The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1839-04-24
From Ae Leuispiiie Literary NsrsLsi.er.
ELOQUENCE OF THE WEST.

~ JOHN HEwLkND MArrIrr.
Habits Of thought and styles Of oratory are
no doubt Influenced by the scenery and gene
raj FEATURES Of country, as well as by modes OF
education and the forms Of society. Admitting
the truth Of this assertion, il is no wonder that
the Eloqnence Of the West is bold, energetic,
magnificent In this glorious region, mind
develops earlier, and approaches the maturity
Of tsvigor In forms Of fresh beauty and sub
Unity. which may be sought for in vain in the
older sections Of the continent. Even without
the highest degrees Of mental culture and COM
paratively unleitered, the mind that is admit
ted To contemplate the scenery of the West, TO
range over the almost interminable prairies. or
gaze leariully on the mountain Businesses OF
the Alleghsnies, or to span the ocean-hke ~
vers, cannot but be filled, imbued, oserpowe'c
ed with the strange and solemn expression OF
the creation around him. But yet rs ho'
fact that the western mind i III any genera
sense destitute Of the aids OF letters less man
the tame lOwland dwellers OF the sea- wasnea'
sandy coasts. yet, while i reads the ieariu'y
diNinct impression on natures open-ieaved
volume. il Is also not without the tones oil va
ried Apd useful literature. Strains oil mascu-
line eloqhence-thrilng ms the free notes OF
the mountain hosn, and full Of the elements OF
passion--arc the native productions OF the
West, as much in keeping with the scenery Of
the regiona mind ever should be with matter,
and as true to nature as the tones OF wind
harp 10 the breath Of the evening.
The opinion that may have been extensive
~ propagated in the elder states and along the
se;l-board OF the intellectual inferiority of the
West, was, no doubt, the effect Of religious
bgoiry, or Of Tint jealousy which ever agi.ates
the various portions of community in the rival
~ oil influence and power. That opinion -
now dissipated like vapor before the light OF
truth. The great West, with sufficient energy
and ability to vindcate claim TO the natural
talent and genius, and exhibited and still exhi-
bits in the profession Of law and the sacred
calling Of pulpit oratory, the elements Of une-
quaIled eloquence. The inquiry into what has
produced this state of things is replete with in
struction and interest.
In the great West the superabundance Of
eastern, OF northern, and southern talent and
enterprise congregaies. The dull, the unas-
pring, the idle, never think Of overpassing.the
cluudcapt barriers ofthe Allegheny. The bold.
the 'resolute, the ambitious, leave the white
cottages Of New England,the sunny savannas
of the South, and carve out their homes from
the kingly forests of the fresh untouched will
derness. What has created their eloquencel
What has given il its tones Of thunder-its
wild, soul-touching pathos
The practice Of holding religious and politi-.
cal meetings 10 the open air, extensively pre-
vailing in the West, has given nobility to the
soul Of western eloquence. The dome made
by the hands Of man, springing its arch to-
wards heaven, Is yet the bounded concave that
must con6ne the soul that was made range the
skies to the delightful outlet OF her prison.
house. The camp-mee,ing has changed the
nomenclature Of pulpit eloquence. The two
divisions Of the ancient school are now but one
in the religious oratory of the West.
Bryant's high perception Of the sublime ant
originating gran eur Of emotion, is touching
ly illustrated in the following extract from his
poetry:
The, groves were Gods first temples. Ere mar
To hew The shaft, and hew the architrave,
And spread the root above them,--ere he framed
The lofty vault 10 gather and roll back
The sound Of anthems,-in the darkipg wood,
Amidst the cool and silence, he knelt down
And offered 10 the Mighliest solemn thanks
And supplicalon. For his simple heart
Might not resist the sacred Influences
That, from the Silly twilight Of The place,
And from the grey old ruaks, that high in heaven,
Mingled their messy boughs, and from the sound
oIthe Invisible breath, that swayed at once
All their green tops stole over him, and bowed
His spirit with the thought Of bJundless Power
And inaccessible Majesty. All, why
Should we, i'll The worlds ripper years, neglect
Gods ancient sancluaries, and adore
Oaly amo the crowd, and under roofs
That our trail hands have raised Let me, al least,
Here, In the shadow Of tins aged wood,
Offer one hymn thrice happy, ifil Fad,
Acceptance in His ear;
The eloquence Of the West as contrastet
with that Of the East, pr sents many striking
peculiarities. The eloqnence of the East i.
sober, pa:sionless, condensed, metaphysical
that of the West is free, lofty, agitating, grand
imprisoned. The East is pure, chastened
down to defiance Of critical censure, sharp
ened to fineness too razor-like to cleave the
mountains or carve the rocks the West de-
hes and transcends criticism - unbosoms
mighty thoughts, applies motives to human
MUD as strong as the rush of whirlwind in
language varied yet strong, and if ever de-
fective yet grand The thoughts Of the West
are large. In the East, river means the
brawling and foaming Merrmac, the noun.
tainted Kennebec, or the poetic Connection
in the West the same word means the proud
flow Of waves too wide to roar, and cncturing
half the globe in their course. In the East
aplain means patch Of earth hedged in by
circumambient mountains, defended on either
hand by rock and water; in the West, plain
means an expanse Of territory over which the
sun rises and sets through thousand success
sive horizons, and above whose carpet Of YER
dure heaven spreads out half her stars. In
the East, wind means blast which wres-
ties with the mountain-beech or maple, or
plays fitfully with the fallen snow; in the
West, the same word means the roaring i'm
pulse which accumulates, about the head
waters of the far wandering Missouri, passes
adistance in which Europe and Asia might
De lad out in length and breadth, and pours