AN attack is made on the credit and inſtitution of the Bank of North-America. Whether this attack is juſtified by the principles of law and ſound policy, is a natural ſubject of enquiry. The enquiry is as neceſſary and intereſting, as it is natural: For, though ſome people repreſent the Bank as injurious and dangerous, while others conſider it as ſalutary and beneficial, to the community, all view it as an object of high importance; deſerving and demanding the public attention.

IN the inveſtigation of this ſubject, it will be requiſite to diſcuſs ſome great and leading queſtions concerning the conſtitution of the United States, and the relation, which ſubſiſts between them and each particular State in the union. Perhaps it is to be wiſhed that this diſcuſſion had not been rendered neceſſary; and that thoſe queſtions had reſted ſome time longer among the arcana imperii: But they are now preſented to the public; and the public ſhould view them with firmneſs, with impartiality, and with all the ſolicitude befitting ſuch a momentous occaſion.

A GENTLEMAN, Vide the preface to the Statement of the accounts of the United States. who had the beſt opportunities of obſerving, and who poſſeſſes the beſt talents for judging on the ſubject, informs his fellow-citizens officially, that it may be not only aſſerted, but demonſtrated, that, without the eſtabliſhment of the National Bank, the buſineſs of the department of finance could not have been performed in the late war.

THE Millennium is not yet come. War, with all the horrors and miſeries in his train, may re-viſit us. The finances may again be deranged: Public credit may, again, be at an end: No means may be afforded adequate to the public expences. Is it wiſe or politic to deprive our country, in ſuch a ſituation, of a reſource, which happy experience has ſhewn to be of ſuch eſſential importance? Will the citizens of the United States be encouraged to embark their fortunes on a ſimilar bottom in a future war, by ſeeing the veſſel, which carried us ſo ſucceſsfully through the laſt, thrown aſide, like an uſeleſs hulk, upon the return of peace?

IT will not be improper to recall to our remembrance the origin, the eſtabliſhment, and the proceedings of the Bank of North-America.

IN May, 1781, the Superintendant of Finance laid before Congreſs a plan of a Bank. On the 26th of that month Congreſs paſſed the following reſolution concerning it.

"RESOLVED, That Congreſs do approve of the plan for eſtabliſhing a National Bank in theſe United States, ſubmitted to their conſideration by Mr. Robert Morris, the 17th May, 1781, and that they will promote and ſupport the ſame by ſuch ways and means, from time to time, as may appear neceſſary for the inſtitution, and conſiſtent with the public good.

"THAT the ſubſcribers to the ſaid Bank SHALL BE INCORPORATED, agreeably to the principles and terms of the plan, under the name of the Preſident, Directors and Company of the Bank of North-America, ſo ſoon as the ſubſcription ſhall be filled, the Directors and Preſident choſen, and application made to CONGRESS for that purpoſe, by the Preſident and Directors elected.

"RESOLVED, That it be recommended to the ſeveral States, by proper laws for that purpoſe, to provide that no other Bank or Bankers ſhall be eſtabliſhed or permitted within the ſaid States reſpectively during the war.

"RESOLVED, That the notes hereafter to be iſſued by the ſaid Bank, payable on demand, ſhall be receivable in payment of all taxes, duties and debts, due or that may become due or payable to the United States.

"RESOLVED, That Congreſs will recommend to the ſeveral legiſlatures to paſs laws, making it felony without benefit of clergy, for any perſon to counterfeit Bank Notes, or to paſs ſuch notes, knowing them to be counterfeit; alſo making it felony without benefit of clergy, for any Preſident, Inſpector, Director, Officer or servant of the Bank, to convert any of the property, money or credit of the ſaid Bank to his own uſe, or in any other way to be guilty of fraud or embezzlement, as officers or ſervants of the Bank."

UNDER theſe reſolutions a ſubſcription was opened for the National Bank: This ſubſcription was not confined to Pennſylvania: The citizens of other States truſted their property to the public faith; and before the end of December, 1781, the ſubſcription was filled, "from an expectation of a charter of incorporation from Congreſs." Application was made to Congreſs by the Preſident and Directors, then choſen, for an act of incorporation. "The EXIGENCIES of the United States rendered it indiſpenſably neceſſary that ſuch an act ſhould be immediately paſſed." See the act in the appendix. Congreſs▪ at the ſame time that they PASSED the act of incorporation, RECOMMENDED to the legiſlature of each State, to paſs ſuch laws as they might judge neceſſary for giving its ordinance its full operation, agreeably to the true intent and meaning thereof, and according to the recommendations contained in the reſolution of the 26th day of May preceding.

THE Bank immediately commenced its operations. Its ſeeds were ſmall, but they were vigorous. The ſums paid in by individuals upon their ſubſcriptions did not amount, in the whole, to ſeventy thouſand dollars. The ſum inveſted by the United States, in bank ſtock, amounted to ſomething more than two hundred and fifty thouſand dollars: But this ſum may be ſaid to have been paid in with one hand and borrowed with the other; and before the end of the firſt three months farther ſums were advanced to the United States, and an advance was made to this State. See in the appendix the different ſums advanced to this ſtate. Beſides, numerous accommodations were afforded to individuals. Little was it then imagined that the Bank would ever be repreſented as unfriendly to circulation. It was viewed as the ſource and as the ſupport of credit, both private and public: As ſuch, it was hated and dreaded by the enemies of the United States: As ſuch, it was loved and foſtered by their friends.

