The life of the Right Honorable John Philpot Curran : late master of the rolls in Ireland

Front matter

'^0^ o V

4 o

« o bV

Chapter I

Mr. Curran's origin — His parents —Early education — Originally intended for the Church — Enters Trinity College — His ardour for the classics — Letter to Mr. Stack — Anecdote of .'Tis Mother — Her Epitaph — While in College fixes on the Bar — Anecdote connected with the change of Profession — ^His character in College — Addicted to Metaphysics — Anecdote on the subject — Verses to Apjohn , . ...... 1

Chapter II

Mr. Curran leaves College — Enters the Middle Temple — Letter to Mr. Weston — Letter to Mr. Keller — His first attempts in Oratory fail — His own account of the failure, and of his first success — A regular attendant at Debating Clubs — Aner:dotes — His Poem on i"'riendship — Dr. Creagh's character of him — Mr. Hudson's predictions and friendshiii — His early manners and habits — Subject to constitutional melanc'aoly — Letters from London — His society in London — Anecdote of his interview with Macklin — His eariy application and attainments — Favorite authors — Early attachment to the Irish peasantry — His marriage — Remarks upon the English Law IT

CHAPTER 111.

Mr, Curran called to the Irish Bar — Dissimilarities between that anf* tte English Bar- Causes of the DifTerence 58

Chapter IV

Mr. Curran's early success at the bar — His contest with Judge Robinson — His defence of a Roman Catholic priest — His duel with Mr. St. Leger — Receives the dying benediction of the priest — Lord Avonmore's friendship—His character of Lord Avonmore — Monks of St. Patrick, and list of the original members — Anecdotes of Lord Avonmore — Mr. Curran's entrance into Parliament 69

Vni ' CONTENTS.

Chapter V

Iho Irish HouoC of Commons, in 17S3— Sketch of the prsrious history of Ireland— Effects of the revolution of 16SS Catholic penal code — System of governing Ireland — Described

j^by Mr. Carran—^lntolerance and degradation of the Irish parliament — Change of system-^Octennial bill^ — American revolution — ILs effects upor Ireland — The Irish volunteers — Described by Mr. Curran — Their nurobers, and inf r<^nce upon public measures — Irish revolution of 17S2 — Mr. Grattf ns public services — Observations upon the subsequent conduct of the Irish parliament 8T

Chapter VI

ifli. BiocG 5 ^i^u of Parliamentary Reform ~l»lr, Curran's contest and duei with Mr. Fitzgjhbon (afterwards Lord Clare) — Speech on Pensions — His professional success — Mode of life — Occasional verses — Visits "rancc — Letters from Dieppe ana Rouen — Anccdo'e — ^Letters from -aria— Anecdote — Letter from Mr. Boyst — Anecdote of Mr. Boyse — Lettsrc from Holland 106

Chapter VII

H s Majesty's illness— Communicated to the House of Commons — Mr. Curran's speech upon the Address— Regency question — Formation of the Irish Whig opposition — Mr. Curran's speech and motion upon the division of the boards of stamps and accounts — Answered by Sir Boyle Roche — Mr. Curran's reply — Correspondence ind duel with Major Hobart— Effects of Lord Clare's enmity — Alderman Howison's case 134

Chapter VIII

State of parties— Trial of Hamilton Rowan— Mr. Curran's fidelity to his party— Rev. William Jackson's Trial, Conviction, and Death— Remarks upon that Trial— Irish Informers — Irish Juries — The it'uence of the times upon Mr. Curran's style of Oratory , 166

Chapter IX

Catholic Emancipation — Mr. Curran moves an address to the Throne for a : inquiry into the state of the poor — Other Parliamentary questions — Mr. Ponsonby's plan of Reform rejected — Secession of Mr. Curran and his friends— Orr's trial— Pinnerty's trial — Finney's Trial— The informer, James O'Brien , 195

CONTENTS. 12^ >

CHi^P

TER1STAIUSHEBI875.

