Newspaper Page Text
PO K T R Y.
From the Louisville Journal.
We need say nothing of the surpassing beauty of the
following lines of“ Amelia.” They will find their best
and most appropriate eulogy in the heart of the reader :
THE DYING GIRL.
’The fitful breeze, that, through the sultry day,
Ha l fumed the f anting blossoms with its breath,
Stole through the open casement, where there lay
A [rale young girl upon the couch of death.
Her glance was fixed upon the moon, that roll’d
Through blue and starlight in the vaulted sky,
As if she know her lleeting hours were told,
And wish’d to take one lingering look and die.
Beside that humble couch there droop’d one form,
The gentle mother of the dying one,
For grief had bow’d her spirit, as the storm
Bonds the soft rose upon its emerald throne ;
There lay her child, the beautiful, tlie young,
The breath just sighing on her lip of snow,
And her soft ringlets, all dishevelled, flung
Back from the whiteness of her deathly brow,
St lly she bent above her, though her look
VVas tearless as she sought her (laughter’s eye,
Yet her lip quivered like a bright leal, shook
By the strong tempest, as it sweeps the sky.
Daughter, she murmured, and the maiden turn’d
Unto her mother’s face her mournful glance,
In which life’s flickering taper wildly burn’d,
For she was startled as if from a trance.
And at that voice, so thrilling to her ear,
A thousand tender thoughts her heart opprest,
’Till to her blue eye tear-drop follow’d tear,
And the white linen heaved above her breast ;
About her mother’s neck she softly threw
Her pale, thin arms, and, nestling her young head,
Within her sheltering bosom, dashed the dew
From her soft cheek, and in low accents said—
Mother, my hour is come—
The wing of death is o’er mo, for my brow
Is damp and chill—sweet mother, I must go
Down to the siient tomb.
Yet not for this I grieve,
It is to think that I um leaving thee
I’oor and unfriended—mother thou wilt be
Alone at morn and eve.
And through the long, long day,
Thou’it sit with breaking heart above thy task,
Earning thy daily bread, >hile others bask
In fortune’s sunny r ay.
For on thy heart will press
A thousand memories of thy buried child,
And thou wilt pour thy weepings long and wild
In utter loneliness.
And in the time of sleep
Thou’lt turn to kiss me as thou oft has done,
But memory will whisper “ she is gone,”
And thou wilt wake and weep.
Before tny father died
We dwelt beneath our own bright stately halls,
Round which blue streams and silver fountain-falls
Were seen to glide.
There on the evening breeze.
In summer-time no harsher sound was heard,
Than the low tlutler of some singing bird,
Startled among the trees.
And there beside our hearth
Thou’st often knelt, and offered up to God,
My infant spirit pure as snow untrod,
And free from taint of earth.
But now how changed thy lot—
Strangers are dwelling in our once bright home,
Whilst thou art pent within this close, dark room,
Unaided and forgot.
I have been like a spell,
Binding thee unto earth—but death hath prest
His cold and heavy hand upon my breast—
Mother, I go —farewell!
Slowly her arms unbound their wreathing clasp,
Around her mother’s neck, and her fair head
Fell heavy back, while a low lengthened gasp
Sti red her cold marble bosom—she was uead !
Silent that mother gazed, the mighty Hood
Os grief within her heart she strove to hide,
For it seem’d sin to weep, while thus she stood
Above the holy dead, the sanctified.
It was no time to mourn, for she had yet
A bitter mournful duty to fulfill,
To press the eye lids o’er the blue orbs set,
To close the sweet lips smiling on her still;
She laid ihe ringlets round the liteless face
And wrap’d the loose shroud round the slender form,
That lay in mute and melancholy grace,
As if spelt bound in slumber soft and warm.
And when the stars of night began to wane,
And the warm sun bad chased away the gloom,
Strange forms were seen around the lattice-pane,
That looked into that dim and dreary room,
And, as they crossed the threshhold of (he door,
They found her drooping by her daughter’s bed—
Her raven tresses streaming o’er the door,
And her dark glossy eye fixed on the dead.
Oh ! ’twas indeed a sadly touching sight,
For her white hand lay press’d upon her heart,
As if to quel! within the spirit’s might,
And her cold purple lips were half apart.
They rais’d her from the spot where she had knelt
In the meek holy attitude of prayer,
And with the nicest touch her bosom felt
Seeking for life and warmth—but death was there !
AMELIA.
From the U. S. Magazine.
LEISURE-HOURS AT SARATOGA.
BV THE AUTHOR OF ‘HOPE LESLIE.’
I remember once to have been startled by
a sermon on the right employment of our
leisure hours. I had fancied, in common with
most of the world, that if the set time of bus
iness (by that imposing name we all grace
our occupations) was diligently employed, out
leisure hours were not to be included in the
great account, but rather thrown in like rem
nants by a generous dealer, —sunny hours all,
taking no shadow from the past, and casting
no shadow before, —golden hours, snatched
from that wrinkled hag Care, who sits brood
ing over our anxious days. Hut the preach
er told us, Aid I have ever since been haunt- j
ed by the idea, that our leisure hours were j
precisely those for which we should be held
to the strictest account.