PENNSYLVANIA, diſtinguiſhed on numerous occaſions by her faithful and affectionate attachment to foederal principles, embraced, in the firſt ſeſſion of her legiſlature after the eſtabliſhment of the Bank, the opportunity of teſtifying her approbation of an act, which had been found to be indiſpenſably neceſſary. Harmonizing with the ſentiments and recommendations of the United States, the Aſſembly paſſed an act,18th March, 1782. "for preventing and puniſhing the counterfeiting of the common ſeal, bank bills and bank notes, of the Preſident, Directors and Company of the Bank of North-America." In the preamble to this act, which, according to the conſtitution of this ſtate, expreſſes the reaſons and motives for paſſing it, the "NECESSITY" of taking "EFFECTUAL meaſures for preventing and puniſhing frauds and cheats which may be put upon the Preſident, Directors and Company of the BANK of NORTH-AMERICA," is explicitly DECLARED by the legiſlature.

THE ſentiments and conduct of other ſtates, reſpecting the eſtabliſhment of the National Bank by Congreſs, were ſimilar to thoſe of Pennſylvania. The General Aſſembly of Rhode-Iſland and Providence Plantations January Seſſions, 1782. made it felony, without benefit of Clergy, "to counterfeit any note or notes iſſued, or to be iſſued, from the Bank of North-America, as approved and ESTABLISHED by the United States in Congreſs aſſembled." The ſtate of Connecticut enacted,10th January, 1782. that a tax ſhould be laid, payable in money, or "notes iſſued by the Directors of the National Bank, ESTABLISHED by an ordinance of the United States in Congreſs aſſembled." By a law of Maſſachuſetts, the ſubſcribers to the National Bank, approved of by the United States, were "incorporated, on the behalf of that commonwealth, by the name of the Preſident, Directors and Company of the Bank of North-America, according to the terms of the ORDINANCE TO INCORPORATE THE SAID SUBSCRIBERS, paſſed by the United States in Congreſs aſſembled on the thirty-firſt day of December, 1781." The ſame law further enacts, "that all notes or bills, which have been or ſhall be iſſued by, for, or in the name of the ſaid Preſident, Directors and Company, and payable on demand, ſhall be receivable in the payment of all taxes, debts and duties, due or that may become due, or payable to, or for account of, the ſaid United States." In the preamble of this law, the legiſlature declares that "a National Bank is of great ſervice, as well to the public as to individuals."

THE Preſident and Directors of the Bank had a delicate and a difficult part to act. On one hand, they were obliged to guard againſt the malice and exertions of their enemies: On the other, it was incumbent on them to ſooth the timidity of ſome of their friends. The credit of a Bank, as well as all other credit, depends on opinion. Opinion, whether well or ill founded, produces, in each caſe, the ſame effects upon conduct. Some thought that an act of incorporation from the legiſlature of this ſtate would be beneficial; none apprehended that it could ever be hurtful to the National Bank. Prudence, therefore, and a diſpoſition, very natural in that ſeaſon of doubt and diffidence, to gratify the ſentiments, and even the prejudices, of ſuch as might become ſubſcribers or cuſtomers to the Bank, directed an application to the Aſſembly for "a charter, ſimilar to that granted by the United States in Congreſs aſſembled." But tho' the Directors were willing to avail themſelves of encouragement from every quarter, they meant not to relinquiſh any of their rights, or to change the foundation on which they reſted. They made their application in their corporate character. Their letter to the Preſident of the Supreme Executive Council, on this occaſion, is in the appendix. They expreſly mentioned to the Aſſembly, that the United States in Congreſs aſſembled had granted to the Bank a charter of incorporation, and that the inſtitution was to be carried on under THEIR IMMEDIATE AUSPICES. The legiſlature thought that it was proper and reaſonable to grant1ſt April, 1782. the requeſt of the Preſident and Directors of the Bank of North-America; and aſſigned, as a reaſon for the act, "that the United States in Congreſs aſſembled, from a conviction of the ſupport which the finances of the UNITED STATES would receive from the eſtabliſhment of a NATIONAL BANK, paſſed an ordinance to incorporate the ſubſcribers for this purpoſe, by the name and ſtile of the Preſident, Directors and Company of the Bank of North-America."

THE firſt clauſe of the law enacts, that "thoſe who are, and thoſe who ſhall become ſubſcribers to the ſaid Bank, be, and FOR EVER HEREAFTER SHALL BE, a corporation and body politic, to all intents and purpoſes."

IT is further enacted, that "the ſaid corporation be, and ſhall be for ever hereafter, able and capable in law to do and execute all and ſingular matters and things, that to them ſhall or may appertain to do."

To ſhow, in the moſt ſtriking light, the kind ſentiments of the legiſlature towards the inſtitution, it is further enacted, that "this act ſhall be conſtrued and taken moſt favourably and beneficially for the ſaid corporation."

ON theſe facts and proceedings, two queſtions of much national importance preſent themſelves to our view and examination.

I. IS THE Bank of North America legally and conſtitutionally inſtituted and organiſed, by the charter of incorporation granted by the United States in Congreſs aſſembled?

