the power and influence of its public authority, were essential to its success.

It was comparatively easy to conduct an ancient and flourishing undertaking; but it is not very consistent with justice or gratitude to underrate the benefits that have been conferred. If it was within the power of any mere body of individuals to accomplish the same object, how had it happened that it had neither been attempted nor achieved?

It was, indeed, impossible that any great public results could be obtained without the association of numerous persons in an incorporated state. The canals which irrigated the country, and opened such easy and advantageous communications to every part of it, could not be formed without the corporations in dispute; and many other public undertakings were of the same nature, and depended for their success upon the same means.

Adverting to the institutions for the promotion of learning, it must be remembered that the universities could present a long and splendid roll of eminent men, who had derived their education within the walls of those revered establishments. There it was that genius had been first encouraged, and talent had received its earliest direction. There, had been imbibed the brightest associations of classic literature, and there had dawned the excellence that afterwards illuminated the country.

The Royal Society, too, which possessed the advantage of a charter, had been of essential service to physical science. Under its sanction and patronage the greatest improvements had been made,-improvements that shed a lustre upon the institutions from which they emanated, and conferred incalculable benefits on the community.

In support of the opinion, that the effect of corporate bodies was more injurious than beneficial, it was contended, that there were many objections founded on general principles, which it was imposible to overcome. The very nature of these large collective bodies was at war with the first principles of political economy. They formed so many monopolies, and their essential tendency was to accumulate property in masses, which was always prejudicial to the general interests of the human race. Abundance depended upon circulation, and not upon hoarding.

Exclusion of others was, in these establishments, one of their first rules. The rest of the community must not partake in the benefit, for, if they did so, the "corporation" would lose its predominance. They were grounded in selfishness, and calculated only to nourish pride and arrogance,

It was true that they did not always succeed in their object. They occasionally benefited society; but the general advantage was not their purpose: it was incidental; and, since it was no part of their design, and happened in spite of themselves, they could lay claim to no gratitude. It was fortunate for mankind at large that nature was at variance with monopolies, that her bounty was wide and general, and that she counteracted the narrow views of selfishness, and the benefit that was contrived for one only, was in time diffused amongst many.

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The system was unfavourable to improvement, because it favoured personal influence and interested patronage. It was necessarily injurious in the majority of instances, because it preferred private claims to public merit and superior talent.

It favoured, also, a system of delegation of duty, instead of performance. When individuals attended to their own affairs, they were well executed; but here the execution of the duty passed from hand to hand in a complicated process of idleness, in which there were many to superintend, and few to act,-an ingenious expedient, by which large salaries were paid for small services. There was, in truth, in these cases, no proportion between labour and remuneration.

It constituted another of the evils of these establishments, that the few superior spirits that existed amongst them were not permitted to exert their intelligence. It was necessary that every view they took should be with the ancient eye of the corporation, which was generally composed of personages well satisfied with the good things they enjoyed, and not much disposed to listen to the voice of reformation or improvement.

The maxim, indeed, of such institutions was, that whatever was established was right. Innovation must be resisted, and by consequence error was perpetuated.

The contrast between the management of incorporated and of other societies was very striking. In the former, it almost generally happened that office was held and enjoyed for life, often as sinecures, and rarely without any power to change the system. In the latter, there were frequent elections, and, as the persons elected were chosen from the most intelligent candidates, drawn from society at large, they kept pace with the general skill and knowledge which surrounded them.

It was obvious, also, that there did not exist the same interest in the minds of the public officers of a large establishment, and in those of private individuals. In the one case the reward was fixed and certain, and depended upon moderate exertion; in the other, whether it was large or small, entirely depended on personal industry and talent.

As respected the corporations connected with trade and commerce, it was manifest that the greatest evils resulted; first, from the mischiefs inseparable from the operation of the system itself; and, secondly, from the advantages it was calculated to exclude. Whatever partial benefit unconsciously resulted to the community from the monopolizing plan, was most dearly paid for by the privations which it imposed. Perfect freedom of trade was the great principle on which pros perity and excellence depended. It was a mistaken theory, and contradicted by the most palpable facts, to suppose that great national objects could not be accomplished by the unity of individuals, without incorporation.

If, indeed, this system of chartered co-operation were much farther extended, the utility of individual exertion would be superseded. It was, in fact, the plan of Mr. Owen in disguise; but was fraught with more objections than attached. even to its celebrated rival. Its great principle was cooperation, but then it excluded all members of society except its own.

