in constant uncertainty and perplexity-the most painful of all states of mind. But you cannot imagine that this was the case with Lord Mansfield or with Blackstone, who saw through the whole fabric in full daylight in all its proportions and lustre.”

The pleasure with which Wirt entered into a trial of legal strength, after he had "toiled and moiled" in his profession for many years, is thus expressed:

6

"I have some expectation of going to Washington in February to plead a cause. I shall be opposed to the Attorney-General, and perhaps to PINCKNEY. The blood more stirs to wake the lion than to hunt the hare.' I should like to meet them."

To the friend to whom he has so frequently addressed stimulating arguments, Mr. Wirt again writes:

"You must read, sir; you must read and meditate like a Conestoga horse—no disparagement to the horse by the simile. You must read like Jefferson, and speak like Henry. If you ask me how you are to do this, I cannot tell you, but you are nevertheless to do it."

"By the way, there is one thing I had like to have forgotten. One of the most dignified traits in the character of (Patrick) Henry, is the noble decorum with which he debated, and the uniform and marked respect with which he treated his adversaries. I am a little afraid of you in this particular, for you are a wit and a satirist. Take care of this propensity. It will make you enemies, pull

a bee-hive on your head, and cover your forensic path with stings and venom. Let it be universally agreed that you are the most polite, gentlemanly debater at the bar. That, alone, will give you a distinction, and a noble one too; besides, it is a striking index and proper concomitant of first-rate talents.

For two or three years you must read, delve, meditate, study, and make the whole mine of the law your

own.

Let me use the privilege of my age and experience to give you a few hints, which, now that you are beginning the practice, you may find not useless.

1. Adopt a system of life, as to business and exercise; and never deviate from it, except so far as you may be occasionally forced from it by imperious and uncontrollable circumstances.

2. Live in your office; that is, be always in it except at the hours of eating and exercise.

3. Answer all letters as soon as they are received; you know not how many heart-aches it may save you. Then fold neatly, and file away neatly, alphabetically, and by the year, all the letters so received. Let your letters of business be short, and keep copies of them.

4. Put every law paper in its place as soon as received, and let no scrap of paper be seen lying for a moment on your writing-chair or tables.

5. Keep regular accounts of every cent of income and

expenditure, and file your receipts neatly, alphabetically, and by the month, or, at least, by the year.

6. Be patient with your foolish clients, and hear all their tedious circumlocution and repetition with calm and kind attention; cross-examine and sift them until you know all the strength and weakness of their cause, and take notes of it at once, whenever you can do so.

7. File your bills in Chancery at the moment of ordering the suit, and while your client is still with you to correct your statement of his case; also, prepare every declaration the moment the suit is ordered, and have it ready to file.

8. Cultivate a simple style of speaking, so as to be able to inject the strongest thought into the weakest capacity. You will never be a good jury lawyer without this faculty.

9. Never attempt to be grand and magnificent before common tribunals,-and the most you will address are

common.

10. Keep your Latin and Greek, and science, to yourself, and to the very small circle which they may suit. The mean, envious world will never forgive you your knowledge, if you make it too public. It will require the most unceasing urbanity and habitual gentleness of manners, almost to humility, to make your superior attainments tolerable to your associates.

11. Enter with warmth and kindness into the interesting

concerns of others-not with the consciousness of a superior, but with the tenderness and simplicity of an equal.

12. Be never flurried in speaking, but learn to assume the exterior of composure and collectedness, whatever riot and confusion may be within; speak slowly, firmly, distinctly, and make your periods by proper pauses, and a steady, significant look.

You talk of complimenting your adversaries. Take care of your manner of doing this. Let it be humble and sincere, and not as if you thought it was in your power to give them importance by your fiat. These maxims are all sound; practice them, and I will warrant your SUCCESS."

CHAPTER SIXTEENTH.

WIRT AND PINCKNEY

THE long-wished-for contest with Pinckney at length took place. He "had broken a lance" with the legal giant, and had not been crushed in the encounter.

"Pinckney was at this time in the zenith of his fame. He was the chief object of interest in the Supreme Court, and the most prominent subject of popular criticism. No man ever drew forth a larger share of mingled applause and censure."

Nothing could be more diverse than the distinctive characters of the eloquence of Pinckney and of Wirt. On this account, it was difficult for the latter at once to appreciate the talents and skill of the former, which he, subsequently, fully acknowledged. Yet one can perceive, from the following extracts from a letter, written by Wirt after this first encounter, that he felt the weight and the point of that "lance" which he had so ardently longed

to meet.

"I wish I had been trained to industry and method," says Wirt," and whipped out of those lazy and saunter