Newspaper Page Text
P 3 L ITIC A L.
From At I'otton Pott.
A LETTER FROM THE REV. JOHN LELAND.
We take great pleasure in presenting to our readers this
morning, extracts from a letter written within a few davs by
the Rev. Mr. LELAND, of Cheshire, to the editor of this pa
per. Through a life of four score years, Mr. L. has been as ,
upright and conscientious in his political conduct, as in his
character as a teacher of divine truth. In the contest between
Adams ami Jefferson, he was one of Jefferson’s most influen- i
tial supporters, and after the election of the Sage of Monticel- ,
|o tn the Presidential rhair, he was made the organ nF farmers
of Western Massachusetts, for presenting to the Chief Magis-!
irate of the nation the famous “ Cheshire Cheese.” Thisevi-i
deuce of the agricultural skill and wealth of the Democratic
yeomanry of New England, was received by the President
with peculiar pleasure, and was considered by’him the highest
compliment be could enjoy. If ts the yeomanry of the
count.y who now sustain the present democratic administration—
with them resides the pure spirit of Democracy—lhey are the
watcht rs of the flame, and their vigilance will never allow it to
be extinguished. Rut we are detaining our readers too long!
from the wisdom of experience which flows below :
BANKS AND PEOPLE.
Nine hundred banks, containing three hundred millions ot !
stock, with nine hundred Presidents, nine hundred Cashiers,
and nine hundred bank Lawyers, five thousand Directors, (all j
influential characters,) fifty thousand dealers on bank credit, a ;
great portion of the members of Congress and of the State
Legislatures, who hold stock in banks, fifty thousand insolvents
(wlw want government to pay their debts) one hundred thou
sand office seekers, from the presidential chair down to the I
lowest clerkship, with a multitude who have itching propensi- I
•ties for new things.— All these form a mighty host ; flanked on j
one wing w ith anti-masons, ami on the other with Abolition-1
ists, with a rear-guard of conservators, and many scouting par
ties beside.
Is it possible for the democracy of the United States to with
stand this formidable army, who have already bid defiance and
set the battle in array ?
Democracy is principally composed of the tillers of the
ground, and the mechanics of the most necessary articles.
This class, for the most part, are not seeking nor expecting pro
motions : their wish is to be protected by government in the
enjoyment of their honest earnings; deducting therefrom what
is necessary for the security of ti e remainder. Caucuses, con
ventions, and even the necessary polls of elections, call them i
from their accustomed and chosen pursuits; if there is no im
perious call, they choose to be in their occupations. A descrip
tion of this class, forms no great splendor on paper—nothing
for the pompous (who despise the dull pursuit of labor,) to ad
mire ! Their motto is “ Equal Rights and no exclusive pri
vileges.” And their boast is that the two Presidents (Jeffer
son and Jackson) which they alone elected overall opposition,
have pur.'hased more land, paid more debts, and obtained more
indemnities, than all the rest of the Presidents. The first of
these favorites drew the Declaration of Independence, and the
last effected a victory and deliverance in the Battle of A'etr
Orleans. These two events will never be forgotten while his
tory exists. Should the Banks triumph over the People, in the
coming contest, and f >rever hereafter sustain the pre-eminence,
yet the w hole community will enjoy the advantages achieved
by the two democratic Presidents, as long as independence,
the great western valley of the Mississippi, and freedom from
debt are advantages ; although many may vilify the men by
whom the rich advantages were gained.
The loves of power and wealth are strong propensities in
human nature, and as money is the means to obtain them, the
love of it breaks over all bounds of restraint and becomes the
root of all evil. For the last thirty years the pulpits have been
ringing, and the presses trumpeting, with more than usual
sound, “ Money, more money I” and no prospect appears lor
the previous question to be taken. “ Christain colleges must
be erected an 1 endowed—young men must acquire school di
vinity—the gospel must be sent to the heathen, who are perish
ing for lack ol know ledge——die reformation will be commen
surate to the money—every cent may save a soul. Monev 1
more Money ! much more money must be collected by all de
visable means of flattery and holy threatening, or the blood of
heathen souls w 3 ' fall on covetous Christains.’ Here two ques
tions arise. Fix t —Has the Almighty appointed money to
supply the lack of miracles ? Second—ls money was all to
be sunk or lose its value, would not a great part of w hat is
called religion die of quick consumption ?
The old aphorism, “ like people, like priest," is appropriate
in the case now in view. If the priests are all alive to get mo
ney to build their temples of religious fame, the people will
catch the disease and cry banks, more banks—great hanks,
durable banks, that we may get money to speculate with, and
gain profits without trouble.
The outcry, “ hard times and little money," has been con
stantly sounding for eighty years in my hearing, with but small
variation, and (except those who have been trading presump
tuously on bank loans, in speculations that have been ralhet
injurious to the nation,) it is hard to conceive any just grounds
of complaint any have at this-time. Hard labor and all pro
ductions of the earth, flocks and herds, taken in the aggregate,
demand current and handsome prices. If the prices were high
er the money would proportionality be of less value.
The banks hive proved their power over the government,
by suspending specie payments—they stopped the wheels of
government, which costs a special session of Congress to re
move the blocks. The same may happen as often as the banks
may please, so long as the banks and government are united in
marriage. Some are for dissolving the Union, and thereby
retain their rights, while others are shouting “ O Bank, live
forever ! who is like umo this beast ! who is able to make war
with him !”
To have money sufficient for a medium of trade to facilitate
all useful commerce, in which individuals may grow wealthy,
and the public reap advantage, is desirable ; but to have a cir
culating currency so abundant as to check usefid industry in
some, and assist others in gambling speculation (in which one
cannot grow rich without others grow poor) is rather injurious
to society at large ; but moral reasoning, though ever so
>onod, is but feeble defence against a heated disposition.