With this sermon on my conscience, I went
to Saratoga. One of my first thoughts, when
I looked round upon the busy crowd ofidlers,
(we are all vigilant over others’ duties) was,
how in the world those people were to answer
for ten consecutive days, three weeks, or a
month of leisure hours! Were they not
throwing away the stutf that life is made of? j
without a thought of the account accumu- ‘
la ting upon them! Here were the old, just
finishing the voyage ol life, and the young,
just entering upon it, —all gliding rapidly j
down the stream, and all seeming to fancy
that the shores are passing them, not they the
shores. I was awakened from my reverie by
my friend Mrs. J , whose ideas seem to
be generated in the clear healthy atmosphere
of her heart. “ Look there,” she said, “ the
benevolent can find a field every where, even
in a Saratoga drawing-room!” 1 followed
the direction of her eyes, and saw one of the
loveliest of ail the young and fashionable that
graced that drawing-room. She had broken
away from a knot of girls and young men,
(leaving her lion’s-portion of their attentions
to escheat to her companions) and joined a
poor lady who actually appeared to be aching
with her solitude in that lively crowd. She
had come to Saratoga two or three days be
fore, with the prime necessity of woman’s
life, a male ndj met, who appeared as regu
larly as the knives and forks at meal times,
and left her side as soon as he had reconduct
ed her to the drawing-room; where she would
slink into a corner, and remain like a bit of
drill-wood, that had been whirled into an eddy
and there stops, while every thing is joyous
ly floating past. Her name and condition
were known to be respectable, but her dress
was rather grotesque, and her hair, which no
stretch of the imagination could change from
red to auburn was,—now when every head
is simply and classically arranged—drawn up
to the top of her crown, where it stood like
the leaning tower of Pisa. Then she looked
so painfully still, so sorry that she was there,
so wistfully towards every one that had a
companion to speak to, that she moved *s
compassion, and she went on her errand of
charity. Scarcely had half-a-dozen sentences
of the common currency of introductory con
versation been exchanged, when the solitary
lady looked like anew creature. She was no
longer a stranger and an alien, but linked in
with her fellow creatures, part and parcel of
the cheerful world about her; and when
offered her arm, and strolled up and down
the ro im with her, giving her that important
information which site had been burning to
acquire, but dared not ask, the name of that
tall gentleman, and this short lady, she ap- i
pea red like one taken off a desolate island, on j
board a slap sailing under his own country’s
flag, with ship-mates speaking his own lan- |
guage. “ You were right,” said l to my
friend, “ even ibis is a “Held of benevolence,;
aiu j lias gleaned a scattered ear.” And
well redeemed, I thought, a leisure hour, tor ,
she has made a fellow creature happy ; no
matter by what simple means such an objeet
is attained, the simpler the tetter.
The next morning enriched us with a large
party from North Carolina. Fortunate is the
rotate that can send forth such citizens to re
present it. Intelligent and kind-hearted, sim
ple and direct in tlieir manners, with that evi
dent self-respect resting on the immovable j
foundation of intrinsic respectability, and the j
modesty and deference that springs from a 1
faith in the worth of others—a laiiii which is j
the well-spring of life to humanity. There :
was one young person of this party who was
the centre of general interest. She was not
beautiful, but she had a power to rivet and
charm the #ye beyond a regular and reigning
beauty. There was a languor in her move
ment, and an abstractedness in her expres
sion, as if for her the soul of life was gone,
or as if (for she was suffering from ill health)
she were listening to the strain, “bister-spir
it, come away !” But when a voice she loved
struck upon her ear, or a word touched her
heart-%hords, she raised her heavy eye-lids,
and a worW glowing with sunshine, warmth,
and beauty, was revealed at a single glance.
It reminded me of the child’s pretty fancy,
that “ the stars were holes cut to let the glo
ry through.” The morning after her arrival
one of her party asked her to sing, and her
father, of all the admirers of her music the
most enthusiastic (as he should be,) brought
her guitar. She took it, and without any
prelude of affected modesty, or fluttering anx
iety, or real and painfui bashfulness, she play
ed’ Irish melodies, Scotch airs, and old Eng
lish songs, such as “ The harp that once
through l'ara’s halls,” the “lngle-side,” and
“Oft m the stilly night,” those household
words, domestic treasures, holy spells dial
conjure up the dead, and pour melody over
the soul from voices long silent. When she
began to sing it was some hour or two after
breakfast, the hour of general dispersion.—
Her voice was a signal for a general recall.
The ladies came from their cells, and the gen
tlemen poured in from the piazzas, till the
drawing-room was filled. There was not the
slightest change in her manner. While there
were murmurs of applause, sighs, and eyes
wet from memory’s opened fountains, while
those who only tolerate Italian music were
betrayed into spontaneous admiration, she
sung as if she were singing at twilight in her
own mother’s parlor, as unconscious of listen
ers, and as sweetly as the wood-thrush in its
deep solitude.
Sure, thought I,
And with these raptures moves the vocal air,
To testify his hidden residence.”
And within that breast, as I afterwards
found, was one of the most loving and trust
ing hearts ever made perfect through suffer
ing. After a while the drive, the ride, the
inviting savor of Barhvte’s trout, were too
strong for the music. Say and do what we
will our English blood is not “ native to man
ner,”—we must have more substantial pleasure
—something that smacks of the roast beefand
plum pudding of life. And in their diurnal
pursuit of these, the audience of our sweet
singer dispersed, but not till a leisure hour
had been redeemed from vanity and vacuity.
Strangers reproach us with “ sectional
prejudices,” amounting, in their virulence, to
that natural hatred so patriotically cultivated
for some centuries between the French and
English. If they actually do exist, Saratoga
should be considered as a sort of Jerusalem,
and the annual gathering there a national
jubilee, when we are emancipated from some
thing worse than physical slavery,—for these
sectional prejudices are chains and manacles
to kindly feelings—dark ptison-houses to gen
erous thought. Many a leisure hour is well
employed on that neutral ground of Saratoga,
when the social sympathies are linking the
hearts of the fair rivals of rival cities, and
“smoothing the raven down” of that deepest
darkness in our Republic, political animosity,
—when the warmth and eloquence of the
Southerner melts the ice of the Northern
man, anil finds and feels the generous current
that flows beneath it—when the erudite Bos
tonian quotes the science and even repeats
the puns of the Philadelphian,—and when
New York fashionables beg patterns of caps
and capes from Baltimoreans. These are
the genial ollices of acquaintance, and before
its influence “ sectional prejudices” vanish
as night vapors melt in the eye of the sun.
