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XXX

ADDRESS OF THE MINORITY OF THE LEGISLATURE.

European governments, especially of Great Britain, Holland, and France, should be collected by competent agents and embodied in a Colonial History. His plan was adopted, and subsequently carried into effect during his administration as governor. The result was the publication of four large volumes of the Documentary History of New York, which appeared during the administration of his successors, Governors Fish and Hunt.

The next important speech of Mr. Seward was on the election of mayor of the city of New York.* This was delivered on the 23d of April. Under the first constitution the mayors and recorders of cities were chosen by the Council of Appointment at Albany. Under the new constitution of 1821, mayors were chosen by the Common Council, and recorders were appointed by the Governor and Senate. The new charter of New York gave the mayor a veto on the acts of the Common Council. A petition was presented to the Legislature by the citizens for a change in the Constitution, giving the election of mayor directly to the people. This was opposed by the dominant party. They brought in a resolution providing that mayors should be chosen in such manner as the Legislature should direct. Mr. Seward took decided ground in favor of the New York petition. Arguing on the merits of the question, he contended that not only in New York, but in all cities, the mayors should be chosen by the people. This was in accordance with his democratic principles, which have always led him to claim the largest extent of privilege for the people. His views were finally adopted in the legislature of the state.

During the same session he materially aided the bill for the abolition of imprisonment for debt, which at length passed; while the measure was fully completed, as will be seen in the sequel, under his subsequent administration.

At the close of the session Mr. Seward was appointed to draw up the Address to the People of the Minority of the Legislature. In this address+ he reviewed the financial condition of the state, and exposed the mismanagement of the treasury. He showed the radical defects of the safety fund system, which under partisan control gave the government of the state to the Albany regency. This monopoly was overthrown by the whigs, on their accession to power in 1837, and the freedom of banking, under suitable safe-guards, permitted to all citizens. The contro

*See Vol. I. p. 10.

† See Vol. III. p.

338.

versy between New York and New Jersey was at that time a source of much excitement. The address exposed the conduct of the Executive, showing that it amounted to virtual nullification.

On the 4th of July, 1831, Mr. Seward delivered an anniversary oration before the citizens of Syracuse. He took for his subject, The Prospects of the United States. In a strain of masculine eloquence, he defended the American people against the charge of national vanity and presumption, and uttered a stirring appeal for the cultivation of public virtue and the spirit of devotion to the Union.

The meeting of the Legislature in 1832 again found Mr. Seward at his post. He entered, with his habitual zeal, upon the great questions which then agitated the public mind. Relying upon the soundness of his principles, he boldly maintained the conflict against a majority so overwhelming, that to a less ardent temperament than his own, opposition would have seemed hopeless.

A resolution was brought into the Senate, at the commencement of the session, against renewing the charter of the United States Bank. Soon after a substitute was proposed, declaring the necessity of a national bank for the collection of the public revenue and the preservation of a sound and uniform currency. On the 31st of January Mr. Seward delivered a speech in support of the proposed substitute. This was his first elaborate effort in the Legislature. Having given a minute history of the Bank of the United States, he discussed the fiscal system of the government, and exposed the fallacy of Gen. Jackson's objections to the renewal of the Bank charter. His line of argument was substantially the same as that pursued by Mr. Clay and Mr. Webster in the United States Senate. His speech produced a marked sensation throughout the country. The question was new and exciting-it took strong hold of public feeling, and great satisfaction was expressed by the opponents of the Federal administration on the appearance of this powerful appeal in its favor. Combined with the discussions on internal improvements and state banks, the speech of Mr. Seward and that of Mr. Maynard on the same subject, had the effect of concentrating the opposition to the Albany regency and Jackson's administration, in an organized system. This was the origin of the

See Vol. III. p. 200.

political body, which two years afterwards took the name of the Whig Party.

On the 20th of March, the question came up on the establishment of a separate penitentiary for female convicts. In his speech on this subject, Mr. Seward took the broadest grounds of Christian philanthropy. He argued that the imprisonment of women in penitentiaries adapted only to the other sex, and under the exclusive management of men, was inhuman, and at war with the benevolent spirit of the age. He showed the benefits which the convicts would derive from the kind and judicious care of persons of their own sex. The prison, he maintained, should be made a house of refuge, rather than a place of punishment, where its unfortunate inmates might find protection from the wrongs they had received, in most cases at the hands of men-where they might receive instruction and guidance-be inspired with new hopesand prepared to return to society with the prospect of honor and happiness. The measure, which was carried, owed its success to the exertions of Mr. Seward, greatly aided, however, by the efficient co-operation of Mr. McDonald of Westchester county.

