Erskine Was Never
More Decidedly At The Head Of The Common Law Bar Than Follett;
Compared With Follett He Was
Insignificant in the house of commons;
his career was chequered by vanities and weaknesses from which that of
Follett was
Free; and yet even if he had not been associated with the
greatest constitutional questions of his time and their triumphant
solution, his fame would live by the mere force and beauty of his
forensic eloquence as long as our language. But no collection of the
speeches of Follett has been made; none will ever be attempted; no
speech he delivered is read, except perchance as part of an
interesting trial, and essential to its story, and then the language
is felt to be poor, the cadences without music, and the composition
vapid and spiritless; although, if studied with a view to the secrets
of forensic success, with a 'learned spirit of human dealing,' in
connexion with the facts developed and the difficulties encountered,
will supply abundant materials for admiration of that unerring skill
which induced the repetition of fortunate topics, the dexterous
suppression of the most stubborn things when capable of oblivion, and
the light evasive touch with which the speaker fulfilled his promise
of not forgetting others which could not be passed over, but which, if
deeply considered, might he fatal. If, however, there was no principle
of duration in his forensic achievements, there can be doubt of the
esteem in which they were held or the eagerness with which they were
sought. His supremacy in the minds of clients was more like the rage
of a passion for a youthful Roscius or an extraordinary preacher, than
the result of deliberate consideration; and yet it prevailed, in
questions not of an evening's amusement, but of penury or riches,
honor or shame. Suitors were content, not only to make large
sacrifices for the assured advantage of his advocacy, but for the bare
chance the distant hope of having some little part (like that
which Phormio desires to retain in Thais) of his faculties, with the
certainty of preventing their opposition. There was no just ground, in
his case, for the complaint that he received large fees for services
he did not render; for the chances were understood by those who
adventured in his lottery; in which after all there were comparatively
few blanks. His name was 'a tower of strength,' which it was
delightful to know that the adverse faction wanted, and which inspired
confidence even on the back of the brief of his forsaken junior, who
bore the burden and heat of the day for a fifth of the fee which
secured that name. Will posterity ask what were the powers thus
sought, thus prized, thus rewarded, and thus transient? They will be
truly told that he was endowed, in a remarkable degree, with some
moral qualities which smoothed his course and charmed away opposition,
and with some physical advantages which happily set off his
intellectual gifts; that he was blessed with a temper at once gentle
and even; with a gracious manner and a social temperament; that he was
without jealousy of the solid or showy talents of others, and
willingly gave them the amplest meed of praise; that he spoke with all
the grace of modesty, yet with the assurance of perfect mastery over
his subject, his powers, and his audience; and yet they will scarcely
recognise in these excellencies sufficient reasons for his
extraordinary success.
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