Alexandria Gazette

We are not believers, as a general rule, in the efficiency of written political addresses by Conventions, &c. They are, for the most part, not read by the mass of the people, and if read fail to make any impression. That is our experience as to the results of political addresses from Conventions, in former days. Their fault is their length; and they have another fault;—or rather used to have—didactic dryness, stilted style, and elaboration of common places. If these Convention addresses are to be continued, in modern days, they should be BRIEF, animated, and to the point. In these times not one in a thousand, reads a political, or a moral, or a critical essay, in a newspaper, which is more than a column long.