Vincennes Gazette, Volume 10, Number 20, Vincennes, Knox County, 24 October 1840 — Page 1

WEMlMMMmB QSWESBS ASSmi

"truth without fear 1 VOLUME X. VINCEIYiVES, INDIANA, SATURDAY MORNING, OCTOBER ii, 1810. NO. 20.

POETICAL

Uar! vot th devil's that! oli lorJ! That's true I hud forgot; I'ts 1th July." anJ tho' at sea V must forget it not; The J.iy on vhich it vos resolved On due consideration. Two million of square miles vos bij? Enough to ho "a nation." Tho day vena string of names A scribbled parchment inkin,' -Declared" that men vere equnl, anl That minds vere made for tliinkiii'! That Mr. Snook existed by The sanm means as "my lord;" That "right devino" meant something else, And "king" vos but a vor.l. Th day ven it V03 settled, that Vot some folks rail perfection; Some, folks may feel to bo a etate Of damnable subjection! That half a loaf is sweeter U The stomach, and the mind too, Than whole, vnns vieh you swallowj its A vay you're not inclined to! The day vich fixed a principle, Vich aint no longei new, Thit folks once fit for freedom are. Sure to achieve it too! That a "free horse is vorked to death;" In quite an ancient sayin'; And thj wny to keep the collar on, I to keep obey in'. Hint;! fire aw:u- my he irtie, greet J The risen' nun with thunde ! He'll smile to see upon the deer That proud fla wavin' yonder! Ilriht in the skies abve it, an I IVrvadin' as the Ineee; And stainless in it- -lory as The foam that rap-the oeas! Airrah! the voice of freedom from The far west spieadin' forth. Shall thunder o'er tho Mulish eat. And startle the wide north! Thev hae beim to shake thcm-ielvp, To ctretch. I rub their eyes; As if in far oil' echoes had Already waked surprise! It's worry Strang" it cannot ha That men vere meant for hack, Yet let von say "I vant's to ride," And thousands lend their backs! Veil, "Hail Columbia" Home play the leadin' parts; Hut there vc doesn't lend our bnckn, Xo sii ve givs our hearts!

GENEHAL HARRISON'S SPEECH. AT CH1LLIOOTHE, OHIO. Fellow-Citizens: I but feebly expressed, in the few remarks I made on my arrival in your beautiful city this morning, ihs feeling of gratitude I cherish toward the people of Ross. The ob ligations I owe them are of no ordinary character. Sooner far could my right ban forget its cunning, than I could cease to bo attached to the citizens of a county where the frabric of civil liberty was first elected in the North Western Territory. It was by the influence of the People of this county, and mainly by the votes of her Representatives, that I was chosen to a very responsiblo and important office important, more particularly from the consequences that wero expected to flow from it among the first, that in a civil capacity, I had filled. It was by her votes and influence that I was chosen the Delegate to Congress from the North Western Territory the sole representative of that immense extent of country, which now comprises the glorious States of Ohio, Indiana. Illinois, Michigan. Where could I feel myself more proud to receive such enthusiastic congratulations, than among those who have, in days gone by, conferred upon me such signal honor, and in a place so eminently distinguished in the history of the past? Yes, it was upon this spot, that were first planted, I mean exclusively planted the great principles of pure republicanism. Here lived and flourished such men as your Tiffin, your Worthington, your Massie, your Langham, your Finley, and a host of others men whose names are enbalmed in the grateful recollections of their fellow citizens, and whose memories will live as long as the Scioto shall contribute its . waters to the beauteous river of the West. I am not with you to-day, Fellow-Citi-zern, in accordance with my own sense of propriety. I cannot well realize tUt it is in all respects, proper for an individual occupying the position I do before the American people, to leave the retirement of home, and go from p'ac.e to place, in the capacity of a public speaker. No one can more Jeeply regret the course I am compelled to pursue, than I regret it myself. Indeed I sometimes fear that upon me "will fall the responsibility of establishin r a dangerous precedent to be followed in future time. Much more consonant would it be with my feelings to remain at

