their age by these poor gratuities; which generation is dependent on the bounty of the other; which is the pensioner of the other?

66

Sir, it is said that other classes suffered as much as those for whom relief is now asked; that the distress and privation were general; and that the army bore no more than its share in the common calamities. There was suffering enough on all sides, heaven knows; and it fell, it is true, not less on the citizen at home, than on the soldier in the camp. But the army, in suffering as such, was not exempt from its share of the general calamity. They did not cast off the character and relations of citizens. No, sir; while they were suffering all the hardships of the camp and of the field, they were, also, suffering in all their interests at home, in common with the rest of the community. They belonged to a class of society whose personal attendance, labor, and care, are their chief property. What brings the most grievous distress, on such a class of society? Not the fluctuations and obstructions of the market, for they produce very little that goes to market; not the failure of crops of great staple products, which do not depend upon the presence or absence of an opulent proprietor. No, sir, the citizens of this class are most distressed when an industrious

member is called away from the little circle-when an active son or brother is lost to the aged father or helpless sisters, who depend on his aid to carry on the frugal operations of that domestic industry which is necessary to the common subsistence and comfort. The absence from home of those most needed, in this way, was one chief cause of that general wreck of small fortunes, which was one great feature of the universal distress. I myself, sir, know families, from which, not one alone, but two, and even three, who were most wanted at home, were yielded to the common cause; from which when Joseph was not, and Simeon was not, the voice of a bleeding country called Benjamin away also: And however great the sacrifice, the call was obeyed, as is well known from many a touching anecdote of those eventful times.

"Yes, sir, the spirit of the day was equal to its trials; but let us not talk of the soldier as exempt, in any degree, from the common suffering of the citizen; when the fact, that he was absent from home in the army, might be the heaviest blow to the prosperity of his family, and to his own prosperity as a member of it. It deserves, also, to be recollected, that the sufferings of the country, after the close of the war, were probably more severe, on the whole, than during

its continuance.

The burdens of the war were then consolidated on society; a considerable source of wealth, the expenditure of the foreign troops, was dried up; the ardor of the contest was gone, and ruin came home to almost every door. Tradition can tell us of instances, where the farmer's oxen were unyoked by the tax-gatherer from the plough. Such was the state of things which drove a portion of the citizens of my own state to madness-such was the condition of the homes to which those, who had borne the hardships and perils of the war, too often returned. Let us not, then, imagine, sir, that the army, in the midst of its peculiar privations, was in the least degree, spared from its portion of general calamity.

"It is said, that the relief which this bill provides for the surviving officers of the revolution, is a premium on old age. Sir, that expression sounds harshly to my ear. The term premium, when thus used, reminds me of those measures in political economy which are resorted to, in order to stimulate production. We say, that heavy duties on foreign fabrics, are a premium on domestic manufactures that injudicious alms-giving is a premium on pauperism. The provisions of this bill are not to have the effect, of multiplying the numbers of the aged and venera

ble persons, to whom it looks. Sir, they are dropping fast into the grave; your bounty will come too late to produce that effect upon them, which, at an earlier stage, might have enabled them to bid defiance to the various foes of life. The most it can do, will be to soothe their decline. At all events, it will not increase their number; and considering who they are, I would rather call it a solace and a comfort, than a premium for old. age.

"I am sorry, sir, that we cannot go farther at this time; that in making provisions for the surviving veteran, we cannot also make provision for the widow and children of those, who are deceased. But, sir, we must be contented to do what good we can, and not refuse to do any good, because we cannot do all good. The case of the survivors, is a case by itself; it has been investigated;-their number is nearly ascertained;-and the appropriation proposed, is calculated to afford a certain relief to those who share it.

