Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1824-01-22

cessary aieans of aid. Turning To The Stat.
from which he came. where. Mr. &. asked, i
the widow of Col. WHITE, horn tn splendid
fortune, the whole Of which was expended In
the revolutionary war [? She is Old, and it.
need of aid. have, said he, petition Ia pre-
sent 10 this House from this venerable ,dy
making the most feeling appeal Ia Congress
IN her behalf: yet, III answering her letter
assuring her of the pleasure should have in
presenting her memorial to the House, / did
not venture to hold out TO her the most dis
tani hope of success in her application. Look
abroad, said Mr.. c., in all the walks of life,
aud see how many INDECENT families there ar.
at individuals who have rendered most dis
tinguished services to their country Shall
We select the families Of those who wore.
epaulettes on their shoulders and sword.
by their sides, for peculiar favor, whilst
we leave TO pine in penury the families of
those who have spent their lives in civil
service {? Not, Mr.. Clay said, that he wou,
extend the principle Of pensions To civ,
life; but he would restrict il TO it's present
limit, within which it is safe. There was
nothing more insinuating than applications Of
this description. But, he said, look tu what
they had led in other countries. Look 10 the
pension list of England, swerd TO an amount,
enormously great. Nay, look to our own
pension list, all eady amounting to nearly two
millions of dollars annually. Let is sot, said
MIR. Clay, surrender ourselves 10 the captiva-
ting eioquence which we have heard on this
occasion. on all sides OF the House /; let us
rather be influenced by reason, principle, and
precedent. Let us put some limit to this
principle Of gratitude, however Justly it has
enextoled. When the honorable gentleman
from South Carolina, now no more, first in
roduced bill containing this provision, as
well as the one which passed for the relief of
the widow and children of Com. Perry,
told the gentleman (said Mr.. C.) that we
were going too far. When appealed To- his
better Judgment, and pointed out the fala!
consequences of this precedent. he consented
TO strike out the provision for the mother
hope we too shall, on this occasion, availiDg
ourselves of his enlightened wisdom, pursue
the course which il dictated TO him, and refuse
To pass this bill.
MIR. RANDOLPH, of Virginia, rose for the
single purpose of asking the honorable gen
tleman who had just sat down, how, upon his
own principles, he recOncjied his support of
the bill making provision for the widow and
children ofCommodore Perry with his oppo-
sition TO this bill ? Whether the bill first
mentioned was not the very departure from
principle against which the gentleman has
warned the House this morning.?
MIR. CLAY said, it was departure from the
general rule. But, having already departed
from il, shall we make another and much
wider departure? With regard to that bill, how
ever, MIR. G. said, he had rendered II no special
support, and he did not know whether or not
he had voted upon it. 1t was departure, but
it was safe departure when compared with
that which was now proposed.
MIR. Hamilton said, that, in rising to reply
TO the gentleman from Kentucky, he could not
but feel forebOding how hopeless the at
tempt must be TO break the spell of that elo-
qnence for which, if he might so speak, thi.
House had sort ofliabtual Difference and adj
mlTation But he could not permit the obiec-
tlons which had been offered to this b TO
pass entirely umotced | wish, said Mr. II.
the gentleman, before he had spoken hypo-
the'Icaily as To the danger of the precedent
which would be afforded If you granted the
proposed annuity TO Mis-. Perry, had looked
into your statute book, where he would find
on record an act granting pensions TO the four
daughters of the Count de Grssse, foreigner,
who fought, ii is true, in our battles, but who
was nevertheless commissioned by foreign
prince, To whom he may be- said to have been
stipendiary. To grant pensions in these
cases, and to refuse one in the instance before
you, appears to involve species ofin consisten-
cy and ingratitude, which cannot hut be re-
garded as altogether monstrOus. The gentle
man asks triumphanty, where these cases
are to end as if there was always something
painfully irksOme i'm the discharge of these
Obligations. hope, for the honor of my coun-
try, they may never end for, so long as we
are blessed with such achievements as the vic
tory OF Lake Erie, more especially in time of
war, the country can never be poor in any
Just sense of the term. | am also asked by
him, if there is no other instance of services
of a similar character rendered to the country?
say, yes and that, moreover, If the mother
of M'DOnough were ever placed in like sit
uaton of exigency and bereavement with the
parent Of your deceased hero, under the pre-
liminary principles which laid down in this
discussion, would, without hesitation, vote a
similar annuity for her relief. The gentleman
from Kentucky had been also pleased, Mr. III
said, mot with the intention, he presumed. hut
with the direct effect, Of hnging unnecessary
prejudice on this appeal to recur to the pen
sion list of England to sustain him in his mo
ney-saviDg doctrine. But, until he could prove
a yerismilitude between the form of thar 90
vernment and our own, he would in no way
be benefited by his reference. Ia G.. Britain
1t was true that the stream of public bounty,
instead of refreshing the legitimate depart
ments Of the public service, is diverted into
channels into which it ought never to few
There is species Of instructive corruption in
that government; for, in order to preserve its
artificial checks and balances, the ministry,
by n perversiOn Of the public rewards, are
compelled, IN this way, to secure an effective
majority in Parliament. But, in government
of responsibility like ours, where was the dan
ger Of these evils (? They could never exist
until our Institutions were swept away into
ruin and oblivion. The gentleman has also
(said Mr.. H. brought out, in its full and,
presume, as he regards it, IFS fearful amount,