it was absurd to suppose that the constitution would grant to congress a specified right, and at the same time withhold the only means by which it could exercise that right. A stormy and protracted discussion arose respecting the bank charter, during which Mr. Clay came again into collision with Mr. Randolph, causing unusual sensation in the house, and giving rise to apprehensions that something serious might grow out of it. Mr. Randolph animadverted somewhat harshly upon Mr. Clay’s custom of maintaining a uniform silence in his private intercourse respecting his change of opinion in regard to the expediency and constitutionality of a United States bank, using language that might admit of very offensive construction. When he ceased, Mr. Clay, with his usual self-possession and deliberation, rose, and in a few words declared that the offensive language needed explanation; that he should refrain from saying what he conceived himself bound to say, until Mr. Randolph should make it. Mr. Randolph rose, and made the explanation, which Mr. Clay pronounced unsatisfactory; and Mr. Randolph again explained, disavowing all intention to offer offence. During the altercation, an almost breathless stillness had been preserved in the house; a pin might be heard to fall in any part of it. The bank bill passed the house by a vote of eighty to seventy-one, and the senate by a vote of twenty-two to twelve. On the tenth of April it became a law, went into operation in the early part of 1817, and more than justified the expectations of its friends, in regard to its influence for good upon the varied interests of the country. During this session, Mr. Clay gave his support to a bill proposing a reduction of the direct tax laid upon the United States. He expressed himself in favor of a moderate land tax, and regarded the existing one as too high for a state of peace. He maintained that ‘in time of peace we should look to foreign importations as the chief source of revenue, and in war when they are cut off, that it was time enough to draw deeply on our internal resources.’ His plan was to make up for a still further decrease of the land tax, by an increase of the duties on imports.