The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1852-10-20
Gen. Scott as an Orator

After reading one or two Of SCOTS recent adj
dresses at the West, one cannot fail to be struck
with the towering grandeur Of his intellect, the
brlIianey of his imsginaii"n. and The wonder.
ful evidence exhibited Of deep and assiduons re-
search in all the caverns Of human knowledge.
The lines Of the early reader
"You'd scarce expect one nf my age
To speak in public on the stage"
have been quoted by some rascally opponent to
illustrate the power Of Scott as an orator. Now
to prove this to be SANDER, IL 10 only necessary
10 read one or twn extracts from his speech AZ
Cleveland, in order to establish the fact that he
is fminentlJ the Cicero Of this eloquent age.
Take the following axamRle He starts Oft
with: .'s2 ~
"Fellow-citizens, and when say fellow cl-
tzens mean native and adopted citizens, as
,oelt as alt ,cho intend to become eiti.ens'
Fellow citizens, regret that have brought
storm upon you--you are in the midst Of mud
and rain. thought Of it while was comns
up from the cars in nice eoscyed earriags,
while you were in the mud and ram. I Thought
that J, too, ought tn be on foot with you in the
mud, instead ot 10 that comfortable covered car
riage, sheltered from all the nclerpepcies of the
weather. am used to exposure; have shaI.
ed it IN common with hundreds Of my brave
companions, soldiers Of the camp, many Of
whom ! see low and aro, nj me. And
think ought not to be in warm covered car
riage while you are in the mud and rain
lf-the General felt this, why did mt he get
GU, that "niee covered carriage" and offer his
place to some unfortunate fellow citizen in the
smidst Of mud and rain?" Doubtless some one
" wouid1ike to have seen him do il it would
have been curious spectacle, indeed. II is
astonishing how arn;able some tyrants become
when they are on the point OF soliciting favor
from fellow crsatnre
In another place General Scott declared
that
"For fifty years he had scarcely ever walked,
rose SLEPT, or eaten, or even taken cup Of cold
water in the field, the town, or the camp, but
that his thoughts were Of his country, her Writ
ues her renown, her honor.
Now ifthis s'fea,hered mendicant f. popnla-
rty," as Senator Soule terms him, had Hons.
dered for moment how absurd1y ridiculous Is a
declaration like the above, he would never have
given it u'te trance Imagine man, for instance
in his courting days, making love to a beautiful
damsel--his bosom burning with passionate
ardor, his words breathing love, tenderpess, d,
yotion. bis heart swelling with Affection, and
his sweeihearts eyes swinmingly with a heay
emily response-imaginea man under these emo
tions-imagine General Scott, "who never rose,
walked, slept. or took cup Of cold water, but
that his thoughts were Of his country ry"-imag'ne
him, we say, crying out suddenly and starting
his fair com ,anion v ith an exclamation like "Oh
my country how suffers for yez!' Would it
not be arPallng9
Query.-What was General Scott thinking Of
when he was swallowing that hasty plate OF
soup? Was it Of his c,u try, or that fl in
his rear II he has any noe speeches to
mike or ideas 10 utter, we trust that in the Ian.
oio ,e of one of his adhprents in these paris. he
will "con vince them to GO"