Borrowing nothing from history, but confining mvself to
what I have seen, there has been, from the administration of
jord North down to the present time, a raging war between
the claims of aristocrats and the rights of man.
In the year 1774, the aristocrats contended for the doctrine
that Kings were appointed by God ; and to resist them would
be resisting the ordinance of God, and bring on condemnation.
The democrats plead that natural rights anteceded all institu
tions—that opposition to tyrants was obedience to God— ‘ liber
ty or death’ was their countersign. In 1787, the aristocrats
.abored to establish a government above the control of the
rieople. The democrats sought for a government that recog
nized the sovereignty of the people—the rights of man under
• putable law—-a government of expressed and defined powers.
Alter the constitution was put in operation, the aristocrats ex
erted all their power to bind the administration into a monar
lical channel ; and by construction, made considerable pro
gress ; but the beginning of the present century brought the
Apostle of Liberty in the Chair, whose elevation checked their
designs, but did not change their wishes; for in 1815 they
1 nged their grounds of opposition, and exclaimed, ‘ we are
ail one—now in tlieeraof good feeling—drop all contention
and let us build together !’ That good words and fair speech
es deceived the hearts of many who were simply honest, broke
down the line of dernarkation, and amalgamated the nation in
to a hothpotch. During the apathy of twelve years tire tfris
tocrats trained great strength until the hero of New Orleans
\.as called from the Hermitage to preside over the nation, who
I) >ldly withstood them eight years. As the deposites were re
moved from the hank of the U. S., and .hat bank could not ob
ain a renewal of charter, it has shown such haughtiness to
government and towards other banks, that <l.e power of such
.-. I institution ought to be shunned ; and yet the bankruptcies '
of all, and the suspensions of payments in all banks is laid to the
■.barge of J ckson !
During the revolutionary war, the declaration of the wings
va-, ‘ If we can save half our interest and gain our indepen
dence we shall he satisfied. But now the Whigs of the new
hooj say, ‘ Give us money—give us the offices—give us the
overnment and we shall be satisfied: otherwise we will cast
• '! the blocks in the way that is in our power, to stop the wheels
of "•>verrnuent.*
The Ipve of money is common with all political parties ;
•old if a ma jority of Ihe people of the United States believe (al- '
•mgh the Constitution gives no power) that a hank incorpo
rated by the general government will pay debts of insolvents—
nd speculative enterprise—foster manufacture and raise the
price of land, labor, and tiie productions of the earth, the ad
>uui»tr jtion of ;bc goverm» , -ul ictff full into other hand* It
is possible, however, that the people will realize that it is not
the abundance, but lie intrinsic value of money that makes it
profitable. The rage for useless speculation may die away,
and the people may yet triumph over the bank, notwithstanding
the present excitement. The nine hundred iron chariots of
Siscra were discomfitted heford the patriotism of Barak.
From the declaration of Independence unto the present time,
my unmitigated desire has been that the United States might
enjoy freedom without licentiousness—good government with
out tyranny —pure religion without hypocrisy —and wealth
without haughtiness. And now, nt the close of a very un
profitable life, my w ish is ardent, that the Statesjin Union, and
severally in their sovereignty, may, by good customs, virtuous
habit* and wise counsels, shun the fatal gu’ph of LEGISLA
TIVE USURPATION OVER THE RIGHTS OF INDI
VIDUALS.
JOHN LELAND.
Front the Nrtr~York Evening Post.
The example set by a certain ex-Speaker of the House of
Representatives, of attempting to demonstrate his positions by
the logic of dry-knocks, has been followed by another imita
lalioit. Il may be truly said of Mr. Bell, that be bears the
bell among his friends, the wbig members. He is lhe Bell
wether of the whig (lock, and when he leaps the boundary of
decency and propriety, his followers, by the effect of the same
brute instinct which sends the woolly race over a five rail fence
after their noisy leader, leap over also. The letters from
Washington give the narrative of a battle at fisticuffs, in the
Representatives Hall, on Sunday morning between two whig
members from Tennessee, Messrs. Campbell tint! Manry.
These gentlemen were doubtless animated by the double mo
tive of a d sire to make themselves as illustrious as their dis
tinguished colleague, Mr. Bell, and a devout ambition lo keep
■ the Sabbath holy.
We leave the affair to be related by a whig chronicle. The
I Washington letter writer of the Journal of Commerce thus
I tells the story :
“ The fight which occurred in the House on Sunday morn
ing, at the moment of the adjournment, between Messrs.
Campbell and Maury, both of Tennessee, grew out of the irri
tation consequent on the process of compelling the attendance
of members at that unseasonable and unreasonable hour. Mr.
Maury was one who was arraigned, and excused, upon the pay
ment of lees. But he had some words with his colleage on the
subject, which ended in blows. Mr. Maury is said to be badly
hurt. He was near losing his life by being knocked through
the window ; but bis adversary, it is said, saved him by clutch
ing the hair of his head with his left hand, while he struck him
with his right.
“ The affair has been reconciled between the parties.”
Pear of the Penitentiary.— According to a letter from Philade—
phin in the Journal es Commerce, the Bank cf the United States has
commenced issuing the notes of the new Bank instead of the old
ones, which alone have heretofore been offered in payment of all
demands upon it.— lb.
The New-York Express of yesterday contained some par
ticulars showing the extended confinement of persons in the City
Prison on charges which, for some reason not explained, remain
utiinvesiigated until the prisoners have suffered all the punish
ment due to the guilty—thus subjecting them to all the horrors
of imprisonment without trial. The fact however being in
troduced to the notice of Mr. Recorder Morris lie immediate
ly discharged from prison, such individuals as appeared to
have been detained unnecessarily. We know nothing respect
ing the circumstances, but as a majority of lhe present Com
i mon Council have since the first of May last been busily en-
I gaged in removing the captains of the watch and the men tin
. der them, it may be easily imagined that the new incumbents
I are unworthy lhe situations they fill. The reckless course of
' a majority which seeks to perpetuate its power by expelling
| from their places, men who have discharged their duty faithful
,ly anti honestly, is now seen in its effects upon the liberty of
| the citizen. Men are cast into prison upon charges which are
| suffered lo lie dormant, until the victim either expires from
I want of common attention, or is released from ittcarseraiion,
iby the humanity ol lhe Judge. Whether the community will
submit to have their rights sported w ith in this manner, remains
to be seen.— lb.
