The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1855-10-25
Dangers Of Slavery Extension.
STAKEHOLDER A PRIVILEGED cLAs.
Growth of Our Negro Aristocracy.
SPEECH OF GOV. SEWARD,
AT THE REPUBLICAN MEETING At ALBANY,
Friday EveHjng, Oct -, 1855.

TFtdGy ECeHtitg, Oct. II, 1898.
Hail to the capital Of New York! Veneruble
TOR its antiquity, and yet distinguished for its
| loyalty to Progress, Liberty, and Union. This
/ capital Is dear to me. 1t has more than once
sent me abroad with honorable functions. and
/ even IN those adverse seasons which have han
pened to me, as thew must happen n ALI ron
resentatiye men, it has never failed 10 receive
me at home again with sympathy and kindness
! Doubly hOnOred be the banner Of the stars and
stripes, which here takes on its highest signiG-
canoe, as II waves over the halls where equal rep
resentatives make the laws which regulate the
lives OF equal treemen. Honored be the statue
OF Justice that surmounts the dome above us ;
/ Blind, that she may not through either passion
or prejudice discriminate between the rich and
the poor, the Protestant and Catholic. the native.
| born and the exotic, the freeman AID him whose
liberties have been cloyen down, and weighing
with exact balance the rights Of all classes and
| all races of men. Old familiar echoes greet
/ my ear from beneath these cmhGweFed roofs
/ The voices Of the SpCncers, OF Kent and Van
| Rensselaer, and Van Neghtaa of the genial
| Tompkins, of Clinton the great, and the elder
Clinton o. Yin, Cd Tor 81 '"'' Tho ',-,,.
and benevolent, ana Schuyler the gallant and
lnileXlble. The very air that fingers around
| these arches breathes utterances Of moral. So
cial, and OF physical enterprise, and of uncon.
querable freedom.
You, old. tried, familiar friends. ask p,v
counsel whether TO cling vet longer to tradi.
tlonal controversies and 10 dissolying parties
or to rise at once to nobler aims, with new and
more energetic associations do not wonder
at your suspense, nor do | censure caution. or
even tmdlty. Flckloness in political associa-
uons Is weakness, and precipitancy in public
upf1 CrTr, 4
unfortunate to be obliged to separate from an
old party, and to institute a new one. The new
one may exhibit more enthusiasm for Il time.
but 1t must also for "A time lack cohesion and
discipline. The names OF parties are generally
arbitrary, and not at sl indicative of their char
acters or purposes. A generous man will, never
theless, cling, as If II were a family altar, TO a
name that has long been a rallying cry for him
self and his compatriots
The great question before MS, however, IL 10
be decided, not by feeling but under the conn
sells Of reason and patriotism 1t was the last
injunction gwen by the last one of the reyolu-
tonary Congresses to the American people.
never to forget that the cause of America had
always been, and that it must ever continue TO
be, the cause Of human nature. The question
then is, what IS the course dictated TO us by our
love Of country and of humanity
The nation was founded on the simple and
practically new principle Of the equal and in
alienable rights Of all men, and therefore /.
necessarily became n republic. Other Govern
ments, founded on the ancient principle Of the
inequality OF men, are, by force Of an equal
necessity, mOnarchics or aristCcracies. Vixen
ever either of these kinds of Governments loses
by lapse of time and change of circumstances
its elementary principle, whether of equality OF
inequality, thenceforward it takes a rapid and
irresistible course toward n reorganization Of
the opposite kind. No one, here or elsewhere, is
so dislOyal to his country or to mankind as To-
be willing to see our republican system fail.
al agree that in every case, and throughout all
hazards, sristocracy must be abhorred and
avoided, and republican institutions must be
defended and preserved.
Think it not strange or extrayagant when I
say that an aristOcracy has already arisen hero
and that 1t Is already undermining the Republic.
An aristocracy could not arise in any country
where there was no privileged class, and no sps.
cial foundation on which such a class could
permanently stand. On the contrary. ever,
State, however republican its Constitution NAV
be, is sure TO become an aristocracy. sooner cr
later, if it has privileged class standing firm.
ly on an enduring special foundation and If
that class is continually growing stronger and
stronger, and the unprivileged classes con
unually growing weaker and weaker, it Is not
at all essential to a privileged class that il resi-
on feudal tenures, or on military command. or
on ecceSlastical authority, or that It's rights be
hereditary, or even that it be distinguished bv
Titles OF honor. 1t may be even the more In.
sldious and the more dangerous for lacking all
these things, because it will be less Obnoxious tc
popular hostility.
privileged class has existed in this countrv
from an early period Of its settlement. Slave
holders constitute that class. They have a sne-
cial foundation on which TO stand-nameIv
personal dominion over slaves Conscience and
sound policy forbid all men alike from holding
slaves, but some citizens disregard the iniunc
ton. Some Of the States enforce the inbibi.
ton; other States neglect or refuse to enforce
IT. In all Of the States, there are but three hun.
drsd and fifty thousand citizens who avail them
selves of this peculiar indulgence: and tbosa
protected by the laws Of these States. const;tute
a privileged class. They confess themselves 10
be such class when they designate the svsten,
of Slavery as "peculiar" institution.
The spirit of the revolutionary ace WINS al
verse TO that privileged class. America AVID
Europe were firmly engaged then in prosecntine,
what was expected to be a speedy, complete,
and universal abolition of African Slaverv
Nearly all the privileged classes admitted that
Slavery as a permanent system was indefensible
and favored its removal. They asked only. what
seemed by no means unreasonable. some seou.
rites against sudden, rash, and violent re-
moval OF the evil. Under these circumstances.
u I