OF A
WO R K,
(IN SIX NUMBERS,)
IN
FAVOR OF THE CONSTITUTIONALITY
OF A
NATIONAL BANK,
Dedicated to every impartial mind, and to the friends of a strictly
guarded, safe, and uniform standard of intrinsic value and of circulation, essential to our NATIONALITY, and to the convenience, advancement, and security of our home interests among all classes, and also
to the greatest possible faith abroad in our fiscal and commercial
operations. Such an institution will not, at this late day,; be subject
to any dangerous vicissitudes, because it will be sustained by our
illimitable raational resources, and will rest on National Law, and
will command the respect and confidence of the whole People, who
now see and feel the importance of UNION.
As to the heretofore idea of its corrupting. the elective franchise
through demagogues, it ought now to be supposed, once for all and
forever, that the Public Opinion of this great country, can and will
protect her principles and her liberties, and that the establishment
will be conducted by gentlemen-men of integrity and honor, and
of the very genius of finance, such as our present Secretary of the
Treasury. Demagogues, it is confidently believed, will in future pale
and be awed away before the august sovereignty of a soon to be
whole people, enlightened and chastened by adversity, and through
it, called by Providence to a greater self-respect at home, and greater
faith every where in popular Government, as to us at least; it finding in us a sufficiency of the conservative element in our good men,
in all the walks of life, rendered good by the divine stamp of an
heroic nature, and by the grace of Heaven, through the rich records
of the Old Testament, and the still nearer teachings of the Son of
God in the New.
BY
THE BELARIUS OF CYMBELINE.
WASHINGTON:
PRINTED BY L. TOWERS & CO.
1862.




A CARID.
The MBelarius of Cymbeline learns from  the detestable lacihmo. And Wad? my
a friend that several persons are busying  cavilling fellow-citizens been living when
themsdlves to enquire, with worse than  Washington Irving started his KNICKERcuriosity, who this Belarits of Cymbeline BOCKER, they would have entirely lost
is —etclaiming, "what a strange man he their own senses in view of his mad inmust be."  Now, if these Literati will cognito.  Oh, had  known of the coming
turn to the time of Julius Caesar's con- wrath of these leaders and forestallers of
quest of Britain, and then trae events the public judgment and taste, how gladon that Island to the nineteenth year of ly would I have assumed some one of the
the Roman Augustus, they will ffnd the hackneyed cognomens —Jefferson, Madimaterials for Shaksp-eare's dramatic story  son, Monroe, Hamilton, Gallatin f
of said Cymbeline and his Court, some of   Now, I will not be uncivil to these
whom are Belarius, the wronged and the carping schoolmen; but I would ask
noble; the lovely Imogen; the jealous them if they ever heard of SHAEOW in
Leonatus; the disgusting Cloten; and  the Merry Wives of Windsor 
Entered according to act of Congress in the year eighteen hundred and sixty. to, by
ESTWICCK EVANS,
In the District Court of the District of Columbia




WORK
IN FAVOR OF THB
(ronsttiatona-it  of a    aitomnal mank,
[IN  SIX  NUMBERS.]
2No. 1.
I am about to embark upon waters that have often been agitated, and which are said, withal, to be deep and perilous. But
not being able to perceive those dangers which others see, or
think they see, I embark without fear, but at the same time without presumption. And although it will be but becoming in me
to entertain a good measure of respect for the adverse opinions
of others, still I do not feel obliged to embrace those opinions,
however distinguished may be the names with which they are
associated.
My sole objects are truth, and the good of the country. I am
wholly unconnected with banks, and bank men,-and always
have been,-and always expect to be.
In the first place; in this argument, I remark that as long as a
nation is governed by prejudice, it will fall short of that grandeur
and prosperity which it may be its better nature to aspire to and
to reach.
A portion of those who are hostile to a national bank are prejudiced against all banks. But this prejudice lies dormant, in a
great measure, against the existing banking establishments in the
country-keeping itself ready, however, at all times, to pounce,
with malicious beak, upon a national bank, notwithstanding it is
as harmless in its principles and in its modes of operation as any
one bank in the country.
But where is the reasonableness of this feeling towards our
banking establishments generally, when their establishment violates no moral, nor legal principle, when they are indispensable
to the trade and prosperity of the country, and when they advance
that prosperity, comparatively, a thousand fold, and are never
attended, at the worst, with evils at all to be compared with the
good that they do.




4
It will be well here incidentally to observe that whilst I might
contend for the power of Congress to establish a real GOVERNMENT bank, nothing more is to be understood by the phrase United
States Bank or National Bank than an act of incorporation by
the General Government, to individuals to establish a bank. It
is merely an act of incorporation on the part of the United States
government, in contradistinction to acts of incorporation on the
part of a State government, to enable individuals to establish a
bank, under due restraints of law; with the trifling exception
of the United States government owning a part of the original
capital, and also having certain privileges of deposit and disbursement, for the better security of the national treasure and
the convenience of the government.
But to proceed with the argument:-It is too late to inquire
into the general expediency of banks. Their expediency has
been fully tested;-and they are now indispensable. And the
expediency of a national bank is doubly apparent; for it is needed
for national purposes, and is, also necessary, by furnishing a
standard currency, to the centripetality and regulation of the
banks in the States. It would increase, too, the credit of these
banks; for the reason that the people throughout the country instead of doubting this credit, from their want of knowledge,
would readily perceive and embrace it upon the basis of the standing of these banks with the national bank, which is supposed to
be in possession of every information upon the subject. And
the banks in the States would, also, be more careful in their operations, knowing that the broad and scrutinizing eye of the National Bank was upon them, ready to detect and to check, in a
moment, any unsuitable increase of issues.
The question now arises-are the people of the United States
ready to abandon the idea of establishing a National Bank FOREVER and thereby lessen the native energy, and the immeasurable,
the sublime growth of this noble country? Let the people settle
this broad question,-and let them settle it now. And let me
beg them to consider that whilst there may be a large minority
of the people against a national bank now, there would be found
scarcely anybody in the country who would venture to vote for
excluding it forever; and that in this inconsistency, this sort of
betwixt and between rule of action on the part of the people,
the public prosperity will deteriorate, until the public, looking
back, will be astonished at their folly and their aggregate loss.
If a national bank is ever to be established,-at any future time,
why not now, especially now?
But can a bank be constitutionally established? This is the
great question. Well, why not? I want a reason. I do not
want to hear an objection, but a reason. Any one can make an
objection. I want a manly and an honest reason. I have never
yet heard a reason,-a good one,-one of any force whatever.
I have no disposition to contend, or to give to myself any notoriety; but if there is any respectable man who thinks he has a




5
good reason against the constitutionality of a National Bank, I
shall be ready to meet him, publicly, on the question.
How came the States with so many banks?  I wonder that so
many charters were granted,-that any were granted!  How
many banks are now in existence in the States? Say from fifteen
to sixteen hundred. How monstrous! Where was the wisdom,
the patriotism, the common prudence of the States? Where were
the fears of their legislative bodies?  Where the fears of the
people themselves?  So many banks- within the States now in
operation! Why is not the country sunk?  Why has it not fallen
to pieces with corruption?  But strange as it may appear, most
all these banks are so much the objects of respect and confidence
that the most cautious men and the most fearful women place
their all within their safe keeping.
Yes, but these are not STATE banks, although situated within
the States; they are simply banks of associated individuals.
Well, but so much the worse. The State governments have no
immediate interest in themr, —no liabilities, and consequently less
direct motive for looking into their modes of operation, and exercising a conservative control over them.
But why are there no State banks? There cannot be, legally;
-the Constitution of the United States is expressly against it. It
is however said that there are some; but if so they are unconstitutional: for Article 1st of Section 10th of this instrument declares
that " No State shall emit bills of credit, or coin money.'  But
the banks established in the States are, simply in relation to the
States, all constitutional, it will be said-that is in accordance
with the State constitutions.  How constitutional  Not a word,
-not a word about them in the constitutions of the States. But
still they are, in fact, constitutional, as it merely regards the
States, for the very simple, and all sufficient reason that they are
not PROHIBITED. And if the Constitution of the United States had
not prohibited State banks, —banks established by the States
themselves, and for themselves, as it does prohibit, we might have
had enough of them. But why was this prohibition?  It was
not because, in the nature of things, it is really contrary to principle, or of certain pernicious tendency, as has been the narrow
notion of past ages, for a government to have any direct interest
in a bank, but because the General Government would not be
interfered with in relation to currency and coin,-because it
wished to have, and meant to have a standard of value of its own;
and the very circumstance that the Constitution of the United
States prohibits State banks, and does not prohibit a United States
bank, shows that whilst the framers of that instrument were
against the establishment of State banks, they were not against
the establishment of a National Bank. And, indeed, as I have
suggested, it shows that they contemplated having a bank of
their own, in some sense, and a paper currency of their own,bills of credit of their own as well as coin of their own stamp and
own designation of value. Why, as I have before asked, were




