present! We degrade and disgrace ourselves; we degrade and disgrace our constituents and our country. We do not, and cannot organize; and why? Because the clerk of this house, the mere clerk, whom we create, whom we employ, and whose existence depends upon our will, usurps the throne, and sets us, the representatives, the vicegerents of the whole American people, at defiance, and holds us in contempt! And what is this clerk of yours? Is he to control the destinies of sixteen millions of freemen? Is he to suspend, by his mere negative, the functions of government, and put an end to this congress? He refuses to call the roll! It is in your power to compel him to call it, if he will not do it voluntarily." Here he was interrupted by a member, who said that he was authorized to say that compulsion could not reach the clerk, who had avowed that he would resign, rather than call the state of New Jersey. "Well, sir," continued Mr. Adams, "then let him resign, and we may possibly discover some way by which we can get along, without the aid of his all-powerful talent, learning, and genius. If we cannot organize in any other way-if this clerk of

yours will not consent to our discharging the trusts confided to us by our constituents, then let us imitate the example of the Virginia House of Burgesses, which, when the colonial governor, Dinwiddie, ordered it to disperse, refused to obey the imperious and insulting mandate, and, like

men

The multitude could not contain or repress their enthusiasm any longer, but saluted the eloquent and indignant speaker, and intercepted him with loud and deafening cheers, which seemed to shake the capitol to its center. The very Genii of applause and enthusiasm seemed to float in the atmosphere of the hall, and every heart expanded with indescribable pride and exultation. The turmoil, the darkness, the very chaos of anarchy, which had for successive days, pervaded the American congress, was dispelled by the magic, the talismanic eloquence of a single man; and,

once more, the wheels of government and of legislation were put in motion.

Having, by this powerful appeal, brought the yet unorganized assembly to a perception of its real position, he submitted a motion requiring the acting clerk to proceed in calling the roll. This and similar motions had already been made by other members. The difficulty, indeed, was just this, that the clerk declined to entertain them. Accordingly, Mr. Adams immediately interrupted by a burst of voices demanding, "How shall the question be put?" "Who will put the question?" The voice of Mr. Adams was heard above all the tumult, "I intend to put the question myself!" That word brought order out of chaos. There was the master mind.

was

He had not an opportunity to complete the sentence, "those who are not agreed will say no,"-for one universal, deafening, tremendous ay, responded to the nomination.

Hereupon, it was moved and ordered that Hons. Lewis Williams, of North Carolina, and Richard Barnwell Rhett, conduct John Quincy Adams to the chair. And well did Mr. Wise, of Virginia, say to him:

"Sir, I regard it as the proudest hour of your life; and if, when you shall be gathered to your fathers, I were asked to select the words which, in my judgment, are best calculated to give at once the character of the man, I would inscribe upon your tomb this sentence: I intend to put the question myself."

The brave old man lived not only to see the odious "gag rule" rescinded, but to listen to that magnificent speech from one of his colleagues, Dr. Palfrey, on the "inalienable_rights of man," at the conclusion of which, Mr. Adams characteristically exclaimed, "God be praised; the seals are broken; the door is open!"

Dying in his country's capitol, in the midst of his public duties, in February, 1848, his illustrious career shone brightly to the end. As secretary of state under Mr. Monroe, and subsequently as presi

yet formally applied for such renewal, but, being thus pressed upon the attention of congress, it was referred to the committee on finance in both houses for examination; and on the thirtieth of April, 1830, Mr. McDuffie, of the house, made a report on the subject, taking ground directly at variance with the views of the president, arguing that Washington sanctioned and signed its original charter, that it had fulfilled the ends for which it was established, and that expediency and a regard for the public interest would dictate its continuance. The report in the senate concurred with these sentiments. Such was the effect produced by these reports, that the shares of the bank, which, under the effect of the message, had greatly fallen in value, soon reached the very highest figure.

As early as 1832, a memorial was presented to congress by the president and directors of the bank for a renewal of its charter. Soon after, a committee was appointed to investigate the proceedings of the bank. A majority of this committee reported against the bank, principally on the ground of a violation of its charter by illegal transactions; a minority report, however, declared that the affairs of the bank had been administered by Mr. Biddle and the directors, with very great ability, and with perfect fidelity to every obligation; and that, being an institution indispensable to the preservation of a sound currency, and to the financial operations of the government, its downfall would be a great national calamity.

On the tenth of June, the senate passed a bill, by eight majority, favoring the bank, and, shortly after, the house concurred by a majority of twenty-two. This bill was vetoed by the president, who declared it unauthorized by the constitution, subversive of the rights of the states, and dangerous to the liberties of the people. This veto, though not unexpected to the country, was bitterly denounced from one end of the Union to the other, as an act

pregnant with fearful and appalling woes. Such, too, was the political complexion of congress, at this period, that it was impossible to obtain anything like the two-thirds vote requisite to pass a bill over the presidential veto.

The conflict of opinion in regard to the bank,-an institution whose existence and operations naturally affected, for good or ill, every branch of industry, commerce, agriculture, and manufactures, throughout the country,continued, and with increased intensity. All kinds of business had, by means of the vast loans so freely obtained from the bank, in larger or smaller sums, by speculators, become greatly inflated, and especially was this the case with stocks. Jackson, viewing the bank as, in this respect, an unhealthy corporation, and capable, in its dispensation of favors, of being a dangerous political engine, determined to cripple and crush it, and, as an effectual measure to this end, he planned the withdrawal from the bank, of those funds belonging to the government, of which the bank, according to its charter, was the legal depository. During the recess of congress, namely, on the eighteenth of September, 1833, the president read to the cabinet a document advocating and advising a speedy removal of the public treasure deposited with the United States bank,-this treasure constituting, as was well understood, the basis of the bank's credit and operations.

In the document read by the president, on this occasion, he begged the cabinet to consider the measure as his own, and in support of which he should require no one of them to make a sacrifice of opinion or principle. Its responsibility, he assured them, had been assumed by him, after the most mature deliberation and reflection, as necessary to preserve the morals of the people, the freedom of the press, and the purity of the elective franchise. Mr. Duane, at this time secretary of the treasury, disapproved of the proposed removal of the deposites, whereupon he was dismissed from that position, and his place supplied by Roger B. Taney, who at once