Litchfield enquirer. [volume] (Litchfield, Conn.) 1829-current, 1838-12-06
nv REQUEST.
.Fsom BsntIsy's (ERgIish) MisosLiany for octobsr.
AMERICAN LIONS.

HGaTCtlY
HANGING the value of an article in the gener- I
al market-and thus il is as respects "liohs"
in the United States of America. No people !
under the sun have stronger Partially for
lions than the Americans have, which may
be attributed, in some measure, to their scar |
city. They have bears, panthers, (p1snters,
as the Yankees call them,) and wolves in
abundance; but these are all "tarnation lit |
tie set by" in comparison with their Hons
To be sure there is government bounty on
the heads of wolves and panthers; and as
government bounties are always paid III
"hard," or T" jackson" money, and as dollars
are getting considerable scarce in the set.
Elements" presume that these "critters" wall
be rather more looked after, and better thot
of, than they were formerly. AS for bears
why, honest Bruin cares very little about
r'umptions in the currency, or the long faces
pulled by the commercial gentlemen Of Wall
street; for, so long as he can manage to get
dinner of nice young pork once week du-
ring the summer, and snug berth ia hollow
pine-tree, with fat paw to suck, during the
winter, II calculate" that he never bothers
his head about Martin Buren,, the present pre-
sident-but there is no accounting for the alb
sence of family affection! Since the States
first !. toddled without leading strings" they
have never been wholly destitute Of lions. al.
though the individual number at any period
has been but few, and their " locations" far
between. ...ia
The first and most renowned Of adj their
lions. and, politically speaking, the father OF
all the rest, was General Washington. He
was more renowned in his day than any one
that has inhabited the royal Tower of Lon
don for the last century (even including
'"Old Glory" y and although his admirers
have not been so barbarous as to stun his
hide with straw, they have hung him up in
efigy before the door of many a road side
the country. Though so long dead and
gone, his exploits are fresh in the recollec-
.tion Ofevery patriotic American citizen and
when all the other lions that have appeared
within the limits of the Union since its earli-
est existence shall be "gone and forgotten"
the name of Washington will remain to be
honored and revered by unborn generations.
hardly ever ,gazed upon the benign and
placid countenance of this great hero, that
did not bethink me Of the noble lion Nero
that was exhibited through my own country /;
for who ever gazed upon a milder counte-
nance than Nero's And yet there was
savageness in his nature when reused, that
bespokeihim veritable lion! Washington,
too, on peculiar occasions, showed similar
Symphonic A single. instance will suffice to
illustrate rhis-the fate of poor Major Andre.
But at that period Washington's nature had
been reused; he had been teazed, tainted,
foiled, and :irritated-and in the rage OF the
moment he poanced upon his victim. Andre
was trying the experiment of other fool-har-
dyshowmen. He thrust his head within the
lions jaws, and got it "scrunched."
There lis scarcely another lion upon re-
cord, that is q fighting lion, among all the
heroes ofthe Revolution; for even including
Wayne, and several others, their names al.
ready are nearly forgotten, except in the
page Of their country's history. A foreign
cub of the revolutionary war grew up, and
became lion of the first magnitude. ] re-
Ter to the French general Lafayette. Poor
psResx toK il biz ana gid aage he hsHa%s
visit his early haunts and never, sure, was
q fine old animal so pestered and annoyed !
by being dragged through the country, from (
one end of it to the other, to have his paw |
shaken, and to be beslayered with fulsome
praise" by wild unmannered hordes of raw |
republicans. They paraded him. and gave
him public feeds in every town and city in |
the Union; and all this they modestly cal
led " national gratitude to the gineral." -
Half a century hence, and probably they
may sport some naval lions; but these days
Of peace and quiet are unfavorable to such a
growth. During the last little scratch Amer
lea had with this country, they had a few
burly cubs in their- naval establishment,
amongst which by far their greatest favorite
was Decatur. But one unlucky day he hap
pened to quarrel with an older whelp than
himself, and thereby got his quietus! Sc |
veral of them fought like "blasted cata-
mounts I" and Lawrence, who fought brave
Nv, and fell, 10 considered sort of martyr by |
the Yankees. gq85Saa iah .ss9i.l.s#...e.. |
!. The Americans have on record whole |
string of what they consider regular hens"
whose names are appended to an instrument |
of great national Importance, called their |
" Declaration Of Independence )" and al.
though these may properly be termed hstor-
icai lions, (since many Of the names would |
have been buried in oblivion had it not been |
for this docunent) yet it must be admitted
there was something lionish in their charac- |
tiers, or, they never. would have dared to |
beard their lawful sovereign by putting their |
paws to such rebellous paper. In the whole !
batch Of signers" there may be individual |
exceptions few that stepped out from the |
mass; and first and foremost Of these is that |
blunt old printer, Benjamin franklin. There
can be little doubt respecting Ben's claim,
living or dead, to the distinction of lion, al
though his outward man was not 50 sleek and
polished as those that commonly belong to
that pobie genus and believe the Yankee
folks themselves admit, that tho. he was sent
abroad, he was of too rough grain 10 take
a "French polish" But Franklin, to do him
justice, was no ordinary; character; and
think that his nation very properly consider
him the second lion Of his day. He was a
shrewd. homespun genius, but withal SEM
sibae fellow and has left many wise saws
and sayings behind him, for the use and ben
eft Of those who are not apast improve
Anent." sf73i "3
The next Of the /" Declarationists," who
may be considered as having claim 10 the
honor of lionship, 10 the first Of the American
Adams q wonder If Old Father Adam was
r. a ~ ~