6
the States prohibited in these matters? The answer will be found
in many other parts of the Constitution, where the States are prohibited and where the General Government has power which no
one calls in question: for example, in the 8th Section of the 1st
Article, "Congress shall have power to lay imposts,"-and then
in the 10th Section of the same Article-" No State shall lay any
impost."  Let it not be said that the establishment of a National
bank does not come up to this parallel; that although the Constitution of the United States prohibits bills of credit to the States,
it does not provide for the establishment of a National bank; for
my answer is that the Constitution does give a general authority
to establish a National bank, as I shall show by and by,-and, as
is well known, that the government has, in practice, made good
this parallel, not only by actually establishing a bank at a very
early period of the government, and twice over, but that it has
issued " bills of credit," time and again, in the shape of Treasury
notes, notwithstanding nothing of the kind is specifically mentioned in the Constitution.
But let us proceed to inquire why the State governments allow
of banking institutions on the part of individuals?  I answer,
because the constitutions of the States do not prohibit such banks,
-because it is assumed, at least, that the Constitution of the United States does not prohibit them,-and because, as is supposed,
the public good, the prosperity and happiness of the country,(that great unwritten constitution of every Free community, is
the true basis of action in such matters,) warrants the establishment of such banks. And it is upon the general basis of all
these reasons that a National bank may, and ought to be established.
I improve the opportunity here to remark, that although the
banks established within the States may not be set down as contrary, directly, and in and of themselves, to the Constitution of
the United States, yet they operate, in some measure, against the
spirit of the Constitution in relation to currency; and this idea is
encouraged by the fact that the General Government neglects to
have anything in the shape of a paper standard of value of her
own, and of such a character, in the designations of value, as
would be a substitute for, or at any rate, regulate the various
paper currency of the banks in the States; for otherwise the
banks in the States become the sole regulators of value; and
being within the States and created by the States, their issues
become of the nature of State bills of credit.
I here remark, too, in relation to the establishment of a National
bank, that the people of this country must not be too cautious.
A narrow policy has often checked the growth both of individuals
and of nations. Many a man has lived poor and died poor for
the want of enlarged views, and of enterprise and effort. The
public must have more confidence in their own strength and their
own virtue. Let them not fear to trust themselves. Let them
spread a wider and wider canvass. Let them  avail themselves




of the free air of heaven, and quicken their speed over the generous waves of national enterprise. Let no narrow, Chinese or
Japanese policy-no cold and unsocial abstractions be made to
war with the enlarged spirit and glorious plentifulness of the
times, in spite of the deep conspiracy and Black Rebellion that
have assailed our noble and confiding country. Let the poor now
be fed by the munificence of heaven in enlarging the field of
commerce. Let industry be encouraged. Let wealth flow in from
every quarter. There is now occasion enough, in the defence of
our Union and liberties, for the employment of wealth aside from
luxury, and extravagant modes of living. Let the monumental
arts arise, proclaiming our past wisdom, and triumph of our arms.
Let every internal improvement be advanced. Let the blessings
of education be multiplied&  Let the condition of man every where
be ameliorated. Let the blessed gospel be extended to the remotest regions-and render vocal every valley and every hill
under the whole heaven.
We will now proceed to a more particular examination of this
subject. We will approach the subject as for the first time. We
will look for ourselves, and judge for ourselves, as though the
Constitution had just come, fresh from the hands of its framers.
We will not be influenced by great names-merely as such-on
either side, as it regards the making up of our opinions; and we will
be careful to avoid that sublimely ridiculous maesty and mystery with which artful politicians and mock-heroic patriotic puritans-as well as some honest men, have surrounded it.
I reverence the Constitution of my country; —but it does not
involve the salvation of our immortal souls. It is not so much
what we are to save as what we are to use. The Constitution is
not a relict to be worshipped, but a living and active instrument
to be emplojyed for the best and fullest advantage of the community. Let us be men, and not take counsel of our reverential
fears instead of our understandings. Let us be men, who, loving
truth better than all things else, are ready to go wherever it
leads-fearing no evil to ourselves or our country. Let us remember, too, who we are, and what we are;-that we are the
people-the sovereign people; that this government is our government-made by ourselves, andfor ourselves, and that we are
the judges, the sole judges in this matter-it being, not a question
as to the Constitutionality of an exi.ting law, which would be for
the decision of the Supreme Court; but a question as to the Constitutionality of a proposed law, in relation to which the people
are the great radical, democratic, law-making body-having no
co-ordinates-executive or judicial, but constituting-though in
different and in some respects independent sovereignties, one vast
population, instructing, by their WILL, their representatives in
Congress, and influencing by their wishes their great executive
functionary, the President.
What now is the precise question before the people? It is as
to the construction which should be given to the Constitution in




relation to a National bank. Well, what is the Constitution? It
is not, as intimated before, the record of our holy religion-inspired by the incomprehensible spirit-deep and mysterious-to
be reverenced with a holy fear, and to be believed-in all its doctrines, as far as God and our own prayers may help us, though perhaps not always fully understood. - No; itis a parchment of an earthly origin and workmanship-made by men, mere men-the representatives of us, the people; and afterwards examined, and understood, and adopted by us. Did they not understand it  Do
we not understand it now? It is a great pity, and something of
a disgrace, I think, if we do not.
Let us see if we cannot understand the subject before us. In
order to do so we must treat it properly. The discovery and exhibition of the truth involved in a subject depends very much
upon the manner of taking up and of treating the subject. We
must treat the present question in a natural, common-sense mode,
and not in an artificial one. It must not be one that savours of
party-or of pedantry-or of the "mint, annis, and cummin" of
petty doubts and sickly fears-and of scruples so untangible that
when we come to put the finger of our conscience or understanding really upon them-they are not there. It must not be the
opinions of others, thrust in to break the thread of our honest
cogitations, exciting our apprehensions on one side and flattering
our vanity into a loose investigation, on the other, and mingling
with all our pure and heroic intentions, a thousand ideas about
consistency, and popularity at home. There is a spirit against
which the country must guard in making up its mind upon the
Bank question; —and this is the veto spirit. There certainly has
been, heretofore, a rigid-even a taunting veto spirit in the country; and it has been the means of rendering nugatory many efforts of the ordinary legislative power of the nation-thereby
destroying, as it were, one co-ordinate branch of the government,
and proportionably increasing the Executive power. The increase of the Executive power here prevents a favorable gubernatorial action; and a country may be ruined by a dearth of constitutional operations, as well as by a flood of unconstitutional
operations. We may have too much law, and we may have too
little law. We may have the tyranny of doing too much-and
the tyranny of doing nothing at all. The former characterized
in part the administration of Jackson; and the latter characterized
in part the administration of Van Buren. One of these extremes
is as unconstitutional and despotic as the other. The withholding
of what is right and needed from a community is as bad as the
doing of what is wrong to a community. Where is the difference
between violating right, and the withholding of right?  A negative administration may be as despotic and injurious as apositively bad administration. Existing laws may be sufficient to
guard the people from  wrong and violence, both internally
and externally. But the people want something else-besides
being guarded. They want a positive and active prosperity.




9
They want a field of enterprise;-they want to labor-want to
go to work, that they may have something to eat, and to drinkand a shelter-and means to support their families-and to educate their children. The criminal in the penitentiary is guardedand fed on bread and water. The people are not criminals, and
want something better. We want our liberties guarded, but we
do not want our hands tied.
The veto spirit of which I have been speaking is a tremendous
power, and a tremendous temptation to despotism. It is a power
very peculiar in its nature. It cannot be defined, and limited as
to its exercise;-and hence the evil or good it might do, are incalculable.  Every thing here depends upon the character of the
incumbent.
Without doubting as to the meaning of the word veto, I have
had the curiosity to turn to a Lexicon, before me, to see precisely
what it is there set down to be; but it is not there at all-and
ought not, possibly, to be anywhere. But instead of the term
veto, in the Lexicon, I find in the place where the word veto
would naturally come, the word " Vex," verb active, to plague,
to disquiet, to torment. Graver consequences, however, than
mere vexation might arise fiom the exercise of this power; a
nation's prosperity-a nation's honor might be prostrated by it.
The country might be grossly insulted by a proud and supercillious foe, and a majority of Congress, but less than two-thirds,
might vote a declaration of war-and they might be backed by
the whole of the people, and yet an actual declaration of war,
with all its high-souled appeals to ourselves and to the whole
civilized world, would depend upon one man, who might be too
mean for glory, or too timid for battle, or too corrupt for patriotism. The great interests-the glory of this sublime country
should not rest upon ONE man, but upon the government as a
whole, representing the august will of the sovereign people.
Something however may be said on the other side of the question: It is, of itself, a great vital subject, and presents a wide
field for argument. I think, however, the veto power should be
looked upon rather as a monition than for use-a caution against
gross and reckless legislation.
I here resume my reasoning as to the constitutionality of a
National Bank. Did the people, as I have before asked, understand the constitution which was presented to them by its
framers for their examination and adoption? Certainly they did.
It would be absurd to think otherwise. It is a plain instrument,
made by plain and grave men, for a plain and grave people.
Well, then the people understood it. And did they find in it
any PROHIBITION as to a National Bank? —Did they find in it even
the slighest intimation of prohibition as to a National Bank?
No;-there is not one idea, directly or indirectly, expressly or
impliedly, in the constitution against such establishment.
Is this nothing?  It is everything: —for the reason that it is
enough, connected with the nature of the subject-and the liberal




