, 1860-09-24

KleAh seiolms Of bringing back the Kovernmtnt
70 lts hrss principles, 10 its original purify.
May 'hls Institution furnish, from among those
shs has trained, Il champion who, not Al her
1epre:entatise alone, but Of the fr4s EortAu<.t.
mar LEAD bsck By the eicquence Of truth and
Liberty, the people, to the principles iuculcated
in tbs Utekayatioa Of Independence.
THE WIDE AWAKE OHGANlZA-
TlON.
Their Origin and FFoEreAs.
lFsoto tie N. r. He:aid.l
The greatsst feature Of the campaign Of 1860,
has been the introduction Of vast Republican
auxiliary, seni-nilisary In character, political
in purpose, and daily increasing in strength and
iEaience to HI e1:ens unparalleled ia the po-
ut cal annals Of our country W. refer 70 the
orksu:zltion knoHn ~ the Republican Wide
Aw~kts, who made their frstNew York Demon
stra'ion On The l3.h inst. The sleepy q G,tham
politicians. who were diacuasirg On lbat even
ing, over their ale, the abs71b.uK topics Of fu'
si"n, ,sqaa'ter.ssyereigoty &C se:+sslon, black re-
pub!;cani+oo, acd lhe Jonss' No3d demonatra-
ton. giving, peshaps, side thought t. the
ratification meeting at the Cooper Institute,
were startled cut Ct all propr'ety by thu sudden
brilliant illumination Of our Ethorough!arer, and
the appearance Of large bodies OF men, bearing
blazing torches aud nlsEchlsg in fac military
order towards the assigned reotez7ousoE their
various oisislone. Each man bore thin rail,
surmouuted with swlngicg lamp and small
American lag. besrsrg tee names II Lincoln
and Haulin. Tho uniform Of ths priEates. was
black euameled circular care, quits full and
Of good lepgsh, and 8 g!sz:d military fatigue
cap, with brass or silver e. gle in front; somo
few companies nere uniformed with b:ur, red
drab aou silver gray caps end dcaprs, and relie'-
cd the monotoay Of the dal ter uniform. The
captains and uou-ccmUissioned Gtdc.rs were
Distinguished by IN Inverness o*ercoa', with
black cape and undress military capa- In soEe
companies the captaias carried red, the III ID
tri c,lored and the lieu.enaats hsue or green
lantern; in otteEa the captain merely carried
painted baton. The measured tread, steady
front and unbroken lines spcke Of strict alten-
tion to drill, ind the effective nisnrer in which
the various bodies were mnEaEed By their eth.
GERS showed oncusively that nlea oE military
experience controlled their movements
4 movement Of such great Importance ard
vast Teeu3ts to she coming p3litic7l contest
should not b. overlooked or Eetit:led, IS has
been done By some Democratic and hcow
Nothing journals, but demands careful coasid-
era'ion. the character aud standing Of miny
members Of our community Vto hare ,red in
this movement, bearing tarchea as p1lvates in
the ranlt, give it q weight aud Importance
heretofore unknown to any political order.
Merchants, lawyers, doctors and members Of
I'll trades and professions seem 20 have caught
the ints ctou, and q reference to the drlll calls
daily inserted in tho special notice co'unn Of
tie Tribune " II s4.iaty uuoelevers Of the wide.
spread exsont Of the organization
THEIR ORIGIN.
Few England cl.ims The birthplace Of this
movement, Hartford being the Connecticut
craals in which the infant ives nurtured. 1t
originated in accident, like many ano'her event
ffau2ht with greatpcrtenr, aud rapid assumed
Ia nrp
in this .ise: Un the night Of lhe a5;h Of Fsbru-
arr, 1850, the city of Hartford va. much mo.td
by ,he advent Of the Hon. Caesius ii. Clsy, the
well known Republican orator, who mas 10 ad-
dress the worthy c.t'z ms Of tha vicinity. Some
enthusiastic young Republicans OF the neish-
borbood decided to Set - an escort to .he DIS
tinguished visitor, and lu pursoance Of this de-
sl4u borrowed from tirs COMPANY h*rd by
sone Of their ti.em=n's torches. D:lcg Of q
ra.her tas::dioua turn Of Eiud. and wltLat IL
cliaed 10 protect their brc adeloth from otlv in
nosat1on, they procared aons :!sz.d cloth crd
cut it in the form OF capes to protect their sioul
ders. 4 fer g!5zsd cups comp esed tbe pre-
M at the osa.oE. Their novel half military ap-
pearance attracted 'neiae1aale attention AID
drew forth the plsudlts Of the assembled multi
tude, rewardins lhem for their foret3orght- On
their return home oIe OF the party WAS attneked
by e,urdS Democrat; but blow from the
original Wlde-Awake torch stretched him on
the ground a. stopped all further disturbance.
