truly eloquent man, who pleads a cause with elegance, order, strength, and yet with modesty, and with a manner that carries conviction of his sincerity, will have all the advantage; and he who fails as a speaker will often fail in doing justice to his client.

6. The ancients, whom the moderns have wisely copied, dwell at length upon the proper management of the pleadings in a criminal case when it comes to trial. They advise that the prosecutor should first clearly define and explain the nature of the charge or accusation; that he should next consider the motives that may have led to the crime,—such as avarice, an old grudge, resentment of an injury, or a desire of revenge; that he should, in the third place, consider if the accused could have committed the deed—that is, if the place, the time, and the circumstances were favorable to it; and, fourthly, that he should weigh well all the circumstances and bearings of the evidence, and see if they be such as to fix upon the accused positively, or beyond a rational doubt, the commission of the crime. From such topics the prosecutor takes his arguments; and from a large circle of facts and probabilities brings every thing to bear upon the one point, conviction, according to the law and the testimony, which are the square and the compass by which his pleadings are measured.

7. The business of the defending attorney is to invalidate the positions and arguments of the prosecutor, and thus refute the charge brought against his client. He therefore endeavors to show that the alleged motives were wanting, or so weak as to merit very little regard: he perhaps endeavors to prove that his client had neither the opportunity nor the ability to commit the deed,-that neither the place nor the time was suitable, or that the accused was in another place when the deed was committed. In like manner he will endeavor to explain away the circumstances, if they can not be directly denied; or he may attribute them to other causes; or he may charge the crime upon some other person; and, finally, he may caution against conviction upon doubtful, unreliable, or false testimony.

8. In civil cases, the chief subjects of controversy are writ

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ten laws', wills', contracts', and other legal documents'; and here the field is still wider than in the department of criminal law. Inquiries into the true meaning and proper application of either statutory or common law`; the resolving of ambiguities in wills and contracts'; the reconciling or explaining of conflicting judicial decisions, and of disagreements between the words and supposed intentions of parties'; and inferences to be drawn from the general spirit of the law', will ever continue to be fruitful topics of litigation', and keep open the broadest arena for the display of genius', learning', and eloquence', on the part of those who make the law their profession.

9. When, in either civil or criminal cases, the pleader comes to set forth the arguments employed by his adversary in order to refute them, he should be on his guard not to do them injustice by disguising them, or placing them in a false light. Deceit in this matter, as it will not fail to be discovered, will tend to impress judge and jury with distrust of the speaker's discernment or fairness; whereas, when they see that he states with accuracy and candor the arguments of his adversary, they are naturally led to think that he has a clear and full conception of all that can be said on both sides of the case, and entire confidence in the goodness of his own cause.

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10. It was a peculiarity of the English orator, Mr. Fox, that he always did full justice to his opponent, and abated nothing from the force with which he had stated his case. "The moment of his grandeur," says Mr. Butler, was when, after he had stated the argument of his adversary with much greater strength than his adversary had done, and with much greater than any of his hearers had thought possible, he seized it with the strength of a giant, tore it in pieces, and trampled on it to destruction."

11. While a degree of warmth is always appropriate, inasmuch as the advocate stands in the place of his client, yet he should beware of engaging with equal, and, consequently, frequently assumed zeal, in every cause intrusted to him. There is a dignity of character which it is of the utmost importance for him to maintain'; for there is no instrument

of persuasion more powerful with judge and jury than their favorable opinion of the probity and honor of him who pleads a case before them.

12. Hence the lawyer who prizes, as he should, all legitimate means of permanent success in his profession, will always decline, both on moral grounds and from motives of policy, to embark in causes that are odious and manifestly unjust; and, when he supports a doubtful cause, he will lay the chief stress upon such arguments as appear to his own judgment the most tenable, reserving his zeal and his indignation for cases where injustice and iniquity are flagrant.