10
construction that must necessarily be given to constitutions of
government in all things which concern the public good.
This is my first general position; and there will be found to be
a great deal in it, in itself;-and ALL SUFFICIENT in it to cover the
subject which we have in hand. I humbly conceive that we have
been in the habit, in this matter, of moving upon the surface of
the waters, instead of looking into the deep elements of society,
of government, and of the spirit of political constitutions. MIy
opinions upon this subject are grounded in the nature of things,
and are illustrated by the whole history of government, including
our own practice. Our general views respecting our constitution
are too cold and narrow;-they do not comport with the purposes
and wants of society-nor with the latitude which should always
be given in the general construction of a fundamental rule of
action, especially infree government.
I have' not yet, in my argument, approached the particular provisions of our constitution, in favour of the establishment of a
National Bank. These provisions I shall present, in my future
numbers, with an unpretending, but yet triumphant confidence.
I have said that there is no prohibition of a National Bank in
the constitution. Many other things are prohibited; but a Bank
is not prohibited. Why was it not prohibited?  Was it so bad a
thing that it was not necessary to prohibit it? This is supposing
too much, considering the favorable opinions entertained, even
then, towards banking institutions throughout the country. But
was it too trifling an establishment to be prohibited in the constitution? This is not the language of prejudiced minds of a
later day;-they represented it as highly pernicious.  When
will prejudice give way to reason and reflection? Not until obstinacy shall let go unjust and convenient credulity, and shall
learn to love truth well enough, to be willing.to pay its price in
the sound currency of honest enquiry and patient and candid reflection. But was a bank too good to be named in the constitution?.No; it was named, indirectly, and under general terms,
like many other good things-to come in-as they have come inand as IT has come in, in spite of prejudice, and in spite of
party bitterness, and party falsehood-to bless, and to build up
this good land-which a Benificent Providence gave to our
Fathers! A United States Bank came into operation at a very
early period, and was kept in operation twenty years; and then
again twenty years, the country deriving from it all the while
great gubernatorial and commercial benefits; and it would have
been established again and again, besides, for the same periods
of twenty years, had not the veto power, —the power of one
man-the President, been resorted to, many times in advance,
and sometimes actually. A power it is, indeed, that continually
checks national improvement and progress.
The veto power suggests, by a ready association, almost the
whole history of our Government. What, already, a long list of
Presidents the gods, as it were, have placed in the niches of our




11
Rome; as an index to which stands our proud, and yet to be
prouder Capitol! May its Rotundo soon ring, in sonorous tones,
with the redemption of the country from Secession. What were
our Presidents? I claim no pen of history; and my name will
never be known upon her tablet. But I will say, in words of
brief in this humble and ephemeral record, that Washington was
sublime, wise, prudent, patriotic, courageous, and a reflecting
ray from the benevolent spirit of moral order in Heaven. The
elder Adams was learned, and attached more consequence to
learning than to talent; and withal, lacked discretion. Jefferson
was a radical lover of free institutions, and somewhat philanthropic; but his ambition was not of the purest order; and although I can most cheerfully forgive all the deep wrongs ever
committed against me, I will reprove, as I pass along, his intrigues with the creatures of Genet, and of the press, somewhat
later, in their injustice and unfeeling rudeness towards the upright
and sensitive Father of his Country, whose Secretary of State he
was during the latter part of the times of which I speak. Mr.
Jefferson was a man of much talent, a ready and popular writer,
and a man of personal influence. Madison was learned, a special
scholar, and retiring in his manner; but ambitious, and not
wholly free from ifttrigue, especially when following in the
wake of Jefferson.  Monroe was an honest man, thoughtful,
and sound. The younger Adams was, like his father, learned
and indiscreet; and what distinguished him most, was a reckless
advocacy of the " higher law," and thereby sowed seeds of civil
war. Jackson was honest, candid, patriotic, brave, courteous,
friend-loving, impulsive-a fire-brand in the Temple of Mars,
and if he had so WILLED, would have fired the Temple of Janus.
Affectionate old hero!-I deeply pity his sorrows, and love his
memory. Van Buren was an intriguer, and the father of the
spoils system,* and of proscription, and so corrupted and all-but
ruined the country. He was a man of talents, fine address-a
very Aristophanes; laid upon his oars in the white BARGE of the
Presidency; and in some other clime, would have made, upon a
small scale, a Mogul or a Grand Lama. General Harrison was
an amiable and gallant man. I pitied his early exit. Tyler was
only an approach towards greatness. Polk was more of a man
than he seemed. General Taylor was honest, unpretending, and
a sturdily courageous man-his early death commanding the public sympathy and regret. Mr. Fillmore was a sound, conservative, and estimable Gentleman-firm and wise, and next to Washington in the Chief Executive chair. General Pierce possessed
native talent, was honest, patriotic, and unambitious.  Mr. Buchanan was a man of large experience, and would have been a
greater statesman had he not been a lawyer. And now, begging
*In the corrupt and bloody days of the Roman Republic, when Sylla and Cataline, and Marius, and Csesar, sought for power and the prostration of Liberty, tables were publicly set out at elections, upon which the candidates affixed the
rewards for votes.




12
his presence, who by the way I have never yet had the honor of
seeing-Mr. Lincoln; to whom nature has given a quick, shrewd,
original intellect, an honest heart, and a pacific spirit; but, if put
to it, he will fight like a mastiff. I shall soon have occasion,
here, to speak of him again.
But I now begin to regret, somewhat, as a matter both of kindness and taste, in what I have said unfavorable of some of these
great officials, for it is not my wont to assail, and especially to assail
behind. But there!-let it pass. Nobody will read these musings
of mine. Should they do so, however, and any Gentleman wishes
to know who "The Belarius of Cymbaline " is, let him call on my
publisher, and he shall find my card. But to be more grave, if
more grave can be; are not public men, even those who have gone
to their last account, HISTORY? And is not this history our possession, and for our improvement;-to embrace the right and the true,
and to shun the wrong and ignoble? Shall virtue and wisdom be
praised, and vice and folly not censured? And shall official demerit, or even only inferiority be subject to no muster and no review? How, then could we expect high soldierly qualities? The
application of the cautery or the knife is painful to the benevolent
operator; but it must be done. And here, in political life, there
must be a standard for the future. The safety and the glory of
the country demand it. Our Presidents must be great menmen so stamped by Nature as that they will bear inspection; men
of truth, of honesty, of honor, of talent, of knowledge, of experience, of wisdom, of discretion, of dignity. The office should
never be lowered. Only truly great men should aspire to it.
And even here it would hardly be wise; for it is a position of great
responsibility, and one exposed to trying occurrences, and worse
than all the reckless injustice of PARTY. Many a distinguished
man has been fortunate in not reaching that eminence. Spirit of
Webster and of Clay, I congratulate you! And General Cass,strong, patriotic man, I envy your defeat! Celebrity, here, is now,
in life or out of it, safe on the page of history. Let the acceptance of this great eminence rest solely on the ground of DUTY;
and let PARTY be just towards the incumbent. To be otherwise
is a great injury to the country, and a grave offence before God.
The pure soul of Washington was deeply wounded by rude-vulgar assailment, and by some hands that would have been hands
of delicacy and taste had they not been stained by low  intrigue.
I agree that a President should be open to a searching canvass.
If he be a true and proper man, he can stand in all the panoply
of rectitude. He will have friends; every wise and good man
will be his friend, and his advocate, in the mighty halls of legislation; the man at the plough, the artisan, the merchant, the
scholar, the humblest laborer in the street, and, best of all, the
good woman, the real lady, one true and charitable and kind
word from whom is a host. Oh, let the wishes and hopes of Belarius in behalf of the country be blessed by some one-only one




