292 [Assembly 



But let nature choke up the fountain which sends voluntary tribute 

 to the factory wheel, and the hum of machinery, the voice of indus- 

 try, and the cheerful sounds of contentment must pause and be silent; 

 and this is equally true in regard to the protecting care they natu- 

 rally seek from a w^'se and politic government. Let that fountain be 

 once dried up, or let her guardian interest be withheld — whether to 

 the man of fortune, or the poor man in the pursuit of a fortune — and 

 not only they, but the government itself, will feel the force of the pa- 

 ralyzing power. We have evidence of the truth that man may be 

 his worst enemy or his best friend; and history, throughout all ages, 

 has illustrated that the best governments, like the happiest families, 

 can be destroyed through mistaken discipline and the imperious acts 

 of corrupt legislators. 



It was an original principle with our country, to protect the rich 

 and poor alike; and it is not for us to say how far this principle may 

 have been tampered with, but when we hear the wanton cry of the 

 rich against the poor, we can discover nothing else than the corrupt 

 movements of the most jealous passions. 



"When our ears are struck with the stupid salutation " down with 

 the overgrown capitalist" — " down with the manufacturers" — we 

 are prompted to inquire, to what do these things tend? Let this spe- 

 cies of vulgar prejudice, actuated as it always is by the most pitiable 

 ignorance, once attain a sufficient power to control a majority, and 

 agrarianism will assume the sway, and riot and disorder will take 

 the place of truth and right, while our Republic must gradually 

 recede to that original barbarism which devours a beastly subsistence 

 the instinct of hunger teaches man to seek in the wilds of the pri- 

 meval forest. 



If the American "capitalist," from an humble station in life, and 

 in the most cheerless walks of poverty, has, by his industry and skill 

 accumulated a sufficient competency to stamp him with this enviable 

 appellation, it should be conceded to him as the reward of his me- 

 rits and perseverance. And if it happens to be objectionable, we 

 have only to suggest that the English language charitably tenders a 

 supply of others which might prove less objectionable. 



Can it be true, that in this early stage of our national develop- 

 ment, wealth and accumulation, having for their basis the stimulus 

 of honest industry, are to be arrested in their progress, or stigmatized 

 as errors, and as such, to be overthrown? Can it be true, that 

 ■' emigration and settlement here" in a supposed land of "freedom 



