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 I [FORCE COLLECTION. J 
 
 {UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. | 
 
GENERAL HARRISON IN CONGRESS. 
 
 
 In discussing the qualifications of the Whig Candidate for tfie Presliffii<7, his 
 merits as a Piuneer of tlie West, as a Soldier in the wars of the two first j;enera~ 
 tions of the United States, and as an able Negotiator and kind Father to the In- 
 dians, have been so much dwelt upon, that the People generally are hardly suffi- 
 ciently aware of William Henry Harrison's title to their respect and esteem 
 in his more recent career as a Civilian and Legislator. 
 
 Upon the early public service of General Harrison, from the time of his entry 
 into the Army under General Wayne, up to the close of his service in the war 
 of 1812, we place a high and just value. His experience in Indian and civilized 
 war, his familiar knowledge of the interests of the West, and his intimate acquaint- 
 ance with the Indian character, are of no mean consequence in a general estimate 
 of his recommendations for the Presidency, because his information and experi- 
 ence in these respects must qualify him, in a degree unequalled by any man now 
 living, for the discharge of the Executive functions which depend on practical 
 knowledge of those great interests. 
 
 But, had General IIarrlson " never set a squadron in the field," and were lie 
 as ignorant of the Indian character as he is practically otherwise, evidence enough 
 is to be found in his sei vices and recorded opinions as a Civilian and Legislator 
 to recommend him to hearty and cordial support by those who would pay com- 
 paratively litile respect to mere soldiership as a qualification for the Chief Magis- 
 tracy of the Nation. 
 
 Before entering upon the brief notice which we propose to ourselves of some of 
 the incidents of General Harrison's civil life since the war of 1812, let us glance 
 at two circumstances in his education, the influence of which is perceptible in 
 leading traits of his public character. 
 
 In the first place, though not old enough to have been a sage of the Revolution, 
 he is the son of a distinguished sage of the Revolution, in the midst of which he 
 was born, and in the course of which his mind was trained and disciplined. The 
 results of this circumstance are to be found in his elevated sense of the moral as 
 well as political character of that Revolution, and his high appreciation of the 
 gratitude due to the memory of its authors, and to all, down to the humblest, dead 
 or living, of those who were actors in it. 
 
 In the second place, General Harrison, witli a taste which may be said to 
 have been native to the air which he first breathed, ripened by iiis young admira- 
 tion of the heroic virtues of the first great men of the Revolution, has read history 
 profoundly. He is familiar with the annals of the ancient Re|niblics, and to their 
 study and reminiscences he letains much of the early attachment of a classic stu- 
 dent. With the Anglo-Saxon history he is not less intimately acquainted, nor 
 less accustomed at need to draw upon its resources. 
 
 The dominant influence of these two circumstances in General Harrison's 
 early life is visibly inipressed on his speeches, his writings, and his actions. 
 Through the history of his own times he may be traced by his repeated evidences 
 of devotion to the cause of liberty, his admiration of high achievement, his ardent 
 patriotism, and his great esteem for that virtue in others. 
 
 The following sentiment of the great Engliih moralist, on the occasion of his 
 visit to the classic ground of the Hebrides, may be said to be almost the ruling 
 passion of the Soldier of Tippecanoe : 
 
 "Far from me and from my friends be such frigid philosophy as may conduct us indifferent 
 and unmoved over any ground which has been dignified by wisdom, bravery, or virtue. That 
 man is Httle to be envied, whose patriotism would not gain force upon the plain of Marathon, 
 or whose piety would not grow warmer among the ruins of lona." 
 
 Following with us the track of General Harrison's Legislative career, the 
 reader will not fiiil to perceive, from the beginning to the end of it, the applica- 
 tion of liicse preliminary observations. 
 
General FIarrison took his seat as a member of the House of Representatives 
 on the opening of the Second Session of the Fourteenth Congress, (December 2, 
 1816.) On the 3d, tlie Annual Message of the President was received ; on the 
 4th of the month the President's Message was dissected, and on the 5th the com- 
 mittees upon its various subjects were announced, of one of which (on the subject 
 of the Militia) General Harrisov was appointed chairman. 
 
 On the next day, being the first day after the organization of the House, Gen- 
 eral Harrisom moved the lollowing resolution, in which the reader will perceive 
 the germ of the provision afterwards made for the surviving officers and soldiers 
 of the Revolutionary war: 
 
 "Resolved, That the Military Committee be instructed to report a bill providing by law for 
 the relief of such of the officers and soldiers who, having faithfully served in the armies of the 
 United Slates, are now in distressed circumstances, and who, not having received wounds or 
 disabilities whilst in actual service, are excluded from the benefits of the pension laws." 
 
 On presenting this resolution, General [Iarrison said : " It had been his in- 
 " tention to ofi'er with this resolution some observations u[)on the matter to the 
 " House : but, understanding that this course was not considered wholly proper 
 " on originating a motion, lie should reserve his remarks for another stage of the 
 "business. He did so with the less reluctance, since any remarks he should have 
 " made would have been with a view to enlist the feelings of the House, and he 
 " felt, on reflection, convinced that such remarks must be wholly unnecessary on 
 "this occasion, and that the heart of every American would beat in uniso.n 
 "with the object he had in view. He had made the resolution as broad as 
 '■^possible, that it might afford to the committee a choice of the various modes of 
 " accomplishing the object proposed to be committed to them." 
 
 The resolution thus moved, having been modified on the suggestion of an ex- 
 perienced member of the House so as to leave it, according to usage, discretionary 
 with the committee to report by bill or otherwise, was agreed to without oppo- 
 sition. 
 
 Though nothing definitive in reference to this subject was done at this Session 
 of Congress, (the two Houses having their hands full of other business of more 
 immediate urgency,) it is plainly evide:^t that it was this proposition which led the 
 way to the provision for the survivors of the Revolutionary war; a measure which 
 circles the fame of this Republic with a glory the ancient Republics could not boast 
 of, by exhibiting to the world the most beautiful example on record of a nation's 
 gratitude. 
 
 It was not until the following Session of Congress that the first act on the sub- 
 ject was passed. At the opening of that Session, Mr. Monroe, who also had 
 veneration for the princi^iles and actors of the Revolution stroncjly impressed upon 
 his character — not the less strongly from his having been himself personally asso- 
 ciated witii its trials and its perils — introduced the subject to Congress in the fol- 
 lowing appropriate and touchins; terms, following very nearly, the reader will 
 perceive, the language of General Harrison's proposition at the preceding Ses- 
 sion of Congress : 
 
 "In contemplating the happy situation of the United States, our attention is 
 "drawn, with j)eculiar interest, to the surviving ofllcers and soldiers of our Rev- 
 " olutionary army, who so eminently contributed, by their services, to lay its 
 " foundation. Most of those very meritorious citizens have paid the debt of Na- 
 " turr, and gone to repose. It is believed that, among the survivors, there are 
 " some not provided for by ciist'uii^ laws, who are reduced to indigence, and even 
 " to real distress. These men have a claim on the gratitud(> of their country, 
 " and it will do honor to their country to |)rovide for them. The lapse of a few 
 "years more, and the opportunity will be forever lost. Indeed, so long already 
 "has been the interval, that the number to bo benefited by any provision which 
 " may be made will not be great." 
 
 Of the select committee to which this part of the message was referred, Gen- 
 
,eral Harrison would doubtless have been made chairman, but that General 
 Bloomfield, much his senior in years and in date of service, a soldier of the 
 Revolution, (as well as of the war of 1812,) had come into Congress as a Repre- 
 sentative from New Jersey, and it was almost a matter of course that the matter 
 should be placed in his charge. With him were associated other Revolutionary 
 worthies. Colonel Tallmadge, of Connecticut, an experienced officer of the 
 Revolution, (also senior to General H.,) being next on tlie committee. 
 
 This committee was not long in deliberating upon the measure ; for on the 
 12th of the same month in which it was appointed, the committee reported a bill 
 to provide, again almost in the terms of General Harrison's original proposition, 
 for the relief^of such oflkers and soldiers (and sailors) who have faithfully served, 
 &-C., and are now " in reduced circumstances in life." 
 
 In the discussion of this bill General H. look an active part, advocating, how- 
 ever, a just discriinination between actual service and the merely being mustered 
 in the army without serving any length of time. Sustaining this discrimination, 
 he opposed an amendment proposing to allow the proposed pension to ''every 
 officer or soldier who served in any manner during the Revolutionary war, and 
 now surviving," arguing it as follows: 
 
 ««The amendment now proposed, he said, went too far, because it would embrace every one 
 who had shouldered a musket, even for an hour, during the Revolutionary war. As to those 
 who had seen serious service, so far from having a claim to the metd of liberality, the amend- 
 ment would be but n measure of justice, as no bounty had been accorded to them. Persons, 
 'however, covered with scars and home down by length of service in those days, ought not to be 
 confounded with those who had been called out for an hour or a day. Some of the militia, 
 he thought were cu9 well entitled to this pension as any re,a;u!ars, of whom the Jersey nnlitia 
 ■might be particularly mentioned. But he wished to have the operation of the bill hmited to such 
 as should have served six months or more." 
 
 This bill passed the House of Representatives before Christmas day, showing a 
 marvellous despatch of business in the House of Representatives, in comparison 
 with the usage in the same body at the present day, and, what is still more re- 
 markable, the yeas and nays were not even called upon its passage. Such was 
 the good feeling tlien prevailing among the Members of the House, that the ma- 
 jority would not expose to invidious imputation, by requiring a record of their 
 names, those whose objections to the details of the bill might have induced them 
 to vote against it. 
 
 The bill which passed the House so promptly, did not so readily obtain the 
 assent of the Senate; but it finally passed that body towards the end of February 
 followino-, (yeas 23, navs 8,) and now stands on the statute-book as the act of 
 March 15, 1818, entitled " An act to provide for certain persons engaged in the 
 land and naval service of the United States in the Revolutionary war." 
 
 A few days after the transmission of this bill to the Senate, General Harrison 
 submitted the following resolution : 
 
 "Resolved, That a committee be appointed jointly with such committee as may be appoint- 
 ed on the part of the Senate, to consider and report what measures it may be proper to adopt to 
 manifest the public respect for the memory of General Thaddf.us Kosciusko, formerly an officer 
 in the service of the United States, and the uniform and distinguished friend of Liberty and the 
 Rights of man." 
 
 In this proposition the ruling passion of the mover, his enthusiastic admiration 
 of the principles of the Revolution, and his zeal in behalf of liberty in general, 
 and of the rights of man, are plainly developed. 
 
 But it is to the following speech, delivered on that occasion, extracted from the 
 file of the National Intelligencer, that we bespeak the particular attention of our 
 readers : 
 
 On presenting the above resolution, Gen. Hahrisox addressed the House as follows : 
 
 «' The public papers have announced an event which is well calculated to excite the sympathy 
 of every American bosom. Kosciusk >, the martyr of Liberty, is no morel We are informed 
 that he died at Soleure, in France, some time in October last. 
 
4 
 
 "In tracing the events of this great man's life, we find in him that consistency of conduct 
 which is the more to be admired as it is so rarely to be met with. He was not at one time the 
 friend of mankind, and at another the instrument of their oppression ; but he preserved through- 
 out his whole career those noble principles which dislinguishe<i him in its commencement — which 
 influenced him, at an early period of his life, to leave his country and his friends, and in another 
 hemisphere to fight for the rights of humanity. 
 
 " Kosciusko was horn and educated in Poland, of a noble and distinguished family — a coun- 
 try where the distinctions in society are perhaps carried to greater lenglhs than in any other. 
 His Creator had, however, endowed him with a soul capable of rising above the narrow preju- 
 dices of a caste, and breaking the shackles which a vicious education had imposed on his mind. 
 
 " When very young, he was informed by the voice of Fame that the standard of liberty had 
 been erected in America — that an insulted and oppressed people had deterniineil to be free, or 
 perish in the attempt. His ardent and generous mind caught, with enthusiasm, the hul}' flame, 
 and from that moment he became the devoted soldier of liberty. 
 
 '* His rank in the American army afforded him no opportunity greatly to distinguish himself. 
 But he was remarked throughout his service for all the qualities which adorn the human charac- 
 ter. His heroic valor in the tield could only be equalled by his moderaiion and atlkbilitv in the 
 walks of private life. He was idolized by the soldiers for his bravery, and beloved and respect- 
 ed by the officers for the gpodness of his heart, and the great qualities of his mind. 
 
 " Contributing greatly, by his exertions, to the establishment of the independence of America, 
 he might have remained, and shared the blessings it dispensed, under the protection of a chief 
 who loved and honored him, and in the bosom of a grateful and afl'ectionatc people. 
 
 " Kosciusko had, hjwever, other views. It is not known that, until llie period I am speaking 
 of, he had formed any distinct idea of what could, or indeed what ought to be done for his own. 
 But in the Revolutionary war he drank deeply of the principles vshich produced it. In his con- 
 versations with the intelligent men of our country, he acquired nev/ views of the science of 
 government and tlie rights of man. He had seen, too, that, to be free, it was onlj- necessary 
 that a nation should will it; and, to be happy, it was only necessary that a nation should be 
 free. And was it not possible to procure these blessings for Poland! — for Poland, the country 
 of his birth, which had a claim to all his efforts, to all his services 1 That unhappy nation 
 groaned under a comidication of evils which has scarcely a parallel in history. The mass of the 
 people were the abject slaves of the nobles; ilie nobles, torn into factions, were alternately the 
 instruments and the victims of their powerful and ambitious neighbors. By intrigue, corruption, 
 and force, some of its fairest provinces had been separated from the Republic, and the people, 
 like beasts, transferred to foreign despots, who were again watching for a favorable moment for 
 a second dismemberment. To regenerate a people thus debased, to obtain for a country thus 
 circumstanced the blessings of liberty and indtpcndence, was a work of as much difiiculty as 
 danger. But, to a mind like Kosciusko's, the difliculty and danger of an enterprise served as 
 stimulants to undertake it. 
 
 "The annals of these times give us no detailed account of the progress of Kosciusko in ac- 
 complishing his great work, from the period of his return from America to the adoption of the 
 new Constitution of Poland, in 17!)1. This interval, however, of a|)parent inaction, was most 
 usefully employed to illumine the mental darkness which enveloped his countrymen. To stimu- 
 late the ignorant and bigoted peasanti-y with the hope of future emancipation — to leach a proud 
 but gallant nobility that true glory is oidy to be found in the paths of duty and patriotism — 
 interests the most opposed, prejudices the most stubborn, and habits the most inveterate, were 
 reconciled, dissipated, and broken, by the ascendancy of his virtues and example. The storm 
 which he had foreseen, and for which he had been preparing, at length burst upon Poland. A 
 feeble and unpopular Government bent before its fury, and submitted itself to the Russian yoke 
 of the invader. Hut the nation disdained to follow its exantple ; in their cxtrcnnly every eye 
 was turned on the hero who had already fought thiir hallles, ihe sage who bad enlightened them, 
 and the patriot who had set the example of personal sacrifices to accomplish the emancipation of 
 the people. 
 
 "Kosciusko was unanimously appointed generalissimo of Poland, with unlimited powers, 
 until the enemy should be driven from the country. On /lis virtue the nation repcised with the 
 utuiost confidence ; and it is some consolation to reflect, amidst the general depravity of man- 
 kind, that two instances, in the same age, have occurred, where powers of this kind were em- 
 ployed solely for the purposes for which they were given. 
 
 " It is not my intention, sir, to follow the I'olish (3hief throughout the career of victory which, 
 for n consideralile time, crowned his efforts. Guided by his talents, and leil by his valor, his 
 undisciplined, ill-armed militia charged with ellect the veteran Russian and Prussian ; the mail- 
 ed cuirassiiTs of tiie great Federick, for l!ie tirst time, broke and fled belore the lighter and more 
 appropriate cavalry of Poland. Hnj)c I'llled the breasts of the patriots. After a long night, iho 
 dawn of un apparently glorious day broke upon Poland. But, to the discerning eye of Kosci- 
 usko, the liulit which it shed was of that sickly and portentous appearance, indicating a storm 
 more dreadful tiiaii that which he had n-sisled. 
 
 " He prepared to meet it with firmness, but with means entirely inadequate. To the tdvan- 
 
tages of numbers, of tactics, of discipline, and inexhaustible resources, the combined despots had 
 secured a faction in the heart of Poland. And, if that country can boast of having produced its 
 Washington, it is disgraced also by giving birth to a second Arnold. The day at length came 
 ■which was to decide the fate of a nation and a hero. Heaven, for wise purposes, determined 
 that it should be the last of Polish liberty. It was decided, indeed, hefoie the battle commenced. 
 The traitor Poniski, who covered with a detachment the advance of the Pohsh army, abandoned 
 his position to the enemy, and retreated. 
 
 " Kosciusko was astonished, but not dismayed. The disposition of his army would have done 
 honor to Hannibal. The succeeding conflict was terrible. When the talents of the General 
 could no longer direct the mingled mass of combatants, the arm of the warrior was brought to 
 the aid of his soldiers. He performed prodigies of valor. The fabled prowess of Ajax in defend- 
 ing the Grecian ships was realized by the Polish hero. Nor was he badly (seconded by his 
 troops. As long as his voice could guide, or his example fire their valor, they were irresistible. 
 In this unequal contest Kosciusko was long seen, and finally lost to their view. 
 
 ' Hopp for a season badp the world farewell, 
 ' And Freedom shrieked when Kosciuslio fell.' 
 
 «' He fell, covered with wounds, but still survived. A Cossack would have pierced his breast, 
 when an officer interposed. ' Suffer him to execute his purpose,' said the bleeding hero ; ' I am 
 the devoted soldier of my country, and will not survive its liberties.' The name of Kosciusko 
 struck to the heart of the" Tartar, like that of Marius upon the Cimbrian warrior. The uplifted 
 weapon dropped from his hand. 
 
 " Kosciusko was conveyed to the dungeons of Petersburgh, and to the eternal disgrace of the 
 Empress Catharine, she made him the object of her vengeance, when he could be no longer the 
 object of her fears. Her more generous son restored him to liberty. The remainder of his life 
 has been spent in virtuous retirement. Whilst in this situation in France, an anecdote is rela- 
 ted of him which strongly illustrates the command which his virtues and his services had obtained 
 over the minds of his countrymen. 
 
 " [n a late invasion of France, some Polish regiments, in the service of Russia, passed through 
 the village in which he lived. Some pillaging of the inhabitants brought Kosciusko from his 
 cottage 'When 1 was a Polish soldier,' said he, addressing the plunderers, 'the property of 
 the peaceful citizen was respected.' 'And who art thou,' ssid an officer, ' who addressest us 
 with tliis tone of authority ?' ' I am Kosciusko.' There was magic in the word. It ran froni 
 corps to corps. The march was suspended. They gathered round him, and gazed with as- 
 tonishment and awe upon the mighty ruin he presented. ' Could it indeed be their hero,' 
 whose fame was identified with that of their country 1 A thousand interesting reflections burst 
 upon their minds ; they remembered his patriotism, his devotion to liberty, his triumphs, and his 
 glorious fall. Their iron hearts were softened, and the tear of sensibility trickled down their 
 •weather-beaten faces. We can easily conceive, sir, what would be the feelings of the hero him- 
 self in such a scene. His great heart must have heaved with emotion to find himself once more 
 surrounded by the companions of his glory ; and that he would have been upon the point of say- 
 ing to them, 
 
 'Behold your General, come once more 
 ' To lead you on In laurel'd victory, 
 ^ 'To fame, to freedimi.' 
 
