[No. CIII.j THE TABLET «'An uublemithed charaflcr gives great weight to the arguments of a public fpcaker." A S the main design of public speaking is to ii. convince an audience of" the truth and impor tance of what is spoken, men frequently Itrive to effect this purpose by addingfome adventitious force to the intrinsic merit of their speeches. It is commonly supposed that the best method to make forcible imprellions on a public assembly, is to display an elegant, spirited elocution. Senti ments may be decorated with such brilliant,ner vous expressions ; arranged in a manner to give such a fine harmony of cadence, and pro nounced with such grace and energy, as to in spire the mind with all the fafcination of music. But the powers of persuasive oratory belong only to a few. And even where a person poliefles them in the fulleft extent, they will not always procure, much less preserve a substantial influence. A graceful elocution may retaiffits charms, and excite applause, long after the orator hiinfelf has ceased to be viewed with relpetft, and loit all his weight of reputation. It is one thing to be amu sed, and another to be convinced by the allure ments of rhetoric. Men do not fufficicntly con template that it is better to be believed than ad mired. The success that attended the l'peeches offome of the antient orators is generally afci ibed to their extraordinary powers of eloquence. This is an opinion that deserves examination. Itfhould not too hastily be concluded that those speakers derived their influence, solely from the superior excellence of their oratory. The popularity which mere eloquence begets can have 110 long duration, unless itis supported by avirtuouscha rafter. Virtue renders an eloquent man irrefu table. Themoft celebrated orators of antiquity, it may be presumed, were not less diftinguiflied for levcre morals, than for splendid eloquence. They excited a general belief, by the uniform te nor of their condurt, that they were actuated by the mod generous sentiments of patriotism. It cannot be doubted but the aftoni/hing effects of their oratory were owing very much to the honest zeal, which their acftions discovered for the honor and welfare of their country. Purity of principles, both in public and private life, is the bed foundation on which to ere<ft a public chara<fier. This will not perhaps attract l'o much notice, or meet with so much flattery, as eloquence ; but it will gain more real influence, and inspire more confidence. Splendor of talents may be gazed at, and admired, but unless they are united with unblemilhed morals they will not long be refpecfted. I hose whose opinions are molt regarded,and whose advice the mod pursued, are not men of the nioft captivating abilities. (/i avity of temper and sobriety of manners will lender moderate talents ufeful and refpeftable. It niuft be confefled that the art of oratory is highly worthy of cultivation, and an accomplished speaker has an advantage over those whose elo cution is imperfect and diiagreeable. But perfec tion in eloquence should not make men indiffer ent to solid attainments, and ufeful virtues. No force of capacity, no glare of acquirements can compenlate for a stain 011 tlie moral character. If an eloquent man shews a levity of deportment,the hearers may to be sure compliment him for speak ing charmingly, but they will declare, he does not hirufelf believe a word of what he is flying. If his principles are fufpe<fted, or his manners licen tious, his eloquence may still be applauded ; but those who hear him, will express their fori ow, that a man who can speak so well, Jliould ast so per vet fly. In fhortjtlie world will learn 10 be guarded against the seducing effetfts of his rhetoric ; and it will afford much amusement, while it can pro 'luce 110 convi<ftion. Personal influence muftgive man Jiis principal weight in public life; and no one will long maintain personal influence, Without a fair, unblemished character. FROM THE CONNECTICUT COURANT. Mefl'rs. Printers, T Observe a correspondent of yours ivho appears A in the Connecticut Courant of March 22, that Icem& ro be a well meaning man, and judges pret ty well so far as/he is well informed ; but I think ieis illinformed, or at least uninformed, as to the icception our Reprefenratives metwith when they •'ft returned. I thought it was very agreeable; pei haps it might be othervvife in his circle where they were uninformed. I think Iliad it from good PUBLISHED WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS m >°" N FWXO, No. g, MAIDEN-LANE, NEW-YORK No. CIII. WEDNESDAY, APRIL j 7go authority that our Aflbmbly gave our Represen tatives under the old Constitution the fame which bHmr"°T V - C '- a ? d lfit isto ° m,,ch > charge the blame where it,s due. I believe it would bet new thing under the fun, atleaft in this State, for the Afl^bi? rV3nt V° givC themselve s less than the on rhp t ? aVC £^ m ;- As CO the salaries bellowed on the Judges, I oeheve the people in