Moral views of Commerce, Society and Polities.— A volume
bearing this title, consisting of twelve discourses, by the Rev.
Orville Dewey, is just pulishi d by David Felt, & Co. of this
city. The author of this work has ventured upon topics not
often made lhe subject of discussion in the pulpit. These he has
treated with great < l.iquence, fervor and originality. He has
returned richly laden from lhe fresh fields into which he had
wandered.
The work before us discusses the moral code by which com
mercial dealings should be regulated, and to which the politi
cal course of the citizen should be confined —the proper sphere
and limits of social ambition, the democratic and equalizing
tendencies of the Christian religion, the moral exposures and
dangers of American society, and various kindred subjects, in
the spirit of a just observer, a philosopher, and an ardent
’ friend of the political institutions of the country. A specimen
| or two of the author’s views and manner will more recommend
[ this noble work than any thing we can say in its favor.— lb.
The Corrupting Influence of Trade.— But the peril of bit
i sin ess specifically considered ; and I ask if there is not good
I ground for lhe admonitions on this point, by every moral and
! holy teacher cf every age? What means, if there is not, tiiat
I eternal disingenuity of trade, that is ever putting on fair ap
i pearances and false pretences—of “ the buyer that says, it is
; naught, it is naught, but when he is gone his way, then boast
j eth”—of the seller, who is alwrys exhibiting the best samples,
| not fair but false samples, of what he has to sell; of thesel
ler. I say, who, to use the language of another, “if he is tying
i upa bundle of quills, will place several in the centre, of not
' half the value ol' the rest, and thus sends forth a hundred liars,
I with a fair outside, to proclaim as many falsehoods to the
• world!” These practices, alas ! have (alh n into the regular
course of the business of many. All men expect them; ami
I therefore you may say, that nobody is deceived. But decep
tion is intended: else why are these things done ? What it
1 nobody is deceived ? The seller himself is corrupted. He
i may stand acquitted of dishonesty in the moral code of world-
I ly traffic; no man may charge him with dishonesty ; and vet
to himself he is a dishonest man. Did 1 say that nobody is
'deceived! Nay, but some body is deceived. This man, the
, seller, is grossly, wofulty deceived. Bethinks to make a little
profit by his contrivance ; ami he is selling, by penny-worths’, i
I the very integrity of his soul. Yes, the pettiest shop where
these things are done, may be to the spirilal vision, a place of
more than tragic interest. It is the stage on which the great
action of life is performed. There stands a man, who in the
sharp colisions of daily trafic, might have pt,fished his mind
to the bright and beautiful image of truth, who might have put
on the noble brow of candor, and cherished the very soul of
uprightness. I have known such a man. 1 have looked into
, his humble shop. 1 have seen lhe mean and soiled articles
: with w hich he is dealing. And yet the process of things going
lon there, was as beautiful as if had been done in heaven! But
now what is this man—the man who always turns up to you the
best side of every things he sells—the man of unceasing con
trivances and expedients, his life long, to make things appear
better than they are? Be he the greatest merchant or the poorest
huckster, he is a mean, a knavish—and were I not awed by
th» thoughts of his immortality, [ should say—a contemptible
creature wl om nobody that knows him can love, whom nobody
can trust, whom nobody can reverence. Not one thing in the
dusty repository of things, great or small, which he deals
. with, is so vile as he. W hat is this thing then, which is done,
lor may be done in the house of traffic ! I tell you, though you
may have thought nd so of it I tell you that there, even
there, a soul may be lost! that that very Hiuctiire, built for the
gain of eat th, may be the gate of hell ! Say not that this fear
i (til appellation should be applied to worse places than that. A
• mao may us certainly corrupt all the integrity and virtue of
i his soul in a warehouse or a shop, as in a gambling house or a
| brothel.
False to himself, then, may a man become, while be is walk
ing through the perilous courses of trafic ; false also to his
neighbor. I cannot dwell much upon this topic ; but 1 will
put one question ; not for reproach, but for your sober consid
eration. Must it not render a man extremely liable to he sel
fish, that he is engaged in pursuits whose immediate and palpa
ble end, is his own interest ? I wish to draw your attention to
this peculiarity of trade. Ido not say, that the motives which
originally induce a matt to enter into this sphere of life, may
not be as benevolent as those of any other matt ; but this is
the point which I wish to have considered—that while the
learned professions have knowledge for their immediate object,
and the artist and the artisan have the perfection of their work
as (he thing that directly engages attention, the merchant and
rhe trader have for their immediate object, profit. Doesnot
i ! 'i- eircut'istanse greatly exposea man to be selfish ? Full well '
1 know that many are not so ; that many resist and overcome
this influence; but I think, that it /.t to be resisted. And a
wise man, who more deeply dreads the taint of inward selfish
ness, than of outward dishonor, will take care to set up coun
ter influences.
The duty of giving an Honest Vote. — I have dwelt longer than
1 intended upon this first and foundation principle of our political
morality—that which requires every legally qualified citizen lo give
his vote at the elections. There is another duty coincident with
tins, which is too obvious to call for much argument, and yet too of
! ten violated, to he passed over in silence; and that is the duty ol
giving an honest vote.
Every citizen in this primary act that gives its being and charac
ter to the government, is bound to express his honest conviction.