13
noble and talented woman, and his heart will never sink. If
men would view women with respect-even to reverence-ever
inscribed on their protecting shield, they would be sensible of
her holy influence.*
I have canvassed, in a word, the Presidents. I have spoken of
Mr. Tyler. See him, an ex-President, so favored by his country;
loaded with her honors, and his coffer filled with the public treasure, now with traitorous hands shedding the blood of her people.
I do not excuse certain men at the North, especially certain legislatures; but the GENERAL GOVERNMENT never was unjust
or unkind towards the South; and this was the POINT to which
alone the South should have looked; and I do not say that the
assailments by Mr. Sumner in the Senate were not far below the
dignity of that arena; and I do not say that the assault by Mr.
Brooks was not ruffian and cowardly; but I do say that if Ihad
even a right, abstractedly, to fire my neighbor's house, it would not -
be consistent with my DUTY, but on the contrary it would be a
great crime if I were to fire it, thereby destroying a whole city.
If men cannot understand my motives and my logic, I am unfortunate and unhappy. I know that the only way out of this war is
to CARRY IT THROUGH. I deeply sympathise with all; for they are
all my countrymen; but things MUST BE RESTORED to where
they were or the whole country will GO DOWN FOREVER in
mutual destruction, and become a prey to those Leviathans of the
sea, England and France. Nothing but the veriest iron heel of
DESPOTISM  could have justified the South. Wretched men —
that Mr. Davis and the rest. The merits of the question are here:
In the settlement of the country, the Colonies were, intellectually,
morally, religiously, under God, united. Their self-preservation,
their defence, was mutual and necessary. They grew up together,
side by side. They warred, conjointly, often against the tomahawk
and the scalping knife, and the subtlety of the aborigines mind.
They warred with the French, led by Wolf, on the plains of Abraham. And Washington, and Sir William Pepperell, whose proud
blood runs in the veins of Belarius, represented, conjointly, the
South and the North, at the conquest of Louisburg. They warred with England;-throttled the Lion together,-and made her
give up the ghost! They had united in the Declaration of Independence; they had united in the Articles of Confederation; and
then they-embraced closer still in the Constitution, that the divine honey they had gathered from the carcass of the Beastt might
not, by running wide, escape altogether. Then, they grew, like
green bay trees, before God; and though they, idly, and unwisely,
taunted each other, they should NEVER have even dreamed of a
separation. But now, alas! the Galaxy stand apart in the Heavens,-and the sky rains blood. But I see them weep; and this
*Any lover of the myths of Greece cannot but think here of the age of Gynoecoe,
the Dryadd, and of the "unutterable " name, the import of which is still a mystery,
but which Belarius opines, means the severe beauty of Dian.
tThe first achievement of the Danite.




14
is the Rainbow of promise. When jarring friends weep, then
they will be reconciled. Belarius weeps, too, but his soul-to
the last man in the DITCH OF DEATH-is DETERMINED-the
UNION-THE UNION FOREVER! And here let me add to
my bases for the Union:-That South Carolina, for example,
could never have achieved her independence without Massachusetts, and other Northern States. And as to the new States, they
are, in some sense, ADOPTED States, though to them has been extended the rights and privileges of the OLD THIRTEEN; but still
it is not for these adopted States, Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana, and all the rest of the new States in rebellion, to assume a
reckless independence-wading through blood.
It may be thought that I have here, and elsewhere, too, in this
production, aberrated from the subject it proposed. So, perhaps,
it may seem. But it was so purposed by me; for the times specially illustrate the importance of one great NATIONAL UNION
BANK.
With respect to a large class of things in civil society, nonprohibition in the general, fundamental, constitutional rule of
the society, is tantamount to permission:-PROHIBITION was the
great object of free constitutions in ancient times; it is so set
down by the greatest civilians of antiquity; and non-prohibition,
therefore, is indirect and inferential permission. I will submit
this declaration to the reason of things, and, as intimated a little
way back, to the practice, universally, of all governments including our own. And this is not the effect of tyranny, of an assumption of power, of latitudinarianism, but of necessity. A constitution of government is a general rule, and cannot embrace every
particular that may come under the multifarious and complex interests of society,-especially of a great, populous, and commercial
nation. It is also a permanent rule, and consequently cannot be
supposed to provide for every future contingency in the ever
growing and varying interests, relations, and fortunes of nations.
But this necessarily liberal construction of political constitutions,
is not to let in anything pernicious to society;-for the great unwritten fundamental law of society, to wit, the public good, is
against it; —but it is to let in what the manifest interests of
society may be found, from time to time, to require; for the
reason that the great unwritten fundamental law of society, to
wit, the public good, is infavor of it;-and under circumstances
which might easily be imagined, would demand it,-with a cry
like that of Jerusalem, when the first breach was made in her walls!
Suppose your constitution had not provided for the raising of
armies;-and suppose a combination had been formed against you
in Europe, to sweep your republican institutions from the earth,
and to bury your name forever! —England, Russia, France,
Spain,-a WORLD in arms against you!-Your harbors are all assailed!-your inland frontier is in flames! —Will you not raise
armies? — o:-the constitution, forsooth, has not provided for
raising armies; and not a single bayonet can be mustered, even




15
though, added to foreign invasion, CONSPIRACY and TREASON should
be working their way to the very heart of a confiding nation.
Oh, God I then let the constitution be stripped, longitudinal and
across, and given, with both hands, to the winds!
Is it not apparent, that if, under the case I have stated, there
was no provision in the constitution for raising armies, you would,
nevertheless, at once raise them by a law of Congress? You
would at once say that society itself was formed for the public
good; that the government itself was established for the public
good;-that the constitution itself was framed for the public
good;-and that every thing demanded by the public good may
be done, and should be done, provided it is not contrary to the
express provisions of the constitution, nor to the general spirit of
that instrument, nor to the laws of morality and religion:-Indeed, in a Democratic State, the people, in a case of NECESSITY,
are above the constitution; and so, under such necessity, the Legislative power, and in the absence of this, the Executive power,
representing the people, have MORAL power to act; and it is their
and his duty to act. This i's one of the peculiar advantages of
FREE government.
If the constitution as it is will not save us, let us save ourselves
without a constitution: Let it, the constitution, be, as it were, in
abeyance, until the pestilent flames of sedition shall be quelled.
Indeed, if circumstances so require, let the people place themselves upon the ground of their original, pristine, primordial elements, and let every one cry: To the RESCUE!-To the RESCUE I!
And when I say the PEOPLE, I mean more than simply A and B;
the POLL and the CENSUS:-I mean a SENTIMENT, a moral being,
a soul!-a perception of the Heavenly origin of Liberty:She, who ennobles our nature, enlarges our views, makes us just,
benevolent, and brave, and places us upon the pure and brilliant
track of everlasting improvement; feasting those minds that delight in her instructions and that conquer in her name, leading
them  to the knowledge of her character, and rendering them
sensible of the worth of her friendship!-She it was who led our
FATHERS to glory; made us a nation, and has advanced us to an
eminence of unprecedented promise, commanding the admiration
of the world. Mr. Lincoln, the President, was so taught. She
visited him among the sturdy forests of the West, and availed
herself of his sound sense, and quick perception, and originality,
and more than all, his love of truth, integrity, and candor, and
gave him intuition, ani knowledge of the general principles of
morals and of government; so as' to prepare him for the then to
be station which he now fills, and under which, by his moral
courage, he has saved his country, and secured forever her gratis
itude and admiration. By calling out troops for the defence of
the CAPITAL he rescued the nation from an impending woe and
shame; and he rescued Maryland, too, from endless ruin,-carrying with her, in her downward track, the broken heart of that
Roman patriot, the honest, the wise, and the intrepid HICKs.




16
Our city of Washington,-GoD be praised! has not yet been
polluted by the sneering tramp of a Davis and a Beauregard; a
Mason and a Slidell; a Thompson and a Floyd; and, to bring
up the rear of treason, that coxcomb of mischief, Benjamin the
Jew, who, in the time of Shakespeare, would have been a combined Shylock and Iago, a Cataline and a Clodius.* Washington
city! the beautiful, the grand, and which is to be a Pantheon!
Religion will purify her; literature will adorn her; science and
the arts will add to her glory. Already she is queenly, and more
than queenly, because her paternity is that of the Democratic
principle.  We behold her now  with a haughty delight; we
view with joy her environs, so symmetrical; her eminences, from
whence can be seen her proudly-loved Capitol; her Departments,
so spacious, massive, and artistic; and her Presidential mansion,
so modest as to speak of the simplicity of truth, and the quietness
of intellectual grandeur. And, too, of her wide avenues and interminable streets, and niche-like angles for all the coming Gods,
now in our children, and who will be thepillars of the land when
we are no more here, but shall view them, with approving smile,
from the battlements of Heaven.
There is, indeed, a vast difference,-a difference, as I apprehend, but little thought of, betweenprohibition, and mere silence
in the constitution, in relation to everything that regards the
public good. I wish all my principles and reasonings to befully
understood, andfairly weighed. I say there is a vast difference,a difference but little thought of, as I presume to think, between
prohibition and mere silence in the constitution, in relation to
everything which regards the public good. This difference approaches very near to positive and express particular permission,
in all cases of public utility;-and in very strong cases of public
utility, not even to say absolute necessity, it comes fully up to
express particular permission, by putting into operation the great
general principle of civil society, which is public utility, and of
course a sort of public necessity, and which embraces within its
maternal and benevolent bosom all that is essential to the general
welfare. Is nothing to be left to the nature of things,-to the
wants of society,-to experience,-to events sometimes coming
upon a State in the shape of a black and mysterious rebellion 
And what is our own practice? We do many things which the
constitution does not speak of:-For one thing, we grant pensions.
The public good requires it,-policy dictates it. And further:
the constitution authorizes many things Which it need not have
authorized. It gives the right to petition. The people had this
right before, in and of themselves, as incident to free government,-as a matter of course,-and could petition without such
written authority. Should the people not petition without such
*Shylock sought the flesh-with the blood; Iago sowed distrust and jealousy
among friends and lovers; Cataline conspired against the liberties of Rome; and
Clodius banished that amiable man, pure patriot, and bold and brilliant orator, the
now world-renowned Cicero.