II. WOULD it be wiſe or politic in the legiſlature of Pennſylvania, to revoke the charter which it has granted to the inſtitution?

THE diſcuſſion of theſe two queſtions will naturally lead us to the proper concluſions concerning the VALIDITY and the UTILITY of the Bank.

I. HAD the United States in Congreſs aſſembled a legal and conſtitutional power to inſtitute and organiſe the Bank of North-America, by a charter of incorporation?

THE objection, under this head, will be—that the articles of confederation expreſs all the powers of Congreſs, that in thoſe articles no power is delegated to that body to grant charters of incorporation, and that, therefore, Congreſs poſſeſs no ſuch power.

IT is true, that, by the ſecond article of the confederation, "each State retains its ſovereignty, freedom and independence, and every power, juriſdiction and right, which is not, by the confederation, expreſly delegated to the United States in Congreſs aſſembled."

IF, then, any or each of the States poſſeſſed, previous to the confederation, a power, juriſdiction or right, to inſtitute and organiſe, by a charter of incorporation, a Bank for North-America; in other words—commenſurate to the United States; ſuch power, juriſdiction and right, unleſs expreſly delegated to Congreſs, cannot be legally or conſtitutionally exerciſed by that body.

BUT, we preſume, it will not be contended, that any or each of the States could exerciſe any power or act of ſovereignty extending over all the other States, or any of them; or, in other words, incorporate a Bank, commenſurate to the United States.

THE conſequence is, that this is not an act of ſovereignty, or a power, juriſdiction or right, which, by the ſecond article of the confederation, muſt be expreſly delegated to Congreſs, in order to be poſſeſſed by that body.

IF, however, any perſon ſhall contend that any or each of the States can exerciſe ſuch an extenſive power or act of ſovereignty as that above mentioned; to ſuch perſon we give this anſwer—The State of Maſſachuſetts has exerciſed ſuch power and act: It has incorporated the Bank of North-America. But to purſue my argument.

THOUGH the United States in Congreſs aſſembled derive from the particular States no power, juriſdiction or right, which is not expreſly delegated by the confederation, it does not thence follow, that the United States in Congreſs have no other powers, juriſdiction or rights, than thoſe delegated by the particular States.

THE United States have general rights, general powers, and general obligations, not derived from any particular States, nor from all the particular States, taken ſeparately; but reſulting from the union of the whole: And, therefore, it is provided, in the fifth article of the confederation, that for the more convenient management of the GENERAL INTERESTS OF THE UNITED STATES, delegates ſhall be annually appointed to meet in Congreſs.

To many purpoſes, the United States are to be conſidered as one undivided, independent nation; and as poſſeſſed of all the rights, and powers, and properties, by the law of nations incident to ſuch.

WHENEVER an object occurs, to the direction of which no particular ſtate is competent, the management of it muſt, of neceſſity, belong to the United States in Congreſs aſſembled. There are many objects of this extended nature. The purchaſe, the ſale, the defence, and the government of lands and countries, not WITHIN ANY State, are all included under this deſcription. An inſtitution for circulating paper, and eſtabliſhing its credit over the whole United States, is naturally ranged in the ſame claſs.

THE act of independence was made before the articles of confederation. This act declares, that "theſe UNITED Colonies," (not enumerating them ſeparately) "are free and independent States; and that, as free and independent States, THEY have full power to do all acts and things which independent States may, of right, do."

THE confederation was not intended to weaken or abridge the powers and rights, to which the United States were previouſly entitled. It was not intended to transfer any of thoſe powers or rights to the particular States, or any of them. If, therefore, the power now in queſtion was veſted in the United States before the confederation; it continues veſted in them ſtill. The confederation clothed the United States with many (though, perhaps, not with ſufficient) powers: But of none did it diſrobe them.

IT is no new poſition, that rights may be veſted in a political body, which did not previouſly reſide in any or in all the members of that body. They may be derived ſolely from the UNION of thoſe members.

2 Burlamaqui, p. 42. "THE caſe," ſays the celebrated Burlamaqui, is here very near the ſame as in that of ſeveral voices collected together, which, by their union, produce a harmony, that was not to be found ſeparately in each.

A NUMBER of unconnected inhabitants are ſettled on each ſide of a navigable river; it belongs to none of them; it belongs not to them all, for they have nothing in common: Let them unite; the river is the property of the united body.

THE arguments drawn from the political aſſociations of individuals into a ſtate will apply, with equal force and propriety, to a number of ſtates united by a confederacy.

NEW ſtates muſt be FORMED and eſtabliſhed; their extent and boundaries muſt be regulated and aſcertained. How can this be done, unleſs by the United States in Congreſs aſſembled?

STATES are corporations or bodies politic of the moſt important and dignified kind.

LET us now concenter the foregoing obſervations, and apply them to the incorporation of the Bank of North-America by Congreſs.

BY the civil law, corporations ſeem to have been created by the mere and voluntary aſſociation of their members, provided ſuch convention was not contrary to law. Blackſtone, 472.

BY the common law, ſomething more is neceſſary—All the methods whereby corporations exiſt are, for the moſt part, reducible to that of the king's letters patents, or charter of incorporation. Blackſtone, 472, 473.

FROM this it will appear that the creation of a corporation is, by the common law, conſidered as the act of the executive rather than of the legiſlative powers of government.