I have long more than doubled the curative
effect of satire, —that most bitter of medi
cines. It is certainly a more gracious task to
discover a life-sustaining plant, than keenly
to detect a poisonous herb; and far pleasant
er to gather flowers than to point out ob
truding weeds; and most wise is it, like the
wise man, to idealize the cheerful counte
nance, and, like the good vicar, to “ love to
look upon happy human faces.” This being
my faith, I would not advise any to waste
their leisure hours at Saratoga upon such
hacknied subjects as manoeuvring mammas
and their puppet daughters, parvenus, mus
tachioed dandies, and self-created foreign no
bility. Indeed, with one or two exceptions,
these races appeared nearly extinct, t re
member, though, one exquisite thing—a
shadowy presentment of humanity, made up
of curls and essences, that held its embroider
ed kerchief a (a mode, and waltzed hat in
hand ; that “disabled all the benefits of his
own country, was out of love with his nativi
ty, and almost chid God for making him that
countenance he wore,”—so that some lively
girls, taking pity on his out-of-place doublet
and hose, subscribed, from their own stores, a
suit of suitable apparel. I know not if it
were sent, but I saw the list, —including ear
rings, hair-pins, and papiliottes.
But instead of these oft-recorded denizens
of the watering place, they were, for those j
of the Vicar’s taste, husbands and wives j
apparently so contented with their lot, that j
they cared not whether the law of the land |
allowed divorce to ail who wished it, like the |
reformed code of Prussia, or denied it to all
who craved it, like certain other codes, so
they were permitted to wear their easy yoke
together. There were mothers whose de
lighted eyes followed their younger selves,
and who seemed to have no design for them
more heinous than securing their present in
nocent enjoyments. There were beautiful
girls untrammelled as all American girls are,
self-relying, and most safe in that seif reli
ance, wiio betrayed no impatience to transfer
their allegiance from parent to husband.—
There were travelled ladies from Paris, who
had come home with improved tastes, stored j
memories, and hearts full of love for their
country, and with as simple, chaste, and ele
gant a toilet, as if the Paris milliners were all
dead and buried, and reined women had
taken the apparelling of their persnos into
their own hands. There were elderly single
ladies, who neither gossipjjed about other peo- j
pie’s affairs, nor obtruded their own. One !
or two of these I noted, with tempers so j
cheerful, and sympathies so warm and active,
that it was plain they had not needed the
sanative relations of wife and mother to . eep
them m good humor, and preserve the foun
tain of their affections living and flowing.
And there was, O rara avis, a millionaire un
courted. and unobtruding.—And lastly, (the
order of our enumeration resembles that of
child’s of his dinner: [lies, tarts, flummery,
and mast beef.) lastly, there were men from
the highest professional, official, and com
mercial walks of life, who had cast their
cares behind them, and come there to recre
ate in their leisure hours, and of some of
them I may add, must gratefully, to re
deem and enrich the leisure hours of others.
And what a life-time is in those leisure
[tours! A resident of two weeks has seen
generation after generation appear and pass
’ uvvhy, lie has made acquaintances and Ibr
•mtien them, —perchance has ripened friend
ships and sighed over their decay. Happy
are the few who escape the doom of most hu
man tilings —oblivion.
MR. GRUNDY’S BANK REPORT.
The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom
was referred that part of Hie President’*!
message winch relates to the issuing and
re-issunig ot the notes of the late bank of
the United States, by the bank recently
cn arte red by Uie State of Pennsylvania, by j
and under tne same name, have hau the ;
same under consideration, and present the
following report:
iiy the act of Congress chartering the :
Bank of the United btaies, passed on the j
April, Ibid, that institution was invested with ;
aii fc theu stiai privileges of banking corporations,
and was especially authorized to issue its bill*
and notes, not less in amount than five doiiais,
m the ordinary form oi bank miles, signed by
us president and cashier. These bills and
notes, when payable on demand, were made
receivable in all payments to the U. States.
For the security ol these and its other legal
obligations, the capital stock was created,
amounting to thirty-five millions of dollars.
Twenty-eight millions of this were to be
raised and paid by individuals, companies or
corporations. The remaining seven millions
were paid in by the United States. The
affairs of the corporation were to be managed
by twenty-five directors, five of whom were
to be appointed by the President of the Uni
ted Stales. A committee of Congress was
authorized to examine into the transactions
of the bank; and legal proceedings were to
be instituted by tle Executive, whenever any
of the provisions of the charter were violated.
The United States were to receive, half
yearly, a portion of the profits of the institu
j lion, corresponding to tiie portion ot the ca
'pitul they subscribed.
It will thus be seen that, during the exis
tence of the bank and during the period when
its bills and notes were issued under the char
ter, the United Slates were deriving a profit
from its transactions; that their funds were
pledged for the security of those who received
and held its notes; and that they’ were in
vested (at least so far as the words of the law
went) with some control over its manage
ment.
By the same law, ail the banking powers
of the corporation were limited to the 3d of
March, 1836, alter which day they entirely
ceased ; although it was authorized for two
years subsequent the'eto, to use its corporate
capacity “for the purpose of suits for the
final settlement and liquidation of the affairs
and accounts of the corporation, and for the
sale and disposition of its estate; but not for
any other purpose, or in any other manner
whatsoever.” The objects of this part of the
law are too plain to be misunderstood. The
intention of Congress was to preclude, alter
the 3d March, 1836, every banking transac
tion ; the issue of bills; the discount of notes;
the lending of money—in a word, the conti
nuance of all transactions for the profit of the
stockholders. Its object was to prevent the
bank from incurring, after that day, any ad
ditional liability, by which the properly either
of the United States or individuals invested
in the corporation might be directly or indi
rectly bound, and to require the bank fully to
settle its accounts and dispose of its property,
to redeem its obligations, pay its debts, and
collect its assets before the 3d of March, 1838.
