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fhree Dolls.per ann.~\ Volume V.J “ J FROM THE PORT FOLIO. IfEGAL CHARACTERS. I/ (concluded,) | gVe look -through the whole c je of secular employments, I of a condition, more no . in fh s pursuit, or more ample the reward than that of a lawyer, certain modifications. I fpesk sos one, who, by an honorable ex t irtion of vigorous talent and unre fitting toil, has Attained the fum fatof his profcihon ; whole digni chara&er and domestic virtues lifted additional luff re on a vvell-ear f pedfame; whole heart is alive to fyitbe finer inquires of our nature, 2j)J whole hours of relaxation from pufinefs, are devoted to the culture ‘(ls letters and the de 1 ights'-of foetal feanverfe. His personal authority leaches and binds every rank and iptiett of men ; wealth, if he ipcficfies pmdenec, mud follow’ in Ithr tmn of reputation ; he has fmtHn whatever offices of ferity or emolument his country T crui bellow ; the profeflors of law .have seized on all the pa Acs to pub lic honors, nor can they ever be fepofic illd. as long as reason or au pority continue to predominate, irunal another order’ shall arise in Jjjk state, with superior endow jJtifgte snd cultivation, united to pore copious ruearns &E diliifling , f |!id perpetuating fßOT"'influence, mnian, however eligible his fitua tfe in other respects, can reach or ! jtainbdn a diftingulfhed rank at the Without the feducements of Want genius, or the aid of exten iive legal acquirements ; his retro fpeft can. therefore, never fail to mfufe that delightful felf-approba ton, which mu ft. attend a confci onfnefs ot owing his elevation to tee unaffiftect energy ol merit: the ternp'eoi his lame riles before him, pd towers to completion, solid in its flrudure and permanent in its .teerkls, his fafeguard against the sTaults of .envy or malice, the work of Ids own hands, the pride and fo fece of his exi (fence, the faireft inheritance of his children. The i|eue of his labors becomes the theatre of his glory j the fullnefs of reward consists, not only in the Unrivalled independence of his cha- in his importance to t,hp tommunity, in the deference paid y*o the aicendency of his genius, but & the C'Xrrcife of his functions, in yiprorr.pt exertion of his powers • grateful to the mind, in thole in iftk&ifal contests, wherein as it appears to me, victory must yield n * 0r £ substantial gratification, than (plendid honors and gorge 15* pageantry of Roman triumph. c au conceive nothing in life pro aftlveofmore fatisfaflion to ra ambition, than the situation Jileh a character, when a great . such as this country has witnefl’ed, fumrnon forth H hie energies of his mind ; when to hold the mirror up to corruption, and (trike her : ; w hlv her own image, in all hotrors of deformity : to flntid j ‘ aged patriotism and exalted aWH,,, S r tV Wlef " ioL ™“'^s ° f judicTal country “h COnftitutio ” of his country he enters on the perfor mance of nis duty with duePprepa ration animated by his sub -1 J e nd conscious of his powers h.s bread expands with the ple.ii! l ire 6 if, h 'r ‘ natter ’ and heaves, he that of the Sybil, with the in ! fpsratK ''” ot the Gods ; when every ! !LV S h -o ed 1,1 lur Pence, every ear I W ‘ th . atte ” tlon every heart i ! a! P itr ‘tmg m utiifon with his feel ings, and prepared to respond with l)e accent * of tongue. Should tie aher a long devotion to the du ties of ms prof JII-m, retire from the turmoil -afcfmhHc, into the re pole of private life, “to enjoy,” as Qumtilhan expresses himfelf in the lait cnapter of his work, “ while yet living, and remote from envy , from r lfe> a presentiment of ttiat leverence which awaits the oead only he abandons the field crowned with the garlands of vic tory ; his retreat is not a flight bu: a triumph ; his house may be con verted into a domeflic tribunal, where the equipoise of justice would be preserved with a steady and im paidal nand, and indigence find counkd free from the insolence of luutmtI uutmt _ ?x T * r rXk ” avarice. not merely palpa ble to the imagination. The flare oi Maryland, but a few years ago, has lecn it completely realifed in the person or one of its members, both in the fpiehdbr of his profef fional career, and the beneficence Pi his retirement. I allude to Da niel Dulany, a name u like the me mory of joys pail, pieafant yet mournful to the fbul?<— a name ne ver pronounced by an inhabitant of Maryland, without that poignancy of regret, and deep sense of venera tion, due to the remembrance of tranfeendent abilities and great vir tues, arid abundant wealth, render ed ininiflerial to the bell interests of humanity, during the term of a long and active life. Nothing is wanting to complete the portrait in the character I am now about to delineate, under the name of Sul pichsy but the laid embelifhment. If ever he should be induced to em brace the counsel of Quintilian, such I do not hesitate to affirm, will be the nature of his retreat. My impreflkns in favor of this gentle man, owe perhaps, fotne portion of their vivacity to the occasion on which I firft witnefled a display of his profeffional excellence. It was a case in which he immediately suc ceeded Scauirus. The contrail was in the highdt degree finking! The transition fu<;h as you would expe rience in passing from the clear but cheerless light communicated by the oblique, wintry rays of the hor izorttal fun, to the vital warmth and exhiiirating influence of toe 4 Regent of day/ when he culmi nates from the equator. I ndt as if fuddeniy from the trackiefs pTSiHb ths unrejoicmg SA-itj RDAY) SEPTEMBER 7, 1805. Wilds anvl icy horrors of Siberia to