17
authority?-and would they not? Surely they should,-and
surely they would. Here then we find that some things are done
which are not authorized;-and further that some things could,
with the most unquestionable propriety, be done even if not authorized:-in the first case, as I have just stated, as to pensions,and in the second as to petitions,-merely, however, as examples.
Innumerable other cases might be cited illustrative of the same
principle and doctrine-the doctrine that some things-not expressed-are to be allowed,-notwithstanding other things are
expressed which need not have been.
I have said that there is not one word, nor the slightest intimation in the constitution against the establishment of a national
bank. Is this circumstance of no weight? It is very evident
that the framers of the constitution did not consider that the
establishment of a national bank would be anything unprincipled,
or pernicious, or that should be prohibited; for if they had, they
would have prohibited it, as they did prohibit other things in the
constitution,-such as expost facto laws;-excessive bail;-titles
of nobility, &c., which I find, by consulting only the 9th and
10th Sections of the constitution, are upwards of thirty in number; and yet not one word-not the slightest intimation against a
national bank-that accursed thing-which must be avoided, even
if the public prosperity-and even the liberties of the country go
down with it! The framers of the constitution seemed to be hunting
round with a great deal of zeal and industry for exceptionable things.
They knew that the public interest-national interest, was a broad
field; that a great many things must be done and would be done.
Some things they wished to be sure to have done; but the great
object was preventions-to check the natural tendency of government to act, and to exercise power; and many things, therefore, they prohibited. Why did they not include in their prohibitions, a national bank?  And further,-if they did not think a
bank ABSOLUTELY an evil, but only of questionable utility, why
did they not present some caution, advice, or suggestion,-something in a milder form than prohibition,-some opinion,-some
monition-as is done in numerous instances, in relation to other
things, in some of the State constitutions? If the framers of the
constitution would not say there shall not be a national bank,
why did they not say there ought not to be-borrowing the language, as just intimated, of some of the State constitutions? But
nothing;-not a word,-not a whisper,-not a breath adverse to
a national bank.
Whence then has arisen this question of constitutionality as to
a national bank? It did not arise, in the first instance, mainly,
from a view of the constitution itself. Nor has it, indeed, arisen
at all, in the first instance, from a view of the constitution simply.
It arose from a prejudice against all banks;-and this prejudice
was fostered by a trick 6f party. The public mind was put upon
a wrong track in relation to this matter.' It was the spirit of party,
mainly, which raised the question of constitutionality,-and merely
a




18
for party purposes-without believing that there was, really, any
certain ground in the constitution itself for raising it. As I have
suggested, there was in the country at first, as there is now, to some
extent, a prejudice in relation to all banking establishments, and,
of course, against a national bank. And this circumstance was
seized upon by party spirit to raise itself into power. Let it not
be supposed that the party that raised itself into power in 1800,
had not been preparing to raise itself into power for a long time.
It had; and this was one of the means it employed to acquire
power. It knew that the other party, with Washington at its
head,-though not as a partisan in the ordinary sense, was in favor
of a bank;-and this was sufficient to make the first mentioned
party against it. This party sedulously fanned the prejudices and
the suspicions of the mass, —upon this,-and upon many other
subjects;-and in order to add to them something of apparent
solemnity of conscience and of patriotism and duty, raised the
question of constitutionality as to a national bank. Here, what
was, in reality, only a question of extpdiency, of public utility,
became a grave question of constitutionality; and instead of
looking into the constitution for prohibitions, which would have
been the most natural and proper course, people pored over the
constitution for permissions,-for specific permissions,-as though
the power of government,-the great conservative power of the
country, and the vast and innumerable INTERESTS of this great
and growing nation, were to depend solely, through all future
time, and under all its new, and varying, and changing interests,
upon a few specific permissions. If they thought that this was
the proper course, they knew nothing of the general nature of
government. They should first have been able to show that a
bank was a violation of principle, before demanding a specific
warrant for it in the constitution. And the leaders of a certain
party then were aware of this; for they immediately began to
place themselves on the ground of imposing and yet vague generalizations, with rainbow hues, and moonshine influences. They
began to talk about State rights, and about there being no authority in the General Government to create corporations, as though
a corporation was,-not an aggregate individual, bound by law,
but a thousand individuals without any restraints of law.
Let it not be supposed by these remarks that I have ever been
other than a Democrat. It is my nature to be one, and I have
always been so; but am a wiser Democrat now than I once was,seeing now less of merit in my own Democratic party, and more
of merit in other parties. For example, as to the old Federal
party, I can say:-Amiable men! who have passed away,-to a
world, the home of moral order and conservatism. Washington!
dear Washington, how many shafts, but not from my bow, penetrated thy upright and paternal heart! I now entertain a great
measure of respect for the old Federal party; for their distinguished personal virtues and patriotic intentions; for their moral
courage under a mighty adverse current, and much grossness of




misrepresentation; for the manly energy with which they disputed
their ground, inch by inch, in behalf of their rectitude and their
claims to the public confidence; for the Roman fortitude they
exhibited under defeat; and for the wisdom with which, to the
last, they husbanded their dignity, and all the elevated characteristics of their personality. If this be a compliment from me,
they are welcome to it. A man who cannot perceive the merits
of another party, and the faults of his own, is not fit for frde
government.
I now proceed in my argument: The opponents of a bank knew
that if it rested upon a mere question of expediency, the wants
and interests of the community, and the known advantages of
banking establishments would overthrow them, in spite of mere
prejudice and suspicion; and they know this now: —they know
that if they were now to make it a mere question of expediency,
the objection to it could not stand for a moment;-they therefore
still make it a grave, a solemn constitutional question. The baneful spirit of party still keeps alive this question, although it has
been settled over and over again by the country. Every important question is apt to be made a lever of party. And let me
tell the people of the United States, that party, is sometimes, the
selfish work and scaffolding of a few men who make a TRADE of
politics, and care very little for the country; and let me tell them,
too, with a depth of solemnity which only future history can estimate, that there is a NECESSITY, now, for them to turn their eyes
from the track of party, and unitedly struggle to defend their so
wronged and afflicted country. Let me remind them that they
are the SOVEREIGNS in the present great crisis; that they are the
judges; and that their representatives are their agents, appointed
by them to do their sovereign will. Let the people be what they
ought to be; and then be sensible of their augustness. Ah! had
there been a people in the South, especially in South Carolina,
there would have been no civil war. A few selfish, lordly, ambitious, despotic men, by a CONSPIRACY black as night, and rife
with fraud and treason, have marred the most blessed community
of love that ever the peace of God vouchsafed to men. They
assumed the rule; first cypherising the people through slavery,
then setting them at naught, as it regards government, and yet
calling upon, and even coercing them, as instruments to destroy
the Union, and to overthrow the Government, and the liberties
of the whole country, including the South itself. Yes, with their
boasted regard for democracy, they scorn democracy; and the
political salvation of the South, as a free people,-a free white
population, depends, at this moment, upon their adhering to the
North. Let the people be sovereign every where; and let our
Democratic experiment be thorough; and may Heaven grant,
that under it human nature, —the whole human race,-may, by
gradual advances, and through the medium of our own exemplar,
in all integrity, wisdom, and discretion, arrive at the great haven
of a true liberty at last. I speak thus, because the subject of this




20
work suggests that it is by no means of small consideration that
the FINANCIAL interests of the country, in relation to the war,
should be, directly, and in a paramount sense, in the hands of,
and under the control of, the country and government, as one
great central heart, a whole personality of the NATION, instead of
being fractions of a monied power, one part here and another
part there, with separate and rival interests, and of various and
irresponsible administration; that it should be a UNITY, though
having branches; one and the same spirit, and the same gubernation, and the same independence of extraneous influences,
and of embarrassments, and of aberration.  A just and benificent Providence has given the nation great wealth, beforehand, in order that it might crush a REBELLION that was to come.
But I am not a prophet, but only speak for the prophets, who are
NOW here, in present events, and who ought to have been heard
in the seasons of the PAST:
"Cymbeline: Guiderius had
Upon his neck a mole,-a sanguine star;It was a mark of wonder.
Belarius: This is he;
Who hath upon him still that natural stamp;
It was Wise Nature's END in the donation,
To be his evidence Now."*
Let not the people hinder the full and complete accomplishment of this INTERPOSITION, by imagining that there is a moral
obstruction to it in the shape of a want of constitutional power
to establish a national bank; an idea, by the way, in itself a moral
absurdity; for in the absence of constitutional prohibition, the
measure is as simple as truth itself, at once noiseless and omnipotent. What has become, of the natural and broad ground of the
power and sovereignty of the people?  To say nothing of the
power granted by them to themselves in the constitution: —by
themselves primarily and individually to themselves aggregately
and gubernatorially:-to say nothing of this power, to establish
a bank, have they not, pray, power, in themselves, to do an act
so simple and so common-place?  Oh, no   Upon the groundthe mere ground that the constitution does not specifically, in so
many words authorize a National Bank,-the Government, —the
people,-the sovereignty of the country cannot establish one!
The enterprise,-the capacity for business-the integrity, all these
living streams of a generous credit; —the capital, the trade, the
labor, the whole productive power of the country, may be entirely
prostrate, and need nothing but a National Bank to restore them,
and cause them to flourish beyond even the most sanguine anticipations;-but it cannot be done! The State governments have
established about fifteen hundred banks, as I have suggested before, and I suppose will establish fifteen hundred more, without
one word of permission in their constitutions;-and established
these banks solely on the basis of public utility; but the august
*Shakspeare.-Edition of the Messrs. Harper, year 1843.




