Columbus sentinel. (Columbus, Ga.) 18??-183?, June 22, 1837, Image 2

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■ min w ■ MULE vi. ELK. The fofiownrg article, anil the testimony ol j (;en. Gaines before the military Court ol j Inquiry, that “Horse mint is very gooii; i the only t.m!i was, we could not get enougu oj \ it ,” show the lolly of the prejudices so uni- ( versa!!y entertained with regard to certain , kinds of meat. , “A nuniher of years ago, a military fnetm anil myself started on a three day’s hunt through the romantic and beautiful country near Fort L— , on the Upper Missouri. • The Prairies covered with the richest grass, and beautiful flowers, as far as the eye could reach, scened to point out the spot as really and truly the g.i*’ ui of America. But to tlic story —we limTnT game in abundance, and killed two deer and eight wiki turkeys, when in crossing a boggy creek, the mule on which my friend was mounted, mired down and could not move. 1 gained tiie opposite | bank without much trouble, as iny horse, a noble animal, was lull ol strength and activi ty. My companion floundered out ou lus own good legs, leaving the mule ball buried. We threw It log in, got upon it, fastened a orape vine to bis neck and endeavored to draw him out—but no, the more we pulled the more be struggled, occasionally saluting us with bis peculiar blates, which seemed to say I’m thar —a thar —a. “Finding our dibi ts to extricate bun were ineffectual, we concluded to cut bis throat, as a more humane proceeding, than leaving him there to be devoured alive by the wolves; . he was despatched accordingly. After lie bad ceased to breathe, we began to reflect; how we were to get hack, twelve or fifteen miles from home, only one horse between us. : and two deer and eight turkeys to carry. My friend lamented the death of his mule, and said that it had cost him, not many months since, 15150; that he disliked to leave that amount of meat lor the supper of the rascally wolves. I re marked,in order to draw him off from dwelling on his loss, that if he was unwilling to let the wolves have him, that wc had better try now he.was dead to drag him out, skin and dress him, and carry the meal in 11selk; that no one could tell the* difference, as their flesh nearly , resembled each other. He agreed to my proposal, and after a good deal of trouble, we got turn out, and skinned and dressed the meat. My horse did not like the load; I li ---lievs the noble (fellow knew what it was, for v he had never refused to carry deer or other game. He cut many shines, hut we gol poor muley safely packed on his back. We then concluded to start home, came by the place where we bung op our deer and turkeys, and placed them on my horse also. Poor Itob Roy had a heavy trip that time. We .started on foot, and took our turns in leading the horse. We got to the Fort about two o’clock next morning; and consulting about what wc should do with the mule ideal, we concluded to send each family a piece, give a great din- ner to llie single olKcers, and then have our laugh afterwards—it was accordingly done. The gentlemen assembled, the mule was well roasted, and smelt quite savory. Wc, ns a nutter of course, had to eat as well as the rest, and in fact it was as good as any elk I , ever tasted. Every thing was going on very handsomely, and the servants were about re moving the dishes, when my friend burst out j into a furious laugh; every one looking round lor the cause ol his merriment, when a young officer remarked, “ This is another quiz; I did [ not think until now that G. did not return on >- n irunnl and saw him and I plnmed—“ Gentlemen, wFlmv* prayro a 011 you, but wc have both partaken of it as well as yourselves; wc have paid the last ! honors to U.’s poor mule, and if you lake the j price given for the animal, $l5O, as a data,! you will find that we have given you a high priced dialler. We have, however,some tur- ‘ keys and venison, and an Indian will bring me some grouse in the morning. One and all come dine with us to-morrow, and you can- j not be deceived with either of the viands 11 have mentioned.” Some of the party had become angry, and talked of fighting both of us; others looked mad, hut did notsavanyj thing; others laughed. Wc settled the mat-: ter, however, over a few bottles of Madeira, j and all left in jicrfect good humor. Those who had been so belligerent at first, said —j: “ Well, well, you caught us this time, but you ‘ can never do it again.” “ Look out sharp, 1 1 then,” said I, “and keep your eyes skinned— 1 you will get catc/ied again, perhaps.” The next day we all met at the table; the | turkeys, venison and grouse were declared to be delicious, and the shilling was highly | praised. Alter the cloth was removed, and [ we had commenced our wine, I rose and said; “Gentlemen— l had no intention when I in- j vited yon yesterday to dine with us here to- j day of play ing any further pranks upon you,! hut some of the gentlemen remarked that they never could he caught again. 1 warned them j to look out; and I now ask you all whether I have played any trick on you to-day ?” Thev j answered, “ No, you could not, we have taken 1 good care of that.” “ Well gentlemen,” said j !, “ you have all said that I did not, and could | not now I tell you I have. Inhere tvas a j good deal left of poor muley; I had it chop- j ped very fine, mixed with potatoes—and the! delicious shilling you have all praised sol highly was of that composition.” We broke up in a row.