It appears that, on the 18th of February,
1836, Hie Legislature of Pennsylvania, by an
act entitled *’ An act to repeal the State lax
on real estate and personal property, and to
continue and extend the improvements of the
State by rail roads and canals, and to charter
a State bank, to be called the United States
Bank,” incorporated the existing stockholders
of the Bank of the United States, (excepting
the United States and the Treasurer of the
United States,) and such other persons as
might become stockholders, according to the
provisions of that act of the Legislature ;
previously requiring the same, however, to he
accepted by the actual stockholders at a ge
neral meeting. On the 19th of February,
1536, a general meeting of these stockholders
was held, without, however, any assent,
representation, or authority on the part of the
United States. At that meeting, resolutions
were passed, accepting the charter from the
Legislature of Pennsylvania, and directing
the president of the bank to make that accep
tance known to the Governor of the State.
At the same meeting, the stockholders thus
assembled directed the president and directors
of the Bank chartered by Congress “ to pay,
transfer, and deliver to this institution, all and
singular the shares, parts, purparts, interest,
and property whatsoever of the stockholders,
so incorporated bv the State of Pennsylvania,
of and in the goods, chattels, moneys, effects,
and estate, real and personal, of the present
Bank of the United States.” Os this mea
sure, no notice was given to the Government
of the United States; no application was
made to, or authority sought from, Congress,
although it was notorious that a portion of
tiie effects of the Bank, in addition to the sum
of seven millions of dollars, belonged exclu
sively to them ; and they were entitled to one
seventh part of the effects to be collected and
divided; and that they were liable, in the
same proportion, lor the proper settlement of
the affairs and discharge of the obligations,
which were thus summarily laken out of tlieir
hands, and placed beyond their control.—
Though, in words, the direction of ihese as
sembled stockholders to their president and
directors was to transfer their own shares and
parts of tiie effects, yet, as those effects had
never been divided, as no proposition for tlieir
division had ever been made, as they consis
ted of the great and complicated mass of pro
perly belonging to such an institution, and,
in the nature of things, incapable, without
extreme difficulty, of division, it was in fact a
sudden and summary transfer of the whole
property and effects belonging to the people
of the United States, and invested by them in
that institution, under carefully devised guards
and stipulations, to a State corporation, sud
denly created, in whose transactions they had
no participation.
As if to remove all doubt of this being the
nature and intention of the transfer, the pre
sident and directors of the bank chartered by
Congress proceeded, on the 2d of March,
1836, the very day before the charter expi
red, solemnly to resolve, that “all and singu
lar the money, goods, chattels, rights, credits,
and personal estate whatsoever owned by, or
belonging to, or in the custody of this bank,
wheresoever the same may be, together with
all evidences and securities for the same, he,
and the seme hereby are, assigned, transfer
red, and conveyed to the president, directors,
and company of the Bank of the United
States incorporated by the State of Pennsyl
vania,” and they created that institution their
trustee, to conduct and wind up the business
of the bank.
Thus, in direct violation of the spirit, if not
the letter, of the act of Congress, which im
posed upon the bank chartered by itself the
duty of “ settling and liquidating the affairs
and accounts of die corporation,” which had
given it two years expressly for that purpose,
and which had retained for Congress the
power of examining, by its committees, the
correctness of its proceedings, and controlling
it, if necessary, by a summary judicial pro
cess: in violation of this provision, and in
manifest infringement of the rights of the
people of the United States, whose property
was invested in the institution to a large
amount, a portion of the stockholders, exclu
ding the United States, giving them no no- j
lice, asking no authority from Congress, sud
denly assuming with a high hand the man
agement of the whole aliair, undertake the
solemn farce of passing resolutions to create
themselves (incorporated, it is true, by ano
ther law, though not under another name)
their own trustees; and, having so done,
they take possession of all the property, and
assume the settlement of all the affairs of the
institution, relieved, as they suppose, from
every responsibility and control to which
Congress meant the bank should be subject in
winding up its business.
On the 4th of March, ISS6, when, in con
templation of the act of Congress, the Bank
of the United States should have been com
mencing the settlement of its affairs, including
the large interest of the Government, we find
a portion of its stockholders who have cast
off the rest, seizing and keeping possession of
every particle of the joint property, and as
suming the right to manage it, free from the
obligations of ihe charter under which that
property was collected, and from the control
of those by whom that charter was granted,
and to whose constituents a very large por
tion, of that property belongs.
It does not appear that at the time of this
: transfer. l>y a portion of the stockholders, of
i ihe whole property of the bank to themselves,
j any inventory or statement of the effects and
j estate of the institution was made ; and no
steps whatever were taken for the regular
! “ settlement and liquidation of the affairs and
[accounts of the corporation,” as the charter
positively required. The whole business was
i mixed up with that of the new institution.—
j Although the Secretary of the Treasury was
! desirous and endea'vored to obtain a payment
or dividend of the property proportionate to
| the shares belonging to the Uniled States, he
l was unable to do so. Resort was, of neces
sity, had to an estimate of the value of the
shares, founded on an examination of the ge
| neral accounts of the old institution. There
i is, perhaps, no reason to doubt, on the whole,
ihe correctness of this valuation ; but it must
be admitted that such was not “ the settle-
ment and liquidation of the affairs and ac
counts of the corporation,” stipulated for by
Congress at the time it granted the charie-,
and which was frustrated by the summary
and unauthorised conduct of the individual
stockholders, in transferring to themselves all
the property of the bank just before the char
ter expired ; and from the time of such trans
fer, neither keeping its accounts or winding
up any of its concerns.