 "The delusion could have lasted but for a moment. He was himself, alas ! a miserable crip- 
 ple ; and, for them ! they were no longer the soldiers of Uberty, but the instruments of ambition 
 and tyranny. Overwhelmed with grief at the reflection, he would retire to his cottage, to mourn 
 afresh over the miseries of his country. 
 
 " Such was the man, sir, for whose memory I ask from an American Congress a slight tribute 
 of respect. Not, sir, to perpetuate his fame, but our gratitude. His fame will last as long as 
 liberty retrains upon the earth; as long as a votary offers incense upon her altar, the name of 
 Kosciusko will he invoked. And if, by the common consent of the world, a temple shall be 
 erected to those who have rendered most service to mankind — if the statue of our great country- 
 man shall occupy the place of the ' Most Worthy,' that of Kosciusko will be found by his side, 
 and the wreath of laurel will be entwined with the palm of virtue to adorn his brow." 
 
 It does not at all detract from the merit of this admirable eulogiiim on tlie char- 
 acter of the gallant and true-harted Pole, that General Harrison did not succeed 
 in his motion. It appeared, when the matter came to be e.xamined, that the pro- 
 posed proceeding was against precedent, Congress having theretofore, in the case 
 of native officers of equal rank to Kosciusko, declined adopting similar measures, 
 when proposed. P»ut the Speech is on record, and no one can deprive its author 
 of the merit of a production, of which any livitig orator might well be proud. 
 
 It has been already shown that the first movement of General Harrison, after 
 taking his seat in Congress, was an efl'ort to discharge the debt of gratitude yet 
 remaining due to the indigent survivors of the Revolutionary war. 
 
The object which appears to have laid next nearest to his heart was to give 
 efficiency to tlie Militia of" the United Slates. This was a subject which had at- 
 tracted his attention, and upon which he had written with ability, before the war 
 of 1812. His experience in that war had considerably extended his field of ob- 
 servation, and enabled him to perceive more plainly, as he had felt most keeidy, 
 the defects of the present system. An o|)portunity was now affi)rdcd liim to bring 
 forward his plans for the improvement of the exisiing system in a manner to do 
 justice to his own conceptions, though he failed, as every body else had failed be- 
 fore him, and no one has in the least degree since succeeded, in tlu- effort to prevail 
 upon Congress to pay to this subject so much attention as to produce any definite 
 action upon it. 
 
 In his annual message to Congress at the opening of the session at which Gen- 
 eral Harrison first took his seat in Congress, Presidtuit Madison invited the at- 
 tention of both Houses to the Militia System in the following terms: 
 
 "As a subject of the highest importance to the national wulfare, I must again earnestly re- 
 commend to the consideration of Congress a reorganization of the militia on a plan which will 
 form it into classes, according to the periods of life more and less adapted to military services. 
 An efficient militia is authorized and contemplated by the Constitution, and required by the 
 spirit and safety of free government. The present organization of our militia is universally re- 
 garded as less efficient than it ought to be made ; and no organization can be better calculated to 
 give to it its due force than a classification which will assign the foremost place in the defence of 
 the country to that portion of its citizens whose activity and animation best enable them to rally 
 to its standard. Besides the consideration that a time of peace is the time when the change can 
 be made with most convenience and equity, it will now be aided by the experience of a recent 
 war, in which the militia bore so interesting a part." 
 
 One would almost suppose that in penning this paragraph — for in that day it was- 
 the usage for tiie President of ilie United States to write his own messages; a [irac- 
 tice which had at least this recommendation, that he knew what was in them — 
 Mr. Madison had in view the fact tliat the late Commander of tlie iNorthwestern 
 army (and former Governor of the Northwestern Territory) had become a mem- 
 ber of the Congress he was addressing. Certain it is, that when in the House of 
 Representatives a select committee was appointed upon this subject, General 
 Harrison was, with general approbation, and by common consent, jiiaced at the 
 head of it. 
 
 On the 17ih of January, 1817, General Harrison, as chairman of that com- 
 mittee, made a re[)ort, accompanied by a bill, with all the details of wliicl; we 
 shall not now trouble the reader, but the leading provisions of wli'ich were as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 The bill directs the enrolment of every free, able-bodied while male citizen between the agc» 
 of eighteen and forty-live yeais; requires e;u-h such citizen tc) provide hiiiiseil with arms, acc(>utre- 
 inents, and uniform like that of the army of the United States; exempts public officers, mail-car' 
 ries, &c., and all persons exempted by 8tate laws from the operation of this act; provides the 
 mode of calling out the militia, and how they shall be giiverned when in service, &c. The pe- 
 culiar features of this bill, however, apjiear to be the fullovving : 
 
 Section 9 provides that all the militia of the United States liable to do duty under the preced- 
 ing provisions, shall be classed by the proper authorities of the several Stales and 'J'erntories 
 within one year after the ))assing of the act, in the following manner, viz: 'J'luise bel.veen 
 eighteen and twenty-one years of age shall be called //if iiiiiiDr cldss ,- those between the age of 
 twenty-one and thirty-one years shall be called the. junior r/ass ; ami those over tliirty-one and 
 under forty-five years of age shall be called /fie setiior cliixs of militia. 
 
 Sections 10 and 1 1 provide that once in every year all the ofliceis of the respective brigades, 
 and all the sergeants of the lespcrtive regiments sh;ill assemble at such time and place as may 
 be provided by the Legislature of each Slate, for the pur|io.sc of training and tliscipline, and shall 
 
 he kept together and encamped for the period of , and during such time shall be regularly 
 
 and nssiduouHly trained, Ac. : and that during the term of service of the above officers, &c. ihcy 
 •-hall receive half the j)uy of full service, and one ration per day, and no other emolument. 
 
This was the plan which resulted from the deliberations of the committee. It 
 is the report which accompanied that bill, iiowever, to which we desire to invite 
 the attention of our readers; in wiiich, if we mistake not, they will find convinc- 
 ing proofs of the love of country, the devotion to liberty, the attachnicnt to equal 
 rights, the veneration for patriotic sacrifices and sufferings, whicli arc interwoven 
 through the whole web of General Harrison's life. 
 
 The report to which we allude (omitting a few paragraphs at the beginning, 
 descriptive, merely, of the bill) was as follows : 
 
 The committee have no hesitation in acknowledging tliat the plan embraced by the bill is a 
 mere expedient, a choice of ditiiculties ; a system which, although it will place the militia on a 
 much better footing than they have before stood, yet it is not likely to produce that great desid- 
 eratum, that indispensable requisite, in a Government constituted like ours — the diflusion of a 
 military spirit and mililary information throughout the great mass of the jieople. 
 
 The part of the subject which remains to be discussed will be best understood by dividing 
 it into two distinct propositions. 
 
 1st. Is it desirable tiiat the whole male population of the United States, of the proper age, 
 should be trained to the use of arms, so as to supersede, under any circumstances, the necessity 
 of a standing army 1 
 
 2dly. Is it practicable ] 
 
 The solicitude which has been manifested by the great inen who have successively filled the 
 office of Chief Magistrate of the United States, for the adoption of a system of military discipline 
 for the militia which would produce the eflect contemplated by the first proposition, sufficiently 
 manifests their sense of its importance. The subject was often and warmly recommended by the 
 Father of his Country ; and, at an early period of his administration, a plan for the purpose was 
 proposed by the Secretary of War; and, being corrected agreeably to his suggestions, was sub- 
 mitted to the National Legislature. It is believed that objection to the expense and supposed 
 difficulty of executing this plan, and not to its object, was the cause of its being rejected. Is 
 the opinion, which prevailed at that period, that an energetic national militia was to be regarded 
 as the capital security of a free Republic, less apparent at the present ] Has any thing since oc- 
 curred, either in the history of our own or of any other country, to show that a standing "army 
 forming a distinct class in the community," is the proper defence of a Government constituted 
 like ours ? Do the events of the late war show that discipline is not necessary for the militia 1 
 Or does the present aspect of the political world aflbrd so much security as to justify the indif- 
 ference which prevails in providing an effectual national defence] 
 
 It is impossible that any American can recur to many of the events, and particularly to the 
 concluding scenes, of the late war, without feeling that ekvatimi of mind which a recollection 
 of his country'' s glory is calculated to produce. There are, however, others, and not a few, that 
 are eminently calculated to show that an immense sacrifice of blood and treasure can be distinct- 
 ly traced to the want of discipline in the militia. The glorious success which, in several in- 
 stances, crowned their efforts, was the result of uncommon valor, or of valor united with the advan- 
 tage of a position suited to their peculiar character. The greater part of the American militia, 
 accustomed from their early youth to the use of fire-arms, are doubtless more formidable than any 
 other troops in the world in the defence of a line or rampart. Victories in the field are gained 
 by other qualities; by those disciplined evolutions which give harmony and conceit to numerous 
 bodies of men, and enable whole armies to move with the activity and address of single combat- 
 ants. Let our militia be instructed, and America v^ould he equal to a contest ivith the rest of 
 the world united. The improvements which have been made in the art of war, since the com- 
 mencement of the French Revolution, give greater advantages to invading and disciplined armies, 
 acting against those of a contrary character, than they before possessed. This arises from their 
 increased activity, produced by the great multiplication of their light troops ; the celerity of move- 
 ment given to the artillery ; and, above all, to the improvements in the stafl", placing the subsist- 
 ence of large armies upon a footing of security beyond what was formerly supposed to be possible. 
 An improvement in tactics, which gives advantages to the professed soldier who fights for conquest 
 over the citizen who bears arms only in the defence of his country, is perhaps to be regretted ; 
 and no alternative is left to the latter but to perfect himself in the same arts and discipline. It 
 is believed that there is no instance on record of a Republic, whose citizens had been trained to 
 the use of arms, having been conquered by a nation possessing a diflTerent form of Government. 
 Small Republics have been overthrown by those which were more powerful ; as Saguntum, de- 
 stroyed by Carthage, and Numantia, by Rome. But it has been observed of those Governments, 
 that " tlieir walls and towers became their funeral piles, leaving nothnig to their conquerors but 
 their ashes." 
 
 The committee cannot conceive that any aspect, however pacific it may be, which the Gov- 
 ernments of Europe may for the present have assumed towards this country, should be used as 
 an argument to procrastinate, even for a day, any mea.^ure calculated to render their future hos- 
 tility abortive, [t cannot be beheved that any real fiiendship can exist in the breast of the sov- 
 ereigns of that continent for a Government which has been founded upon principles so opposite 
 
8 
 
 to theirs, and which, by the happiness it diffuses, affords an eternal satire and reproach upon 
 their conduct. Whatever security there maybe derived from their policy, none can certainly 
 be expected from their forbearance, whenever, from a change of circumstances, they may think 
 it proper to change their policy. The liberties of America must then be preserved, as they were 
 won, Ijy the arms, the discipline, and the valor of iier frceborn sons. 
 
 But the defence of our country against a foreign enemy does not con^;titute the only (perhaps 
 not the chief) motive of military improvements to the extent contemplated by the proposition 
 we are considering. The safety of a Republic dependa us much npon the equality in the use of 
 arms amongst its citizens, as upon the eijuuUty of rights. Nothing can be more dangerous in 
 such a Government than to have a knowledge of the military art confined to a part of the People: 
 for sooner or later that part will govern. 
 
 The effects of discipline possessed by a few, to control numbers without, is to be seen in all 
 the despotic Governments of modern as well as ancient times. 
 
 In general, however, the subjects of those despotic Governments, which preserve their author- 
 ity by standing armies, are not allowed the use of arms; but the use of arms is not alone suffi- ^ 
 cient. A striking example of this is to be found in one of the Grecian Republics. The Spar- 
 tans were enabled, by the force of discipline alone, to keep in subjection for agis the Helots and 
 other ancient inhabitants of Laconla. These men were not only allowed the use of of arms, but 
 upon almost every occasion formed the greater part of the Lacedcemonian army : nor were they 
 deficient in bravery. But they were not permitted to learn that admirable discijiline which dis- 
 tinguished the oplites or heavy armed infantry of Sparta. 
 
 Another important consideration, urging the diffusion of a military spirit amongst our citizens, 
 is the counterpoise it will afford to that inordinate desire of wealth which seems to have pervaded 
 the whole nation, bringing with it habits of luxury, manners, and principles, highly unfavor- 
 able to our republican institutions. 
 
 The first effect of this state of society is the substitution of a standing army for national mili- 
 tia. Upon this subject the committee beg leave to make a quotation from the report of General 
 Knox, corrected by President Washington. "It is, " says the patriotic Secretary, "the in- 
 troduction of vice and corruption of manners into the mass of the people that renders a standing 
 army necessary. It is when public spirit is despised, and avarice, indolence, and effeminacy of 
 manners predominate, and prevent the establishment of institutions which would elevate' the 
 ininds of the youth in the paths of virtue and honor, that a standing army is formed and riveted 
 forever." So true is the principle here contended for, that it is believed that there is no instance 
 in history of a nation losing its liberties where the militarj' spirit of the People did not decline 
 in the same proportion that the corruption of maimers advanced. Nor was any free Government 
 ever overturned by an internal convulsion, until the destruction of that spirit had been first pro- 
 duced in the body of the people. It was not until the amusements of the theatre, the baths, and 
 the pulilic gardens, had superseded the exercises of the Campus Martins, that a Koman army 
 dared to revolt against its country, and with the power of the sword to substitute, for its free in- 
 stitutions, the arbitrary will of a dictator. Eighty years before the successful usurpation of 
 Cajsar the revolt of an army could have produced no such consequence. But the habits of the 
 People had been changed. No longer in every Koman citizen was to be found a trained and 
 practised soldier ; the higher tactics were cultivated, indeed, witli zeal ar.d success by a niartial no- 
 bility. No period had been more prohfic of great generals. At none, had the disciphne of the le- 
 gions been so perfect, but they were no longer filled by citizens faking their routine of service. 
 The military had become a distinct profession, compo-^^ed of men who, in the habits of war and 
 pillage, had forgotten the sacred obligations attached to their character as citizens, and who 
 were ever as ready, upon the suggestion of their leader, to turn their arms against their country 
 as the enemy whom they were raised to oppose. 
 
 As in every age, then, and in every country, the same causes will produce the same effects, 
 the palladium of American liberty must be the diffusion of military discipline and a military 
 spirit through the whole body of the people. 
 
 But, secondly, is the object attainable! Tliat it is not attainable by any of the systems which 
 have heretofore been in use in the United States is very evident from the little success wliich has 
 attended them. The late war repeatedly exhibited the melancholy fact of large cxirps of militia 
 going to the field of battle without understanding a single ekiiuntury principle, and without 
 being able to perform a single evolution. Vet militia laws exist and have existed in all the 
 States since the war of tlie Kevulution, which set apart, with great precision, a number of days 
 in each year for the purpose of training and discipline. But from this plan no good fruit has 
 ever been produced. It was an error, indeed, common to all the militia systems in use in the Uni- 
 ted States, that the periods fur training were too shoit anil too distant from each other to produce 
 much benefit. To remedy this defect, five camps of discii)litie luive been reconunendcd. t)ne 
 of the reasons wliich governed the cummittee in rejecting that Jiiirt of the Secretary of War's 
 recommendation has been explained above. But, if that objection could be overcome, the com- 
 jnittee are far from thinking that the object could at all bo accomplished in that way. There is 
 another more formidable obstacle to success; more formidable, because it arises from tlie nature 
 of /Ur (ioveriuju-nt and tlie constitution of the human chaiacter. Tiie sentiiiK-nts and habits of 
 a/ice country necessarily produce amongst the citizens a superior restlessness under restrain 
 
than is to be met with in the subjects of a monarchy. The spirit frequently manifests itself 
 even in a career of military services, where the high interests involved, and in which they largely 
 partake, and the evident necessity of discipline, might be supposed able to correct it. There 
 can scarcely be a restraint more vexatious and disgusting to a grown man, than the initiatory 
 lessons of the military art. Military discipline consists in the observances of a number of minute 
 particulars, which, to the novi'iate in arms, have no apparent object, but which form the links 
 of a beautiful and connected system. It is believed that to this cause is to be attributed the little 
 progress which has been made in training the militia of the United States. Nor is there much 
 prospect that any change of system could, with regard to the present militia, produce the result 
 at which we aim. 
 
 In searching for landmarks to guide us to our object, it will be in vain that we direct our at- 
 tention to the modern nations of Europe. From them we can borrow nothing to aid our purpose. 
 Governments formed upon artijicial dial'inctions in &ociefi/, lokich estimafc their security b;/ the 
 inabilitij of their subjects to resist oppression, can furnish a free people with no guides in organ- 
 izing ci system of defence which shall be purely national. We arc, however, not without a 
 resource. 
 
 The ancient Republics, from which we have drawn many of the choicest maxims upon which 
 to found our civil institutions, will furnish also a most perfect model for our system of national 
 defence. The whole secret of ancient military glory — the foundation of that wonderful combina- 
 tion of mihtary skill and exalted valor which enabled the petty Republic of Athens to resist the 
 mighty torrent of Persian invasion, which formed the walls of Sparta, and conducted the Roman 
 legions (influenced, indeed, by unhallowed motives) to the conquest of the world, will be found 
 in the military education of their youth. The victories of Marathon and Platffia, of Cynocephala 
 and Pydna, were the practical results uf the exercises of the Campus Martius and Gymnasia. It 
 is on a foundation of this kind, and of this kind only, that an energetic national militia can be 
 established. 
 
 "An examination into the employments and obligations of individuals comprising the society," 
 says General Kxox "will evince the impossibility of diffusing an adequate knowledge of the 
 art of war by any other means than a course of discipline during the period of nonage. The 
 time necessary to acquire this important knowledge cannot be aflorded at any other period of life 
 with so little injury to the public or private interests." Nothing is more true than what is here 
 advanced ; and yet it is most singular that the amiable and patriotic Secretary should have founded 
 his plan upon a course of instruction, to commence within the limits of nonage, indeed, but at so 
 advanced a period of it, that all the objections which could be made to disciplining the militia at a 
 more advanced age will apply equally to it, with the addition of others which are more cogent, 
 and which are supposed to be inherent in the s^ystcm itself. Of his advanced corps, composed of 
 the youth of eighteen, nineteen, and twenty years of age, those of eighteen and nineteen are to 
 be drawn out for thirty days in each year, and those of twenty for ten days, to be instructed in 
 camps of discipline. 
 
 It has been strongly urged against this plan, that the separation of the youth, at that critical 
 age, from the superintending vigilance of their parents and guardians, would be a very dangerous 
 step ; and that the loss of time from the pursuit of their professions and occupations would prove 
 to them a most serious evil. 
 
 Whatever force there may be in these objections, the committee are fully pursuaded that the 
 improvement to he derived from the execution of this plan would not compensate for the expense 
 and loss of time it would occasion. The perfection of discipline, as it regards the soldier, is 
 the grace, the precision, and address with which he performs certain evolutions. To arrive at this 
 perfection, long-continued practice is essential. 
 
 And shice it must be evident that the time necessary for this purpose cannot be taken from the 
 avocations of our citizens afier they have arrived at the age of manhood, the only alternative is 
 to devise a system of military instruction which shall be engrafted on, and form a part of, the 
 ordinary education of our youth. 
 
 The organization of a system thus extensive in its operations must necessarily be a work of 
 some time and dithculty. The want of statistical information will prevent the committee from 
 submitting to the House at this time more than the outUne of their plan. It is embraced in the 
 following propositions : 
 
 As the important advantages of the military part of the education of youth will accrue to the 
 community, and not to the individuals who acquire it, it is proper that the whole expense of the 
 establishment should be borne by the public Treasury. 
 
