The Bank is a great establishment which enjoys an independent existence, and the people, accustomed to make and unmake whatsoever it pleases, is startled to meet with this obstacle to its authority.

In the midst of the perpetual fluctuation of society the community is irritated by so permanent an institution, and is led to attack it in order to see whether it can be shaken and controlled, like all the other institutions of the country.
Remains Of The Aristocratic Party In The United States Secret opposition of wealthy individuals to democracy--Their retirement--Their taste for exclusive pleasures and for luxury at home--Their simplicity abroad--Their affected condescension towards the people.
It sometimes happens in a people amongst which various opinions prevail that the balance of the several parties is lost, and one of them obtains an irresistible preponderance, overpowers all obstacles, harasses its opponents, and appropriates all the resources of society to its own purposes.

The vanquished citizens despair of success and they conceal their dissatisfaction in silence and in general apathy.

The nation seems to be governed by a single principle, and the prevailing party assumes the credit of having restored peace and unanimity to the country.

But this apparent unanimity is merely a cloak to alarming dissensions and perpetual opposition.
This is precisely what occurred in America; when the democratic party got the upper hand, it took exclusive possession of the conduct of affairs, and from that time the laws and the customs of society have been adapted to its caprices.