the j&!e ofTernpe, as itexified m tne Oeatjfic visions of the poets, fanned by the tepid breezes of ipnng, gay with verdure, fragrant WU 1 murmuring with waterfalls. Instead of the awk ward gefiure, the monotonous ca dence, the languid and inanimate, tlO P^® n g an d luminous argu ment of .Bcaurus, my attention was at once ffirefted, and irresistibly ea cnamed, by the attraaions of a commanding and graceful figure, ot an rye flafiiing the true Prome thean fire, of a gefucuiation such as is attiibuted by Cicero to the Ro man Snip id us, i 5 at the time time adapted to the fo* rum jiot to the flags; by the varied *nd harmonious. of a It rung, clear and flexible voice, by the charms of a diction elabo rately corred and fiudicufly ele gant, rapid without obfeurity and iich wiiiiOuL redundant decoration enlivened by gay aliufions, and I fp a * xling with brilliant images, j . I found the eloquence of Sulpi ! cius like the fafeination of the Sy | rens, and that to guard against it, | i squired no less than all theprecau- I tions of Ulyfies. He advanced to his attack on the judgment, under covhrt of.thofe strong prepoflfeffi ons, which elegance of manners, proHjty_nf character* and nnp:imnt_ leis convidion, never fail to create in favor; Q f a fpeaker. His ft rid adherence to tenor of his condud, to the bounds of which a prudent advocate will never overleap, however difficult to be traced, contributed to fortify those prepofleffions, to give grace to his negligence, and even beau ty to his defects. By sedulously avoiding every thing that could in the flighted degree wound either the opinions, feelings,’ or taste of his hearers, and studying at the fame time to conciliate esteem and refped, even when unable to con vince, he rendered them the pro tedars instead of the judges of his cause. With the will thus preocu pied, and the imagination.thus se duced, the defeent to persuasion is easy arid aimoft imperceptible: you are fadnated by a charm, from which you never can nor desire to escape ; you are led captive, by a violence so gentle as both to subdue the wish and overpower the faculty of resistance. These estimable qualities are sup ported by the great objed to which they must all be fuborciinate —a profound and intimate knowledge of every branch of the iaw. He is not merely calculated to play with the foil, but to wield the sword; not merely for the mock contest on the day of parade, but for the wea ther-beaten tent, and the field of battle. The promptitude of his memory enables him to bring for ward without delay, whatever is capable of affording, either to en force or adorn his pofiticn; his authorities are always numerous and forcibly applied, and his acute ness fcaicely inferior to that Oi An- ; Payable half yearly. [Number 237. tonms,jn lei zing the distinguishing or identifying feature of an analo gous case, in streaming decisive day on the great, the rullirur point of similitude, often’ vifibl c s to no other than the microscopic ej e of a lubtle and experienced lawyer. His premises are generally laid w ith admirable add refs ; so comprehen sive and remote, that to difeover their bearing and extent, demands an opponent always on the alert, and whose penetration operates with the purky and eekrity of inftinff : v/lien admitted, or if not op portunely exposed, his conclufiors areykduoizd -with a force and ccn 111.\iity > that roncer their efle£l irre fiftibk. I was {truck with an art, prachced by tills gentleman, in ■>. the coiTunenccmem of his addrefik to tile jury, occaficnally produdiveof feme advantage, but not altogether consonant to the rules preferibed foi an exordium, Ly the ancient rhetoricians. \Vim them the or ator was to advance cautioully and progreftively ; to conciliate the be nevolence of his auditors, by a rna nifeftation of distrust, not indeed in the merits of Ills cause, but in the competency of his own powers; he was ftreiiucufly exhorted never to raise expcclations, w hich the sequel might not enable him to gratify.— The archited was said to be unlkil _ful,yvh o gave a sumptuous entrance t 0 a cabin, orTxriaufted all the rich es oi his art in /ie decoration of his 4 however, sets 11 liardi'iood of aflevc ration ; with a multitude cf points that are all triumphantly to be established, and the mod mag nificent promises, which the nature of his cause often renders it irn pradicable to perform. After an ingenious and elegant display, he reaches his conclusion with many of his points untouched, but not in deed abandoned ; for they are then regularly aflumed as proved, and a jury incapable of retracing the pro gress, or seduced by the bold aifer tiori of the fpeaker, not urTrequent ly receives them in that light. The diferimination and sagacity exercised by Sulpicius, in the ex amination and comparrifon of testi mony, convinced me that he had ferutinized human nature, v\irh the eye of the lynx. There is no part of a lawyer’s duty, in wffich dis tinguished excellence juftifies fucii favorable inferences, i to the ex tent of his general information, or tends so ftrongiy to confirm a ciie rifhed opinion cf melt rhetoricians, that he should leave no region of thedntelle&ual world unexplored. To extract truth from the misrep resentations of ignorance, pallicn, or falfeiiood, to argue from facts to motives, and from motives to fafts, to unfold the latent purposes of the heart, he should be versed in every department of ethics, he ihouki thoroughly understand the springs of aflion, he should he familiar Witn the whole system of probabilities ; he should be acquainted not only with the simple and elemental pal fions, but with all their varieties of