Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1828-03-18
From the Charleston .AfercurO.
THE RHETORICIAN

tTona the Charleston Mercur0.
THE RHETORICIAN.
MIR. Chapman Johnson's F" Address" is said TO
have astonished the natives who heard it. The
" natives" who read il are not at all astonished at
II, (ior Mr.. Chapman Johnson is coalitionisD nor
confounded by il; for it has been answered, and
demolished in its whole structure.
AS L am not Ale ander, nor drunk shall not
" thrice slay the slain"-I shall content myself
WIN remarking on two passages of the said &c Ad-
dress, from which it may, to any but an Adams
lite, appear that Mr. johnson is not very candid.
that"
5ohn Quincy Adams and his admirers fancy that
ne very eloquent, at least with his pen; and il
| metaphors run mad' could constitute eloquence,
we should acknowledge his claim to be we'll found
ed At present, however, we are concerned with
| his sentiments, not his figures.
In the inaugural message U825o our present
PRESIDENT thus sc lets the cat out of the bag:''
" hie foreign nations, less blessed than our
selves with that freedom which is potcer are adj
vancing with gigantic strides in the career of pub
nc Improvement, were zoe to slumber i'm incidence
orJotd up our arms and proclaiiuto the world that
zoe are paisied by the mill Of our constituents,
would II not be to cast away the bounties of Proyi
dence Gas if Providence regarded the government
only, and not the govcrned) and doom ourselves tn
perpetual inferiority."
Now, though call upon all the physicians in the
oHi'eu states 10 say whether man in the palsy
-
. Pdtsted by the sUiH Of our constituents, is
rhetoricaily, very correct expression, and John
son a. c. Chapman Johnson) ought to have known
at the objection to it was constitutional and not
'netoT7c0t. To call the attention to the Professor
o. hhetoTic, and to sink the President of the
Crttcd states, was to insult the understanding of
thosc who heard him, and OF those who he well
knew, would read and criticise him.
90 with regard to another lapsus OF Mr. J. O.
a. IN another of his messages, this adroit Vir-
ginia- partizan says:-
HE the said Adams) has again, peybaps
without much felicity Of phrase, made an obvious.
though not avowed reference TO his oath of Office
as imposing an obligation ADORE all human latce'
most unquesionably, the people, when thew
read this ayowal of the Presidents tenets, were
alarmed They never pretended to find fault with
me PhTdSeofogy, but they rembled at tn. doctrine
ihey' twith the assistance Of Henry Clay & Coz
p1 u. haaihs mo the Chief Magstracy, to enforce
'he laws and to obey them-not to settle points of
conscience with himself. They recollected what
Hudbras says
Its ne ,oho makes the oath that breaks az,
'fot ne 'rho, for convenience, takes it:."
and, if they saw any thing amss in the Presiden e
RHETORIC, At was on this occasion at least mereed
In his ldtitudin0TidnisnI OF this no stronoa not
can be given than that, obnoxious as ali biS oi
siions are to rhetorical objections nobody tbougbt
II oil Importance to notice his language. with the
single exception, Gas regards this Message 'O of
Light Houses in the Sky"-which, together
81, i'm
TO his grave, and, perhaps, further
AS have been induced to recur TO the nreci
Gus state paper which led to Mr.. Us remarks as
wen as mine' l shall conclude by submitting to
your going readers, few of the briHidnts that
nave daZzed Mr. Chapman Johnson and some n
theirs. l hope they may serve as beacon. tina,
IS as lighthouse in thesky,' to keep people
from running on the shoasor sunken rocks upon
when our eloquent President has suffered shin
wreck OF his immortality, as rhetoricia, az least
n permanent naval cfaIT; ID.
6dptdofe to that gigantic gr0tcM with which the
lalon IS advancing in its career, is among the sub
jects which have already occupied the foresight
OF the last Congress" &c. There is no such
reer.
IL we take into the account the Eves of those
Deheiactors OF mankind, OF which their services in
the cause OF their species were the purchase" &C.
IL IS probable that he means the price paid
Inc purchase consisted in the benefits derived
to others, &c. But il is hard to know what he
means.
SIN inviting the attention of Congress to the
SUBJECT OF internal improvements II is not NV
design to recommend the eGuipueylt of nm erDc
ditioJl for circumnarigGting the eLobs., WIZ
In the name OF common sense, ever supposed that
internal improvement meant one of Cookies vow
ages!
Connected with the establishment of an Uni
Versity, might be undertaken the erection of an
aSt0nomicdt observatory, Gas if there were any
oIher! with provision for the support OF an astro-
homer, to be in constant attendance of obse,y0
ho1s upon the phenomena Of the heavens"
In Europe there are eriSting 0autology) up
wards OF one hundred and thirty (liow exaciD of
these lighthouses of the skies'
" While year scarcely passes over our heads
without bringing some new astronomical discovery
TO light which we must fain receive at second
hand from Europe, are we not cutting ourselves
OIL from the means OF returning light for Eght -
&c aias TIT for tdt-but what siip-slop of styIeiy
" The first President Of the U. s. announced to
Congress, that the first enumeration of the inIabi
tants OF the Union, gave the pleasing assurance
that the population of the United States bordereJ
on four millions Of persons" (Gen. Washinrton
used no such Phrase) "But the demonstration
Oh our prosperity rests upon such indicatioys'
Ia demonstration resting upon an ildicdtionO
" 10 promote science by securing for limited
tunes" Ia limited time-the monopoly is never OK
tended beyond one period &c.
" IL an honest pride might be INDUCED in the
reflection, that on the records of that Office arc
already found inventions (meaning patents grantedS
the usefulness of which has scarcely baen tran
scended in the annals Of human ingenuity (,yhat
yerbiageD
" 1t was resolved BY Congress tfata monument
should be erected in the CdpitoI at the C;f,, oil
" dshington,' &c. Is there any other CdDifofl
to which the power Of Congress extends!
10 promote the progress of the sciences oJy7n-
01entot q profound. (Whstismeantby ornamental
science as distinguished from Drofound sci.
enee. CIhe antthesfs is false.)
The spirit OF improvement is abroad u7ou the
EoTth. (Where else cohldit ben
IL stimulates the heart, and sharpens the IN !
cWties," &c. (What is meant by stimulating the
1eaIt with spirit Of improvementD
shall dtodif with faithful cO-operasiou"-tbatl
- shall act and not act at the same time.
With due sense Of the high responsibilities
UeighiUo UnOn voursclves ~ g, ~. - ~