Rebe-Hop cf 1793 — Its causes- Unpopular system of Governmeat — Inflaeace of the

French revolution — Increased ntelllgence in JrelUad-t^ReCorm societie8i-»Uait€>l J

men — Their views and proceedings — Apply for^JJitl to Fraiice-^Aiiecdote of TlifeObald

Wolfe Tone — Numbe/s of the United Irishmen — Condition of the peasantry and conduct

of tlie aristocracy — Measur<.'3 of tlie Government — Public alarm — General insurrectioo , 234

Chapter XII

Trials of M'Cann, Byrno, and Oliver Bond — Reynolds the informer— Lord Edward ''•tzgerald — RL attainder — Jlr. Curran's conduct upon the State Trials — Lord Kilwardcn'a friendship— Lines addressed by Mr. Curran to Lady Charlotte Rawdon — Tlicobald Wolfe Tone— His trial and death 293

Chapter XIII

Effects of the Legislative Union upon Mr. Curran's mind — Speech in Tandy's case— Speech in behalf of Hevey— Allusion in the latter to Mr. Godwin— Mutual friendship of Mr. Curran and Mr. Godwin S18

Chapter XIV

Mr. Curran visits Paris — Letter to his son — Insurrection of 1S03 — Defence of Kirwan — Death of Lord Kilwarden— Intimacy of Mr. Robert Emmettin Mr. Curran's family, and its consequences— Letter from Mr. Emmett to Mr. Curran — Letter from the same to Mr. Richard Curran 838

Chapter XV

Mr. Curran's don^estic aCairs — Forensic efforts — Appointed Master of the Rolls in Ireland — His literary projects — Letter to Mr. M'Nally — Account of a visit to Scotland in a letter to Miss Phil^ot—Letter ;o Mr. Leslie — Letters to Mr. Uetherington 857

Chapter XVI

Mr. Curran is invited to stand for the borough of Newry— Speech to the electors — Letter to Sir J. Swinburne— Lettei on Irish affairs to H. R. H. the Duke of Sussex 89'

a*

X (X)NTENTS.

Chapter XVII

Mr. Curran's health declines— Letters to Mr. Hetherington — Resignation c bis judicial office — Letters from London to Mr. Lube — Letters from Paris to the same— His liist Illness and death . 417

Chapter XVIII

Observations on Mr. Curran's Eloquence — Objections to his Style considered — His habits of preparation for Public Speaking — His Ideas of Popular Eloquence — Fis Pathos— Variety of his powers — His Imagination — Peculiarity of his Images— His use of Ridicule — Propensity to Metaphor — Irish eloquence — Its origin — Mr. Curran's and Burke's eloquence compared . . . ... ..... 466

Chapter XIX

Mr. Curran's skill in cross-examination — His general reading — His conversation— His wit — Manuscript thoughts on various subjects — His manners— Person— Personal peculiarities — Conclusion ,.,>.. 49S

Appendix

Anecdotes of Curran and his friends. ....«• ftlY

LIFE OF

THE

RIGHT HON. JOHN PHILPOT CURRAN.

Chapter I

Mr. Curran's origin — His parents —Early education — Originally intended for the Church — Enters Trinity College, — His ardour for the classics — Letter to Mr. Stacli — Anecdote of his Mother — Her Epitaph — While in Cohege fixes on the Bar — Anecdote connected with the change of Profession — His character in College — Addicted to Metaphysics — Anecdote on the subject — Verses to ApjoLn.

John Philpot Curran was born on the 24th day of July, 1*750, at New^market, an obscure town of the county of Cork, in Ireland.* In several accounts that have been published of his origin and advancement, it has, by a general consent, been asserted that the one was very low and the other unassisted ; that he was the sole architect of his owu fortune, and the sole collector of the materials which were to raise it ; and lovers of the marvellous implicitly believed and repeated the assertion. Let not, however, the admirers of what h rare, be offended at being told, that, no matter how much pr-iise may le due to his personal merit (and the allowance unquestionably should not be scanty), a portion must still be given to the institutions of his country, and to those relatives and friends w^hose industry and protection placed him in a condition of sharing their advantages. It is of far more importance to the intellectual interests of men to diffuse a rational confidence in the

• Newmarket is eight miles distant from the dismantled castle of Kilcolman, wliere Spencer is said to have composed his " Faery Queen." — M.

efficacy of instruction, than idly to excite their wonder, and pt rhaps their despair, by insinuating that there are persons who, by nature, are above it. It is not by hearing that the subject of the following pages was a heaven-taught, unaided genius, that others can be encouraged to emulate his mental excellencies, but by learning the real, and to him no less creditable fact, how he studied and struggled — what models he selected — what deficiencies he corrected — by what steps he ascended ; to tell this is the duty of his biographer, and not to amaze his readers by uninstructive panegyric.

