On the final question, a great, and, it would seem, an unexpected opposition was made to its passage.
Mr.Madison, Mr.Giles, Mr.Jackson, and Mr.Stone spoke against it.
The general utility of banking systems was not admitted, and the particular bill before the house was censured on its merits; but the great strength of the argument was directed against the constitutional authority of congress to pass an act for incorporating a national bank.
The government of the United States, it was said, was limited; and the powers which it might legitimately exercise were enumerated in the constitution itself.

In this enumeration, the power now contended for was not to be found.

Not being expressly given, it must be implied from those which were given, or it could not be vested in the government.

The clauses under which it could be claimed were then reviewed and critically examined; and it was contended that, on fair construction, no one of these could be understood to imply so important a power as that of creating a corporation.
The clause which enables congress to pass all laws necessary and proper to execute the specified powers, must, according to the natural and obvious force of the terms and the context, be limited to means _necessary_ to the _end_ and _incident_ to the _nature_ of the specified powers.

The clause, it was said, was in fact merely declaratory of what would have resulted by unavoidable implication, as the appropriate, and as it were technical means of executing those powers.