In passing, I continually marvel at how different today's lawyers and politicians are from us of the first generation. We did not possess a single orator to compare with the present crop. Jefferson and Madison were inaudible. Monroe was dull. Hamilton rambled and I was far too dry {and brief} for the popular taste. Fisher Ames was the nearest thing we had to an orator {I never heard Patrick Henry}. Today, however, practically every public man is now a marvellous orator-no, actor! capable of shouting down a tempest, causing tears to flow, laughter to rise. I cannot fathom the reason for this change unless it be the influence of a generation of evangelical ministers {Clay always makes me think of a preacher a-wash in the Blood of the Lamb who, even as he calls his flock to repent, is planning to seduce the lady in the back pew}; and of course today's politician must deal with a much larger electorate than ours. We had only to enchant a caucus in a conversational tone while they must thrill the multitude with brass and cymbal.
( Gore Vidal )
[ Burr ]
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