 That, to comport with the equality which is the basis of our Constitution, the organization of 
 the establishment should be such as to extend, without exception, to every individual of the 
 proper age. 
 
 That, to secure this, the contemplated military instruction should not be given in distant 
 schools established for that purpose, but that it should form a branch of education in every school 
 within the United States. 
 
 That a corps of military instructers should be formed to attend to the gymnastic and elementary 
 part of educaiion in every school in the United States, whilst the more scientific part of the art of 
 war shall be communicated by professsors of tactics, to be established in all the higher seminaries. 
 
 The committee are fully aware that the establishment of an institution which, from its nature, 
 
10 
 
 is calculated to produce an important change in the n'anners and habits of the nation, will be re- 
 ceived with caution and distrust by a people jealous of their liberties, and who boast of a Govern- 
 ment which executes its powers with the least possible sacrifice of individual rights. An en- 
 croachnieiit upon individual rights forms no part of their si/slem. It is not a conscription, 
 which withdraws from an anxious parent a S'3n, for whose morals he fears more than for his life. It 
 is not a Persian or Turkish mandate to educate the jouth within the purUeusof a corrupt court i 
 tut a system as purely republican in practice as in principle. 
 
 The means are furnished by the Government, and the American youth are called upon to 
 qualify themselves, under the immediate inspection of their parents, or of tutors chosen by their 
 parents, for the sacred tcisl; of defending the liberties of their country. 
 
 Although the system of General Knox widely dilfers from that which has been recommended 
 by the committee, his opinion of the elfects to lie produced by it is conceived to be more peculiarly 
 applicable to the latter. " If the United States," says he, " possess the vigor of mind to establish 
 the first institution for the military instruction of the youth, it may reasonably be expected to 
 produce the most unequivocal advantages. A glorious national spirit will be introduced with it.s 
 extensive train of political consequences. The youth will imbibe a love of their country, rever- 
 ence and obedience to its laws, courage and elevation of mind, openness and liberality of char- 
 acter, accompanied by a just spirit of honor. In addition to which, their bodies will acquire a 
 robustness greatly conducive to their personal happiness; while habit, with its silent but effica- 
 cious operations, will durably cement the system." 
 
 That the House may possess all the information necessary to act upon this important subject, 
 the committee respectfully recommend the adoption of the following resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That the Secretary of War be required to prepare, and lay before this House at the 
 next session of Congress, a plan for the military instruction of all the youth in the United States, 
 in the way which is best calculated fur the purpose, with as little injury as possible to the ordinary 
 course of education. 
 
 Owing to the apatliy, amounting almost to torpidity, out of which it seems im- 
 possible to awaken Congress in rt'lcreiice to this subject of the ntilitia, no action 
 was had upon the bill which accompanied this report, beyond its formal reading 
 and printing. 
 
 At the next session of Congress, General Harrison being again Chairman of 
 the Committee on the Militia, again (.January 9, 1818,) reported a bill for the 
 classification and better organization of the militia, wliicli, as usual with bills re- 
 ported, was referred to a Committee of the Whole. As early as the 10th of INlarch 
 following, a proposition was made to fix u|)on the 13lli of April for the adjourn- 
 ment of Congress ; and the question being upon the postponement of its consid- 
 eration until the ne.xt Monday, Gen. H. made a last attempt to prevail upon the 
 House to reflect for a moment upon the importance of acting upon the reorgan- 
 ization bill before the adjournment, referring to the subject as follows : 
 
 General Haruison said "he believed that by a proper economy of time the House n?/^^/ 
 
 despatch all the business before it by the 13th of April. But he was willing to let the resolu- 
 tion lie on the table to see whether the House was disposed to economize its time, of which he 
 saw but little prospect at present. In addition to several objects of importance, which had been 
 enumerated, he mentioned the subject of thk Militia. Was it possible, he asked, that the 
 House could adjourn the present session without acting on //(/.v subject 1 He hoped not. Be- 
 sides the many letters addressed to him as chairman of the committee on the subject, urging the 
 necessity of acting upon it, he had been informed that the State of Georgia had declined re-en- 
 acting its militia law at its late session, on the express ground of a hope and belief that Con- 
 gress would not sutler this session to pass away without acting on it." 
 
 This appeal was in vain : the members of Congress in those day.s got home- 
 sick in less time than they do now ; and liome they determined to go, and did go, 
 on the 20tli April, without acting on the JNlililia bill. 
 
 Despairing of awakoninu the alteiiiion of Congress to the importance of this 
 subject, (jen. 11. desisted from <iny I'lirilicr eflort at that time to procure the re- 
 form so necessary then, which is even more neecKd now, in the militia system of 
 the United States. Whether he will he more succesisful in accomplishing this 
 patriotic purpose hereafter, in the station of 1* resilient of the United States, to 
 which Ik; is about to be called by the people, than lie was in the capacity of one 
 of their Represeiita'ives in Congress, we shall be able to inform our readers on 
 the 4tli day of JMardi, l.S-i.') ; to which (l:iv let the (luestioii l)e postponed. 
 
 We will here insert one of Gi;.\kh.\i. II akkison'.-^ short s|)eeclies in Congress, 
 which we met with in looking through the history of the closing days of the ses- 
 sion of ISIT-'IS, and which we copy because altogether characteristic of him. 
 
11 
 
 18\8, Ap7-ll 18. General Hahhisox renetved a nwtion which had been made to sit to-mor- 
 row (Sunday) — the next day having been fixed as the day for ending the session. This mo- 
 tion being objected to by a Member from Connecticut, Gen. H. re[ihed, that, •• aUhough he 
 could not pretend to be as well acquainted wilh the Scriptures as the gentleman from Connecticut, 
 he must have entirely misunderstood the principles of the Christian Religion if the proposition 
 he had made could not be defended on that ground alone. It would be recollected that he had 
 suggested this course when the hill for i/ie relief of the venerable Revolutionary patriot, Stark, 
 was under discussion this morning, and hud proposed to devote the Sunday's session exclusively 
 to business of that description. The bill, long since reported, fur the relief of the ividoius and or- 
 phans of the officers and soldiers who fell in the late ivar, was not acted upon. The Pension 
 bill had been suspended in the Senate for the want of time to examine it ; and Mr. H. said that 
 a great number of individuals would suffer all the calamities of extreme poverty if these bills 
 were not passed. Mr. H. said he was not willing to constrain the conscience of any person ; 
 the gentleman from Connecticut might, if he pleased, absent himself from the House. But for 
 my part, (said Mr. H.,) I cannot conceive that a more acceptable sacrifice ca7i be offered to 
 Heaven on the Sabbath than that which would dry up the tears of the widow and the orphan, 
 and provide the means of comfort and support for the aged and maimed soldiers who have spent 
 their vigor and shed their blood in defence of the liberty of their country. This was his Re- 
 ligion, and he hoped the motion would prevail." 
 
 The three sessions during which General Harrison sat in the House of Rep- 
 resentatives, beginning witli December, 181G, and ending with March, 1819, 
 were distinguished by more freedom from party influence, more deliberation, and 
 more e.Kclusive reference to the public interest and the public good, than any 
 within our recollection. They embraced the last session of Congress under Mr. 
 Madison's Administration, and the two first under that of Mr. Monroe. The 
 consequence of tiie relative freedom from party influence was the comparative 
 absence of Executive influence. Tlie spoils doctrine had then never been heard 
 of, much less practised upon, in the General Government. Not then, nor for 
 several years afterwards, had a hiss ever been heard within the walls of the Capi- 
 tol, either from floor or gallery. Yet if, at that day, any Senator or Representa- 
 tive had ventured to announce in debate such a sentimeiu, in reference to our 
 political contests, as that " to the victor belong the spoils of the enemy," he 
 would have 
 
 "Heard 
 
 " On all sides, from innumerable tongues, 
 
 "A dismal universal hiss, the sound 
 
 " Of public scorn." 
 
 So far from the Executive will being then the law for Congress, as we know 
 (and as by their present intolerable sufferings this whole people now feel) has 
 since been the case, at the very tirst session of Mr. Monroe's Administration, 
 the House of Representatives came in direct, though friendly, conflict with the 
 President on several important points ; one of which was relative to the power of 
 appropriating money for internal improvements by the General Government ; 
 another, the expediency of immediate recognition of the independence of the 
 Spanish Provinces of South America, then in a stale of revolution, &:c. — on both 
 which points the House, under the lead of Mr. Ci.av (then Speaker) took ground 
 opposite to the opinion of the President, without separating from him, or with- 
 drawing from him any part of the confidence to which he was really entitled, or 
 of the constitutional support due to his Administration. In those days Members 
 of Congress could differ in opinion, and argue their diflerences stoutly too, not 
 only without quarrelling, but even liking one another the better for it. Nor was 
 it considered any disrespect, much less any failure of duty, to the President, 
 among his best friends in Congress, for them to entertain and express views dif- 
 fering from his on great questions of public policy. 
 
 In the absence of Executive influence, in those days, however, there was an- 
 other influence which had irresistible power. It was the influence of the will of 
 the sovereign people, wiiich, when expressed. Congress were accustomed im- 
 plicitly and promptly to obey. 
 
 The most remarkable instance, in our annals, of this submissive deference to 
 public opinion, is to be found in the history of the Compensation Law, as it was 
 
12 
 
 called. That act changed the mode of commuting ihe per diem pay of Members 
 of both Houses of Congress to a salary to each Member of fifteen hundred dollars 
 a year. The People took offence at Members voting to themselves salaries, and 
 resented their doing so as keenly, and rebuked it as effectively, as though Mem- 
 bers of Congress h;id never before received, nor ever been entitled to, compensa- 
 tion from the Treasury for their services in any form. Tiie most popular among 
 the supporters of the law scarcely escaped the effects of their displeasure ; aud 
 when Congress came together, at the Session at which General Harrison took 
 liis seat as a Representative from Ohio, no time was lost in repealing the obnox- 
 ious law. 
 
 Upon thai bill, General Harriso.v, who had come fresh from the People, (hav- 
 ing been elected to fill a vacancy,) took the popular side of the cjuestion, and 
 strenuously opposed t'.ie increase of the per diem allowance (proposed to be incor- 
 porated in the repoalin? l)ill) from six to eiglit dollars; which, for that Session, 
 was defeated, and a bill v/as passed simply repealing the act of the preceding 
 Session. 
 
 At the Session of 1817-'18, a bill being before the House to increase the com- 
 pensation of Members of Congress from six dollars per day to nine dollars per 
 day, and a motion being mnde (Jan. 6, 1818) to strike out " nine" and insert 
 " six" dollars as the daily com[»ensation, General Harrisox said that "in explain- 
 " ing what would otherwise appear an inconsistency in the vole he was about to 
 " give, he was aware that in order to preserve in Congress talents of a proper 
 " grade, and to enable men of moderate property to come to Congress without 
 " loss, a higher compensation was necessary than had heretofore been allowed to 
 " Members of Congress. But, said he, holding, as we do, the key of the Trea- 
 " sury, we ought not to do ourselvt^s even justice, before we do it to others whose 
 " claims are stronger, and of longer standing. Witenever justice shall be done to 
 *' the sufferers in tlie war of the Revolution, and not till then, 1 shall be prepared 
 " to do justice to ourselves." 
 
 [The Revolutionary Pension Bill had not then become a law, though it did 
 pass before the close of that Session.] 
 
 On the day following, (January 7,) ihe same bill being on its third reading, 
 General Harrison said : 
 
 " He was persuaded that the Members of the House who had voted for a compensation beyond 
 ihe ancient allowance of six dollars, had voted under great embarrassment, pressed as they were 
 on the one hand by a sense of duty and of justice, and on the other by that delicacy which must 
 be felt when they were acting as judges in their own cause. He thought, however, that there 
 was a mode by which their foclings might be saved, and which, if adopted, would be as highly 
 acceptable to the People .is it would be honoralile to their Representatives. It would evince a 
 disinterestedness and magnanimity which could not fail to })roduce the most hajjpy effects, and 
 finally fi.x the compensation at the sum which their disinterested judgments should deem right. 
 Being satisfied that it was a question to be determined rather by feeling than argument, he 
 would say no more, but submit a resolution to recommit the bill, wllh inffructioii.s io auitiid it 
 so fur as to fix the compensation for the present Congress at six dollars, and for ihe ensuing 
 Consrrcsses at eiaht dollarti." 
 
 The motion to recommit, tVc. was lost, however, by a large majority ; and the 
 bill was j)(isscd as it stood (applyi)ig to tiio existing Concrress) by yeas 109, nays 
 CO ; General HarrisoxN voting in the negative. 
 
 To follow the chronoliigical order of General H \niu.';()N's votes and speeches 
 in Congress would raihur confuse them than make them intelligible. We take up 
 the subjects, therefore, in tlie consideration of which he took any part, as they 
 most conveniently come to hand. 
 
 Tlie proceedin2s of Major (ieneral Jackscin, in his campaign against the .Semi- 
 nole Indians, aliracied a great deal of atlenlion, and occupied murli of the atten- 
 tion of Congress, whilst General Harrison was a member of the House of Rep- 
 resentatives. During tlio Debate upon the Rcfiort of the Military Committee, 
 (disapproviin> the proceedings in the trial and execution of the I'oreign agents, Ar- 
 buthiiot and Ambristcr,) on the 3d of February, General Harrison commenced 
 
13 
 
 his great speech on the general subject of the Seminole war — a speech distinguish- 
 ed by candor ; by respect for the freedom of inquiry ; by a jealous regard for the 
 general power of Congress to examine and correct abuses in every branch of the' 
 Government, military as well as civil ; by a thorough knowledge of (he laws and 
 customs of war, and a full recognition of the limitation as well as the extent of 
 the power and discretion of Military Commanders when in the field. To repub- 
 lish the whole speech here would but serve to enhance the estimation of General 
 Harrison's abilities in the minds of the present generation ; but it would occupy 
 more space than we can possibly devote to it. 
 
 We cannot, however, deny ourselves the pleasure of making the following ex- 
 tract from the opennig of the speech, containing a vindication of the right of the 
 Houso of Representatives over the subject, in which we tind the spirit of liberty 
 and the theory of our Representative Republican system nobly vindicated : 
 
 " Before he proceeded to discuss the two resoluiions which had principally engaged the atten- 
 tion of the gentlemen who had preceded hiin in the debate, he asked to be permitted to make a 
 few observations in reply to those who had denied the right of the House to pass these resolu- 
 tions. , ,, , , , 
 
 "Several gentlemen, said Mr. H., have distinctly declared that the House could pass no resolu- 
 tion which ehher directly or indirectly would censure the conduct of a military officer. It is not 
 necessary to give an opinion as to the power of direct censure; no one has, I believe, thought ot 
 such a thing in the present case. But I must confess, Mr. Churman, that I did not expect to 
 hear the other opinion maintained on this floor. What, sir ! the immediate Representatives ot 
 the People, to whom the array and revenue belong, have no right to enter into an investigation 
 to ascertain whether they h^ivc or have not been employed in a manner warranted by law ! 
 Whether the public force has been directed, and the public money expended in the manner 
 which thev have authorized ! Yes, say gentlemen ; investigate if you choose ; but express no 
 opinion which may imply censure upon the agents of the Government. That is, if I understand 
 the doctrine, that you are to investigate until you are at the point of arriving at the only object 
 for which investigation woul.l be useful, and then you are to stop. Are gentlemen aware ot 
 the length to which this doctrine would carry them ] That you might appropriate morey and 
 authorize an army to be raised for the conquest of Florida, and the Executive or a commanding 
 General may use them in an enterprise against Canada; and that, in such an event, your inquiry 
 must go no further than to ascertain that something wrong has been done, but you are not to say 
 when or where, lest it should imply censure on some one. The Constitution has been read, 
 and we are asked to point out the clause which gives the right to censure, direct or consequen- 
 tial-. I can show no such clause, but I can show the section and the article which gives to Con- 
 gress the sole power of raising armies, of raising a revenue, and declaring the object m which 
 those armies and that revenue shall be employed ; and does it not follow, as a necessary conse- 
 quence, that they have a right to satisfy themselves whether they have or have not been so em- 
 ployed, and, if they find they have not, to say so 1 An individual places his money and his 
 servants at the disposal of an agent to accomplish some specified object. Has he not a right at 
 all times to oblige the agent to give an account of his conduct, and, if he finds that he has mis- 
 applied the means that have been put into his hands, to declare that he has done so 1 It is, sir, 
 a self-evident proposition. i r> 
 
 " But, sir, we are told that we have the right to impeach the President. Granted. But could 
 we with the least propriety, even if it were our object, pursue that course, until we had ascer- 
 tained that he had either committed a wrong himself, or permitted a wrong to be done by ano- 
 ther ? In the present case, no one has dreamt of such a step; the only object is to express an 
 opinion upon the constitutional powers of Congress, and the right of this House to guard those 
 powers from being innovated upon by the other branches of the Government. Sir, it is a sacred 
 right, and it should be maintained with firmness, as one of the great republican features ot the 
 Constitution, necessary, not only for the preservation of liberty, but for ordinary correct legisla- 
 tion. How, without this power to investigate and to pursue the investigation until the blame 
 shall rest upon the person who deserves it, shall the Legislature be ever able to ascertain the 
 cause of any misconduct in our miUtary and naval operations, which may produce an event re- 
 
 might have arisen from three causes; from a combination of the three, or any two of them. It 
 might have arisen from incompetent provision of men and money, in which case Congress would 
 have been to blame ; from the improper management of the Executive, or from the misconduct 
 of the general. If, upon the investigation, it should appear that the means pilt in the hands ot 
 the Executive were entirely inadequate to the object, it followed that a more ample provision was 
 to be made ; but if it appr'ared that the supply of men and money was sufficient, then the disaster 
 was to be attributed to the misconduct of the Executive, or of the general. It iollowed that a 
 
14 
 
 repetition of the same appropriations was all that was requireil. Now, to come at these results, 
 a thorough investigation was necessary ; but, according to the doctrine now contended for, this 
 could not be done, lest it should imply censure upon the general. This right of investigation 
 has always been claimed, and never denied to the British House of Commons, at least since the 
 expulsion of the Stuarts. They not only investigate, but they point out the individuals who 
 have, in their opinion, been guilty of misconduct, and require of the King that they .should be 
 brought to punishment. [Here .Mr. H. read from .Mc.\uthor's "Princi])les and Practice of Naval 
 and. Military Courts .Martial," the case of Admiral .Matthews, who, in the year 1745, was, iti 
 pursuance of a resolution of the House of Commons, brought to trial liy order of the King, and 
 dismisseJ from the service.] The case of Admiral .Mattliews is one of a hundred that might be 
 produced of navcd and military officers being brought to trial in consequence of an investigation 
 into their conduct commenced by the House of Commons. And yet, sir, the House of (Com- 
 mons have not, as we have, any agency in declaring war. That is the exclusive prerogative of 
 the Crown. But, holding the purse strings of the nation, they claim and exercise the power upon 
 all occasions to satisfy themselves that the public revenue has been expended, and the public 
 force directed, in the manner best calculated to secure the honor and interest of the nation. But, 
 sir, the power of iuTestigation, and of deciding upon ihe conduct of a general officer, is not only 
 important, as a republican principle, and for correct legislation, but important, also, for the pro- 
 tection of the officers themselves. How often may it happen in time of war, that a Minister, or 
 even a President himself, may attempt to shield their own i.iisconduct by imputing undeserved 
 blame to a commanding general ! And where is he to look for protection for his fame and his 
 character 1 To a court of inquiry, designated by the very persons who are interested to convict 
 him? No, sir; but in this House, the immediate Representatives of his fGllovv- citizens, and the 
 Representatives, I trust, of their virtue and their justice, as well as their poHtical opinions. X 
 reference to your journals will shov? an instance in which intimations, not only against the mili- 
 tary conduct of a commanding general, but against his moral character, were completely removed 
 by an inquiry prosecuted under the direction of this House. Nor can I see, sir, the least objec- 
 tion that a military commander could have to tuch an investigation. I must confess that I was 
 much surprised that the personal friends of General Jackson should have made any objection to 
 having the inquiry into his conduct put upon as broad a basis as possible. I have constantly ad- 
 vised the contrary course. Perhaps some of them may say to me, ^iiriieo Dancuis ct doiiafer- 
 entes.' I hope not, sir ; for if General Jackson's friends are Trojans, it will, I believe, be manifest, 
 before I conclude, that I am not altogether Greek." 
 