the domestic fire-side, than to be harrassed by the cares, the difficulties and the anxieties of a struggle like this. But we have fallen upon evil times; such, at least, is our opinion. And what once might have been justly considered wrong, circumstanced seem note to render an imperative duty. Why then am I here? 1 have not come for the purpose of entangling your minds with a web of sophistry, or to induce you to act contrary to your unbiassed judgment of riht. For if there is a person before me, who considers my personal friend, Mr. Van Buren, better entitled to the high office for which both of us are candidates, let me assure him that no sympathy with me, anil no improper par

tiality in my behalf, should induce him to withhold from my respected opponent his influence and bis vote, 1 am here, because I am the most persecuted and calumniated individual now living; because I have been slandered by reckless opponents to the extent that I am devoid of every qualification physical, mental and moral for the high place to which a respectable portion at least, of my feHow-eilizens have nominated me. I am here, at the urgent solicitations of my friends, nnd because to appear among my fellow-citizens was the only way to disprore. one, at least, of the many allegations that unscrupulous enemies have laid against me. And thus much yon must already have perceived, that I am not caged, that I am not the old man on crutches, nor the im becile, they accuse me of being, nor the prey to disease my enemies would have it believed. The General then referred to the charge that he was not willing to make known his political opinions, and pronounced it a vile calumny. He referreil to the numerous papers of his composition, that have been extensively published, detailing his views upon nearly every political topic that has ever agitated the country, and especially to his letters, written during the pendency of the last contest for the Presidency, to Sherrod Williams and HTmar Denny, in which full and explicit avowals of his political opinions are to be found, fie continued in substance as follows: I would not accept a. office of President of the United States, if I did not believe it was awarded to me after due deliberation. I solicit no man's vote in opposition to his better judgment. If there is any man led astray by feeling, because he deems me a persecuted man he is wrong. I acquit him of 3II obligations o vote for me, if he find the pretensions of my distinguished opponent better than mine. If you have a preference for any other man, vote for him. It is your duty to do so. I know the fallibility of my judgment too well to think that I am always right. I do not go so far as the French lady, who is mentioned by Dr. Franklin, as saying that some how or other, there was no person she knew who was always right except herself. I cannot co so fat as that. But I feel the better satisfied with my opinions because they are such as were held by Washington, and Jefferson, and Madison and Monroe. The most extraordinaiy thing in this contest, is, that we are fighting under the same banner. All here claim to be Democrats. The question then U, who has the right to the appellation of Democrat who are the real Simon Pures? The General here related, for the benefit of the ladies, an amusing anecdote, showing the origin of the term Simon Pure. Let us here examine the events in our history to determine this point. I contend that ;ho appellation properly belongs to those who are now called Whigs. The last war was a distinct mark between the Democrats and Federalists. I must acknowledge th: t some of tho democrats of that period belong to the party now in power, and a better instance could not be cited than that of Col. Johnson. But how is it with the othc members of the partv? I have a right thus to compare land examine the respective claims of both parties. When I was supporting James Madison, as I had Thomas JeiTerson, and was receiving at his hands the most important ami responsible offices, my respected opponent was trying to break down the administration of Madison, which would have had the effect to bring the Ameiican Eagle to the feet of the British Lion. I am going back further to a period in which neither Van Buren nor mysell were actors. All the illustrious men of that period to which I allude, the genuine democrats, such men as Patrick Henry and George Mason, and last though not least, Thomas Jefferson, objected to the Constitution as containing the seed of monarchy. They thought that power might be vested in the President, which would render him to all intents and purposes a monarch. Two of the powers under that constitution, that constitute a monarch have already been given him, and but one other remains to be yielded. This then is the essential difference between the President and those who wish another to supersede him, whether the President shall have all the power. There is not one political doctrine upon which I have not written, and upon no one iin-re than upon this. The removal of public officers merely for a diversity of sen'iment I have never believed in. Were I elected to the Presidency I should consider the officers the servant.

