenes
when Mr. Clay, Mr. Calhoun,t)rMr. Ev
erett, shall honor us with a visit, we pro
pose, in the present article, to bring our
readers acquainted with the leading ora
tors in the United States, by short sketch
es of their. career and characteristic passa
ges from their speeches," to play, in short,
the "Timon" of America; and any compar
ison we may afterwards choose to institute
as to the respective excellence of the two
countries in this branch of intellectual ex
ertion, will at least not exrdse us. to the
reproach of having selected a field in which
the advantage is necessarily on the side of
It is vain to say that people could never
have been such fools as to be awed by
what reads very like buffoonery! or im
pertinence; or to cite the failure of Burke,
who, when he flung the dagger; on the
floor of the House,! produced nothing but
a smothered laugh, and a joke from Sheri
dan: "The Feritieman has brought us the
knife but where is this fork?," The scene
would have gone pff differently, faad the!
actor been equal to the part. .Lord Chat
ham often succeeded in worse. On one
occasion, for example, he rose and; walked
out of the House, at his usual slow pace,
immediately after he had finished his
speech- A. silence ensued till the door
opened to let him into the lobby.' A mem
ber then started up, saying, " I rise tore-
ply to the right honorable member- j Lord
Chatham turned back, and fixed ;his eye
on the orator, who mstanly sat down dumb;
then'his lordship returned to his seat, re
peating, as he hobbled along, theverses
of Virgil:
Johx Calpwell Calhoun (Miss Martin
eau's "cast iron man, who looks as if he had
never been born") teas born in March. 1782.
in South Carolina. His family are Irish, and
had a hard battle tp fight With the Cherokees
for their settlement. At an early age he ap
plied himself to the reading of history with
fsuch diligence as seriously to impair his
health, but this led to his beintr subseduenilv
sent to Yale College, under Dr. D wight, vho
saidof him, after the, animated discission of
a class question in which the student had the
presumption to differ from the principal;
"That young man has talents enough to be
President of the United States." Cvri Jack
son is reported to have said something of the
sort of Mr. Canning, then an undergraduate;
but as he foretold about the same time that
the late Lords Morely and Darnley would play
conspicuos parts,, and .the late Lord Liver-
pool do nothing, we cannot take upon ourselves
io put tne uean as a prophet on a par with
Dr. D wight, whose prediction as been alrea
dy verified in spirit, and may be verified to the
letter ueiore long.
.
Daniel Webster was born in 1782, the son
of a New Hampshire farmer. Like the Dean
of St. Patrick's, and many others besides, he
showed no signs of talent in early youth, and
it was contrary to the wishes of his family
that he undertook the study of the law. He
was called to the bar in 1805, and began the
practice jof his profession in a small village,
but removed in 1807 to Portsmouth, the 'capi
ta hof the" country, where he soon acquired ce
lebrity. He became a member of Congress in
1812, and distinguished, himself by his exer
tions to place the currency ot the United States
on a sound footing. . In 18 1 G, his pecuniary
rhans having been much straitehed by the
consequences of a fire, he removed to Boston,
and gave up all his time to his profession.
The experiment was attended with complete
success, and in a very short period his practice
equalled that of any member of the American
bar.
Many of his law arguments are good speci
mens of this kind of composition; but his
speech on the prosecution of Knapp (tried for
murder,) from which -Miss Martineau quoted
largely, and with high commendation, appears
to us more remarkable for affectation than force.
Miss Martineau informs os that, oji the eve
of the trial, Mr. Webster asked ivhelh'er there
was anything remarkable about any of th ju
ry. The answer was, that the foreman was a
man of remarkably tender conscience, and
Miss Martineau entertains no doubt that the
concluding passage was intended for his espe
cial benefit
"A sense of duty pursues us ever. It is
omni-present like the Deity. If we take to our
selves the wings of the morning, and dwell in
the utmost parts of the seas, duty ! performed,
or duty violated, is still with us, for our hap
piness or our misery. If we say the darkne'ss
shall cover us, in the darkness as .in the light
our obligations are yet. with us. We canrfot
escape their power, nor fly from their presence.