 Nor will we withhold from our readers thff peroration of this speech, an elo- 
 quent conclusion to a discourse sufficient of itself to establish his fame (though 
 not bred a lawyer) as a Civilian and Statesman : 
 
 " A republican Government should make no distinctions between men, and should never re- 
 lax its maxims of security for any individual, however distinguished. No man should be allowed 
 to say that he could do that with impunity which another could not do. If the Father of his 
 Country were alive, and in the administration of the Government, and had authorized the taking 
 of the Spanish posts, I would declare my disapprobation of it as readily as I d» now. Nay, 
 more, because the more distinguished the individual, the more salutary the example. No one 
 can toll how soon such an cxa)nple would be beneficial. ( Jeneral Jackson will be faithful to his 
 country ; but I recollect that the virtues and patriotism of Fabius and Scipio were soon followed 
 "by the crimes of Marius and the usurpation of Sylla. I am sure, sir, that it is not the intention 
 of any gentleman upon this floor to rob General Jackson of a single ray of glory, much less to 
 wound his feelings or injure his reputation. And, whiLst I thank my friend from Missis'sippi, 
 (Mr. Poindexter,) in the name of those who agree with me that General Jackson has done 
 wrong, I must be permitted to decline the use of the address which he has so obligingly prepared 
 for us, and substitute tiie following, as more consonant to our views and opinions. If the reso- 
 lutions pass, I would address him thus: ' In the performance of a sacred duty, imposed by their 
 construction of the Constitution, the Representatives of the Peoi)le have found it ncces>ary to 
 disapprove a single act of your brilliant career ; they have done it in the full conviction that the 
 hero who has guarded her rights in the field will bow witli reverence to the civil institutions of 
 his country — that he has admitted as his creed that the character of the soldier can never be 
 complete without eternal reference to the character of the citizen. Your country has done for 
 you all that a Republic can do for the most favored of lier sons. The age of deification is past ; 
 it was an age of tyranny and barbarism: the adoration of man shoulil be addressed to his Crea- 
 tor alone. V'ou have been feasted in the Pritanes of the cities. Your statue shall be placed in 
 the capilol, and your name be found in the songs of the virgins. Go, gallant chief, and bear 
 with you the gratitude of your country. Go, under the full conviction that, as her glory is 
 idcntiiied with yours, .she has nolhinix more dear to her but her laws — nothing more sacred but 
 her ('onstitutioii. Even an unintculianal error shall be sanctilied to her service. It will leach 
 posterity that the (Joverninent which could disapprove the conduct of a Marcellus will have tht? 
 fortitude to crush the vices of a Marius.' These sentiment.s sir, lead to results in whi(?li all 
 must unite. General Jackson will still live in the hearts of his fellow-citizens, and the Consti- 
 tution of your country will be immortal." 
 
15 
 
 The resolution reported by the Military Committee, upon which this debate 
 took place, was in the following words: 
 
 "Resolved, That the House of Representatives of the United States disapproves the proceed- 
 ngs in the trial and execution of Alexander Arbuthnot and Robert C. Ambrister." 
 
 To this resolution the Committee of the Whole disajrreed ; and, this disagree- 
 ment being reported to the House, and the question stated on concurring in this 
 disagreement — General Harrison called for a division of the question. " The 
 " trial, sentence, and execution of Arbuthnot," he said, were in his opinion, per- 
 " fectly correct; and, although he would not agree to censure any one concerned 
 " when their motives were as pure as he was certain they were on this occasion, 
 " especially when he had no doubt but both men deserved death, yet, being called 
 " upon to say whether the execution of Ambrister was right or wrong, as he dif- 
 " fered in opinion from General Jackson as to his powers over the court, he was 
 «' obliged to say that it was wrong. It was an honest difference of opinion, he 
 " said, and was not intended to convey any censure upon that officer." 
 
 The question was divided accordingly, and being first taken on disagreeing to 
 the disapproval of the trial and execution of Arbuthnot, was decided in the affirm- 
 ative, 108 to 62, General Harrison voting in the atfirmative. The same de- 
 cision was had, 107 votes to 63, on the case of Ambrister, Gen. H. voting in the 
 negativ'e. 
 
 Mr. Cobb, of Georgia, then moved a resolution declaring " that the seizure of 
 the Spanish posts of Pensacola and St. Carlos de Barancas, in West Florida, by 
 the army of the United States, was contrary to the Constitution of the United 
 States." 
 
 On the question of agreeing to this motion, (which was negatived by 100 votes 
 to 70,) the vote of General Harrison is recorded in the affirmative. Soldier as 
 he was, (or had been during ja good part of his life,) his conscientious regard for 
 the Constitution showed itself, in this vote, to be stronger than his respect for 
 mere military authority. 
 
 Not to fatigue the reader with details too numerous of the votes and speeches 
 of General Harrison when in Congress, we shall pass over many such which do 
 not appear to involve any important principle, and, by doing so, shall be able to 
 bring within a reasonable space all that we have to say upon the General's ser- 
 vice in the House of Representatives, and come to the consideration of his sub- 
 sequent service in the Senate of the United States. 
 
 In relation to the power of the Government to appropriate money for the pur- 
 poses of internal improvement. General Harrison appears to have entertained 
 no doubt. Besides his votes in favor of appropriations for continuing the Cum- 
 berland Road, (in support of which he took the broad ground of the general value 
 and public benefit of all such improvements,) one of his first acts, after taking his 
 seat in the House, was to move an instruction to the Committee on Roads and 
 €anals "to inquire into the expediency of granting money to be expended under 
 the direction of the President, for renioving obstrMctions to the Navigation of the 
 Ohio, created by the falls near Louisville, Kentucky." [This motion, which was 
 made in December, 1816, did not lead to any legislative act on the subject. Since 
 that time, a private company, aided in part by a subscription by the United 
 States, have, by the construction of a canal round the falls, overcome this impedi- 
 ment to navigation. And now, at this very moment, a committee of the Senate 
 Jjas under consideration, in substance, the proposition made, as above, by Gen- 
 eral Harrison more than twenty-three years ago ; the form of the present propo- 
 sition being to procure for the United States, by purchase from the stockholders, 
 the property in the Louisville and Portland canal.] General Harrison foresawr 
 the vast extent of the commerce which must pass through this channel, and en- 
 deavored to provide in advance for relieving it from the burden of a heavy tax on 
 its transport, either in the shape of tolls, or of hazard in the passage. 
 
 Upon the various questions which arose, during his service in Congress, out of 
 the claims for indemnify for property destroyed during the tear, which had then 
 
16 
 
 just ended, Gen. H. advocated a liberal polic}'. In discussion of a bill upon the 
 subject, in January, 1817, lie took llie ground tliat compensation ouglil to be ex- 
 tended to the owner of every house which was destroyed by the order of any 
 officer in the service of the United States to facilitate the operations of the army 
 or any detachment ll.'ereof, or to impede the operations of the enemy ; to the 
 owner of every house destroyed which should have been occupied by the authori- 
 ty of the United States as a place of military deposite,or as barracks for soldiers, 
 or as a hospital, which was destroyed by the enemy in consequence of such occu- 
 pation ; and to all houses destroyed by the enemy in consequence of a military 
 resistance from or in the neighborhood of the same. 
 
 Provisions to this eflect he threw into the form of an amendment to a pending 
 bill ; wiiich amendment, however, though embracing principles undoubtedly just 
 and equitable, was deemed too liberal for the means then at the disposal of the 
 Government, and was negatived, though special provisions have been since deem- 
 ed expedient in all such well-established case*. 
 
 In debate, in February of the same year, upon the hill for the relief of the suf- 
 ferers by destruction of property by the enemy on the Niagara frontier, General 
 Harrison, who strongly advocated the proposed relief to the sufferers, came in 
 conflict witii Mr. Timothy Pickrring, of Massachusetts, who opposed the bill. 
 In reply to a remark of that gentleman, that the conllagration of tlie Niagara 
 frontier was an act of retaliation for our burning the town of Newark (on the 
 Canada side) whicli he represented as unauthorized in civilized warfare, and un- 
 necessary, Gen. II. defended the destruction by the American troops, and said 
 "he had no doubt that if Mr. Pickeking would examine the situation of that 
 " town, and its relation to Fort Niagara, he woidd himself approve the burning of 
 " it ; and he (Mr. II.) was willing to stake his reputation on the propriety of that 
 " measure as a military one which every intelligent military man would sanction. "^ 
 
 In relation to the South American Colonlts (then in a state of revolution 
 against Spain) General Harrison, in an incidental debate, expressed coincidence 
 in the view taken by the Speaker, [Mr. Clay,] that every act of this Government 
 in relation to the contest between Spain and the Colonies had borne hard on the 
 latter. In the same Session, in further expression of his opinian of the duty of 
 this Government to stretch forth the hand of friendship to tiiose Colonics, he voted 
 for a ujotion to insert in the General Appropriation bill an appropriation for the 
 outfit and salary of a Minister to the Provinces of La Plata. 
 
 In regard to Pensions to disabled soldiers and ividows of deceased soldiers. 
 Gen. H. on diflerent occasions took as earnest a part as we have already seen 
 that he did in regard to Revolutionary pensions. On this subject it is due to his 
 patriotism and to his discriminating mind, as well as to his liberal disposition, to 
 place his views more distinctly before our readers, which we do by making the 
 following extracts from the contemporaneous history of the time. 
 
 On the 15th December, 1817, General Harrison offered the following resolu- 
 tion : 
 
 " Rcioheif, That the Cominiltcc on Militiiry Affuirs lip, and they arc hereby, instructcil to 
 inquire into the expediency of conlinning; the (lensions wiiieli now are, or have herctofoic been, 
 allowed to the widows and ornlians of tlic officers and soldiers who were killed or wounded in 
 the service of the late war, for a term of five years beyond the j)eriods when they shall reepect- 
 tively cease under existuig laws." 
 
 In offering this resolution. Gen. H. said: 
 
 "Some of the pensions whicli have been granted have already ex})ired, and otliers will ex- 
 pire, proliabiy, befon- the Session of Congress closes. Ainong&t the latter is that which was 
 itranted to the widow and orphan of the late Hrii^adier (leneral Pikk. In desdendinii the Ohio 
 river, (said Mr. II.) the eye of the inquisitive stranirer is attracted by the hundile dwellintj 
 which bhelters the widow and orphan of that distinguished hero. Should his euriosily carry him 
 I'urlher, and he should be induced to visit the abode of this intereslini^ family, he would lind, 
 however humble the exterior, that neatness, frugal luispiiidily, and comfiirt, were to be found 
 within its walls ; that the lady had expended a jiroper portion of her pension in the jiious pur- 
 pose of cJucaling her dan^^jhter. But, (.said Mr. II.,) if tho visit should bo repeated at the end of 
 a year, and the law which the resolution contemplated should not pass, it would be found that 
 
17 
 
 the comforts of which he had spoken had fled, or that the means of procuring them were ob- 
 tained by the personal exertions of the lady herself. From my knowledge of her situation, 
 (said he,) I can state, with confidence, that her dependence rests, for a comfortable support, 
 upon the generosity — no, sir, not on the generosity — but on the justice of this nation — for can 
 there be, under Heaven, a juster claim than that which is presented by a widow under such 
 circumstances 1 In fighting your battles, she has lost a husband. He has bled that his coun- 
 try might be great, might be free, might be happy. But our advantage has been to her an in- 
 superable misfortune. It has thrown her — 
 
 ' On the wide world, without that only tie 
 
 ' For which she wisheU.to live, or feared to die.' 
 
 "It is our duty to supply, as far as we can supply, the loss she has sustained. There aro 
 other cases, sir, which form the strongest claims upon the justice and the honor of the nation. Let 
 me not be told (said Mr. H.) that the Government has performed its contract by giving the five 
 years' pension which was provided at the commencement of the war. Sir, the contract was all on 
 one side, and it would have been immaterial what had been its provisions. Tiie noble spirits of 
 Allejt, of Hart, and of Pike, would have met your enemy with as much zeal and devoted- 
 ness as if the provision for their families had been such as they would have dictated. No per- 
 sonal considerations would have withheld them from the field of glory. But, (said Mr. H.,) there 
 are moments when the claims of nature will have their full eifect. I have seen (said he) the 
 "wounded and expiring warrior in that awful moment when the martial ardor which had filled his 
 bosom had been su.spended by the pain which he felt — when, the sacrifice being made, naught 
 of public duty remained to be performed — iJien it was, sir, that the thoughts of his tamily would 
 fill him with the greatest solicitude. A beloved wife and children left friendless and unprotect- 
 ed — the latter without the means of education, and both without support. In such a situation, 
 I have heard, amidst the fervent aspirations to Heaven for their happiness, a consoling hope ex- 
 pressed, that his country would not forsake them. Shall we, sir, not realize that hope 1 Should 
 our country be engaged in another war, let us commence it with the benedictions of the widow 
 and the orphan upon our heads. Let not their prayers ascend to Heaven charged with ac- 
 cusations against your justice and humanity. But, (said Mr. H-,) I am anticipating a thing which 
 cannot happen — the resolution will pass, as will a law that will be reported in obedience to it." 
 
 The motion thus moved and supported by General Harkison was adopted 
 nem. cen. 
 
 Dec. 1, 1818. — The bill granting a pension to General John Stark of sixty 
 dollars per month being on its passage, and meeting with objection — 
 
 General HAnnisox said : "His friend from Georgia (Mr. Cobb) could not have been present 
 when this subject had been before the House at the last session, or he would not have asked the 
 information which he now desired. He had supposed his friend from Georgia was better ac- 
 quainted with the history of his country than not to know the merits and distinguished Kevolu- 
 tionary services of this hoary veteran. At the darkest period of the Revolution, General Stahk 
 had rendered the most important services to his country ; and those services were not occasional, 
 but were prolonged to the close of the contest. It was now said that this worthy was in indi- 
 gent circumstances, and debilitated by old age ; that, if not soon bestowed, he would not live to 
 enjoy the aid proposed to be atibrded to him. Was it possible (Mr. H. asked) that an Ameri- 
 can Congress could behold so distinguished a patriot as he is sinking into the grave in want of 
 every necessary of life ! or that they could coldly place him among the mass of pensioners under 
 the general act of last session 1 For his part, (Gen. H. said,) he would give out the last dollar 
 in the Treasury, were it necessary, for the relief of General Staiik. With him, he said, it was 
 not a matter of choice to vote for the bill ; it was an imperious duty. 
 
 The bill passed without a division. 
 
 Dec. 14, 1818. — The bill to extend for a further term of five years the pension 
 granted to the widows and orphans of those militia who died or fell in battle du- 
 ring the late war, being tlie order of tlie day, {)assed through a Committee of the 
 Whole, and, its objects being briefly explained by General Harrison, was re- 
 ported to the House. A spirited debate arose on it, which occupied the whole 
 day's sitting. * 
 
 On this occasion. General Haurisox "delivered a speech of considerable length, and char- 
 acterized by feeling and fertility of illustration, in favor of the bill. In regard to pension sys- 
 tems, he denied that there could be any analogy between that of this Government and of the 
 Governments of Europe; the one being of moderate extent, and for actual services ; the other of 
 enormous extent, and bestowed on the principle of favoritism merely. Here, he said, were 
 fourteen hundred individuals concerned, as appeared by the pension list, who had contributed 
 their all to the service of the country — the parent who supported and educated tlie child; the 
 liusband on whom the wife depended for protection and subsistence. 
 
 " The principle (he said) for which he contended, that the families of tliosc who die in tho 
 2 
 
IS 
 
 public service should be provided for by the public, had been recognised by the best men and the 
 oldest Governments, and by those particularly to which ours bore the nearest resemblance; which 
 he illustrated by a reference to Anarcharsis's Travels, and to the authors quoted in that work. 
 He went into an argument, enforced by cases which he stated, to show that it would be unjust 
 to refuse to the widows and orphans of those who died in service the same compensation as was 
 allowed to those who survived, but had been wounded; in the one case the pension was for life, 
 and, on the same principle, ought to be so in the other. He refened to the gallant exploits of 
 our Captain Ritchie, Colonel Woon and other departed heroes, during the late war, to show 
 the devotion to duty and to the country which animated the American soldier; and hence argued 
 that it was no more than just that the families of such men should be sheltered from want after 
 they had fallen, &c. In regard to the popularity of this law, if that argument were to have 
 weight, he would vouch for its finding favor with the Peoj)le. Go^p any fanner — to any 
 plougliman in your country — tell him of Montgomery, a7id Mr.ucVR, and Pike, and Cov- 
 isGTOS, and you touch a chord to which his heart responds. Though poor, he is generous ; 
 though unlettered, he knows the history of his country sufficiently to appreciate their services. 
 He knows the nature and value of his rights as an American citizen, and he entertains a just 
 gratitude for the services of those who established and defended them. With such men (Mr. 
 H. said) this measure could not but be popular. After drawing a contrast between the felicity 
 of a happy and prosperous family, and the misery of one bereft of its only support and protector, 
 Mr. H. expressed his anxious hope that the House would do whatever was in its power to re- 
 lieve such distress by the passage of this bill." 
 
 In a subsequent part of the same debate, General Harrison spoke again at 
 considerable length in support of liis view of tins cjneslion, and summed up his 
 opinions in the broad position that the children of those who die in the public 
 service ouglit to bo educated at the public expense until they were 18 years of age, 
 and their widows to be shielded from absolute want at least until in a situation to 
 procure their own maintenance. He assigned various reasons in support of the 
 bill, besides the assertion of the general principle. 
 
 The bill was ordered to a tliird reading by a vote of 79 to 78, and passed the 
 House of Representatives by a vote of 82 to 79. 
 
 A bill having been introduced into the House to commute the bounty lands of 
 soldiers of the late war, General H.\rrison advocated the principle. He believed 
 the passage of such a law would have the valuable eflect to take the soldier out 
 of the hands of the speculator, without the Government being called on to pur- 
 chase but a very small proportion of these lands. [The commutation which he 
 proposed was $130 in money for each IGO acres of land.] 
 
 At the session of 1818-' 19, as soon as the House was organized. General H.\k- 
 uisoN originated a motion for the continuance of the act of the preceding Session 
 to suspend for a limited time the sale or forfeiture of lands, for failure in com- 
 pleting the payment thereon by purchasers from the United States. 
 