The lowness* of his origin has been much exaggerated. His father, James Curran, wiio has been represeixied as an unlettered peasant, was Seneschal of a manor court at Newmarket.f It is confidently asserted, by those who knew him, that he possessed a mind and acquirements above his station; that he was familiar with the Greek and Roman classics, which he often cited in con-

* When Mr. Curran had risen to eminence, many tables of his pedigree were sent him, all of them varying, and the most of them, he conceived, too flattering to be authentic. Among his papers is the latest of these, tendered to hKo while he was Master of the Rolls, and made out by a resident of his native place. In the paternal line it ascends no higher than his grandfather, who is stated to have been "a north-countryman, of the county Derry, from which, having met with disappointments, he came and settled in the county Cork :" it adds, that " his only son, Mr. Curran's father, was educated at a school in Newmarket, then kept by the Rev. Mr. Dallis, and afterwards by the Rev. Mr. Morduck, by whom he was considered the best Greek and Latin scholar in their school." In the maternal line, it presents a long list of ancestors, among whom are judges, bishops, and noblemen ; but Mr. Curran has marked his incredulity or nis indifference by indorsing this paper with " Stemmata quid faciunt." Some other pedigrees derived his descent from the English family of Curwen in Cumber" and. — C. [O'Regan, who was Curran's contemporary, and long on the most intimate ler-ns vith him, says that the family was " of an English stock, transplanted from one of the northern counties, and encouraged to settle in that part of Ireland, under the protection of ths highly respectable family of the Allworth's, who retain considerable landed er+ates there to the present time, acquired after the fall of the Desmonds." Phillips says, that the paternal ancestor of the Curran family came over to Ireland one of Cromwell's soldiers, " and the most ardent patriot she ever had owed his origin to her most mercu:3« and cruel plunderer !" — M.]

t The emoluments of the office wer* very small. The Aldworth estates at Newmarket (formerly belonging to the Irish family or clan of the McAuliffes) consisted of 82,000 flcres. As Seneschal, James Curran had jurisdiction to the value of forty shilling3; and thus was — a Judge ! — M.

HIS MOTHER. 6

versation; that he delighted in disputation, and excelled in it; and, among his other favorite subjects of discussion, it is still remembered, that, after his son's return from colleg^^, tlie old man was frequentiy to be found in ardent contention wiih him upon the metaphysical doctrines of Locke.'*

His mother, whose maiden name was Philpot, belonged to a family well known and respected, and of which the descendants continue in the class of gentry. She was a woman of a strong original understanding, and of admitted superiority, in the circles where she moved.f In her latter years, the ; 3lebrity of her son rendered her an object of additional attention and scrutiny ; and the favorers of the opinion that talent is hereditar'/, thoui>'ht llie^' could discover, in the bursts of irregular eloquence tijat esca|)Lfi her, the first visil-le g:vshingo of the stream, which, expanding as it descended, at length attained a force and grandeur that incited the admirer to explore its source. This persuasion Mr. Curran himself always fondly cherished — " The only inheritance," he used to say, " that I could boast of from my poor father, was the very scanty one of an unattractive face and person like his own ; and if the world has ever attributed to me something more valuable than face or person, or than eartlily wealth, it was that another and a dearer parent gave lier child a portion from the treasure of her mind." He attributed much of his subsequent fortune to the early influence of such a mother ; and to his latest hour would dwell with gratefid recollection upon the wise counsel, upon the lessons of honourable ambition, and of sober, masculine piety.

* Phillips says, "da James Curran's education was pretty much in the ratio of his Income." ThociU Davis says that Curran's father had learned reading, writing, cyphering, and, U is eaid, some Greek and Latin. — M.

t " s;he was of gentle blood, and what is more to our purpose, she had a deep, fresh, womanly, irregular mind ; it was lilie the clear river [the Avendala] of her town, that came gushing and flashing and discoursing from the lonely mountains — from the outlaw's and the fairy's home — down to the village. She had, under an exalted piefy, a waste of passions and traditions lying grand and gloomy in her soul, and thence, a bright, human love of her son, came pouring out on him, and making him grow green at her feet."— Davis,

4 LLB'E OF CUKiiAX.

whicli she enforced upon the minds of her children. She was not without her reward, she lived to see the dearest of them surpassing every presage, and accumulating public honors upon a name, which she, in her station, had adorned by her virtues.