1 hey are with us in this life, will be wilnns
at its close, and in that scene of inconceivable
solemnity which lies yet further onward, we
we shall still find ourselves surrounded by the
consciousness of duty to pain us wherever it
has been violated, and to console us so far as
God may have given as grace to perform it.
lightened of the American statesmen are fully!
alive to the importance, of the grand principle
on which alone good government canbebascd
in any country.
At the end of seven years Mr. Webster had
gained enough to justify his return to public :
life; and in January, 1823, ho delivered on'
of the speeches which have done most towards ;
the diffusion of his fame a speech in favor of
the Greeks. i
. In 1826 Mr. Webster was elected a member
of the Senate, and in 1833 the same honor was
conferred upon him. This is the field in which
he has gathered incst of his laurels; his resis
tance to the nullifying doctrines of tho South I
Carolina delegates having been the principal
means of preserving the entirety of the Union,
which was seriously endangered by the threat--;
ened resistance of that state. ; Mr. Webster's
profound knowledge of the "constitution gavo
him a decided advantage in the resulting con-,
test with Mr. Calhoun and Mr. llayne, vW.
were both antagonists of a calibie to call forth4
all his energies. His chief speech, in answer
to Mr. Hayne, occupied three days in the der .
livery, and aljpundi in fine passages, besides ;
giving ample evidence ofhis power a3 a debat
er in the English sense.
The extract relating to Greece contains a f
quotation from 'Milton, and the last a para-
phrase of Dry Jen. These, with Shakspeare,"
form the bulk of Mr. Webster's poetical read-,
ing ; and wc are by no ineWs sure that it is
useful for an orator to be familiar with any
poets but those which are in the m-ouths and
memories of the people; for what avail allu
sions which it requires notes or appendices to.
explain!
It is obvious, however, that he has made a
careful studv of the best Luglish orators, par- ,
ticularly Burke. TheM'ollowing instances of
resemblance, in the hands of a sh.up critic,
might be converted into plausible proofs of
plagiarism. ' . '. "
Mr. Webster speaks of 'aflVctioni which,
running bai-kwards, and warming with grati
tude for what cSir'ahcestors have done for oury
happiness, run forward also to our posterity ;?j
and llurke says, thty seldom look forward to
posterity who never look backward to" their
ancestors.' The appeal to Lafayette, in thpj
speech op laving tire corner stone of the Hun
ker's Hill monument 'Fortnnate, fortunatw
man ! wth what increase of devotion will you
thank God for tire circumstances of your extraordinary-life
! y-ou are connected with' two
hemispheres, and with two generations,' i
only afresh application of theallusion to Lord
13athurst. In the same speech (p. 72) wefind,
-' Like the mariner, whom the ocean and the
winds carry along, till he sees the stars which
have directed his course, and lighted his path-;
less way, descend, one by one, beneath the
rising li.ori.zon, we should-have felt, that tho
stream of life had hcrnc us onward-, till anoth-;
er great luminary, whose light had cheered;
us, and whose guidance we had followed, had
sunk away fiom our sight.' This was evi-;
dently suggested by an image which the lato-j
Christian Butler terms the finest in modern or-;
atory : Even then, Sir, before' this splendid
orb was entirely set, and whilst the western
horizon was in a blaze with his descending
glory, in an opposite quarter &f tho heavena
arose another luminary, and for his hour be
came lord ol the ascendent.
But many others have hern laid under con
tribution besides. Burke. A naafrc in the-
We suspect that in general such considera-
'A Dananm,proceres, Agamemnoniacque pha-Hions are as well suppressed in
injury. xi were o i ii.--- ,.-
needs no stimulus toact and a dull one Will
be more sensible to arguments of a more mua
dane sort. The late Rowland Hill "stood
human nature well.' His chapel having h een
infested by pickpockets, he took occasion to
remind the cLgregation that there , was a nall
seeinfr' Providence, to whom all hearts were
open and from whom no secrets were hid;
but lest,' he added, 'there may be any pres
ent who are insensible to such reflections, . I
beg leave to state that thire are also two Bow
street officers on the look-out. v
- Daring the period of ,his retirement- Mr.