expressing their indignation At the attack. they
resolved to form club Of iul.ed numbers,
equipped with swinging torches and black
capes ard cape, 10 oct as special escort Gu
oc:ssiors OF pubic parade, AID be ready
1t all TINES for aay i:ks duty that might forward
the Republican cause. Ia pursuance Of saeee
resolunoa. meeting of5 onog n:en vas held on
%ka9 Q nf f,tt hxNr $rH$
+" id. Awake" cub ct fifty, under the COIL
mand Of Capt. J:m=s i. Chatkes. the Yeztlenan
nho telled the p1vnaesnHs Lstnocra' on the 6rst
parade a constitution wns tt1cpseu. filters
elected, aad Ill the necessary steps taken. The
opposition rress 0: Hartford, little i'm sginier
tia. this was the imitation Of a gigantic mtye
msnt. made themselves very merry q: The tx-
peuse OF the Hartford Wide Awakes; atuiiox
To their unit-rm, they chr;stersd thu nj The
"Man:lla Cadets" aad, as SONG OF the first
membeEs were ]oung men, called Them the
:" Fifty 1nfacts whose msmas didn't know they
presented to esch orc" DC , DC. IL spite Of
their jibes and j=ers the m.ven,est spread like
ulictiFe, and as the mex: meeting, held Only
three days after their organization. they we're
Obliged 10 dispcuse with the rule limiting their
numbere, and Immediately enrolled a numbsr
OF new members. at their first parade, I'D
soon after, thas counted by hundreds, aud their
night, clues were stAried in Bridgeport, Wa'er-
bury, Norwich, Uniorvilie. aud in rearly all.he
towns throughout the State. Men Of III ares
and occupations fosterei and encouraged tbe
organization. 0a tha 9Th Of March. at the
dedication Of u camp ia Hartford, over two
thousand Wide Awakes assembled, paradirg
the streets in torchli2hs array, and, ,sug to The
immense numhef Of torches, making = MOST
brilliant and imposing appearance. Tbe Re-
pu5licaos Of Hartford wers overwhelmed With
letters frum all parts Of the Uaiop, asking for
information touching tte:r ru'es, manner Of or
ganiz atior, drills, d.. 1t was 1t last found
necessary u 1nsuEu1ste soue system By which
these letters u:d be answered, end notice
WAS inserted IN al! the Republican j,urnaie.
TINT Mr. b. I. Sperrr, CORES ponding recrstarT
Of the Hartford WIDE Awakts, would eiva eli
desired Information. Ia the course Of a few
weeks that gentleman hed received and filed
orer 800 conanuoic atoms.
Thus The Wide Awake movement was inauou.
rat d, rapidly extending its raui6catooa fruna
Maine to Missouri As all the later orxanixa-
items were based upoa the Hiriford one. We in.
ssrt the preamble and constitution Of The Hart
ford Wide A1akes, as explanatory Of the object
AMI manner OF the general formation.
W. the undersigned, you ofthe city Of H,rsord,
des t.rs Ut .ecui tas ea3accY ard per1rtuY ia
c.nd a.es tor slse 10 al aee."! ho.or US he
do hss ~: m y a'e our sa!5 dev
zts Nd anqua lied and ter.t't drrnln.t,aa q
pe9 unsl;t; M 70 " sn Cr12s q tic
of ue eIecdon OF lts clnIdHte. to Gtdcex -e
Repnu can Wide Awsk.s Of Hattesd 4A'
aeetr, ~ is snsF.l ,aaeac nsadh9' aea K as
Of ts r. nber aetk t. ataa :hs olst se f.r u