 At the same Session, on a proposed amendment to a bill, the eflect of which 
 was to release from the payment of back interest such debtors for public lands as 
 should pay up before the 2()th of March the instalments which were due, Mr. P. 
 P. B.\rrour and others having spoken against the amendment — General Harri- 
 son replied : 
 
 " The amendment (he said) was a reasonable and just provision both in relation to the public 
 interest and that of individuals. The persons who would sutTer by the present pecuniary em- 
 barrassments were the poorer class of people, who had no agency whatever in producing these 
 embarra.isments, and who were not able to hear the heavy penally which the existing laws im- 
 po.sed for suflering the day of payment to pass without making it. Many of them had settled in 
 frontier situations, where the land had not appreciated more than the value of the improvements 
 which had been made upon it. The provision for jiayini,' back interest was itself a very hard 
 one, and such as a liberal individual ought not and would not insist upon. The United Slates 
 had heretofore rigidly exacted it; but the circumstances of the country in relation to money were 
 never i)efore as embarrassing. If the amendin.'ut was adopted, it would stimulate all the debtors 
 for lands to make every exertion to raise the njoney before the expiration of the term to which 
 the l>ill was limited. The Treasury (he said) would i.c emi)arrassed, from the heavy instalments of 
 the public debt which were to be paid this year. The United States, therefore, would be a gainer 
 ])y any measure which would expedite the collection of their debts. It was true that the back 
 interest would aniomil to a larger sum tlian the Government would be obliged to give, if they 
 were to borrow tlie nioufv ; but, as the back interest was intended to stimulate iiurchasers to 
 punctuality, it would be in the highest degree unjust to exact it under circumstances like the 
 
19 
 
 present, when the want of punctuality was produced by events which those who were subject to 
 pay it could not control." 
 
 On every other occasion which presented itself, General Hakrison appears to 
 have been disposed to extend the greatest practicable indulgence to purchasers 
 who were actual settlers on the public lands. 
 
 We conclude our notice of the incidents of General Harrison's service in the 
 House of Representatives by the following illustration of the views (altogether 
 characteristic) of the General on the principles which ought to govern the admis- 
 sion of Cadets into the Military Acadcmij. 
 
 December 10, 1818. The bill for " the admission of Cadets into the Military 
 Academy" [directing a preference to be given to the sons of officers and soldiers 
 killed in battle, or who died in service during the late war; and a further prefer- 
 ence given to those least able to educate tiiemselves, and best qualified for the 
 military profession] coming up for consideration, and meeting with opposition, on 
 the ground of preferences given in the bill, and the creating a privileged order in 
 the community, «&c. — 
 
 General Hahjiison replied to the objections, stating "that the bill had ])cen reported in pur- 
 suance of a resolution adopted on the motion of a late distinguished member of this House (Mr. 
 KoBERTsox, of Louisiana,) that the provisions of the bill appeared to be required by the original 
 purpose of the institution ; that, instead of creating an aristocracy, those provisions would tend to 
 counteract any such thing, as the objects to be selected were from that class of the community 
 whose pecuniary circumstances repressed any tendency towards undue influence," &c. 
 
 •' General H. protested against the assertion that this bill fostered a particular order of men. 
 It might as well be said that the charitable appropriations for Sunday Schools established a 
 privileged order. It was no such thing. The bill proposed a benefit to be bestowed chiefly on 
 the poor descendants of those who had served their country, &c. * * * * 
 
 " General Harrison reiterated his objection to the amendment, [viz : to strike out the clause 
 giving a 'further preference to those least able to educate themselves, and best qualified for the 
 military profession,' moved by General Sjiith, of Maryland, and which had been decided in the 
 negative, and a substitute proposed for the bill by Mr. Tatlor, of New York, to the eflect that 
 cadets shall hereafter be admitted into the Military Academy at West Point, from the respective 
 States and Territories, and from the District of Columbia in proportion to the militia returns 
 thereof. ] He observed, in addition to what he had submitted already, that the design of this bill 
 was really to get rid of a practical aristocracy, instead of creating one ; for it was a fact, he be- 
 lieved, that no son of a soldier (by the term he meant not also to include otficers) had ever yet 
 been educated at the Military Academy. Mr. H. then stated that, if Mr. Taylor's amendment 
 should prevail, he would move to add the following : « And that, in all cases, the preference 
 be given to those whose parents are least able to educate them ;' and intimated that he should 
 then move an additional section, requiring cadets to remain at the Academy until the age of 
 twenty-five years." 
 
 After further argument, the bill was finally laid on the table, and thus lost. 
 General Harrison's benevolent purpose was thereby defeated; but it deserves to 
 be held in lasting remembrance to his honor and credit. 
 
 We now introduce General Harrison to our readers in the character of a Sen- 
 ator of the United States; in which his service was distinguished at the same 
 time by activity and close application to business. General Harrison's term of 
 service in the Senate dates with that of Mr. Adams in the Presidency ; for he 
 qualified and took his seat as a Senator from Ohio at the special Session of the 
 Senate on the 4th of March, 1825. 
 
 At that Session, called for the purpose of considering such Executive appoint- 
 ments as might be made by the new President, no legislative business was trans- 
 acted. The only question of any consequence which arose in it was upon the 
 right of Mr. Lanman to take his seat as Senator upon a commission granted by 
 the Governor (of Connecticut) in anticipation of the expiration of his late term 
 of service. General Harrison voted, on this occasion, in favor of Mr. L.'s ad- 
 mission to a seat; but the Senate decided against it by a vote of 28 to 12. 
 
 [In a more recent case, the Senate has decided a similar question diflerently.] 
 
 At the opening of the first Session of the Nineteenth Congress, in December, 
 1825, General Harrison, whose former service in the House had made the Sen- 
 ators well acquainted with his ability and capacity for business, was appointed 
 Chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs, and Chairman also of the Com- 
 
20 
 
 mittee on the Militia. The duties of these prominent stations gave him much oc- 
 cupation. He devoted himself with exemplary assiduity and conscientiousness to 
 the discharge of them; and he was re-appointed upon both those committees at 
 each Session of his subsequent service in the Senate. 
 
 As Chairman of the Military Committee, all subjects relating to the Army, and 
 its incidents passed, of course, under his supervision, and were tiie class of sub- 
 jects which necessarily occupied more of his attention than any other. Involving 
 a mass of details, we shall direct the reader's attention to such of tliem only as are 
 likely to instruct or interest him. 
 
 Much, and perhaps the most important part, of the duty of a Senator of the Uni- 
 ted States, however, let us first observe, leaves no trace upon the public records, 
 (unless in cases of exception from the general rule,) because it is transacted with 
 closed doors, and under injunctions of secrecy. Of this nature is all of what is 
 called Executive business, which includes the action of the Senate upon treaties, 
 and upon nominations to office by the President. These nominations, on being 
 received from the Executive, are generally referred to the standing committees, 
 whose duties are akin to their nature. All the military appointments, of course, 
 fall under the cognizance of the Military Committee, and the examination of them 
 and the discussion of them in the Senate, devolve a delicate and responsible 
 duty on the Chairman of that conimittee. 
 
 And here it is proper for us, in reference to this subject, to advert to facts 
 which illustrate the love of Justice which stands conspicuous among the virtues 
 that adorn the character of General Harrison. Though a veil of secrecy is 
 hung over the Executive proceedings of the Senate, it cannot conceal every thing. 
 The results of its deliberations, at least, must, of course, sooner or later be known, 
 and much transpires of the spirit in which those deliberations are conducted. 
 Hence enough is known, generally, of Harrison's course as Chairman of the 
 Senate's Committe on Military Aflairs, to authorize us in saying that it was his cus- 
 tom, in regard to nominations to office, to examine, with the greatest care, every 
 case presented to him, personally scanning the rolls at the War Office, that no 
 wrong might be done to the youngest subaltern, before reporting from his com- 
 mittee, for final action, the lists of appointments and promotions sent by the 
 President to the Senate for confirmation. Happy had it been for the character 
 of the Republic, and for the wounded spirit of its gallant army, could the conser- 
 vative inlluence of such a guardian protector have been always exerted and felt 
 in its concerns ! 
 
 In looking through the Senatorial career of General Harrison, we find him 
 advocating whatever appeared to him for the public good, without regard to the 
 geographical bearings of the various questions, or to the rank of the officers whom 
 they concerned. His parental care extended over all. Thus we find him con- 
 tending, with equal zeal, in favor of the erection of barracks in the vicinity of 
 New Orleans; of the building an arsenal at St. Louis; of the construction of a 
 military road from Penobscot to Mars Hill, and of a road from Port Smith to 
 ISatchiloches; of the erection of an arsenal at Augusta, in Maine; of the claim 
 of the State of Georgia for militia services on the frontier thirty years ago, and 
 of tlie claim of South Carolina for unallowed expenses in the war of 1812. 
 With eiiual earnestness, too, we find him standini; up for the rights of the highest 
 officer and the humblest private in the army. He opposed, for examjile, the ab- 
 olition of the office of Major General in the Army ; and h<- supported proposi- 
 tions to increase the pay of captains and olliccrs commanding coinpani'.-s ; to 
 make allowances to officers for partial disabilities incurred in service ; to amend 
 the articles of war which relate to courts-martial ; to provide for the relief of 
 persons who had been wounded in the service otherwise than in condict with the 
 enemy. 
 
 But it is in behalf of his fellow-man, the soldier, whether private or non-com- 
 missioned oflker, that we find him using his most earnest elforts and jiouring out 
 his whole heart. It is in a debate upon the bill to prevent desertion from the 
 
21 
 
 Army, an evil which had grown to such a height that it had become impossible to 
 keep the ranks of the Array full enough to be in any state of eft'iciency. The 
 remedy proposed was a bounty upon re-enlistment, an increase of pay, and other 
 inducements to make tlie service more tolerable. In his position of Chairman of 
 the Military Committee, it became the duty of General Harrison to explain 
 the necessity for the bill, and the objects which it proposed. In opening this de- 
 bate, lie gave the following historical sketch of desertion in the Army, which car- 
 ries us back with a vivid reality to tlie trying scenes of the days that are past: 
 
 "Mr. H. said it would be proper to state the manner in which desertion had hitherto been 
 punished. At the commencement of the American Revolution, America, having had little or 
 no intercourse with any other part of the world than Great Britain, in regard to desertion, had 
 adopted the system of that country — the punishment was death or flogging, at the option of the 
 ^ourt-martial. He was not aware what cflect this kind of punishment had on the soldiers of the 
 Revolutionary war, but whatever it might be, it could not form a criterion for us ; for there were 
 circumstances operating on the mind of the soldier in that war, such as extreme suffering in some 
 instances, and the ardent attachment to the cause which pervaded every class of society, which is 
 not likely again to occur. After the peace, the arUcles of war prohibited courts- martial from in- 
 flicting the punishment of death, except when sanctioned by the supreme Executive authority — 
 an exception which prevented it from ever being recurred to. There then remained no other pun- 
 ishment but flogging. The smallncss of our military establishment at that time created no diffi- 
 culty in keeping the ranks full ; but when the difliculty which arose between us and the Indian 
 tribes on the Northwest frontier created the necessity of a large military force, though no law 
 was passed on the subject, on a recurrence to the advice of the Executive, sanctioned by the 
 opinion of the Attorney General, that, though war had not been declared by the Legislature, it 
 existed in fact, and that the punishment of death might be inflicted by a court-martial — under 
 Generals St. Clair and Wayne this thing was often done. It was found impossible to restrain 
 desertion by flogging, and death was often inflicted. In a plain adjacent to the town of Pitts- 
 burgh (Mr. H. said) the spot could be pointed out where ten or twelve, or perhaps twenty men 
 had suffered death for desertion. This enormous waste of American blood raised a great commo- 
 tion throughout the country, and, notwithstanding the popularity of General Wayne, it was the 
 occasion of strong remonstrance from the citizens to the Executive. The wisdom, and even hu- 
 manity of the course pursued by General Wayne, was manifested by the result; fo.', from this 
 period, few desertions took place, and a recurrence to capital punishment was seldom necessary. 
 At the conclusion of the war, by the peace of Greenville, the right of inflicting the punishment 
 of death no longer pertained to courts-martial. Nothing was done but flogging, which was car- 
 ried to such an extent as to create a very great dissatisfaction throughout the country. Immedi- 
 ately before the last war. Government, thinking, and very properly too, that this mode of pun- 
 ishment would be the n.^ans of preventing the filling up of the army, repealed that section, and 
 declared that stripes should no longer be inflicted. I feel considerable satisfaction in stating that 
 I am one of the officers ivho ivere consulted on that occasion, who gave an opinion favorable to 
 the abolition of that disgraceful punishment " 
 
 The following extracts from the same speech show to advantage the military 
 knowledge and practical wisdom of one who had both seen service and deeply 
 studied his profession : 
 
 "I believe no military man will deny the fact that, on the character of the non-commissioned 
 officers of the army depends, in a more important degree, the character of the army itself than 
 even in the commissioned grade. Gen. Wayne thought so ; and I can, from my own experience, 
 say that I have never yet seen a good company that had not a good non-commissioned officer. 
 And I have seen many companies defective in discipline where the captain was, in many respects, 
 an accomplished officer. General Wayne often said he could ascertain the state of a company 
 or of a regiment better by examining the non-commissioned officers than by a cursory review of 
 the regiment. It may, then, be considered an established maxim that, as the non-commissioned 
 officers are, so will be the soldiers of the line. 
 
 "A similar opinion was entertained of the importance of the non-commissioned grades by the 
 great Napoleon. I believe, sir, that there are so many anecdotes respecting Napoleon, that 
 ■ every gentleman must be acquainted with them, going to show that the attachment evinced to- 
 wards him by his armies, in so many instances, was produced by the attention he paid to that 
 grade of his array. If it were asked by what means these wonderful results were produced, I 
 should say, it is by their being in direct and constant contact vvitli the men ; the commissioned 
 officers seldom are with them, and, when they arc, the soldiers but rarely exhibit themselves un- 
 masked. It is the non-commissioned officer who sees them in situations where he can dive mto 
 their characters, and obtain an influence favorable to making any impressions which they may 
 choose. In every well-regulated army, the men are divided into squads, and at the head of 
 every one is a non-commissioned officer; and it must, I think, be obvious how much benefit may 
 be derived from having this grade composed of efficient and trustworthy men. Notwithstanding; 
 
22 
 
 this, it is a little singular that so little has been done for them in our service— and it is the more 
 singular, considering the nature of our Government ; the grade of commissioned officers represent 
 the wealthy and well-informed part of the community ; the non-commissioned officers are drawn 
 principally from the laboring class of the community, the mass of the People — the real sove- 
 reigns of the country; and yet nothing, or very little, has been done to render that grade respect- 
 able. At present they are cut olT from every prospect of promotion ; and, as lo7ig as the present 
 system, ivhic/i 1 protest against, exists, of confining all the military knowledge to the sons of 
 the richer portion of the commimity, there' is no alternative ; if Government will not change their 
 system, and diffuse a military education among the People generally, it must exist." 
 
 Tlic following, however, is the part of this speecli in wliich you may read, as 
 in a mirror, thetriie character of Goneral Harbison. The l)aguerroti/pe itself 
 could not reflect a more exact image of the man : 
 
 "If you are not willing, sir, (said General Haruison,) to adopt a system of this kind — if 
 you will not increase their pay, from the apprehension which my colleague has expressed that 
 it will produce dissatisf^iction in the army — what measures will you adopt 1 Something must 
 certainly be done. Will you say that the punishment of death shall again be inflicted ? Will 
 you crimson i/oitr plains with the hlood of fiour own soldiers ? It you are resolved to do this, 
 be assured the feelings of your fellow-cit * mis will not go with you. Will you subject your 
 gallant officers, who gained you so much honor during the last war, to the revolting task ot ex- 
 ecuting their fellow-soldiers 1 I assure you it is an employment for which they have no stomach. 
 Though accustomed to scenes, of blood, it is the blood of their enemies, or friends who fall in the 
 defence of their country, that it is not permitttd a soldier to regret. If it were not from the ap- 
 prehension of a charge of garrulity, which it is said belongs to the character of some old soldiers, 
 I could tell ivhut 1 felt when,' at the age of eighteen, it fell to my lot to command the guard 
 •which executed two soldiers for desertion; and what I also felt when, as the commander of your 
 army, I was called on to sanction a sentence of death. But I will tell you what I have scea 
 General Wavne, the Marcellus of your country, suli'er on a similar occasion. I witnes.sed the 
 tear slatting from his fine blue eye, and his breast heaving with emotion, whenever he was 
 called upon to perform this painful duty. 
 
 "If you do not wish to revive this punishment, will you restore the omnipotence of the cat- 
 of-nine-tails, that instrument of torture ? If you do, you will find it ineflectual. Resort to se- 
 vere punishments of that description — procure the shlag from Prussia or the knout from Russia — 
 it will never be effectual in an American army. The punishment of the picket has even been 
 tried, but in vain ; the only one that ha? proved cU'eclual is death. Perhaps it may be said it 
 will be best to continue the present system of confining the deserter to hard labor in a fortress, 
 with a ball and chain around his leg. Will the Senate consider what will be the effect of this 
 congregation of bad men"! Amongst this number there are many old otfendcrs, who are hard- 
 ened in crime, and others who are but young in guilt— the etlect of soch a systein always being 
 to bring the least guilty to the standard of the greatest. And what a mass of villany will you 
 periodically turn loose on the community 1 Try, then, I beseech you, some other plan — try 
 the effect of lenity and instruction— take the fetter from the leg, and apply it to the mind of 
 your soldier, and make him n'hut he should lie, the willing and faithful servant of his country. 
 " After all, sir, this bill is not entirely to my mind. 1 would have added some other induce- 
 ments ; I would have added honorary distinction ; and I would have increased the pay of the 
 corporals ; but I feared to go too far, lest nothing should be obtained. There is another clause 
 I would willingly have added ; to restore again to your army the ministers of religion. Until 
 lately I had not known that the grade of (Jhaplains had been abolished. May not to this cause 
 be in part attributed the increased number of desertions in your army T I know there are ob- 
 jections in the minds of some military men to the employment of Chaplains ; but it has always 
 arisen from the character of the Chaplains themselves. I know also that books of caricatures 
 have been ]irinted in England against that grade; but, in the reform that has latelv taken place 
 under the Duke of Wellington, a considerable change has been elTected in that particular. They 
 are now chosen with great care, and faithfully do their duty. A Chaplain, properly chosen, 
 and employed where he can have constant access to the men, will no doubt be of effectual ser- 
 vice, and I regret they arc no longer to be found as a component part of our army." 
 
 After reading this happy efiusion of |)hilanthropy and piety, it will be dinicult 
 to bring the attention of the reader down to tin; common places ol life and the dull 
 routine of legislative business. We must take things as they are, however, since 
 we cannot alter them, and jog along llu! way with our plain story. 
 
 In the Senate, as he iiad done in the House, General H aiiuiso.v evinced, on 
 every pro[)er occasion, the greatest anxiety that something should be done to give 
 a character of eliiciency, so nnich wanting, to the Militia System of the United 
 States. Pursuing this object, he brought to view the report made by General 
 Knox (then Secre^tary of War) in the year 17!)0, whicii was at (he time siihmitted 
 lo Congress by President Wa^uinoton, and had it reprinted for the infurmalion 
 
23 
 
 of Congress. But neither the precepts of Washington, the recommendations of his 
 Secretaries who had been Generals of the Revolution, nor the solicitations of later 
 Presidents, Secretaries, and Generals to the same effect, have ever been eflective 
 to rouse Congress to action on tlie subject of the militia. In the Senate, as in the 
 House, all General Harrison's efforts on that subject failed of the success they 
 deserved. 
 