21
people of the whole country cannot establish one bank! No;cannot do what is essential to the every-day prosperity of the
country-cannot establish a mere bank,-a mere corporation, notwithstanding the constitution of the United States says not one word,
intimates nothing, even constructively, against such measure!
And the sovereign people of the United States can do a thousand
other things, not named in the constitution,-things never dreamed
of, until, in the course of legislation, the public welfare suggested
them; but a National Bank,-an institution similar in all its essential provisions to the other banks established in the country, and
which the public good has many times loudly called for, is set
down as entirely beyond their moral power. But this is not all:the country has established such bank twice,-for twenty years
each tirme,-and derived from it benefits beyond all calculation;and the country by both of its Legislative bodies, and by its Executive,-and then, solemnly, by its Judiciary, has declared such
bank constitutional!-And yet,-and yet-after all, the bank
cannot be established! Surely there must be something in this
business besides a mere matter of opinion!  Ah, there is black,
and deceptive, and selfish party spirit in the fountain of our
peace, and our welfare, and our glory! Do the people mean still
to be governed by party,-or do they mean that, in future, party
shall be governed by TIEM? I trust that the present war, growing out of slavery mainly, if not directly;-slavery, that crushes
the poor white man, whilst it makes TYRANTS of those whom it
has enriched, will result in giving to the country, in TIME, and
under fair, and liberal, and voluntary arrangement, universal
freedom. The time WILL come, some time, when there shall no
longer be slavery in the United States; and when white men,men of the South, and the West, and the North, with hands impelled by noble hearts, shall honor even more than the West and
the North now do, that boon from Heaven,-health-giving labor;
raising, in affluent measure, cotton, sugar, rice, tobacco, indigo;
and, if necessary, cannon balls, on the fiery hearth of Southern
agriculture, for the defence of the rights and the honor of our
WHOLE Union against foreign aggression. Then, indeed, will our
EAGLE air her feathers with a glorious flutter, disclosing the golden hues of her warlike thighs, upon our top-gallant poles; and
the booming of our broadsides awe, by their moral as well as
physical force, the mighty Deep itself. Our EAGLE!-Let us all
UNCOVER: 
" No band can hold her when she upward springs;
No storm can stay the thunder of her wings."
Let us continue to do honor to our noble, self-sacrificing progenitors. They were PROPHETS of liberty. They were mindful
of us even when in the holy womb of futurity;-mindful of our
religious and our political FREEDOM-and blessed be their memory
forever! -They spurned the tyranny of Europe,-braved the tempestuous DEEP, landed on our, then howling coasts, and reared, by




22 
their toil and their talents, a hardy race of FREEMEN. But No: —
NO  -What?-Ho!!- Do I hear that?  WHAT? Perish. -Perish the Saxon soul, which has so exhibited human RIGHT like an
honest man in armor? and that has so, at once, beautified and
polished the native roughness of its pride by the rational spirit
of our FREE INSTITUTIONS — proving to the English of the present
day, that we are GAME, without hauteur, and without boast.
Our Eagle perish?  " Hear oh Heavens, and give ear oh Earth!!"
It is IMPOSSIBLE. And perish so soon? It was only in Seventy-Six
that her young scream of INDEPENDENCE was heard,-reverberating
from,hill to hill, and valley to valley, and among the branches of
the high oaks, and mingling with the boomings of the sea! And
anon, her wings grew apace-she became rampant, and by her moral energy swept the plains.and the mountains;-not stooping, nor
stopping, to measure consequences, but mounting high, and higher,
and higher, placing star after star in the heavens. And now to
perish — To lay prostrate; —her divine wings flagged; —her eye
unlustered; her beak uncompressed; her talons forgetting all their.
energy,-at Bunker Hill, at Saratoga, at Monmouth, at Yorktown, and on the mountain waves, where Hull and Decatur conquered, and where Lawrence fell;-and where SHE also, as well
as England, has a " HOME "-She now to lay, prostrate, and spread,
in the mire of our streets, trodden upon and flattened by hostile
hoofs, and crossed, and crushed by the fiery wheels of SEDITION 
Oh, God! if this must be, let thy humble and frail servant speedily depart from this, then, despicable world!
Again I return to the bank: —I have strong, and ALL-SUFFICIENT
constitutional provisions,-and arguments upon these provisions,
to advance in support of a National Bank; but I shall still, for a
while, occupy the broad and nobler grounid,-one that has its
root in FREE GOVERNMENT itself,-in the native sovereignty of a
great free, commercial, enterprising people! And I now ASK this
great, and growing country, if, in view of all their present, and
probable future need of such a banking institution, they are going
to set down forever under the lean, the sterile, the barren, the
depressed, and the degrading dicta that they shall NOT have such
bank?  If the constitution prohibited a bank, that would be a
law to the people, and it would be their glory to obey it. But as
the constitution merely omits to specifically name a bank, in so
many words,-precisely as it omits naming, specifically, many
other things, which are needful to the country, and which have
been done by the government, upon the ground that they were
not PROHIBITED in the constitution, and that they were useful,
I do trust that the People will not sacrifice themselves, their
prosperity, to the wanton and pertinacious determination and
blight of party organization. I say party organization, because
I believe if the people were left to themselves upon this subject,
there would be a very large majority in favor of such bank. Here
then we see the sources of our sacrifices! As the country needs
such bank, I say it is the right and the duty of the people to estab



23
lish one,-even if we look simply to the fact that the constitution
does not prohibit it.  It is objected, in relation to this subject,
that the constitution does not say that CORPORATIONS may be created.  But is it hence to be concluded that the government,-the
people, cannot create a corporation  Did the framers of the constitution undertake to name all that could be done?  By no,means. As suggested before, their business was, mainly, with
certain  things which were'deemed of the most indispensable
consequence,-leaving minor details to the future wants and discretion of the country.  Suppose, in the process of time and
circumstance, which, of course, could not be known by the
framers of the constitution; —for example, a rebellion; and the
enemy, as bitter, and bloody, and terrible, as when the Romans,
led by Titus, were before the great city of the Crucifixion; and
an act of Incorporation for some road, should be found to be
deeply needed; could it not be granted?  Poor government! -
poor country indeed  cannot create a corporation! Why, what
in the world has become of all the political power of the country?
The constitution, the government, have not, it seems, got the
power; for it is not laid down in the constitution.  But the power
must be somewhere! Where is it?  I will say where it is:-it
is in the people; and the people must express their will, through
the government, the great, standing, political Agency, where
they have not already expressed it in the specific terms or inferences of the constitution; and this they ought to do in all matters
which concern the public good, where they have not prohibited
themselves from acting either in the letter or spirit of the instrument.
What was civil society,-what was government instituted for? 
Was it not for the very purpose of public benefit?  Is not this
the end of all government?  And if a corporation will promote
the public benefit, and is not prohibited in the constitution, may
it not be created? Our government cannot create a corporation!cannot do what all other governments do!-cannot do what is
essential to its prosperity!  This is surely a very lame principle,
after having granted so many corporations, and a bank itself for
-forty years continuance.
Look at the State governments again:-no express authority to
grant corporations in their constitutions, and yet thousands are
granted;-banks'; manufacturing companies; turnpike corporations; railroad corporations; bridge corporations; and a countless
number more.  And what is a corporation?  An unlimited and
pernicious power?  No; a beneficial one, and guarded all round
by strict Drovisions of law.  Has it in view the benefit of indi* I would say once for all, that SOCIETY, GOVERNMENT, is EVERY thing that is right
in itself and beneficial, if not PROHIBITED in the Constitution. There is a vast deal
in that word GOVERNMENT. And let no one point to the amendments to the Constitution, reserving to the States respectively what is not granted; for this reservation does not apply at all to the general, domestic, or even foreign relations of the
country, but only to the relations between the respective States and the aggregate
States, represented by the General Government