The vote demands the contribution of his mind, of his judgment, ot
his patriotism and fidelity to the common weal. The citizen is the
real governor. And if the elected ruler is forbidden, by every just
principle, to swerve from an honest purpose towards lhe public good,
so is the ruling elector. And he who surrenders his judgment or
conscience to private interest, or lhe mere dictation of a parly ; lie
who accepts a bribe or offers one.; he who in the ballot, smothers
bis own conviction, or attempts to coerce; anothers, is perjured in the
holiest rites which he swears upon his country’s altar.
r rhe familiarity with which certain transactions at lite polls are
spoken of—yes,palpable infractions of the law with regard to the age,
residence, and where a property qualification is required, the prop
| erty of voters—the freedom with which parties charge these practi
ces upon each other after an election—are facts of evil omen. And
the common tiefence set up for them is, if possible, worse than the
things themselves. The bountrv, we arc constantly told, is in dan
ger ; every nerve must be strained, every means used, to carry cer
tain measuret; the opposite partv leave no means, however flagitious
and desperate, untried, and we must meet them on their own ground
—must fight them with their own weapons. Admirable doctrine !
that goes around the whole circuit of parties, and lends a handle to
each one, wherewith to push on lhe cumulative argument for dishon
esty and intrigue ! The country in danger ! —and to be saved by
corruption ! by bribery, false swearing and the violated law ! The
nation sick and prostrate l>v lhe tampering of some ignorant admi
nistration with its health and vigor-—and how to be cured ? By the
• canker and the gangrene that are eating out its very vitals !
Away with such palleting and paltry arguments for the expedient
against the right ! If it must be so 1 had rather my country were
destroyed by truth, than saved by falsehood. 1 would rather it
were ruined by virtue, than redeemed by corruption. But do not
the very terms of this statement show, that it is not so? No ; “ ho
nesty is the best policy,” for man or nation, for individual or parly.
But if honesty is any where to be demanded or expected, it is in the first
act that gives its character to the government —the elections. Ad
mit any false principle there, and what, in consistency, can you look
for, but a corrupt government? Will you poison the fountian-head,
and expect the stream to be pure ?
I insist, then, that the elector shall be honest. He should no more
dare to be false to his own mind, false to his conscience, in giving bis
vote, than he would in giving his word. His vote is his word ; and
lhe only word, perhaps, that he can speak in the great ear of the na
tion. If that wotd is a lie, he sacrifices, as far as in him is, the right
of government and rectitude of the country.
Governor Ritner of Pennsylvania, has issued a proclamation,
calling on the banks of his State to resume specie payments on the
13th of August next. It will be found in another column.
Some part of this proclamation is made up of the whig slang of
the day—stuff which the dullest pupil might learn to chatter by
three morning’s reading of the reports of Wise’s speeches. Os this
twaddle we mean not now to take any notice, it being alike to us
whether it is uttered by po<?r Poll from his cage in Cherrv-street, or
by Joseph Ritner from the seat of Government of Pennsylvania.
In regard, however, to lhe mandate on the Pennsylvania banks to
return to the payment of their notes, we have this to sav, that we
have earnestly tried to look upon it in a light favorable to Governor
| Ritner and his advisets. The mure we consider, however, the more
i is our disgust excited by the discreditable circumstances under which
i the proclamation has been put forth. We will briefly point out some
of them.
Governor Ritner, in this proclamation, talks of the banks having
been compelled to suspend specie payments, and says that the sus
pension ought to cease “ the instant the pressure of circumstances
I which produced it ceases.” But Governor Ritner said, more than
i seven months ago, that the banks of his State were able to resume
I specie payments, in other words, that the pressure of circumstances
which produced the suspension had ceased. In his message sent to
! the Pennsylvania Legislature on the 6.b of December last, he used
these words :
‘t It thus appears that the banks of Pennsylvania are in a much
srfunder condition than before the suspension ; and that the resump
tion of specie payments, so far as it depends on their situation and
resources, may take place at any time.”
The Philadelphia banks were then,according to Governor Ritner,
able to resume payment, able to fill the obligation of law and hon
esty, able to assist in purifying the currency and restoring order to
domestic exchanges, seven long months ago.
What has Governor Ritner been doing all that time ? Has he
been dozing with the Seven Sleepers ? Why did he not direct a
resumption of payment by the banks the instant their situation arid
resources, according to his own confession, justified and demanded
it? Why did he not, when the banks of the State of New-York
were struggling to procure a general resumption of specie payments,
come to their assistance, issue his proclamation, and oblige the banks
of Pennsylvania to do their duty ?
The answer is not difficult to discover. It was thought better
that things should be kept in confusion, that the general embatrass
j ment should be prolonged, that the obligations of honesty should con
i tinue to be violated, that the debts due from the South and West to
i New-York should go unpaid, that our currency should remain de
praved, and exchanges impractible for seven months longer, in order
that Congress might, by this conspiracy of systematic swindling, be
forced into some course of legislation favorable to the views of Bid
dle and the whig party. The very first paragraph of Ritner’s pro-
I clamation confesses this.
Congress has now adjourned, and nothing more can be expected
from that quarter. Mr. Biddle’s bank is sinking in credit; its shares
are undergoing a steady and gradual decline in the market, from the
progress ol the conviction that it is insolvent and cannot pay its
notes ; the election of Governor of Pennsylvania is approaching,
and Rimer’s credit is declining along with Biddle’s, on account of
being looked upon as a tool and confederate. It was important,
therefore, to Ritner’s success in Pennsylvania that some attempt
should be made to shake off the odium which was gathering over him,
and therefore this farce of a proclamation was got up.
And a wretched farce it is—a mockery which no man of ordinary
penetration and candor can regard with any feeling but disgust.
We absolve from the blame of it the pool old gentleman in whose
name the proclamation is issued too feeble, pliant and unsuspecting
to be made the subject of moral censure in a matter of this kind.