Soon after the estimated valuation of the
stock of the bank, thus made, the Slate insti
tution and trustee came foreward and volun
tarily offered to pay the same, by equal in
stalments, in September, 1837, 1838, 1839,
and 1840, with six per cent, interest from the
time the charter expired. This offer the
Secretary of the Treasury was directed, by
a joint resolution of Congress, passed on the
3d March, 1837, to accept, taking obliga
tions for its fulfilment ; the first of which, it
is understood, has been redeemed, and the
amount paid into the Treasury.
Thus virtually terminated the affairs of the
late Bank of the United States; in a manner
very different from that settlement and liqui
dation which were a part of the obligations
of its charter; in a manner very different
from that in which the business of a great na
tional institution should have been finally
closed. It is true, the individual stockholders
have become possessed, by a general sweep,
of all the property of the bank; and the U.
States have exchanged their shares of stock
and their claim to dividends for a liquidated
sum, secured by the bonds of another corpo
ration. But have these operations relieved
either party from their obligations to the
community ; have they given to those pos
sessed of the property a right to use it in ma
nifest contradiction to the charter by which it
was created; have they given sanction, di
rect or indirect, to an employment of the cor
porate privilege and the corporate property,
long after the charter has expired, for pur
poses not only unnecessary to the settlement,
of its affairs, but calculated to postpone and
retard such a settlement ; have they ab
solved Congress from the duty, solemnly im
posed upon it, of “ examining the proceed
ings” done undercolor of that charier ; will
they justify it in taking no measures to re
deem and cancel the obligations of an insti
tution it created; above all, do they furnish
it with an excuse for suffering the name, credit,
and apparent authority of the United States,
to give value to obligations in which they
have no longer an interest?
Os all the powers and privileges of hanking
institutions, that which most widely affects
the whole community is the issue of bank
notes; the authority by which they are is
sued, the purposes for which they may he
used, the mode in which their ultimate sol
vency and payment are guaranteed, consti
tute their character and give them a greater
or less circulation. The notes of the late
Bank of the United Stales were issued under
the authority of Congress. They were made
receivable from one end of the continent to
the other, as equivalent to gold and silver, in
the payment, of the revenue. The whole
community took them with confidence, be
cause a large portion of ihe capital pledged
for their redemption belonged to ihe United
States; because the issue of them was limit
ed to the duration of the charter; and be
cause the conduct of lliose who issued and
circulated them was placed immediately un
der the supervision of Congress. From these
causes, the notes of the late Bank of the U.
Slates derived tlieir extensive credit among
the people ; and this credit, thus derived, im
poses upon Congress the corresponding obli
gation, to take care that no act of omission of
theirs shall mislead the community, when
these causes of peculiar credit to these notes
have ceased to exist.
On die 3d of March, 1836, when the char
ter of the hank terminated, the bank notes
which it had issued amounted to thirty-four
millions four hundred and thirty-four thousand
two hundred and seventy dollars and sixteen
cents. Ol these it had on hand thirteen mil
lions three hundred and twenty-four thousand
nine hundred and seventeen dollars and nine
ty-three cents. These notes, thus on hand
at the expiration of the charter, it was the
obvious duty of the bank immediately to can
cel; they were obligations originally issued
under a charter which had expired ; they had
been returned into the bank; they formed no
part of iis property to be collected or divided.
Yet on the 2d of April following, the Slate
institution, in its first report to the Legislature
of Pennsylvania, declared the amount of its
notes issued to be thirty-six millions six hun
dred and twenty thousand lour hundred ‘ and
twenty dollars and sixteen cents; of which it
had then on hand, notes of the Bank of the
United States to the amount of sixteen mil
lions seven hundred and ninety-four thousand
seven hundred and thirteen dollars and seven
ty-one cents ; thus showing that the direct
ors of the bank chartered by Congress, in
transferring “ all their money, goods, and
chattels” to their trustee, had delivered up
the bank notes which ought to have been
cancelled, and whic ll were entirely unneces
sary for winding up tlie concerns of the bank
or performing any of the trust duties under
taken by that trustee. The practice thus a
dopted, of keeping instead of cancelling the
notes issued under the authority of the char
ter from Congress?, after that charter had
expired, was not confined 1o those thus im
properly delivered by a part of the stochold
ers to themselves, under the name of a trus
tee. Nearly two years have since elapsed,
and yet in the statement made bv the bank
to the Legislature of Pennsylvania, on the sth
January, 1533, is this item, “ notes issued of
the late bank and branches on hand, sls,- |
800,517 73.” Thus, when the two years in
| which the affairs of the bank were to have
1 been settled are nearly expired, when the con
trol (such as it is) that Congress may yet pos
sess is almost at an end, about sixteen millions
of dollars, in bank notes which bear the name
of the United Slates, and were actually made
1 under the authority of Congress, which, if
put in circulation, will be naturally and rea
sonably considered by those who take them
as guaranteed bv Congress, are now in the
exclusive possession of a banking institution,
which has the power to use them when and
for what purposes it pleases.
Even if it could be said that these bank I
notes would not be used for purposes of cir- j
dilation and currency; even if it were cer
tain that these evidences of the liability of the
United States would not be put forth after
that liability was at an end; even if thetrus- j
tee who has obtained possession of them had
evinced a determination to cancel them, as the
redeemed obligations of a concern which
ought to be wound up without delay, still, it
is a duty imposed upon Congress, who origi- j
nally authorized their issue, to see that this is
| done; to enforce, by law, and not to leave to
the discretion or honesty of any individual or
; corporation, that which the whole American
people have a right to look for at their hands, i
But is not that duty absolutely forced up
on them, when those who have thus obtained
possession of these uncancelled notes of an
j extinct corporation actually use them for pur
poses of circulation, and, in defiance of the ’
charter, boldly issue them as lawful currency
j and for their own individual profit? Yet not
i only is this the case. They claim the legiti
i mate right so to use and issue them. The
trustee who receives and accepts the proper
ty of the late bank, under the pledge to re
deem its notes, debts, and obligations, une
-1 quivocally asserts the right, not merely to re
i fuse to cancel the notes for the redemtion of
which funds have been conveyed, but actual
: ly to pay out these notes as other banks might
do when received them in the ordinary trans
actions. “ The Bank of ti e United States
| chartered by the State of Pennsylvania, has,”
1 in the deliberate language of its own dircct
j ors, “ done as other banks have done—paid
1 out the notes of the Bank of the U. States;”
.as it there was the slightest similarity be-
tween a bank which receives, by a general;
transfer, sixteen millions of dollars in bank
notes that had been regularly issued and re
turned to the institution by which they were
made, and those hanks which receive the
notes of one another in the ordinary course of
commercial dealing, and pay them out in the
same mode: As if there was the least re-j
semblance between the reissue of bank notes
by a trustee who had undertaken to redeem
those notes, and had received a large and
sufficient amount of funds for that object,
and the bona fide payment of them by a bank
lor the purpose of collecting their amount and
without any interest in them whatever, ex
cept as a common medium of exchange.
