To Me, The True Secret Of His Peculiar Strength
Appeared To Lie In The Possession Of Two Powers Which Rarely Co-Exist
In The Same Mind Extraordinary Subtlety Of Perception And As
Remarkable Simplicity Of Execution.
In the first of these faculties
in the intuitive power of common sense, which is the finest essence of
Experience, whereby it attains 'to something of prophetic strain' he
excelled all his contemporaries except Lord Abinger, with whom it was
more liable to be swayed by prejudice or modified by taste, as it was
adorned with happier graces. The perfection of this faculty was
remarkably exemplified in the fleeting visits he often paid to the
trials of causes which he had left to the conduct of his juniors; a
few words, sometimes a glance, sufficed to convey to his mind the
exact position of complicated affairs, and enabled him to decide what
should be done or avoided; and where the interference of any other
moral advocate would have been dangerous, he often rendered good
service, and, which was more extraordinary, never did harm. So his
unrivalled aptitude for legal reasoning, enabled him to deal with
authorities as he dealt with facts; if unprepared for an argument, he
could find its links in the chaos of an index, and make an imposing
show of learning out of a page of Harrison; and with the aid of the
interruptions of the bench, which he could as dexterously provoke as
parry, could find the right clue and conduct a luminous train of
reasoning to a triumphant close.
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