 In the circumstances which we are now about to state, we have an instance of 
 soldierly straight-forwardness almost oddly contrasting with the personal modesty 
 which makes the General at the same time do less than justice to himself. A bill 
 being under consideration to provide for distributing among the mililia sixty thou- 
 sand copies of a book, of Tactics for Cavalry, Infantry, and Artillery, General 
 Harrison moved to refer the bill for consideration to a select committee, (not the 
 standing committee of which he himself was chairman,) for the following reasons: 
 
 "This report," General Harhisox saiJ, "had been made by a board of officers who knew 
 little of cavalry tactics. This was an assertion which he should he ashamed to make without 
 accompanying it with an explanation, that his motives might not be misunderstood. AUhough 
 an officer, to whom the country confided the command of an army, might be expected to under- 
 stand generally every description of service, and how to manage all kinds of troops, yet there 
 were few general olficers who knew the details of cavalry tactics. It was fhs case ivUhhimself. 
 He was originally an infantry officer, and his knowledge of the mifiute detail of the service was 
 chiefly confined to that section of the military. He proposed to send this matter to a select com- 
 mittee, because he knew there were some gentlemen in the Senate whose experience in cavalry 
 service would be highly useful in deciding upon this question." 
 
 The Military Academy is an institution which we have seen in the preceding 
 pages. General Harrison was of opinion, was susceptible of improvements in 
 its plan which would go far to obviate the popular objections to it ; but he omitted 
 no opportunity to bear testimony to the usefulness of such a Seminary for military 
 education. In the Senate, on a motion to strike out the appropriation for the Mili- 
 tary Academy at West Point, General Harrison opposing that motion, e.xpressed 
 himself, in regard to that institution, to the following effect : 
 
 " As to the Military Academy, although he was not convinced that its plan was the best that 
 could be devised, it was like a standing army, a necessary evil, as it was impossible that we can 
 cope with European skill in the art of war without scientific officers. If the Academy was an 
 institution with which we could not safely dispense, every means ought to be taken to make it 
 useful, and to contribute to its proper management. In this point of view the Board of Visiters 
 was of important service ; and he hoped the provision for it would not be stricken out." 
 
 The lamented death of Major General Brown, commanding the United States 
 Army, occurred during the service of General Harrison in the Senate. It was 
 a felicitous concurrence of events, that, upon his decease, another of our Generals 
 who had headed an army in successful conflict with the enemy during the war in 
 which General Brown won his well-earned fame, should be at the head of the 
 Military Committee, and that the duty of moving a tribute of respect to his services 
 and virtues should devolve upon the survivor. That duty General Harrison per- 
 formed (Feb. 25, J828) in a brief but beautiful and touching address as follows: 
 
 " I rise, Mr. President, to perform a most painful duty — that of announcing the death of Major 
 General Jacob Brown, the distinguished commanding general of our army. He died yester- 
 day, in this city, at half-past twelve o'clock. I am aware, Mr. President, that, in the perform- 
 ance of a duty of this kind, something like an eulogium upon the character and actions of the 
 hero whose loss we deplore, might be expected. At all times unequal to such a task, I am par- 
 ticularly unfitted for it at this moment. Besides, what could I say of General Brown that is not 
 already known] His best eulogium would be found in a recital of his brilliant achievements, 
 and with these every Senator present is familiar. We all recollect, sir, with what thrilling anx- 
 iety our attention was turned towards the Niagara frontier, in the late war, when it was announ- 
 ced that an officer of acknowledged bravery indeed, but without military education, and with 
 limited military experience, had been placed at the head of our army. We must also recollect 
 with what joy and gratitude to Heaven we heard of his first brilliant exploit, rapidly followed by 
 a second, and with what perfect confidence we then relied, that the final result would be such as 
 it was — eminently glorious to himself, his army, and his country. Sir, said Mr. H., I will turn 
 from this scene to one of a different character, but not less interesting, and eminently calculated 
 to show the ruling passion of his soul, at a moment when there can be no deception, no aflccta- 
 tion of that which is not real. It was the good fortune of General Brown to be surrounded on 
 
24 
 
 his death-bed by a large family — a wife, who was entitled to all his tenderness, and children, 
 who justly merited his affection. In such a scene, on such an occasion, it may well be supposed 
 that his mind would be turned with intense anxiety upon the future fate of objects so justly dear to 
 him; and such was the fact. He knew that the head which had directed them would be soon 
 cold ; the hand from which alone they received their daily support would, in a few short hours, 
 be lifeless, and no longer able to supply it. But, after having committed these beloved objects 
 of his aifeclion to that Almighty Power which had hitherto j)rotected them, his thoughts inces- 
 santly turned to his country — to that country which he had so faithfully and successfully served, 
 for which he had bled, and for which, as he believed, he had given his life. He spoke with 
 raptures of her happiness, of her exalted rank among the nations of the earth, and her glorious 
 destinies; and almost his last sigh was breathed for her continued prosperity. Such, sir, said 
 Mr. H., was the man, in life and in death, for whose memory I ask the tribute of respect con- 
 tained in the resolutions which I now submit : 
 
 " liesoh^ed, Thai the Senate have learned, wilh deep regret, the death of Major General Jacob Brown, the late 
 Comiiiandini,' General of the Army, and the distinguished leader iu the glorious battles of Chippewa, Niagara, and 
 Erie, in the late war. 
 
 " Resolved, Thai, if the House of Representatives concur, ihe Senate will, in conjunction with the House of 
 Representatives, attend ihe funeral of Major General Brown, on Wednesday next, at twelve o'clock." 
 
 The resolutions were unanimously agreed to ; and a more solemn and imposing 
 funeral procession has never been seen at Washington than that which accompa- 
 nied the remains of General Bkown to the tomb. 
 
 But General Harrison was not content with this expression of respect for the 
 memory of his brave fellow-soldier. He labored most earnestly and an.\iously 
 to induce Congress to make some provision for the family of General Brown, 
 and, having asked and obtained leave for the purpose, introduced into the Senate 
 a bill for the relief of his widow. He did this, he said, under the conviction tiiat 
 it neither comported with the honor nor the interest of the Nation to sulTer the 
 family of a man, to whom it was so greatly indebted for its military renown, to 
 retire from the Seat of Government (at the moment, too, when the Legislature 
 were in session) without the means of a decent support. 
 
 In support of this bill, when it came up for consideration, (March 27, 1828,) 
 General H. stated the narrow circumstances in which General B. had left his 
 family; and lie also produced the best medical testimony that General Brown's 
 death was induced by diseases contracted from woimds received by him in service 
 during the war. There was, he said, no law which would embrace this case, but 
 he relied with confidence upon the proposed relief being granted, because the 
 principle upon which it could be supported strictly accorded with those upon 
 which the Government had heretofore acted. And, in reference to public opin- 
 ion on subjects of this nature. General H. said it was far in advance of the Le- 
 gislature. He continued his remarks on this head as follows: 
 
 *' As far as my observation has extended, no appropriation of money, for any object, is \-iew- 
 ed with such decided approbation by the American people, as those of the character contemplated 
 by the present bill. Where was any measure hailed with more joy and satisfaction throughout 
 the whole Union, than that which provided for the ease and comfort of the indigent soldiers of 
 the Kevolution '! 
 
 "The grounds (said Mr. H. ) upon which I support the bill now under consideration are those 
 of moral obligation and correct policy. 1 am persuaded, Mr. President, that there is not a Sen- 
 ator in this Hall who, placed in the same situation with regard to other individuals as this (iov- 
 ernmenl stands in relation to the family of Cieneral Brown, that would not acknowledge that he 
 was bound, by a sense of duty, to provide for them a decent and comfortable support. An old 
 and lailbful servant, whose best days have been spent in your service — who has received, on his 
 own rnanly bosom, the missiles aimed at your life — and, in your absence, protected your prop- 
 erty from being plundered and your family from dishonor, dies of a disease incident to his em- 
 ployment. Is there a person within tlie reach of my voice who would abandon the family of 
 one by whom he had been thus fiitlifiilly served, to the cold charities of the world, if he -posses- 
 sed the means for relieving them ? J\'o, I am persuaded there is none. Hut I may be told that 
 it is the money of the people which we ore now called upon to disburse, and that it was placed 
 under our control for no such purpose; that we should be generous with our own, but not with 
 the fmids of our constituents. But, sir, if I nm correct in siii)po.siiig that there is a moral obli- 
 gation, u[)on the part of the nation, to make this appropriation, who but ourselves can discharge 
 it? We are the KepreseiUalives of the people, and possessed of the sole authority to perform 
 their obligations. I will not believe that it will be asserted that the principles which should gov- 
 ern honorable men do not apply to a nation ; that a rriinc, which would attach infamy upon an 
 individual, would he considered as no crime at all, when perpetrated by the CJovernment of a 
 jwople, who, individually, profess to be honorable und virtuous. Ajjply, sir, tu the plain, hon- 
 
25 
 
 est, unsophisticated opinions of the American people. Follow the family of General Browx to 
 their home — no, sir, they have no home — not a spot of earth upon the globe which they can call 
 
 their own follow them to the place of retirement provided by a friend, and, as you march along, 
 
 inquire of every farmer or mechanic you may meet, whether the proposed appropriation shall be 
 made or not; and // ninety-nine out of an hundred should not tell you to make it, then I ivill 
 acknowledge that I am ignorant of the character of the American people." 
 
 In this extract we recognise tiie generous spirit, liie abiding respect for eminent 
 public service, and tbe confidence in the intelligence and liberality of the body of 
 the people, which are part and parcel of tbe personal and political character of 
 General Harrison. 
 
 We have already extended this article to a length which admonishes us to stop 
 here for the present. We cannot, however, dismiss the subject without adding 
 to the above extract from General H's truly patriotic speech the following elo- 
 quent conclusion of it : 
 
 "Aristides, the just and virtuous Aristides, the able general, accomplished 
 ' statesman, and economical superintendent of the finances, has pronounced that 
 
 * the law of Solon, which enjoined it upon the Slates to educate and support the 
 ' children of those who had died for their country, was, from the effects which it had 
 ' produced, the pride and boast of Athens. ' She alone of all the nations had the 
 
 * sagacity to adopt, and the firmness to adhere to, an institution which had ren- 
 ' dered her armies invincible.' Let us, Mr. President, at however humble dis- 
 
 * tance, follow the example set us by this far-famed Republic. Contribute some- 
 
 * thing from the public Treasury to educate the children of the gallant general 
 « whom we have lost ! Your money will not be thrown away. In your future 
 
 * wars it will produce to you a rich return. Other Browns will arise; like him, 
 ' will conquer; and, like him, if necessary, die for their country." 
 
 That General Harrison would approve of the liberal exercise by Congress of 
 such power as it possesses to aid and prosecute works of Internal Improvement,^ 
 might, we think, be inferred from the general course of his reasoning in favor ot 
 the benign action of the Government upon other objects. It appears, according- 
 ly, that he acted and voted in the Senate with the majority, which then accorded 
 with him in sentiment, on all questions of that character. 
 
 We find him, on successive occasions during his term of service, supporting, by 
 arguments and votes, appropriations of money or land for removing obstructions 
 in the Ohio and Mississippi rivers ; for the repair of a post-road from Jackson to 
 Columbus, in Mississippi ; for surveys, *fcc. for the proposed Florida canal ; for 
 the expenses of surveys for roads and canals ; for aiding the State of Indiana to 
 open a canal to connect the waters of the Wabash with Lake Erie ; for the pur- 
 chase of stock in the Louisville and Portland canal ; for the surveys of routes 
 between Baltimore and Philadelphia for a post-road, (this was before the age of 
 railroads began with us ;) to remove the bar at the East pass of Pascagoula river ; 
 for a subscription of stock in the Dismal Swamp Canal Company ; for a subscrip- 
 tion to stock in the Columbus and Sandusky Turnpike Company; for the con- 
 tinuation of the Cumberland road ; for the preservation and repair of what was 
 already made of the same road ; for the construction of a Breakwater at the mouth 
 of theDelaware ; for granting a township of land to Kenyon College ; for a sub- 
 scription to the stock of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal ; for granting aid to 
 the Miama Canal, 
 
 From this summary notice of some of the objects sustained by his votes, it may 
 be easily seen what are Gen. Harrison's opinions of the powers and duties ot 
 the General Government. These opinions will be more definitely understood, 
 however, by a reference to his arguments in support of those measures of Inter- 
 nal Improvement, from which we therefore proceed to make one or two quotations. 
 Of these, the first, which is a condensed report, comprises within a small space 
 a volume of argument, and discloses sentiments so honorable alike to the head 
 and the heart of him who uttered them, that we insert it here entire : 
 
 Mr. Harrison said "he could not, at this moment, from indisposition, go fully into the dis- 
 cussion of the subject, (the Cumberland road;) he regretted this the less, as he found those who 
 
26 
 
 had spoken on the subject had avoided bringing into the discussion any thing relating to the 
 constitutional power of Congress on this subject. 
 
 " The Legislatures of the States through which this road is to pass, have (Mr. H. said) given 
 up the right to the United States to make it ; not only that, they have requested it. One of the 
 objections which had been urged againtf internal improvements was against the right of the 
 United States to make a road without the consent of the States. Another objection was, that to 
 appropriate the money of the' United States to internal improvement is not one of the enumerated 
 powers of Congress. The respective Western Stales had come before Congress : those sover- 
 eigns came as suppliants, and asked Congress to lend on this two per cent, fund, which they 
 considered as sufficient security, a sufficient sum of money to accompii>^h this purpose. The 
 question is, is it an important purpose? Mr. H. .«aid he considered the United States would be 
 more benefited by the construction of this road than any of the States which it was intended 
 immediately to benefit. What is it (Mr. H. asked) that binds and connects this great Union 
 together 1 Is it a string of words and sentences, called the Constitution — or is it mutual interest'? 
 It would be an insult to this body to say such was the fact. When had interest ever produced 
 the continuation of an alliance, when that alliance was not secured by the aflection and attach- 
 ment of the parties to that alliance? Whenever the time shall come that these United States 
 are connected together by no other bond than interest, they will then have tottered to their foun- 
 dation. What is it, then, tliat connects them together ] It is the affection that exists between 
 the individual citizens of the different States; it is the attachment that the People of Ohio feel 
 for those of Georgia and Maine ; that attachment which was manifested, and which led the Peo- 
 ple of Ohio to stop forward at once, in support of — what ? Not their immediate rights, but the 
 rights of their seafaring fellow-citizens in Massachusetts. Were they deficient in their duty mi 
 that occasion ? He trusted no gentleman would say so. ATr. H. then proceeded to consider the 
 question of how this ctpproprlation would tend to increase tliis principle of affection, which he 
 contended and insisted was the bond of this Union ; and argued that, by facilitating the means 
 of intercourse, it would bring the long-absent daughter to the embraces of her mother, and the 
 son to receive the blessing of his father. Mr. H. said he had seen a great deal of human misery, 
 but he had never seen it in any shape which touched his heart in a greater degree than in the 
 emigrants to the Western country before the Cumberland road was constructed. A farmer, with 
 a fine family of children, finding a difficulty of procuring subsistence in some of the old States, 
 and looking forward to their future welfare, determines to go to the Western country, where 
 land is cheap; and he sets out with a little cart, and two poor horses, to carry his wife and half 
 a dozen children ; and, not knowing the distance or the road accurately, his slender means are soon 
 exhausted; the horses are unable to carry any further all that is dear to him; he is broken down 
 by sickncs!5, and his children cry around him for that relief which he is unable to afford them ; 
 and, when he arrives at the place of his destination, he is separated forever from all those relations 
 whom he may have left behind. But now, by the means Contrress lias <riven to level the moun- 
 tains and causeway the swamps, this poor man turns his eyes once more to the place of his 
 Jiativity ,- he recollects once more the mother whom he has left — he returns, and is once more 
 blessed by her embrace. This is no story, sir; it may be daily realized. By travelling along 
 this same Cumberland road, you may see persons in the situation I have described, who are of- 
 fering their prayers to Heaven, and calling for blessings on the heads of those who have again 
 enahlcii an affectionate daughter to be restored to a tender mother. Such are the facilities which 
 this road gives, has given, and will give, that, aided by the genius of Fulton, the most imbecile 
 man in St. Louis may hope to travel comfortably once more to behold those who gave him birth. 
 
 It is ox THE CONTIIlErfCE, IlEVEUKNCK, AXn ATTACHMENT WITH WHICH THE PkOPLK OF THK 
 
 United States look ox Congress that the puospkhity of this Union pepenus. The 
 word CoNfiiiKss is an important word with the People of the l.'nited States. This very road is 
 called by the People, not the Cumberland road, but the Congress road ; and they remember with 
 gratitude and veneration the venerable body of men who first assumed that appellation; and the 
 men, women, and children that travel along that road otfer their prayers to Heaven for that body 
 who afforded them this facility." 
 
 Among the acts \rliicli passed during General II.aruison's term of servict? was 
 one wliicli seems almost to have hcen contrived for the purpose of di lining the 
 extent to wiiicii Coii^ress lias riglilfid aiilliority in regard to public works wiiich 
 are within the jurisdiction of a State, and not beyond tiie means of (lie State 
 itself. Tile obvious rule is, that the improvement proposed be necessary and pro- 
 per (or tlie regulation of commerce uiiii foreign Powers or among the several 
 Slates, for ilie Iraiisportatiou of tlie mail, for the uses of the army and navy, or for 
 tlic execution of any other of the substantive powers of Congress. In the case 
 before us, being the act for removing obstruclions to the navigation of the river 
 Savannah, in Cieorgia, the power e.verciscd was considered by some Senators as 
 inridcntal lo the war power, iIk; obstructions in (pieslion consisting of old hulks 
 sunk during tlic Revolutionary war, round wliich the sand iiad accumulated. The 
 
27 
 
 bill was supported, however, by the chairman of the Committee on Commerce 
 (Mr. Lloyd, of Massachusetts) on its true ground; that of the advantages which 
 would result to the commerce of tiie United Slates at large by the removal of 
 these obstructions, and upon the justice of granting to Georgia that assistance, in 
 this case, which had been granted to so many other States on similar or analogous 
 occasions. 
 
 This bill passed the Senate by 36 yeas to 3 nays. Among the yeas, along 
 with the name of General Harrison, we find the name of every friend of the Ad- 
 ministration of Mr. Adams, in company with the names of Mr. Benton, Mr. 
 Berrien, Mr. Branch, Mr. Chandler, Mr. Cobb, Mr. Dickerson, Mr. Find- 
 lay, Mr. Harper, Mr. Hayne, Mr. Johnson (of Ky.,) Mr. Kane, Mr. King, 
 Mr. Rowan, Mr. Sanford, Mr. Woodbuky, See. Tiie nays were Mr. Macon,. 
 Mr. Tazewell, and Mr. Van Buren. 
 
 In debate, about the same time, upon a bill for laying out roads in Michigan, 
 General Harrison, after insisting upon the expediency of making such roads as 
 Avere necessary to make the public lands accessible, said, in reply to an objection 
 raised to the bill on account of the state of the Treasury, that " if retrenchment 
 " must be made, he would [)ropose that it be made in the expenditure for fortifi- 
 " cations, rather than in tiiat on roads." He could not have expressed himself 
 more strongly in favor of roads, for he was known to be a great advocate gener- 
 ally of fortifications. 
 
