Chapter CCIX: Conclusion (1)

I have finished the View which I proposed to take of the Thirty Years' working of the federal government during the time that I was a part of it--a task undertaken for a useful purpose and faithfully executed, whether the object of the undertaking has been attained or not. The preservation of what good and wise men gave us, has been the object; and for that purpose it has been a duty of necessity to show the evil, as well as the good, that I have seen, both of men and measures. The good, I have exultingly exhibited! happy to show it, for the admiration and imitation of posterity: the evil, I have stintedly exposed, only for correction, and for the warning example.

I have seen the capacity of the people for self-government tried at many points, and always found equal to the demands of the occasion. Two other trials, now going on, remain to be decided to settle the question of that capacity. 1. The election of President! and whether that election is to be governed by the virtue and intelligence of the people, or to become the spoil of intrigue and corruption? 2. The sentiment of political nationality! and whether it is to remain co-extensive with the Union, leading to harmony and fraternity; or, divide into sectionalism, ending in hate, alienation, separation and civil war?

An irresponsible body (chiefly self-constituted, and mainly dominated by professional office-seekers and office-holders) have usurped the election of President (for the nomination is the election, so far as the party is concerned); and always making it with a view to their own profit in the monopoly of office and plunder.

A sectional question now divides the Union, arraying one-half against the other, becoming more exasperated daily--which has already destroyed the benefits of the Union, and which, unless checked, will also destroy its form.

Confederate republics are short-lived--the shortest in the whole family of governments. Two diseases beset them--corrupt election of the chief magistrate, when elective; sectional contention, when interest or ambition are at issue. Our confederacy is now laboring under both diseases: and the body of the people, now as always, honest in sentiment and patriotic in design, remain unconscious of the danger--and even become instruments in the hands of their destroyers.

If what is written in these chapters shall contribute to open their eyes to these dangers, and rouse them to the resumption of their electoral privileges and the suppression of sectional contention, then this View will not have been written in vain. If not, the writer will still have one consolation--the knowledge of the fact that he has labored in his day and generation, to preserve and perpetuate the blessings of that Union and self-government which wise and good men gave us.

THE END.

INDEX TO VOL. II.

A

ADAMS, JOHN Q., on the bill for the relief of Mrs. Harrison, 258;
on the origin of the Pension act of 1837, 269;
defends the administration in the McLeod affair, 289;
on the protest of President Tyler, 418;
relative to the Chinese mission, 511;
on the Home squadron, 575;
decease of, 707;
manner of his death, 707;
House and Senate adjourn, 707;
Senator Benton requested to second the motion of funeral honors in
the Senate, 707;
reflections, 707;
eloquent remarks of McDowell, 708;
eulogium of Senator Benton, 708, 709.--_See Index_, vol. 1.

ADAMS, CHARLES F., candidate for Vice President, 723.

ALLEN, WILLIAM, on the Oregon question, 663, 664.

ALISON, the historian, remark on the war of 1812, 573.

_Amendment of the Constitution._--Speech of Mr. Benton, 626;
the plan proposed, 626;
object and principle of the amendment to dispense with all other
intermediate bodies, and keep the election wholly in the
hands of the people, 626;
liberty would be ruined by providing any kind of substitute but
popular elections, 627;
at present, the will of the people was liable to be frustrated in
the election of their chief officers, by the intervention of
small bodies of men between themselves and the object of
their choice, 627;
details of the proposed amendment, 627;
its efficiency and practicability in preserving the rights of the
people, maintaining the purity of elections, 628;
a copy of the proposition, 628. _See Index_, vol. 1.

ANDERSON, ALEXANDER, Eulogium on Hugh L. White, 185.

_Anti-Duelling Act._--Death of Cilley, 148;
penalties of the duelling act, 148;
the act did not look to the assassinations under the pretext of
self-defence, which were to rise up in the place of the
regular duel, 148;
contrast, 148;
the act did not suppress the passions in which duels
originate, 149;
the law was also mistaken in the nature of its penalties, 149;
defective in not pursuing the homicidal offence into all the new
forms it might assume, 149.

ARCHER, WILLIAM S., on the charge of a privy council of President
Tyler's, 327. _See Index_, vol. 1.

_Ashburton, Lord, his mission.--See British Treaty._

_Assumption of State Debts._--Amount of these debts, 171;
Sidney Smith, 171;
assumption sought by a class of the bondholders as more
substantial security, 171;
London Bankers' Circular, 171;
resolutions against the constitutionality, the justice, and the
policy of any such measure, 171;
attempt to reverse their import by obtaining a direct vote of the
Senate in favor of distributing the land revenue to aid the
States, 172;
proposition rejected, 172.

Speech of Mr. Benton, 172;
extracts, 172;
"this movement been long going on, 172;
steps taken in the road to assumption, 172;
time for enemies of assumption to take the field and to act, 173;
disguised assumption in the form of land revenue distribution is
the shape in which we shall have to meet the danger, 173;
we have had one assumption in this country, 173;
intense excitement, 173;
statement of Mr. Jefferson, 174;
the picture presented, 174;
these stocks of the States are now greatly depreciated, 174;
what more unwise or unjust to contract debts on long time as some
of the States have done, 175;
the evils of foreign influence, 175;
the constitution itself contains a special canon directed against
them, 175;
to what purpose all this precaution if we invite foreign
influence?" 175.

B

BADGER, GEORGE E., Secretary of the Navy, 209;
reasons for resigning his seat in President Tyler's Cabinet, 354.

BANCROFT, GEORGE, Secretary of the Navy, 650.

