gnoring
the other half; but warned the court at the same time

"That a lie which is half a truth, is ever the blackest of lies,
That a lie which is all a lie may be met and fought with outright;
But a lie which is part a truth, is a harder matter to fight."

Then he reviewed in turn the speeches of the counsel for the
plaintiff--first that of Wiseman, the ponderous law-expounder, which
he answered with quite as much law and a great deal more equity;
secondly, that of Berners, the tear-pumper, the false sentiment of
which he exposed and criticised; and thirdly that of Vivian, the
laugh-provoker, with which he dealt the most severely of all, saying
that one who could turn into jest the most sacred affections and most
serious troubles of domestic life, the heart's tragedy, the household
wreck before them, could be capable of telling funny stories at his
father's funeral, uttering good jokes over his mother's coffin.

He spoke for two hours, warming, glowing, rising with his subject, until
his very form seemed to dilate in grandeur, and his face grew radiant as
the face of an archangel; and those who heard seemed to think that his
lips like those of the prophet of old had been touched with fire from
heaven. Under the inspiration of the hour, he spoke truths new and
startling then, but which have since resounded through the senate
chambers of the world, changing the laws of the nations in regard to
woman.

Nora, do you see your son? Oh, was it not well worth while to have
loved, suffered, and died, only to have given him to the world!

It was a complete success. All his long, patient, painful years of
struggle were rewarded now. It was one splendid leap from obscurity to
fame.

The giants attempted to answer him, but it was of no use. After the
freshness, the fire, the force, the heart, soul, and life in Ishmael's
utterances, their old, familiar, well-worn styles, in which the same
arguments, pathos, wit that had done duty in so many other cases was
paraded again, only bored their hearers. In vain Wiseman appealed to
reason; Berners to feeling; and Vivian to humor; they would not do: the
court had often heard all that before, and grown heartily tired of it.
Wiseman's wisdom was found to be foolishness; Berner's pathos laughable;
and Vivian's humor grievous.

The triumvirate of the Washington bar were dethroned, and Prince Ishmael
reigned in their stead.

A few hours later the decision of the court was made