He ought not, like an ungrateful child, to
strike at the hand that feeds him." Dana replied with great
indignation, ending with the sentence: "The hand that feeds
me--the hand that feeds me, sir? No hand feeds me that has
a right to control my opinions!"
A _bon mot_ of Henry Wilson is also worth putting on record.
Somebody, who was speaking of the importance of the Massachusetts
town meeting, said that it was not merely a place for town
government alone, but that it was a place where the people
of the town met from scattered and sometimes secluded dwelling-
places to cultivate each other's acquaintance, to talk over
the news of the day and all matters of public interest; and
that it was a sort of farmers' exchange, where they could
compare notes on the state of agriculture, and even sometimes
swap oxen. Governor Briggs, who had been beaten as a candidate
for reelection by the Coalition, replied to this speech and
said, referring to the Coalition, "that the gentlemen on the
other side seemed to have carried their trading and swapping
of oxen into politics, and into the high offices of the state.
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