BEFORE the revolution charters of incorporation were granted by the proprietaries of Pennſylvania, under a derivative authority from the crown, and thoſe charters have been recognized by the conſtitution and laws of the commonwealth ſince the revolution.

FROM analogy, therefore, we may juſtly infer, that the United States in Congreſs aſſembled, poſſeſſing the executive powers of the union, may, in virtue of ſuch powers, grant charters of incorparation for accompliſhing objects that comprehend the general intereſts of the United States.

BUT the United States in Congreſs aſſembled poſſeſs, in many inſtances, and to many purpoſes, the legiſlative as well as the executive powers of the union; and therefore, whether we conſider the incorporation of the Bank as a law, or as a charter, it will be equally within the powers of Congreſs: For the object of this inſtitution could not be reached without the exertion of the combined ſovereignty of the union.

I HAVE aſked—How can new ſtates, which are bodies politic, be formed, unleſs by the United States in Congreſs aſſembled? Fact, as well as argument, juſtifies my ſentiments on this ſubject. The conduct of Congreſs has been ſimilar on ſimilar occaſions. The ſame principles have directed the exerciſe of the ſame powers.

IN the month of April, 1784, Congreſs reſolved, that part of the weſtern territory "ſhould be divided into diſtinct ſtates."

THEY further reſolved, that the ſettlers ſhould, "either on their own petition, or on the order of Congreſs, receive authority from THEM to meet together, for the purpoſe of eſtabliſhing a temporary government, to adopt the conſtitution and laws of any one of the original ſtates."

"WHEN any ſuch ſtate ſhall have acquired twenty thouſand free inhabitants, on giving due proof thereof to Congreſs, they ſhall receive from THEM authority to call a Convention of repreſentatives, to eſtabliſh a permanent conſtitution and government for themſelves."

"THE preceding articles," among others, "ſhall be formed into a CHARTER of compact, ſhall be duly executed by the Preſident of the United States in Congreſs aſſembled, under his hand and the ſeal of the United States; ſhall be promulgated, and ſhall ſtand as fundamental Conſtitutions between the thirteen original ſtates, and each of the ſeveral ſtates NOW NEWLY DESCRIBED, unalienable from and after the ſale of any part of the territory of ſuch ſtate, but by the joint conſent of the United States in Congreſs aſſembled, and of the particular ſtate within which ſuch alteration is propoſed to be made."

IT will be difficult, I believe, to urge againſt the power of Congreſs to grant a charter to the Bank of North-America, any argument, which may not, with equal ſtrength and fitneſs, be urged againſt the power of that body to form, execute and promulgate a charter of compact for the New States.

THE ſentiments of the repreſentatives of the United States, as to their power of incorporating the Bank, ought to have much weight with us. Their ſentiments are ſtrongly marked by their conduct, in their firſt reſolutions reſpecting the Bank. Theſe reſolutions are made at the ſame time, and on the ſame ſubject: But there is a ſtriking difference in their manner. It was thought proper "that no other Bank ſhould be permitted within any of the ſtates, during the war." Congreſs "RECOMMENDED to the ſeveral ſtates to make proviſion, for that purpoſe, by proper laws." It was thought prudent that the Bank ſhould be protected, by penal laws, from fraud, embezzlement and forgery. Congreſs RECOMMENDED it to the ſeveral Legiſlatures to paſs ſuch laws. It was deemed expedient that bank notes ſhould be received in payment of ſums payable to the United States: Congreſs RESOLVE, that the notes "SHALL BE RECEIVABLE" in ſuch payments. It was judged neceſſary that the Bank ſhould have a charter of incorporation: Congreſs RESOLVE, that the Bank "SHALL BE INCORPORATED," on application made "TO CONGRESS" for that purpoſe. The line of diſtinction between thoſe things in which Congreſs could only recommend, and thoſe in which they could act, is drawn in the cleareſt manner. The incorporation of the National Bank is ranked among thoſe things, in which they could act.

THIS act of Congreſs has, either expreſly, or by implication, received the approbation of every ſtate in the union. It was officially announced to every ſtate by the Superintendant of Finance. See his letter in the appendix. Had any one ſtate conſidered it as an exerciſe of uſurped power, would not that ſtate have remonſtrated againſt it? But there is no ſuch remonſtrance.

THIS act of Congreſs has been moſt explicitly recogniſed by the Legiſlature of Pennſylvania. The law for preventing and puniſhing frauds and cheats upon the Bank was paſſed on the 18th of March, 1782, and before the Bank had obtained a charter from this ſtate. By that law it is made felony without benefit of clergy, to forge the common ſeal of the Preſident, Directors and Company of the Bank of North-America. Who were the Preſident, Directors and Company of the Bank of North-America? Thoſe whom Congreſs had made "a corporation and body politic, to all intents and purpoſes, BY THAT NAME AND STILE." How came that body by a "common ſeal?" The act of Congreſs ordained that that body "ſhould have full power and authority to make, have and uſe a COMMON SEAL." In the act to incorporate the ſubſcribers to the Bank of North-America, the Legiſlature, after reciting that the United States in Congreſs aſſembled had "paſſed an ordinance to incorporate them," ſay, "the Preſident and Directors of the ſaid Bank have applied to this Houſe for a ſimilar act of incorporation, which requeſt it is proper and reaſonable to grant."