In a speech during this session on granting a charter to a Whaling company, Mr. Seward made a vigorous attack on the tendency of legislation to corporate monopolies for banking, canals, railroads, and similar purposes. His efforts were not supported, and for a time proved unavailing. But the good seed has since ripened. The present system of opening every branch of business to voluntary association, without legislative interference, is the fruit of the principle he then maintained, and is an ample vindication of their soundness and utility.

At the close of the session of 1832, Mr. Seward was again appointed to prepare the Address of the Minority of the Legislature to their constituents. In this document he resumed the discussion of the fiscal affairs of the state, showing the abuses of the administration in management of the public funds for political purposes, exposing the misconduct of the Legislature in the incorporation of banking monopolies, and predicting the ruin of the banks from the policy pursued. His prophecy was in due time fulfilled.

In the presidential campaign of 1832, Mr. Seward gave his support to the electors who were to vote for either Mr. WIRT or Mr. CLAY as their vote should prove effective. He has since repeatedly supported Mr. Clay as a candidate for the Presidency, although

it is known that he always foresaw his defeat, and it is therefore questionable whether that eminent statesman was ever his first choice.

At the legislative session for this year, Mr. Seward took a still more prominent share in the proceedings of the Senate. The nomination of Mr. Tallmadge, then a member of the Senate, to the office of United States Senator, called forth the discussion of an important constitutional question. A clause in the state Constitution prohibited any member of the Legislature from receiving office at the hands of that body, during the term for which he was elected. The attorney general, to whom the question of eligibility had been submitted, decided in favor of Mr. Tallmadge. This decision was controverted by Mr. Seward in a speech of remarkable power of logic and eloquence. He was overruled by a strictly party vote; but one can hardly read his speech without being convinced that the appointment, made for temporary political purposes, was a violation of the constitution.

The nullification movements in the South were brought before the attention of the Senate in February, 1833. On the 16th of that month Mr. Seward introduced a series of resolutions, maintaining that Congress should be governed by a strict construction of the powers entrusted to the general government. In his speech sustaining the resolutions he rebuked the democratic party in the state for their disposition to tamper with the principles of nullification, while professing to support Gen. Jackson's measures, which threatened the nullifiers with the penalty of treason.

During this session Mr. Seward took part in the discussions on the navigation of the Hudson, and on the increase of Judicial salaries.

On the 1st of June, 1833, Mr. Seward sailed for Europe in company with his father. They made a rapid tour through parts of the United Kingdom, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Sardinia and France. During his absence he wrote home a series of letters describing the countries that he visited, which were afterwards published anonymously in the Albany Evening Journal. These letters exhibit a refined taste, great acuteness of observation, and a genial sympathy with the grand and beautiful in nature. The reputation of the writer was enhanced by the avowal of their authorship.

VOL. I.-C.

* See Vol. III.

Mr. Seward returned from his European tour in season to take his seat in the Senate, at the opening of the session of 1834. The public attention was occupied with important questions both of national and of state politics. In the controversy relating to the United States Bank, Mr. Seward took a leading part, and by his vigorous and eloquent appeals produced a strong impression upon the public mind.

The removal of the deposits by Gen. Jackson took place in Sept. 1833. Mr. Van Buren was then vice president, and in order to promote his claims to the presidency, it was deemed essential to obtain the approval of the New York Legislature for the measures of Gen. Jackson. Joint resolutions were accordingly introduced by the administration party in January, 1834, approving the removal of the deposits, instructing the Senators and Representatives in Congress, to oppose the renewal of the bank charter, and ascribing the financial distress of the country to the influence of that institution. These resolutions passed the Assembly by a large majority. Not a voice was raised in opposition to them. In the Senate, however, they met with a different reception. With a deep conviction of duty, and in spite of the remonstrance of his friends, Mr. Seward broke the ominous silence, and in an elaborate speech opposed the passage of the resolutions. This speech, which was, on the whole, the most powerful effort of his intellect and legislative experience during his career in the New York Senate, occupied a part of two days in the delivery. It was a forcible and conclusive in argument, pointed and brilliant in expression, and adorned with the appropriate embellishments of historical and classic illustration. Its effect, not only on the Senate, but throughout the state, was of so decided a character, that several senators of the opposite party attempted to set aside. its influence by formal replies. This called forth Mr. Seward in a rejoinder, on the 24th of January, on which occasion he indulged in a severity of remark to which he was not accustomed, and for the only time in his public life, noticed the personal attacks of which he had been made the subject.

*

The evils which Mr. Seward had predicted in consequence of the removal of the deposits, spread over the country with fearful rapidity. Before the close of the session, a severe financial

*See Vol. I. p. 14.

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