Part 2 (1/2)

Mr Pinkney's ree poetical; it sometimes wantons in the luxuriance of its own creations; but these creations never violate the purity of classical taste and elegance He {362} loves to paint when there is no occasion to reason; and addresses the ihtened I speak of Mr Pinkney at present as a forensic orator His career was too short to afford an opportunity of judging of his parliaht have failed in a field in which it was anticipated he would excel, or, at least, retain his usual pre-eer resemblance to Burke than to Pitt; but, in some particulars, he unites the excellences of both He has the fancy and erudition of the former, and the point, rapidity, and elocution of the latter Co enuity of Calhoun; but, as a rhetorician, he surpasses both In his action, Mr

Pinkney has, unfortunately, acquired a manner, borrowed, no doubt, from soant It consists in raising one leg on a bench or chair before hiht arth in front This action is unifores in the randest burst of iood, has been disciplined to modulation by art; and, if it is not always musical, it is {363} never very harsh or offensive Such is Mr Pinkney as an orator; as a diplomatist but little can be said that will add to his reputation In his official notes there is too ance of composition It is but seldom that the orator possesses the requisites of the writer; and the fah the pen As a writer he is inferior to the present Attorney-General,[120]

who unites the powers of both in a high degree, and thus in his own person illustrates the position which he has laid down, as to the universality of genius

Mr R King is a senator from the State of New York, and was formerly the resident minister at the court of St Jae, above the middle size, and somewhat inclined to corpulency His countenance, when serious and thoughtful, possesses a great deal of austerity and rigour; but at otherhis friends he is facetious and easy; but ith strangers, reserved and distant; apparently indisposed to conversation, and inclined to taciturnity; but when called out, his colloquial powers are of no ordinary character, and his conversation beco, and huh long in public life, his attention {364} has not been exclusively devoted to the political sciences; for his information on other subjects is equally matured and extensive His resources are numerous and multiplied, and can easily be called into operation In his parliamentary addresses he always displays a deep and intie of the subject under discussion, and never fails to edify and instruct if he ceases to delight He has read history to becoratification it affords He applies the experience of ages, which the historical overne hich his islator he is, perhaps, inferior to no man in this country The faculty of close and accurate observation by which he is distinguished has enabled him to remark and treasure up every fact of political ianization of the Aer, is often surprised at the minuteness of his historical details, and the facility hich they are applied With the various subjects immediately connected with politics, he has th of his memory, and the extent of his information, that the accuracy of his state, however, is sos soment cannot sanction When parties existed in this country, he belonged to, and was considered to be the leader of as denominated the federal phalanx; and he has often, perhaps, been induced, fro, and the violence of party animosity, to countenance measures that must have wounded his moral sensibilities; and that nohen reason is suffered to dictate, cannot but be deeply regretted From a rapid survey of his political and parliamentary career, it would appear that the fury of party has betrayed him into the expression of sentiments, and the support ofto his feelings; but whatever he ed with, his intentions, at least, were pure, and his exertions, as he conceived, calculated for the public good He was indeed _cried down_ by a class of ereat a sway in the political transactions of the United States; and though, unquestionably, an ornaiven him birth, his countrymen, averse to him from party considerations, joined in the cry, and he became a victim, perhaps, to the duty he owed, and the love he bore to his country Prejudice, however, does not always continue, and the Aood sense which for justly to appreciate those {366} virtues and talents, they once soorous, proination, or is unwilling to employ a faculty that he conceives only calculated to flatter and delight His object is more to convince and persuade, by the force of reason, than to as of fancy His style of eloquence is plain, but bold and ence; neither i and persuasive His mind, like that of Fox, is historical; it embraces consequences the most distant with rapidity and ease Facts for Without these his analysis is defective, and his coic is not artificial, but natural: he abandons its forures, to weaker minds, and adheres to the substantials of natural reason Of Mr King'sfroe, as h to enablealleged against it calculated to lessen his reputation as an honourable statesman, or a virtuousof pride and hauteur in his manner, {367} offensive to the spirit of republicanism, and inconsistent with the nature of equality; but, as a father, husband, and friend, I have not yet heard hied with any dereliction of duty, or any violation of those principles which tend to harmonize society, and to unite man toper, in order to submit to your inspection an imperfect likeness of another member of the same body This is not the country to look for the blazonry and trappings of ancestry; merit alone claims and receives distinction; and none but the fool or the simpleton, ever pretends to boast of his ancestry and noble blood, or to offer it as a claim to respect or preferment The people alone form the tribunal to which every aspirant for fahtened and too independent to favour insignificance, though surrounded by the splendour of wealth, or to countenance stupidity, though descended froreat