24
viduals?  No;-it is a mistake; it is the benefit solely of the
public, on which the law acts,-individual benefit being only an
incident, for which the law has no direct and specific concern.
But besides:-corporations are of immense consequence to the
community;-indeed they are indispensable. Every one knows
the vast benefits that have arisen from them. There are many
great enterprises, of high public utility, which one man has not,
excepting very rarely, the means of undertaking. What is to be
done?  Why, let SEVERAL individuals unite their capital and their
efforts. This is precisely what they want to do. They want to
do precisely what old Hercules tells them to do:-he tells them
to put a corporation to the wheels: and they ask the government
to give them an act of incorporation, simply in order that they
may have the facilities and the protection of law,-and the liabilities of law, too,-for they ask you, not only that they may
have the power to sue, but the liability of being sued!
There is no notion that has prevailed throughout the whole
country so crude, so disgracefully ignorant, and so injurious to
the public interests, as this notion against corporations, especially
a National Bank. But this day, it is hoped, has almost wholly
passed away.*
I am now  drawing towards the close of my general train of
reasoning upon the subject of a National Bank, aside from the
constitution itself, excepting so far as regards the all-important
fact that there is noprohibition of a bank in that instrument.
As I have before remarked, I hold this circumstance to be sufficient, in and of itself,-without any provision in the constitution,
to warrant the establishment of a National Bank;-I hold it so
in view of the circumstances, that government is instituted for
the public good; that such bank will promote the public good;
and that there is nothing in such establishment that is contrary
to principle, or contrary to the dictates of religion and morals.
If under all these circumstances we find that the constitution does
not prohibit such bank,-does not intimate aught against it, cannot one be established   Depend upon it, there has been unfair
and foul dealing in the country against this plain right of the
people to a bank. Bold and unwarrantable ground was taken
against the right in the first ifistance,-in the commencement of
the operations of the government;-and the public mind too
readily gave way to it. It is time to recur toJitrst principles in
relation to this subject,-to look back-and to go back to the
first starting point,-and to examine closely, and deeply, and with
a comprehensive view, the grounds and pretentions of those who
have brought forward, and may still keep in the foreground, in
relation to this subject, a question of constitutionality, for the
purpose of fostering the honest prejudices of a portion of the
people against a National Bank, and the dishonest prejudices of
* I abhor what is illogical; and precedent never constitutes principle. But is not
our Fiscal Department, even away back, and all along, by its issues of Treasury
Notes, a sort of BANk-without, too, the limits and guards of banking principles?




25
another portion, and thereby enlist them both on their side, for
personal, selfish, party purposes! I accuse, not now, any particular individual or party;-I advance only a general position.
Look at the instruments of error and of hostility which have
all along been brought to operate against a National Bank, and
we shall see, in her long and steady bearing up against them,and her repeated triumphs, a merit, inherent, radical, which prejudice, and falsehood, and party, should not any longer be allowed
to prostrate. NOBLE institution!-you have your root in commerce, in the bosom of a commercial people,-and you must,and will travel along together. Party ingenuity and bitterness
may still take to itself the affectation of the purest motives-and
sedulously avail itself of the vulgar prejudice, and low-bred fear,
and mistaken and over-wrought patriotism, existing in the country, and all looming up in the haze of a pretended question of
constitutionality in relation to a National Bank; —but they will
not accomplish their object:-the good sense, the moral courage,
and commercial interests of the country will now triumph over
all her enemies.
On the title-page of this work, I have spoken of PUBLIC OPINION.
It is this alone that can steady along and render safe and glorious
this great nation. When I say public opinion, I mean the virtue
and the wisdom of the great bosom of our Republic; to be in
constant exercise, in the every-day walks of life, from our merchant-palaces to the humble dwellings of the honest laboring
man:-And, too, in the Press, where truth and dignity should
adorn so much of talent and genius:-And in the Pulpit, always
to eschew politics, whilst it enjoins rectitude, benevolence, and
piety-the great pillars of a noble State:-And at the Ballotbox, where the citizen will find his first duty, and where every
bad man will be sure to be:-And in our Legislative Halls, where
the sublime figure of the pure, and benificent, and self-sacrificing
Saviour of the world should preside over the varied emblems of
our Liberties:-And with the President, who, whilst he receives
the respectful salutations of friendship and sincerity, is to be remembered at home and in the prayers of all the people.
Belarius trusts that it will be apparent to any one who may do
him the honor, (so he will esteem it,) to read this production, that
all his opinions, and sentiments, and reasoning are perfectly sincere and undisguised. If they were not so, he would never
again be seen among men, but would retire to some secluded
dell, where his better nature might mourn, alone, over the moral
poison within him. Indeed Belarius sails under a flag always
above deck, and open to the winds of Heaven. He is a Democrat, the advocate of free government, and of an unlimited franchise; for although this admits to the polls many too ignorant to
vote understandingly, it may foil sometimes, by accident at least,
the corrupt purposes and influence of some men of property. But
I would have the poll kept free from bribe, and deception, too, by
tha severest penalties of fine, imprisonment, and a bad name.




26
As to Negroes, exclude them from the polls, wholly and forever,
by all means. I do not think unfavorably of the blacks in any,
very particular sense. They have intelligence, and amiability;
and I am pleased with them for many things; and most kindly
regard their welfare and happiness; but they must be kept aside,
and from anything of social familiarity. Even stern manners and
customs sometimes readily slide into the unbecoming and inj urious.
Nothing grows more rapidly than familiarity; and between the
polls and the parlor there may be but a step. The red and white
complexion, and the rich yellow hair of the Coeur de Lion are already
sufficiently contaminated by the Indian and the African. As to an
unlimited white suffrage, I would say, let education, both inside
and outside of letters, abound. Free schools, by day and by night
should be opened for adults of both sexes to learn to read. Here
mothers, as well as fathers, would learn to read themselves, and
then could instruct their children and others around them, in this
first necessity of education. No matter how old scholars may
be. One of the old kings of France did not learn the Alphabet
until he was forty years of age.
I have said I am a Democrat; but no rowdyism, no spoils, no
proscription. If there be, I slide into that noble asylum of integrity and taste, the Whig cause; that cause which, not many
years since, saved the country. I am for POWER, the power of
the laws, and the Courts of Law, and the Government. If despotism under these sacred trusts raises his hydra crest, the Catos
and the Brutii of the land will assuredly see to it!
I ought to say a word of the Abolitionists. They have something of a cause; but they have been ruinously wrong, and may
become accursedly so. The hounds must be kept at bay by the
Stag of the Constitution! They should be wise, in the present
great crisis, or themselves, and the Temple, too, will go, leaving
the country to the triumphant Philistines. They have strength,
but let them not blindly misapply it.*  Let them now be moderate in their requisitions. Let them be contented with the present
state of things, and the natural course of events; they surely have
reason to be. Let them support, and not annoy and shackle the
Administration-the Government. Let them leave off talking,
and writing, and pulpiting; and employ more expensive materials-to their last red copper, and their last drop of blood —to
SAVE THE COUNTRY.
There is another point:-the suspension of the writ of habeas
corpus, by the Government. This to a fiee people is always
painful, but sometimes ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. This is as certain
as that there was once a Judas and an Arnold. Did I deserve to
be at La Fayette. or McHenry, or Warren, I would go thither
voluntarily. Conscience and candor would dictate this; and I
should want to be taken care of as a madman. I utterly opposed
the election of the present administrators of the government, be* Samson brought destruction upon himself, leaving the enemy still powerful.




27
cause, though honest, and good, and able men, I did not approve
of their policy. But they are now the GOVERNMENT; and every
man who is so unfortunate as not to choose to support it, should,
at least, be SHUT UP IN HIS OPINIONS. The doctrine of free speech
and a free press, is admirable as a principle; but it does not apply to an unlimited extent —to a nation beset by all the strategems of TREASON —and struggling for its EXISTENCE. If the administrators of the Government were in error as it regards the
principles upon which they were elected, circumstances, FORCED
upon them  by the South, make them  right now; indeed, make
them the very persons that the liberties-the safety-the EXISTENCE of the country need. This is a manifest PROVIDENCE; for it
may readily be supposed that a different administration would
have left the Free States cold and undecided;-and all would
have become a prey to the.united, subtle, exacting, impudent,
and fiery South. As to the motives of the Administrators of the
Government, in suspending the writ of habeas corpus, how can
it possibly be supposed that their motives are other than pure? I
have no doubt that the suspension of this writ is as painful to
them as it can be to any reasonable and candid man outside of
the administration.
But another point: —the insurrectionary movement of Brown
was a bloody fanaticism; and the Brown pulpit of Beecher
and others, scarcely less so. The vanity of Brown sought martyrdom, and he obtained it; and so would the incumbents of
certain pulpits, but they prefer the cowardly position of impunity,
combined with the applause of unprincipled and weak minded
men. But these things are no justification to the South; and besides, things of this character were not the direct and main causes
of Southern treason, secession, and hostility. These steps were
resolved upon before, and outside of such things.  Nor did the
South contemplate a peaceable or amicable separation; for she
was for years, through Floyd and others, accumulating cannon,
arms, and all other munitions of war; and this state of preparation is what emboldened lHaimond and others in their flourish
about King Cotton.  But this was not all; the South for a long
while before, was sowing the seeds of TREASON in our army and
navy.  It is true these subtle dogs* sent CoMMIssIONERS to the Government-commissioners of PEACE, forsooth! It was not peace,
but a two edged sword; for the TRAITORS, like Judas with his kiss,
knew they would not be received; and they sent them, in order
that their CREATURES in Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri,
and other slave States, where there were many Union men, might
be helped to a blind argument against the administration; and
this motive and purpose, indeed, was to extend to England, and
* Many a Secession hound will snuff and growl at this. But nothing is so appropriate as a word. Let things be called by their right names; a true and full moral
influence demands it. Have not certain blood-hound Leaders barked this sweet
land of peace and love into an uprising of a whole kennel, so that an honest and
quiet Union man is liable to be torn to pieces anywhere at the South?