_Bank, National, First Bill._--This the great measure of the session
and the great object of the whig party, 317;
all others complete without it, 317;
kept in the background during the canvass, 318;
call upon the secretary for a plan, 318;
objections of the President, 318;
its title, 318;
its course in the Senate, 318;
passed in both Houses, 318;
views of the democracy, 318;
light dawning upon them, 318;
veto, 318;
remarks of Mr. Clay, 318;
"circumstances under which Mr. Tyler became President, 319;
his address, 319;
interpretation of one passage, 319;
most confident and buoyant hopes entertained, 319;
fears that the President's address had been misunderstood, 319;
name of the proposed bank," 319;
Mr. Tyler's early opinions on a bank, 320;
extract, 320;
remarks of Mr. Clay on the passage, 320;
the course which the President might have taken and saved his
consistency, 321;
retaining the bill ten days, 321;
a third course to resign the Presidency, 321;
the propriety of the step enforced by Mr. Clay, 321;
remarks of Mr. Clay, 321;
his allusion to the rumor that the President was proposing a
suitable bill, 321;
remarks of Mr. Rives in defence of the President, 322;
a bank not an issue in the election, 323;
the imputation of perfidy repelled, 323;
General Harrison would have disproved the same bill, 323;
the conditions upon which he would sign a bill for a bank, 323;
reasons to believe he would have signed a bill, 323;
reply of Mr. Clay, 323;
Mr. Rives at "the half way house," 323;
Mr. Tyler's inner circle of advisers, 324;
caustic remarks of Mr. Clay thereon, 324;
rumor of a design to make a third party, 324;
remarks of Mr. Clay upon it, 324;
the bank was the great issue, 324;
apostrophe of Mr. Clay, 325;
reply of Mr. Rives to the imputed cabal--the privy council, 325;
remarks on sojourning in the half way house, 326;
rumor of a dictatorship installed in the capitol, 326;
disclaimer of Mr. Clay, 326;
conversational debate between Mr. Archer and Mr. Clay, 326, 327;
vote, 328.

Effects of the rejection, 328;
hisses in the Senate and outrages at the President's house, 328;
an inquiry into the extent of the disturbances moved, 328;
proceedings dropped, 328;
visit of Senators to the President, 328;
remarks of Mr. Clay on this visit, 328;
further remarks, 329;
Buchanan in reply pictures scenes that might have happened on the
same night at the other end of the avenue, 330;
a motion made to amend the Fiscal bill, so as to prevent members
of Congress from borrowing money from the institution, 330;
remarks of Mr. Pierce, 330;
"incorruptibility of members of Congress, 330;
what did history teach in relation to the course of members of
Congress," 331;
reference to the bank report by Mr. Tyler, 331;
the vote, 331;
its significance, 331.

Two histories to the second attempt at a fiscal bill, 331;
one public, the other secret, 331;
bill reported from a select committee on the currency early in the
session, 332;
move to strike out all after the enacting clause and insert a new
bill, 332;
remarks of Mr. Sargeant on the proposed new bill, 332;
the bill before committee, 332;
sharp practice, 332;
objections to rapid legislation, 333;
debate on the bill, 333;
bill passed, 333;
its title, 333;
remarks of Mr. Benton in ridicule of the bill, 333;
referred to a committee, 335;
a one-sided committee, 335;
remarks of Mr. King upon the appointment of this committee, 335;
rule of Jefferson's Manual quoted in justification, 336;
remarks of Mr. Benton, 336;
remarks of Mr. Buchanan, 337;
bill reported by the chairman with remarks upon the favorable
views of the President, 337;
amendments offered by Mr. Benton, 338;
objection to the exchange dealings authorized, 339;
operation of a bill as a discount, 339;
this exposed by Senator Tappan, 339;
amendment requiring all the stockholders to be citizens of the
United States, 340;
none but citizens allowed to take the original stock would not
prevent foreigners owning it, 340;
the bill designed to resurrect by smuggling the United States
Bank, 340;
same amendment moved in a different form, 340;
debate, 340;
vote, 341;
the bill compared with the old bank charter, 341;
bill passed and sent to the President and disapproved, 341;
violent speaking excited by the veto, 341;
the speakers, 341;
nays on the returned bill, 341.

Secret history of the returned bank bill, 342;
conversation between Mr. Gilmer and a whig member of the
House, 342;
change in Mr. Tyler, 342;
effect on the whigs, 343;
newspapers in the President's interest, 343;
no information given to the cabinet respecting the first veto
message, 343;
slight to his cabinet, 343;
readiness of the President for a second bill as stated by Mr.
Ewing, 343;
Mr. Bell's account, 343;
statement of Mr. A. H. Stuart, 344;
was the President sincere in his professions, or were they only
phrases to deceive the whigs and
calm the commotion which raged in their camp, 344;
a cabinet meeting on the new bill and proceedings, 345;
statement of Mr. Ewing, 345;
the sixteenth fundamental article, 345;
every part of the bill made to suit the President, 346;
further exposition, 346;
statement of Mr. Bell, 346;
proceedings of the members of the Cabinet under instructions to
prepare a majority of each House for the passage of the
second bill, 346;
grounds of the veto, and the explanations and careful preparation
of the point on which it turned, 347;
reason for Mr. Berrien's motion to postpone the consideration of
the veto and take up the bank bill, 347;
statement of Mr. A. H. Stuart, 347;
another side to this statement that the President was in favor of
the second bill, 348;
signs and facts which show against it from the beginning, 348;
letter of Mr. Webster, 349;
letter of Mr. Botts noticed, 349;
"Head him or die," 349;
how the phrase was intended and how interpreted, 349;
solution of the views of Mr. Tyler, 350;
he would have signed no bank bill under any name after the eighth
or ninth day of the session, 350.

Reception of the veto message in the Senate, 350;
hisses and applause in the galleries, 350;
Mr. Benton moves that the Sergeant-at-Arms take into custody those
who hissed, 351;
debate on the amount of the disorderly proceedings, 351, 352.
_See Tyler's Administration._

_Bank of the United States._--Changes to a State institution, 23;
history since the expiration of her charter, 23;
the bill reported in the Assembly of Pennsylvania, 24;
the tail to a bill to repeal a tax and make roads and canals, 24;
its reception in the House, 24;
an explanation demanded, 24;
letter of Mr. Biddle to J. Q. Adams, 24;
the first step in the movement, 24;
how managed, 24;
the bonus, 24;
passage of the bill through the legislature, 25;
indignation of the people, 25;
investigation of the next legislature, 25;
remarks, 25.

Refuses to cease its operations after its legal existence had
expired, 67;
its proviso charter made no difference in its condition, 67;
its use of the defunct notes of the expired institution, 68;
statement of its conduct by Mr. Buchanan, 68;
remarks of Calhoun on the right of Congress to pass a bill on this
subject, 69;
it rests on the general power of legislation, 69;
character of the bill, 69;
this the last question between the bank and the Federal
government, 69.

_Resumption by the Pennsylvania U. S. Bank._--Effect of resumption
by the New York banks, 94;
convention called in Philadelphia, 94;
result of its deliberations, 94;
resumption, 94;
speedy failure again and forever of the U. S. Bank foretold, 94.