Jainia, his native state[122] He was in his youth a deputy sheriff of the county in which he was born, and received an education which was merely intended to fit him for an ordinary station in life He felt, however, superior to his condition, and stienius, he devoted himself to study, and became {368} a practitioner of the law He rose rapidly in his profession, and soon acquired both wealth and reputation Like most of the barristers of this country, he conceived that to be a laas necessarily to be a politician, and he rushed forward into public life to extend his fae his sphere of action Froubernatorial chair of Virginia, and received the highest honour his native state could confer Gratified thus far in the wishes he had fored theatre, where his talents would have a greater field of action, and his eloquence a wider range and better effect, and he accepted the situation of senator of the United States

Mr Barbour coainst the establishitation He had coainst this ave vent to those prejudices in a manner certainly very eloquent, but not very judicious When he had soberly weighed the good and evil hich it ht be attended, the peculiar condition of his country, and the necessity of adopting soovernment should be obviated, and its financial embarrassment relieved, he very candidly confessed the error into which his feelings had betrayed him, and {369} in a speech, conceived and uttered in the very spirit of true eloquence, supported the orous, and rather inclined to corpulency His eyebrows are thick and bushy, which gives to his countenance a little too much the appearance of ferocity, but this is counterbalanced by a peculiar expression in his visage, that conveys a sentiment of e, and is about five feet ten inches high Of his mind, the proination than judgment, and more splendor than solidity His memory is not very retentive, because it has never been es, and to preserve the spangles and tinsel of oratory

As an orator, Mr Barbour has soreat defects His style is too artificial and verbose, and he seems always more solicitous to shi+ne and dazzle than convince or persuade He labours after splendid ies, and strives to fill the ear more with sound than sense His sentences are sometimes involved and complicated, replete with _sesquipedalia verba_, and too uns, trumpets, blunderbuss, and thunder” He has unfortunately laid down to himself a model, which, with reverence be it spoken, is not the best that could have been adopted Curran has gone a great way to corrupt the taste of the present age His powers {370} were certainly very extraordinary, but his taste was bad, and by yielding too ination, he filled the s indeed, and left it at last glowing, but vacant, delighted, but unconvinced Too many of the youths of this country seeiven, and which is certainly calculated to fire an ardent mind, and lead it astray froenuine oratory Mr Barbour, however, is frequently not only very fluent but very persuasive, and he often ee in setting off his argu Fro, like that of most of the politicians of this country, has been confined, and his range of thought, froe which books afford, is necessarily lies from an association with men of literary and scientific attainments, but he has still much to acquire to render him eminent as a statesman The contributions, which, from this circumstance, he is compelled to levy on his own unaided native resources, have, however, tended to sharpen his intellectual powers, and to give them vivacity and quickness Mr

Barbour seldoh his observations are so {371} new and gratifying in the anized for long continued investigation, and nature has formed him more for a poet than a reat orator, and this over-ruling propensity is manifested even in common conversation; when, instead of ease, simplicity, and conciseness, he discovers the formal elocution of the public speaker, on the most unimportant and incidental subjects In private circles, Mr Barbour is always very pleasant, and exhibits a politeness, which, flowing frohts all who have the pleasure of his acquaintance, and renders hireeable companion

There is a native openness and benevolence in his character, which excite the love of all who know hier as well as the friend He seeues of party, and always expresses his feelings, in the bold and lofty language of conscious independence and freedoentleman and his brother, Mr Philip P

Barbour,[123] a member of the House of Representatives, in the respective faculties of their ical, and also able He seeal questions which {372} are involved and obscure, and possesses that clearness and vigor of mind necessary to unfold what is complicated, and illuminate what is dark He casts on such subjects so powerful a light, that onder we should ever have doubted, and behold at once the truth, stripped of all its obscurity

The former seldom attempts an analysis of such questions He reasons, but his reasoning is not so much that of a mathematician, as of an advocate who labours to surprise by his novelty, and to fascinate by the ingenuity of his deductions, and the ease and beauty of his elocution

