Note 343 — Chapter III
Reading edition
Mrs. Samuel Harrison Smith to Mrs. Kirkpatrick, March 13, 1814, First Forty Years of Washington Society: Hunt, 96.
Pinkney especially would become eloquent, even in an argument of dry, commercial law, if women entered the court-room. "There were ladies present—and Pinkney was expected to be eloquent at all events. So, the mode he adopted was to get into his tragical tone in discussing the construction of an act of Congress. Closing his speech in this solemn tone he took his seat, saying to me, with a smile—'that will do for the ladies.'" (Wirt to Gilmer, April 1, 1816, Kennedy, i, 404.)
The presence of women affected others no less than Pinkney. "Webster, Wirt, Taney ... and Emmet, are the combatants, and a bevy of ladies are the promised and brilliant distributors of the prizes," writes Story of an argument in the Supreme Court many years later. (Story to Fay, March 8, 1826, Story, i, 493.)