He but speaks the words which cunning prompters whispers in his
ear. How completely it is a mockery may be inferred from the fol
words of the National Gazette, one of the advocates of Mr. Biddle’s
course.
“The Banksof our own section (and tve do not doubt of other
parts of the State, too) are perfectly well pleaskd with the
proclamation, its temper and doctrine. Though it cannot expe
dite THEIR MOVEMENTS HERE OR ALTER THEIR DETERMINATION AL
READY To RESUME very shorty, in accordance with good policy and
a regard for the wants and rights of the community, yet it, shows to
the noisy deciaimers against property—the wrangling deftners about j
the aristocratic principle—the full array of pseudo-reform and de
structive radicalism, that the Whig Governor of the State has neith- •
er considered the declamatory violence and legislative chicanery o :
the one party, nor the avowed good dispositions and ready exertions
of the other; but that when the time arrives for taking a decided
course and proclaiming what is right for its simple sake and in ac
cordance with official duty he dues so.”
A precious confession this, that Governor Ritner waited till the
Philadelphia banks were ready and resolved to resume specie; pay
ment, and when the time had arrived that the step was totally unne
cessary, he had the coinage to issue his proclamation denouncing
against them the penalties of the law in case they did not follow
their own inclination.— lb.
From the Washington Globe,
MR. BIDDLE’S DIFFICULTIES.
The persuasions and threats employed by Messrs. Biddle and
Chauncey, and the two other Philadelphia banks, (their willing in
struments,) to induce the honest and patriotic institutions ot lhe city
to remain longer under the disgrace of a sink-pocket insolvency, ar- '
goes a greater disorder in the slate of the great financier’s moneyed j
aflaii;sthan we apprehended, badly as we thought of its political as
pects. We annex an article from the Eveving Post, which has “an
awful squinting.” It Mr. Biddle is bound to pay specie to the Mis
sissippi banks for the vast amount of their depreciated paper used by
him in the purchase of cotton, the moment specie payment is resum
ed, then Mr. Biddle is under tin ovelTtiling necessity, which compels
him to keep the banks generally itt their irredeemable position.
Well may he insist on having his matters kept hid behind his cotton
bags; for if bis true condition is discovered, the melancho y fact
would appear, that the Bank of the United States, in resuming, must
resume also for the Mississippi banks. Mr. Biddle’s Mississippi
speculations will, in that case, turn out like the celebrated John
Law’s Mississippi scheme, which was based upon universal credulity,
instead o( credit founded on substantial money. John Law’s ex
traordinary faculty of financiering, which made iiim the prodigy ol
bis time, involved almost a whole kingdom in bankruptcy. Mr. Bid
dle’s skill in the same science may, in the end, overthrow Mr. Jan-•
don’s stock-jobbing throne in Threadnecdle s’reet, and Mr. Biddle’s
mercantile monarchy in the United States. As long, however, as a
general bank insolvency South and West of Philadelphia continues,
the Batik of lhe United States may remain a potentate throughout
the realm of the ragocracy. For so long as the people in those sec
tions will acquiesce in a reign of rags, so long will Mr. Biddle hold
his present proud pre-eminence ; and certainly the rich and power
ltd States which consent lo remain tributary to him—to take his pro
mises for pay—and, by the alchemy of unbounded confidence, con
vert his effigy papet into the equivalents of specie, they could not
crown him with highet sovereignty and honor. We art; not sur-
prised, then, that Mr. Biddle should oppose a change which must
bring his ideal grandeur to the test of stern reality—and strip him of
that cloud of glory with which the confusion he has made, atpresent,
invests him.
But to what pretext will he now resort, tojustify the refusal to pay
what he owes when demanded, and what he has always been so very
able to pay? Exchanges have set for months, in an unvarying tide,
m favor of this country ; the banks east of him have resumed, in de
fiance of all that formidable hostility of the Government, which, it
was predicted, would soon overtake and overwhelm them in a second
and fatal suspension ; the dreadful Specie Circular, and the discredit
ol (be banks by the refusal to receive their paper at the Treasury
was easily withstood by the New York banks; but these disabilities
have been done away with, to quiet the alarms of the horror-struck
non-resumers. So far from discouraging, the Government holds out
every invitation to the hanks to nr ke their paper convertible, hv
making it the condition of giving it circulation. What excuse, then,
will Mr. Biddle offer now for failingto avail himself of this Govern
ment favor? Will he insist on a restoration of the deposites to him
to bank upon ? This both branches of Congress, as well as the
Executive, have denied to all banks. Mr. Biddle cannot, therefore,
expect that the public revenue will bo surrendered to create a capital
to enable him to pay bis notes; but if litis were set up as a ground
f>r delay, it would not serve as a deception even with the Bank par
tisans, for they are taught to say that the Government is bankrupt;
and, although this is not true, yet the income and expenditure of the
Treasury are so neatly equal, that it could afford no surplus to pav
the Bank’s debts. Nothing is left to Mr. Biddle, then, but to pay
the Bank’s notes out of his Bank’s resources, or acknowledge its
insolvency.
Mr. Clay’s course, after his recent visit to Philadelphia and New
York, made a strong impression on our mind that there was some
hidden affliction in Mr. Biddle’s concerns, which had produced the
change in his mode of treating him. He proposed a new Batik of
the United Statesoffifty millions. He eulogized Mr. Gallatin (whom,
a few years since, he denounced as a heartless foreigner, without
one American feeling) as quite as capable to manage a National
Bank as the great financier, Mr. Biddle. He said, “Hang Nick
Biddle, for all that lor my friends care,” etc. etc. Would the mo
ney-loving, money-calculating Mr. Clay, who builds all the schemes
of his ambition on the application of lhe mercenary principle, have
uttered this new tone of Mr. Biddle, were he supposed by him to
stand at the helm of a sound institution, wielding thirty-seven mil
lions? Never! He sees or fears in this body politic and corporate
some lurking disease unknown to the public. He was the decided
advocate of its corrupt electioneering; its violations of its charter;
of every act of dishonesty ; but if its means are wasted in his ser
vice, he is done with it. He will cut the connection with his Bank
comrade, if his political and commercial gamblings have brought him
to extremities, just as readily as he would turn his back on a friend
whom he had stripped at cards.
