have called upon us for, that of a National Bank, and a sound and uniform currency has been the most loudly and importunately demanded. The Senator says that the question of a Bank was not the issue made before the people at the late election. I can say, for one, my own conviction is diametrically the contrary. What may have been the character of the canvass in Virginia, I will not say; probably gentlemen on both sides were, every where governed in some degree by considerations of local policy. What issues may therefore have been presented to the people of Virginia, either above or below tide-water, I am not prepared to say. The great error, however, of the honorable Senator is in thinking that the sentiments of a particular party in Virginia are always a fair exponent of the sentiments of the whole Union. I can tell that Senator that wherever I was—in the great valley of the Mississippi-in Kentucky-in Tennessee-in Maryland-in all the circles in which I moved every where, "Bank or no Bank" was the great, the leading, the vital question. At Hanover, in Virginia, during the last summer, at one of the most remarkable and respectable, and gratifying assemblages that I ever attended, I distinctly announced my conviction that a Bank of the United States was indispensable. As to the opinions of General Harrison, I know that, like many others, he had entertained doubts as to the constitutionality of a Bank; but I also know that, as the election approached, his opinions turned more in favor of a National Bank; and I speak from my own personal knowledge of his opinions, when I say that I have no more doubt he would have signed that bill, than that you, Mr. President, now occupy that chair, or that I am addressing you.

I rose not to say one word which should wound the feelings of President Tyler. The Senator says that, if placed in like circumstances, I would have been the last man to avoid putting a direct veto upon the bill, had it met my disapprobation; and he does me the honor to attribute to me high qualities of stern and unbending intrepidity. I hope that in all that relates to personal firmness-all that concerns a just appreciation of the insignificance of human life-whatever may be attempted to threaten or alarm a soul not easily swayed by opposition, or awed or intimidated by menace-a stout heart and a steady eye that can survey, unmoved and undaunted, any mere personal perils that assail this poor transient, perishing frame, I may without disparagement compare with other men. But, there is a sort of courage, which, I frankly confess it, I do not pos

sess- -a boldness to which I dare not aspire, a valor which I cannot covet. I cannot lay myself down in the way of the welfare and happiness of my country. That I cannot, I have not the courage to do. I cannot interpose the power with which I may be invested, a power conferred not for my personal benefit, nor for my aggrandizement, but for my country's good, to check her onward march to greatness and glory. I have not courage enough, I am too cowardly for that. I would not, I dare not, in the exercise of such a trust, lie down, and place my body across the path that leads my country to prosperity and happiness. This is a sort of courage widely different from that which a man may display in his private conduct and personal rela tions. Personal or private courage is totally distinct from that higher and nobler courage which prompts the patriot to offer himself a voluntary sacrifice to his country's good.

Nor did I say, as the Senator represents, that the President should have resigned. I intimated no personal wish or desire that he should resign. I referred to the fact of a memorable resignation in his public life. And what I did say was, that there were other alternatives before him besides vetoing the bill; and that it was worthy of his consideration whether consistency did not require that the example which he had set when he had a constituency of one state, should not be followed when he had a constituency commensurate with the whole Union. Another alternative was to suffer the bill, without his signature, to pass into a law under the provisions of the constitution. And I must confess I see, in this, no such escaping by the back door, ho such jumping out of the window, as the Senator talks about. Apprehensions of the imputation of the want of firmness sometimes impel us to perform rash and inconsiderate acts. It is the greatest courage to be able to bear the imputation of the want of courage. But pride, vanity, egotism, so unamiable and offensive in private life, are vices which partake of the character of crimes in the conduct of public affairs. The unfortunate victim of these passions cannot see beyond the little, petty, contemptible circle of his own personal interests. All his thoughts are withdrawn from his country, and concentrated on his consistency, his firmness, himself. The high, the exalted, the sublime emotions of a patriotism, which soaring towards heaven, rises far above all mean, low, or selfish things, and is absorbed by one soul-transporting thought of the good and the glory of one's country are never felt in his impenetrable bosom. That pa

triotism which, catching its inspirations from the immortal God, and leaving at an immeasurable distance below all lesser, groveling, personal interests and feelings, animates and prompts to deeds of selfsacrifice, of valor, of devotion, and of death itself—that is public virtue-that is the noblest, the sublimest of all public virtues!

