The merits and sacrifices of
the people of the Revolution have never been stated with more earnest
gratitude than in the following passage:--
"I am not insensible, Mr. President, of the advantages with which claims
of this character always come before Congress. They are supposed to be
based on services for which no man entertains a higher estimate than
myself--services beyond all praise, and above all price. But, while warm
and glowing with the glorious recollections which a recurrence to that
period of our history can never fail to awaken; while we cherish with
emotions of pride, reverence, and affection the memory of those brave men
who are no longer with us; while we provide, with a liberal hand, for
such as survive, and for the widows of the deceased; while we would
accord to the heirs, whether in the second or third generation, every
dollar to which they can establish a just claim,--I trust we shall not,
in the strong current of our sympathies, forget what becomes us as the
descendants of such men. They would teach us to legislate upon our
judgment, upon our sober sense of right, and not upon our impulses or our
sympathies. No, sir; we may act in this way, if we choose, when
dispensing our own means, but we are not at liberty to do it when
dispensing the means of our constituents.
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