WHEN the foregoing facts and arguments are conſidered, compared and weighed, they will, it is hoped, evince and eſtabliſh, ſatisfactorily to all, and concluſively on the legiſlature of Pennſylvania, the truth of this poſition—That the Bank of North-America was legally and conſtitutionally inſtituted and organiſed, by the charter of incorporation granted by the United States in Congreſs aſſembled.

II. WOULD it, then, be wiſe or politic in the legiſlature of Pennſylvania, to revoke the charter which it has granted to this inſtitution? It would not be wiſe or politic—

1ſt. BECAUSE the proceeding would be nugatory. The recall of the charter of Pennſylvania would not repeal that of the United States, by which we have proved the Bank to be legally and conſtitutionally inſtituted and organiſed.

2d. BECAUSE, though the legiſlature may deſtroy the legiſlative operation, yet it cannot undo the legiſlative acknowledgment of its own act. Though a ſtatute be repealed, yet it ſhews the ſenſe and opinion of the legiſlature concerning the ſubject of it, in the ſame manner as if it continued in force. Foſter, 394. The legiſlature declared, in the law, that it was proper and reaſonable to grant the requeſt of the Preſident and Directors of the Bank, for an act of incorporation ſimilar to the ordinance of Congreſs: No repeal of the law can weaken the force of that declaration.

3d. BECAUSE ſuch a proceeding would wound that confidence in the engagements of government, which it is ſo much the intereſt and duty of every ſtate to encourage and reward. The act in queſtion formed a charter of compact between the Legiſlature of this ſtate, and the Preſident, Directors and Company of the Bank of North-America. The latter aſked for nothing but what was proper and reaſonable: The former granted nothing but what was proper and reaſonable: The terms of the compact were, therefore, fair and honeſt: While theſe terms are obſerved on one ſide, the compact cannot, conſiſtently with the rules of good faith, be departed from on the other.

IT may be aſked—Has not the ſtate power over her own laws?—May ſhe not alter, amend, extend, reſtrain and repeal them at her pleaſure?

I AM far from oppoſing the legiſlative authority of the ſtate: But it muſt be obſerved, that, according to the practice of the legiſlature, public acts of very different kinds are drawn and promulgated under the ſame form. A law to veſt or confirm an eſtate in an individual—a law to incorporate a congregation or other ſociety—a law reſpecting the rights and properties of all the citizens of the ſtate—are all paſſed in the ſame manner; are all clothed in the ſame dreſs of legiſlative formality; and are all equally acts of the Repreſentatives of the Freemen of the commonwealth. But ſurely it will not be pretended, that, after laws of thoſe different kinds are paſſed, the legiſlature poſſeſſes over each the ſame diſcretionary power of repeal. In a law reſpecting the rights and properties of all the citizens of the ſtate, this power may be ſafely exerciſed by the legiſlature. Why? Becauſe, in this caſe, the intereſt of thoſe who make the law (the members of Aſſembly and their conſtituents) and the intereſt of thoſe who are to be affected by the law (the members of Aſſembly and their conſtituents) is the ſame. It is a common cauſe, and may, therefore, be ſafely truſted to the Repreſentatives of the community. None can hurt another, without, at the ſame time, hurting himſelf. Very different is the caſe with regard to a law, by which the ſtate grants privileges to a congregation or other ſociety. Here two parties are inſtituted, and two diſtinct intereſts ſubſiſt. Rules of juſtice, of faith, and of honor, muſt, therefore, be eſtabliſhed between them: For, if intereſt alone is to be viewed, the congregation or ſociety muſt always lie at the mercy of the community. Still more different is the caſe with regard to a law, by which an eſtate is veſted or confirmed in an individual: If, in this caſe, the legiſlature may at diſcretion, and without any reaſon aſſigned, diveſt or deſtroy his eſtate, then a perſon ſeized of an eſtate in fee-ſimple, under legiſlative ſanction, is, in truth, nothing more than a ſolemn tenant at will.

FOR theſe reaſons, whenever the objects and makers of an inſtrument, paſſed under the form of a law, are not the ſame, it is to be conſidered as a compact, and to be interpreted according to the rules and maxims, by which compacts are governed. A foreigner is naturalized by law: Is he a citizen only during pleaſure? He is no more, if, without any cauſe of forfeiture aſſigned and eſtabliſhed, the law, by which he is naturalized, may at pleaſure be repealed. To receive the legiſlative ſtamp of ſtability and permanency, acts of incorporation are applied for from the legiſlature. If theſe acts may be repealed without notice, without accuſation, without hearing, without proof, without forfeiture; where is the ſtamp of their ſtability? Their motto ſhould be, "LEVITY." If the act for incorporating the ſubſcribers to the Bank of North-America ſhall be repealed in this manner, a precedent will be eſtabliſhed for repealing, in the ſame manner, every other legiſlative charter in Pennſylvania. A pretence, as ſpecious as any that can be alledged on this occaſion, will never be wanting on any future occaſion. Thoſe acts of the ſtate, which have hitherto been conſidered as the ſure anchors of privilege and of property, will become the ſport of every varying guſt of politics, and will float wildly backwards and forwards on the irregular and impetuous tides of party and faction.