Front the Washington Chronicle,
BON. W. C. DAWSON.
This gentleman lately published a speech of his in pamphlet form,
(since republished in the Federal and Foreign organ in this city,)
wherein hs attempted to give some sinister stabs to Mr. Calhoun.
The letter of Mr. C. in reply to its allegations will be found in our
columns, and gives the quietus to State Rights member.
Like other of the new converts to Mr. Clay’s National—State
Rights—Federal Party, he is likely to find himself perplexed with
lhe business he has taken in hand. Mr. C lay and his Federal friends
have given orders to kill off Mr. Calhoun and the State Rights Party
—as standing in the way of his ambition. He led on the assault in
the Senate in person, backed by Mr. Webster and a new convert : n
that body, and sustained in the House by two other members of the
same baptism, with closed visors and daggers only unsheathed in the
dark. Every body here knows (till well to whom we allude—and
knows, too, that this unfair an 1 unprovoked wat is dictated solely by
the consideration that his person and principles stand in the way of
Mr. Clay. He and the party that sustains the State Rights doctrines
could not be brought to surrender their principles—and hence the
war of extei mination which we witness. Those whom they could
neither seduce no deter, they are determined to destroy by some
means or other. “ Kill him off at all hazards," is the command
given out; and as great rewards are offered for the service, a hun
dred secret daggers are unsheathed, and ready for the work. We
shall see the end of it. The stern Southerner, like the Roman
Chief, will make more than one of the assassins blush at bis business
and recoil from his presence ; and if his head be borne to our mo
dern Anthony, it will be, like that of Tully, in the hands of seme
ingrale who will signalize his treachery, his venality, and his coward
ice at the same blow.
“Out hyperbolical fiend! Why vexestthou this man? Talk’st thou of nothing
but the Presidency . n '
From the Alexandria Gazette,
“ Our friend of the Washington Chronicle is ingenious—and takes
the hue, in that respect, as well as others, of his Magnus Apollo.
But with all his ingenuity he never can make the people of the South
believe that electing Mr. Van Buren President, means, ‘uniting
the South’.”
Our friend of the Gazette, and all the advocates of Mr. Clay,
seems to be run mad about the Presidency.' The bauble is ever
glittering before their eyes, with a spell-binding influence. It en
grosses all their thoughts—all their affections—all their energies. It
is the constant burden of their song—the dream of life from morn
till night—the beginning and lhe end of all their labor
pity it is that they are destined to be disappointed in their as, *
Mr Clay has marred all his prospects by theeagernessof hisambition.
Had he not sought the place with such stormy impatience he might,
perhaps have obtained it. As it is, there is no chance for him.
But upon what ground is it that the Gazettes chooses to charge us
with endeavoring to "■make the people of the South believe, that
electing Mr. Van Buren President means “ uniting the South ?"
Have we ever said a word about "electing Mr. Van Buren Presi
dent!" We tell the editor, hisftiend Mr. Clay—and those that
support him—they think too modi of the Presidency and too
little of principles and of the public good. The whole country has
been kept in tumult for near a quarter of a century by Mr. Clar’s
pretensions to the Presidency. It is time to put a stop to it. We
have never been the advocate of any Presidential candidate—and
care not who is the Executive officer, so he administers its powers ac
cording to the Constitution. Mr. Clay will not do this—at least, in
our judgment—and we therefore, oppose him. His measures and
his principles are alike at war with the Constitution's we undsrstand
it—as experience, bitter experience, has proved them to be disas
trous to the prosperity and peace of the Union. We cannot support
him under any circumstances; nor shall we pledge our soppott to
Mr. Van Buren or any one else. The object which we have in view
is higher than the Presidency—THE WELL BEING OF THE
COUNTRY. Let those sweat for place who are willing to serve a
master. — Chronicle.
From the Georgia Constitutionalist.
BACKING AND FILLING.
The situation of several ot the federal-whig presses of the city,
for several days past, has been as amusing to the spectator, as it
must have been embattassing to the parlies, lhe Inquirer, for
instance, on Saturday last, was all for resumption. On Wednesday,
however, the U. S. Bank having been discovered to be hostile to
the measure, the Inqeirer thought that resumption would not exactly
answer, and quoted from the United States Gazette, to show that
it was “not alone in the opinion” that a resumption on the Ist of
August would be premature. Yesterday, however, the “Governor’s
last trick” having arrived, the Inquirer wheeled about once mote,
and shouted lustily for specie payments as not being premature.
The Governor is to blame in not by a timely hint, having saved
the Philadelphia official from the trouble of wheeling and turning
so rapidly at this warm season of the year. But the Inquirer’s
versatility is extraordinary.
The United States Gazette, likewise, though much more staid in
its deportment than its cotemporary, indulges a little in the “ wheel
about and jump about” on the occasion. That paper has been
strong against resumption, as premature, dangerous, “ Waterlooish,”
and all that.—But, yesterday, it hailed the tricky proclamation as a
“ patriotic document that would be received with joy by our citi
zens generally !” A wink from his anti-masonic, inquisitorial, and
gubernatiorial, excellency is all potent with oor neighbors. Let
him say the word, and with them the “ premature ” at once becomes
mature—-tlit: “dangerous” at bis nod is converted into the safe,
and “ mistification ”is laid aside. Perhaps the United State Ga
zette will be kind enough to favor us with “a plain chapter” on
this subject.
THE RETREAT OF THE IRREDEEMABLES.
