COMMUXmTIOXS
FOR TIIE FREE FRESS.
Low Speeches, "unprofitable
pay."
Jlfr. Editor,
Oratory is the huffing and blus
tering spoiled child of a semi-barbarous
age. The Press is the foe
of Rhetoric, but the frif nd of Rea
son; and the art of declamation has
been sinking in value, from the mo
ment speakers were foolish enough
to publish, and readers wise enough
to read. I think, sir. that an Ora
tor could be got much cheaper now
at Washington, than of ancient
times, when the King of Macedon
offered so great a price for one.
But there is a spurious kind of ha
rangue, practised by our Members
in C6ngress; a kind of logic, that
would become a Falstaff much bet
ter than a Philosopher: "Why,
Hal. tis mv vocation. Hal; tis no
' sin for a manto labor in his voca
tion." There are no potentates, of
modern times, that would imitate
Philip, and offer a town, containing
ten thousand inhabitants, for an
Orator, when many could be got at
the aforementioned place for a six
pence. The ancients were a gos
sipping and a listening, rather than
a writing or reading set. This cir
cumstance gave an Orator great
opportunity of display; for the
tongue effects that for thoughts,
"that the Press does for words; but
the tongue confers on them a much
shorter existence, and produces
them in a far less tangible shape;
two circumstances that are not un
favorable to a specchifier. An an
cient demagogue said, that so long
as the people had ears, he would
rather that they should be without
understandings. All good things
here below have their drawbacks;
and all evil things their compen'sa
tions. The drawback of the ad
vantage of printing is, that it ena
bles coxcombs to deluge us with
dulness; and the compensation for
the want of that aft "was this, that
if blockheads wrote nonsense, no
one else would transcribe it, neither
could they take their trash to mar
ket, when it cost so much time and
labor to multinlv the conies. Book
sellers arp lil-p VinT-co,1o.,l-c- ;,, i
- A.V. J VACl I 1 J Ut Will, I
respect, and if they buy the Devil,
they must also sell the Devils but
the misfortune is, that a Bookseller
seldom understands the merits of a
book, so thoroughly as the horse
dealer the merits of a horse, and
reads with far less judgment than
the other rides. But to return to
the speechifiers. An Orator, who,
like Demosthenes, appeals to the
head, rather than to the heart, who
resorts to argument not to sophis
try; who has no sounding words, un
supported by strong conceptions;
who would rather convince with
out persuading, than persuade with
out convincing, is an exception to
all rules, and would succeed in all
periods. When the Roman people
had listened to the long, diffuse,
and polished discourses of Cicero,
they departed saying to one ano
ther, what a splendid speech our
Orator has made; but when the A-
thenians heard Demosthenes, he so
filled them with the subject matter
ot nis oration, that they quite for
got the Orator, but left him at the
finish of his harangue, breathing
revenge, and exclaiming let us go
and fight against Philip.
"New duties new taxes" says Da
niel to Dick
"On iron and woollens they lay it
on thick
"Molasses and med'eine come in for
their share;
"Manufactures must flourish, tho'
tommprrp Hpsnair:
"They all need protection and can't
worn without"
" o'dr pardon," qUOth Dick, "tho'
your word I can't doubt,
i "One factory keeps wording, miasi
want and 'midst ncnes,
'And that, my dear Dan, is the
Factory of Speeches
Q IX THE CORNER.
'FOREIGN.
GREECE.
The following extract of a let
tcr from the Greek Committee
in London, will be read with in
tercst by the numerous friends
of the Greek cause in this coun
try. It will be an additional
Gratification lo them to learn.
that the contribution in the Uni
ted States, to aid the Greeks in
their struggle for liberty, which
have already been forwarded to
London to be transmitted to
them, amount to thirty-five
thousand dollars; a greater
sum as appears from the tollow
ins letter, than was subscribed
during a year in Great Britain:
Greek Committee Room, Crown
and Anchor Tavern, London,
11th Jan. 1824.
Sir The accounts which the
committee have received lately
from the Morea, are very en
couraging, and they trust, that
in the ensuing campaign, a very
nowerful assistance will be af-
i
lorded to the Greeks in tne;an expedition, consisting oi
stores which the subscription of; frig-ate, a sloop of war, a bri
last year, amounting to nearly
7000, enabled them to send.
These consisted in printing
presses, types, surgical instru
ments, medicines and hospital
stores; two brigades of guns for
maritime service, ammunition,
ammunition materials for form
ing a complete laboratory for
the manufacture of rockets,sphe
rical roll-shot, and every species
of destructive fire works. The
committee sent with these arti
cles, eight men (artificers) and
a very intelligent fire master to
direct and instruct. Two sur
geons have been sent, and four
German engineer olficers.
We request that you will be
kind enough to give circulation j
to the documents accompanying
this. We have, etc.
JOSEPH HUME, Chairman.
Accounts from Nuremberg of,
the 19th March, state that the
Greeks
had fallen in with a
Turkish corps which was march
ing from Thessaly for Lepanto, J
and had entirely cut them to
pieces.
