It has caused the President's sentiments to be
made known. There is no longer any mystery, no longer a contest between
hope and fear, or between those prophets who predicted a _veto_ and
those who foretold an approval. The bill is negatived; the President has
assumed the responsibility of putting an end to the bank; and the
country must prepare itself to meet that change in its concerns which
the expiration of the charter will produce. Mr. President, I will not
conceal my opinion that the affairs of the country are approaching an
important and dangerous crisis. At the very moment of almost
unparalleled general prosperity, there appears an unaccountable
disposition to destroy the most useful and most approved institutions of
the government. Indeed, it seems to be in the midst of all this national
happiness that some are found openly to question the advantages of the
Constitution itself and many more ready to embarrass the exercise of its
just power, weaken its authority, and undermine its foundations. How
far these notions may be carried, it is impossible yet to say. We have
before us the practical result of one of them. The bank has fallen, or
is to fall.
It is now certain, that, without a change in our public counsels, this
bank will not be continued, nor will any other be established, which,
according to the general sense and language of mankind, can be entitled
to the name. Within three years and nine months from the present moment,
the charter of the bank expires; within that period, therefore, it must
wind up its concerns.
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