The war cry of the friends of Porter—“ Democracy and a
redeemable currency, is found so overwhelming, that even
Ritner, the head of the shinplaster party of Pennsylvania, has been
compelled at last, to yield, and at lhe eleventh hour, orders specie
payments.
'Fhe proclamation is, in fact, a glorious victory to the Democracy
of Pennsylvania. The forces of Irredeemable Federalism and Anti
masonry are compelled to abandon the ground they have occupied
for more than a year. Their rag banner is struck!
From the Washington Chronicle.
NATIONALISM AM) ABOLITIONISM.
The Governors of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Connec
ticut, —all good 11 higs, as the Southern converts in Richmond, ]
Lynchburg, Columbia, Augusta, and Milledgville, would desire, — j
may be regarded as avowed Abolitionists. They are using their'
political influence to stimulate those mad incendiaries to carry on 1
their unholy crusade against the institutions of the South But,
the Southern converts aforesaid, are "hail-fellows well met"— with
these good IlAigs? Mr. Adams, too, raves in Congress for three
weeks about the "dark spirit of slavery"— and Mr. Slade throws
in his thorough-bass to the stridulous treble of the octogenairan
madman. Act they ate "good II higs enough for us"— quoth the
Southern converts. They are Mr. Clay’s men ;—and that’s enough !
How long will it. be before Garrison, and Tappan, and Smith
and the other liudihrastic heroes of abolition will come into sweet
hrotheihood with the IVhigs of the Whig, &c, &c,? By the
following letter from Virginia, published in the last number of the
Boston Liberator, it will be seen that the work is going on in
earnest. This gentleman is, in all probability, n"good Whig"
too- —and, from the tone of his epistle, must have read the sweet
t 1 panegyrics of the "great Whig party " of the North, staff, rank and.
H file, —that appear daily in the Richmond Whig, and other papers of
' I the same clique.
“ Light Wanted at the South.—The President of the Amer-
I ican Anti-Slavery Society has recently received a letter from a
gentleman residing in Virginia, appealing to his ‘manifest liberality
in favor of the oppressed’to furnish him with such works as would
enable him to decide ‘with regard to the merits of slavery and aboli
tion.’ The writer says, ‘As I now stand, 1 arn convinced of the
EVIL of slavery, and the NECESSITY of its abolition, but am
rather inclined to think it should be gradual, and not immediate. I
think that, corid I be convinced of the expediency and safety of
IMMEDIATE ABOLITION, I would feel it to be my doty to
raise my voice in defence of the poor black. lam now occasionally
employed in the proclamation of the Gospel of Christ, and i think,
next to a freedom from sin, the freedom of our fellow-men should bo
contended for, could they be emancipated with safety. I have had
recommended to me ‘VVell’s Bible Argument,’ and ‘Thome and
Kimball’s Journal, for my perusal, which works I cannot proenri;
You will therefore please procure them for me in your city, if you
can without much trouble, and should they be bound, tear the bind
ing off, and forward them to me by mail, marking on the packages
the number of sheets, so that they will not be opened and destroyed,
inform me per mail the price, and I will indeavor to send it by lhe
first opportunity. Atty other work, pamphlet, or communication,
which you m y think useful to me will be thankfully received.”’—
Emancipator.
So much lor this Virginia incendiary. We trust the Postmasters
will keep a good look out, and that he will be dragged from bis hid
ing pl ice. “ 1 home and Kimball's Journal" of wbi< h bespeaks,
is a work got up by the Abolitionists expressly for the purpose.
1 he authors were sent to the West Indies, by the Abolition Society,
sot the single purpose of preparing the materials to impose upon the
ignorance, superstition and credulity of the people. Thev performed
their parts well; and the work has been lately ushered forth with
a gn at flourish.of trumpets. Gov. Everertt of Massachusetts and
Gov. Ellswoith of Connecticut—(“ good Whigs enough for us"} s
have given it their best countenance. The last Liberator contains
the following recommendatory from the hitler gentleman.
Governor Ellsworth, of Connecticut, writes thus to A. F.Wil
lims, Esq. of this city :—•
“New Haven, May 19, 1838.
"My dear Sir, — Just before I left home, I received from you the
Journal ol Thome and Kimball, sot which token of friendship 1 in
tendeu to have made you my acknow edgments before this: but I
wished to read the book. As far as time would pennit 1 have gone
over most of its pages; and let me assure you, it is justly calculati d to
produce great effects, provided you can once get it into the hands
ol the planters. Convince them that their interests, as well as tlteir
security, will he advanced by employing free blacks, and emancipa
tion will be accomplished without difficulty or delay.
“ I nave looked with great interest at the startling measures of em
ancipation in Antigua, but if this book is cotrect, the question is
settled as to that island beyond a doubt, since there is such accu
mulated testimony from all classes, that the business and real estate
of the island have advanced, by reason of the emancipation, one
fourth, at least, in value; while personal security, without military ’
force, is felt by the former maste's, and contentment, industry and
gratitude are seen in those who were slaves.
“ 1 he great moral example of England, in abolishing slavery in
the West Indies, will produce a revolution on this subject throughout
the world, and put down slavery in every Christian country.
“With sentiments of high esteem, &c.
“W. W. ELLSWORTH
So speaks this "good Whig"— (aye,— "good enough for us"—
quoth the converts.) But that the reader may hear the othor side
as to this Abolition book, we take the following extract from the
last number of the Boston Quarterly Review—o eof the most able
and spirited Periodicals in the Union. The Editor, speaking of lhe
Book says:
“ This is a work which can hardly be expected to have any au
thority out of the ranks of the' Abolitionists. Messrs. Thome and
Kimball, two red hot Abolitionists as they were, and not over and
above stocked with those qoalities which are most essential to judi- j
cions observers, might indeed write a book which would commend
itself to the tastes and judgment cf their employers; but they were
the last men in the world to be employed to write a book on the
West Indies. Men of sober feeling, calm judgment, and in no way
previously committed, were the men, that should have been sent but
to make observations on the working of emancipation in those
islands. The book before us we have read attentively; but we
judge ourselves as ignorant of the real condition of the negroes in
the West Indies as we were before. ”
We doubt not that the Editor gives a true accunt of the woik.