 On the 9th of February, 1827, in debate upon the bill to appropriate six sec- 
 tions of land for the purpose of aiding the State of Indiana in opening a canal to 
 connect the waters of the Wabash river with Lake Erie, the liberality and nation- 
 ality of spirit which have ever marked the public character of General Harrison 
 shone out with fresh lustre. He said that 
 
 " He knew well the whole Western country, from a long residence in it; and he could safely 
 say that he knew of no project which promised to be more extensively beneficial to the coun- 
 try than this. He would allow that there was one exception — it would injure rather than 
 benefit, the State of Ohio, as it would take a considerable amount of tolls from the Ohio canals. 
 jVotwithstanding this fact, he should not do justice to his own sentiments, or those of his 
 State, if he did not give this bill all the support in his power. It was a principle which he 
 hoped he should never violate, to support unij measure luhich promised great and universal 
 good, at the expeii&e of any local or inferior interest. If they looked at the map, gentlemen 
 would be convinced that the United States were deeply interested in the prosecution of this 
 great work." 
 
 In the course of this debate, Mr Smith, of South Carolina, said, in oppositiorj 
 to the bill, that " he would not accuse the people of the West of a want of modes- 
 " ty ; but he believed that the Western States had received more than any other 
 " portion of the country from the munificence of the Government. Besides the five 
 " per cent, from all sales of lands for the construction of highways, every sixteenth 
 " section of land had been given to them for the support of schools; and he 
 " thought that with these acts of munificence on the part of Congress they should 
 " be satisfied." To these and such like remarks. General Harrison replied, 
 triumphantly, we think, in defence of the great West, and of the policy of inter- 
 nal iniprovement, as follows : 
 
 "Mr. Haurisox remarked, that, whenever any bill was brought forward for the Western 
 States, they were always twitted with the gifts they had already received, and told that they 
 were not entitled to any further indulgence. They had just been informed by the gentleman 
 from South Carolina that the Western States had received the boon of five per cent, on all 
 sales of public lands. But (said Mr. H.) it is not correct. This grant of five per cent, was 
 bought by the States of the General Government at a greater rate of usury than was ever be- 
 fore paid ; and gentlemen would find that a compact was entered into by which, as an equiva- 
 lent for this Loon, as it was called, the lands of the United States were to be exempted from 
 taxation for five years after they had been sold, and the domain of the United States was also 
 to be exempted from taxation. Mr. H. would ask the gentleman from South Carolina to point 
 out to the Senate how this thriving bargain for the United States could be considered as a boon 
 granted to the States. It had been said that lands were also reserved for roads. It was true 
 that such reserves had been made, and the people had gone on and finished the roads, and the 
 result had been that settlements were promoted, and the lauds of the United States sold at 
 
28 
 
 high prices, and with increased rapidity. The General Government were gainers in this 
 bargain also. He would allow that there were also lands allotted for schools in the Western 
 States, bitt that locis a matter of national concernment. And if they looked to our neighbors, 
 they would find that reserves for this purpose were far greater than in this country. In Can- 
 ada the appropriations of land for tiie purposes of education were more than double those 
 given to the Western States. These allotments were absolutely necessary in a new country, 
 and it luas the best policy of the Government to make them. The gentleman from New 
 Hampshire had, a few days since, spoken in high terms of the seamen of New England. He 
 had said that, during the late war, they poured out their blood like water in the cause of their 
 country. And so did the men of the West, and so they were ready to do again : and it wis 
 
 A GKEAT IXTEUEST OF THE GoVF.BNMENT TO DIFFUSE AMONGST ITS CITIZENS THE MEANS 
 OF OBTAINING THAT GENERAL INTELLIGENCE WHICH TEACHES MES TO APPHECIATE THK 
 lIBEUTr AND PniVILEGES THEY F.NJOT, AND PUO.UPTS THEM TO ENDURE DANGER AND DEATH 
 
 IN THEIR DEFENCE. Foi tliis great object the poor boon, of which so much had been said, 
 was one section in each township. He hoped this was the last time he should hear of the 
 munificence of Congress in granting five per cent, on the sales of public lands, or of its liber- 
 ality in providing for roads and schools." 
 
 Quotations to the same effect might be multiplied, if they were not unnecessary, to show the 
 constant zeal of General Harrison in favor of beneficent objects falling within the power of the 
 General Government. Nor were his efforts in respect to that class of objects of a partial or ex- 
 clusive character. The limits of the Union were the only limits of his devotion to them. As 
 he said, in replying to Mr. Branch, of North Carolin;i, in reference to some proposition for the 
 improvement of Ocracock Inlet, " He was not only willing but desirous to show that his feel- 
 " ings were not of a sectional kind ; and he knew it was the wish of his constituents that all 
 ** such objects, where they were but very remotely interested, or where indeed ihey were not 
 *' interested all, should be advanced and carried into efiect." 
 
 General Harrison thus showed himself by his actions to be, in every sense, a high-minded 
 National Republican Statesman. 
 
 We have heretofore had occasion to present General Harrison to our readers as the efficient 
 advocate, in the House of Representatives, of the j)rovision made, in 1818, for such of the sur- 
 vivors of the Revolutionary war as were then in reduced circumstances. That was an act of 
 beneficence, of gratitude, which (we hope it is not irreverent to say) Heaven itself rewarded 
 with its approving smile. We must now exhibit the same individual in the other branch of the 
 Legislature, ten years afterwards, advocating that other measure, demanded by justice, of paying 
 to the surviving officers of the Revolutionary army the debt due to them for their service in the 
 war, which their country was too poor to pay, and therefore did not pay, at the time it was 
 earned. 
 
 The foundation of the proposed provision was the resolution of the Old Congress (October 24, 
 1780) " that the officers who shall continue in the service to the end of the war shall be entitled to 
 half-pay during life, to commence from the time of their reduction ;" which resolution had 
 been no further carried into effect, up to the year 1828, than by the commutation act of March 
 22, 178.3, which allowed to each officer five years' full pay, and even that commutation he was 
 compelled to receive in a certijicale, which was not worth more than a tenth part of its nominal 
 amount of value. 
 
 The bill to provide for the discharge of this sacred debt had been zealously (and ably) sup- 
 ported by Mr. WooDiiiHY, (chairman of the committee which reported the bill;) and it was in 
 reply to objections made to it by Mr. Branch, that (Jenoriil Hauuisox (a member of the com- 
 mittee) addressed the Senate in a speech distinguishcvi lor its ability, its knowledge of the sub- 
 ject, its clear sense of justice, and the implicit confidence which its author has ever entertained 
 and invariably expressed in the intelligence, justice, and sense of honor of the great body of his 
 fellow-citizens. 
 
 His narrative of the circumstances under which tlie half-])ay for life was promised to officers 
 
 who should serve to the end of the war is so full of interest that wc think it will be acceptable 
 
 to our readers entire, as follows: 
 
 " Tlie coniiiifiiceiueiit of llir fmirlli year of tlic war (177S) broiiL'hl with it no cncoura^inc pnisp<>ct uf its specily 
 and siicccsMfiil icnnination. Tim };i|.'anlic jirojpci uf ilii; enemy fur 11111111;: otF ihe comniunicaii.>ii of iho lOastern 
 with Ihe Miildlo anil Somliorn Siales liail, iikIooiI, in the |>receilins year, been eniirely dcf.'aied. }5iit, altluniirK 
 a,siinii.slifd at ilii> uiilocikcd fur iiilfdliu'cnce of ihu caiiture of a noMnJrous, L'allanl,and \vtlla|ii)oinied army. Ilia 
 Brilisli Ministry were neither a|ipallcd nor dislieartoncd. If aiiollier attenipl was niaile to lonciliate, it was at- 
 tended Willi the most viui.roiis exertions to acliii'vo l>y arms what could not l>e olilained by nofiotialion. Germany, 
 thai store-house of armed men, was ransacked for hirelings to wai^e war upon a dislimt, and, to iheni at least, un- 
 ofTendina People. 'J'ho t'lianls uf tlii! Ivinc were put in re(|iiisiiion. The duck-yanl.s and the arsenals resoiuuied 
 with the din of warlike preparation for the sea as will as th.' land. Information of tlii'so event.! were carried tii 
 America. Il iiroiluced, il is true, no disposition for snliniissimi. Huiii was far, very far. from prixUicin-i: nie;u»iiri'S 
 Correspond ill'.; lo llio crisis which wa.s approachiim. 'J'ho eniluisiasm which had distin;.'ui8hi'd the five years of the 
 war, and whiih had t;iv('ii riso to pfi'urlh' anil lo results so ;:loriuiis, had, in a an at noasure, snhsided. Languor and 
 imijecilitv pervaded every departnieiil connected wiili the supplies fur carrying on the war. Tlio very circuin- 
 suince which should havn aroused both the lienenil ami Slate Ciovcrninpnts to greater exertions seemed to prvxluce 
 nil elfecl the most oiiposite. The rumors of an acknowledgment uf our inde|i(ndence by the |iowerful kin^-dom of 
 France had reached this cipiinlry early in the year of which I am speakin;:, and was continned by the actual arri- 
 val of a treaty, oll'ensive and ilefensive, in the month uf May. It WiLn received, a.s it ouchl to have been, w-ilh the 
 preatesl demunstration of juy. Hut, mifurtunalely, it prudiiced an opiniun in those who admin istere<l the Govern- 
 Jiienl, if not with iho Peoiiiu'ihemsulves, thai their emancipition was put beyond the reach of contingency. 
 
29 
 
 «' The effect of this fatal security was immediately felt by the army. The amount of its supplies, before scanty;. 
 -Dartial and inefficient, was now almost entirely suspended. It is most fortunate for the liberties of llie country thai 
 the calm and discriminating mind of the Com"inamler-in-chief was not led away l.y tliese deceitful appearances. 
 He saw that the contest was yet to bo protracted-, that many bloody conflicls w.-re to be susuincd ; and that a 
 successful issue was only to be looked for by new and great sacrifices upon the pan of the People, for efteciins an 
 entire renovation in lhe"coudilion of the army. This opinion was lorined Irom a knowledge of the cliaracter of llie 
 British Ministry, and the immense resources at their disposal. He also knew tlial the assistance which we should 
 receive from our allies would bo measured by the etforis which we should make to sustain ourselves. And, if even 
 this should not be the case, the idea was not to be b»rne that the freedom of his country was to be exclusively 
 achieved by the army and treasure of an ally, and that ally a despotic Kins. 1 hese views were pressed upon Con- 
 gress in repeated remonstrances; and all the resources ol his nnnd, and tTie great influence of his character, were 
 put in requisition to make them elTeclual. Such at length tliey were, and the usual course of cal ing fo au upon 
 the State authorities was adopted. For the most i«ri, however, these calls vvere not more successlul an that o^^ 
 Glendower on tlie spirits of the deep. The hope of relief being thus repeatedly disappointed, t le suflu mg of the 
 army seemed at length to have reaclied its utmost jioint, and its immediate dissolution to be appreliended. I beg 
 leiVe, said Mr. H., U, read a jiarl of seveial letters of General Washington to llie President of Congress, describing 
 the situation of the officers at this period." , ^^ tt , •, i ■„ .v „ „,..,„„q,., .or,^o ,1,=. 
 
 [The extracts of the letters of General Washington, here reod by Mr. H., described, in the strongest terms, the 
 situation of the officers, destitute of the common ne\;essaries, and even of decent clolhing.J 
 
 " Such, sir, (said IMr. H.,) is the official account of the Conmiander-inchief of the s luation of that army, upon 
 which the fate of America'was to depend. It was my fortune (said Mr. _H.) to V%f ^."^.'tif.li^^'^.'f '^iiPh' m^v 
 my military service in the Northwestern Army, under the command of Oeneralb »'• t-'f "^ ^'kI \\ , e >^ith many 
 of those wlio had served in the Revolutionary Army. From those veterans, I liave often hear minu e ^■•^ "'1^^ 
 of their situation, known, no doubt, to the Commander-in-chief, but which could '"V.^nillf fr n ?hoir romm m 
 letters. What think you, sir, of a mess, consisting of fuur or five officers, unable to fu"i's'>'/';' ' hon^^co™'""" 
 wardrobe, a decent suit to a comrade, who was to mount the honorary guard of their beloved coinnander! One 
 tolerable shir, alone, the property of tlie "^?ss, -d that ..erjonmng the -undf servK^e to them^U .^^ The lirst^Cap. 
 lain under whom I served, 
 a better soldier, informed 
 which, becoming tlie common 1 
 sed with, and the remains of his wardrobe s'.ufled in a stocking, ana carried mine '^""I'f,'*^*"/'' "•"7"'°'- <.r ';'":'' 
 be remarked, however, that all the officers were not in this destitute condition. Some '^l^i^ein wei^^e men of fortune, 
 others had wealthy relations, wlio furnished them with every necessary. And tlus "^^e J^^of v^^ho eie without 
 any such resources (whicli was the case with foe great majority ol the platoon '^^'^ers oh n ore d^^^^^^ 
 with their condition. At the very time when the officers ot the highest grades were 'i'sP"\'"f,<^^ rani., he eleva- 
 tion of a captain to the rank of a field officer was, in many instances, no longer ''egarded as an advant<^e because t 
 brought with it a demand for additional expenses and equipments for the new cliaracte. he was called ij on to su 
 port, and which he had not the means to supply, without exhausting the sole resources "If " I-'V,? ' ' ' p f ^«, Pf '^ 
 id. ■ The younger officers upon whom the glow and glitter of milila.y lile, l'\e>'''"'P f "^X " ' •,. in ^att^ered ^r- 
 so strong an impression, shrunk from the gaze of the stranger, or even of l''^brolher olhceis as la eied gar- 
 menls. he slowly and inournfnlly took his post for the duties of the grand parade-a s^eiienpo which he accom 
 pushed officer delights to exhibit iiself, and which, m all armies, will present a true P'Cture . f its disc line and u^^ 
 efficiency. This degrading state of the officers of our army became known lo the enemy, and was a subject lor their 
 
 '"'"Ainidst''suc'i"L^complicalion of difficulties and embarrassments, without the means o^ J'^.'^'^^^^^.'^PPf '','|f^,^'^"i«„°| 
 clothing, the means of equipment which the Army regulations required, the ridicu e of ll^eirenems, and of every 
 passing" stranger, is it at al to be wondered at, that tlu- officers were disgusted at ^'^f service, an that they 
 think Sf leaving k ? Nor could they believe that their services were much appreciated by a ^o e"» « ^ ^^^^^ 
 make no effectual effort to rescue them from the must abject penury and want. It is true I'^f^^^^^'^K^f^f^^ecame at 
 length alarmed at the destructive consequences which imist follow the secession of the veteran leaders 0^^^ 
 troops, and were seriously and intensely engaged in discovering the means of averting it. The case was too pressing 
 and urgent to be relieved by the usual requisitions on the Slate Goverumenls, which were <; «^>f f '^/y' f " "^J: 
 er efleclually answered. It seemed, indeed, to ihem without a remedy. But a wiser liead, aciij^g nJe'- the ^'^'^"^^^^^^^^^^ 
 of a heart whose every other passion was absorbed in the love of country, was deeply engaged upon this imp^^^^^^^ 
 subject. W^e read, sir, of the sabres, the lawgivers, and the heroes of Greece. It is the peculiar fortune of America to 
 have iiroduced a citizen who umted all those great characters in his men person. In the recesses ?/'' ^«ll nf 
 nightl;/ meditated tlie means of saving his army from dissolution, and his country from ruin. l\\^ knovv leUge of 
 Glneral Washington was derived not so much from books as from observation. He knew man as he is, no <''' l>e " ay 
 have been described. With the sources of action in the human bosom he was intima ely acquainted, and it opened at 
 once to him the remedy for the disorders which prevailed. The means of relieving the wants of he army, by an ad- 
 vance of money, was neither in his power nor in that ol Congress. But a remedy could be found " ^^'^""^.'"^'^f, '^T'T 
 to be realized, indeed, al a distant and uncertain period, but, being guarantied by the sulwmily pledsed failh 
 nation, 
 milted 1 
 half-pay I 
 
 dation of 
 
 Here General Harrison read some extract.^ from the letter referred to, and also extracts from 
 other documents showing the importance of this measure, and the astonishing improvements 
 which its adoption effected in the character of the army ; and then continued ius remarks as 
 follows : 
 
 " The^e documents, Mr. President, (said Mr. H.,) are conclusive. They «l»7/,i>f '"""^^^.t^^l'^lnV m^^^^^^^ 
 of granting half-pay to the officers had upon the success of our revolutionary ^l '"gg y- '■ ^e o ini n °f ""e^^""'^ 
 anthers, was b,'st^mitled to jud^e-that it was Uial^aloae whn^pn^vmned^tlm^^^^ 
 tored Its discipline and ene 
 suited in the establishment i 
 tinctly traced to the comf 
 
 been satisfactorily shown -, -■- , . . . • ,• , „™, , 
 
 ject of the present bill to perform. And upon what ground, sir, is its ■'Pl'^'^i,'"" ':'y'',^i^ ' „ „.. „,,., „ virtue t<w . 
 iharacter of our Governmint ? What ! A Republic, which is sueeosuD to bb foundei on public v>Kj"t t.. 
 
 RBPUSB TO PERFORM ITS CONTRACTS, SOLEMNLY AND DBLIBEKATELV '^/,,'f ' J;;„^f;^^^'='; ' V^^^^E ' (3^^^^ 
 rOWER, AUAINST A CLAIM WHICH IT!. EftCITY AND ITS JUSTICE WOULD HAVE OBT ICED IT jO "'^^"Ys' tribunal tO 
 
 YOU refer yoEr defence for its rejection to the character of your people 7 A.sscmljle them then ! It is a tribunal to 
 irhich the^fri.nds of the bill woiild be delighted to appeal. Bu.no together TIE^E0MA^R^ op ^ouR^c^^^ 
 
 TELL THEM THAT THIS CLAIM LS FOUNDED ON A RE.SOLUTI0N OP CONGRESS PASSED ''',^^ '''„"",'1\,';''^J,?;„^^^.;^^ 
 
 Revolution, upon the urgent recommendation op the father of hls c^vnty , that to it he ai rRiBiitD 
 
 ?HE <TLT..VA-;-B SUCCESS OF OUR ARMS, AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THEIR ■■'«'=« ,'f^!^^■^,"■^«^^Ji'J^ ^J ?^|^^^ 
 ■you TO DISCHARGE THIi OBLIGATION, EVEN IF IT WOULD REaUIEE THE LAST DOLLAR IN IHE 1 REASUR^ , THEN 1 
 
 ■you TO DISCHARGE 
 
 AM MI.STAKEN LN THEIR CHARACTER 
 
 Such is the high opinion which General Harkison entertains of the intelligence and honesty 
 of THE People. As he honors them, so we trust they will show, when occasion oilers, that 
 they delight to honor hira. 
 
^30 
 
 One of the great questions ef public policy, on which General Hahrtsot was called upon to 
 ■make manifest his opinions during his service in the Senate, was that of the graduation of the 
 price of the public lands. On the question of ordering to a third reading the bill to establish that 
 principle, General HARHTSo^ voted in the affirmative; the bill being rejected by 25 votes to 21, 
 (all the Senators but two being present.) The yeas and nays upon this question exhibit, in ref- 
 erence to party divisions, an independence so rare and remarkable, that we are tempted to insert 
 them here at large. 
 
 To give the reader a just idea of it, however, it will be sufficient to state that, on this question. 
 General Hahkisox voted in company with his worthy colleague, (Mr. Ruggles,) the two Sen- 
 ators from Louisiana, and Mr. Williams, of Tennessee, in support of this proposition of Mr. 
 Bkston, whilst it was defeated by the votes of the majority of General Harrison's political 
 as.sociatcs, assisted by Mr. Buaxch, Mr. Chandler, Mr. Smith, of South Carolina, Mr. Van 
 BuREN, Mr. Woodbury, and others of the then Opposition. 
 
