Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1837-07-20
Election on Tuesday, august 20ih. !
Joseph l.. I'iIIinShast.

Joseph l.. TiIIinghast.
Mr. Tillinghast, being generally known to.
the people, could not fail of being esteemed
and respected by them; and am confident
he would be still more so were they still
moro intimately acquainted with him. For
although all give him credit for requirements
and accomplishments, and none deny That he
possesses tulents, yet there are some who
latter. This erroneous impression has been
produced by his style of public speaking
which, it must be confessed, think, was too
copious, and ut the same time too minute to
fix and retain the attention of the hsarcr
through speech Of my great length. A gc-
neral audience like To have some spaces left
for themselves to fill up in their own minds,
and then, by participating in and carrying
out the argument, they ndopt and take an in
terest IN it, and in tho speaker. This gentle.
mans style in writing and speaking appears
to have been formed upon the model Of the
great classic authors, with whose admirable
works, in every department Of literature. he
is probably more thoroughly acquainted than
any other nun among us although we all
equally with him, admire and all profit by the
little we have read Of those works But
there are two kinds of forid speaking.-One
Of them. without encumbcrng itself with facts
or reasoning, addresses itself only to the car
aud the imagination. Tho othcr-hnwever
polished may be its styles fraught with So
lid matter and stores of knowledge drawn
from the highest sources. The speaker who
possesses these rich stores may be apt, some
times, to make too lavish use Of them, aud
this, it it is a fault, was in my opinion, the
only fault of Mr.. Tillinghast's speaking. For,
as often as have attended closely to his mr.
gument upon any important occasion, have
and ornaments of style were Topped off, what
remained would be full of important matter:
and equally full Of strong and lucid reasoning
1t will be recollected that for considerable
time Mr.. II. was Speaker Of our House of
Representatives. and certainly the business
of the House has never been conducted with
more ability, impartaity and dignity. Dur
ing the long period that he was member Of
the General Assembly, he took Il most pro,n.
nent and efficient part in all the important
business which came before that body. Ma
ny a crude, unintelligibe bill, containing
however something which might be useful,
was put into correct shape by his skilful
hand: And many proposed laws Of injurious
tendency were abandoned upon his clearly
pointing out the n'ischiefs they were calcula-
ted to produce. And we are indebted to him
for very many of the most wholesome lcgis.
iative measures which have been adopted in
our times. The inestimablc institution of
Public Schools, in this State, originated with
him, and was brought into existence mainly
by his efforts. The improvement in the or
ganization Of the Sup. Jud. Court was also
his work,-an Improvement which is now ex-
perienced and acknowledged by the people
with one accord. If upon these and other
important occasions Mr.. Tillinghast spoke
frequently md at considerable length, il was
because he took deep and lively interest in
every thing in which the people were inter-
csted, and in which therefore their represen-
toiives were bound to take an interest.
1t may be, however, that Mr.. Ti!!inghast's
style of speaking is better adapted to the
Halls Of Congress than to those of our Gen.,
Assembly ; the shortness Of whose sessions
hardly admit Of regular, finished speaking.
In Congress he would not fail to be soon dis !.
tinguished. For, although there are in that
body many noisy brawlers who make and
publish their clustering and scurr speeches;
they are respected by nobody; not even by
the party (whichevcr.it may bel into whose