Private
letters from Tina
state, that the G reeks haye made '
themselves masters of Clazome
nez, and that they have been
successful in capturing the great
caravan ot xlngora, at the mo
mentof its reaching the gates of i
Smyrna Patras was expected
to surrender shortly. LordBy-
ron had adopted a Greek dress
and had marched with a corps
T ri u. P;
poiniea a member ol the council
of Western Greece. It was re
ported that the Pacha of Scutari,
had raised the standard of rebel
lion against Turkey, and decla
red his intention of making com
mon cause with the Albanians
and Hellenes. Several English
officers of merit, had recently
arrived in Greece, and several
cargoes of munitions of war.
Mustapha Pacha is to com
mand the great army of 80,000
Turks, destined against the Mo
rea. SOUTH AMERICA.
(Captain Bossiere, of the schr.
Ardent, arrived in Baltimore,
23d ult. in 23 days from Porto
Bello, reports that a letter re
ceived at Porto Rello, dated at
Manama, 26th March, mention
ed that a vessel had that day ar
rived there from Callao, bring
ing information that the Royal
Swinish Army had made pro-
positions to capiiiuaie w rmi-
var on condition oi Deing sum
to Panama to cross to the At
lantic. A Colombian squadron
of six sail, under Commodore
Block, arrived 26th March from
Maracaibb arid Carthagena, and
landed 1500 troops, who cross
ed over to Panama.
New-York April ID. We
learn of Capt. Osborrf, of the
sloop David, 7 days from Ha
vana, that an action took place
off the Bay of Matanzas, on the
3d or 4th inst. between a Co
lombian squadron, of two cor
vettes and a brig, and the Spa
nish sloop of war Ceres, of 2S
-uns, having a fleet of merchant
vessels, all from Havana, under
convoy. The action lasted an
hour, and resulted in the cap
ture of the Ceres, three heavy
cKirvi. and eiffht drosrers. and the
o O '
victors immediately bore away
ivitli their nrizes. The Ceres
lost between 30 and 40 in killed
and wounded. The captain was
Irlllpd the first broadside. A
number of the crew jumped o
verboard; those who succeeded
in reaching the shore, were sent
to the Moro. An embargo w
immediately laid at Havana,
which lasted till the 9th, when
anj a schooner, sailed in pursuit
of the Colombians, which, by
this time, it was believed had
rot out of their reach.
The Evergreen-, lately arrived
at Salem, left Para on the 3d
March, in company with a Por
tuguese frigate and gun brig and
several other vessels, having on
board all the Portuguese and
English merchants, the English
consul, and other Europeans
who left the place in conse
quence of 15,000 insurgents be
ing ready to enter the city, who
were expected to massacre the
Europeans without distinction.
The town was in complete con
fusion. All the supplies from
the Marigo island were cut off,
and every canoe stopped up the
river by the insurgents. .On
board of one ship which left Pa
ra in the fleet, were 192 mer-
chants, embarked for Lisbon.
ENGLAND.
London accounts to tbc 12th
March have been received.
The answer of Lord Liverpool
to the Marquis of Landsdown,
the sub:ect 0f South Ameri
ca, seems to put at rest the idea
that Europe will interfere to re
duce the former colonies of
Spain On this continent, to their
.curn
The memo-
randum referred in it, of a eon
WPsn:ftn uotlvn Mv rw;.
and the Prince de Pol'ignac, as?
scrtcd on the t 0f Mr' G
that any attempt to
any airempi to recover
those colonies would only lead
to renewed bloodshed, without
hope of success; and this was as
sented to by the French minis
ter. In the speech of Mr. Hus
kisson, in the Hi of Commons,
in support of the Chancellor of
the Exchequer's budget, and es
pecially in reference to a reueal
of the duties on silk, he seems
to treat the question of South
American independence as one
no longer questionable, and that
independence as opening an im
mense field to British cnterprizc
and industry.
The British Parli amcnt has
voted 8,229 for the civil esta
blishment in Upper Canada the
present year, which is 400 less
thanlastyear. Some grumbling
took place, Mr. Bright appro
ved of the sum; the colony
ought to be encourageed, in or
der that it might be rendered a
counterpoise to the power 0j
the U. States. A bright itez.yi
FRANCE.
Thb French Parliament had
been opened by the king in per
son, who delivered a Speech
nnrrntnlntinor the country on
ii c.oooful termination OI
HIV? SUlViWOOlui - - ,
the war against the Constitu-
;rtnnlkts of Snain. and other
mnttprs as to foreign powers,
i :i f of nf ih.
f thr rnnntrv. AliU-
IlllJilVJ v..w J
din- to Greece and South Ame
rica, he expressed a hope that
every thing would be "regula
ted to the advantage oi me na
tions and people who are inte
rested, and to the great exten
sion of the commercial relations
of the world." We had before
learned, that the French go
vernment did not intend to as
sist Spain in her unwise project
of re-connuerine; South Ameri-
rrK but had shewn every dispo
sition to follow the example of
England by sendingconsuls tm
ther to open a commercial in
tercourso with the new repub
lics. There is reason to believe
that the report which lately
rAopViorl us. nf 1 ranee beins a-
bout to acknowledge the inde
pendence of Hayti, was well
founded.
