The Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. I., No. 4, December, 1834Various
History
The Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. I., No. 4, December, 1834
Various
American literature -- 19th century -- Periodicals
The locality was well chosen, and seemed to have been designed by
nature for the scene for which it was now appropriated. From the
village and around the foot of the hill, winds a path that leads by an
easy ascent to the summit of another hill, capped by a grove or cluster
of huge pines and oaks, which overshadow a surface clear of undergrowth
and interspersed with rocky prominences. These prominences, though
rough, answered admirably well the purpose of seats for the auditory,
and one of them being flat and overswelling the rest, was pitched upon
as a rostrum from which the orator should hold forth. On one side of
it, which might be called the rear, was planted a staff, to which was
tacked an old bunting American ensign or flag, pierced with holes,
received at the battle of Plattsburg. At the end of the staff hung a
red woollen cap, the symbol of liberty--its color emblematic of the
ardor of its spirit, as explained by the committee. At the foot of the
staff stood a cask of "_old corn_," for the refreshment and
entertainment of the _corps militaire_, in honor of the day and orator.
The village and country belles and beaux, attired in their gayest
possible manner, by way of regard, were suffered to have precedence in
the selection of places, and the former had possessed themselves of
those crags which might best suit them to the convenient hearing of the
oration. The assembled people were now impatiently awaiting the arrival
of the orator and escort, when they were at length descried wending
their way up hill, at the tune of _Molbrook_, sent forth to the air
from the fife in fragments--and having arrived, the orator was
conducted in form to the rostrum by the committee, which he mounted
with unfaltering steps.
The bustle and buzz incident to the choosing of convenient places amid
the rugged area having subsided, the _coup d'oeil_ presented was well
worthy the pencil and genius of a Hogarth; the pen can convey but a
faint idea. The gay females, elevated upon the asperated crags,
overtopping every other object, seemed to shed lustre and life upon
every thing around. Their attendants or beaux, resting in various
postures at their feet, or lolling against a tree hard by, proved that
the village and sylvan belles command the devotions of the rude sex no
less than those of courts and cities. The boys were perched upon every
oaken bough that overhung the spot that could bear their weight, and
the military and the rest were strewed about thickly and promiscuously
on the ground--sitting, squatting, kneeling; in fine, in every position
indescribable which the human frame is susceptible of when adapting
itself to some particular locality for its comfort.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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