Litchfield enquirer., 1835-01-29
YANKEE NOTIONS.
/Cancjr,se1. !


 imaeines he can bestow upon an individual
 is to call him Mn honsn'e d'esprit. An En- glishman describes his best friend as a ;. good natused, sensible fellow ;'' Yam kee's special commendation from his neigh- bors is,, that he is a "smart, enterprising man." Nothing for Yankee like enter-ss prise and good qualities to him are worth little without it. think it is in Cicero's newly discovered Republic" nec vere sotis est kabere virtufem nisi utGre. This true Yankee maxim--giye your good qualities action. To him it is inconcelva- ble that man should be good for, any thing who does not make his presence felt among those around him.
 A stirring spirit, stirring deeds, stir ring life-these form the common theme oi 1 praise and if man is said to be good, |
 will be necessary to answer the question. -. Good for what ?''-" Qu'est ce qu'il l fait ?-What has he done 2" was Napo- leon's query whem any man was said to pos sess talent; aud your Yankee is pretty much of the same way of.thinking. being accts- toned to require constant evidence oi a mans usefulness, ere lse allows him the praise of duing his duty aSaong mt'n.. And we'll that it is so; he has seen the soTl which gives him subsistence conquered, by his own unremitted exeftions, from the wilderness he has seen those political in- stitu,ions which are his happiness and hts boast, built up by his own hands and he is sensible that prudent and industrious haD- its can alone preserve to him and his pos- terity the blessings they have gained. When America shall produce writer of truly original genius, it is five to one that man will be a Yankee. Franklin was man whose genius, more than that Ct any other of his counirymen, marked the age I in which he lived and there is not tra.: ] in his character but is true to New England The most eminent public man of the pres ent day is Webster and in spite ot parry animosities aud sectional prejudice, there IS not one whose influence is SO powerful, o' whose superiority is so universally admit ted. The mind of this eminent man IS O the true New England stamp; his elo' quence is not sbowy, dazzling. or slabor' ate he does not seek to surprise you by ingenious paradoxes, nor fill your ears with furious sound of mighty words. You never think of exclaiming between his pe- riods, How fine !'' but you find him per- suasive, convincing, and effectual m argo- ment. such as no other man to whom you Fever listened. Sincerity and earnest, full conviction of the truth, distinguish the manners of this orator ; and plain sound sense is the characteristic of his matter without plain sound sense. indeed, can there be any true eloquence2 He does not waste his strength in attempts to utter mere ly striking things; he is aot brilliant speaker. as the epilhet is eomnonky under i stood. Your brilliant speakers are amusing, but they are not powerful; they are sel- dom effective to any good purpose. John Randolph was as brilliant crackskuIl as ever sparkled he shone among the Amer ican orators a star of the first magnitude, though by no means a hxed star. NC speaker in Congress could draw ail audi ence like him his sayings were ID every mans mouth, his reputation filled every corner of the Union. But Randolph was brilliant, and nothing more: be lacked sound sense. and thus lacked the most efil- cient weapon of his warfare. People lls- ftened to hip, but never needed him for though he had talent. he had 10 wisdom. With all his fame, he was witloSt iniisi- ence; for while the multitude crowded to hear his brilliant speeches. no man vaiaed his opinion a corn-stOck. fie was nc statesman though whatever party could count him among its numbers for the mo ment, commonly tlsvust him into the van as a forlorn hope yet, to every interest he espoused. he did as much mischief as good. , Never vas a more useless man of genius. Aflsr long and restless life, devoted sole.