Exposition of its affairs, 157;
resignation of Mr. Biddle, 157;
prediction of Senator Benton, 157;
suspension, 157;
its effects, 157;
another statement of her condition, 158.

Silence in Congress on this institution, 365;
her condition, 365;
report of the affairs to the stockholders, 365;
the exhibition of waste and destruction, 365;
proceedings of the bank during the period of the application for a
recharter, 366;
its loans, 366;
to whom made, 366;
manner in which they were made, 366;
extract from the report on this point, 366;
its foreign agencies, 367;
business of these stock speculations, 367;
extract, 367;
losses by the cotton agency, 368;
extracts from the report, 368;
the way of the bank in guaranteeing the individual contracts of
Mr. Biddle, 369;
unintelligible accounts of large amounts, 369;
parties concerned refuse to give an explanation, 369;
entertainments to members of Congress at immense expense, 369;
losses of stockholders, 369;
statement of the London Bankers' Circular, 370;
the credit of the bank and the prices of its stock kept up by
delusive statements of profits, 370;
operations to make the second suspension begin in New York, 370;
extent of the ruin, 371;
the case of London bankers and their punishment, 371;
remarks of the Judge on passing sentence, 372. _See Index_,
vol. 1.

_Bankrupt Act against the Banks._--Recommended by the President, 43;
reasons, 43;
framers of the constitution hard-money men, 43;
operation of the constitution had nullified this intention, 44;
a question whether the fault was in the instrument or in the
administrators, 44;
remedy now proposed, 44;
all that was wanted was a Congress to back the President, 44;
the array against it, 44;
opposition of Mr. Webster, 44;
right of Congress questioned, 44;
doubtless sanctioned by the whole cabinet, 45;
speech of Mr. Benton, 45;
"a bankrupt law authorized by the constitution," 45;
signification of the word bankruptcy, 45;
what is this grant of power, and does the country require its
exercise, 45;
Congress is not confined to English statutory decisions for the
construction of phrases used in the constitution, 45;
the term is not of English but Roman origin, 46;
it is said, we must confine our legislation to the usual objects,
the usual subjects, and the usual purposes of bankrupt laws
in England, 46;
on what act of English legislation can an example be fixed? 46;
the acts passed on this subject, 47;
affirmative definitions of the classes liable to bankruptcy in
England, 47;
the negative, 47;
cut off from improvement since the adoption of our constitution,
48;
in this view we must find one of two things--a case in point or a
general authority, 48;
these considered, 48;
a case in point, 48;
the general practice of the British Parliament for five hundred
years, over the whole subject of bankruptcy, 49;
it is asked if bankrupt laws ordinarily extend to moneyed
corporations, 49;
No; Why? 49;
the question of corporation unreliability in England, 49;
do such law ordinarily extend to corporations at all? 50;
history of our first bankrupt law, 51;
the bill of 1827, 51;
it is said, the object of bankrupt laws has no relation to
currency, 51;
what says history? 51;
effect of the application of bankrupt laws in England twofold,
51;
recommendation of the President, 51;
the British bankrupt code as it relates to bank notes, 52;
all our acts and bills have applied to bankers, 53;
and why not to banks? 53;
why this distinction? 53;
banks of circulation are the fittest subjects of a bankrupt
law, 53;
the opinion that there can be no resumption of specie payments
until the Bank of the United States is rechartered, 54;
as bankrupts, the Federal authority extends to all the banks, 54;
other great purposes to be attained by the application of a
bankrupt law to banks, 54;
every form of government has something in it to excite the pride
and to rouse the devotion of its citizens, 55;
we are called upon to have mercy on the banks, the prayer should
be to them to have mercy on the citizens, 55;
Jefferson's legacy is never to suffer the government to fall under
the control of unauthorized or self-created institutions, 55;
it is said that bankruptcy is a severe remedy to apply to banks, 56;
three things for which the banks have no excuse, and which should
forever weigh against their claims to favor, 56.

Congress convened at the urgent instance of Mr. Clay, 229;
a bankrupt act not in the programme of Mr. Clay or the message of
President Tyler, 229;
parties nearly balanced in the Senate, 229;
one member obtains leave to bring in a bill on bankruptcy, 229;
manner of its passage, 229;
the bank bill and the land bill made to pass it through both
Houses, 230;
its passage through the House, 230;
amendment, 230;
proceedings in the Senate to get up the amendment, 230, 231;
remark of White, of Indiana, 231;
remark of Senator Benton, 231, remark of Senator Linn, 231;
bankrupt bill reported as passed the House, 232;
remarks of Mr. King, 232;
distribution bill laid on the table and the bankrupt bill taken
up, 232;
remarks of Mr. Walker, 232;
the bank distribution and bankrupt bills travel together, 232;
remarks on the amendment to the bankrupt bill, 233;
passed, 233;
remarks on the nature of the bankrupt bill, 233, 234.

Speech of Mr. Benton on the bankrupt bill, 234;
"this is not a bankrupt system but an insolvent law, perverted to
a discharge from debts, instead of a discharge from
imprisonment," 234;
it is framed from the English insolvent debtor act, 234;
the English acts, 234;
how came such a bill to be introduced here? 235;
it is an insolvent bill, 235;
defended by insisting that insolvency and bankruptcy are the same
thing, a mere inability to pay debts, 235;
extracts from Webster's remarks, 235;
no foundation for confounding bankruptcy and insolvency, 235;
Blackstone's definition of a bankrupt, 235;
ability and fraud the basis of the system, 235;
_cessio bonorum_, 236;
laws of Scotland, 236;
_cessio_ examined, 236;
bankruptcy defined by the laws of Scotland, 237;
the Code Napoleon, 238;
the civil law, 238;
comparison of sections of the bill with the English law, 239;
voluntary and involuntary bankruptcy under the bill, 240.

_An attempt to Repeal._--Repeal commenced at the outset of the
session, 395;
passed the House and lost in the Senate, 395;
repealed at the next session, 396;
the fate of the confederate bills, 396.

