Liberty advocate. [volume] (Liberty, Miss.) 1835-1866, 1845-05-17
GEN. GEORGE ROGERS CLARK

:. great and good man will be acceptable Il
J, such of our readers "a IRE familiar will
the West, aud particularly grateful to
= The descendants Of the gallant band that
!. accompanied Gen. Clark in his perlluu
" and successful enterprise, Among ih'
d first recollectons of our boyhood was the
n funeral OF This brave soldier. From lal
and near the remnant Of the armyNl i
n may be so called, that marched upon Hi
J. nos, captured the British fort at Vim
cennes, on the Indiana side Of the Wabash
, took possession Of the garrison of Kaska-
r STA, and subdued the vast Moth Western
Territory to the dominion oil the United
z states, gathered together to pay the last
sad rites TO the memory OF their heroic
commander. His remains lie buried al
Locust Grove, six miles from Louisville,
d Ky. ana not q stone is to mark the sepuI-
ture of one who was the first to plaut the
American flag permanent uPoa The posses
sions Of foreign ower.--N .. PIC.
From the Western Literary Journal
While the Congress Of the Revolution
was devising schemes for the conquest
and acquisition of Canada; schemes which
mscarried alike in rs and '76--the cen
ius and sagacty ofone man planned and
lexecuted the subugation Of Illinois, en-
braclng that fertile region northwest of
the Ohio, which has since furnished ter.
rItory for four members Of the. American
Coniederacy, with fifth one in perspec-
tive That, man was George Rogers
Clark; and it is a significant iact--one
(which should enhance the fame Of this
gallant warrior-that the Illinois country
is the only foreign territory our Repub-
lie ever acquired by conquest from Great
Britain or any transatlantic power.
I'll not our purpose on This occasion 10
speak Of Clark in any other light than
that OF meriortious chieftain although
1t would be no difficult task to make i'll
appear that he would have been equally
eminent in any other walk Of life to which
he had turned his attention. An instance
IN point was his extensive and critical
knowledge Of natural history, which ex.
| clted the astoniShment and admiration of
the great American ornitholgist, Wilson
In an uncommon degree he combined
those rare qualities so essential TO the for
nation OF consumate military character
--Sagaclty to conceive and skill to execute.
His determined zeal and his unsual har.
Idlhood peculiarly fitted him for overcom-
ing obstacles which to others would have
seemed totally insurmounta bic, and might
have well appalled, the stou,est heart
tie carefully studied the dispositions OF
men, and none knew better than he how
to inspire his little band of followers with
the same undaunted spirit which he him
self possessed. 1t was his knowledge OF
human nature, applied in this instance to
The T" untutored race" that enabled him
on memorable occasion TO awe beliger-
ent Indian council into measures of peace
His conquest of Illinois has drawn
forth the encomiums Of the great and the {
good. Washington, abiding to il, spoke
IN hattering terms of his "actiyty and
address," Henry, Jefferson, and Madison,
never failed TO express their most exalted
sense OF his abilities and military genius;
the eccentric but gifted John Randolph 6
compared his rapid and perilious march /
over the submerged bottoms Of the Wa
hash, to Ilannibal's celebrated passage ;
oil the Thrasimene marsh; prominent
British magazine of that day attributed !
the success oil the American arms ia Hi .
nols TO the extraordinary activity and i
spirit of the commander" and 4
added thai" the Americans in back set. |
Elements, not only hearing Of Clark's sue
cess, but Immediately feeling their bene- q
tit, began to shake of their terror, aud
even seemed by degrees to partake of his o
splrit and enterprise; and the sober and o
Franklin, as he grasped the e
hand OF the Stalwart warrior, exclaimed, S
8 You haze given an empire 10 Tie repub. s
nc ia compliment no less hattern Il
than just. d
The Appellation of tho american Han
at6al, bestowed upon Clark by Raadoph, 0
IS neither lnapt nor undeseryed. True il 0
IS, his exploits were on far less exten. a
sive scale than those OF the ilIcstrious ii
Iarthagenian General; but the boldness r,
d their conception and the briIliancy of ID
heir execution, are none the less remar- in
liable, and none the less extort our admi- I'll
'allon. If he did not, like Hannibal, c
swear al the altar in his youth, eternal 10
'nmlty to his country's most inyetera,e 10
oe, yet il may be said Of Clark tha, he tn
'arly imbbed an unconquerable love ofIon
ountry, and evinced ii in subsequent life br
with singleness and devotion never sar lii
'assed. Like Hannibal, he was abandon fl
d by portion Of his troops at the very pr
hreshhold OF his great enterprises: like
not thus to be thwurted in the AZ
accomplishment of his long-cherished or
urposs, y no pressed rapidly forward th'
yer mountain, glen, and river, some. no