Between such proceedings there is no similar
ity, nor can the one afford any justification
to the other. But is not the course pursued
by this institution, which has received these
notes for the purpose of redeeming them, and
now boldly re-issues them, in ali respects iden
tical with that of a partner who, having funds
of an expired partnership in his hands, for the
purpose of settlement, should use and reissue,
in violation of all faith, the notes or obliga
tions of his confiding partner? Is it fiot sim
ilar to that of an executor, who voluntarily
assumes the duty of winding up the estate of
a deceased testator, and yet seizes upon the
property confided to him in that trust, and
applies it to his personal benefit, and puts in
to circulation, by himself and his agents, un
cancelled notes found among the papers of
the testator, which had been fully paid off!
and discharged ?
Previously to the Ist of July, 1837, the
monthly statements furnished to and publish
ed by, the Auditor General of Pennsylvania,
did n<‘t distinguish between the business of
the State Bank and that of its trustee; be
tween the notes of the late and present bank,
issued or in circulation. The information
j that shoiffiThus have been furnished, cannot,
therefore, be obtained for the long interval be
tween the 3d of March, ISSB, and the Ist of j
July, 1537. On the Ist of July 1837, how
ever, the notes ot the late bank, in circula
tion, were only $7,013,909 43, while on the
Ist of August, 1837, they amounted to $7,-
170,058 30; an excess of issue of the old
notes over all that were paid in of upwards
of $150,000 in a single month. Again, on
lhe 2d October, 1837, the notes of the late
bank in circulation are stated at $6,175,801
05, but on the Ist November following, at 1
$0,522,839 40; which would show a reissue !
of notes that ought to have been cancelled, j
amounting to upwards of $340,000 in less
than a month.
Thus it appears lhat, although Congress
expressly enacted, in granting the charter,
that the banking privileges of the Bank of
the United States should expire on the 3d of
March, 1536, yet the most important of those
privileges, so far as the community is con
cerned —the issue of bank notes, made under
the provisions of the charter—has continued
for twenty months after that period, and pro
bably still continuss; and although two years
were allowed after the expiration of the char
ter, “tor the final settlement and liquidation
of the affairs and accounts of the corporation,
and for the sale and disposition of its estate,
but not for any other purpose,” yet now, when
the two years are nearly at an end, there are
in existence, atn l ready to be reissued, when
desired, about $16,000,000 in bank notes, the
cancelling of which was one of the first and
principal duties of those who were “ to settle
and liquidate its affairs.” No provision was
made in the charter lor such a state of things.
It is, therefore, proper that Congress should
at once provide for it by appropriate legisla
tion. Such is its duty, if the principles of the
charter which it granted are to be luililied.
It is no infringement of any privilege actually
conferred on any individual or corporation, or
intended to be by that charter; and it will at.
once put an end to the erroneous impression
which a want of it wili naturally establish,
that the faith or the property of the United
Slates continues to bo pledged for the security
of the bank notes bearing the name of the
United Slates, and originally issued under
lhat pledge. It is due to consistency that the
terms and meaning of the charter should be
guarded and preserved ; it is due to good faith
that, when the property of the United States
is withdrawn, by tiie sale of the stock, from
liability for the redemption of the notes, they
should not stand bv and permit them to be
issued and circulated among the community,
exactly as they were when that property
formed a part of the capital by which they
were secured ; it is due to their legislative
functions that the right which they retained,
of examining into the proceed ings of the bank,
and thus virtually promising the community
the exercise of a supervisory power, should
not, at a moment when it is most needed for
the public welfare, be neglected or relinquish
ed, even though their own direct interest has
ceased by the bargain they have made.
Nor is it with reference alone to the late or
present bank of the United States that such
legislation is necessary. The course adopted
by those institutions inav be pursued by every
other banking institution chartered by Con
gress. The notes issued in the District of
Columbia, under the authority of charters
from the United States, may. without greater
impropriety, be reissued and circulated after
those charters have expired, either by Ihe
banks themselves, or by trustees to whom
they may transfer them the day before their
corporate privileges terminate. That some
law should be passed to prevent and obviate
such a proceeding, cannot admit of a ques
tion, c 1
In passing such a law, it is the duty of
Congress carefully to avoid any provision
which should affect the citizen who holds or
[receives these notes in the ordinary course of
trade, or who passes and transfers them in
good faith from hand to hand. It is only
those who hold or receive them with the
means and for the purpose of redeeming
them; who pass and circulate them when
they know that they have come into their
hands for such a purpose and under sucii ob
ligations; and who neglect or refuse to can
cel them, when they are bound to do so by
1 the intention of die charter under which they
were originally made.