He has y It appears to me that there is a vast deal of what may be denominated _law mind_ in this country, which will ultimately reach a point of excellence that must astonish the world The fondness for the profession of the law, at present, is wonderful; alrade in society, if he have children, endeavours to make one of thee vexation,” and you cannot enter a court-house, without being astonished at the nu the law This, however, is not a matter of surprise, e consider the facility hich this profession leads to preferment and distinction, and the ease hich it seems to be acquired Amidst such {373} a mass of _law mind_, therefore, as exists here, excellence must hereafter be attained, if it has not now reached its cliland are, or will soon be, equalled in this country

The future destinies of this republic cannot be fully anticipated; the ressive and resistless, and intellectual pre-eminence must be attained where so many inducements are offered to effect, and so few iulated by the circumstance in which it is placed, and fashi+oned by the objects by which it is surrounded This country is, therefore, peculiarly favorable for the expansion and development of the intellectual powers Physical, as well as moral causes, operate to this end The eye of an American is perpetually presented with an outline of wonderful randeur; every work of nature is here on a vast and expansive scale; the mountains, and lakes, and rivers, and forests, appear in a wild sublirandeur, which renders the ious freedoives an elasticity, a loftiness, and an ireatness Thus operated upon by moral and physical causes, what must be the ultie and expansion of intellect which they {374} will possess? Devoted as they are for the most part to studies and professions, which have a tendency to enlarge and liberalize the mind, and influenced by the causes I have mentioned, it would be worse than stupidity to suppose they could long re that point of elevation of which mankind are capable The _law ree of splendor, and is in rapid progress to still greater excellence There are h so much calumniated by British writers, ould shed a lustre on the bench of that nation, and not suffer by a colish jurisprudence

Before I quit this body of American worthies, I must introduce to your acquaintance, as succinctly as possible, another h not so conspicuous as the two former, in the walks of public life, is not inferior to any in this country, in all that constitutes and dignifies the patriot and the statesman Mr Roberts is from Pennsylvania[124] He is a plain farh he cannot boast of a liberal education, yet nature has given him a mind, which, with early improvement, would have orous and powerful in no ordinary degree, and the sophistry of art, and the dexterity of learning, are often foiled and defeated {375} by the unaided and spontaneous efforts of his native good sense But he has that which is of e, both to hirity It is gratifying, in this age of corruption and voluptuousness, to contemplate men like Aristides, Fabricius, and Cato They exhibit to us the true dignity of hted to imitate They show us to what pitch of excellence , and rescue the exalted condition of huacy and corruption have heaped upon it No spectacle can bethan he, who, in the hour of public danger and trial, and amidst the allurements and fascinations of vice, stands like a rock in the ocean, placid and iers that surround, and braves the stor firlory of his God! The mind rests upon such a character as the eye upon a spot of fertility, ae of history, and the corruptions of the living world, with a heart filled with love, admiration, and reverence, by the contemplation of the feho have shed an imperishable lustre on the exalted character of erated; it is drawn fro to do with the picture But I must now hasten to finish ot,[125] the English overne He is tall, elegant, and rather graceful in his person, with a countenance open and ingenuous, an English coratiated himself with the Americans, by the real or affected si hies and custolish character, as not at all suited to the meridian of this country, and attends to all with equal courtesy and politeness I can say nothing of the powers of his mind, but they do not appear to be e policy on the part of the British cabinet, to appoint ministers to this country of inferior capacity and inconsiderable reputation, while the Americans send to our court only their uished themselves by their ability and their eloquence

The French entle head, and short neck, which he see _ad libitum_ He is full of {377} Bourbon importance and French vivacity; has petits soupers every Saturday evening during the winter, and spends his su the virtues of his beloved Louis _le desire_ I do not think that M Neuville, though an amiable, and, I understand, a benevolent man, has that kind of talent which would qualify him for the station he holds, or that, in the event of any difficulty arising between this country and France, he could counteract the intrigues of diplo the Ahly esteeeous to the United States

He has been many years a resident of this country, and was driven from France by the persecutions of Buonaparte He is said to have evinced for his exiled countryiven then land, all the aid he could afford His acts of benevolence certainly redound to the credit of his heart, and I should be sorry to say any thing that would disparage the qualities of his head He is too much occupied with his own, or other people's concerns, to attend to the little or the coh he resides here as a representative, yet he now represents a cypher

