79 LETTER XXXVI. TO THE SAME. FAR inferior to Mr Cockburn, or to any of the three gentlemen I first described, as a speaker,but far above Mr Cockburn, and far above Mr Jeffrey, as a lawyer, is Mr James Moncrieff, without all doubt at this moment the most rising man at the Scottish Bar. This gentleman is son to Sir Henry Moncrieff, a well-known leader of the Scottish Church, of whom I shall, perhaps, have occasion to speak at length hereafter. He has a countenance full of the expression of quicksightedness and logical power, and his voice and manner of delivering himself, are such as to add much to this the natural language of his countenance. He speaks in a firm, harsh tone, and his phraseology aspires to no merit beyond that of closeness and precision. And yet, although entirely without display of imagination, and al though apparently scornful to excess of every merely ornamental part of the rhetorical art, it is singular that Mr Moncrieff should be not only a fervid and animated speaker, but infinitely more keen and fervid throughout the whole tenor of his discourse, and more given to assist his words by violence of gesture, than any of the more imaginative speakers whom I have already endeavoured to describe. When he addresses a jury, he does not seem ever to think of attacking their feelings; but he is determined and resolved, that he will omit no exertion which may enable him to get the command over their reason. He plants himself before them in an attitude of open defiance; he takes it for granted that they are against him; and he must, and will, subdue them to his power. Wherever there is room to lay a finger, he fixes a grappling-iron, and continues to tear and tug at every thing that opposes him, till the most stubborn and obstinate incredulity is glad to purchase repose by assenting to all he demands. It cannot be said, that there is much pleasure to be had from listening to this pleader; but it is always an inspiriting thing to witness the exertion of great energies, and no man who is fond of excitement will complain of his entertainment. His choleric demeanour gives a zest to the dryness of the discussions in which he is commonly to be found engaged. His unmusical voice has so much nerve and vigour in its discords, that after hearing it on several occasions, I began to relish the grating effect it produces upon the tympanum-as a child gets fond of pepper-corns, after two or three burnings of its mouth. And as acquired tastes are usually more strong than natural ones, I am not disposed to wonder that Mr Moncrieff should have some admirers among the constant attendants upon the Scottish courts, who think him by far the most agreeable speaker of all that address them. They may say of him, as my friend Charles Lloyd says of tobacco, "Roses-violets-but toys For the smaller sort of boys- It is not, however, as a speaker, that Mr Moncrieff has his greatest game before him. Mr Clerk has past his grand climacteric; and unless universal rumour say falsely, Mr Cranstoun is about to retire. There is no question, that whenever either of these leaders is removed, his baton of command must come into the strenuous grasp of Mr Moncrieff. Already he is a great and profound lawyer, so far as knowledge is concerned, and the natural energy of his intellect will by every-day's practice increase its power of throwing new light upon what is known to himself and to others. Moreover, in these Scottish Courts, a very great proportion of the most important pleadings are carried on in writing,-a department in which Mr Moncrieff has few rivals at present, and in all probability will ere long have none. For it is not to be supposed, that either Mr Jeffrey or Mr Cockburn, or any other barrister who possesses the more popular and fascinating kinds of elocution, will ever chuse to interfere, to any considerable extent, with a style of practice so much more laborious. It is quite evident, that Mr Moncrieff is within sight of the very summit of his profession; and it does not seem as if there were any one lower down the hill, who might be likely, by any bold and sudden movement, to reach the post of honour before him. Another speaker of considerable note is Mr Murray, the same gentleman of whom I spoke as presiding at the Burns's Dinner last month. This barrister is in some respects so very near the point of excellence, that the first time one hears him, one cannot help wondering that he should not be more talked of than he is. Of all his brother advocates, with the single exception of Mr Cranstoun, he has the most courtly presence and demeanour. His features are good, although not striking; his smile has something very agreeable in it; and his gestures are as elegant as Mr Cranstoun's, and infinitely more easy. When he gets upon a sarcastic key, he keeps dallying with it in a very light, loving, and graceful manner, and is altogether very much calculated for delighting any popular audience in an ordinary case. As pleasantry, however, is his chief forte, it cannot be expected that he should attain through that alone to the first-rate eminence of favour and reputation, so long as he has to enter the lists with the far more pure and classical wit of Mr Cranstoun, the more copious and brilliant wit of Mr Jeffrey, and the more effectual, irresistible, sheer humour of Mr Clerk or Mr Cockburn. As for pathos, I hope he will never attempt it; if he does adventure upon such an Icarian flight, it will certainly be, like his prototype, mox daturus nomina ponto. These are all that are ever in the present time talked of as great speakers at the Scottish Bar. At whatever corner of the Parliament-House |