The Hawk-eye and Iowa patriot. (Burlington, Iowa) 1839-1843, 1840-07-02

than did General Harrison upon this. oc-
caslon. He was welcomed by more than
twenty-five thousand of his conntrymen,
to the spot consecrated by his gallant
achievements; and this welcome was UNI
bought. It was not the welcome of slaves,
compelled, from fear of punishment, to
do homage to the great; but of freemen,
.lmpelled by no will but their own, and
bound by no ties but those of friendship
and gratitude to the Old Soldier. And all
this the veteran felt, and, by his glistening
eye. expressed.
When the General took his place upon
the stand, and presented himself to his fell
low citizens, the welcome was again ex-
pressed by ",Aree times three' which
seemed to start the old fort from its foun-I
dations. As he stood, uncovered, before
the multitude assembled, all were struck
with the elastic vigor which he yet pos
sessed, and particularly with his keen,
piercing eye, which yet retains all the fire
of youth. He was dressed very plainly,
having on a plain Kentucky jean frock
coat, bombazine stock, black silk vest and
and blue panialoons. His appearance was
purely republican, presenting a striking
contrast to the bedizzened trash which
forms the covering of his antagonist for
the Presidency.
After order was restored, the General
addressed the meeting for nearly an hour,
most forcibly and eloquently. His full,
clear, musical voice gave another demon-
stration Of the falsehood of the charge of
Iimbecility and decrepitude, which the
loco focos have seen fit TO heap upon the
worthy soldier. His gestures, too were
graceful and full of energy and vigor; but
! it was the matter rather than the manner,
of the speech, which was most gratifying
to the thousands who heard it. 1t was a
mastery efort-flfll of sound argument,
touching sentiment, force and eloqucnce.
1t proved him to be man of very superb
or powers of mind-still capable of filling
any post in the gift Of the People. Itwas
a speech which would have added to the
fame of a Preston, Webster, or Clay.
Indeed, oftenas we have heard those dis
tinguished orators speak, we have never
heard them deliver more eloquentspeech
than that which General Harrison deliver
ed at Fort Meigs. 1t disappointed friend
and foe for while his friends knew the
charges of imbecility against him to be
false, they were willing, many Of them,
to concede, that age had, no doubt, great.
lily bmnted his energies. But The speech
proved to them that, even by this admis.
sion, they had done the Old Hero injus.
ltice, and that so far from having become
mentally or physically imbecile, he ye1
possessed mind as full of strength and
vigor as that of any statesman living. And
his foes, who heard him, were disappoint
ed, because this speech gave the lie direc
to all their vile SANDERS. and would en-
able more than twenty thousand wit
nesses to cast the lie back into the teeth
Of the vile slanderers who. should continue
to dare to utter it. In every point Of view
this speech was fortunate. 1t was highly
credible to its gratifying to hi:
misunderstanding to his enemies-for
tunate for the cause. 1t will do more tt
secure the election Of General Harrison
than any single event which has happen
ed-except, perhaps, the ISLANDERS Of til.
loco foco press. Nothing which thu
Wings can do, will advance the good cause
so rapidly as do those ISLANDERS. Of Ii
order to place this speech Immediately
before our readers, we made, upon tn,
spot, an accurate report of it, which vii
be found in our columns this morning.
i After the General had concluded hi
speech, the vast throng were delighted
with a number of speeches from gentle
men from Ohio,ANew York. Massachu
sets, Kentucky, Connecticut, Indiana
], Michigan and elsewhere. Tom Ewint
was the principal speaker from Ohio
Those who responded to the call fo7
Michigan, were George G. Bates, wht
spoke briefly but eloquently, Jacob M
Howard, who spoke with that strength
and power peculiarly his own, and on
humble self, who did as we'll as we coul,
of course.
I The speeches were interspersed will
songs, in the choruses of many Of which
, more than ten thousand participated. TIL,
!. effect of those popular songs was electric
, While being sung, perfect tumult Of en-
t thusiasm seemed to pervade the entir'
| mass of people present. The speaking ant
singing was continued, with brief in
, PERMISSION for supper, until 10 o'clock a
. night; when the Convention adjourned
sine die.
The residue Of the night, until lat
: hour, was occupied, as most of the for
: part Of the evening had been, with tn
) explosion of fireworks prepared for tn
( occasion. The effect was very brillian,
: and added an additional reason to tn
] thousands before existing, why the thank
t of the Union should be given to the in
: domitable Wings Of Perrysburgh for ,hei
t zeal and industry in getting up the Con
E vention, and for their generous-hearte
: hospitality to its members after it con
E vened.
: Ats o'clock next morning, all the tent
| |were struck, and, as the delegates march
| ed homeward, Fort Meigs was again lei
: solitary. Many an old soldier, however