_Repeal._--A repeal of a great act of legislation by the same
Congress that passed it, 463;
a homage to the will of the people, 463;
remarks of Mr. Benton on offering a petition from the State of
Vermont for the repeal of the act, 463;
"the act unconstitutional in abolishing debts with the consent of
a given majority of the creditors, 463;
principles of the act of 1800, 464;
forms which the wisdom of the law provided for executing
itself, 464;
an invasion of the rights of the States over the ordinary
relations of debtor and creditor within their own
limits," 465;
the passage of the act has been a reproach to Congress, its repeal
should do them honor, and still more the people under whose
will it was done, 465;
a bankrupt act has never been favored by the American people, 465;
the system has been nearly intolerable in England, 466;
further remarks, 466.

An act to repeal promptly passed both houses, 503;
a splendid victory for the minority, who had resisted the passage
of the original bill, 503;
all the authorities had sustained the act, 503;
sense of the people revolted against it, 503;
former act repealed in two years, 503;
its repeal a bitter mortification to the administration, 503;
Cushing in defence of the act, 504;
extract, 504;
an unparliamentary reference to Mr. Clay, 504;
reply by Mr. Davis, 504;
Cushing upon the impotent attacks on the administration, 504;
extracts, 505;
the seductive arguments of persuasion and enticement used to gain
adherents to the new administration, 505;
appeals to the democratic party, 505;
reply of Mr. Thompson, 505;
Cushing states that there are persons connected with the
administration who will yet be heard of for the Presidency,
505;
indignant reply of Mr. Thompson, 505;
reproaches cast upon Cushing, 506;
Davis upon the charges of Cushing, 506;
his versatility in defending vetoes, 507.

_Banks, Suspension of Payment by._--Deranged finances and broken up
treasury awaited the nascent administration, 9;
two parties at work to accomplish it, 9;
condition of the banks, 9;
remarks of Senator Benton on the prospect, 9;
do on rescinding the specie circular, 10;
desperate condition of the deposit banks, 10;
proper amount of specie to be retained by the banks, 10;
amount retained by the Bank of England, 10;
amount retained by the deposit banks, 10;
conference between Senator Benton and Mr. Van Buren, 10;
remark of the latter, 10;
Senator Benton miffed, 10;
silence, 10;
course which might have been taken, 11;
benefits, 11.

_Preparations for the Distress and Suspension._--Characteristic
letter of Mr. Biddle, 11;
picture of ruin presented, alarm given out, and the Federal
government the cause, 11;
extracts, 11;
course followed in and out of Congress, 12;
reception of Mr. Webster in New York, 12;
the public meeting, 12;
cause of this demonstration, 12;
his speech a manifesto against Jackson's administration, a protest
against its continuation in the person of his successor, and
an invocation to a general combination against it, 13;
the ominous sentence of the speech, 13;
extract relating to the general distress, 13;
conclusion of the speech, 13;
its vehement appeal, 14;
the specie circular, 14;
the original draft, 14;
the rescinding bill, 15;
President Jackson's action, 15;
an experiment on the nerves of the President resolved on, 15.

Consequences of Webster's speech, 16;
an immense meeting, 16;
its resolves, 16;
the word "experiment," 16;
a committee of fifty to wait on the President, 17;
to call another meeting on their return, 17;
co-operation of other cities invited, 17;
state of feeling as characterized by the press, 17;
visit of the committee to the President, 18;
extract from their addresses, 18;
a written answer of complete refusal, 18;
their return, 18;
visit of Mr. Biddle to the President, 19;
a second meeting in New York, 19;
report, 19;
resolutions adopted, 19;
list of grievances, 19;
remarks, 20.

_Actual Suspension._--Suspension not recommended at any public
meeting, 20;
the suspension, 20;
proceedings, 20;
act of self-defence on the part of the deposit banks, 21;
course of the United States Bank, 21;
letter of Mr. Biddle, 21;
extracts, 21;
Webster's tour at the West and his speeches, 22;
first speech at Wheeling, 22;
extract, 22;
the time when the suspension was to take place, 22;
Bank of the United States to be the remedy, 23;
the contrivance of politicians now exposed, 23.

_Effects of the Suspension._--Disturbance in the business of the
country, 26;
depreciation of bank notes, 26;
disappearance of small specie, 26;
"better currency," 26;
"the whole hog," 26;
inflammatory publications of the press, 26;
extracts, 26;
government payments, 27;
the medium, 27;
condition of the administration, 27;
payment of the Tennessee volunteers, 27;
its effect, 27;
visit of the agent to Washington, 27;
extra session of Congress necessary, 28.

_Attempted Resumption._--Declaration of the Bank of the United
States of its ability to continue paying specie, 43;
resumption commenced in New York, 43;
resolution, 43;
committee of correspondence, 43;
opposition of the Philadelphia interest, 43;
the explanation, 43.

_Resumption of Specie Payments by the New York Banks._--The proposed
convention, 83;
frustrated by the United States Bank, 83;
Philadelphia banks refuse to co-operate, 83;
letter from Mr. Biddle to John Q. Adams, 83;
a characteristic sentence, 83;
his threat against the New York banks, 83;
a general bank convention, 83;
vote on resumption, 83;
reasons for the vote, 84;
resumption by the New York banks, 84;
resumption general, 84;
the United States Bank, 84;
her stock, 84;
her power, 84;
speech of Mr. Webster, expressing her wishes, 84;
her friends come to the rescue for the last time, 85;
Mr. Benton's remarks, 85.

"Two periods working the termination of a national bank charter,
each full of lessons, 85;
the two compared, 85;
the quantity of the currency, 86;
its solidity, 86;
it is said, there is no specie, 86;
the cause of the non-resumption is plain and undeniable, 87;
what say the New York City banks? 87;
extract from their report, 87;
the reasons, 87;
it is said there can be no resumption until Congress act on the
currency, 88;
conduct of the leading banks, 88;
the honest commercial banks have resumed or mean to resume, 89;
politicians propose to compel the government to receive paper
money for its dues, 89;
the pretext is to aid the banks in resuming, 89;
an enemy lies in wait for the banks, 89;
power of the United States Bank over others, 90;
the contrast between former and the present bank stoppages, 90;
justice to the men of this day," 91.

_Mr. Clay's Resolution in favor of Resuming Banks._--Proposed to
make the notes of resuming banks receivable in payment of
all dues to the Federal government, 91;
render assistance to the banks, 92.

No power can prevent the solvent banks from resuming, 92;
every solvent one in the country will resume in a few months, 92;
Congress cannot prevent them if it tried, 92;
the most revolting proposition ever made in Congress, 93;
proposition lost, 93.

