e he was unconscious
of them; and he was calm because he was not thinking of himself or of
the figure he was making, but of his client and her cause. He did not
care to impress the crowd, he only wished to affect the court. So little
did he think of the spectators in the room, that he did not observe that
Judge Merlin, Claudia, and Beatrice were among them, seated in a
distant corner--Judge Merlin and Claudia were watching him with
curiosity, and Bee with the most affectionate anxiety. His attention was
confined to the judges, the counsel, his client, and the memoranda in
his hand. He had a strong confidence in the justice of his cause;
perfect faith in the providence of God; and sanguine hopes of success.

True, he had arrayed against him an almost overpowering force: the
husband of his client, and the three great guns of the bar--Wiseman,
Berners, and Vivian, with law, custom, and precedent. But with him stood
the angels of Justice and Mercy, invisible, but mighty; and, over all,
the Omnipotent God, unseen, but all-seeing!

Ishmael possessed the minor advantages of youth, manly beauty, a
commanding presence, a gracious smile, and a sweet, deep, sonorous
voice. He was besides a new orator among them, with a fresh original
style.

He was no paid attorney; it was not his pocket that was interested, but
his sympathies; his whole heart and soul were in the cause that he had
embraced, and he brought to bear upon it all the genius of his powerful
mind.

I would like to give you the whole of this great speech that woke up the
Washington court from its state of semi-somnolency and roused it to the
sense of the unjust and cruel things it sometimes did when talking in
its sleep. But I have only time and space to glance at some of its
points; and if anyone wishes to see more of it, it may be found in the
published works of the great jurist and orator.

He began to speak with modest confidence and in clear, concise, and
earnest terms. He said that the court had heard from the learned counsel
that had preceded him a great deal of law, sentiment, and wit. From him
they should now hear of justice, mercy, and truth!

He reverted to the story of the woman's wrongs, sufferings, and
struggles, continued through many years; he spoke of her love,
patience, and forbearance under the severest trials; he dwelt upon the
prolonged absence of her husband, prolonged through so many weary
years, and the false position of the forsaken wife,