But then, again, it is objected, that the militia have a claim upon us; that they fought at the side of the regular soldiers, and ought to share in the country's remembrance. It is known to be impossible, to carry the measure to such an extent as to embrace the militia; and it is plain, too, that the cases are different. The bill, as I have already said, confines itself to those who served not occasionally, not temporarily, but permanently; who allowed themselves to be counted on as men who were to see the contest through, last as long as it might; and who have made the phrase of "listing during the war," a proverbial expression, signifying unalterable devotion to our cause, through good fortune and ill fortune, till it reaches its close. This is a plain distinction; and although perhaps I might wish to do more, I see good ground to stop here, for the present, if we must stop anywhere. The militia who fought at Concord, at Lexington, and at Bunker's Hill, have been alluded to, in the course of this debate, in terms of well-deserved praise. Be assured, sir, there could with difficulty be found a man, who drew his sword, or carried his musket, at Concord, at Lexington, or Bunker's Hill, who would wish you to reject this bill. They might ask you to do more; but never to refrain from doing this. Would to God they were assembled here, and had the fate of the bill in their own hands! Would to God, the question of its passage was to be put to them! They would affirm it, with a unity of acclamation that would rend the roof of the capitol.

I support the measure, then, Mr. President, because I think it a proper and judicious exercise of well-merited national bounty. I think, too, the general sentiment of my own constituents, and of the country, is in favor of it. I believe the member from North Carolina, himself, admitted, that an increasing desire, that something should be done for the revolutionary officers, manifested itself in the community. The bill will make no immediate or great draught on the treasury. It will not derange the finances. If I had supposed that the state of the treasury

would have been urged against the passage of this bill, I should not have voted for the Delaware break-water, because that might have been commenced next year; nor for the whole of the sums which have been granted for fortifications; for their advancement, with a little more or little less of rapidity, is not of the first necessity. But the present case is urgent. What we do, should be done quickly.

war.

'Mr. President, allow me to repeat, that neither the subject, nor the occasion, is an ordinary one. Our own fellow-citizens do not so consider it; the world will not so regard it. A few deserving soldiers are before us, who served their country faithfully through a seven years' That was a civil war. It was commenced on principle, and sustained by every sacrifice, on the great ground of civil liberty. They fought bravely, and bled freely. The cause succeeded, and the country triumphed. But the condition of things did not allow that country, sensible as it was to their services and merits, to do them the full justice which it desired. It could not en

tirely fulfill its engagements. The army was to be disbanded; but it was unpaid. It was to lay down its own power; but there was no government with adequate power to perform what had been promised to it. In this critical moment, what is its conduct? Does it disgrace its high character? Is temptation able to seduce it? Does it speak of righting itself? Does it undertake to redress its own wrongs, by its own sword? Does it lose its patriotism in its deep sense of injury and injustice? Does military ambition cause its integrity to swerve? Far, far, otherwise.

'It had faithfully served and saved the country; and to that country it now referred, with unhesitating confidence, its claim and its complaints. It laid down its arms with alacrity; it mingled itself with the mass of the community; and it waited till, in better times, and under a new government, its services might be rewarded, and the promises made to it fulfilled. Sir, this example is worth more, far more, to the cause of civil liberty,

than this bill will cost us. We can hardly recur to it too often, or dwell on it too much, for the honor of our country, and of its defenders. Allow me to say again, that meritorious service in civil war is worthy of peculiar consideration; not only because there is, in such war, usually less power to restrain irregularities, but because, also, they expose all prominent actors in them to different kinds of danger. It is rebellion, as well as war. Those who engage in it must look not only to the dangers of the field, but to confiscation also and attainder, and ignominious death. With no efficient and settled government, either to sustain or to control them, and with every sort of danger before them, it is great merit to have conducted with fidelity to the country, under every discouragement on the one hand, and with unconquerable bravery towards the common enemy on the other. So, sir, the officers and soldiers of the revolutionary army did conduct.

'I would not, and do not underrate the services or the sufferings of others. I know well, that in the revolutionary contest, all made sacrifices, and all endured sufferings; as well those who paid for service, as those who performed it. I know, that, in the records of all the little municipalities of New England, abundant proof exists of the zeal with which the cause was espoused, and the sacrifices with which it was cheerfully maintained. I have often there read, with absolute astonishment, the taxes, the contributions, the heavy subscriptions, often provided for by disposing of the absolute necessaries of life; by which enlistments were procured, and food and clothing furnished. It would be, sir, to these same municipalities, to these same little patriotic councils of revolutionary times, that I should now look, with most assured confidence, for a hearty support of what this bill proposes. There, the scale of revolutionary merit stands high. There are still those living, who speak of the 19th of April, and the 17th of June, without thinking it necessary to add the year. These men, one and all, would rejoice to find that those who stood by the country

bravely, through the doubtful and perilous struggle which conducted it to independence and glory, had not been forgotten in the decline and close of life.

The objects, then, sir, of the proposed bounty, are most worthy and deserving objects. The services which they rendered, were in the highest degree useful and important. The country to which they rendered them, is great and prosperous. They have lived to see it glorious; let them not live to see it unkind. For me, I can give them but my vote, and my prayers; and I give them both with my whole heart.'

In May, 1828, a tariff bill was brought before the Senate of the United States, and Mr. Webster found himself under the necessity of giving some reasons for the vote he was about to give on the occasion, as it might seem not to be in accordance with his vote on the tariff in 1824. At that time, Mr. Webster represented a commercial district, and a large majority of his constituents were opposed to the restrictions on trade which that bill contained. He urged every argument in his power against it, but it was passed. At that period, he declared that if the bill did pass, there would be no alternative for New England, but to consider the course and policy of the Government as settled and fixed, and to act accordingly. The law did pass, and millions of dollars were invested in manufactures from necessity. The merchants came to this reluctantly, but when once engaged in manufacturing, this became as dear an interest as the mercantile, and they were as anxious to protect it. He conceived that if the system must be pursued, and this seemed deter

mined upon by a majority of votes in Congress, he thought that those driven into it by the acts of 1816 and 1824, should have some protection, such as they deemed necessary, particularly those who had gone into the manufacture of woollens, on which, as a new business, the strictest calculations could not be made. Mr. Webster weighed the subject thoroughly, and took his course with its responsibility. It cannot be denied but that some of his former friends, who had still confined themselves entirely to commerce, were, for a season, disaffected towards him; not offended, but hurt; not inimical, but cool. This was the most trying situation he had ever been placed in, for among the merchants opposed to the tariff, might be numbered some of his earliest and best friends. This, he regretted; but being conscious of having done right, he kept on, without suffering himself to be disturbed at anything said upon the subject; and he knew also his constituents, that they were of that class of men who would correct their impressions, when all his reasons for voting as he did were fully understood by them. In this excitement he returned to Boston: a sight of their favorite was enough to restore all things with this people; and those who were delighted, and those who had complained, united, to give him a dinner, as a mark of their high estimation of his integrity and independence. This was, of course, accepted; and he met them and gave them a speech explanatory of his conduct. They were satisfied, and his popularity remained undimin