4th. IT would not be wiſe or politic to repeal the charter granted by this ſtate to the Bank of North America, becauſe ſuch a meaſure would operate, as far as it would have any operation, againſt the credit of the United States, on which the intereſt of this commonwealth and her citizens ſo eſſentially depends. This inſtitution originated under the auſpices of the United States: The ſubſcription to the National Bank was opened under the recommendations and the engagements of Congreſs: Citizens of this ſtate, and of the other ſtates, and foreigners, have become ſtock-holders, on the public faith: The United States have pledged themſelves to promote and ſupport the inſtitution by ſuch ways and means, from time to time, as may appear neceſſary for it, and conſiſtent with the public good26th May, 1781. They have recommended to the legiſlature of each ſtate, to paſs ſuch laws as they might judge neceſſary for giving the ordinance incorporating the Bank its full operation. Pennſylvania has entered fully into the views, the recommendations, and the meaſures of Congreſs reſpecting the Bank. She has declared in the ſtrongeſt manner her ſenſe of their propriety, their reaſonableneſs, and their neceſſity: She has paſſed laws for giving them their full operation. Will it redound to the credit of the United States to adopt and purſue a contrary ſyſtem of conduct? The acts and recommendations of Congreſs ſubſiſt ſtill in all their original force: Will it not have a tendency to ſhake all confidence in the councils and proceedings of the United States, if thoſe acts and recommendations are now diſregarded, without any reaſon ſhewn for diſregarding them? What influence will ſuch a proceeding have upon the opinions and ſentiments of the citizens of the United States and of foreigners? In one year they ſee meaſures reſpecting an object of confeſſed public importance adopted and recommended with ardour by Congreſs; and the views and wiſhes of that body zealouſly purſued by Pennſylvania: In another year they ſee thoſe very meaſures, without any apparent reaſon for the change, warmly reprobated by that ſtate: They muſt conclude one of two things:—That Congreſs adopted and recommended thoſe meaſures haſtily and without conſideration; or that Pennſylvania has reprobated them undutifully and diſreſpectfully. The former concluſion will give riſe to very unfavourable reflections concerning the diſcernment both of the ſtate and of the United States: The latter will ſuggeſt very inauſpicious ſentiments concerning the foederal diſpoſition and character of this commonwealth. The reſult of the concluſion will be—that the United States does not deſerve, or that they will not receive, ſupport in their ſyſtem of finance.—Theſe deductions and inferences will have particular weight, as they will be grounded on the conduct of Pennſylvania, hitherto one of the moſt foederal, active and affectionate ſtates in the union.

5th. IT would not be wiſe or politic in the legiſlature to repeal her charter to the Bank; becauſe the tendency of ſuch a ſtep would be to deprive this ſtate and the United States of all the advantages, public and private, which would flow from the inſtitution, in times of war, and in times of peace.

LET us turn our attention to ſome of the moſt material advantages reſulting from a Bank.

1ſt. IT increaſes circulation, and invigorates induſtry. "It is not, ſays Dr. Smith, in his Treatiſe on the Wealth of Nations, Vol. 1, p. 383, 384. by augmenting the capital of the country, but by rendering a greater part of that capital active and productive than would otherwiſe be ſo, that the moſt judicious operations of banking can increaſe the induſtry of the country. The part of his capital which a dealer is obliged to keep by him unemployed, and in ready money, for anſwering occaſional demands, is ſo much dead ſtock, which, ſo long as it remains in this ſituation, produces nothing either to him or to his country. The judicious operations of banking enable him to convert this dead ſtock into active and productive ſtock; into materials to work upon, into tools to work with, and into proviſions and ſubſiſtence to work for; into ſtock which produces ſomething both to himſelf and to his country. The gold and ſilver money which circulates in any country, and by means of which the produce of its land and labour is annually circulated and diſtributed to the proper conſumers, is, in the ſame manner as the ready money of the dealer, all dead ſtock. It is a very valuable part of the capital of the country, which produces nothing to the country. The judicious operations of banking, by ſubſtituting paper in the room of a great part of this gold and ſilver, enables the country to convert a great part of this dead ſtock into active and productive ſtock; into ſtock which produces ſomething to the country. The gold and ſilver money which circulates in any country may very properly be compared to a highway, which, while it circulates and carries to market all the graſs and corn of the country, produces, itſelf, not a ſingle pile of either. The judicious operations of banking, by providing, if I may be allowed ſo violent a metaphor, a ſort of waggon-way through the air, enable the country to convert, as it were, a great part of its highways into good paſture and corn-fields, and thereby to increaſe very conſiderably the annual produce of its land and labour."

THE ſame ſenſible writer informs us, in another place, that "the Vol. 1, p. 434, 435. ſubſtitution of paper in the room of gold and ſilver money, replaces a very expenſive inſtrument of commerce with one much leſs coſtly, and ſometimes equally convenient. Circulation comes to be carried on by a new wheel, which it coſts leſs both to erect and to maintain than the old one.—There are ſeveral ſorts of paper money; but the circulating notes of banks and bankers is the ſpecies which is beſt known, and which ſeems beſt adapted for this purpoſe."—"Theſe notes come to have the ſame currency as gold and ſilver money, FROM THE CONFIDENCE THAT SUCH MONEY CAN AT ANY TIME BE HAD FOR THEM."