It was very doubtful whether such institutions could be reconciled with sound principles of government. Under peculiar circumstances, it might be advantageous to Numa to establish them; but, though partially beneficial at that juncture, it appeared to be a dangerous instrument in the hands either of the executive or the people. If extended to the utmost, it would be difficult, even in the most skilful hands, safely to conduct so many wheels within wheels, and systems within systems.

It was, indeed, a scheme by no means consistent with the national polity of Great Britain, or consonant to the character of our political constitution. A congeries of monopoly was at variance with the whole policy both of commerce and freedom; and, notwithstanding all the care that might be taken to preserve the rights of individuals, it was certain that they must be encroached upon by the very grant of a charter, or the enactment of a statute, because those acts immediately gave a superiority and preference over the humble exertions of a private individual.

The notion that charters ought to be granted, in considera. tion of the benefit derived by the nation for particular discoveries, was not founded in fact. The persons who applied for these letters of exclusive licence were not, generally, the first benefactors to their country; but persons who availed themselves, by means of their wealth and influence, to extend the sphere of their power. It was remarkable that the first projectors of whatever was truly great, were the last persons

to reap the harvest of their ingenuity. The glory of the discovery of the great western continent was referred not to the persevering merit of Columbus, but to a subsequent and subordinate navigator, who gave his comparatively insignificant name to designate the New World.

Notwithstanding the favour in which these incorporations stood, it was worthy of notice that the far larger part of the community still preserved their individual state; and it was a proof of the superiority of individual exertions over those of the collective, that success so generally followed the one and so seldom the other. Even those who associated themselves in these public establishments were also, in general, engaged in separate undertakings, and by no means depended on the resources they produced.

There were many public and important objects that might be obtained, without recourse either to charter or statute. It was remarkable that the larger part of the marine insurances of this country was effected by individuals. It was accomplished on lower terms, and with greater facility, than could be obtained by unwieldy companies. If, therefore, the vast extent of our foreign commerce could thus be sustained by personal security alone, it was obvious that no undertaking was too great for the resources and the skill of the nation. In the digging of canals, indeed, and in some other public works, it was necessary to obtain the authority of parliament, not for the purpose of managing the undertaking, or ensuring its success, but to relieve it from the oppression of a few, who would be disposed to take advantage of the general want to amass an undue compensation for the surrender of their peculiar rights to the general good.

It was difficult to conceive what religious benefits could result from the plan of incorporation. History presented us with the example of the monastic institutions. They, like the collegiate bodies, were corporations; yet it was evident that the interest of society at large did not depend upon them, for every social improvement had increased since their dissolution, and the diffusion of religious knowledge had been extended in proportion as we receded from the principle of these exclusive institutions.

It might, indeed, be asked, whether there was not something of presumption in the attempt to support a system, in itself essentially divine, by the common and unhallowed principles of secular establishments. It was the subject, at least, of reasonable doubt whether the union of spiritual with temporal affairs had not the effect of depreciating the solemnity and importance of the one, without elevating or purify

ing the other. When it was perceived that there was the same machinery in action to regulate the eternal as the temporal concerns of mankind, there might be some danger of confounding the veneration which belonged to the one with the worldliness that was identified with the other.

It was to be regretted, but it was the fact, that the great colleges of learning and science did not take the lead in the progressions of human knowledge. They were generally behind the genius, if not the learning, of those who had never entered within their walls. In matters of solid information, as applicable to the wants and necessities of mankind, they are necessarily deficient. In all that depended upon practical experience and general intelligence, they were far inferior to all the active members of society.

True it was that they were not designed to give a knowledge of the world; but to supply the grounds and principles of science; but, if such was their only object, was it necessary that chartered societies should be formed to teach what might be obtained in every private academy?

The most distinguished men in every department of intellectual excellence had appeared before the public, unassisted by the supposed advantages of these venerable corporations; and, in truth, they had more the effect of rendering men satisfied with the nominal rank they obtained, than of inciting them to superior exertion. In the one case, they often obtained degrees, by influence and seniority, with only moderate attainments. In the other, any eminent rank in the republic of letters must be obtained by sterling talent and undoubted merit. It appeared, therefore, that the partial good which corporate bodies effected was outweighed by the disadvantages which attached to their very nature and constitution; and that, on the whole, they must be considered more injurious than beneficial to the general interests of society.