At 12 o'clock the members of the cabinet, with the exception of Mr. Badger, secretary of the navy, who was absent from the capital, called upon Mr. Tyler. Shortly after, he subscribed to the oath of office as President of the United States. On the following day he attended the ceremonies connected with the burial of President Harrison. Two days later he issued, through the press of the country, his inaugural address, which gave general satisfaction. The Whigs felt a measure of confidence that the President would coöperate with congress in carrying out the views of the party which elected him. Some among them, however, distrusted his professions, believing he would still hold to those principles of state rights and strict construction of the constitution which he had imbibed in the Virginia school of Democracy. The immediate course of President Tyler gave still further encouragement to the Whigs. The cabinet chosen by President Harrison he retained. It was composed of Daniel Webster, secretary of state; Thomas Ewing, secretary of the treasury; John Bell, secretary of war; George E. Badger, secretary of the navy; Francis Granger, postmaster-general; John J. Crittenden, attorney-general. He proceeded in the removal of officers appointed by Van Buren, and in the appointment of Whigs to fill the vacancies thus made. A special session of congress, called by President Harrison, met May 31, 1841, for the consideration of questions of finance. At the opening of the session, President Tyler sent in his message, accompanied by a report from the secretary of the treasury. When himself a member of the senate, Mr. Tyler had opposed the United States bank, as contrary to the spirit of the constitution. In private conversation with members of congress he expressed the wish that the secretary of the treasury be called upon to report a plan for a bank. The secretary's report, which accompanied his message, did recommend the establishment of a bank, and on the third of June a resolution to this end was introduced in the house by Mr. Wise. On the seventh, Mr. Clay introduced a like resolution into the senate. Mr. Ewing made his report on the twelfth of June, and with it enclosed a bill for the incorporation of the Fiscal Bank of the United States. This was taken up in the senate, and a bill introduced containing the same provisions, with a single exception-that relating to the establishment of branches.

The executive bill authorized the corporation to establish a bank for discount and deposit, in any state whose legislature should give its assent to such act; such branch being once established, not to be withdrawn without the assent of congress; or, instead of establishing such office, the directors were authorized, from time to time, to employ any individual agent or bank-with the approbation of the secretary of the treasury-at any place, to transact the business of the bank, other than for purposes of discount.

The bill introduced by the finance committee of the senate differed in that it made it obligatory upon the corporation to establish an office of discount and deposit, in any state in which two thousand shares should have been subscribed, whenever, upon application of the legislature of such state, congress should require the same; second, the directors were authorized to establish such offices in any state or territory, whenever they should think it expedient, without the assent of the legislature; third, or instead of establishing such offices, to employ an agent or bank, to be approved by the secretary of the treasury-at any place-to transact the business of the bank, other than for the purposes of discount.

The difference between congress and the President, so far as constitutional power was concerned, was comprised in the following clauses: "Branches to be established originally with the assent of the states, and that assent, once given, to be irrevocable; or, branches to be established. when and where found convenient, without that original assent." Grant ing the supposition that, as a Whig, the President could find in the constitution authority for the establishment of a bank-which, as a Democrat, he had always denied-it appears strange that he could not still further modify his opinions, and find authority for the establishment of branches. These, he held, could only be established by the assent of each of the states. Mr. Clay took the ground that if the constitution did not give the power to establish a branch, no action of a state could give it, and it would be an unconstitutional assumption of power by a state to make such attempt. Then arose the question as to what concession, if any, would best be made in an effort at harmony. Should congress acquiesce in the view of the President, a precedent would be established that might in the future lead to further conflict between the legislative and executive departments. Consideration of this question developed much difference among members. Finally a compromise was agreed upon, though not without many misgivings, to the effect that the directors of the bank should have power to establish a branch with the assent of the state wherein it was designed to locate it, and when once established, it was not to be withdrawn unless by the consent of congress; provided, that unless definite action be taken in each state at the first session of the legislature following the passage of the act of incorporation of the bank, either for or against the establishment of a branch, that assent shall be presumed, and, provided further, that whenever congress shall deem the establishment of a branch necessary to the execution of the provisions of the constitution, it may require the directors to establish such branch. The compromise was incorporated into the bill, which was then passed, on the sixth of August, and sent to the President for his decision.

The President retained the bill in his possession until August 16. In the meantime he had received many visits from members of the opposition

and it was feared had decided to veto the bill. To counteract this adverse influence, delegations of Whigs visited him, and urged him to attach his signature to the bill and afford a measure of relief to the country. On the thirteenth of August, a delegation of representative Whigs from Ohio called upon him, expressed the earnest desire of the party to preserve harmony with the executive, and represented the deep interest felt in the bank in all sections of the country. In acknowledging his own intense feeling upon the subject, the President spoke with frankness of the difficulties that in his mind existed in the compromise section, and suggested an amendment that would meet his approbation. At the close, in a tone of remonstrance, he asked: "Why did you not send me Ewing's bill?" "Would you sign that bill?" inquired one of the delegation. "I would," was the reply. Thus ended the interview. The delegation went away feeling that there was yet hope, even should the President return the bill with a veto, that by the adoption of the bill proposed by the secretary of the treasury, the incorporation of the bank would be assured. Subsequently the President informed one of the Ohio delegation that he had not read the proposition of Mr. Ewing before expressing his willingness to sign it, if adopted; that he could not sign it, but added: "If you will examine the message [veto] I have sent to-day, you will find shadowed forth a much better bank there, one that has been long endeared to me." On that sixteenth of August, three days after his interview with the Ohio delegation, President Tyler returned the bank bill to the senate, in which it originated with a message giving his reasons for declining to sign it.

