00000332 |
Previous | 332 of 534 | Next |
|
small (250x250 max)
medium (500x500 max)
Large
Extra Large
large ( > 500x500)
Full Resolution
All (PDF)
|
TO THE PEOPLE OF NEW YORK. 297
tranquillity, and a sense of security loosened the bonds
of union; and Congress and soldiers and good faith
depreciated with their apparent importance. Recommendations lost their influence, and requisitions were
rendered nugatory, not by their want of propriety,
but by their want of power. The spirit of private
gain expelled the spirit of public good, and men became more intent on the means of enriching and
aggrandizing themselves than of enriching and aggrandizing their country. Hence the war-worn
veteran, whose reward for toil and wounds existed in
written promises, found Congress without the means,
and too many States without the disposition, to do
him justice. Hard necessity compelled him, and
others under similar circumstances, to sell their honest
claims on the public for a little bread; and thus unmerited misfortunes and patriotic distresses became
articles of speculation and commerce.
These and many other evils, too well known to
require enumeration, imperceptibly stole in upon us,
and acquired an unhappy influence on our public
affairs. But such evils, like the worst of weeds, will
naturally spring up in so rich a soil; and a good
government is as necessary to subdue the one, as an
attentive gardener or husbandman is to destroy
the other. Even the garden of Paradise required to
be dressed, and while men continue to be constantly
impelled to error and to wrong by innumerable circumstances and temptations, so long will society experience the increasing necessity of government.
It is a pity that the expectations which actuated
| Title | The correspondence and public papers of John Jay - 3 |
| Creator | Jay, John |
| Publisher | G.P. Putnam's Sons |
| Place of Publication | New York, London |
| Date | [1890-93] |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000332 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | TO THE PEOPLE OF NEW YORK. 297 tranquillity, and a sense of security loosened the bonds of union; and Congress and soldiers and good faith depreciated with their apparent importance. Recommendations lost their influence, and requisitions were rendered nugatory, not by their want of propriety, but by their want of power. The spirit of private gain expelled the spirit of public good, and men became more intent on the means of enriching and aggrandizing themselves than of enriching and aggrandizing their country. Hence the war-worn veteran, whose reward for toil and wounds existed in written promises, found Congress without the means, and too many States without the disposition, to do him justice. Hard necessity compelled him, and others under similar circumstances, to sell their honest claims on the public for a little bread; and thus unmerited misfortunes and patriotic distresses became articles of speculation and commerce. These and many other evils, too well known to require enumeration, imperceptibly stole in upon us, and acquired an unhappy influence on our public affairs. But such evils, like the worst of weeds, will naturally spring up in so rich a soil; and a good government is as necessary to subdue the one, as an attentive gardener or husbandman is to destroy the other. Even the garden of Paradise required to be dressed, and while men continue to be constantly impelled to error and to wrong by innumerable circumstances and temptations, so long will society experience the increasing necessity of government. It is a pity that the expectations which actuated |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| B |
|
| C |
|
| G |
|
| H |
|
| M |
|
| T |
|
| U |
|
| Y |
|
|
|
