The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1842-01-29
MR.. ARNOLD's ELoQUENCE.

We make the following extract from speech de-
lvered by MIR. Arnold on Thursday, not for the spe-
cial edifcation of European readers as specl-
men of American oratory, (for MIR. Arnold has no
equal in the House, but to show Mr. AS constitu-
ents in Tennessee that their representative is at his
post, and that his oratoricaI flights properly APP
preciated in the metropolis The citizens of his dis
trict deserve all the honor he reflects on them:
Mr. ARNOLD, of Tennessee, said that we had truly
I" fallen on evil times" What spectacle had that
House presented for the last three four days, he
might say the last five days and indeed, since It's first
assembling at the extra session. lie might even go
back further than that for the last
of this kind had been occurring, and with increasing
frequency, and growing worse and worse, till now
stranger could not contemplate that House from the
gallery without being reminded or the bloody French
revolution 1t impossible to restore or to pre-
serve order the Speaker had done every thing iii his
power, but in vain. What could the puny of
any Speaker effect when gentlemen openly braved
the authority both of the Speaker and of the House
Mr. A. went on to aude to some particulars of dis
order which had recently occurred, during which he
was several times interrupted, and explanations
passed but Mr.. A. proclaimed himself belonging
to the peace party and desired to avoid coming into
personal collisions with gentlemen. II they wished
to bully or TO fight he begged them not to come to
him there were still few of the Semnoles left ;
let them go and show their valor upon them He APP
pealed to gentlemen in behalf of the order of the
House. and in the of that country for which his
and their fathers had fought and bled A laugh. +
Could gentlemen laugh at that If they did, he asked
| if bandtt could behave worseS He was entirely
serious, and nothing was further from his purpose
than to provoke meuiment; jokes were now out of
time as well as out of place
MIR. A. went on to argue on the necessity Of OBJ
serving order Ii gentlemen were determined to re-
sst the authority OF the body, they ought to leave it.
He alluded to contest during the called session, in
which his life had been in imminent peril from per-
sona violence and during the present session, and
within few days he had been bullied apparently by
concert and understanding, by member who, he was
told, came from Louisiana, and who, coming to his
! seat, told him g he a id coward and "a
id backguard,n and that, if he did not behave
better, he would cut his throat from ear to ear"
! MIR. A. had declined getting into the difficulty, and
gave gentlemen fair notice that he belonged to the
! peace party If the Democracy employed persons to
bully members here, he hoped that if any Of them
came to cut his throat he would make mistake and
cut his own, which would be great deal better. IA
| laugh
MIR RHErr here rose to call Mr. A. to order for
| irrelevancy.
! Mr.. A. said he was speaking of the disorders of
this House, and if there could be more directly
relevant to that subject on the face of God AL
mighy's globe, he should be glad to hear it. If the
Democracy chose to laugh at these things, let them
he thought they were better calculated to make a
mans blood to curde in his veins. Was mans
life to be threatened because he endeayored to sup
port the Chair in enforcing the order of egisla-
| tive body But let gentlemen take their course
neither pistols nor Bowie knives should ever avail to
induce him to swerve hairs breadth from the path
of his duty. If they chose for this to murder him,
let them try it "a coward died many Deaths brave
man could die but once.n These frequent scenes of
uproar and disorder had operated as mpediments as
cepair de ises in the channel of legislation, and the
people observed and complained of it.