SIR James Stewart calls banking "the great engine, Vol. 2, p. 350. by which domeſtic circulation is carried on."

TO HAVE a free, eaſy and equable inſtrument of circulation is of much importance in all countries: It is of peculiar importance in young and flouriſhing countries, in which the demands for credit, and the rewards of induſtry, are greater than in any other. When we view the extent and ſituation of the United States, we ſhall be ſatisfied that their inhabitants may, for a long time to come, employ profitably, in the improvement of their lands, a greater ſtock than they will be able eaſily to procure. In ſuch a ſituation, it will always be of great ſervice to them to ſave as much as poſſible the expence of ſo coſtly an inſtrument of commerce as gold and ſilver, to ſubſtitute in its place one cheaper, and, for many purpoſes, not leſs convenient; and to convert the value of the gold and ſilver into the labour and the materials neceſſary for improving and extending their ſettlements and plantations.

"To the Banks of Scotland, ſays Sir James Stewart, Vol. 2, p. 356. the improvement of that country is entirely owing; and until they are generally eſtabliſhed in other countries of Europe, where trade and induſtry are little known, it will be very difficult to ſet thoſe great engines to work."

2d. THE influence of a Bank on credit is no leſs ſalutary than its influence on circulation. This poſition is, indeed, little more than a corollary from the former. CREDIT IS CONFIDENCE; and, before we can place confidence in a payment, we muſt be convinced that he who is to make it will be both able and willing to do ſo at the time ſtipulated. However unexceptionable his character and fortune may be, this conviction can never take place, unleſs in a country where ſolid property can be, at any time, turned into a circulating medium.

3d. TRADE, as well as circulation and credit, derives great ſupport and aſſiſtance from a Bank. Credit and circulation produce punctuality; and punctuality is the ſoul of commerce. Let us appeal to experience as well as reaſon.

DR. SMITH ſays, Vol. 1, p. 442. he has heard it aſſerted, that the trade of the city of Glaſgow doubled in about fifteen years after the firſt erection of the Banks there; and that the trade of Scotland has more than quadrupled ſince the firſt erection of the two public Banks at Edinburgh, of which one was eſtabliſhed in 1695, and the other in 1727. Whether the increaſe has been in ſo great a proportion, the author pretends not to know. But that the trade of Scotland has increaſed very conſiderably during this period, and that the Banks have contributed a good deal to this increaſe, cannot, he ſays, be doubted.

THESE obſervations, and obſervations ſimilar to theſe, have induced Sir James Stewart to conclude.—that "Banking, Vol. 2, p. 358. in the age we live, is that branch of credit which beſt deſerves the attention of a ſtateſman. Upon the right eſtabliſhment of Banks depends the proſperity of trade, and the equable courſe of circulation. By them, SOLID PROPERTY MAY BE MELTED DOWN. By the means of Banks, money may be conſtantly kept at a due proportion to alienation. If alienation increaſes, more property may be melted down. If it diminiſhes, the quantity of money ſtagnating will be abſorbed by the Bank, and part of the property formerly melted down in the ſecurities granted to them will be, as it were, conſolidated anew. Theſe muſt pay, for the country, the balance of their trade with foreign nations: Theſe keep the mints at work: And it is BY THESE MEANS, PRINCIPALLY, THAT PRIVATE, MERCANTILE, AND PUBLIC CREDIT IS SUPPORTED."

I MAKE no apology for the number and length of the quotations here uſed. They are from writers of great information, profound judgment, and unqueſtioned candour. They appear ſtrictly and ſtrongly applicable to my ſubject: And being ſo, ſhould carry with them the greateſt weight and influence: For the ſentiments, which they contain and inculcate, muſt be conſidered as reſulting from general principles and facts, and not as calculated for any partial purpoſe in this commonwealth.

BUT, here, it will probably be aſked—Has your reaſoning been verified by experience in this country? What advantages have reſulted from the Bank to commerce, circulation and credit? Was our trade ever on ſuch an undeſirable footing? Is not the country diſtreſſed by the want of a circulating medium? Is not credit almoſt totally deſtroyed?

I ANSWER—There is, unfortunately, too much truth in the repreſentation: But if events are properly diſtinguiſhed, and traced to their cauſes, it will be found—that none of the inconveniences above-mentioned have ariſen from the Bank—that ſome of them have proceeded, at leaſt in part, from the oppoſition which has been given to it—and that, as to others, its energy has not been ſufficient to counteract or controul them.