John Philpot, the eldest of their sous,* having given very early indications of an excellent capacity, the Rev. Nathaniel Boyse, the resident clergyman at Newmarket, pleased with the boy, and moved by regard for his parents, received him into his house, and by his own personal tuition initiated him in the rudiments of classical k-arning. Tliis, his first acquired friend and instructor, had also tlie satisfaction of seeino- all his ciu-e repaid by the rapidity with which its object ascended to distinction, and still moro by the unceasing gratitude with which he ever after remembered the patron of his childhood. Many of this gentleman's letters to liiin, written at a subsequent period, remain ; and it is not unpleasing to observe in them tlie striking revolution that a few years had effected in the fortunes of his pupil. In some of them the little villager, whom he had adopted, is seen exalted into a senator, and is solicited by his former protector to procure the enactment of a statute that might relieve himself and all of the clergy from the vexations of the t}'thelaws.

The rapid progress that he made under the !*:'.structions of Mr. Boyse, and the fond predictions of his pareLt.j, determined them to give their son, what hhs always been a prevailing object of parental ambition in Ireland, a learned education. It was also their wish, which he did not oppose at the time, that he should eventually enter the church. With this view^ he was soon transferred to the free-school of Middleton, upon which occasi'r his generous friend insisted upon resigning a particular ecclesiastical emolument (in value 10^. a year) for the purpose of partly defraying the expenses of his young favorite's studies.f He remained

♦ Mr. Ciirran had three brothers and a sister, all of who i he b'irrived.

t O'Regan says that he was "transplanted" to the school of Middleton, by Mrs.

HIS CHUuDJfCOD.

at this schiool until Le bad attained tlie preparaton' knowledge of the Greek and Latin languages, which should capacitate him to become a student of Trinity (College, Dublin. It may not be un- 'worthy of remark, that the same seminary had, a few years before sent up to th.3 capital the late Lord Avonmore, then commencing his career in circu instances, and with a success so resembling- those of his future friend.*

The early liistory of emineiit pei'sons so generally contains some presaging tokens of the fortune tliat awaits tliem, that something of the kind may be expected here, yet Mr. Curran's childhood, if tradition can be credited, was not marked by much prophetic originality.! At the first little school in the town of Newmarket to which he resorted, previous to his rec-eption into Mr. Boyse's family, he used to say that he was noted for his simplicity, and was incessantly selected as the dupe and butt of his play-fellows. This, however, it would appear that he soon laid aside, for

Aldworth. In mature life, speaking of this lady, Curran said, " It is not to be wondered at, that she does not do all that is expected of her. To be enabled so to do, nature should have supplied her with three hands. It is impossible that, stintedly furnished as she is, she could accomplish the great purposes of her heart; she is not prepared for 80 enlarged a charity. Such in truth is her benevolence, that she would have occasioa for the constant employment of three hands; but having only two, and these always engaged, one in holding the petition of the poor, the other in wiping away the tears which flow for their distresses ; and not having a third to put into her pocket for their relief, she is thus rendered incapable of administering to tlieir wants ; but still she is excellent, and her heart is bountiful." — M.

* Another of Curran's schoolfellows at Middleton, was Jeremiah Keller, subsequently Well known as the witty and sardonic senior of the Munster bar. He presided, says Shell, at their mess, " and ruled in all the autocracy of wit." Yelverton, afterwards Viscount Avonmore, and, for more than twenty-one years, Lord Chief Baron of the Ex.^hequer, in Ireland, was fourteen years older than Curran — which leads me to doubt their having been at school together, though, no doubt, both had been educated by the same master, Mr. Carey. Robert Day, afterwards one of the .Irish Judges, and a friend of Grattan's, is also said to have been Curran's schoolfellow. — M.

t Thomas Davis, who was himself from that part of Ireland, honored by Curran's birth and pupilage, gathered up many recollections of his childood, which had floated down to these later times, on the current of tradition. He reports, from there, that Curran, at school, was "a vehement boy, fonder of fun than books." He describes him as being among the hills and the streams, his father's court, the fairs, markets, and merry-makings, and hiu mother's lap. He learned much passion and sharpness, an^ some vices, too. — M.