of the people, and should never deem it my duty to remove them without cause, The public offices should be filled by freemen, and they should be allowed the right of private opinion, and of casting their votes as they choose. There is one subject in which I feel personally interested, I mean the law for the organization of the militia. 1 deem this a most outrao-eons aim at Executive

power. If there were any thing calculated to make the President a complete mon1 arch, it would be the passage of this bill. I have been accused, ho.vever, of being the author of a bill, by some said to be more odious, by others equally so with this, which has received the favorable opm ion 01 Mr. van tiuren. v:ien 1 was a 'member of Congress, and the Chairman !of the Committee of Military Affairs, I did introduce a bill which does not resem ble in a single principle this proposal of .Mr. Poinsett. We will compare our fea ture in each, for the time will not allow us to go thro' with the whole. I allude to the section requiring the furnishing of arms. By the measure of Mr. Poinsett, all are obliged alike the poor and the rich, to submit to the same expense 111 procuring the same arm". This is bringing the poor and rich upon the same footing. My proposal was that arms should be furnished at the cost of the government. I admit that there should be a well organized militia, but it should be under subjection to the Slate Government. Men should not be punished for not purchasing arms, when they shew their inability to do it. In regard to the currency of the coun try, I am in favor of a considerable portion of paper money and of a credit system. If I am asked why, my anssvei is, because I am a democrat. 1 am in favor of every system, which will make the poor man richer, and will do the greatest good to the greatest number. I do not believe in making the rich richer and the poor poorer, but in aiding the poor in emerging from their poverty and attaining wealth, and it is credit that is the capital of the poor man. It is not the name of democracy that is all-sufficient. Nearly all the political crimes that were ever committed, have been perpetrated in the name of liberty and equality. Here he adverted to many instances in hisiory in which nations have been scourged by tyrants who rose into power by pretending1 to democracy, anil mentioned she case in the French involution, where a lady, when brought to the scaffold, and seeing over her head a beautiful image of Liberty, exclaimed "O Liberty, how many crimes are committed in thy name. "J Such, he continued, were the dire feats of run-mad democracy. Nothing is more insiduous than power. Like avarice, it holds what it has, and steals more. I urge yon to examine my claims in comparison with those of my emiwent opponent, and if his course has been more in accordance with Jeffeisonian democracy than my own; if you find he has sliown less desire for arbitrary power, than myself, then you are bound to elect him. Gen. IL dwelt for some time upon the impropriety of relying upon pledges and promises of candidates, rather than upon their former lives and the fidelity with which they had fulfilled former trusts. He supposed no one would be nominated for the high office of President, who had not filled minor stations; and he referred to the scripture rule, that "7ie who was faith ful in a few things tcould likewise be faithful over many, as most to lie depended upon by the people. And he warned the people, that if they allowed themselves to trust to pledges and promises given by candidates, instead of requiring them to show lives of spotless integrity and patriotism, the Presidency would soon be held up for barter, as had beer, the Consulate of Rome, not, indeed, for money, but for promises. Washington and his immediate successors in office, had not been required by their countrymen to pledge themselves in advance. The uprightness exhibited m their previous careers, was sufficient, and the only proper guaranty, that they would administer the Government for the honor and happiness of the nation. By this test, Gen. Harrison wished to stand or fall. He would be grateful and proud to receive the high trust upon these conditions, but upon no other. It wa3 the privilege and duty of his fellow-citizens to examine his life and that of his opponent; and upon an impartial review of their careers, he desired the grand verdict of his countrymen to be made up. I feel some hesitancy, con'inued Gen. II., in refering to the allegations that have been preferred against me in a military capacity. I have a delicacy in commenting upon acts in which I am personally interested. But I cannot well exculpate myself without doing so. I am the more reluctant to speak of these allegations, also, as I cannot refer to them without wounding the State of my adoption. But the occasion was not brought about by myself, and I am not responsible for its results. I am sorry to say that I have been calumniated from a quarter I had no right to expect. A member of the most dignified and honorable body on earth has been my traducer. The speaker here made a most striking and happy allusion to anchient Rome. lie remarked that)