THE diſagreeable ſtate of our commerce has been the effect of extravagant and injudicious importation. During the war, our ports were in a great meaſure blocked up. Imported articles were ſcarce and dear; and we felt the diſadvantages of a ſtagnation in buſineſs. Extremes frequently introduce one another. When hoſtilities ceaſed, the flood-gates of commerce were opened; and an inundation of foreign manufactures overflowed the United States: We ſeemed to have forgot, that to pay was as neceſſary in trade as to purchaſe; and we obſerved no proportion between our imports, and our produce and other natural means of remittance. What was the conſequence? Thoſe who made any payments made them chiefly in ſpecie; and in that way diminiſhed our circulation. Others made no remittances at all, and thereby injured our credit. This account of what happened between the European merchants and our importers, correſponds exactly with what happened between our importers and the retailers ſpread over the different parts of the United States. The retailers, if they paid at all, paid in ſpecie. And thus every operation, foreign and domeſtic, had an injurious effect on our credit, our circulation, and our commerce. But are any of theſe diſadvantages to be aſcribed to the Bank? No. Is it to be accounted a fault or defect in the Bank, that it did not prevent or remedy thoſe diſadvantages? By no means. Becauſe one is not able to ſtem a torrent, is he therefore to be charged with augmenting its ſtrength? The Bank has had many difficulties to encounter. The experiment was a new one in this country: It was therefore neceſſary that it ſhould be conducted with caution. While the war continued, the demands of the public were great; and the ſtock of the Bank was but inconſiderable: It had its active enemies, and its timid friends. Soon after the peace was concluded, its operations were reſtrained and embarraſſed by an attempt to eſtabliſh a new Bank. A year had not elapſed after this, when the meaſure, which has occaſioned theſe Conſiderations, was introduced into the legiſlature, and cauſed, for ſome time▪ a total ſtagnation in the buſineſs of the inſtitution. When all theſe circumſtances are recollected and attended to, it will be matter of ſurprize that the Bank has done ſo much, and not that it has done no more. Let it be deemed, as it ought to be, the object of public confidence, and not of public jealouſy: Let it be encouraged, inſtead of being oppoſed, by the counſels and proceedings of the ſtate: Then will the genuine effects of the inſtitution appear; then will they ſpread their auſpicious influence over Agriculture, Manufactures and Commerce.

4th. ANOTHER advantage to be expected from the Bank of North-America is, the eſtabliſhment of an undepreciating paper currency through the United States. This is an object of great conſequence, whether it be conſidered in a political, or in a commercial view. It will be found to have a happy effect on the collection, the diſtribution, and the management of the public revenue: It will remove the inconveniences and fluctuation attending exchange and remittances between the different ſtates. "It is the intereſt of every trading ſtate to have a ſufficient quantity of paper, well ſecured, to circulate through it, ſo as to facilitate payments every where, and to cut off inland exchanges, which are a great clog upon trade, and are attended with the riſque of receiving the paper of people, whoſe credit is but doubtful."—Political Oeconomy, vol. 2, p. 415.

SUCH are the advantages which may be expected to flow from a National Bank, in times of peace. In times of war, the inſtitution may be conſidered as eſſential. We have ſeen that, without it, the buſineſs of the Department of Finance could not have been carried on in the late war. It will be of uſe to recollect the ſituation of the United States with regard to this ſubject. The two or three firſt years of the war were ſufficient to convince the Britiſh government, and the Britiſh armies, that they could not ſubdue the United States by military force. Their hopes of ſucceſs reſted on the failure of our finances. This was the ſource of our fears, as well as of the hopes of our enemies. By this thread our fate was ſuſpended. We watched it with anxiety: We ſaw it ſtretched and weakened every hour: The deathful inſtrument was ready to fall upon our heads: On our heads it muſt have fallen, had not public credit, in the moment when it was about to break aſunder, been entwined and ſupported by the credit of the Bank. Congreſs, to ſpeak without metaphors, had not money or credit to hire an expreſs, or purchaſe a cord of wood. General Waſhington, on one occaſion, and probably more than one, ſaw his army literally unable to march. Our diſtreſs was ſuch, that it would have been deſtruction to have divulged it: But it ought to be known now; and when known, ought to have its proper influence on the public mind and the public conduct.

THE expences of a war muſt be defrayed, either—1ſt, by treaſures previouſly accumulated—or 2dly, by ſupplies levied and collected within the year, as they are called for—or 3dly, by the anticipation of the public revenues. No one will venture to refer us to the firſt mode. To the ſecond the United States, as well as every ſtate in Europe, are rendered incompetent by the modern ſyſtem of war, which, in the military operations of one year, concenters the revenue of many. While our enemies adhere to this ſyſtem, we muſt adopt it. The anticipation of revenue, then, is the only mode, by which the expences of a future war can be defrayed. How the revenues of the United States can be anticipated without the operations of a National Bank, I leave to thoſe who attack the Bank of North-America to ſhew. They ought to be well prepared to ſhew it; for they muſt know, that to be incapable of ſupporting a war is but a ſingle ſtep from being involved in one.

THE reſult of the whole, under this head, is,—that in times of peace, the National Bank will be highly advantageous; that in times of war, it will be eſſentially neceſſary,—to the United States.

I FLATTER myſelf, that I have evinced the validity and the utility of the inſtitution.

IT HAS been ſurmiſed, that the deſign of the legiſlature is not to deſtroy, but to modify, the charter of the Bank; and that if the Directors would aſſent to reaſonable amendments, the charter, modified, might continue in force. If this is the caſe, ſurely to repeal the law incorporating the Bank is not the proper mode of doing the buſineſs. The Bank was eſtabliſhed and organiſed under the authority and auſpices of Congreſs. The Directors have a truſt and duty to diſcharge to the United States, and to all the particular States, each of which has an equal intereſt in the Bank. They could not have received, from this ſtate, a charter, unleſs it had been ſimilar to that granted by Congreſs. Without the approbation of Congreſs, where all the ſtates are repreſented, the Directors would not be juſtified in agreeing to any alteration of the inſtitution. If alterations are neceſſary; they ſhould be made through the channel of the United States in Congreſs aſſembled.