— Pittsburgh Intelligencer. ’ i 77. I.aro of Kissing —On Tuesday week tiie following curious ease was tried at the 1 Middlesex adjourned sessions. Thomas Sa verland, the prosecutor, stated that on the day after Christmas he was in a tap room j where the defendant, Caroline Newton and j her sister, who had come from Birmingham, were present. The latter jokingly observed that she h.nl promised to her sweathcarl that! no man should kiss her while absent. It be-! ing holiday time, Saverland considered this a I challenge, and caught hold of her and kissed I her. The young woman took it as a joke, but her sister, the defendant, said she would ‘ like as little of that kind of fun as lie pleased. Saverland told her if she was angry, he should kiss her also; he then tried to, and they fell to the ground. Rising, the woman struck him ; he again tried to kiss her, and in the 1 scullle she bit off his nose, which she spit out ot her mouth. The action was brought to recover damages for the loss of the nose? The ! defendant said he lead no business to kiss her; j if she wanted kissing, she had a husband to I kiss her, a better looking man than ever the prosecutor was. The jury, without hesita tion, acquitted her; r.nii the chairman said,; If any nmn attempted to kiss a woman against ’ her will, she had a right to bite off his nose i.! she had a fancy for so doing.— Eng. Paper. A fashionable lady being enquired of how she liked the dinner given at a distinguished \ party, her reply was, “The dinner was ex-! pjendid, but myseat was so promote from the! liiekiiacks that I could not ratify iuv appetite, and the pickled cherries had siir.li a defect on my head that I had a notion to leave the table, b'tt Mr. gave me some hartshorn re solved iu water, which bereave I me.” The Empress of Germany ask. Ia French officer if the Princess Royal of France was, as tl>e world reported her, the most beautiful j woman in Europe: “I thought so vesterdav,” replied the polite Frenchman. .1 fact. —A young lady in Vermont having liy accident, spilt a lew drops of patent hair oil on her cheeks, before going to bed, awoke next morning with whiskers several incites long. From the Louiavi.ie Public Advertiser. We call the at tent ion of our readers to trie account of Law’s Mississippi Sclteuie, which will he found in this day s paper. Mcver was there a scene ol wilder speculation and. infatuation than the one which grew out ol the projects of this artful adventurer. He was the JVick Buidle ol the day, and ex ’ perienced as little lack ol g ulls to operate on , .ii Frnnee then, as tlic latter finds in the United States now. The chief difference be tween the present revulsion and that which grew out of Law’s scheme, consists in the I foot of our Government having endeavored to counteract Biddle’s niameuvres, while Law’s were countenanced and aided by the Government of France. an account of thic Mississippi 1 SCHEME OF JOHN LAW. Ii is often Curious to observe how frequently mankind are found acting over the same scenes. Turn back into tlic page ol history, and you will discover whole periods ol po pular excitement and delusion, which seem to be the exact prototypes of what is going on in your own times. Whether it he that the passions and propensities of men are so much alike in all ages and countries, that they will always, from a kind of necessity, under similar circumstances, be found lining pre cisely the same things, in spite of the warn ings of history; or whether it be that there I is a kind of procession in human affairs, and only a limited number of changes through which human actions can be rung, it is not easy to determine. John Law, the author of the most splendid and daring speculation that the world ever saw, was the son of William Law, a gold smith and hanker of Edinburgh, and was horn in that city on the 21st ol April, 1671. In early childhood he addicted hit itself to the study of mathematics; and, as the advanced ! in youth, gave great attention to the subjects j of finances and political economy. \V Idle be was still very young, lie was employed by the government of Scotland to manage ; the public accounts of the kingdom, which ! were in the greatest confusion, and to settle public revenues and disbursements upon some permanent system of finance, a task which lie |iertbrmed with great ability. His father I died in 1685, leaving him a respectable for | tune, but one by no means equal to his habits jof life, or his love of great operations. He , immediately went,up to London, the great theatre of enterprise and adventure, to push bis fortunes in the world. His fine figure, bis many accomplishments, bis fondness for deep play, and above all, a most extraordi nary talent for calculating chances and win ning wagers, soon made him extremely po pular and notorious in tile fashionable world. But be bad not been long in London Itefore lie killed a gentleman in a duel,which grew out |of an nfliiir of gallantry, and was obliged to j leave the kingdom. He passed over to the } continent, and there spent his time in study- I ing his favorite subjects of trade and finance, and in practising bis talent for gaming and belting. In 1700 he returned to Scotland, and in December of that year, published at Kiidinburgli a work entitled “Proposals and Reasons for constituting a Council of Trade.” : This hook, the object of which was to dis- J fuse more acurntc and liberal notions