IN a recent speech in the national House of Representatives, Mr. Wheeler, of Alabama, uttered the following words:— “The trouble is, Mr. Speaker, that the country has changed. From 1776 to 1865 the dominant spirit which controlled in this republic was one of honor, glory, chivalry, and patriotism. The dominant spirit of to-day is the pride of gold, of palaces, of marriage alliances with dukes and princes and counts, and an exercise of the whole power of the government in the interests of money changers, millionaires, and monopolies, and this, too, whether they are Astors, Vanderbilts, or Rockefellers of America, or Barings and Rothschilds from across the sea.” This sounds very much like the prophecy of Thomas Jefferson, spoken in the beginning of our national history:— “The spirit of the times may alter, will alter. Our rulers will become corrupt, our people careless. A single zealot may commence persecution, and better men be his victims. It never can be too often repeated that the time for fixing every essential right on a legal basis is while our rulers are honest, and ourselves united. From the conclusion of this war we shall be going down-hill. It will not then be deemed necessary to resort every moment to the people for support. They will be forgotten, therefore, and their rights disregarded. They will forget themselves, but in the sole faculty of making money, and will never think of uniting to effect a due respect for their rights. The shackles, therefore, which shall not be knocked off at the conclusion of this war will remain on us long, and will be made heavier and heavier, till our rights shall revive or expire in a convulsion.”