Out of 430 Deputies returned
to the French Chamber, only 17
were known to be liberals, be
ing a decrease of 93 since last
year. Gen. La Fayette lost
his election by a considerable
majority. As ins political du
ties have ceased, he s now at
liberty to accept the invitation
to the United States and our
countrymen will probably soon
have the pleasure of welcoming
to our shores the mend and he
ro of our revolution and favorite
of Washington.
SPAIN.
Juaarid, Feb. lb. A con
vention has been concluded be
tween the French and Spanish
governments, in virtue of which
France will have the free trade
of Havana for a certain time.
A multitude of rumors are in
circulation. It is said that some
Alc;crine vessels have effected a
landing near Malaga and Motril,
where they have made a rich
booty, and carried off some of
the wealthiest individuals in or
d2r to obtain crreat ransoms. It
is said that the definitive treaty
for the occupation of Spain has
been signed. For four years
40,000 men will remain in the
country and the Spanish go
vernment will pay to France
the sum of 2,000,000 francs per
month, which will form the im
mense amount of 96 millions for
the four years. This place is
tranquil, but misery is increa
sing both here and in the pro
vinces. Lieut. Gen. the Marquis de
Casteldorios.a Grandee of Spain,
has been arrested and imprison
ed by order of the king. His
offence was his appearing at
court in the national uniform,
contrary to the order of the
king. He replied to the king
that the suit he had on did him
more honor than any other, and
began to hum the air Tragala
Pcrro Dosr swallow it.
MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.
Algiers. The London Cou
rier of the 25th March mentions
the capture, by a British frigate,
of a Sardinian vessel bound for
Algiers with naval stores, and a
diamond crown on board for the
Dey. The cargo was landed
at Malta, and the vessel dis
charged. The Dutch squadron
had arrived ofT Alicani, and was
cruising against the Algerines.
The Dey has declared war a-
gainst Spain. Algiers is blocka-
ded by a British squadran. Aft
Mr. Shaler, our consul at Al
giers, has been threatened, it ha
been suggested to increase our
fcrce on that station.
"Africa. A vessel arrived nt
fiarbadoes, on the 18th March,
from Cape Coast Castile, with an
account of the defeat of th(.
English, under the command oi
Sir Charles M'Carthy, by a nu
merous and powerful tribe o:
Ashantees. The British had
marched against the Ashantees
in the interior of Africa, with
the natives of Cape Coast and
merchants to the number alto
gether 'of 5,000 with an intent
to proceed direct to Coomassie,
the Ashantee capital, whenthey
were met on the 21st January,
by a body of 10,000 of the for
mer, and after a bloody engage
ment from 1 P. M. till sunset,
were entirely defeated. This
account was brought by the fu
gitives who had returned to tho
Cape. Neither Sir Charles nor
any of the merchants had been
heard of, on the 4th Feb. and it
was supposed they were either
all massacred or taken prisoner?.
Another force under Capt. La
ing was mustering to attack the
Ashantees.
Korth-zccst Cocst. The ship
Sachem, arrived at Boston, from
California, informs that, in Feb
ruary andMarch, 1S23, a Rus
sian sloop of war was in St
Francisco, surveying the port,
and ssiled thence for the North
west coast, in search of Ameri
can vessels trading there. The
Russians informed the Comman
dant of St Francisco, that they
should capture chy vessels found
breaking the Imperial Ukase.
When the Sachem left, every
thing was peaceable there, but
the inhabitantswere much alarm
ed for fear the Russians meant
to possess thenlselves of the
country; They adhere to the
Mexican government, but the
communication between that
and California was tardy, and
sometimes intercepted. The
Russians still continue their set
tlement about 30 miles to the
northward of Port Bodesca, ami
have taken possession of that
place, where they have lately
built two vessels.
FRIDAY, MAY 7, 1824.
SMALL POX.
Report of cases at the He&jutal ir.
the vicinity of Halifax tozvn.
The cases at the Hospital, (three
in number) who have been taken
with the disease, have all passed
through it kindly and favorably.
Mr. McLemore is convalescent so
far as to have shed the scabs from
the upper part of his body. He
was the third and last case.
The balance of those who have
been confined there, have as yet
remained free from all symptoms
of the disease, and we sincerely
hope it will stop where it is at pre
sent; but we can oidy hope it, from
the character of the females who
have been there, and among whom
the disease originated, we have so
little confidence in their prudence
and discretion, that we can only
throw ourselves upon a charitable
public, and say that wc hope for
the best, assured that a generous
public will believe that we have
been, and still are, doing every
thing we can to confine it.
We have further to state, in
WwyRlamii mil rmmtt