Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1859-03-24

duu oOuO opcCluCHo vi oiobOl hOiC GA
hibited. five had not attended the conven-
tion we should not have enjoyed the rare feast
of hearing eloquent speeches ; not because
there are no good speakers in the Legislature,
but because there was no occasion to call them
out. A great many witty things were said, and
a great amount of laughing done, in which
laughing exercise we heartily engaged, and
some sharp, cutting things were uttered, which
will, in all probability rankle and tester in the
bosom, long after many of the scenes of the
convention have escaped from the mind. Du-
ring lul in the proceedings Professor GARD
NER, seller of the the celebrated "New Eng
land Soap" got possession of the floor, whether
and let off most capital harangue upon poll
tics in general, and his soap in particular
During his speech the audience was convulsed
with laughter, and the effect was most happy
upon the delegates, some of whom had become
somewhat illnatured, as we inferred by their
looks s-
There are several places of interest, in aud
around Harrisburg, all of which have been so
repeatedly described, that anything more would
not be acceptable, STILL there is one place to
which we accidentally went early on the morn
ing of our arrival, that deserves our notice
Accidentally, we say, because we knew nothing
of the existence of such place. As we were
walking along the bank of the river we saw,
standing directly by the edge IF the stream,
an old stump, or rather stub, enclosed by au
iron fence, upon the stub is q notice forbiddng
all persons from injuring, marking or defacing
anything within the enclosure; slight eleva-
ton is to be seen, which is covered with turf
roughly put upon the top and sides upon en-
quiring of some boys who were playing near
the spot, we found that Mr.. HARRIS, the son
of the gentleman who once owned the land
where this borough now stands, and who gave
to the commonwealth the beautiful site of the
State Capitol, and the other public buildings
belonging to the State, was buried here this
is all we could learn, no stone of any kind
marks the place Of the grave, no inscription of
any kind tells who lies there, or why that
stump is thus enclosed. In the Senate cham
Der is suspended an old painting which repre-
sents scene that was said to have taken place
under the tree, whose bare stump is now Sc
cured by an iron fence from the ruthless hand
of the stranger or idle lounger The painting
tells, or rather those who explain it tell, that
OIL certain occasion the Indians on the east
side Of the river, bound Mr. Harris to this
tree and piled fagots around hin, in order to
burn him to death, but before the work was
completed, those on the west side, being his
friends came over and rescued him from those
who had devoted him to so cruel DEATH
Why no monument, or even plain slab, is not
found, to tell the enquirer why that stub is
fenced in, and who lies buried there we were
not able to find out
We of course visited the "InSane Asylum
but of course we saw nothing new, or heard
anything strange there, still we came away
devOutly grateful to God that he had kept US
from being its inmates, that we were not raw
ing and tearing our flesh for very terror we
did sigh and almost weep when we ceme away,
as we thought of the crushed hopes, the blast
ed prospects, the agonizing hearts, the ruined
sons and daughters, the sorrow-stricken fathers
and mothers, that were shut up within those
walls; our hearts did bleed when we saw the
wild and fiery eyes and the woe-begone coun-
tenances, when we heard the demoniac laugh,
the low sulIen grumble, the heart piercing
shrek of despair, the silly, idotic prattle or
the maddened, imporing cry for help. Oh the
grief, the joylessness, the hopelessness, the un-
told misery of each day within those spacious
halls and neatly arranged cells Who would
not bless God that he is not crazy" n.