C LIFE OF CUKRAJ^.

a puppet-show having arrived in Newmarket, and Punch's prompter being takan suddenly ill, he, then a very little boy, volunteered to perform the sick man's duty, and seizing the opportunity, mercilessly satirized the reigning vices of the neighbours. This is almost the only exploit of his childhood that has been related.

He entered Trinity College as a sizer, in 1T69, being then nineteen years old, an age at AvLieh the students of the present day have, for tJie most part, nearly coiXipleted their college course.* Here he studied the classical writings of antiquity with great ardour, and with eminent success. Nor did his enthusiastic admiration of them ever after subside. Amidst all the distractions of business and ambition, he was all his life returning with fresh delight to their perusal ; and in the last journey that he ever took, Horace and Virgil were his travelling companions. He obtained a scholarship, and that his general scholastic attainments were not inconsiderable, may be inferred from his having commenced a course of reading for a fellowship,! but, deterred by the labor, or diverted by accident, he soon gave ap the project.

When we reflect upon the lusti'e of his future career, it becomes a matter of natural curiosity to inquire how far his mind now began to indicate those qualities, by which it was to be subsequently so distinguished ; and upon this interesting subject there happened to be preserved some docimients, principally a portion of his early correspondence and his first poetical attempts, from which a few occasional exti-acts shall be offered, for the purpose of giving some idea of the wi-iter's juvenile habits and capacity. Whatever may be considered to be their intrinsic merit, several

* Curran entered "Trinity College, Dublin, on the 16th June, 1769. The^ examination is a severe one, but Curran's answering must have been very good, as he obtained the second place at entrance. His Sizarship entitled him to free rooms and commons, at College. — M.

$ O'Regan states that besides acquiring an intimate acquaintance with the Classics, Curran had made considerable advance in science, particularly in metaphysics and morality, while the purest modern classics in the English and French literature, became equally familiar to him. With the Bible he was familiar, and once said, " It would be a reproach not to eximine the merits of a work in which all mankind are so much engaged, and have taken so deep an interest." — M.

LETTER OF ME. STACK. 7

of them were at least written with considerable 3are, and may therefore be introduced as no unfair specimens of the progress of his intellectual strength. To the student of eloquence their defects will not be without instruction, if they inspire him with a reliance upon that labor and cultivation, which alone conduct to excellence.

One of the most intimate friends of Mr. Curran's youth, and of his riper years, was the late Rev. Richard Stack, his contemporary at Trinity College, and since a fellow of that University.* The following is a formal letter of consolation to that gentleman upon the death of a Irother. The writer had just completed his 20th year, and appears to have been so pleased with his performance, that no less than three trfxnscripts of it remain in his own handwriting.

" Dublin, August 20, 1770.

"Dear Dick.

"I am sorry to find by your letter (which I have just now received), that you judge my silence for some tune past with so much more severity than it deserves. Can my friend suspect me of being unconcerned at his sorrows ? I v.ould have wrote to you on hearing from Vincent of his late mi fortune, but that I was unwilling to press a subject upon your thoughts which you should take every means of avoiding. To ofier consolation to a man of sense, upon the first stroke of afiliction, is perhaps one of the most cruel offices that friendship can be betrayed into. All the fine things that can be addressed to the fancy will have but small eflPect in removinof a distemper fixed in the heart. Time and reflection only can cure lh:;t ; and happy is it for us that in this chequered scene, where everything feels perpetual decay, and seems created only for dissolution, our sorrows cannot boast of exemption from the common fate. Time, though he sometimes tears up our happiness bj ihz roots, yet, to make amends for that,

* Mr. Stack wrote a Treatise cj Optics, long a College Text-book. — M.

% LIFE OF CUKKAN.

kindly holds out a remedy for our afflictions; and though he violently breaks our dearest connexions, yet he is continually teaching us to be prepared for the blow. 'Tis true, nature on these occasions will weep, but, my dear Dick, reason and reflection should wipe away these tears. A few years may see us numbered with those whom we now regret, or will give us cause to congratulate those whose happy lot it was, by an early retreat from this scene of misery and disappointment, to escape those troubles which their survivors aie reserved to suffer. 'Tis true, the inattention o{ youth will leave tlie great account more unsettled than might be wished; but at this age, v/e have everything to plead for that (Jefect — the violence of passions, want of reason to moderate them. Faults, no doubt we have, but they are tl^j faults of youth, of inexperience; not a course of wickedness riveted by habit, and aggravated by obdurate perseverance, which (heaven help us) in a icngth of years they may become ; but, above all, that Being who is pleased to call us so suddenly from hence, has mercy and compassion to make allowarce for these involuntary omissions. But I find I have fallen una.vares upon a theme which I had no intention to pursue so far, as I was persuaded your own good sense would suggest much stronger reasons for your consolation than I could.

