He was the last survivor of those who sate
in the House of Delegates during the eighteenth century; and of the
Convention of 1829, out of 96 members who composed it, he attained to a
greater age than has yet been attained by any member of the body, not
excepting Madison, whom he exceeded by one month and five days, and
surviving all but twenty; and three of that twenty have come here this
day to honor his memory.[10]
Perhaps the best description of his manner at the bar would be to say
that he had no manner at all. In addressing juries, he talked to them, I
am told, ordinarily as he would converse with the same number of men in
society on the merits of the case; and his gestures were those which
might be used without serious remark in animated conversation. His
postures were sometimes negligent enough; he had a contempt for rant,
and hated show and pomp. His voice was pleasant, and of ample compass
for an ordinary court-room, and he never dealt in vociferations; indeed,
his style of argument to the jury, as well as to the bench, would have
been impossible to a boisterous talker.
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