During the time he had been there his constant employment had been a study of the House and of its individual members, as well as of the general character and influence of the speeches.

His shrewdness showed him the shallows, the currents, and the reefs.

Day after day he saw a great many promising plans, like full-sailed ships, ground upon the flats of dullness, strike rocks of prejudice, or whirl in the currents of crudity, until they broke up and went down out of sight.
He rose, and his first words arrested attention.

He treated the House with consummate art, as he might have treated a woman whom he wished to persuade.

The House was favorably inclined before.