He had made his mark, and whatever he said carried weight.

When he came at last to make his speech for the defence, men and women listened with bated breath.

It was one of the greatest speeches that the Criminal Court had ever heard.
He flung into it the whole weight of his personality.

He grappled like a giant with the rooted obstacles that strewed his path, flinging them hither and thither by sheer force of will.

His scorching eloquence blasted every opposing power, consumed every tangle of adverse evidence.
It was as if he fought a pitched battle for himself alone.