Considering this subject, therefore, with
reference to those relations of the U. Stales
towards the late national bank and to the
community which are derived from the char
ter of that institution, a prompt and efficient
interference of Congress is unquestionably
demanded. They have derived large profits
from the circulation of these notes, for the
redemption of which their share of the capital
I was.pledged ; and they have now withdrawn
[ that share of the capital from its former lia
bility ; they prescribed by the charter that
all banking privileges, among which was that
of issuing these notes, should terminate at a
certain period, and that period is now passed;
they reserved to themselves the right, and
thus imposed on themselves the duty, of exa
mining that the stipulations of the charter
were fulfilled, and to do this the enactment of
such a law is now absolutely required.
But there are other considerations bearing
directly on tlie present situation of the com
merce and business of the country, and on
the respect due from Congress to the laws
and policy of the individual States, which
ought not to be overlooked. It is a fact that
the present Bank of the United States is in
actual possession, having them within its own
vaults, and under its control, of a fund of nank
notes to jhe amount of about twenty millions
of dollars over and above those in circulation,
i issued, to a certain extent, on the faith ot the
United States, and bearing a corresponding
credit. There appears, at least in many
[ portions of the country, a strong disposition on
i the part of the banks to resume specie pay
ments; but the uncontrolled possession of this
j vast amount of paper money will enable the
[ present Bank of the United States, if so dis-
posed, to retard, perhaps to prevent, them
from effecting that laudable and desirable
object. It holds in its hand, under the appa
rent sanction of Congress, an immense fund
which it can transport to any part of the
country at its pleasure, and purchase the
notes of the State banks, to be returned upon
them en masse, at the very instant they shall
resume. Who is there to prevent this insti
tution from sending to New Orleans one or
two millions of these notes; placing them in
the possession of any local bank or its agents;
[and exchanging them for the notes of banks
preparing 10 resume, so that they may he
used to embarrass and retard their efforts as
soon as they are commenced ? It cannot be
said that this is a proceeding arising from
the large capital of the present Bank of the
United States, and which is not consequent
upon the issue ofits old and uncancelled notes.
It is the possession of those notes which ex
empts it from danger in the adoption of such
a course. Independent of the additional
credit attached to them from being made
under a national charter, they are now cir
culated without the responsibility that at
tends those issued under the charter of the
State; and it is to this cause that may be at
tributed the remarkable fact, disclosed in the
siatement of the bank on the fifth of January
last, that while they had on hand fifteen mil
lions eight hundred thousand five hundred
and seventeen dollars and seventy-three cents
of the old notes, one million four hundred and
■ three ihou.sand and ninety-two dollars at
their State bank agencies, and two millions
seven hundred and thirty-three thousand nine
hundred and ninety dollars in transitu, ma
king altogether no less a sum in their actual
possession and under their control than nine
teen millions nine hundred and thirty-seven
thousand five hundred and ninety-nine dol
lars and seventy-three cents of ihese old
notes; when they had, also, in circulation
among the community, the further sum of six
millions two hundred and twenty thousand
four hundred and sixty-seven dollars and
seventeen cents of these same old notes; be
ing an aggregate of the notes of the expired
corporation, of twenty-six miilionsone hundred
and fifty-eight thousand and sixty-six dollars
and ninety cents; yet, at the same time, the
whole outstanding circulation of their own
notes, (exclusive of post notes) only amounted
to five hundred and forty-seven thousand six
hundred dollars and forty-five cents, or about
the fortieth part of the old notes in their
hands and in circulation.
On every note issued under the present
State charter of Pennsylvania, the holder lias
by the State law a summary proceeding, if
it is not redeemed on demand ; more than
this, the bank is bound, in case of refusal, to
pay the high interest of twelve percent.; and
if such refusal be continued bevond a stated
period, there is a provision for the speedy
forfeiture of its charter.
But how is it with these notes of the late
bank, of which it has obtained posssession ?
To them none of these penalties of the law of
Pennsylvania will app'v ; it has received
them, and promises to redeem them as a mere
trustee ; and, in case of refusal, the holder, it
is presumed, is to be driven to the tedious
process of a suit in chancery, or some other
lbrm of protracted legal proceeding, to obtain
that payment, which lie could enforce if the
note had been issued bv a State bank, in the
most rapid and compulsory mode. Thus it
is, that so long as Congress permits this insti
tution to keep and issue these notes, it gives
it the power of circulating a paper currency,
free from the restrictions and safegards which
the State that chartered it meant to impose ;
it enables it to control the efforts of other
banks for the resumption of specie payments;
and leaves the citizen who takes or circulates
these notes without any speedy protection
and redress.
But again : This voluntary trustee of the
national bank received its new charter from
the State of Pennsylvania, on the expressed
condition that it should issue no bank note of
a less denomination than ten dollars. Il is
presumed to be part of the policy of that wise
State, that the circulation of so large an insti
tution should be so limited. The neglect of
Congress has defeated this salutary policy; it
.has given to the trustee the means and power
of doing that which the State of Pensylvania
intended should not be done ; five dollar notes
are largely issued by the Bank of the United
States chartered by Pennsylvania, though the
Legislature of that State declared they should
not be. Congress cannot he justified in per
mitting this. It is due to the State of Pennsyl
vania that they should respect her laws; that
they should not, by any omission on their part,
permit a power derived from them to be so
exercised as 1o thwart her designs. While
it is the solemn and evident duly of Congess
not to interfere with the institutions of the
States, but to leave them to pursue the poliev
oi the Legislatures by which they were crea
ted, and to answer to those authorities for eve
ry violation, it is not less its duty to prevent
that from being done indirectly, either by its
permission or its neglect, which virtually in
t ringes thelaw and policy of the States. Right
fully may the Stale ol Pennsylvania complain
if. alter strictly prohibiting the issue of notes
of a denomination less than ten dollars,by this
institution, the sanction or the neglect of Con
gress should enable it to issue and circulate
millions of five dollar notes.