13. In conclusion we may remark, that the very widest field is open to the honest advocate for the study of human nature', for the analysis of character', for tracing effects to their causes', for aiding the oppressed', and for enforcing the claims of justice,.. Of all the liberal professions, none gives fairer play to genius and abilities than that of the advocate. He is far less exposed than the politician to suffer by the arts of rivalry, or popular prejudice, or secret intrigue. His subjects are always new; he is sure of coming forward according to his merit; he enters the lists boldly with his competitors; and every appearance which he makes is an appeal to the public, whose decision seldom fails of being just, because it is impartial. His success is in his own hands; and he may rest assured that the multitude of clients will never fail to resort to him who gives the most approved specimens of his knowledge, his eloquence, his tact, his industry, and his integrity.

LESSON CXX.

THE ISSUE BETWEEN PARTIES AT LAW, AND THE MANAGEMENT OF A CASE.

1. In all suits at law there must be what is called an issue between the parties, which arises from a charge, accusation, or claim, on the one side, and its denial on the other; and the issue, or point in dispute, is naturally reached as soon as the charge of the plaintiff has been answered by the de

fendant. The burden of proof may rest with either party, according to the nature of the case.

2. Thus, in that celebrated case in which Cicero is supposed to have delivered his beautiful and happily-arranged oration in defense of Milo, who is accused of killing Clodius, the plea of Milo, in answer to the charge, is, I killed him; but the killing was in self-defense, and hence justifiable in the eyes of the law.

3. Here the accused, admitting the deed, declares the killing justifiable, which the other party denies; and this declaration on the one side, and denial on the other, constitute the issue which is to be tried at law; and, in this case, as the burden of proof is thrown upon the defense, it is the business of Cicero to demonstrate the lawfulness of Milo's action.

4. But, besides the main question in dispute, there are often many subordinate ones, which are brought in, on the one side or on the other, to contribute toward its elucidation; and these, also, are often made matters of issue between the parties. Thus Milo says, I killed Clodius because he attempted to assassinate me; and this is met by a denial.

5. Often circumstantial evidence, in the absence of direct testimony, has to be weighed. The witnesses on which parties rely are to be produced; their admissibility is perhaps to be argued before the court; and, after they have been examined and cross-examined, the credibility of their testimony is to be weighed by judge and jury, in the light of the character which the witnesses sustain for truth and veracity, their personal interest in the case, and their friendship or enmity toward the parties. And, finally, in criminal cases, as in that against Milo for the killing of Clodius, the characters of the two principal parties naturally come up for investigation; and we find that Cicero uses all the embellishments of oratory to set forth the virtues of his client on the one hand, and to contrast with them the gross vices which stained the character of Clodius.

6. It is of the greatest importance to the advocate that, in all his arguments, and episodes, and embellishments, he

This oration, as we now have it, was written out by Cicero after the trial.

keep clearly in view the main question in dispute, that he may make every thing bear to that end; otherwise he will be very liable to wander from the point, and bewilder both himself and his hearers. And no less important is this clearness of perception and discrimination to judge and jury, who sometimes find it no easy matter, amid the multitude of arguments and agreeable digressions of a skillful advocate, to separate that which is offered in proof from that which is only brought in for illustration.

LESSON CXXI.

THE TRIAL OF ROBERT EMMET.

[In the month of September, 1803, Robert Emmet, then only twenty-three years of age, was brought to trial in the city of Dublin on a charge of high treason, for plotting and instigating a rebellion against the British government. He was found guilty of taking an active part in an attack upon the castle and arsenals of Dublin, and was condemned, and executed for the crime.

We give, first, the closing part of the speech of the Attorney General in the case, which is admirable for the just and noble sentiments which it conveys.]

FROM THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S SPEECH.

1. Gentlemen of the Jury:—If I have said any thing to incite within you an additional indignation against the crime of treason, I am not sorry for having done so; but I do not mean, in expressing my horror of the crime, to prejudice you against the criminal. On the contrary, in proportion to the enormity of the crime, should the presumption be that he has not committed it.

2. I must also request, if you have heard, before this day, any thing unfavorable to the prisoner, that you will endeavor to forget it. Popular rumor should be entirely forgotten; that which may have been matter of idle conversation should not work against the prisoner at the awful moment of trial. In the weighing of evidence, every former feeling of your minds against the prisoner must be forgot ten; and you must give him the full benefit of any defense which he may make, and dispassionately consider the nature of his vindication. You have the life of a fellow-subject in your hands, and, by the peculiar benignity of our