ers from Ambrose
Spencer, whose bank holdings seemed more likely than ever to suffer if
this gigantic combination succeeded. Spencer's opposition to the
Merchants' Bank in 1805 had been earnest, but now his whole soul was
aflame. To counteract the influence of Southwick's _Register_, he
established the Albany _Republican_, which ceased to exist at the end
of the campaign, but which, during its brief life, struck at every
head that favoured the bank. Its editorials, following the line of his
objections in the Council of Revision, lifted into prominence the
injurious effect likely to flow from such an alarming extension of
banking capital at a time when foreign commerce was stagnant, and when
the American nation was on the eve of a war in defence of its
commercial rights. This was mixed with a stronger personal refrain,
discovering the danger to his bank-holdings and revealing the
intensity of a nature not yet inured to defeat. A bank controlling
three times as much capital as any other, he argued, with unlimited
power to establish branches throughout the State, must be a constant
menace to minor institutions, which were established under the
confidence of governmental protection and upon the legislative faith
that no further act should impair or destroy their security. "A power
thus unlimited," he declared, "may be exercised not only to prejudice
the interests, but to control the operations, destroy the
independence, and impair the security of every bank north of the city
of New York. A bill thus improvisory and alarming, giving undefined
and unnecessary powers, and leaving the execution of those powers to a
few individuals, would materially weaken the confidence of the
community in the justice, wisdom, and foresight of the Legislature."[163]

[Footnote 163: Alfred B. Street, _New York Council of Revision_, p.
432.]

With Tompkins and Spencer stood John Taylor, whose fear for his stock
in the State Bank, of which he was president, made his opposition more
conspicuous than it appeared in 1805, when he assaulted Purdy,
knocking him down as he left the senate chamber; but in this contest,
he did not strike or threaten. He moved among his associates in the
Senate with the grace of a younger man, his tall, spare form bending
like a wind-swept tree as he reasoned and coaxed. In the same group of
zealous opponents belonged Erastus Root, who had just entered the
Senate, and whose speech against the Bank of America was distingu