_Divorce of Bank and State._--The bill is to declare the divorce and
the amendment is to exclude their notes from revenue
payments, 56;
this change to be made gradually, 56;
it will restore the currency of the constitution and re-establish
the great acts of 1789 and 1800, 56;
great evils--pecuniary, political, and moral--have flowed from
this departure from our constitution, 57;
loss to the government from the banks, 57;
losses from the local banks, 57;
comparison with steamboats, 57;
the case with the banks, 58;
the epoch of resumption is to be a perilous crisis to many, 58;
they fell in time of peace and prosperity, 58;
banks of circulation are banks of hazard and of failure, 58;
the power of a few banks over the whole presents a new feature in
our system, 58;
they have all become links of one chain, 59;
the government and its creditors must continue to sustain losses
if they continue to use such depositories and to receive
such paper, 59;
in an instant every disbursing officer in the Union was stripped
of the money he was going to pay out, 59;
it was tantamount to a disbandment of the entire government, 59;
it is a danger we have just escaped, 60;
the same danger may be seen again if we use them, 60;
what excuse have we for abandoning the precise advantage for which
the constitution was formed? 60;
the moral view of this question not examined, 60;
the government required to retrace its steps and to return to first
principles, 61;
what is the obstacle to the adoption of this course, 61;
the message recommends four things, 61;
the right and obligation of the government to keep its own moneys
in its own hands results from the law of self-preservation,
61;
England trusts none of her banks with the collection, keeping, and
disbursement of her public money, 62;
what were the "continental treasurers" of the confederation, 62;
bill reported by the Finance Committee, 62;
taunted with these treasury notes, 62;
the case of France on the occasion of the First Consul, 63;
French currency is the best in the world, 63;
Congress has a sacred duty to perform in reforming the finances
and the currency, 64;
this is a measure of reform worthy to be called a reformation, 65.

Destined to be carried into effect at this session, 164;
opposition to it, 164;
remarks of Mr. Clay, 164;
bill passed the Senate, 165;
passed the House under the previous question, 165;
the title of the bill, 165;
form in which opposition appeared, 165;
proceedings in the House, 166;
title passed by the operation of the previous question, 167.

_Banks, Specie basis for._--A point of great moment, 128;
well understood in England, 128;
vice of the banking system of this country, 128;
the motion intended to require the bank to keep a certain amount
of specie, 128;
testimony of Horsley Palmer, 128;
requirement on the Bank of England, 129;
the proportion in England is one-third, 129;
first object when a bank stops payment, 129;
the issuing of currency is the prerogative of sovereignty, 130;
proportion required of the deposit banks, 130;
effect of the Treasury order of 1836 upon them, 130.

_Bank Notes, Tax on._--Motion for leave to bring in a bill to tax
the circulation of banks, bankers, and all corporations
issuing paper money, 179;
nothing more just than that this interest should contribute to the
support of government, 179;
in other countries it was subject to taxation, 179;
has formerly been taxed in our country, 179;
manner of levying the bank tax in Great Britain, 180;
taxation of the Bank of England, 180;
equity of the tax, its simplicity, and large product, 180;
unknown how the banking interest would relish the proposition,
181;
petition of Stephen Girard, 181;
objects of the bill, 181.

_Banks, District, Re-charter of._--Amendment proposed to the bill
prohibiting the issue of bills less than five dollars, &c.,
273;
"the design is to suppress two evils of banking--that of small
notes and that of banks combining to sustain each other in
a state of suspension," 273;
shall notes banish gold and silver from the country? 274;
one a curse to the public, 274;
why are banks so fond of issuing these small notes? 274;
counterfeiting is of small notes, 274;
an Insurance Company of St. Louis, 275;
a proper opportunity to bring before the people the question
whether they should have an exclusive paper currency or
not, 275;
some merchants think there is no living without banks, 275.
_See Index_, vol. I.

BARBOUR, PHILIP P., decease of, 202;
his mess, 202;
his character, 203;
intellect, 203;
death, 203;
instance of self-denial and fidelity to party, 203;
position in Virginia, 203.
_See Index_, vol. I.

BARROW, SENATOR, decease of, 706;
early life, 706;
his character, 706;
his intellect 706;
youth, 706.

BATES, ISAAC C., on exempting salt from duty, 315.

BAYARD, R. H., on the slavery resolutions, 139.

BELL, JOHN, candidate for Speaker, 160;
Secretary at War, 209;
on the readiness of President Tyler to sign a second bank bill,
343, 346;
his reasons for resigning his seat in President Tyler's cabinet,
355.

BENTON, THOMAS H., on the bankrupt act for banks, 45;
on the divorce of bank and State, 56;
on the Florida war, 72;
on bank resumption, 85;
on the graduation bill, 126;
on the armed occupation of Florida, 167;
on the assumption of State debts, 172;
on the salt tax, 176;
on the tax on bank notes, 179;
on the drawback on refined sugar, 190;
on fishing bounties and allowances, 194;
on the bankrupt bill, 234;
on the nature and effect of the previous question, 253;
on the bill for the relief of Mrs. Harrison, 262;
on the issue of small bills, 273;
on the action of the administration in the McLeod affair, 291;
on the repeal of the tariff compromise, 312;
on the committee on the bank bill, 336;
offers amendment to the second bank bill, 338;
moves to arrest the persons who hissed in the Senate gallery, 351;
against the Fiscal plan of Mr. Tyler, 375, 376;
on paper money payments, 406;
on the merits of the British treaty, 426;
on the North-eastern boundary, 438;
on the North-western boundary, 441;
on the expenses of the Navy, 456;
on the Oregon bill, 474;
eulogy on Linn, 485;
on the Chinese mission, 512;
on the annexation of Texas, 619;
on the authorship of the war with Mexico, 689;
on the Oregon question, 667;
his plan for conducting the Mexican war, 678;
designed for the appointment of Lieutenant-General, 678;
on the expedition of Col. Doniphan, 684;
advice relative to the conduct of the war against the northern
frontiers of Mexico, 687;
advises with the President relative to the prosecution of the war,
693;
his reply to Calhoun's question respecting his support of the
latter's resolutions, 697;
on the cause that may dissolve the Union, 715;
on Clay's compromise plan, 749;
on the protest of Southern Senators, 771.
_See Index_, vol. I.

BIBB, GEORGE M., Secretary of the Treasury, 569.
_See Index_, vol. I.