{378} _4th_--To tea with J C Wright, Esq, toup a school here to go as ”Teacher to the Cherokee nation of Indians” Much enthusiasain Since ton has been visited by so tribes of Indians, with the following account of who there

_Some account of the Indians who visited all the Chief Cities in the Eastern States, and ton in the winter of 1821_

These Indians were the chiefs and half-chiefs of tribes from the most western part of this continent hich we are at all acquainted, and cauidance of Major O'Fallan[127] froe stature, veryfine open countenances, with the real noble Ronified in their manners, and peaceful and quiet in their habits There was no instance of drunkenness a their stay here The circuular A st the his visit recently, found an old chief, horaded from his rank, and another appointed in his place This led to inquiries after the cause, which proved to be that this chief having, during a considerable {379} absence from his tribe, visited some of the cities of the whites, carried back such a report of their houses, shi+ps, numbers, wealth, and power, that they disbelieved his account, and degraded hier their chief They inquired of their missionaries, who confirmed the statement, and they met in council with other tribes, and resolved that a deputation should, in coreat father, ”see if things were so,” and if they were, the chief should be reinstated They have returned, saying the ”half was not told them” Red Jacket[129] (of whoreat spirit was too great a being to overlook red men; that he listened to the talk of red men as well as to the talk of white reat spirit favoured white men more than red An anecdote is related of one of the chiefs (a pawnee) which is a well authenticated fact, and recorded by Dr Morse in his account of visits to the western regions[130] The tribe of the pawnees had taken a wo tribe hom they were at war, and, as was their custom, they reat spirit Every thing was prepared, the wood, the green withes, and the fire, and the victim, when this chief suddenly flew and seized her, carried her under his ar thicket, where {380} he had prepared horses for her and hi away at speed, he, after three days'

travelling through the woods, returned her in safety to her tribe and friends This event was considered by the pawnee tribe as an interference of the great spirit in her favour, and on the return of the chief no questions were asked him on that subject, nor has a woman been offered a sacrifice by that tribe since As a coallant exploit, a number of ladies in this city had a medal made, and presented to him in due form, in the presence of all the Indians; on one side of which was represented the preparation for the sacrifice, and on the reverse the chief running off with a woman under his arm, and two horses stationed at a short distance, surmounted by this inscription, ”To the bravest of the Braves,” (the pawnees are also called the Braves) These Indians excited so nified personal appearance, and froreat nue boxes in New York, Philadelphia, Baltiton; these were forwarded before they left us Their portraits, which are gone with the in their native costume, buffalo skins, with the hair inside, turned back at the neck and breast, which looked very handsoht, however, the chiefs and {381} the squaw, Mr King copied and keeps himself[131] He received 400 dollars from _Uncle Sam_ for it There was a notice in the papers that the Indians would dance and display their feats in front of the President's house on a certain day, which they did to at least 6,000 persons They shewed theirin council, their dances, their hoop, with the noises, gesticulations, &c of the centinels on the sight of an approaching enemy They were in a state of perfect nudity, except a piece of red flannel round the waist and passing between the legs They afterwards performed at the house of his Excellency M Hyde de Neuville They were painted horribly, and exhibited the operation of scalping and to in fine style

The Otta half-chief[132] and his squaw have taken tea with and frequently visited us She was a very good natured,our language, being inquisitive, retaining any thing that he was once infor ad with us before they finally left the city I took hiently the skeleton case He looked slyly in, and the anted to look, but he put himself in an attitude to represent a dead person, and said, ”_no good, no good_” She still wanted to see, but he would {382} not let her Three others ca to see it, hen I opened it, raised theood_,” one of the hold of the hand said, ”how you do”[133] The Otta half-chief and squaw afterwards saw it together and were very well pleased Our children were all full of play with theo with them

The calumet[134] of peace (the tomahawk pipe and their own sumach tobacco) frequently went round, and they expressed a wish to see us again

I have recorded much of the vocabulary of these Indians, and would transcribe it, but have not room They count by tens as we do, for instance, _noah_, two; _taurny_, three; _crabraugh_, ten; _crabraugh noah_, twenty; _crabraugh taurny_, thirty, &c They hold polygaood_; four, _very good_ In their talks with the residents they sheish to adopt our habits