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What has caused this great commotion-motion-motion
Our country through?
It is the ball a-rolling on
For Tippecanoe and Tyler too,
For Tippecanoe and Tyler too;
And with them we'll beat little Van;
Van, Van, Van is a used — up man,
And with them we'll beat little Van.
This song had two advantages.
The tune—half chaunt, half jig—was adapted to bring out all the absurdities of the words, and, in particular, those of the last two lines.
The second advantage was, that stanzas could be multiplied to any extent, on the spot, to suit the exigences of any occasion.
For example:
The beautiful girls, God bless their souls, souls, souls,
The country through,
Will all, to a man, do all they can
For Tippecanoe and Tyler too;
And with them, etc., etc.
During that summer, ladies attended the mass meetings in thousands, and in their honor the lines just quoted were frequently sung.
These few extracts from the
Log Cabin show the nature of the element in which our editor was called upon to work in the hot months of 1840.
His own interest in the questions at issue was intense, and his labors were incessant and most arduous.
He wrote articles, he made speeches, he sat on committees, he traveled, he gave advice, he suggested plans; while he had two newspapers on his hands, and a load of debt upon his shoulders.
His was a willing servitude.
From the days of his apprenticeship he had observed the course of “Democratic” administrations with disgust and utter disapproval, and he had borne his full share of the consequences of their bad measures.
His whole soul was in this contest.
He fought fairly too. His answer to a correspondent, that “articles assailing the personal character of
Mr. Van Buren or any of his supporters cannot be published in the Cabin,” was in advance of the politics of 1840.
One scene, if it could be portrayed on the printed page as visibly as it exists in the memories of those who witnessed it, would show
