He hears and reads the
other side. He discusses with friends and antagonists. He
feels the responsibility of his vote. He expects to have
to justify it himself. Even the juryman hears the sober
statement of the Judge, and talks the case over with his
associates of the panel in the quiet seclusion of the jury-room.
The Judge himself must state the reasons for his opinions,
which are to be read by a learned and critical profession and
by posterity. The speaker's argument must be sounded, and
rung, and tested, and tried again and again, before the auditor
acts upon it. Our people hear some great orators as they
witness a play. The delight of taste, even intellectual
gratification, caused by what is well said, is one thing.
Conviction is quite another. The printing-press and the reporter,
the consultation in the jury-room, the reflection in the Judge's
chamber, the delay of the election to a day long after the
speech, are protections against the mischief of mere oratory,
which the ancients did not enjoy.
I heard a debate in the House of Commons in 1860, on the
paper duties, in which Lord John Russell, Palmerston, Gladstone,
and John Bright took part.
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