long after the essence of freedom had de

parted its image remained, for the Senate was still arrayed in unsullied purity and dignity, and was beyond the contaminat ing touch of power. 1 he humiliation of the people of Rome did not arrive until those who had been honored with the office of Senators became panders to the vices of a tyrant. V hen they acted the scavenger of that tyrant, picking up from the vilest places, calumnious stones to destroy the reputation of the faithful servants of the country, then it was that the Roman people were humbled and degraded. J Shall I make the application for you' he observed, shall I say that this ytate, this city, has sustained the man, the Senator, who could stoop to meanness li';e this? It has been said in your hearing, that the individual who now addresses you, while holding a commission, as Commanding General of the North Western Army, from the President of the United States, was so recreant to duty as to be two miles from the scene of conflict during a most important engagement. Never calumny carried such devastation with it. It stabs the reputation of your Shelby and your Perry, who gave other and different statements. It would stab your country to the heart. And in any future war how seriously would it operate to her disadvantage? Look around you at the present state of the world, and is not its military character its great defence? Wfiy was once a small Republic, scarce larger than this county, the terror of the greatest empires. He instanced Great Britain also, and oilier nations; and continued. What would be the military eharacterof our own country, if you strike from the lists of its heroes, puc'i illustrious names as Washington and Wayne, and Greene, and Decatur, and Baiiibridgef What a beautiful page of history would the following make, to be read by the monarchists of the old world? And yet there is a citizen among you attempting to brand the West with a similar infamy. In the course of the last war one army was given to the enemy by the basest treachery; while another, (if the history is to read according to the traducers of mv character,) was surrendered by the unfailhlessness of its principal officers. The Major General, the Brigadier General, the Colonels, all were so recreant to their duty as to entrust the entire command of the most important post, to a yoMg man, whose whole term of inilitrry service did not exceed four months. Even the illustrious Shelby, the hero of King's Mountain, was passed by to make room for a stripling in war. Here is a history for western men to read! Soppose I had entrusted the command to Col. Johnson, I would have been responsible for the result! But I did not give the command to Col. Johnson; I did not give him any discretion as to his course. And for more reasons than one. In the first place, had such discretion been extended to him, I should have been liable, by the laws of war, te be tried for nnofficerlike conduct by a court martial, and be cashiered. Had I passed over too, in so slighting a manner, Governor Shelby, my second in command, 'and a veteran officer of the revolution, and reposed so inuoh confidence in a subordinate, if -over lightning flashed from a man's eye, it would have flashed from his; if ever thunder broke from human lip, it would have broke from his. But for still another reason, I did not submit any discretion to Col. Johnson. He knew nothing about it. He was more capable of taking command of an army for bat.le, than either of you gentlemen, who had not been instructed in the mechanism of a watch, would be to put thewhtcis of that instrument together and put them in in :ion. He was not competent, because he had not been educated in military tactics, and had no experience in war. Having said thus much of Col. Johnson, I must now say what I know of him that is good. His whole military career. as I have previously remaiked, did not ex ceed four months; and yet while he was .... 1 1 1 a r.f ruber ot tne army, ne serveu 11 is country with unsurpassed fidelity. A pu rer patriot I nejer saw. During the cam1 1 f . 1 paign, when l toot command 01 trie army, he was a member of Congress, and all the time that he could be spared from his duty there, he was in active service under my command, sometimes with one company, sometimes with two, and finally with a regiment. His wounds attest his bravery in the field, and if he had been killed in battle, or had died since. he would have deserved a monument to perpetuate his name. I he front rank is not usually tfie place for the Commander-in-chief. There is none but one event, when the laws of war permit him to go into the foremest of the fight. When hope seems lost, and de spair is settling spon his shoulders, then, and then only is he to plunge into the hot test of the strife and meet a glorious death, or achieve a victory. In no other case is his life thus to be periled. And if he is always in the very front of tho contest, leading on in person the advance troops, who is to see to the interests of the various detachments of the army 1 All the order of battle issue from him. When he sees one portion of those en gaged in conflict too hotly pressed by the! enemy, ha must send them assistance J

