The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1837-10-24

crowned with aourishng cities, filled with the nooiess
Of all popuations-if there be man, say una. eau
witness al this passing under his very eyes, "hhou,
feeling his heart beat high. and his Imagination wareu
and transported by it, be sure, SIR, that he raPtufes
Of song exist not for him-he would listen IN VAIN 10
Tasso or Camoens, telling tale oil the wars OF
knights and crusaders OF the discovery and conquest
Of another hemisphere,
Sir thinking as do of these things-not doubling
for moment the infinite superiority OF our race ~
every thing that relates refined and well ordefea
public economy and in all the means aud ihs'iu
ments of a high social improvement Il strikes me -
of all paradoxes the most singular, 70 neai - Re-
examples seriously proposed for our mitalion IN she
very matters wherein that superiority mas eysI aP-
peared to me 10 be most unquestiohaoie me Ie'
lection has occurred to me thousand ilnes III va
yelling over the continent Oh EUROPE, % PasSi;a
through filthy i'll paved villages through towns IN
which there Is no appearance OF an improvement
having been made since the Reformation, as nave
looked al the wretched howell OF the poor peasant OF
artiZan, seen him at his laoors WIN MS euissi,
implements and coarse gear-whai change Woula
take place in the whole aspect OF the country, II u
were 10 fall into the hands Of Americans for single
generationl ".-",
But is paper money and the credit SYSTEM alone
that have achieved all these wonders I! do moi say
So sir; but can you say, any one presume 70 say
that they have not done much OF all THIS + KNOW
that the cardinal spring and source oil our success 10
decentralization with the peculiar character .lat
belongs to it in our race-reedom OF thought, iree
dom OF speech--freedom Of action, freedom OF com
merce freedom not merely from the expressions,
but from those undue restraints and tha imperiheht
interference of government IN the interests properly
belonging to individuals which stand an Inc way OF
all Improvement in the nations OF conllnehal Eu-
rope II is this vital principle, The animatihg eie-
ment of social equality, tempered and soDered Dy
profound respect for the authority oil The laws anu
for the rights of Others and acting upon hat oiher
prominent characteristic Of the Anglo Norman race,
the strong instinct of property, with the personal mae
pendence and personal comfort that belong 70 It
that explains our unrivalled aud astonishing pro-
gress. But of this rational, dihuslve liberty,
among people SO intelligent as ours tue credit Sys
TEN is the natural fruit the inseparable companion
the necessary means and instrument II Is part ana
parcel of our existence whoever heard Of cieait III
a despotisin or an anarchy Ii implies confidence
confidence in yourself, confidence in your neighbor
confidence in your government, confidence IN inc
administration of the laws confidence In the sagacl-
ty, the integrity the discretion OF those WIN Whohi
YOU have to deal confidence, in word, IN your
destiny and your fortune, in the destlnles and me
fortune of the country to which you belong; as Tor
instance, in the case of great national debt IL IS
the fruit say of all that is most precious IN ciSl
lied life and to quarrel with il is TO be ungrateful
to God for some OF the greatest blessings he mas
vouchsafed TO man. Compare Asia with Europe;
boarding has been the usage of the former from time
immemorial, because 1t is slavish, oppressed ana
barblrouS and ii is curious TO see the eject OF En-
glish laws in breaking up Gas they are dong that
system in Hindooston Depend upon 1t, SIR, all such
ideas are utterly alien to our way OF thnkrs-to all
the habtudes of our people, and all the interests OF
the country. My friends from beyond the mountains
are familiar with the great principle, the magical
effect of credit in young andprogressive country
They know what miracles are wrought by small
advance of money TO enable enterprise and industry
to bring into cultivation virgin soil. They know
how the treasures of its unwon fertility enable
them to pay off loan of that sort with usurious in
terest, and make them proprieors OF estates rising
in value with the lapse of every moment. Compare
the great Western country now, with what it was
twenty years ago,-sell it sub hasta-and compute,
if the powers of arithmetic will enable you to do so,
the augmentation of its riches Sir, this Is one Of
the phenomena of our situation to which attention
has hardly ever been called-the manner in which
the increase of population acts upon the value
of property. To be struck with the prodigious re-
suits produced in this simple way, you have only to
compare the estimated taxable property in PennSyl-
vania and New York, when il was returned for di-
rect taxation in 49, with the returns OF the same pro-
perry for the same purpose in 1913 after an interval
Of only Ii yearst-you will see how 1t is that our
people have been enriched by debt, and by owing
owe not"-how with balance of payments almost
continually against them from the first settlement OF
the country, they have grown in riches beyond all
precedent or parallel.-You will appreciate all the
blessings of the credit SyStem-and imagine perhaps,
how this wonderful progress could have been inn
peded and embarrassed BY the difficulties of metal
lie circulation.t
But the fluctuations of the currency-the ruinous
irregularities of bank paper! Why, sir, have al
ready shown they belong to commerce itself, not to
the means which il employs, and that there is no
remedy for them. But, after ALL what is the sum OF
the evil? Look again at general results. 1 ell me
not that reactions produce fewer disasters, or less
extensive arrangements of business and circulation
in countries whose money is principally metallic
1t may be so; but what does that prove IL you
soar you will be in no danger OF falling, Ger
tainly-but then, -..
Script humi TITUS minimum timidus que procellG.
go-cart may b, very safe contrvance for the
tottering footsteps Of infancy-bu is it thus that
manly vgor is to be trained for the dust and heat of
the Olympic race Sir, ii is the condition OF all that
is grand and awakening in nature, to be somewhat
wild and irregular. In the moral world, especially,
peril and difficulty the price which Providence
exacts of us for all great excellence, and all eminent
1t is in struggling with them that the heroic
virtues which elevate and purify humanity, are
called forth and disciplined; and it is precisely be-
cause our people have been trained in that stern
school, that they have effected more, and are now
able TO effect more, with equal means, than any other
in the world Sir IL IS not our currency only that 1t is
obnoxious to the impuation Of irrcgulary. What
is democracy popular government itself? How often
has it fallen to my lot to defend il by the very CON
sidcratons which | now urge on kindred topic,
when foreigners have spoken to me of the disorders
that have occasionally checquered our history.
When they exaggerated the importance of such
events have reminded them that all human inSti-
tuons must have heirimpertections; and that ii is
by their general effects in a long course OF eXpe-
rience, not BY occasional accidents however Strik-
ing and important, that they to b. judged. That
the absence of restraint which leads to occasional
RIGHTEOUSNESS, fosters that bold, robust energetic,
and adventurous spirit and that habit Of naughty self
reliance, and independent judgment, which the very
soul of republican government which have rendered
that form Of government wherever it has existed,
lustrlous for heroic achievements and has made every
Of 5cr,y in the history Of mankind, even in its
most imperfect form, Of hourIshng prosperity aud
progress SIR, such people, has been said Of beings
of higher order, live throughout vital in every part"
All head they live, all heart, all eye, all ear,
All intellect, all seuse
This is the great secret Of our superiority, and Of that
of every free peopc-not the forms Of a constitution
not the outlines OF a system, not organizaon--but
the principle ofhfc the apcrvadmg animation and vital
ity that informs the whole body polite and gives the
warmth. and srength and actvlty-the winning graces