That he has been the architect of his own elevation
is much to be applauded; and it is equally honourable to the state to
acknowledge, that he is more indebted to his great talents and his legal
knowledge for his present situation than to any personal influence of
great interest{1}: of him it may be justly said, he hath
"A piercing wit quite void of ostentation; high-erected
thoughts seated in a heart of courtesy; an eloquence as sweet
in the uttering, as slow to come to the uttering."
_Sir P. Sidney's Arcadia_.
It was Dick Gradus's good-luck to be opposed to Scarlett in a case of
libel, where the latter was for the defendant. "Of all men else at the
bar, I know of no one whom I so much wish to encounter," said Gradus.
His irritable temper, negligence in reading his briefs, and consummate
ignorance{2} in any thing beyond term-reports, renders him an easy
conquest to a quiet, learned, and comprehensive mind. The two former are
qualifications Gradus possesses in a very superior degree, and he proved
he was in no wise deficient in his opponent's great requisite; I
suppose we must call it confidence; but another phrase would be more
significant. Scarlett is a great tactician; and in defending his client,
never hesitates to take
1 We hear that an allusion in page 359 of this work has
been supposed to relate to a near relative of the respected
Chief Justice: if it bears any similitude, it is the effect
of accident alone; the portrait being drawn for another and
a very different person, as the reference to altitude might
have shown.
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