Wnhster found time to write for the North
American Review an answer to an article of
ours on the American lawoi aeoioranu creaii
nr. QR.. May.. 1619. We have no wish to
rerive the controversy,' and shall therefore coh-
lantres.
Ut videre virum fnlgentiaque arma per; umbras,
Inrenti trepidare meta: pars vertere terga, -
Ceu qnondarn petiere ratas: tollere vocem
Eximiam: inceptus clamor frustratur hiantes."
Then placing himself in his seat, t he ex
claimed, "Now let me hear what the hon
orable member has to say to me." When
the late Mr. Charles Butler, from whom
we borrow this anecdote, asked his5 inform
ant, an eye-witness, if the House did. not
laugh at the ridiculous figure of the . poor
Member, he replied, "JVo, sir, tct were all
too awedjo laugh?' v r'K v
Another extraordinary, instance of bis
command of the House is )&.manneT in
which he fixed indelibly on Mr. Grenville
It
eulogiuni of Adams and JefTeicn beginning
'Their work doth not perish with th'em. Tho,
tree which they assisted toplant will flourish
although they water it and protect it no longer' j
probably owed something to the noble pero-j
ration of G rattan : ' The spirit is rrone forth,
the declaration is planted, &C The passage
beginning ' Is any inancso weak as to hopefor
a reconciliation, &c.-4-i3 almost a translation
from Phillinnics of Demosthenes. The invo
cation against slavrrv ' I would invoke those'
who fill the seats ofjustice andjill who min f
ister at her .altar'-is borrowed from Lord;
Chatham's 1 call -upon the bishops to inter j
pose the uritu'licd sanctity of their lawn ; up-f
on the judges to interpose the purity of theirj",
ermine, to save us. from this pollution.' The'
srudden and efltctivc turn in the peroration of t
his spec ch for PrescotU-'For myself, I am
willing hereto relinquish tlic character of an!
advocate, and to express opinions hy which I
am willing to be bound "as a citizen of the;
community is imitated from l!rskine, in hisi
defence of Captain Uailey : 'My lords, .! ad-j
dress you no lon?er as an advocate, but as a
manias a member of that state whose very ex.--istence
depends upon her naval power."
This peroration is one of those which Amer
ican schoolbovs recite on holiday occasions;;
and the circumstance is always worthy of notoj
as an indication ol Donular taste..
Mr! Webster's taste is not uniformly refin
ed, and he is by no means nice in is choice
of languaore: bnt then his style i not of tho
feeble order which depends upon the colloca
tio.n'of an epithet; it is of granite strength and
texture; and, if the asperities were polished
off, would still present the solidity of the roc.V..
His voice is one of extraordinary power:
his personal appearance, as many of our read
ers can bear testimony, Is singularly iflipres-sivei--rnay
grand ; his dark deep set eyes blaze
with lustre when he is animated, and JiU broad
black overhanging eyebrows, in particular,
give an almost unnatural air of energy and d7
rermination to his face. We may be pardon
ed foradilinir that his unaffected simplicity.
and per feet modesty as well a3 dignity of bear
ing in society, were universally apprecuiuu
during his late visit to 'Great Britain. .,
Dleasure-lovincr disbosition ; and it is a com-I
mon saying in the United States, that Web-
ster must be. pushed !' Just so Uuinont des-i
cribes Mirabt-au's jnanner as ,uu peu train-f
ante'1' till he got under, weigh jutqu'a ce yui
k fut ami at it iut lei souflkl at Lt forge Tum-
m . - r w r .i l r
quentl v to speak in a careless manner,. rlru
an undertomN for a quarter of an hour or rrjori
at a time, anu .men oreaK out into onr. 0f j,
brilliart passages. Lord Broughrain WOuldE
, iwn iu gciuwi ui uie ion en
tangled sentences -parenthesis within paren
tliesis with which it was his pleasure to be
gin : but then, it is our firm conviction that he
often finds himself upon his leira without hav
ing made up his mind as $ v3ftt he is going
to sav. ' . ,
There - an pj to every thing, anth'thiiris
tent ourselves with teirfog willipS ttiu,on- f-
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