BIDDLE, NICHOLAS, his letters, 11, 24;
visits the President, 19;
his letter to J. Q. Adams, 83;
decease of, 567;

BLACK, Mr., on the appropriation for the Military Academy, 468.

BLAIR, FRANCIS P., statement of the declaration of Mr. Polk relative
to the mode of Texas annexation, 637.
_See Index_, vol. I.

BOTTS, JOHN M., on the protest of President Tyler, 419.

BREDON, Mr., on the nomination of Van Buren, 593.

BREWSTER, Mr., on the nomination of Van Buren, 592.

_Brig Somers_, Mutiny on board. _See Somers._

_British Treaty._--The Maine boundary still unsettled, 420;
particulars of the case, 420;
subject referred to the King of the Netherlands, 420;
his award rejected, 420;
Ashburton appointed on a special mission, 420;
professing to come to settle all questions--only such were settled
as suited Great Britain, 421;
points embraced in the treaty, 421;
points omitted, 421;
return of Ashburton, 421;
thanks of Parliament to him, 421;
discussion in Parliament, 422;
the map having the original line of the North-eastern boundary
hidden from Lord Ashburton's, 422;
remark of Brougham, 422;
his speech when charged with a want of frankness to this country,
422;
extract, 422;
sport in the British Parliament, 422;
map shown to Mr. Everett, 423;
statement of the result of the treaty on this point by an English
speaker, 423;
manner of conducting the negotiations, 423;
no instructions given to the Secretary of State, 423;
remarks of Mr. Benton, 423;
the action of certain Senators forestalled, 424;
the treaty or war was the constant alternative presented, 424;
remarks of Mr. Benton, 424;
extract, 424;
his remarks on the unsettled points of difficulty, 425.

Mr. Benton's remarks on the merits of the treaty, 426;
"four subjects omitted--the Columbia River and valley,
impressment, the outrage on the Caroline, and the liberation
of American slaves, 426.

"The Oregon territory, 426;
remark on the President's message relative to its omission from
the negotiation, 426;
the American title to the Columbia River and its valley stated,
426, 427;
the treaty of 1818, 427;
its great fault, 428;
another fault was in admitting a claim on the part of Great
Britain to any portion of these territories, 428;
our title under the Nootka Sound treaty, 428;
Sir Alexander McKenzie, 429;
the British title to the Columbia, 429;
it is asked, what do we want of this country so far off from
us? 430;
the value and extent of the country, 430.

"Impressment is another of the omitted subjects, 430;
correspondence upon it, 431;
manner in which it was treated, 431;
how different this holiday scene from the firm and virile language
of Mr. Jefferson, 432;
if this treaty is ratified, we must begin where we were in 1806,
432.

"The case of the liberated slaves of the Creole is another of the
omitted subjects, 432;
only one of a number of cases recently occurred, 432;
peculiarity of these cases, 433;
each of these vessels should have been received with the
hospitality due to misfortune, and allowed to depart with
all convenient dispatch and with all her contents, of
persons and property, 433;
remarks of the President's message, 433;
the grounds taken by the Government and the engagements entered
into by the British Minister, examined, 433;
Lord Ashburton proposes London as the best place to consider this
subject, 434.

"The burning of the Caroline, another of the omitted subjects,
434;
this case is now near four years old, 435;
the note of Lord Ashburton sent to us by the President, 435;
it is said there is a certain amount of gullibility in the public
mind which must be provided for, 436;
the letter of our Secretary, 436;
the whole negotiation has been one of shame and injury, but this
catastrophe of the Caroline puts the finishing hand to our
disgrace, 437;
the timing of this negotiation after the retirement of Mr. Van
Buren, and when the Government was in more pliable hands, 437;
further remarks, 437."

_The North-eastern Boundary Article._--Remarks of Mr. Benton. The
establishment of the low land boundary in place of the
mountain boundary, and parallel to it, 438;
contrived for the purpose of weakening our boundary and retiring
it further from Quebec, 438;
character of this line, 438;
remarks, 438;
a palliation attempted, 439;
letters on the subject, 439;
plea of Ashburton, 440;
to mitigate the enormity of this barefaced sacrifice, a
description of the soil given, 440;
report of Mr. Buchanan and the resolution of the Senate, 440;
the award of the King of the Netherlands infinitely better for
us, 441.

_North-western Boundary._--"The line from the Lake of the Woods to
the Mississippi, was disputable, 441;
that from Lake Superior to the Lake of the Woods described, 442;
proposition of a British traveller to turn the line down from
Isle-Royale near two hundred miles to St. Louis River, 442;
reasons, 442;
words of Ashburton, 443;
what he claimed, he got, 443;
the value of the concession, 443;
the Secretary put himself to the trouble to hunt testimony to
justify his surrender of the northern route to the British,
443;
his letter, 443;
answer of Mr. Ferguson, 444;
do. of Mr. Delafield, 444;
the answers refused to follow the lead of the questions, asked,"
444.

_Extradition Article._--"It stipulates for the mutual surrender of
fugitive criminals, 444;
no light on the origin, progress, and formation of this article,
445;
this is a subject long since considered in our country, 445;
Jefferson's views, 445;
these surrenders could only be under three limitations, 445;
his proposition, 445;
compared with the article of the treaty, 445;
it is said to be copied from the article in Jay's treaty, 446;
the two articles, 446;
difference between them, 446;
another essential difference, which nullifies the article in its
material bearing, 447;
words of the message relative to this article, 448;
nothing can be more deceptive and fallacious than its
recommendation, 448;
what offences are embraced, and what excluded," 448.

_African Squadron for the Suppression of the Slave Trade._--Nothing
in relation to the subject in the shape
of negotiation is communicated to us, 449;
the immediate and practical effects which lie within our view, and
display the enormous expediency of the measure, 449;
the expense in money, 449;
in what circumstances do we undertake all this fine work? 450;
Great Britain is not the country to read us a lesson upon the
atrocity of the slave trade, or to stimulate our exertions
to suppress it, 450;
these articles of the treaty bind us in this alliance with Great
Britain, 451;
the papers communicated do not show at whose instance these
articles were inserted, 451.

BROUGHAM, LORD, speech relative to the Ashburton treaty, 422.

BROWN, CHARLES, on the coast survey, 488.

