ure in which they now did. The disease arose in time of war-the war had subsided, but left the disease, which it was now in the power of Congress to eradicate—but, if they did not now exercise the power, they would become abettors of a state of things which was of vital consequence to public morality, as he showed by various illustrations. He called upon the house, as guardians of the public weal, of the health of the body politic which depended on the public morals, to interpose against a state of things which was inconsistent with either. He appealed to the house, too, as the guardians of public and private faith. In what manner, he asked, were the public contracts fulfilled? In gold and silver, in which the government had stipulated to pay? No; in paper issued by these institutions; in paper greatly depreciated; in paper depreciated from five to twenty per cent. below the currency in which the government had contracted to pay, &c. He added another argument the inequality of taxation, in consequence of the state of the circulating medium, which, notwithstanding the taxes were laid with strict regard to the constitutional provision for their equality, made the people in one section of the Union pay perhaps one fifth more of the same tax than those in another. The constitution having given Congress the power to remedy these evils, they were, he contended, deeply responsible for their continuance.

The evil he desired to remedy, Mr. C. said, was a deep one; almost incurable, because connected with public opinion, over which banks have a great control—they have, in a great measure, a control over the press; for proof of which he referred to the fact, that the present wretched state of the circulating medium had scarcely been denounced by a single paper within the United States. The derangement of a circulating medium, he said, was a joint thrown out of its socket; let it remain for a short time in that state, and the sinews will be so knit, that it cannot be replaced-apply the remedy soon, and it is an operation easy though painful. The evil grows, whilst the resistance to it becomes weak; and, unless checked at once, will become irresistible. Mr. C. concluded the speech of which the above is a mere outline, which the imagination of the reader must fill up, by observing, that he could have said much more on this important subject, but he knew how difficult it was to gain the attention of the house to long addresses.

The foregoing is, indeed, but a meagre sketch of

Mr. Calhoun's speech, yet it will suffice to show his position at that period. The question of the constitutionality of a national bank he did not consider. He seems to have regarded it as a settled one, and advocated the incorporation of a bank as a matter of necessity and expediency,—as "the only adequate resource," in the language of President Madison, "to relieve the country and the government from the present embarrassment." It was necessary, to enable the government to provide a constitutional currency for the people, and highly expedient as one of the features in a general system of preparation against the manifold evils arising out of a state of war from which the country had just escaped.

Mr. Calhoun defended the bill throughout the whole debate with great ability, and it finally passed the House on the 14th of March, 1816, by a vote of 80 to 71, his name being recorded in favor of its passage The bill likewise received a favorable vote in the Senate, and being approved by the President, became the law of the land.

CHAPTER V.

Changes in Politics-Consistency of Mr. Calhoun-Resolution of 1816— The Direct Tax-Speech-Tariff Act of 1816-Views of Mr. Calhoun -Principle of the Law-The Military Academy-The Compensation Act-Temporary Displeasure of his Constituents -Internal Improvements-Veto of Mr. Madison.

How true is it that there are no absolute rules in politics, that the occasion often serves to establish the principle, rather than the principle to govern the occasion.

Truth has no attribute-not her simplicity nor her beauty-more lovely than her consistency with herself. Her principles are unchanging and unchangeable,—

"The eternal years of God are hers!"

The great laws of Nature endure forever; they are permanent and as immovable as He who established them. The earth and its sister orbs, although ages have elapsed since the period of their creation, continue to move on in the courses to which they have been accustomed from the beginning. The bow of promise displays the same gorgeous colors, as when it first broke, like some blessed vision, on the raptured gaze of Noah and his family. One season is succeeded by another, in the appointed order. The storm alternates with the sunshine, the flower blossoms and per

ishes, and life and vigor are followed by decrepitude and decay; yet all is in accordance with a system, a harmony, and a law.

But whatever bears the impress of humanity, or is of human invention, is constantly altering its character, and presenting itself in some new shape or appearance. Two spirits-the spirit of preservation and the spirit of destruction-are continually warring against each other. Conservatism and Progress, like the good and the bad angel, are ever striving for the ascendency; the former clinging with tenacity to whatsoever the past has hallowed, and the latter gaining ground inch by inch and foot by foot. Things old and venerable are every day being supplanted by strange inventions. "Revolution" is not merely the impressive catch-word of the Frondeur or the rebel, and designed to arouse the oppressed to resistance; its influence is everywhere visible, and is everywhere felt. Innovation is not now confined to powder, wigs, curls, hoops, and the thousand and ten thousand appendages which have been invented by fashion, sometimes to make up for the deficiencies of the outer man and the outer woman, but oftener to mar and spoil the fair proportions of the Almighty's handiwork :—it is a governing, and a controlling power, in the court and in the cabinet; it rules in the humble cottage of the laborer and in the splendid mansion of the millionaire; it presides in the ball-room and at the fête, in the councilchamber and at the political convention; it is with the farmer at his plough, the artisan in his workshop, the beauty at her toilet, the scholar in his study, the judge on the bench, and the statesman in his closet.

"Times change and men change with them"-is, if anything, truer at this day than it was nineteen hundred years ago. It is very common to decry politicians who act from motives of expediency,-entirely regardless of the fact that there are two classes of such motives, the one base and selfish, and the other honorable and praiseworthy. He cannot be a just, or an enlightened statesman, who adheres to ancient forms and precedents, indifferent to the age in which he lives, and to the circumstances by which he is surrounded. A great principle, indeed, is too important to be idly sacrificed, yet it may be made to conform to the changes daily taking place in the condition and in the relations of men, without sacrificing any portion of its spirit. Hence, it is not to be regretted, that there are no absolute rules in politics; and the statesman who feels compelled by the force of causes which he cannot control, to alter the system of policy which he has advocated, or to substitute one measure for another which he has favored, though still watching closely the principles, which, as beacon lights, have guided his course, deserves far more of honor than of censure.

Few among modern statesmen, have maintained a higher character for consistency than Mr. Calhoun. As has been remarked, he set aside the question of the constitutionality of a national bank, when the subject was first presented to him, and advocated the establishment of such an institution, in order to put an end to the suspension of specie payments, and to restore to the people the national currency--that of gold and silver-alone recognized by the constitution, of which they had been for years deprived. He never lost sight