The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1840-05-26


cally, one Of the only nobiemen OF this land, a.
honest, hard working, wam-hearted, indepen
dent farmer The poor man sees in him firm
sincere, and steadiast friend whose hand Is
as free TO be grasped by him as the richest Of the
land whose heart was never closed 10 the up
peals OF charity; whose private interests, ON
many occasions, gave way before the psompsings
Of his generous spirit in favor Of the poor and
who recognises no aristocracy, save that Of ge-
nulne merit, unsullied honesty, and devqped pa
triotism. The whole people see IN him an able,
sale and pure statesman, who in every civ sta
ton which he occupied, was equal to the ~ and
honorable discharge Of every duty; who. sever
cast about to see how he could best subserve his
own interests; but unlike the officials Of this de-
generate day, utterly forgot his own, in his un-
ceasing efforts to advance the general good; who
if elevated to the Presidency will not only break
the odious succession attempted TO be establiah-
ed in il but will make il the highest glory Of his
administration TO be the Chief Magistrate of the
nation, and not the high priest ola party and who
IN fine rs the only man, on the field Of action,
who can wrench the letters of q suffering peo-
ple raise them up out of the gloom and despon-
dency into which they had fallen give them
back the contentment and prosperity they once
have seen and spread over the whole land the
Joyous smile Of restored and grateful heFpiaesa-
Is il wonderful that whom such a man is
brought before the people, they should rise up
in mass! That the old soldier should seize
his crutch and fight his battle DER agan2
That the farmer should stop his plough, midway
in the furrow and shout the name Of the man
who at the same moment may be following his
own plough2 That the Log Cabins of the
whole country should resound with the hurrahs
Of the inmates, who, when they hear the name
of HARRISON, think of the war he waged for
them! That the teamster as he drives on his
solitary way, should sing and shout, and shout
and sing the glorious name! That the poor man
should suddenly grow rich with the thought that
he can vote for his friend2 That the hand Of
the artizan and mechanic should be arrested in
its descending stroke, and his hammer dropped,
that he may throw his arm aloft and give three
cheers! That the laborer should drop his spade
and his mat,ock, and give himself up to an ex-
preston of boisterous delight That the whole
nation should raise its voice in one prolonged
and thrilling burst Of gratitude and Joy That
vast multitudes should assemble to give each
other the right hand of fellowship, and the
pledge of unalterabe devotion to the cause Of
Harrison and the country? That society should
be stirred to its very foundations; and that in
the tumult OF its elements, corruption, misrue,
imbeciity, and selfhness should be hurled from
their usurped places? That gorged and glutted
menials OF abused power should be dragged
down from the exaltation they have SO long en-
joyed and disgraced and that the people should
by their legitimate revolutionary engine, the bal
lot box, take again the government into their
own keeping
There is in all this no cause Of special won
der, save to the pampered officeholders, who see,
In the elevation of an honest man the dreadful
certainty Of their downfall but cannot see how
the people, whom they have SO long success
fully deceived, can, at last, open their eyes
TO the truth, and Indignantly shake of yoke
which has become too CALLING longer TO be borne.
II is, indeed, day Of CONSERVATION TO these
vampires of the body polite. Terror has seiz-
ed upon all their senses, and in the impetuosity
of their phrenzy, they strike random blows,
which passing over those for whom they are in
tended fall with doos-oyns foroa ,iron thD,u-
selves Like wounded snake, unable to reach
the object of their fury then fix their iangs and
their venom in their own body. Speedy and IN
evtable dissolution will be the consequence
and long the nation will be called TO rejoice
over the obsequies Of once, but no longer,
powerful faction, which like an incubus, has OPP
pressed the national heart, till the name Of HAIR
RIsoN, with resistless power, drives il affrighted
away.
Whence is derived that power? Surely the
nation cannot be deceived. No man could ever
gain such an ascendency over the hearts of the
people, as the hero's whose banner now floats
above us, unless there were in him qualities
which ought to command the confidence and re-
spect Of freemen. Americans have learned that
a name is nothing, unless deeds Of greatness
and true patriotism accompany IL; and they are
turning away from the mere catchwords OF par
ty, by which they have so long been deluded to
the substantial realities that are Swallowed forth
in the name of HARRISON And herein lies the
allpowerful influence Of that name, -that it is a
guaranty Of an enlightened, patriotic, manly,
and incorrupfibie administration of the 90
re,7ment of n return to the maxims and prac-
tees of our fathers; of the restoration of the
country toits former bright and prosperous con-
diton; of the expulsion from its councils of Sc
cret, selfish, and depraved inhuences of the
deliverance of the people from every species Of
political quackary and chcanery Of their entire
freedom from official domination; and their res
toralion to the nestimable blessings Of wise and
efficient rulers.
The whole life of WILLIAM HENRY HAIR
RIsoN holds out to the American people this guar
anty. Born in glorious Virginia, where the
very air he breathed was loaded with as pure re-
publicanism as the world ever saw, he early inn
bibed the prevailing spirit of the times. Sprung
from one of the noble band who signed the char
ter Of our independence, his first impressions,
whether from precept or example, were derived
from one who had cast his all upon the altar of
his country's good; who stood conspicuous in
that soul-moving struggle between tyranny and
freedom; and who inherited from his sires and
transmitted to his children, unimpaired and I'M
defled, the rich legacy of an honest, abiding,
and irrepressible love of country. True to his
name, his blood, and the soil of his nativity, the
first impulse of the youthful HARRISON was TO
serve his country, and in branch of her service
neither light nor pleasant. Rejecting, as un-
suited to his ardent temperament, the profession
intended for him, he entered that i'm which he
was soon destined TO attain distinction We
accordingly find him, forty nine years ago, at
the age of eighteen, marching on foot over the
Alleghanies, with his knapsack on his back, his
sword by his side, and his commission, signed