New-Enjr land in general think them too high—He should observe that the Western and Southern people are not so near upon a level as we are in New-Ene ?r t a l| eilC n a^ fe ,- h those hi S h appointments. He should recollert if he ever knew k, that when ■ve firft began to oppose the Britons by arms, the lern and Southern people complained of the wages of our rank and file, and laid rather than comply they would fight it out without us ; but when they considered that our young men of fa mily were much superior to their g.ogfters, who would be likely to desert when the grog failed, and which really happened, they contended themselves with .aifing the officers wages. As to Ins i egretting that Congress should assume the state debts, 1 think he is as ill-informed a bout th it matter as any other, 1 mall not set him right by public information. Let him enquire, anJ he will fi„d that it is bell for alj the Hates, and til 15 in particular, that CY.,g ,f> aouldalfume all the liar a debts, without ;.e is one ot them that would have the state cheat their creditors, and drive thein to complain to Congress, which they certainly will do it the stare goes on as they have done, about which 1 fhr.ll forbear to mention particulars at the pjefent. LQMDUM. HOUSE of LORDS, January r6. The Lords resolved to proceed in the trial of Warren Haltings, Esq. on Monday the lit of Fe bruary. Javuary 21. This day his Mujelly went inftateto the House of Peers, and opened the bufineli of the present session of Parliament, by the following molt gra cious speech from the throne : My Lords and Gentlemen, Since I last met you in Parliament, the contin uance of the war on the Continent, aud the in ternal condition of different parts of Europe, have been productive of events which have engaged my most serious attention. While 1 fee, with a just concern, the interrup tion of the tranquility of other countries, I have at the fame time great fatisfaction in being able to inform you, that I receive continual afluran ces of the good disposition of all foreign powers towards these kingdoms ; and I am persuaded that you will entertain with me a deep and grate ful sense of the favor of providence, in continu ing to my fubjetfts the increasing advantages of peace, and the uninterrupted enjoyment of those invaluable blessings which they have so lono- de rived from our excellent conltitution. Gintlemcn o fth: Motife of Commons, I have given directions that the estimates for the present year should be laid before you, and I rely on your readiness to grant such supplies as the circuinftances of the several branches of the public service may be found to require. My Lords and Gentlemen, The regulations prescribed by the act of the last feflion of Parliament, relative to the corn trade, not having been duly carried into effett in several parts of the kingdom, there appeared reason to apprehend that such an exportation of corn might rake place, and such difficulty arise in the import ation of foreign corn, as would have been pro duttive of the most serious inconvenience to my fubjetfts. Under these circumstances, itappeared nbfolutely neceflary to take immediate and effec tual measures for preventing the exportation, and facilitating the importation of particular forts of corn ; I therefore, by the advice of my Privy Council, illued an order for that purpose, a copy of which 1 have directed to be laid before you. I have only further to desire, that you will con tinue to apply yourselves to those objects which may require your attention, with the fame zeal for the pubjic service which has hitherto appear ed in all your proceedings, and of which the ef fects have been so happily manifefted by an in crease of public revenue, the extension of the commerce and raanufatftures of the country, and the general of my people. The waited upon his Majesty with their address, which was as usual the echo of the speech, his Majesty was gracioiifly pleased to return the followinganfwer : AN OLD FREEMAN uus, PRICE THREE DOLLARS PR. ANN" " My Lords, I receive with great plcafurfe your dutiful and loyal address. " 1 lie firft objert of my wishes being the prof- P . e^ U -y. ot '"X l' e ople, I cannot but express iny fa tK fart ion at receiving fucli strong affbrances of your disposition to apply your attention to thoftf important objedts which I have recommended to your consideration." HOUSE or COMMONS, ! . January 22. Mr. Wilberforce gave notice that he would, on Monday, move the house to resolve itfelf into a «««»«« of the whole house on the slave trade, and that m such committee he would move for the appointment of a felecfi committee to take ex aminations above stairs: Thursday a commiflion pasTed the Great Seal, appointing Lord Kenyon, Speaker of the House of 1 eers, 111 the absence of the Lord Chancellor, in rr r ° om . Earl Bathurfl, whose great age and disorder in the eyes, woUld not permit him to continue the office. While his Majesty was this day going through St. James Park in the state coach, a man drefl'ecl 111 icarlet, with an orange cockade, threw a (lone, with intent, as is supposed, to llrike his Majesty, ut which fortunately only struck the pannel of the coach ; he was immediately seized and taken to i lr. s office, where he underwent an examination of four hours before Mr. Pitt, Lord Chatham, the two Secretaries of State, and Sn Sampson Wright, who committed him to pri son. He proves to be the fame person who a bout a fortnight since stuck up in the Court-yard, at St. James s, a foolilh libel on his Majesty, fitrn ed " John Frith, Lieut, of the firft Regiment of Royals. CONGRESS. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SATURDAY; MARCH t 3 . The following /hovld hne preceded Mr. Girry'sfpeech in ourhjl. ATr. Am ls : The word irredeemable is made the fubjeftof ob -IVX jection. It isfaid toconveyadifagrceableidea.and to tend to excite popular prejudice against the debt, as it implies that the public agrees to be saddled with a prrpetiial burden of debt. Irt a land of ignorance, where the people are not in the habit, and have not the capacity to reason, it may be proper to pay regard to this objection. I have too much reverence for the sober thinking people whom we reprelent, to believe, that the mere found of this word will work mifchief, when their own enquiries willconvmce them that the substance is not only unexceptionable, but highly be ncncial. ® 7 Making the debt redeemable will not redeem if. It puts not a farthing iri the creditor's pocket: Making it btedeemaile is no re straint upon the present or probable capacity of the public to re deem. It will not prolong the evil of a public debt a Angle day, but rather the contrary. All the money that can be provided for paying off the debt may (till be employed for the purpose, th'o the niedeemable quality should remain. 1 he proposal to make the debt irredeemable is founded on the supposed gradual reduition of interest. But until the reduaion has actually hippened in a fhorler period, or in a greater degree than is calculated, the paper will not bear a higher price than 100 per cent While the debt is at par, or below par, the creditors will not relule to receive their money, the public has also the right to redeem at the rate of one per cent, against their will. But the value will not rifeto par while the rate of intercft keeps up : The government will therefore have full employment for all itsfurpluj revenue to buy up the paper at a discount, Surely, the govern ment will not squander the public monev to redeem the debt at per, when it is to be purchased at a discount. The latter is even more advantageous to the creditors. Buying at the market price in latt raises the price, and benefits those who do not fell. The greater the discount, the more paper a given sum will buy, and take out of the market. This not only raises the price, but increases the security of the unfold part; In these three ways, there is full excrcife forthe power of redemption, nor can it be supposed, that the redeemable quality of the debt will increase the capacity of the public to redeem, or fhotten the duration of the debt. The con., trary may be proved by attending to these facts. The government in consideration of makingthedebt irredeema ble is allowed 19 per cent. 100 dollars are to be lent; and 81 only to be iunded, The aggregate of the sums saVed to the public by this 19 per cent, linear 13 millions. The public is therefore paid beforehand tor not ledecnvng; The right renounced is valuable to the creditors, as it has been formerly shewn, but of no value to the public. For the right to redeem is worth nothing, if the pub lic has not the means to redeem j and if money can be found, it appears that it can be better employed to buy up the debt than to pay off. The capacity of the public is laid under no restraint. So tar trom it, 13 millions will be already redeemed. Perhaps in a dozen years the public would not pay off that amount; and if it Ihould prove able, it will have 20 years according to the principles ot the Report to buy ftodc on better terms than paying off. Those who fay we can redeem fader, and will not be fatisfied with the argument I have jull urged, will pleale to remember that by mak ing the entire debt redeemable, we ihall have more to redeem with an imaginary increase of the power will be an actual increase ot the talk to be performed. But will any one soberly assert that the public will probably have thc.connnand of more money than ■t can find perlons willing to accept tor their Hock; and unless this is alfcrtcd, and really believed, I am sure the word irredeema ble will not be ftruckout. If then it is no burden to the public, is it any disadvantage to the creditor ? If the debt is below par, the public will buy stock, and will not pay off the capital. It at par, the creditor will not thank government to do what he may get any individual, and in
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