selves, they have not, in my judgment, been sufficiently jealous of all legislation conferring exclusive and gratuitous privileges.

That the law creating the institution of which I am now speaking, and the practice under it, is strongly marked by both these characteristics, is apparent at a single glance. It is gratuitous, because those who are so fortunate as to obtain admission there, receive their education without any obligation, except such as a sense of honor may impose, to return, either by service or otherwise, the slightest equivalent. It is exclusive, inasmuch as only one youth out of a population of more than 47,000 can participate in its advantages at the same time; and those who are successful, are admitted at an age when their characters cannot have become developed, and with very little knowledge of their adaptation, mental or physical, for military life. The system disregards one of those great principles which, carried into practice, contributed perhaps more than any other, to render the arms of Napoleon invincible for so many years. Who does not perceive that it destroys the very life and spring of military ardor and enthusiasm, by utterly foreclosing all hope of promotion to her soldier and non-commissioned officer? However meritorious may be his services, however pre-eminent may become his qualifications for command, all are unavailing, The portcullis is dropped between him and preferment, the wisdom of your laws having provided

another criterion than that of admitted courage and conduct, by which to determine who are worthy of command. They have made an Academy, where a certain number of young gentlemen are educated annually at the public expense, and to which there is, in consequence, a general rush, not so much from sentiments of patriotism, and a taste for military life, as from motives less worthy—the avenue, and the only avenue, to rank in your army. These are truths, Mr. Chairman, which no man will pretend to deny, and I leave it for this House and the nation to determine, whether they do not exhibit a spirit of exclusiveness, alike at variance with the genius of your Government, and the efficiency and chivalrous character of your military force.

Sir, no man can feel more deeply interested in the army, or entertain a higher regard for it, than myself. My earliest recollections connect themselves fondly and gratefully with the names of the brave men who, relinquishing the quiet and security of civil life, were staking their all upon the defence of their country's rights and honor. One of the most distinguished ainong their noble band now occupies and honors a seat upon this floor. It is not fit that I should indulge in expressions of personal respect and admiration, which I am sure would find a hearty response in the bosom of every member upon this committee. I allude to him merely to express the hope, that on some occasion we may have, upon this subject, the benefit of his

experience and observation. And if his opinions shall differ from my own, I promise carefully to review every step by which I have been led to my present conclusions. You cannot mistake me, sir. I refer to the hero of Erie. I have declared myself a friend of the army. Satisfy me, then, what measures are best calculated to render it effective, and what all desire it to be, and I go for the proposition with my whole heart.

But I cannot believe that the Military Academy, as at present organized, is calculated to accomplish this desirable end. It may, and undoubtedly does, send forth into the country much military knowledge; but the advantage which your army, or that which will constitute your army in time of need, derives from it, is by no means commensurate with the expense you incur. Here, Mr. Chairman, permit me to say, that I deny utterly the expediency and the right to educate at the public expense, any number of young men who, on the completion of their education, are not to form a portion of your military force, but to return to the walks of private life. Such was never the operation of the Military Academy until after the law of 1812; and the doctrine, so far as I have been able to ascertain, was first formally announced by a distinguished individual, at this time sufficiently jealous of the exercise of executive patronage, and greatly alarmed by what he conceives to be the tendencies of this Government to centralism and consolidation. It may

be found in the report of the Secretary of War, communicated to Congress in 1819.

If it shall, upon due consideration, receive the sanction of Congress and the country, I can see no limit to the exercise of power and Government patronage. Follow out the principle, and where will it lead you? You confer upon the National Government the absolute guardianship of literature and science, military and civil; you need not stop at military sciences-any one in the wide range of sciences, becomes at once a legitimate and constitutional object of your patronage; you are confined by no limit but your discretion; you have no check but your own good pleasure. If you may afford instruction at the public expense, in the languages, in philosophy, in chemistry and in the exact sciences, to young gentlemen who are under no obligation to enter the service of their country, but are in fact, destined for civil life, why may you not, by parity of reasoning, provide the means of a legal, or theological, or medical education, on the ground that the recipients of your bounty will carry forth a fund of useful knowledge, that may at some time, under some circumstances, produce a beneficial influence, and promote "the general welfare?" Sir, I fear that even some of us may live to see the day, when the "general welfare" of your constitution will leave us little ground to boast of a government of limited powers. But I did not propose at this time to discuss the abstract question of constitutional rights.

I will regard the expediency alone; and whether the former exists or not, its exercise in an institution like this, is subversive of the only principle upon which a school, conducted at the public expense, can be made profitable to the public service-that of making an admission into your school and an education there secondary to an appointment in the army. Sir, this distinctive feature characterized all your legislation and all executive recommendations down to 1810.

I may as well notice here, as at any time, an answer which has always been ready when objections have been raised to this institution—an answer which, if it has not proved quite satisfactory to minds that yield their assent more readily to strong reasons than to the authority of great names, has yet unquestionably exercised a powerful influence upon the public mind. It has not gone forth upon the authority of an individual merely, but has been published to the world with the approbation of a committee of a former Congress. It is this-that the institution has received at different times the sanction of such names as Washington, Adams and Jefferson; and this has been claimed with such boldness, and in a form so imposing, as almost to forbid any question of its accuracy. If this were correct in point of fact, it would be entitled to the most profound respect and consideration, and no change should be urged against the weight of such authority, without mature deliberation and thor