t rumors concerning the death of Pinkney in connexion with the
case, ventured to ask Mr. Tazewell about the truth of the matter. He
instantly said that it was all a fiction,--that Pinkney, who was of a
full temperament, died of an inflammatory disease (as we all know from
his life by Wheaton); that there were no extremely difficult points in
the case, and that, if there had been, Pinkney feared the face of no man
living. Of Mr. Tazewell, intellectually and physically as he appeared at
this time, an eloquent likeness is presented in the sketch of Francis
Walker Gilmer.[5]

Tazewell had argued the Cochineal case in Norfolk and in Richmond
before it reached the Supreme Court, and had exhibited such an abounding
wealth of argument, it was believed that his last speech would be a mere
reflection of its predecessors in the cause; but he was as wary as he
was able; and, knowing from the magnitude of the case it would be
carried up, and would be maintained by the greatest legal talents of the
age, he wisely reserved some of his strongest points for the court of
the last resort. When General Taylor, who went up to hear the final
argument, returned to Norfolk, he told the bar, that to his surprise
Tazewell had taken six new points in the case.

When M. Chacon, the Spanish Consul, called on Mr. Tazewell to engage him
in behalf of the Spanish claimants, he was informed that he would
undertake it in all the other points, if those connected with the then
recent treaty with Spain, under which he had been appointed a
commissioner by Monroe, were assigned to other counsel; and he suggested
the name of Webster. He ever held the abilities of Mr. Webster in the
highest respect; and when asked, on reaching Norfolk after the argument,
what he thought of Webster, who was then, comparatively, a young man, he
said he was excessively clever, but a lazy dog.

We now approach an epoch in the history of parties which materially
involves the consistency of Mr. Tazewell as a politician. Although he
had not been in public life since his withdrawal from Congress, he held
no unimportant place in popular estimation. His course in the House of
Delegates during four troublous years, and in the House of
Representatives where he had taken an active and fearless part in the
fierce strife for the election of a President, had commended him to the
affections of that majority which has ruled the politics of Virginia
since the adoption of the present federal con