CHAPTER XX.
Delmas, Nestor of Western Bar.
SWAYS JURYMEN BY HIS ELOQUENCE—WAS BRILLIANT AS
A STUDENT—HONORED BY SANTA CLARA ACADEMY—STARTS
POOR, AMASSES A FORTUNE—DELMAS' METHODS—IMPORTANT
CASES HE HAS CONDUCTED.
The supreme moment for the defense came on April 8, when Delphin M. Delmas, the master orator of the Pacific coast bar, arose to address the jury in what proved to be the greatest forensic effort heard in a New York court since the days of Daniel Webster.
Twelve jurymen sat spell-bound under the sway of his eloquence. One wept. A mute, absorbed and sympathetic audience listened—the judge, bending forward, his eyes fixed eagerly on Delmas; the defendant hanging on the words that he hoped would set him free; the wife, the mother, the sister—their faces distorted with the pain of suspense—clutching their chairs, clenching their hands—all the while, rising and falling in waves of emotion, the voice of Delmas echoing a masterful plea for the life of Harry Thaw.
Delmas himself proved little less interesting than his wonderful argument. He first attracted attention in 1856 as a brilliant young student in Santa Clara college in California.
The following sketch of his life was published in the History of the Bench and Bar of California:
