be what it now is, in this age, and in this country, if corporations had not existed and did not now exist-so moral, so intellectual, so cultivated, so free!

But, Mr. Chairman, I shall not pursue the subject. The position which I formerly advanced, and which I have now endeavored briefly to illustrate and sustain, is not matter of opinion merely; it is rather matter of fact, matter of history, of record and of evidence-and if I am wrong, gentlemen to whom these views may be unacceptable, will find no difficulty in showing the error and setting me right.

Sir, I have not presented this subject to the commitee without an object. I am in favor of well regulated and carefully guarded corporations, and I wish to defend them against what I am afraid is a growing prejudice-a prejudice which many well-disposed persons, and more that are ill-disposed, are careful to feed and inflame. It must be well understood by this time, that some of us on this floor are of opinion, that there is a destructive spirit abroad in this land, which requires to be strictly watched and promptly and resolutely opposed, whenever and wherever it may appear. It is a spirit-bold enough sometimes -claiming to understand democracy in its essence and purity, better than any body else, and claiming to have the courage which others have not, to act always on its theoretic doctrines, and carry them out to their conclusions, lead where they may. It is a spirit which professes to watch for the security of the poor and the abject, and looks with jealousy and distrust on the thrifty and the opulent-a spirit which would be better satisfied with nature, if the surface of the earth presented one unbroken level; if there were no lofty eminences to cast their

shadows over the humble valleys; no broad-armed oaks rising up to protect, or to shame, the stinted shrubs beside them; no spots greener than any other spots, none richer, none more beautiful; if all men rose to the same height, attained the same weight and dimensions, moved in the same sphere, spoke with the same voice, bloomed with same complexion, and thought or drivelled, as the case might be, with the same intellect. It is a spirit which wars-I hope for the most part ignorantly—with nearly all the valuable institutions of society, in the unfounded and ignorant belief, or pretence, that they advance individual interests at the expense of the mass, widening the essential differences already existing in society, and tending to aristocratic distinctions, to the oppression of the humble, and to the destruction of equality and liberty-ignorant and unfounded pretences all. shall not undertake to say that the evident that same spirit can be detected here, but so much I will say, that I do implore gentlemen, in behalf of our common and beloved country, to examine well their own positions, and take care that they do not, whether unconsciously or by design, so act their parts here as to minister to that spirit elsewhere.

Now, sir, I presence of

1

SPEECH

IN THE ASSEMBLY OF NEW YORK, DELIVERED FEB. 14, 1838, ON THE RESOLUTIONS INTRODUCED BY MR. HOLLEY RESPECTING THE SUB-TREASURY SCHEME.

[Mr. Holley, as chairman of a select committee had presented Resolutions, condemning, and protesting against, the Sub-Treasury Scheme, and the course of the administration at Washington, and that at Albany, in regard to it, which were now under consideration in the house. The Resolutions were designed to be forwarded to the Senators and Representatives of the state in Congress, as expressing the sense of the Assembly touching the matters embraced in them.

Mr. SPEAKER-In considering the present attitude of the national government towards the country and the people, my mind has been agitated with conflicting emotions. I have been alternately filled with indignation, and subdued and depressed under a feeling of humiliation and sorrow. At one time, I have thought that I could pour out on the authors of our ruin, prepared and preparing, denunciations and curses, the wrath, the scorn, the defiance, which becomes the free citizen of a free republic, subjected in his person, in his principles, and in his country, to insult and oppression. And again, when another and a different train of thought and reflection has passed through my mind-when I have considered who they are who are engaged in this war upon us; how bold, how presuming, how confident they are; how

steadily they pursue their object; the means of corrupting influence they possess; their unscrupulous use of those means; their unblushing appeals to whatever can inflame the worst passions, or move the meanest propensities of mankind; and when I have thought what they have already accomplished in this way, and been forced to compute the probabilities of their future success, in some degree, by their actual successes already achieved when I have thought of all these things, I confess my heart has sunk within me, and I have found it difficult to preserve and maintain that manliness of spirit, that enduring hope, that unfailing confidence in the republic, which ought never to desert the bosom of the patriotic citizen.

Sir, it is with feelings such as those I have faintly sketched, that I approach the discussion of the subject now occupying the attention of the house, and the tone and temper of my remarks will of course be influenced, more or less, by those feelings. And I have referred to this personal matter only for the purpose of affording to to those who hear me, if of any consequence either to myself or others, a way of accounting for any apparent want of zeal or spirit in presenting my views. I shall not certainly undertake to give security, or assurance, before hand, how I may be affected in the progress of my remarks. I can only say, that, at present, I am calm. And one thing is settled with me: and that is, that passion-I mean honest, virtuous passion, such as may come and go and leave no stain-though by no means out of place on this subject, can be be attended with no advantage, while it might unfit the mind for that free and unembarrassed action of all its powers and

faculties which the occasion so urgently demands. I shall endeavor to keep myself collected, and judging from the feelings which now oppress me, I think I am in little danger of losing my self-possession--perhaps I may find it difficult to warm myself up even to a becoming degree of animation and earnestness.

Sir, the leading measure of the government at this time, is embodied in what is called the Sub-Treasury Scheme. This is that distinguishing measure which, if adopted, will mark the difference between this and all preceding administrations. This is that measure on which the administration must stand or fall, before the country and the world. This is that measure on which the country must divide those who are for it standing on the left hand, and those who are against it on the right. Those who favor this measure will support the administration, and those who are opposed to it will oppose the administration. If the administration is right in this, it may well enough be trusted as being likely to be right in every thing; and if wrong in this, then, in my judgment, it is so very wrong, that little injustice will be done it by supposing that it can hardly be right in any thing. If the administration shall succeed in this measure as proposed, and if the people can be brought to sustain it, then it seems to me that it matters very little what else it may see fit to do, or not to do. The constitution is changed. The government is changed; and instead of a republican country and a popular government, we shall have an empire, and a despotism. How long our republican forms may survive the event, I am not prophet enough to tell; but I feel certain that little of the essence of republican freedom will be left after it.