irom tnose in reserve. 1 lius ins eye must he fixed upon all parts of the army, and tie must be ready, at a moment, to provide for any emergency. You per ceive then what must be the position of the commanding General, for the security of his army. If it were the fact, that the suggestion to charge upon the enemy by mounted infantry were made to me by Col. John son, it could not injure me. I must accept the suggestion, and make it my or der, or else it could not be enforced. And I also was responsible for its results, whatever they might be. Suppose now that it had not succeeded. Suppose the British troops, instead of continuing in open order as they were, and which alone induced me to conceive this project, had instantly closed into compact columns. How then should I have been acquitted for the tremendous sacrifice of life, which must necessarily have ensued? Could I have answered upon my trial that it was not my fault for the suggestion came from Uol. Johnson: It 1 had what would it have availed me? The answer would have come back you, sir, were in com mand by authority, and you alone are re sponsible for ads like this. And those very persons, who now claim for Co! Johnson the fvmor of the plan, wouid lave be"n the first to have involved me in the disgrace ot its failure. Iurely it cannot be right to deprive one of the hon or of a deed, the disgrace of which he would have incurred. But the suggestion how to charge the enemy never caaie from Col. Johnson. It was entirely of my own conception. I fia 1 designed another plan for the battle, and had sent an officer to reconnoitre the position of the enemy. It was reported to me that 'roc tor had drawn up his troops in open order. This was so jrreat an error, that I could with dillicuiiy believe the British General had committed it, and told the officer who brought the return, that he must be mistaken. Upon beinir assured, lowever, that such was the disposition of the forces of Proctor, I at once changed the mode of attack, and ordered Johnson to charge with his mounted men. Had the troops of the enemy been drawn up in solid order, as they should have been and as every one expected, I would as soon have charged with mounted infantry, upon yonder line of brick houses. You have been told, Fellow-Citizens, that I was two miles from the scene of action at the memorable battle on the Thames. Now I will heie propose a bargain. If any one will shew me that I was two miles at any one time during the engagement from the front of the battle that 1 was one mile from the front of the battle that I was 'half a mile from 'the front of the battle that I was quarter of a mile from the front of the battle that I was one hundred feet from the front of the battle that I was fifty feet from the front f the battle then I will give up the contest. But it is said that Col. Johnson did i.ot see me. Neither did I see him. Can any one suppose, that because he did not see me through a thicket of 20 .) yards wide, I was not ihere? Col. Johnson was on the extreme left, and I was on the extreme right with his brother James' regiment. Will an) one come lorward and swear that I did not finish the battle? and gain the victory, in advance of any point that Col. Johnson had attained to? I did so. For when he fell covered wiih wounds, and his troops were repulsed, I m irehed forthwith to the rescue, and in front of where fie had fallen, I secured the conquest myself. If the allegations that have been preferred against me are correct, then is the history of the last war untrue for that history supports me in every word I have said on this subject. Gen. H. here made a most happy and touching allusion to Kentucky, and the support she had given him during the last war. This heart, saiJ he, will cease to throb, ere it ceases to remember my obligations to Kentucky that gallant state! I never was her citizen a single day, yet she sent for me to take command of an army of her patriotic soldiers. And long after the battle was over, although she had many noble sons upon her own soil, when Kentucky wished to send out her troops, she entrusted to my care her favorite sons, with these words: "here are our gallant sons, we entrust them to your care." Does this look as though Kentucky believed the charges whieh are now uiged to my discredit I had the honor of being born in Old Virginia, I was once adopted by the IIoo. iers of Indiana, I am now a son of Ohio. I rejoice to hail from Virginia, from Indiana and Ohio. Yet the greatest honor I ever yet have received was conferred upon me in this precious trust committed to my care by gallant Kentucky. From the Chicago American. Zilhiois can nis! must kredeemed. It was evidently the intension of the loco foco party in the false and exaggerated account of their majority in August last, to dispirit the Whigs from making any attempts to carry the state in November next. Hence the glaring falsehood was paraded in large capitals in the col umns of the state paper that the loco focos at the last election had a in jority in the

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state of nearly 7000. The Editor, at the time he made tin's premature statement, based on unofficial and false return', knew it to be incorrect and vastly beyond the majority which his party had received, but the objects of t!i? party must, if possible, be achieved, and hence the lie was duly blazoned in his columns. A carefully corrected statement in the JSangamo