It was prepared for mischief—and contains just about as much truth
as the rest of the Abolition (we were about to add IT7iig) productions. '
He who will take the trouble to read the history of St. Domigo,
lately published by Dr. Brown—a scholar and a gentleman—will
see at once what reliance is to be placed on the gross fabrications
of these emm'issaries, Thome and Kimball. The book is, in all
probability, a fiction from the begining to the end.—Nevertheless
we reccommend authors, or tho Liberator, to send a copy to the
Richmond Whig, Lynchburg Virginian, Columbia Telescope, Au
gusta Chronicle, and Milledgeville Recorder, —if th is lias not been
already done,—-They, certainly, as well as the aforesaid clergyman,
"want light" on the subject. A copy, too, to Mr. Clay, would not 1
be unacceptable. All these worthy people are philanthropists—
’and, withal, fully comprehend the two "things" named by the
Friend of Man, and endorsed by the Liberator and Emancipator
-—to wit:
“ 1. Henry Clay cannot be elected President without tUe *
VOTE OF TH.R FREE STATES.
“ 2. He CANNON HAVE THE VOTE OF THE FREE STATES WITHOUT ‘
THE VOTE OF THE AbOI.ITIoNIS I'S.”
And hereby “ hangs a tale."
From a New York Correspondent of the W estern Gazette.
Sir: I hasten to transmit >oil the following slip, containing
the latest foreign intelligence, the most important of which the
account of Captain Bentley, whom the papers represent as
having just arrived in Loijdon, after sustaining the loss of his
vessel and cargo, anti suffering great extremities itr the North
during the winter.
AWFUL ERUPTION OF SKAPTAR YOKUL—DIS
APPEARANCE OF THE ISLAND !!! *
No event which has fallen to the lot of the chronologist to “
record is fraught with a more beautiful inti rest than the one
described below. No catastrophe ever happened, which was
calculated to inspire the reader, and more especially lhe be
holder, with so awful a sense of the wonderful power of the
unknown elements that rage in all their convulsive energy,
within the recesses of the earth we inhabit.
Description of the catastrophe of Skaptar Yokul, ly Capt.
S. fl. Bendy, of the schuontr Falerio; from the London
Chronicle, ts April 3d.
We set sail from Bergen on the 12th of November, having ex
changed our cargo, and repaiied our vessel with a favorable Wind and
an open sky, but when we had made about fifteen leagues, we were
stiuckby a violent storm from the westward, which lasted five days,
and it demanded all our exertions to avoid the rockv shores of Nor
way. On the 18th,'at sunset, the storm sul sided, and we found our
selves in lat. 65 deg. 45 m., and lon. 2 deg. 59 m. E., about in a line
between the Laff'oden and Faroe Isles. The wind then shifted N.
E. by N.; taking akvantage of this we held our course westward for
seven days and nights, seldom changing a sail. On the 25th at
about half past 1 P. M., Monsieur G. Polier, a French gentlen an,
of some scientific attainments, and passenger for London, directed
my attention tosingular appearances in the sky, which he thought in
dicative of a squall. The clouds which darkened the horizon, along
the N., N. W. had a different appearance from any thing 1 had be
fore witnessed, and while viewing them with some doubt, I observed
in the air something having the appearance of fine soot, which in the
course of an hour, began to fall upon the deck of the vessel, and in
a short time it collected in considerable quantities in the folds of a
sail, which was spread to catch it. The circums'ance excit' d the
greatest apprehension among our soldiers, and all on board. Though
frequently appealed to, 1 ventured no definite opinion, until about
four o’clock, when by reference to my instrtiijienis I founnd that we
neared the coast of Iceland, and was satisfied that the phenomenon
was owing to a volcanic eiuntion. In about half an hour we disco
vered columns of flame which occasionally lighted the horizon, and
became every moment more terrific. At last the coast appeared
like a dark spot upon the horizon frequently illuminated by flashes of
light. By this time the ashes had become so deep that we were
obliged to clear the deck with shovels, and the show er every moment
increasing. We held our course till about 8 o’clock in the evening,
when of a sudden the waters around us appeared in the greatest con
vulsion, the surges were broken to pieces, and the surface assumed
the appearance of a boiling caldron, the wind lulled and the sails
hung by the mast, as if wilted in the sun. Thus we remained in
awful suspense ; not a wotd was spoken—all seemed to realize that
they gazed upon a scene to which they were equally strangers.
While in this state of anxiety, of a sudden there burst forth a shaft
of (lame accompanied by a noise equal to the united voice of ten
• thousand thunders, which reached to the very heavens, revealing the
| heaving sides of Skaptar Yokul! In a moment after, the mountain
was literally rent to pieces! Awful fissures from its summit to its
I base, permitted us to gaze into the very bowels of the earth! floods
of lava pouted down its sides like molton iron ; noises the most
tetrific startled the earth, air, and sea! rocks of many tons weight
shot into the sky and fell, seething into the water with a plunge that
was truly appalling; stones frequently fell upon the vessel, and all
were in expectation of destruction ; one poor negro was literally
dashed to pieces by a falling lock of 50 lbs. weight. The lava con
tinued to pour from the craters till the country, as far as the eve could
reach, was one boiling flood of molten stone ! No one can imagine
the horrid grandeur of the scene; all the elements seemed to have
broken their boundaries, and united tlteir dreadful energies, in the
production of one terribs disaster. When we reflected that thou
sands of our fellow creatures were overwhelmed with burning death,
wo could not be indifferent to our own situation, and it was with
feelings ol relict that we saw our vessel of a sudden laboring with