I have now before me, in his own handwriting, some verses written by him in 1833, entitled, "Advice to a Young Lawyer." As they cannot fail to be read with interest, I introduce them here. "Whene'er you speak, remember every cause Stands not on eloquence, but stands on laws; Pregnant in matter, in expression brief, Let every sentence stand with bold relief; On trifling points nor time nor talents waste, A sad offence to learning and to taste; Nor deal with pompous phrase, nor e'er suppose Poetic flights belong to reasoning prose. Loose declamation may deceive the crowd, And seem more striking as it grows more loud; But sober sense rejects it with disdain, As naught but empty noise, and weak as vain. The froth of words, the schoolboy's vain parade Of books and cases (all his stock in trade). The pert conceits, the cunning tricks and play Of low attorneys, strung in long array, The unseemly jest, the petulant reply, That chatters on, and cares not how nor why, Studious, avoid: unworthy themes to scan, They sink the speaker and disgrace the man; Like the false lights by flying shadows cast, Scarce seen when present, and forgot when past. "Begin with dignity; expound with grace Each ground of reasoning in its time and place; Let order reign throughout; each topic touch, Nor urge its power too little or too much; Give each strong thought its most attractive view, In diction clear, and yet severely true; And as the arguments in splendor grow, Let each reflect its light on all below. When to the close arrived, make no delays By petty flourishes or verbal plays, But sum the whole in one deep, solemn strain, Like a strong current hastening to the main."