The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States, Seventeenth Congress, Second Session Page: 123
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123
Senate.
HISTORY OF CONGRESS.
Imprisonment for Debt.
124
January, 1823.
State of its power of modifying and changing
remedies in the administration of justice. And
every wise nation will adapt them to the condi-
tion and circumstances of the country. The
proposition to make the measure prospective as-
sumes the ground of immutability in the laws;
and . yet no proposition is more clear than the
propriety of their mutability. It is much to be
regretted that our prejudices are so inveterate,
that even personal liberty too frequently kicks the
beam, when property is put in the opposite scale.
Naaman, the Syrian military chieftain, felt his
bosom swell with gratitude towards the prophet
Blisha, when he found himself cured of the lep-
rosy, by 'following his advice, in washing three
times in Jordan's stream. In his wonderful res-
torationj he also acknowledged tha't the God of
Israel alone was worthy of adoration, and entered
into a solemn declaration, that henceforth he
would look to him as the only being that regulated
and sustained the universe.; but it was his request
that there should be this exception, that when he
entered with his royal master into the house of
Rimmon, he might be permitted to bow to this
idol, according to the custom of the Syrians. We
are taught., likewise, by high authority, to give up
prejudices in the following language, " If thy right
hand offend thee, cut it off; if thy right eye offend
thee, pluck it out." Time will disclose the fact,
whether we can rise superior to this uimierciful
system, which dooms the debtor to prison.
But it may be emphatically inquired, why this
subject, to which so much importance has been
given at this session, lias been neglected by our
predecessors 1 There is a time for all things, and
the history of this Republic furnishes an answer
for this apparent omission. The war of the Rev-
olution presents the first crisis in which this nation
has been involved. The object was no less than
a contest for self-government. We were engaged
with a most powerful enemy, superior in numbers,
in riches, and the means of conquest. We had
also to encounter the dreadful consequences of
civil war. We fought and we conquered. At the
close of the Revolution, we fondly expected
tranquillity and peace, but we were disappointed
in that expectation. It was now discovered that
our strength had been consolidated, and our Union
preserved by a moral power, which never forsakes
a community devoted to liberty : and not by the
Articles of Confederation. Notwithstanding the
monuments of our victories and our glory, which
were erected throughout our extended country,
from Bunker's Hill in the North, to the Eutaw
Springs in the South, we found the written bond
of our Union weakened, and compared to a rope
of sand. This consideration turned the thoughts
of the nation to a new constitution, which should
cure the detects of the Articles of Confederation.
This state of things involved us in a second crisis
which demanded the undivided attention of the
nation. Our present form of government was the
result. The organization of the various depart-
ments under this new constitution, equally en-
grossed public attention. We had fought for in-
dependence and had obtained it; yet the question
seemed to be pending, whether we could preserve
that freedom in the form of a written constitution,
by which all power was acknowledged to be in
tlie hands of the people. Before we had calmly-
settled down, upon what we conceived to be the
legitimate principles of this new form of union,
we were involved in a quasi war with E'rance;
and we were agitated by the angry and vindictive
animosities of party. We were again amused
with the prospect of harmony at home and peace
with all nations, when suddenly our political hor-
izon was obscured by foreign convulsions; and
we were involved in a contest of commercial re-
strictions with the belligerent Powers of Europe,
which terminated in a war with Great Britain.
Through Divine Providence we sustained our
cause, and victory crowned our efforts. A second
time we fought a good fight and. finished our
course with joy.
During these interesting periods, it could not be
expected that this subject should have engaged
attention'. Since the memorable period of the late
war, we have been wisely and beneficially em-
ployed in bringing down the war to a permanent
peace establishment.
Having finished this great work, we have per-
fect leisure to attend to the interior administration
of our concerns.
Distracted by no party—blessed with peace and
tranquillity—now is the accepted time to call the
attention of the nation to the crying evil of impris-
onment for debt.
From the remotest period of antiquity, to the
present day, there never was a time when so many
individuals were exerting themselves to improve
the intellectual and moral condition of man. The
good and the virtuous, throughout Christendom,
are employing all their energies; and Christians,
of every denomination, are united in the mighty
effort. Benevolent societies are established in every
region of the civilized world. The deaf and the
dumb, the male and female orphan, the pagan and
the savage, are all embraced in those moral exer-
tions. Missionaries of our holy religion are pene-
trating every country. Burmah and Hindostan
are receiving lessons ofChristian morality, and the
worshippers of Juggcrnaut are learning the knowl-
edge of the true God. Jerusalem is again becoming
the field of gospel labor. Divine light begins to
beam on Persia, where the sun has long been the
idol of their devotion. The savages of our own
country are recipients of the same benevolent ef-
forts, and the wilderness of America begins to
wear the aspect of gladness. It is not expected
that we, as a Government, should becomc mem-
bers of these societies and make appropriations of
money to carry on their designs ; but, while we
witness these interesting scenes, which, on every
hand, are calculated to rejoice the heart of the
philanthropist, it is our duty, and I trust we shall
find it our pleasure to remove every obstacle, to
the happiness of the human race, and to take from
the hand of tyranny the rod of oppression.
These United States present a sublime spectaclc
to the universe, in the annual convocation of the
people, by their Representatives in the Congress
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Gales and Seaton. The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States, Seventeenth Congress, Second Session, book, 1855; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc30367/m1/60/?rotate=270: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.