On the record
Does it say that, before presenting a petition, you shall look into it, and see whether it comes from the virtuous, and the great, and the mighty?
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gutenberg.orgWilliam Seward: “Does it say that, before presenting a petition, you shall look into it, and see whether it comes from the virtuous, and…”
Editor's note · Context
Seward critiques the idea that petitions should be judged based on the character of their authors.
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Now is the time to exterminate that monster, called party spirit.
Columbia, great Republic, thou art blest, While Empires droop, and Monarchs sink to rest.
It is not my voice, it is this cessation of ordinary pursuits, this arresting of all attention, those solemn ceremonies, and this crowded house, which speak their eulogy.
Marble columns may, indeed, moulder into dust, time may erase all impress from the crumbling stone, but their fame remains; for with American liberty it rose, and with American liberty only can it perish.
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