The following bill is, therefore, most re
spectfully reported to the Senate :
A BILL
To prevent the issuing and circulation of the
hills, notes, and other securities of corpora
tions created by acts of Congress whieb
have expired.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives of the United States of
America in Congress assembled, That in all
cases where the charter of any corporation
which lias been or may be created by act of
Congress of the United States shall have ex
pired, or may hereafter expire, if any director,
officer, or agent of said corporation, or any
trustee thereof, or any agent or officer of
such trustee, or anv person having in his
possession, or under Vis control, the property
of the said corporation, for the purpose of
paving or redeeming its notes and obligations,
shall knowingly issue, reissue, or utter a®
money, or in any other way knowingly put
in circulation any bill, note, check, draft, or
other security, purporting to have been made
by anv such corporation, whose charter has
expired, or by any officer thereof, or purpor
ting to have been made under authority de
rived therefrom, or if any person or persons
shall knowingly aid and assist in any such
act, every person so offending shall be deem
ed guilty of a high misdemeanor, and on
conviction thereof, shall be punished by a
fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars, or by
imprisonment and confinement to hard labor
not exceeding ten years, or by both such fin©
and imprisonment.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That in
all cases in which any corporation has been
or may he created by acts of Congress of the
United States, or in which the United State®
shall have been interested as a stockholder,
the term of which corporation lias expired, and
in which any bills, notes, checks, drafts, or oth
er securities, made under authority derived,
or alleged to have been derived, from such
act, shall be in the possession or under the con
trol of any director, officer, or agent of the
said expired corporation, or any trustee there
of, or any agent or officer of such trustee, or
any person having in his possession or under
liis control the property of the said corpo
ration, for lhe purpose of paying or redeem
ing its notes and obligations, the several cir
cuit courts of the United States shall have
jurisdiction on the bill or petition of the Uni
ted States togrant injunctions to prevent the
issuing, re-issuing, or transfer of any suchj
bills, notes, checks, drafts, or other
and also to cause such of the said bills, notes
checks, drafts, or other securities, as have been
redeemed, to be delivered up and cancelled;
and the said several courts shall have power
to make all necessary decrees and orders for
the purpose of carrying into effect the juris
diction hereby conferred, and to execute tho
same by due process of law.
SENTINEL & HERALD.
COLUM BUs7"MARCH 8, 1838.
The following persons have kindly con
sented to act as Agents for the Sentinel and
Herald:
Col. C. Parker, Collodensville, Monroe Cos.
Peter Cone. Esq. Eden, Effingham Cos.
Rev. Reuben E. Brown, Perry P. O. Hous
ton Cos.
Thos. H. Key, Esq. Drayton, Dooly Cos.
Col. Thos. J. Holmes, Byron, Baker Cos.
Stephen D. Crane, Esq. Dablonega, Lump
kin Cos.
Col. John Dill, Fort Gaines, Go.
John C. Mangham, Greenville, Ga.
E. J. Wood & Cos. St. Joseph, Flor,
Nourse, Brooks & Cos. Apalachicola.
J. S. Yarbrough, Lumpkin, Stewart Cos.
Jas. Buchanan, Cuthbert, Randolph Cos.
CONVENTION.
ft should not be forgotten that the Union
Convention, lor nominating candidates 1o
Congress, is to be held at Milledgeville, on
the first Monday in May next. We would
suggest to our friends in this county an early
meeting for the purpose of appointing Dele
gales, and let every man remember that it is
an important object, and should receive his
earnest attention. Already has Stewart coun
ty elected her Delegates, an J we hope that
all the counties in the Chattahoochee and
Coweta Circuits will be “ up and doing,” and
call early meetings and send good delegates—
men who love the Union, and will act for its
support, and pray most devoutly lor its
perpetuity.
FENCING.
Monsieur Bauge is here, as will be seen by
his card in our advertsing columns, for the
purpose of giving instruction in the beautiful
and manly art of Fencing. He teaches the
small sword, broad sword, quarter staff', and
cane defence. liis testimonials of character
and skill are of the higliest order, and we
commend him to such of our ‘young bloods,’
as may feel desirous oi’ becoming accomplish
ed in the art which be teaches.
STEAMER FLORIDIAN.
It gives us pleasure to state that this boat,
so unfortunate as to be left ‘ high and dry, 5
on the wharf, by the sudden falling of the
river, has been launched without injury, and
is now ready to take the river again.
STEAMER RODNEY.
This splendid boat arrived at our wharf
with upwards of 1300 barrels, from St. Jo
seph, and has departed with 800 bales of cot
ton. She is commanded by our old friend
Capt. E. .T. Wood, who commanded the first
steamboat that ever found its way to Colum
bus. The Rodney is most admirably adapt
ed to the accommodation of passengers, being
supplied with a!! the comforts and luxuries ne
cessary to make a steamboat trip pass off as
an enchanted hour in life’s history.
SPIRIT OF THE TIMES.
The first number of volume seven of the
Spirit of the Times , published in the city of
New York, and edited by W. T. Pouter,
Esq. is on our table, and presents us with an
improved outward appearance, and, os usual,
a vast variety of original, piquant, and spicy
reading matter.
The new volume, for 183S, contains a long
and interesting prospectus, which we shall
take great pleasure in publishing next week ;
and which asserts, that in addition to furnish
ing a regular and minute account of races
both on the American and English turf, the
drama and general literature will also receive
special attention. Mr. Porter says he will
“ aim to crowd into his columns all the fun
and frolic of ihe town, the good things of his
friends, and the best jokes of his brother edi
tors. In fine be hopes to make bis paper the
gayest and liveliest in the world.” Already
has he succeeded in making “ the Spirit of the
Times” in fact and in Iruth what its name
imports—a magazine which “ holds the mir
ror up to nalure,” and keeps pace with the
sparkling genius and growing energies of the
limes. Biographical sketches of the most
celebrated horses, whose performances have
rendered illustrious the turf on both conti
nents —graphic and stirring descriptions _o l