The receipt of the veto message produced consternation among the Whig members, and anxiety throughout the administration party. A hope yet remained that the plan outlined in the message might be made available, and two members of congress-Mr. Berrien of the senate, and Mr. Sergeant of the house-were deputed to call on the President, and ascertain his views upon the subject. Returning, they reported him in favor of a fiscal agent divested of the discounting power, and limited to dealing in bills of exchange other than those drawn by a citizen of one state upon another citizen in the same state. A bill entitled "An act to provide for the better collection, safe keeping and disbursement of the public revenue, by means of a corporation to be styled the fiscal corporation of the United States," was prepared in conformity with the suggestions of the President. This was submitted to Mr. Webster, and by him. to the President. Mr. Tyler expressed his approval, and returned the bill to the house of representatives, which passed it on the twenty-third of August. It was then taken to the senate, where it was passed on the third of September.

While the bill was yet pending in the house of representatives, occurred an event which had great effect in inflaming the President against the measure

and against the party that instituted it. The Hon. John M. Botts, who represented the Richmond district in the house of representatives, wrote. a letter to the Coffeehouse, Richmond, giving his opinion of the situation of affairs regarding the prospects of the bill. In some manner, this letter fell into the hands of the editor of the Madisonian, a paper reflecting the views of the President, and was by him published, prefaced by a few lines of comment. After premising that the letter had been written for publication in a "coffeehouse," the editor said: "Under any other circumstances, we should not have felt authorized to publish it. Forewarned is forearmed. We shall see whether Mr. Botts, and such as he, will succeed in heading him-whether they will perpetrate a legislative fraud, such as the letter describes, for the heartless purpose of 'fastening' Mr. Tyler, and forcing him into a measure which neither his conscience sanctions nor his judgment approves." The letter was dated August 16, 1841, and reads. as follows:

"The President has finally resolved to veto the bank bill. It will be sent in to-day at twelve o'clock. It is impossible to tell precisely on what ground it will be placed. He has turned, and twisted, and changed his ground so often in his conversations, that it is difficult to conjecture which of the absurdities he will rest his veto upon. In the last conversation reported, he said his only objection was to that provision which presumed the assent of the states when no opinion was expressed, and if that was struck out, he would sign the bill. He had no objection to the location. of branches by the directors, in the absence of dissent expressed, but whenever it was expressed, the power to discount promissory notes must cease, although the agency might continue for the purchase and sale of foreign exchange. However, you will see the message. Our Captain Tyler is making a desperate effort to set himself up with the locofocos, but he'll be headed yet, and, I regret to say, it will end badly for him. He will be an object of execration with both parties; with the one for vetoing the bill, which is bad enough; with the other for signing a worse one; but he is hardly entitled to sympathy. He has refused to listen to the admonition and entreaties of his best friends, and looked only to the whisperings of ambitious and designing mischief-makers, who have collected around him. The veto will be received without a word, laid on the table, and ordered to be printed. To-night we must and will settle matters, as quietly as possible, but they must be settled."

Mr. Botts explained that the letter was written under strong feelings of indignation against the President for the course he had decided upon in the veto of the bank bill; that it was intended for Mr. James H. Lynch of Richmond, and was inadvertently addressed "Coffeehouse," instead of to Mr. Lynch personally, and that it was published without the authority of either the writer or Mr. Lynch. That the publication of the letter

aroused the indignation of the President, and fully determined him upon a veto of the second bank bill, is evidenced in the letter of Mr. Ewing, in which he tendered his resignation of the office of secretary of the treasury. He said: "No doubt was thrown out on the subject by you, in my hearing or within my knowledge, until the letter of Mr. Botts came into your hands. Soon after the reading of that letter, you threw out strong intimations that you would veto the bill if it were not postponed. That letter I did and do most unequivocally condemn, but it did not affect the constitutionality of the bill, or justify you in rejecting it on that ground." On the ninth day of September, six days after its passage, the bill was returned to the house of representatives, accompanied by a message from the President, giving his objections.

However necessary the establishment of a bank appeared in the regulation of financial matters in the country, had the Whig representatives in congress possessed a greater degree of forbearance in the urging forward of their measures, there is little doubt the administration of President Tyler would have been more satisfactory to the party he then represented, and to the country at large; the Whig party might have continued in power, and the course of events been differently directed. The failings of human nature were not considered; the provocation given the President in the implied design of the party to embarrass his administration, was overlooked; everything was swallowed up in the desire to carry forward the most important measure of the party, even when the leaders of that party were well convinced the effort was vain. The opposition saw in the veto of the bank bill the accomplishment of the end to which their energies were directed. The President had lost the confidence of his own party, without a corresponding gain in the party of the opposition.

The fiscal corporation bill was returned to congress on the ninth of September. On the eleventh all the members of the cabinet, with the excep tion of Mr. Webster, resigned. Mr. Webster concluded to remain in the cabinet as secretary of state, and on the thirteenth of September addressed a letter to the editors of the National Intelligencer, giving his reasons for differing from the retiring members. On the eleventh of September the Whig members in congress, feeling that no further confidence could be reposed in the President, appointed a committee of five to prepare an address to the people, explaining the existing condition of affairs between congress and the President. Two days later the committee reported, and a convention of Whigs ordered the publication of twenty thousand copies of the address, in which they proclaimed that from that day forth all political alliance between them and the President was at an end; and that "those who brought the President into power could no longer, in any manner or degree be justly held responsible or blamed for the administration of the executive branch of the government." They at the same time acknowl