 One of the objects in favor of which General Harrison labored most earnestly (though un- 
 successfully) was the reduction of the duty on imported salt. He succeeded in getting a bill be- 
 fore the Senate for that purpose. On- the 7th of April, 1828, when the bill came up for consid- 
 eration, Mr. Van- Btren moved to postpone it indefinitely, (that is, in other words, to reject it.) 
 This motion drew out from General Harrison an able argument in support of the bill, from 
 which we make the following extract, the force and feeling of which mmtbe acknowledged even 
 by those who may doubt the policy of the measure : 
 
 " Mr. Harri.son observed, that he thought it wouUl not be denied that a tax on a necessary of life, as was that to 
 whicli ihe bill referred, whicli took fronj the poor man as much as from the rich man— which made the same de- 
 mand upon the tenant of the humble cottase as upon the possessor of the sjjlendid chateau— was In utter hostility 
 10 the principles of our Government. Which of these principles (said Mr. H.) is more sacred, which more neces- 
 sary for the legislator constantly to keep in view, than tliat which directs thai, in the assessment of the public bur- 
 dens, the demand should Ije proportioned to the ability to pay '] If this principle is not reearded; if the taxes are 
 levied upon ilie persnn, and not upon the propeny of the citizen ; or, which is the same thing, upon the necessaries 
 of life, of wliich the poor man consumes ;ia much as the rii;h one, wlial becomes of that 'ooasted etiuality which is 
 th basis of our Government 7 It is In vain that you secure to your citizens their other rights, that their persons 
 and property are inviolate, that the elective franchise is unrestricted, and the offices of Govermnent open to all, if 
 this princmle is adojited, and acted upon to any extent. If you tax the food of the laboring man, all the liberty that 
 will be left to him will be that of choosing his master; for, go where he may, he will still be the slave of his em- 
 plover. 
 
 "But, Mr. President, (said Mr. H..) this duty upon salt is opposed to another important principle. It is a tax, 
 and a heavy tax, on agrlctdture- upon tiiat interest whi. li is more important than any other, and on which, indeed, 
 all the others depend. Salt is largely used on every firm, but to the grazier it is essentially necessan'. No one 
 can prosecute this branch of agricultural industry, in the Western country at least, with tolerable success, unless 
 he can procure the article at such a reasonable price a.s to enable him to use itfreelv. And tlie condition of his 
 stock will always be in proportion to the quantity used. Its beneficial effects are felt in more than one way. It 
 saves food : for the animal which is well supplied with this article will fallen upon food of coarser (luality, and 
 which, without it, would scarcely sustain him. It serves instead of shelter. In the cold rainsof winter the Western 
 erazier gives a duuble portion of salt to liis unhoused stock, (and few are supplied with covers:) ils cordial and in- 
 vieoraiine effects upon the stomach of the animal enabling it to resist the inclemency of the weather. It saves labor. 
 With a good supply of salt, one or two men can keep together a herd of cattle or a flock of sheep, crazins in the 
 wilderness, with more ease than ten can without it. .So strong is the force of habit in the brute creation, as" well as 
 in their lordly master, that it will bring together the widely scattered flock and herd precisely at the time and place 
 where ihev had lieen accustomed to receive their ration of this necessary condiment. Let the price of this article, 
 Mr. President, (said Mr. H.,) be so raised as to make it difficult to be obtained by the poor, and the inhabitants of 
 many a Western coUage will go supperless to bed. If you were to pass through that country, sir, you would see, at 
 the hour of sunset, the little tenants of many a hut lookinsr anxiously for the return of their solitary 'cow, which, hav- 
 ing wandered far into the wilderness, would not return to supply them with their nichilv wholes'ome beverage, but 
 in the expectation of receiving in return, from their hands, a luxur>- to her as acceptable' as necessary. 
 
 " If I am right, then, sir, (safd Mr. H.,) in the positions I have assumed, that the duly upon salt is burdensome to 
 the poor, oppressive upon agriculture, u))on what principle of our Government can it rest for support ! From ils 
 mode of operation on agriculture, as well as upon individuals, it is, indeed, in principle, a Turkish lax ; for it acts, 
 not upon the products of agriculture, but upon the very source of its prosperity ; not ujwn the flocks and herds, but 
 uiK)n the means of multiplying them ; iiixm the seed rather than the harvest ;" the scion rather ihan ihe tree ; upon 
 llie very genn uji,jn which the hopes of future fniii depends." 
 
 In the discussion of a bill to extend the Judicial System (by adding tliree Judges to the seven 
 -who then composed (he Supreme Court) General Haruiso.n took an active part. Upon a 
 motion to amend the bill by adding a provision that ''any Judge of the Supreme Court of the 
 "United States, before whom any case has been or shall hereafter be tried, shall not give his 
 "opinion on the same in the Supiemc Court," he voted in the negative, as he did also upon a 
 proposed amendment "that no member of either House of Congress shall appear to act in the 
 "Supreme Court of the United States as an attorney or advocate in any case, during the period 
 " for which he shall have been elected." Though not himself a lawyer. General Harrison 
 was not willing to place on the statute-book a stigma upon a profession so indis])ensable in a land 
 of liberty and order, as though lawyers were less worthy of trust and confidence than men who 
 labor ill other vncations. 
 
 On a bill to abolish Imprisonment for Debt, General Harribok cxpres.sed himself decidedly 
 in fuvor of the principle of the bill, and against making a reservation (proposed by Mr. Berri- 
 en) in favor of the General Government against its debtors. 
 
 One ot the leading traits of (ieneral H.'s Senatorial life was the zeal which he displayed in 
 support of the Navt of the United Siutes. On all occasions, he took [ileasure in bearing testi- 
 mony to its eminent services, and to the gallantry and good conduct of its officers. ,\ltached to 
 the Army by all the ties of a.ssociaUon and common service, he yet placed a just estimate on the 
 national importance of a Navy, and availed himself of every opportuiiitv to uphold iti: interests, 
 and oxpaliale upon iu mcrita. It was in debate upon the bill for the gradual improvement ot" 
 
31 
 
 the Navy (including a plan for the establishment of a Naval Academy, and for the erection of 
 Dry Docks) that General H. distinguished himself by a series of arguments which would do 
 honor to the most enlightened statesman of the age. 
 
 Mr. CHAxnLEn, taking exception to the whole bill, had moved to lay it on the table, for the 
 purpose of defeating it altogether; upon which motion General Haiirisok is reported to have 
 spoken as follows : 
 
 " Mr. H. said he admired the plan which had been proposed by the committee ; but did not pretend to speak of 
 its details, as he w;is himself very lillle acquainted with nautical'affairs, and lived at a distance fruni the seaboard. 
 But, nolwithstandins these circumstances, he believed he could appreciate the true interest of his country. To 
 him this scheme seemed essential to our future national peace and safety ; so nuich so that, much as ho fell inter- 
 ested in the cause of internal improvements, he would resign the hope of olitaining, this year, the means of com- 
 pleting the Cumberland road, rather than fail in passing every part of this bill. IVIuch as the people of the interior 
 complained that a sufficiency of the funds of the country was not applied to internal improvements, he should have 
 given the bill his support, had it gone even farther than' it does, in applying the means of the country to tlie increase 
 of the navy. Indeed, he thought no policy could be bettor than toajiply the whole of the surplus fund to that object. 
 No one could be more fully convinced than he was of the absolute necessity existing for the increase of that most 
 valuable department of our national defence— the navy. He could have wished that ihe gentleman from Maine liad 
 gone further, and shown that it was not necessary to preserve timber. As to the subject of the dry docks, he consider- 
 ed them equally necessary as the ships themselves, being required for refitting and enabling vessels to take the sea 
 with despatch. The gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Ha yne) had gone into a most satisfactory explanation 
 upon this portion of the bill, aiut he should add but a few words. The necessity of being able to refit ships of war 
 at a short noiico, had been exemplified often in history ; and had. doubtless, at times, decided the fate of great vic- 
 tories. It was known that, when the English and Dutch were contending for the mastery on the sea, after having 
 fought many battles, and become crippled in some degree on both sides, they retired into their respective ports, and 
 coiitended wtth equal vigor for the mastery in refitting. On tha subject of naval education, Mr. H. disagreed with 
 the gentleman from Maine. He had said that navigation could only be learned on the ocean, and on board ship. 
 This was ceitainly true as to the mere mechanical part of navigation. Our ships could not, it was well known, be 
 brought on land and mancBuvred, as were those of the old Romans, preparatory to their being carried into action. 
 But did it fdlow that navigation could not be learned on shore as well as other sciences ! There were documents 
 before the Senate to show that midshipmen, while out of employment, enjoyed no means of improving themselves 
 for future service, or for cultivating those natural abilities which might eventually increase the renown of our coun- 
 try. It had been eloquently said, by the gentleman from South Carolina, that the brilliant victories of our gallant 
 naw were mainly attributable to the intelligence of our officers. This was a just tribute to those officers who gained, 
 duri"n<' the la.st war, such permanent glory for themselves and the nation. If, then, so much had already resulted 
 from liie employment of officers possessed not only of bravery, but of intelligence, there could hardly be a doubt of 
 the vast utility and eminent policy of establishing a seminary where the miiids of our young naval officers might be 
 tutored in the' science to which their lives were to be devoted." 
 
 Mr. Chaxuler's motion being negatived, the debate upon the bill proceeded. Mr. Smith, 
 of South Carolina, moved to strike out all that part of it which provided for the erection and 
 government of a Naval Academy ; in support of which motion, he delivered a speech in his usual 
 vein of caustic humor. He ridiculed the notion that education was necessary to constitute effi- 
 cient naval officers. "The celebrated Lord Nelson," he said, "was not bred to the profession 
 "of which he was so bright an ornament: while playing on shore, he was put on board a ship, 
 <'and there learned to conquer the enemies of his country." "The genius of men was often 
 <' discovered by chance; and to this the United States was probably indebted for much of her 
 *« naval talent. Perut, McDonough, and Rodgers, were not educated to the profession. He 
 ''believed the latter had been a farmer until he was of age," &c. 
 
 To this course of argument against scientific acquirement, and in favor of relying upon chance 
 
 for the development of nautical skill. General Harrison replied triumphantly in a speech, of 
 
 which we quote the principal part as follows: 
 
 " Mr. Harrison said he should content himself with a few observations in reply to the gentleman from South Car 
 olina. and should confine hiinself chiefly to the remarks of that gentleman in relation to the Military Academy and 
 its results, and the bearing which those remarks had upon the project of a Naval School on similar principles. He 
 has called on us to say whether the events of the late war do not show that such institutions are needless. To this, 
 as a military man, I cannot refrain from putting in a negative declaration. Whatever the experience of other gen 
 erals may have been, (said Mr. H..) 1 can say for myself that, had it not been for the science and skill attained at a 
 Military Academy, I should probably never hare enjoyed the honor of addressing this body. I feel proud to say 
 that the defence of Fort Meigs, at which 1 commanded, chiefly dejiended upon the scientific exertions of a man lo 
 whom it is due that his worth should be here attested by me. I allude to tlie late Major Wood, a man who com- 
 bined many valualile qualities, and who bade fair to have risen to a high point of prolessional eminence. Your 
 commander had not sufficient science to hare so successfully defended the jiosl icithout the assista/ice of that m- 
 dividual.* So far as my experience goes, 1 am totally at variaucc with the gentleman from South Carolina. He 
 thinks that an array can as well be commanded by an ignorant as a learned man. This position I deny to be cor- 
 rect in military any more than in other affairs. There have been instances, it is true, both in ancient and modern 
 history, of ignorant men who cut a considerable figure in military pursuits. But experience has shown that the 
 
 were imparted to them from their infancy. And the great Koman orator, to whom the gentleman has alluded, was also 
 a general. An instance of the power of science, in opposition to strength, and a strong primf that ignorance wajj 
 not always succe.osful, might be found in the battle of Cannae. But, instead of seeking out the tew cases in which 
 ignorant men have been successful warriors, let us look at the vast number ot instances in which individuals have 
 established great characters tor military achievements. In all the instances of great military renown, we find thai 
 it was obtained by the intluence of the very qualities which the gentleman entirely undervalues and disregards. 
 The celebrated Eiiaminondas was chiefly famed for his science, ami lo that alone was attributed his success at Man- 
 linea and Leuctra. Miltiades, who fought the battle at Marathon, and Themistocles, who came after him, could 
 never have beaten back the myriads of Versia, with a disparity of force which made their victories almost miracu- 
 lous, but for liie exertion of the highest degree of scienlitio knowledge. Mere ignorant courage and untaught in- 
 irepiditv would never have enabled themio achieve those great deeds, the fame of which will last as long as mili- 
 lary "lo'ry excites the admiration of mankind. The Duke of I\Iarlborough, one of the greatest caiitains ot modorn 
 limes, was not a scientific man : and in his two first and greatest battles, those of Blenheim and Kaiiiilies, lie was 
 opposed to men without talents. If it is said by those acquainted with his hislory, that Marshal Villara was a 
 
 * It would be difficult lo find an example of modesty and frankness equal to this admission on tho part of Gen . 
 eral Hakri.son, (the " commander" alluded to,) whose own name is imperishably inscribed in the anuals ot History 
 as an able and cousunuaaie general, in connexion wWi litis very delcnce ot Fort Meigs. 
 
32 
 
 inanoftalpnls, 1 answer thai Marlborouqh was not Imushl into orposilion to that ereat captain until a late period 
 of liis career, when lie had acquired a hii;h degree of skill and the confidence of his soldiers. Had he been a block- 
 head in those "reat battles he would have been beaten, and England would have lost the glory of his victones. Bo- 
 naparte's career was slronsly corroborative of the necessity of science. Nearly all his victories were gained by 
 means of the knowledge ini|iarted to himself and his officers in military academies. The system of military educa- 
 tion established by him sltowed clearly the value which he attributed to science in war. JNor was he alone in this 
 opinion; for the present dynasty has continued the system to such an extent that military academies have been es- 
 tabli.slie'd in every Department in France. „ . , , , ., , .. .u^ivtm 
 
 '• A.S to the objection made by the gentleman from South Carolina, that the sons of rich men alone went to the iviil- 
 iwry Academy, Mr. H. was as slronghi averse lo such a practice as the gentleman himself could be; and in the 
 other House, on a former occasion, he had made a proijosiiion that the sons of soldiers who had served their coun- 
 try sliould be chosen as cadets for Wesi Point— but it was rejected. ^,. , ■ 
 
 " As to the naval officers, lo whom the aentleman had alluded, Mr. H. believed he was, in some of his remarks, in 
 error For instance, Commodore Decatur did not enter the navy until he wxs grown Ui manhood, and had received 
 a "ood education. It was also witliin the knowledge of Mr. H. that Perry was ad educated man. It was an argu- 
 ment which had rather surprised him, tliat education would not render our officers more devoted to their country. 
 He thought, on the contrary, that a liberal course of instruction would serve to attach them to the countr)'. 1 here 
 were ollior considerations of some importance. Numerous instances might be cited in which the characters of men, 
 pn-'a-'ed in warlike pursuits, where humanized by education. Besides, it was too late in the dav to en- 
 
 BBAVOR TO DEPRECIATE THE BENEFITS OF EDUCATION IN ANY CLA.SS OP THE COMMUNITY. By that alone Were the 
 
 free insiilulions of our country sustained ; and wlien the great objects of science should have been neglected, he 
 should consider this country oh the high road to destruction. He could safely say, from personal knowledge ot the 
 facts, that the schiwl conieinplaied in the jMrtion of the bill now under discussion was of the most immediate ne- 
 cessity to our navy. He had conversed with many midshipmen, and ho found that Ihey were generally of llial sit- 
 uation ia life in which tlieir parents could notaffjrd to educate them. The navy was not a service into which rich 
 irien sent their sons ; and it seemed but proper that tlic Goverument should prepare the officers in their youth for 
 the duties which they would afterwards be called lo perform. He fell none of the dislike expressed by the gen- 
 tleman from South Carolina to the indulgences eranted these young men, or the genteel appearance they were 
 properly ;imbitiou8 to support. 3fr. II. wished them to be, as far as possible, accomplished men, who would, in 
 foreign countries, do honor to the American character. They had shown a laudable zeal in endeavoring to im- 
 'prove themselves, as he was informed tliat the system had been eenerally adopted by the officers of the navy to eel 
 apart a portion of their pay fjr the purchase of books. Even this,' he had no doubt, was productive of much good to 
 the country, as it conferred much credit on the officers themselves. Many of our naval officers had shown them- 
 selves well acquainted with the laws of nations, and their communications with foreign Powers had redounded to 
 the honor of themselves and of tiie nation. Certainly these men deserved the favorable consideration, and the 
 frfost liberal trealnienlfrom the Government. The country was in every respect interested in preparius iheiii, by 
 a proper eduction, for the arduous and perilous duties, to the performance of which their lives were devoted. There- 
 fore, he considered the section of this bill which provides for the establishment of a naval school one of its most val- 
 uable features, and he hoped it would meet the sanction of the Senate. 
 
 But we must now bring this review to a close. Not that we have exhausted the subject, nor 
 yet become weary of the undertaking, but that our restricted Uraits as to space oblige us to con- 
 clude. 
 
 No unprejudiced man can have accompanied us through this review, without acknowledging 
 to himself that the high repute of General Harihso.v as a Soldier, a Territorial Governor, a 
 Commander of Armies, does not constitute his only claim to the gratitude of his fellow-citizens, 
 nor his best title to the confidence whicli tliey are now asked to repose in him. We place his 
 claim to public confidence on loftier ground, when we rank him among the most eminent of his 
 fellow-citizens, as a man rich in intellectual gifts and rare aciiuirements; uniting in his charac- 
 ter the wisdom of age and the buoyancy of youth, elevation of soul and humility of pretension, a 
 strong senise of justice and a diffusive humanity. Are not these the elements of true greatness T 
 Are they not qualities such as justify the distinguished honor conferred upon General IIakiiison, 
 in being placed, liy the most illustrious body of Republicans that has assembled in this country 
 within the last fifty years, as their candidate for the Chief Magistracy of the Nation 1 
 
 With all the brilliant qualities which distinguish him as a Warrior, a Civilian, and a States- 
 man, General HAKniso\ has yet always prided himself upon belonging to the Farming interest, 
 and depending upon the reward of labor in that vocation for the support of himself and his famil}-. 
 His highest boast, when he comes to speak of himself, is, that he is onv. ok the People. This 
 sentiment, always uppermost in his mind, in connexion with his devotion to the general good, 
 we cannot better illustrate, in conclusion, than by the following further extioct from one qI his 
 sjieeche8 in the Senate : 
 
 "The policy of the country was, in his opinion, to lessen the expenses of agriculture, and to 
 "remove, if possible, the difliculties with which the farmers of the country have now to strug- 
 *«gle. He was a farmer himself, and he spoke of those difficulties as one who had experienced 
 ♦'them. He was a faumkh alone. He nin not own a hank shahe in the woitLn, nor 
 
 •'had UE a IAUTUING invested in MEllCANTILE IIISINESS; HUT IlErENIILll At. ONE ON TUB 
 
 •'cultivation OF TIIE KAiiTii Fon THE sippoiiT OF A LAHOE FAMILY. He tluretorc felt a 
 *' kindred interest in the welfare of the agricultural class. But he never could believe that this 
 "Hall ought to be the theatre on which jirivate or sectional interests should be contested. He 
 ♦'thought men ought lo come into the councils of their country v, ilh better and more liberal feel- 
 "ings, with more elevated motives; nor would he have advocated this bill had hr thought its 
 •' good effects applicable to his immediate constituents alone. But he believed it would be pro- 
 "ductivc of general good, and, for that reason, he was in favor of its passage.