on the ! subjects of trade and commerce than were j 1 heii prevalent, was sound in its reasonings j and proposals. But it did not excite any j great attention, and was noi noticed by the I Government. In the year 1705, hcsubmitled ja proposition to Parliament for the estabiisli- ’ trie whole namurpm. ns a iiuicliine with j it was rejected by the influence of the landed ; mlercst. Disappointed at not being able to | make any thing succeed at Inline, lie went again upon the continent, and liir five or six years rambled up and down Eurojie, leading tliu bn. <f n gamester and financial projector! I During this period he arrived at Turin, the ! c:, P l! al of the Duke of Savoy, and submitted ; to the reigning Duke a project for managing bis revenues, and carrying on the trade of bis dominions, by a great joint stock company. 1 he Duke was lor a while amused with the pro ject, but saw through bis fallacy. “Your scheme is a plausible one,” said be, “but when you have put all the money of my sub- j jects into the coffers ol your company, I j should be glad to know what they are to j pay their taxes with?” As this was an in quiry to which there was no answer to be made, the projector made bis bow, and re tired from the court of Turin. i During his rambles up and down Europe, haw had acquired, by play and by his inge- I unity in betting, a fortune of more Ilian j 100,000/; anil with it he went and established j himself at Paris in 17N. The finances and ! public credit of France had fallen into most j disastrous confusion during the long reign of b*ouis XIV, who was just then dying “and i haw discovered in this state of things an [excellent opportunity to make his peculiar tslents useful to the new government which j [should come into power on the death of the old Ring. Louis XIV died, and was succeed- 1 ed by his grandson, then a mere child. The ! Duke ol Orleans became Regent; a man of exactly the character to rely on the services, and to be captivated by the projects, of an able and bold projector like Law. By Law’s advice, certain improvements were intro duced into the public finances; and while i these were going on, he and his brother Wil ’ ham Law set up a hank, with a branch in London and a branch in Paris, which they . railed, Ihe General Bank of Law and i bo. S his was so prosperous, and seemed to he managed with so much ability, that [ the government determined to take it into ! its own hands, with Law lor its manager, as a machine with which to carry on the j ‘Real concerns of the country. It was ac j cordingly incor|)orateil, on the 4111 Decem ber, 1718, under the title of “The Royal | Bank. ’ Upon this institution as a nucleus, i t Law established and developed his great scheme, which, in history, passes under the name ol the Mississippi system. r Pl— M: • • 1 1 J .... The Mississippi system was so called he cause the company of which Law was the head, bad received a grant of large tracts of I kind at the mouth of the Mississippi river, and one ol the ostensible (perhaps real) ob jects of the company was the colonization [ot that territory. But this was only a small I part of the great scheme. It undertook the! I collection ol all the revenues of the country;. : and absorbed the East India and all the oilier 1 great trading companies; it was to carry on all the trade with the South Seas,* besides embarking to an enormous extent in stock and hanking opera lions, and taking charge of the coinage. Thus it swept in aifthe com- j inerce, all the financial concerns, ami, as de licndent on these, all the industry of the kingdom. Its promises of profit were so j magnificent and alluring, that men hastened I to sell their moveables, their houses and lands •'"'l everything that could he turned into money, tor the purpose of buying shares in this vast concern. Where all the money t.iat was thus raised finally went, may very I i naturally bc]inquired. Great quantities were carried aiva v by strangers who came to spec-1 mate in the stock: immense sums were wast e.l in trading expeditions; much was embez zle.l by the sub-agents and managers of the ! company; and what did not disappear in this | I ‘ va y ‘ vas u st 'd by (he Government for its own purposes. fke etlcrt of all this upon society was to | introduce the greatest disorder and confusion. J *Hy tin- Soaiti Sc.n. i„ tins Cnm-nerei.il language i : of those fiinr<, \va meant all the Eastern coast ot i America, from the liver Oronoko down to Cape Horn * and the -!„ V hit* -f ,t ie Western coa.-l, including lac 1 ’ of the Pacific Oct an. All France was seized with a rage for specu lation iu die funds. Regular industry was abandoned for this great scheme of national gambling. Its influence reached not only the rich and monied men, but penetrated into all classes of society. The shares were con-, staiitly rising under the influence ol the ex-I inordinary and magnificent promises held out by the managers; so that a share pur chased by a man without property to-day, could be sold to-morrow at an advance, which would leave him in the possession of a fortune as suddenly acquired as if it had fal len from the clouds. “Every thing at Paris assumed a smiling j countenance. Money grew so common that j people did not know where to put it out at j percent, and the tradesmen had a great- j er vent lor their goods; the workmen were better paid Ibr their work ; the value of the land about Paris rose to fifty, and even sixly j years’ purchase; many noblemen repaired! their-broken fortunes, and others grew very j rich by the great advantages they made ini their actions (stock) of this new company, j Numbers of people never known in the world,, and who sprung from nothing, were all ol a | sudden seen riding in their coaches, only by | striking into this trade, by which in a lew 1 vears they iiad gained vast sums.” These arc the words of old Malaclii Postlilc waite, Esq. author of the Directory of Com merce, who looked on from across the chan- nel, and took great satisfaction in bis dry sar casms upon the confused and fictitious pros perity of the Parisians at that time; and ifj 1 . . 