The Portland gazette. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1818-1824, 1823-10-28

"A new novel has appeared from Soyfber,
press, called Randolph, 0y the autaor Of Lolaf
and oeveaty-six Ia the course OF the boot
Inc author thus draws the character n ths
iate celebrated y lillam rInkney, 0l 6altillure
ne presenth 70 our readers as Me lad i, merely
observing that IRON tie account we ave occa.
sioaaliy received OF hin, We have reason a. he.
lieye the portraits ii its leading po.ats q COR
rect hkeHess.-Lu Post
: but you have inquired particularly about
Mr. Pinkney. And 40 wonder; Tor vgeare 40,
d a backward our professions To national elo-
qaeace, On has account alone. YET Mr.. Pinknev
= not an eloqaeHI Inan. He i convincing, 10
ne sure aad that Is 20 DO eloquent IN one way :
DuIle would re noTe-and iails. Nhat he NAV
nasS 5eea al ~ eerlser DAY, Know not, OF nv
ossn aoNiedse, but L any faith may be placed
- tradition, there has been a time, whe6 your
blood would quake TO hear ban. That time IS
past Nay--so well do know the natural dis
position Of mankind to eKaggerate whatever is
rare J--whatever lacy have Seen, or heard, OF
Lac wonderful, when there is nobody to CONTRA
DICT them that az strongly Inclined to believe
laat ne IS nov more eloquent than ever. Till
lad heard patieltiy--watchiully-
entIally, again and agan, could not dispossess
q yself or the awful belief That vas listening 10
the 1aOSt eloquent man OF Anerica-if not OF ali
this world. ! had heard il sad SO ofteh and
Dy men, SO violated to Judge, that could not
doubt the tlct-unhl / was obliged to break
away iroLa the iniataatIon that enthralled me,
and Judse Tor myself Follow me and YOU siIari
Nnow tie result. Nothing can be further from
ei0qneRce, Il, Dy eloquenee, be understood, any
thing that Is persuasive, beautiful, dIgniied, Or
natural, tnan the defamation or reasoning OF
Hdlia1l PIRckaey--Fhere is no captiVation or
DeaHty Of manner, tone, or gesture about him
Ills oest speeches are a compound of stupend0us
strength, feeble ornaments, affected eaTnestness,
alu boIsterouS, turbulent defamation. His de-
R0amenf A. brutal, arrogant, full OF sound and
Jury Dat the fury OF no man ever signIned so
much, do believe Unnatural and vehement :;
accompanied with tHe RUDE and violent gestures
% lgaritllow, of uncommon personal strength
IN violent passion and transitions Of voice. -
sudden, and uaealled for, as to jar your whole
system ; aud action, that you cannot imagine toe
purpose Oh, except Il be to prove that he has the
use Of dis arms. II is never illuarative-neve
correspondent to the thought,-neyer dignlheu
and never gentleman -Yet-yet-my friend
- IT. Pinckney is great man, d truly great nan
W. mind IS aGanant, clamped with iron--a
colossal pile OF granite, over which the thunders
u heaven might roll; upon which, the lightl.ings
might exhaust Themselves, without shaking or
harl1ing II. And were he contented with such
d reputation, as 40 man that knowsthe structure
u ais intellect, would deny TO him, he would
lave no rival tie knows that he is, decidedly,
the reatest lawyer la America but this would
not coEtent has ambition. lie WOULD nqAan,
he not OILY the greatest lawyer, but the greatest
n ator--and the greatest statesman.--A statesman
lie might have been and, probably, one OF the
Protol. dest that ever lived "a lawyer be Is II
aAG one, whose might is unquestioned. But
God never meant him Tor an oratOr--He has no
property OF MAD or body--no, not One-calcu-
lated 10 give him dominion in eouuence and
were il not Tor the prodigious elevation, soidity
and amplitude OF his mind, which makes the
5Ieat overlook rs professions as speaker; and
the mob to echo Their judgment without under
standing the reason Of it-he would not be toier-
ated for an hour. No-God never meant William
Pnckney tor an orator; but be meant him for
something more and, but for strange pervers-
ity common u AL men, which sets them toiling
hardest, Tor that reputation, which they are sup
posed least likely to obtain--dissatisied with
whatever measure OF fame their fellows NAV
award to them, Internationally as their natural
and indlsputabe highland makes them anxi-
o1s 10 live, by tribute wrenched from the re-
ilctant understanding OF men--but for this,
William PlHkney would have been, at this hour,
one OF the greatest men of the age. But, il is
too late now. tie is going down with continu-
ally accelerated motion, TO the chambers OF
death. do not perceive any decay of his fac
ultes-but il is not. in the nature Of things, that
ne should continue many years longer, unsub-
dued by the lnroads Of age or unaffected by the
labour OF his profession. His industry, even vel,
after the study OF nearly halt century, is I'M
paralleled. NO young man tolls with a more
vehement anxiety, at bis first case, than William
PInkney, even yet, al every matter Of moment
at which he is engaged. From what be is now,
as lawyer, you may form some notion Of what
ne might have been, had he rightly understood
MS own powers, at first tOFborne 10 dissipate
his strength in experiment turned bis back, in
seorn, upon the reputation of an orator dis
daining TO become politician !; and directed al
the st1pendous energies OF his nature TO the study
OF jurisprudence. Who then would have dared
to walk, where the shadow Of Pinkney might
have fallen upon him
lie opened his career BY studying medicine
and, soon alter, began 10 read law with the ceIe.
brated Judge Chase, whose attention he after
wards awakened, in debating society, where
ne appeared as the champion Of Mary, Queen Of
scots From that hour his destiny seemed tx
ed lie desired TO be eloquent. lie thought OF
Demosthenes and Cicero and his heart swell
Cd WITH ambition lie remembered not that he
was to be IaleyeT;-and that Demosthenes and
Cicsro-were GeelGimers. He forgot that be
was TO argue-andthat they had only harangued
1t never occurred to him that twelve men are
not to be agitated like multitude nor that Il
IS easier, TO put an ocean of human hearts into
an uProar, than the heart Of one single, sober
minded man. He reflected not that the wOrlc
had grown wiser too, since the days Of the Greek
and Roman and that he, who should look Il
move body Of Americans, in a court OF justice
now with the best laundering Of Demosthenes
would only make himself ridiculous
But he erred yet more widely. He worried HI.
mind with politics, when his course was not Il
be political one and he knew il, O. ought tC
have known IT, He had chosen the temple b
justice and became one OF its priesthood ant
yet he had the presumption to dream Of awein;
and agitating her ministers, while sitting II iudg
lment, with the incantati0ns of el0quenee-Th,
thought was absurd but il grew out Of a might,
ambition. II had been wise nthe Gaul whei
he stood before the old men Of Rome, in thei
Senate Chamber, to think Of terrifying them b,
the clash OF his armour.