The pilot and transcript. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1840-1841, 1840-07-22
ERR. VAN RANssALAER's SPEECH.
Remarks OF Gen. Van Rensselaer,, at the din
ner given to him in Cincinnati

RENSSELAER, returned his thanks for the compli-
ment By the following remarks, which were read
by his friend Col. PENDLEToN in consequence of
Gen. VAN RENssELAER's voice having been i'm
paired by the wound in the lungs received at the
battle of Maumce:
GENT4EMEN:-I am altogether unaccustoned
to public speaking; my life has been of ac-
tions rather than Words my hand more CONVEX
SAINT with the sword than the pen. cannot, how
ever, suffer the sentiment which you have Just
given, to pass without the expression of my most
grateful Acknowledgements. While that senti-
ment, gentlemen, received withso much cordial
ity, is justly hattering to the pr1de of old sol
der, 1t recalls events and scenes productive of
other and better emotions. Your allusion to the
MaUmee carries me back to the year 1892, when
a youth of eighteen years Of age, with the COM
mission of General WASHINGTON in my pocket,
and | trust, some share of his principles in my
bosom. first Landed in Cincinnati. And what
a mighty change had been wrought in that short
period! What higher eulogy can be passed upon
the enlightened enterprise Of your people, than
the simple fact that the humble individual who
nonv addresses you, saw the site of your noble
city, when there were no houses buta few rude
" constructed log cabins along the bank of your
river and the challenge of the sentinels on the
parapet of old Fort Washington alone interrupt
ed the universal silence. The line of the canal
was then our northern frontier, beyond which
the lurking Indian made it unsafe to penetrate;
and the pursuit of stray horse among this mag
nifcent amphitheatre of hills surrounding your
city was conducted with little Of the pomp, to be
sure, but much of of the precaution of military
incursion. With the exception Of few old set
Elements on the Wabash and Mississippi, whose
inhabitants had become incorporated with the
surrounding Indian tribes, there were no white
men in the whole Northwest Territory, compri-
sing now your great State and the States of In
diana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin Terri
tory.-The roaming Indian alone possessed it.
Where are they now? They gone, like the
falling leaves of their own boundless forests; but
unlike those leaves, no rcviving spring shall wit
ness their return. Such was Cincinnati What
is it now, after the lapse of forty-eight years2
was indebted to the politeness Of the Mechanics
Institute for invitation to their Fair last eve
Mag, and had a catalogue of the articles there
exhibited, would produce it as the most elo-
quent and comprehensive answer to the interest
ing question. FEWhatis Cincinnati nowm The
exquisite symmetry and beauty of the various
articles, bore ample testimony to the skill of your
workers in wood, and in brass, and in iron, while
nothing can exceed the good taste exhibited in
the many ornamental specimens of the Institute.
| cannot, however, omit to remark, and, if it
will not be considered invidious, to commend,
the vast proportion in which the useful exceeds
the merely ornamental The combined effect of
the whole exhibition forces upon the mind the
reflection that he who would discover the secret
of the unparalleled growth of Cincinnati, and
its comparative exemption from the general en-
barrassment Of the times, must seek it in her
workshops and in her factories
From this balcony, fellow citizens, my eye
rests upon the ground where it was my daily du-
ty to manaeuvre my troops; and when | recall the
scene as il then existed, and compare it with
what now see, it fills me with emotions which
no language is adequate to express. The thought
less reconsideration of youth is proverbially
L
have BODIED forth the grand realities which now
surround us The enclosures of some dozen mis-
cradle huts Fort Washington and the low
ground ON what is now Columbia street, then
called Hudsonis Choice, were the only points
which had been cleared of the forest. Your hand
some private buildings, your noble public school
houses, your magnificent churches have succeed
ed, and log cabin is not to be found within the
bounds of your fair city, except as inappropriate
emblem of the youthful ardor, the indomita5le
spirit. the pure and disinterested public virtue,
which, through years of toll and danger, such as
they only can conceive who have felt them, have
watched over the infant settlement of the great
West, and protected the log cabins and their har-
DIV and adventurous inmates from the tomahawk
and scalping knife of the relentless savage
At this period first became acquainted with
Harrison; he nineteen years old, and one year
Younger We were, for long time, the young
est officers in the army, and am happy to say,
at this distant period, that the friendship thus
formed upon Youthful sympathies and congenial
dispositions proved too strong for time aud alb
sence. and we met in New York in 1927, after a
seuaration of thirty years, the warm friends
as we had parted on this spot in '97 This Pc
Rod recalls to my mind the Inauguration OF the
elder Adams, and with it the charge against Gen
Harrison of fsas,cient .fedIraiism" l am liv-
inc witness that, at the period to which refer,
the charge was without the slightest foundation.
The republican principles of HarrisoH Were then
as well known as his chivalric spirit, and he had
no sitperior in either. 1t has been reserved Tor
the politicians of the present day, even while
surrounded by the monuments OF his ciyIl and
military virtues to question BOTH Cen w ayne
was severe disciplinarian as weil as an able
o,oneral and a Gallant soldier He exactcd the
most pupctillious conformity to all the rules OF
military life; particularly did he exhibit himself
and require his staff to exhibit, a constant exam
ple of the conduct he required OF others. Brave,
temperate and laborious himself, he selected his
AFT for qualities similar to his own. OF such a
military family thus organized, Harrison became
n member in the confidential relation of aid-1e-
camp. The delicate duties of that responsible
station he performed, not only with the entire
apnrobation of WAYNE, but the satisfaction OF
every officer Of the army with whom his duties
brought him into most daily intercourse; and
such was his uniform urbanity and kindness to
the soldiers that their respect for kIsn as an Of
fcer was only equallcd by their love for him as
nan.
The first Northwest army, while IN winter
quarters in the wilderness, had few amusements
o vary the dull routine of camp duty. There
was no society out of the army The conse-
,uence was. that habits of dissipation We're ac-
luired by many of the officers, whose rank and
, ore made the habit centa gious. Harrison, though
e am age peculiarly weak against such tempta-
ions, was strengthened to successful resistance,
by an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, both
general and professional ls en- ,a ic,sVe
Then. as now, the sun never found him in bed;
and the Intervals of military duty were devoted
70 a course Of extensive historical reading.
The battle of the Maumee, ON 10Th August,
1894, was fought by the Indians, with the most
desperate courage. There was ne point OF the
line at which the danger as not imminent. AS
a;d- de-eamp. it was Harrison's duty to carry the