Journal, submitted to the scrutiny of many of the prominent whig politicians of Springfield shows the actual majority of the loco locos to be LESS THAN 1000; but to be exceedingly liberal with them we will even concede that their majority is 2000. We now ask the Whigs of the 87 counties in the state if this small ma jority cannot, with even ordinary exertion be easily overcome, anti cannot lhs date with th-4 exertion which the Whigs should and will make, be made to go bv a handsome majority in favor of her old Governor? We are decidedly of this opinion. The state must be redeemed from Loco Focoism. In fjet we hare neard already of almost votes enough that will be polled for General Harrison in November next, that either were not cast at all or else from local and other considerations were thrown away upon the loco foco candid ites in August last, to neutralize the loco foco majority. We havo heard of scores and scores of fanners in tins and tfie neighboring counties, who were attending to their harvests at the last election and did not vote at all, who will be found with a ballot for old Tip at the great contest in November, and scores more who voted against some cf Tip's col'.s, in August last, who will vote for tho old racer himself in November. A little calculation will show that it requires but few changes in each county to overcome the loco foco majority. Thnne change: arc now going on. A part from the general feeling of state and national pride which we would have, in seeing Illinois deposit her vote for the restoration of the country to her former state of prosperity and honor, we have a peculiar anxiety to see her rallying with Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan, the other noble whig stales, of the old Nordi Western Territoiy, around their old and favorite Governor, and coming up the last, though not the least in the old family circleof the General, to bid him a hearty and grateful welcome to the Pre sidential chair. She is the onlv pirt of tiiis noble and rapidly growing portion of the American Republic that I as not hon ored the claims of lis old and rV.ustrious commander and benefactor. Shall she alone hold out, disgraced in the soli ude of her unfiiial, ungrateful opposition? Shall she be the only star in the V estern Galaxy that will not shine around tho hero's head, and light him to a glorious victory? Will she ''solitary and alone" throw away her vote on Martin Van Buren, the enemy of her interests, and before whom Gen. Harrison stands as a Hyperion to a Salyi? We cannot, wo will not believe it. The country expects better things. The East will not believe it it will not bear so disgraceful a reflection. No! the word has gone forth, and is now reverberating through our beautiful prairies, till it meets the victorious t-houts of Indiana, Kentucky and Michigan Illinois WILL BE RLDKF.MKD. THE WHIG LADIES. The ladies of Lee, in Berkshire county, Mass. lately got up a Whig celebration, while their husbands and sweethearts were attending a Whig convention at Harrington. The Lenox (Mas9.) Eagle contains more than half a column of patriotic sentiments offered on the occasion. We make a few extracts. By Mis. B., a lady of 87 years of age. May the same spirit which animated the Whig ladies of 'iGbe cherished by tlu? Whig ladies of IM0. Bv Mr'. B s. Log Cabins. We choose to live in them, rather than witness the distress of our country, occasioned by the present administration. By Mrs. P. We are eallet the weak er, but let us be the stronger in the cause of Harrison. By Miss D. No Saxon Carpets, but American manufactures only. By Miss B. No reduction of wages, no cold spoons, 110 Sub-Treasury. Bv Miss Z. Better a Log Cabin in the forest, with a Whig, than a splendid palace and a Locofoco therewith. By Miss A. William Henry Harrison. The people's man, the ladies' idol. By Miss S. May this day's effort encourage our husbands and lovers to persevere in the high and noble whig cause. The Ladies had not retired from tho scenes of festivity, when the delegation returned from Great Harrington. They were received with the waving of handkerchiefs, which they answered with enthusiastic cheers. To keep up Sash JVindows. This is performed by means of cork, in the simplest manner, and with scarely any expense. Boie three or four holes in the sidesof the sash, into which insert com mon bottle corks, projecting about the six teenth part of an inch. 'I hese will press against the window frames, along the usual groove, and by their elasticity support the sa-h at any height required. Who can p3y homage to the tiuly despicable is truly contemptible.