"There is one consideration, Mr. Chairman, which, as often as I have revolved this subject in my mind, has seemed to call upon us, for very shame, to do something for these men. It is this, that liberal provision has been, and continues to be, made by the English government, for those, who, in that

country, are called American loyalists in this country, refugees and tories. Sir, I have myself seen the contrast to which I allude. Gentlemen all know, that the provision for the American loyalists still forms an item in the annual budget in Great Britain; that a portion of the bounty is dispensed in this country; while, even in his amendment, my worthy colleague has thought it necessary to make residence in the United States, a condition of receiving this late and poor provision. I do not object to this practically, I presume it will deprive no one of what he would otherwise receive; but I would willingly have emulated the bounty, which knows how to pursue its rightful objects to the end of the earth.

"Sir, if this act of grateful justice is ever to be performed, now is the time for its performance. The present year completes the half century since the declaration of independence; and most devoutly do I hope, that when the silver trumpet of our political jubilee sounds, it may be with a note of comfort and joy, to the withered heart of the war-worn veteran of the revolution. Our tardy provision, will indeed come too late to help him through the hard journey of life; but it will not come too late to alleviate the sorrows of age, and smooth the pillow of decline. Sir, it is the

fiftieth year of our independence. How much we shall read, how much we shall hear, how much, perhaps, we shall say this year, about the glorious exploits of our fathers, and the debt of gratitude we owe them. I do not wish this to be all talk. I want to do something. I want a substantial tribute to be paid them. Praise, sir, is sweet music both to old and young ; but I honestly confess, that my mind relucts and revolts, by anticipation, at the thought of the compliments, with which we are going to fill the ears of these poor veterans, while we leave their pockets empty, and their backs cold. If we cast out this bill, I do hope that some member of the house, possessing an influence to which I cannot aspire, will introduce another, to make it penal to say a word on the fourth of July, about the debt of gratitude, which we owe to the heroes of the revolution. Let the day and the topic, pass in decent silence. I hate all gag-laws; but there is one thing I am willing to gag-the vaporing tongue of a bankrupt, who has grown rich, and talks sentiment, about the obligation he feels to his needy creditor, whom he paid off at 2s. 6d. in the pound.

"Mr. Chairman-We have heard much, of late, of the Washington policy. In the recent discussions

on a great national question, this

qualities. What was it that raised the man to that elevation, on which no other mortal ever stood? It was the lion-hearted valor, which qualified his Fabian prudence; the god-like generosity, which went hand in hand with his pristine temperance and frugality. Disjoin this matchless compound of virtues ;take from either of his strongly marked characteristics, the opposite quality which balanced and chastened it; and you bring him down to the common level of humanity; and make of him no more than a common great man. It is so with his policy. Sift out from all his lessons, the prudent and dissuasive; listen to his voice then, and then only, when he warns you against following the impulses of enthusiasm! and shut your eyes, and shut your ears, and shut your hearts, when he bids you be generous and liberal, and you make a a policy, sir, of which I have no ambition to be a disciple."

Notwithstanding these powerful arguments the opposition, manifested on the part of those states, whose quotas to the continental army were small and seldom filled, was strong enough to prevent the passage of the bill; and a motion to recommit the bill, for the purpose of ascertaining the number of the revolutionary officers, who ought to be provided for by law; and the amount necessary to make such

provision, and the manner in which it should be made; was carried by a vote of 90 to 85. This disposition of the bill, of course prevented its passage at that time. The bill was subsequently reported with the necessary information, but too near the close of the session, to permit any attempt to bring it under consideration. It consequently remained with the unfinished business on the table.

A bill for the relief of one Francis Larche, which had passed the senate, produced some excitement in the house among the members from the southern states; on account of the principle upon which the committee of claims recommended its rejection.

The claim was for the value of a slave belonging to the petitioner, impressed by order of General Jackson, and killed by a cannon shot, while working on the lines.

The committee reported against the claim, on the ground, that the emergency justified the impressment of every moral agent, capable of contributing to the defence of the place; that men were wanted, and in that capacity, the master and the slave were put in requisition; the parent and his child, and his hired servants, as they were in other parts of the country, where the population had fought and died in the public defence, without having their lives valued, or compen