Thibodaux minerva. [volume] (Thibodaux, La.) 18??-1858, 1853-12-24
IFrom the \. 0. Bee.
From Tie " U Dee.
Opinions of the Message.

There is certainly no disputing about taste,
for the discussion would prove intermlnable,
and could never be settled. The Presidents
Message is capital illustration of this trulsm.
We have been looking over score or two OF
papers-political and neutral-and pencllhng
in our mind the diversities of taste, as evidenced
by the opinions they advance of the merits OF
that document These views are often very OPP
| nos;te and sometimes quite contradictory.
Tins. for example, while the New York Ma
tional Democrat thinks the style of the message
easy. smooth and practical, the Courier and En-
onirer considers it nerveless, faulty and inele-
can't: the Tribune holds that it is very fair, the
HHerald that it is full of tawdry rhetoric, the
Journal of Commerce that 1t deals more with
sentiment and opinion than with facts, the Bos-
ton Journal, that it is mere grouping together
of words, and the Boston Post, that it is lucid
and comprehensive. Of these journals some
are Wing and others Democratic. The Tribune
which is anti administration, rather commends
the Message, while the Journal OF Commerce,
which is disposed to favor democracy, rather
disparages it. Most of the papers, and espe-
ciaily those which are not party presses, find, as
we do that the style lacks yigor and terseness.
As contrasts, take the following
| The True Democrat
'is State paper Of marked ability, and as such will be
| read with interest,"
| The Courier and Enquirer
"The Message is document which may repay perusal,
but can hardly There is hardly enough Of
anything As exposition Of state pocy u
nerveess and adowy piece Of compositions 1t faulty
spots and neegant throughout as Of facts
touching great interests of the country it is in many
respects and unsatisfactory Its chief Importance lies
its meagre figures its chief aractveness is its volatile
defamation Monotonous annals said to be the best
proof of nations prosperity this document Ii suthclenuy
| commonplace to assure the most dstrustful"
| Truth, as in most cases, lies between extrava-
CANT panegyric and marked denunciation. The
| Message is very little better, and not much
| worse than any that has been laid before Con-
gress for the last twenty years, Its merits as a
composition, are certainly not conspicuous, but
it deals largely in the staple ware of patriotic
sentiments. and this expe1ince has shown. is a
| tolerably safe passport to popularity. The best
feature about the Message is its harmlessness.
| The President hardly once utters q positive
! opinion in the consideration of our foreign re-
latons he is as pacific and conservative as the
| veriest Old Fogy could desire, aad is only tho
roughly locofocoish when he enunciates obsolete
tenets of political faith, that the West and
Southwest are too eminently practical ever to
tolerate once. Beyond this narrow circle OF
partyism the Message again grows tame and
common place, or deliberately and perhaps stu
diously obscure. We do not imagine that it can
produce the slightest excitement. In fact, after
the earnest expectation with which it had been
awaited, the calm indifference with which it has
been received, is almost ludicrous-so well salts
fed is the public mind that if Mr.. PIERCE sticks
| to his sentiments, the country will continue in
the uninterrupted enjoyment of peace.