LIFE     OF     JUDGE     SMITH.  81

more  active  part  than  at  any  time  before.  Those  of
his  speeches'  that  I  have  seen,  are,  what  they  purport
to  be,  discussions,  in  which  facts  and  principles  are
brought  to  bear,  with  great  force,  on  particular  subjects,
under  particular  circumstances,  and  generally  with
reference  to  particular  men.  They  are  remarkable
for  the  skill  with  which  everything  adventitious  is  set
aside,  and  the  subject  held  up  in  its  naked  simplicity.
With  most  of  them  the  interest,  when  they  were  de-
livered, must  have  been  greatly  increased  by  the
good-humored,  but  sometimes  exceedingly  severe  per-
sonal thrusts,  dealt,  as  it  were,  in  sport,  while,  with-
out turning  to  the  right  hand  or  to  the  left,  the
speaker  goes  steadily  forward  to  the  complete  eluci-
dation of  the  subject.  Their  merit,  like  that  of  a
judicial  decision,  consists  in  the  force  of  the  whole  ;
parts  cannot  be  given  as  samples  ;  and,  unlike  a  legal
opinion,  they  are  to  be  viewed  not  only  with  refer-
ence to  the  exact  nature  and  bearings  of  the  question,
and  the  facts  connected  with  it,  but  with  a  full  un-
derstanding of  the  position  of  individuals,  and  the  cir-
cumstances connected  with  each  particular  stage  of
the  discussion.  In  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  Mr.
Smith  himself  attached  little  value  to  them.  But  in
them  he  showed  himself  a  skilful  debater,  and  an
able  defender  of  Washington's  administration.