I said nothing of any obligation on the part of the President to conform his judgment to the opinions of the Senate and House of Representatives, although the Senator argued as if I had, and persevered in so arguing, after repeated corrections. I said no such thing. I know and respect the perfect independence of each department, acting within its proper sphere of other departments. But I referred to the majorities in the two Houses of Congress as further and strong evidence of the opinion of the people of the United States in favor of the establishment of a Bank of the United States. And I contended that, according to the doctrine of instructions which prevailed in Virginia, and of which the President is a disciple, and in pursuance of the example already cited, he ought not to have rejected the bill.

I have heard that, on his arrival at the seat of the general government, to enter upon the duties of the office of Vice President, in March last, when interrogated how far he meant to conform in his new station, to certain peculiar opinions which were held in Virginia, he made this patriotic and noble reply: "I am Vice President of the United States, and not of the State of Virginia; and I shall be govern ed by the wishes and opinions of my constituents." When I heard of this encouraging and satisfactory reply, believing, as I most religiously do, that a large majority of the people of the United are in favor of a National Bank, (and gentlemen may shut their eyes to the fact, deny or dispute, or reason it away as they please, but it is my conscientious conviction that two-thirds, if not more, of the people of the United States desire such an institution) I thought I beheld a sure and certain guaranty for the fulfilment of the wishes of the people of the United States. I thought it impossible that the wants and wishes of a great people, who had bestowed such unbounded and generous confidence, and conferred on him such exalted honors, should be disregarded and disappointed. It did not enter into my imagination to conceive that one who had shown so much deference and respect to the presumed sentiments of a single state, should display less toward the sentiments of the whole nation.

I hope, Mr. President, that, in performing the painful duty which had devolved on me, I have not transcended the limits of legitimate debate. I repeat, in all truth and sincerity, the assurance to the Senate and to the country, that nothing but a stern, reluctant, and indispensable sense of honor and of duty could have forced from me the response which I have made to the President's objections. But instead of yielding without restraint to the feelings of disappointment and mortification excited by the perusal of his message, I have anxiously endeavored to temper the notice of it, which I have been compeiled to take, by the respect due to the office of Chief Magistrate. and by the personal regard and esteem which I have ever entertained for its present incumbent.

*HH

ON A TRUE PUBLIC POLICY.

IN THE SENATE Of the United States, March 4, 1842.

[On the 25th of February, Mr. CLAY, in anticipation of his retirement from public life, submitted to the Senate Resolutions indicative of the line of policy upon which, in his judgment, the Federal Government should be conducted. These Resolutions coming up for consideration, Mr. CLAY spoke as follows:

MR. PRESIDENT :-The resolutions which are to form the subject of the present discussion, are of the greatest importance, involving interests of the highest character, and a system of policy which, in my opinion, lies at the bottom of any restoration of the prosperity of the country. In discussing them, I would address myself to you in the language of plainness, of soberness, and truth. I did not come here as if I were entering a garden full of flowers and of the richest shrubbery, to cull the tea-roses, the japonicas, the jasmines and wood bines, and weave them into a garland of the gayest colors, that by the beauty of the assortment and by their fragance I may gratify fair ladies. Nor is it my wish-it is far, far from my wish-to revive any subjects of a party character, or which might be calculated to renew the animosities which unhappily have hitherto prevailed between the two great political parties in the country. My course is far different from this, it is to speak to you of the sad condition of our country; to point out not the remote and original, but the proximate, the mmediate causes which have produced and are likely to continue our distresses, and to suggest a remedy. If any one, in or out of the Senate, has imagined it to be my intention on this occasion to indulge in any ambitious display of language, to attempt any rhetorical flights, or to deal in any other figures than figures of arithmetic, he will find himself greatly disappointed. The farmer, if he is a judicious man, does not begin to plough till he has first laid off his land, and marked it off at proper distances by planting stakes by which his ploughmen are to be guided in their movements; and the ploughman accordingly fixes his eye upon the stake opposite to the end of the