28
France, and the whole world, to illustrate and justify the amiable
South, against the ferocious and war-loving North. Oh TREASONSOUTHERN treason-the most ungenerous and audacious treason on
record! Thy fruit remained on the tree of MATERNAL patronage,
and on its principal branches, and in the sunny glare of day, until
it was so black with ripeness, than when the innocent moon looked
upon it, with her gentle amazement, it fell upon the earth-a
mass of corruption.
I wish to move softly and kindly towards England. I am a
friend of England. The Eagle loves the Lion and all brave
beasts; but they must keep their paws in the right place and be
civil; and we, on our part, must keep our watch-fires well up.
England has not done right. She has been in haste, and I fear,
for her sake, sincerely, as well as our own. that she was a little too
willing to be unkind. She calls the Rebellion WAR. She called
it WAR whilst Rebellion was in the very down of its fledge. This
step of hers encouraged the Rebellion. War, was it?  Words
are sometimes highly dangerous-indeed, of tremendous import;
they sink into the soul like a cannon ball into a morass. For a
word, the loving Alexander killed his dear friend, Clitus. See!
the British Government first calls the Rebellion WAR. Then,
comes BELLIGERENT.  Then, it might be, RECOGNITION. Then,
perhaps, Alliance, offensive and defensive, with the South. Then,
certainly, WAR-a hundred years war, if need be; unless in the
early interim, there should be a successful descent by France on
the English coast-another battle of H-astings-the 3rd Napoleon
spending his summers at St. James's; and the Empress Eugenie
hers at Osborne.  Then comes the independence of Ireland —
raising St. Patrick from the dead. Then all Canada ours, and up
to the North Pole, which, by the way, is partly ours now, through
the noble daring of Kane, and the heroic enterprise of Hayes.
But still another point;-something special in the NEw  States
that have seceded-led away by older sisters, particularly that
most pernicious one-South Carolina. Some of these new States
were purchased territory, and cherished, built up, loved, lauded,
defended by the UNION; and now they APOSTATIZE-they REVOLT.
Well may the UNION say from holy writ: "I have nourished and
brought up children, but they have rebelled against me:-The
Ox knoweth his owner, and the Ass his master's crib; but Israel
doth not know,-my people do not consider."
And yet another point: —The separation of the States is a moral
IMPOSSIBILITY. A thousand blended tracks and interests, which
now harmonize, but then would conflict;-and more than all, the
great NATIONAL heart, with its pride and proud hopes, forbid it.
Oh, it would prostrate forever that great heart in grief and shame.
We never could shut out pride, and grief, and memory. Human
nature can never wholly crush out its affections. The leopard
must still hold to his spots, and the Ethiop to his ebony. And to
whom would the CAPITOL go? Oh God! this apple of our eye!this proud treasure of our early being, the thought of thee lifts




29
the soul in proud-yea, haughty worship of country. Let our
Flag ever wave from her dome! This is the idol of my soul, and
I never will survive it. But sustained, and rendered triumphant,
I will kiss thy folds,-I will wash out of them, with my tears,
the blood of thy children-both of the North and of the South.
Washington, too!-Dear city! The walls of thy mighty structures
have been soiled by the hurried coming on of our brave and suffering soldiery;-yes, as brave as the noble mothers they left at
home, and many, alas! never to return;-and thy pavements are
broken; and thy avenues are ground up by the wheels of war;
but thou shalt renew thy beauty; and in the meantime, I will
love thee the more for thy wrongs and thy sorrows.
Another point still:-As to the disposition of absconding slaves,
now strangely called "contrabands," I see no difficulty.  1st. We
ought not to capture slaves belonging to Union men. 2d. It would
not be wise to capture slaves belonging to those in arms against
us; for we do not want them, could not well provide for them,
and indeed it would require a tribunal to ascertain with perfect
certainty that they belonged to secessionists. It is true their
owners, if certainly secessionists, deserve to have their slaves
captured, simply as enemies' property, and they are besides liable
to be employed and may be actually employed against us, in
arms even, and certainly may be engaged in raising supplies,
building forts, and manufacturing arms, cannon, powder, and
ball, and bowie-knives, but still the inconveniences of having
them would be greater than the injury of being without them,
as their places in the foregoing particulars could be easily replaced.. 3d. As to slaves that come into our camps, and within
the lines of our armies, let them be retained, and well cared for,
and employed; and by and by it can be determined whether they
belong to Union men or secessionists. If they belong to Union
men, let them be faithfully restored. But if they belong to secessionists, let them be freed forever. As to the disposition of freed
slaves hereafter, let that be attended to at our greater leisure than
at present. And as to the great subject of Slavery itself, let it
stand, as it regards Union men, under the Constitution as heretofore. These Union men are only unfortunate in having their
States secede, and we will not lose sight of sympathy and generosity of character by taking advantage of this circumstance. If
this does not suit the abolitionists, let them know that GOD made
the world, and there is somebody else in it besides themselves.
I would address a word to the WOMEN of the North and West,
upon whom the country so greatly depends in the present mighty
crisis;-demanding a thousand sacrifices. I knew well the brave
mothers of the now daughters and grand-daughters of New Hampshire, my native State; and I saw much, as I travelled, of their candid and generous souls; and also those of Vermont, and New
York, and Pennsylvania, and all the West. Let me say that I have
an exalted opinion, and deep fraternal love of woman. With her is
combined my deepest and truest sentiments of Religion; with her,




30
too, is the spirit of the Arts-the divinely beautiful of Raphael and
of Michael Angelo. The artist looks especially to her for inspiration in the beautiful and the holy. The home of genius is in woman.
She is the mother of sanctity and the graces, and the chosen medium of the Redeemer.  Our love and our estimate of her have
made us all we are, as meri, and as a country, and as a Nation.
And here of the BEING on whom we should humbly depend,
whilst we exert, to the utmost, in behalf of our COUNTRY, every
faculty HE has given us:-I am no Religionist, in the opprobrious
sense of the term, but simply a believer and a communicant. And
I am no sectary; for wherever there is a temple of worship, there I
have no objection to be-be it Protestant or Catholic; Calvinistic
or Universalian. And I here deem it proper, and especially appropriate in these times of amazing affliction, and even in a production ostensibly relating only to finance, but at the same time incidentally connected with the political and social condition of the
country, to present a striking portion of scripture, to wit, the
ninety-first Psalr, —appealing to all; those who are, and those
who I trust are to become, Godly. Part of it is to be understood
literally; and part figuratively, as having relation to our condition and happiness when out of this world, which we are liable
to be called upon to leave at any moment:1. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the MOST HIGH
shall abide under the shadow of the ALMIGHTY.
2. I will say of the LORD, IE is my refuge and my fortress;
my GOD; in Him will I trust.
3. Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler,
and from the noisome pestilence.
4. He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings
shalt thou trust; His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
5. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the
arrow that flieth by day;
6. Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the
destruction that wasteth at noonday.
7. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy
right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
8. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold, and see the reward
of the wicked.
9. Because thou hast made the LORD, who is my refuge, even
the MOST HIGH, thy habitation;
10. There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague
come nigh thy dwelling;
11. For He shall give His Angels charge over thee, to keep
thee in all thy ways;
12. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy
foot against a stone.
13. Thou shalt tread upon the LION and ADDER: the Young
Lion and the DRAGON shalt thou trample under foot.
14. Because Ile hath set Ifs lovn upon me, therefore will I




31
deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my
Irne.
15. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I WILL be
with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him.
16. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.
Here I am about to retire from the public arena for a brief while,
to prepare for the press the second Number of this work, which
>one, as also the then succeeding four Numbers, will be EXCLUSIVELY devoted to a close and logical analysis of the Constitution,
relating to the subject; remarking, by way of apology, for numerous incidental remarks in this Number, that I did not wish to
travel, in my introductory views, beyond the GENERAL PRINCIPLES involved; that these would have occupied too small a space
for a Pamphlet; and that the AMAZING condition of the country is
of all-absorbing importance; and that it also continually forced
itself upon my mind and heart.
And now a parting word-a parting ASPIRATION: May OUR
UNION LIVE FOREVER!!-May the Sun of our glory not go
down until it shall go down with that greater Sun at the final
CONSUMMATION of all things. And even then, may the STARS
and the STRIPES of the adventurous and noble story of our
REVOLUTIONARY FATHERS be the last objects that are seen, when
all the elements of Nature shall dissolve, and melt with fervent
heat; and the skies crisp and roll together as a scroll, amid the
angry symphony of eruptive mountains, and belching seas, and
hurrying and adverse winds, commingling all, with blasted lightning and spent thunder: —Yea, and then-even then, let there be
no COMPROMISE, and no STINT of our UNION. Belarius
weeps for his country; and by his GOD she shall PREVAIL!!:-1At the end of the next Number of this work, Belarius will,
respectfully and deferentially, submit to the public consideration
and judgment a PLAN for a lATIONAL BANK, under which he
thinks the Government would become greatly stronger and more
feared abroad, and the country experience, at home, unexampled
prosperity.