BUCHANAN, JAMES, his proposition relative to the deposit fund, 37;
on the slavery resolutions, 138;
on the committee on the bank bill, 337;
on the disorder in the Senate gallery, 351;
on the Missouri Compromise line, 633;
Secretary of State, 650.
_See Index_, vol. I.

BUTLER, BENJAMIN F., Attorney-General, 9;
resigns, 9;
on the adoption of the two-thirds rule in the democratic
convention, 591.
_See Index_, vol. I.

BUTLER, WILLIAM O., on the action of the administration in the
McLeod affair, 291;
nominated for the Vice-Presidency, 722.

C

CALHOUN, JOHN C., debate with Clay, 97;
justifies his resolutions, 139;
resolution relative to the liberation of slaves in British
colonial ports, 182;
in opposition to the war rule, 250;
against the previous question, 255;
on the passage of the bill declaring war in 1812, 256;
passage with Clay, 257;
on the bill for the relief of Mrs. Harrison, 260;
on the naval pension act, 267;
on the repeal of the compromise, 311, 312, 313;
on exempting salt from duty, 316;
on expenditures, 397;
on naval expenditures, 452;
on the Oregon settlement bill, 471;
appointed Secretary of State, 569;
opens negotiations on Oregon, 661;
offers resolutions relative to slavery, 696;
in relation to the Oregon territorial bill, 711, 714;
on the dissolution of the Union, 715;
on extending the constitution to territories, 730;
his last speech, 744, 769.

Decease of, 747;
eulogium by Senator Butler, 747;
birth, 747;
student, 747;
a member of Congress, 747;
his fellow-members, 747;
his political career, 748;
rank as a parliamentary speaker, 748.
_See Index_, vol. I.

_California, Admission of._--The test question in the great slavery
agitation, 769;
remarks of Calhoun in his last speech, 769;
passage of the bill, 769;
protest of ten Senators opposed to it, 769;
extract, 769;
the signers, 770;
question of reception raised, 770;
remarks of Senator Benton, 771;
reception refused, 772.

_Caroline_, a steamboat, her destruction, 278.

CASS, LEWIS, on the fugitive slave bill, 779;
nominated for the Presidency, 722.
_See Index_, vol. I.

CATRON, JOHN, Judge of the Supreme Court, 9.

_Cessio bonorum_, the law of, 236.

_Chinese Mission._--Bill reported to provide the means of opening
future intercourse between the United States and China, 510;
extract from the bill, 510;
objectionable features of the bill, 510;
the act of 1790, 510;
moved to strike out the restrictions to the use of the money, 510;
remarks of Mr. Merriweather in opposition to the amendment, 511;
further debate, 511;
McKeon in opposition to the whole scheme, 511;
amendment adopted, 512;
bill passed, 512.

Mr. Cushing takes no part in the discussion, 518;
bill called up in the Senate at midnight on the last day, 512;
Mr. Benton's remarks against the mission, 512;
"no necessity for a treaty with China, 512;
the outfit, 512;
ill framed after the act of 1790," 513;
further debate, 513;
amendment carried, that no agent be appointed without the consent
of the Senate, 514;
no nomination made before the adjournment, 514;
Mr. Cushing appointed in the recess, 514;
remarks, 514;
outfit of the minister, 515;
his embarkation, 515;
arrival, 515;
address to the Governor-General of Canton, 515;
reply, 515;
correspondence, 515;
no necessity for a treaty of commerce on the part of the United
States, 515;
remarks, 516;
Mr. Cushing objects to delay to send to Pekin, 516;
extracts, 516, 517;
threats, &c., 517;
remonstrance of the Governor, 517;
a salute to the ship demanded, 518;
remonstrance of the Governor, 518;
threats of war to China, 518;
reply of the Governor, 519;
rejoinder of Mr. Cushing, 519;
further complaints from Mr. Cushing, 519;
answer from the Emperor, 520;
arrival of a commissioner to treat, 520;
difficulty, 520;
justification for not going to Pekin, 521;
remarks, 521;
effect of the publication of the correspondence, 522.

CLARK, J. C., in the Chinese mission, 501.

CLAY AND CALHOUN--_Debate between_.--Calhoun's co-operation with
Clay and Webster, 97;
co-operates with the democrats, 97;
feelings of the opposition, 97;
a feeling of personal resentment against Calhoun, 97;
Clay's talent for philippic, 97;
bursting of the storm, 97;
Calhoun's speech in favor of the Independent Treasury, 97;
answer of Mr. Clay, 97;
time for preparation, 98;
the attack on Calhoun, 98;
his reply, 98;
rejoinder of Mr. Clay, 99;
rejoinders, 99;
attempted excuse of Clay for making the attack, 99;
the Edgefield letter, 99;
character of this contest between two eminent men, and of their
oratory, 99;
Fox and Burke, 100;
remarkable passages in the speeches of each, 100;
remarks, 100;
Mr. Clay's speech, 101.

"Who are most conspicuous of those pressing this bill upon
Congress and the American people? 101;
its endorser the Senator from South Carolina, 101;
intimated that my course in opposing the bill was unpatriotic,
101;
the arduous contest in which we were so long engaged was about to
terminate in a glorious victory, 102;
at this critical moment the Senator left us, 102;
the speech of the Senator, 102;
the alternatives presented, 102;
if we denounced the pet bank system, must we take a system
infinitely worse? 103;
attack upon the whole banking system of the United States, 103;
the doctrine of 1816, 103;
we concur in nothing now," 103.

Reply of Mr. Calhoun, 103;
"he has not even attempted to answer a large and not the least
weighty portion of my remarks, 104;
the introduction of personal remarks, which cannot pass unnoticed,
104;
no shadow of a pretext for this attack, 104;
what can be his motive? 104;
the weakness of his cause has led him to personalities, 104;
the leading charge is that I have left his side and joined the
other, 105;
three questions involved in the present issue, 105;
remarks four years ago, 105;
another reference to the record, 105;
the measure of renewing the charter of the bank, 106;
relations with Mr. Webster, 106;
statement of his past course by further reference to speeches,
107;
the charge of desertion falls prostrate to the ground, 107;
the first fruits of union in the attack would have been a national
bank, 108;
explanation of views expressed in the Edgefield letter, 108;
further explanation of views entertained, 109;
present political position, 110;
the attack on my intellectual faculties, 110;
qualities wanting in Clay's mind, 110;
commencement of Calhoun's public life, 111;
support of the Navy, 111;
the restrictive system opposed, 111;
the bank proposed in 1814, 111;
administration of the War Department, 112;
the Vice-President's chair," 112.

