Wheeling times and advertiser. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1839-1849, 1841-05-08
AN ELOQUENT EXTRACT

AN ELOSJLNi La hACI.
From q copy of the funeral address delivered DO
pre- the citizens Of Burlington. n ,. at the request
{ the Common Council. on the 81 ultimo. by the :,
tight Rev. George W. Duane. on occasion Of the I
.ests oi the late President of the United States.
sc take the following extract. constituting the open. 4
ng OF the address. for which we feel sure that our ,
will thank us
lit Is a dark December day. 4 deep snow clothes :
Inc ground. A sharp aud cutting sloet drives with
the wind. Against The binding storm aud through
The deepening drifis, a youthful soldier with his
on las back. puisucs his s,eadfast way
\ Stripping of nineteen. of slender frame and feeble
health, lac Is an ensign ia the army of America.
With Wa-hingtuu's commission, and he marches
with hrs small detachment, on has FIRST service. Sli
wus a patriot aud IA Christian duty. There arc those
before Ine who remember well what. ia my Young
days. was yet a nursery word. at which the mother
pressed her infant to- her bosom. and children gath.
cred closer to the frc-St. Glars Defeat. Il was
10 that battle field, 10 inter the bones of its six hun
dred slain. that our young ensign FASTENED with has
troop. And though Il Was a patriot aud n Christian
duiy, how much more sicmly Than the fcrcest onset
of the heady Fight must that still forest field. the
lowering sky. the bowling wind. lhuse gallant men
butchered by savage hands. and all the recollcc-
lions and iorcbodings of that most disastrous day
have tried the spirit OF 4 youthful soldier on his frsi
campaign.
1t was a chill November night. when n small
army Of Americans ~encamped themselves npun "A
point Of land between the Wabash aud a tributary
stream. They were The gentlemen aud yeomen OF
the country, who had enrolled themselves under tho
territorial Government TO defend their homes against
the inroads ui the hostile Indian tribes. and 10 chas-
tISe their insolence. \ long and tedious mach
through n must dreary wilderness. brings them ut
last To where their willy foes await them: and on
their PrOPositiun for a conference and treaty. hc,Iil-
tiles are iniemiued Cor a day. Slowly and cheer.
lcSsly tho night wears oil within that guarded
camp, with clouds and rain. But weory men riH
sleep. whatever may betiJe IhoIn; and niw, for
hours, no sound has stirred the stiffness uf the scene.
slvo the lone seniry's guarded step. But what j.
that which. through "tho misty moonbcgm's struC-
Cling light" is seen, not heard. rs IL glides through
the prairie grnssl Is it n snake that winds his
stcalty wayl No; but a subtler Indian; and in one
instant he is dead! Another. and The savage yell
stats every sleeper from his Geld, damp couch, and
death begins his work. And was this sleeping camp
deceived, u Iprised, betrayed Was their comman.
der faiihless to his trustl No; every man had slept
where he must fight. his clothes on, and his gun
loaded. And he, while yet the night was Young,
sat by his tent fire, till the hour should come Co
rouse his weary comrades. In n moment he was
2 mounted Where the fight was hottest, there was
he. \ hall, with no commission for has life. nies
: through ms hair. In vain his officers demonstrate
with HIM FOR his fearless hazard Of himself Hc
, thinks Of brave 81. Clair, and Of the gallant victim,
Vt thai fatal field. lie thinks OF wasted towns aut
r blazing homes, and mothers slaughtered with the.
infants. And the morning dawns not TIL the vicIou
is won.
5 Along the banks Of tho Ohio spreads n smilin.
farm. A plain and modest mansion rises foum
s!oPing lawn. Its owner, having filled with crcdl
TO himself. and honor Ia hs country, aim st ever
station but the first-iought its hotIles, governed it,
territories, served IN both houses of Congress. anC
represented II abrold-wcars out in frugal industry
!. his green old age. a plain Ohio farmer; hts hOus,
the very home of hospitality; his name the relug,
. and the sOlace Of the poor, the stranger, and the or
2 phan; his style, the noblcst that is known 10 naiur,
heraldry, a patriot and n patriarch,
p lit is n gusIy day in March. Before The mornin,
dawns, the Federal city is alive with m,n. II sceInt
now full 10 overlooking; and yet every hour bring
Z hundreds, thousands more. a cayalcade is formed
i Bells ring and cannnns roar. Fair women and BRAY,
= men ihrOng every window of that n1ble avenue
Not a State Of the whole twentysiK that is not re-
! presented IN that long drawn line. II is the nation
r jubilee. All classes, all conditions. both sexes. cv
evry age, partake the general JOY. A grave, plan
8 man. afraycd IN modest black, that rides. uncovered
j Oh the sliced more conscious than hInsclf Of The &C
y casion. ~ the magnet that attracts all eyes, am
|. touches every heart lie reaches the Capitol. ii,
= aseends the steps. lie stands. majestic IN his meek
{ ness and SIM plIciiy, before the imneasurahle mul
= utude who have brought up with Them the homag,
OF the nation. The highest ofSrer of Justice all
ministers to hun the most magnificent oath that eve
rises up to heaven. And Ihe youthful ensign. IN,
gallant general. the labOrious larAer, is President q
the United States.
lone lille month has passed. II is n flul Apr
day. Again the Federal city Is asiir. Cannons or,
heard-bui these are minute guns. Tho bells pea
OUTPUT lis the funeral knell. The streets ar,
'hronsed-bui every face is sad, and every voice i
stu. Once more n long procession passes down Iha
, noble Gvenue-bu' yew and cypress takes the plnc,
J of npdding plumes. aud muiilcd drums beat time Il
D aching hearts. Again that grave. pain man i
here. n" more erect and tall, the pillar of the State
5 thu in his grave clothes. stretched upon the iuners
car. lie enters not the gIic, rs when we last be
r held him, 10 that glorious Capitol. but turns aside q
The still spot where sleeps the honored dead. an,
l"earih TO earth, ashes 10 ashes, dlst 10 dust" con
cludes the story and the scene. Never had man
funeral 50 sublime. Never for Christian fallen dn
I The whole nation 50 pour out It's heart. Was it no
p beauiful-and just as II was beauiful-ihathe win
D on that sieeiy day began his public life with piou
rites for 81 Glars butchered host should find himse
such a sepulchre."