I’ll admit that I’m torn about whether it is fair to call Everett a windbag. Part of me says “yeah, he was” and part of me says it’s not really fair.
Even Lincoln, whose pithiness at Gettysburg tends to make Everett look like a windbag by comparison, seemed to hold Everett and his oratory in very high regard. The rest of the country seems to have tended to share that high opinion of the man as well.
Hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving, my friend.
During the recent anniversary of the Address I read somewhere that, afterwards, Everett sent Lincoln a gracious note saying that Lincoln said more in his short speech than he (Everett) did in a couple hours. Made me think well of Everett.
Anyone who can talk for more than an hour is, by definition, a windbag. There is no concept deserving of a speech that be requires more than 30 minutes.
I hope you have a happy Thanksgiving as well, and one of the many things I am thankful for today is that Homer is “putting the band back together.”