Rejoinder of Mr. Clay, 112;
"anxious to avoid all personal controversy, 112;
a painful duty, 112;
ever anxious to think well of Calhoun, 112;
the Edgefield letter, 112;
extract, 113;
nullification overthrew the protective policy! 113;
it sanctioned the constitutional power it had so strongly
controverted, 113;
no one ever supposed the protective policy would be perpetual,
113;
further extract from the Edgefield letter, 114;
he has left no party and joined no party, 114;
charges me with going over on some occasion, 114;
the stale calumny of George Kremer, 114;
who went in 1825, 115;
charges me with always riding some hobby, 115;
he is free from all reproach of sticking to hobbies," 115.

Rejoinder of Mr. Calhoun, 116;
"the Senator tells us that he is among the most constant men in
this world, 116;
his speech remarkable both for its omissions and mistakes," 116.

Rejoinder of Mr. Clay, 116;
"he says, if I have not changed principles, I have at least got
into strange company, 117;
extract from his speeches, 117;
the dispute about the protection of cotton manufacture," 117.

Rejoinders, 118;
conclusion, 118;
reconciliation of Calhoun with Van Buren, 118;
sinister motives charged, 119;
further taunts of Mr. Clay, 119;
the change of Clay to the side of Adams, 119;
expositions of the compromise of 1833, 119;
bargain charged between Clay and Adams, 120;
remarks, 120;
Calhoun for the succession, 120;
Calhoun and Van Buren, 120;
source of the real disorders of the country, 121;
Adams and Clay, 121;
the threat of Gen. Jackson, 120;
the compromise measure, 122;
Webster on the side of Jackson at the time of nullification, 122;
"he my master," 123;
further remarks, 123.

CLAY, HENRY, on the slavery resolutions, 138;
offers a programme of measures for Tyler's administration, 219;
proposes to introduce the hour rule in the Senate, 250;
on exempting salt from duty, 316;
on the veto of the bank by President Tyler, 318;
his feelings on the veto of the bank bill by President Tyler, 356.

_Retirement of._--Resigns his seat in the Senate, and delivers a
valedictory address, 398;
reasons, 398;
formally announces his retirement, 399;
extract, 399;
period at which he had formed the design of retiring, 399;
time when the design was really formed, 399;
could have been elected when Harrison was, 399;
that triumph a fruitless one, 399;
reasons for not resigning at the time intended, 400;
reasons for appearing at the regular session, 400;
the formation of a new cabinet wholly hostile to him, and the
attempt to take the whig party from him, 400;
the failure of his measures, 400;
review of the past, 401;
extract, 401;
thanks to his friends, 401;
notice of foes, 401;
imputation of the dictatorship, 402;
extract, 402;
secret of Clay's leadership, 402;
forgiveness implored for offences, 402;
a tribute to Crittenden, 403;
a motion to adjourn, 403;
the criticism of Senators on the valedictory, 403.

Candidate for the Presidency in 1844, 625.

His plan for a compromise, 742;
all measures to be settled in one bill, 742;
the manner, 742;
failure, 742.

Resolution respecting slavery in New Mexico, 743;
Davis advocates the extension of the Missouri Compromise to the
Pacific, 743;
reply of Mr. Clay, 743;
vote 744;
Senator Benton's speech against it, 749;
a bill of thirty-nine sections pressed upon us as a remedy for the
national calamities, 749;
no political distress, 749;
a parcel of old bills which might each have been passed by itself
long ago, 750;
how did the committee get possession of these bills? 750;
the California bill made the scape-goat of all, 750;
reasons for urging the conjunction of the State and Territories,
751;
the territorial government bills are now the object, and put with
the California bill to make them more certain, 752;
all the evils of incongruous conjunctions here exemplified, 753;
the compensation to California, 754;
the reasons of the committee present grave errors in law, both
constitutional and municipal, and of geography and history,
754;
features of the Texas bill, 755;
division line of New Mexico and Texas, 756;
the possession of New Mexico continuous, &c., 757;
further remarks on the original territory of New Mexico, 758;
question of large emancipation, 759;
grounds for refusal to extend slavery into New Mexico, 760;
the point of the true objection to the extension of slavery
mistaken, 760;
fugitive slave bill and slave trade suppression in the District of
Columbia, 761;
no parties to the compromise, 762;
Dr. Jacob Townsend and Dr. Samuel Townsend, 763;
further remarks, 764, 765;
rejection of Clay's plan, 768.
_See Index_, vol. I.

CLAYTON, JOHN M., Secretary of State, 737.
_See Index_, vol. I.

_Coast Survey._--Its origin, 487;
growth and importance, 487;
become a civil department almost, 487;
efforts to restore the naval superintendence, 488;
movement for its re-organization, 488;
remarks of Mr. B. Mallory in support of it, 488;
proposition to reduce the appropriation and to transfer the work
from the Treasury to the Navy Department, to be done by army
and naval officers, 488;
an examination of the laws on the subject, 482, 490;
proposition rejected, 491;
another made and rejected, 491.

Belongs to the Navy Department, 726;
manner of its execution in Great Britain, 727;
the great cost of the survey, 727;
the Navy should do the whole and get the credit, 728;
our Bureau of Hydrography has only a divided and subordinate part
of the survey, 728;
our officers not incompetent, 728;
our Navy large and nearly idle, 729.

COBB, HOWELL C., chosen Speaker, 740.

COLLAMER, JACOB, Postmaster General, 737.

_Committee_ of fifty to wait on the President, 17.

_Congress_, extra session, 28;
its members, 28;
their character, 29;
first session of the twenty-sixth convenes, 158;
its members, 158;
New Jersey contested election, 159;
first session of twenty-seventh, 213;
its members, 213;
difficulty of organization, 215;
first session of twenty-eighth, 563;
its members, 563;
organization of the House, 565;
twenty-ninth convenes, 655;
list of members, 655;
election of Speaker, 656;
meeting of the second session of the twenty-ninth, 677;
first session of the thirtieth, 702;
its members, 702, 703;
first session of thirty-first, 738;
its members, 738, 739;
numerous ballots for Speaker, 740.

CONRAD, CHARLES M., Secretary at War, 768.