At the date of this letter, the writer, if he looked forward to ifamc, expected to find it in the pulpit ; but this, and a short religious discourse, are all that remain of his early compositions, which, from the style, would uppear to ba written with a view to his first destination. Mr. Stack, however, entertained so very high an, opinion of his talents for the solemn ei >i|uence of the church, that; being appointed a few years after (1775) to preach before the judges of assize at Cork, and being anxij'us that his matter should be worthy of his auditors, he entreated of his young friend, who was then upon the spot, and going h'bi first circuit, to compose a s^ermon for the occasion. Mr. Curran .complied ; and his produc-

TRIBUTE TO HIS MOTHER. y

tion excited such general admiration, that his mother, in an^^wer to the congratulations of the neighbourhood upon so flattering a proof of her son's abilities, could not avoid tempering her maternal exultation with Christian regret, and exclaiming — " Oh, yes, it was very fine ; but it breaks my heart to think wliat a noble preacher was lost to the church when John disappointed us all, and insisted on becoming a lawyer." All his subsequent success and celebrity at the bar could never completely reconcile her to the change ; and in her latter years, when her fiiends, to gratify and console htr, used to remind her that she had lived to see her favorite child one of the judges of tlie land, she would still reply — "Don't speak to me o^ judges — John was fit for anything; and had he but followed our advice, it might hereafter be written upon my tomb, that I had died the mother of a bishop."

This excellent and pious woman died about the year 1783, at the advanced age of eighty. It is not written upon her tomb that she died the mother of a bishop or of a judge; but there is to be seen upon it an attestation to her worth from the son who was her pride, which, as long as virtue and filial gratitude are preferred to the glare of worldly dignities, will be considered as an epitaph no less honorable both to the parent and the child.^'

It was during the second year of his college studies that he fixed on the profession of the law. In his original intention of taking orders he had been influenced by the wishes of his friends,

• Her remains lie in the churchyard of Newmarket ; over thf^iri W Ihc following epitaph^ wr .ten by Mr. Curran :

HERE LIES THE HODV OF

SARAH C'RRAN.

She was marked by Many Years, Many Talents, Many Virtues, Few Failings, No Crime.

This frail memorial was placed here by a Son Whom she loved. 1* and by the promise of a small living in the gift of a distant relative, and probably still more sti < -ngly by a habitual preference for the calling to which his early patron belonged ; but his ambition soon overrule 1 all these motives, and he selected the bar as more suited to Irife tonip'jrameijt and talents. According to his own account, it was the following incident that suggested the fii'st idea of a change in his destination.

He had committed some breach of the college regulations, for which he was sentenced by the Censor, Dr. Patrick Duigenan, either to pay a fine of five shillings, or translate into Latin a number of the Spectator. He found it more convenient to accept the latter alternative ; but, on the appointed day, the exercise was not ready, and some unsatisfactoiy excuse was assigned. Against the second oftence a heavier penalty was denounced— he was con demned to pronounce a Latin oration in laudem decori from the pulpit in the college chapel. He no longer thought of evading his sentence, and accordingly prepared the panegyric ; but when he came to recite it, he had not proceeded far before it was found to contain a mork model of ideal perfection, which the Doctor instantly recognized to be a glaring satire upon himself. As soon, therefore, as the young orator had c<-»ncluded, and descended from his station, he was summoned before the Provost and Fellows to account for his behaviour. Doctor Duigenan was not very popular, and the Provost was secietiy not displeased at any circumstance that could mortify him. He, therefore, merely went through the fonn ')f calling u2:)on the offender for an explanation, and listening with indulgence to the ingenuity with which he attempted to soften down the libel, dismissed him with a slight reproof. When Mr. Curran returned among his companions, they surrounded him to hear the particulars of his acquittal. He reported to them all that he had said, "and all that he had not said, but that he might have said ;" and impressed them with so high an idea of his legal dexterity that they declared, by common acclamition, that the bar, and the bar alone, was the proper pro-