He presented his arguments with power, but they were laborious essays.

He had no faculty for extempore speech.

Like Addison, he could draw his draft for a thousand pounds, but might not have a shilling of change.

This did not hinder his progress or lessen his prestige in the Senate.

His written arguments were the anti-slavery classics of the day, and they were read more eagerly than speeches which produced greater effect on the hearer.
Colonel Benton said that the eminent William Pinkney of Maryland was always thinking of the few hundred who came to hear him in the Senate Chamber, apparently forgetting the million who might read him outside.