Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1835-01-22

may be a Federal Government forever with
in the ten miles square, but neither of these,
nor any other spot, will ever be able to as
sumo to itself the whole powers of metrop-
oils. No city will exercise moral dctation
over the rest, or over the country; no city
will give the tone in politics, or set the fash
ions in literature, for the whole Union.
! In European countries he that is horn a
peasant, will be a peasant all his life;-hs
chance Of forming an exception to the rule is
exceedingly small. But, on beholding the
most rustlcal clown of all fankee-land, 1t
would not be- safe to affirm that he would not
be numbered, at some future day, among the
most eminent men of the country. There is
no buryng man of genius here; the hum
blest birth shuts out no one either from the
hopes or the facilities OF rising to that station
for which his native talent has qualified him.
Rare, indeed, is it to find an individual who
cannot read and write; every one has therefore
that modicum OF knowledge placed within his
reach which will enable him to obtain more,
should his wishes aspire. Clowns, properly
speaking, there are none among the Yankees;
a Yankee is emphaticaly civil man, though
his civity may not produce all the bows
and grmaces, and unmeanng compliments
which accompany or constitute that quality
among the French; of manners
could be charged against these people only
by those who know nothing about them
Countries" says Goldsmith, swear very diff
terent appearances to persons In different
circumstances. A traveller who is whlrled
through Europe in post chalse. and pill
grim who walks the grand tour on foot, will
form very different conclusions" Now SUM-
dry people have been whirled from Boston to
New-York in "A mail coach, and said know
not what about manners. ! have travelled
over the New England States on foot-over
highways and byways; supped at the most
splendid hotels and the most paltry inns; en-
tered every farmers door that offered as a
resting place; and crossed every mans gar
den, or corn-fed, or orchard, that lay in my
way, without receiving an nncivil word on
my whole route. On one occasion lost my
self in the woods among the Green Noun
talns OF Vermont, where | imagined there
was no living creature to be encountered for
miles, except black bears, catamounts,-and
similar country gentlemen; but on sudden
emerged from the wood into an open space,
where stood log hut. A little flaXen head
ed urchin esped me coming, and began to
scramble with all specific hide himself as
supposed; but not was to gain the summit
Of an immense log of wood which lay by the
| with as profound bow as ever ] received.
| The highest praise which a Frenchman
imagines he can bestow upon an individual,
is to call him un homme d'sp,It. An English
man describes his best friend as "good ma
| turcd, sensible fellow" Yankees commen-
dation from his neighbors is, that he is a
'smart, enterprising man." Nothing for a
Yankee like enterprise; and good qualities to
him are worth little without it. ] think it is
in Cicero's newly discovered 'Republic;" nee
zero salts est habere rntutem nisi utare. This
is true Yankee maXim-give your good
| qualities action. To him it is inconceivable
that man should be good for anything who
does not make his presence felt among those
! around him. a stirring spirit, stirring deeds,
! stirring llfe-these form the common theme
of praise; and if man is said to be good it
will be necessary to answer the question
"good for what?" "Quest &C quill fait p
i What has he done?" was Napoleon's query,
when any man was said to possess talent; and
! your Yankee is pretty much of the same way
of thinking, being accustomed to require con-
stant evidence Of a mans usefulness, ere he
| allows him the praise of doing his duty among
men. And well that it is so; he has seen the
soil which gives him subsistence conquered
by his own unremitted exertions from the
wilderness; he has seen those political insti-
tutions which are his happiness and boast,
built up by his own hands; and he is sensible
+, that prudent and industrious habits can alone
:, preserve to him and his poSterity the bles-
t sings they have gained.
When America shall prodGee a writer OF
truly original genius, it is five to one that ne
r will be Yankee. Franklin was a man
!, whose genius, more than that Of any other OF
| his countrymen, marked the age in which he
i, lived; and there is not trait of his character
but is true to New England. The most EN-.
inent public man Of the present day is Web
ster: and, in spite of party animoslties and
> sectional prejudice, there is not one whose
! influence is so powerful, or whose superiori
= ty is so universally admitted The mind o
= this eminent man is Of the true New Eng.
land stamp; his eloquence is not snowy, daz.
: zlng, or elaborate; he does not seek to sur
a prise you by ingenious paradoxes, nor fill
: your ears with furious sound Of mighty
$ words. You never think Of exclaiming be-
8 tween his periods, ''lIow fne!" but you fnc
'ft him persuasive, convincing, and etfectua il
It argument, such as no other man to whom yol
r. ever listened. Sincerity, and earnest, ful
II conviction of the truth, distinguish the man
S ners of the orator; and plain sound sense, i
c the characteristic of his matter; without plai
n sound sense, indeed, can there be any tru
h eloQuence? he does not waste his strength il
e attempting to utter merely striking things
e he is not a brilliant speaker as the epithet j
5, commonly understood. Your brilliant orator
C are amusing, but they are not powerful; the
Is are seldom effective to any good purpose
e John Randolp ph was as brilliant a cracksku
n, as ever sparkled; he shone among the Amer
is can orators, a star of the first magnitude
e though by no means a fixed star. No speak
e er in congress could draw an audience lik