1 ...... ..... ••it.rl.f I we did not know the contrary, we might, j with no difficulty, believe that be was looking | on at the Maine land speculation in our own j time. “All the world,” lie continues, “ran to j Paris. The prodigious sums that strangers! laid out in the stock, and the numbers that resorted to negotiate there, filled that city: with money and people, and consequently with trade; and they tell us there was no-j thing to be seen but new coaches, new equip-; ages, new liveries, and buying new furniture; j innumerable families were enriched by the surprising advance of stock ; in a word there were no less than twelve hundred new coach es set up, and half a million of jicople more Ilian there were before; so that no lodgings were to be had, and they built new houses and streets in every place where they bad room.” . . The cause of the extraordinary rise of stock, and tlic means by which the managers of the j scheme were enabled to keep up the public confidence, deserve to lie traced. . It bad long been believed, on tlic doubtful, relations of travellers, that the country in the ; neighborhood of the Mississippi, contained inexhaustible treasures. The old notion, too, about tlic El Dorado was,not yet wholly ex ploded. Law availed himself of this popular idea. It was whispered about, as a great 1 secret, that the famous mines of St. Barbu bad been discovered in the territory granted to the company;—and by way ol giving color to this presence, a great show was made j of sending out a company of miners to dig j for gold.* Every one was, consequently, i eager to obtain shares in a company that was j truing 10 reap such an unbounded harvest ol 1 wealth. I “The adventurers,” says die Abbe Ravnal, 1 “were not satisfied with a bare association with the company which bad obtained the possession of that fine country. The pro prietors were applied to from all quarters, for large tracts of land Ibr plantations, which, it was represented, would yield in a few j years, a hundred times the sum necessary to | be laid out upon them. The richest and I rtiuxL intelligent men in the nation were the : II men to ... .1 nucebdses:l 11 During tins general infatuation, nil jiersous I who offered themselves, whether Frenchmen ; | or foreigners, were promiscuously crowded ~ into ships, and landed on the burning sand of . j the Biloxi, a district in West Florida, bc • | tween Pensacola and the mouth of the Mis- I j sissippi, where a French settlement bail been t inconsiderately formed, and where these un \ happy men perished in thousands for want j ;l| id vexation, the miserable victims of a politi j cal imposture and of their own blind avidi(y.”t j But these were not the only vaunted sources of expected returns. The company bad j loaned to (lie Government 1 J 0,000,000, and j bad taken as a pledge to secure and pay this | debt, all the revenues of the country, amount ing, on paper, to the sum of 106,000,000 per annum. But the currency, with which these operations was performed, and which had Hooded the country, consisted of tlic compa ny's hank paper, which they had issued to tin’ amount of one thousand millions This currency was bottomed on a threat deal less j specie even than the banking of the present day ; and by an arret of the 21st December, 1719, the bank paper was ordered to beta- 1 [krn at 5 jier cent above the value of the! i current cuius which it professed to represent. I In the midst of this general infatuation, j Law himself became the idol of popular fa | vor. Honors were showered upon him front j all quarters. The learned societies contend j cd with each other fin- the distinction of en rolling his name among their members; and the Government in order that it might avail itself of the official station, made him Comp troller General of the finances, or in other words, prime minister of the kingdom. How coolly and adroitly he carried on his great hoax, is evident from the following remarks ol f’osthlewaite, iu which, after enumerating the various extraordinary sights and wonders to which the times find given birth, lie says: Seventhly-, and lastly: we have seen a I private gentleman raise'himself, bv the dex- I ferity ol his management, to lie tlic greatest man in the world, to have all the princes, the nobilily, the public ministers, and even the Government itself at his back, and above three hundred coaches of a morning at his levee; himself behaving with all the modest v imaginable; not elevated by bisgood fortune, nor discomposed by- the application to so much business, but calm and serene, and al ways present to himself, answering briefly and pertinently to every new discourse, des patching every body’s “business with a readi ness inimitable, and every day producing new wonders in the great ;j flairs of the public which was upon ids hands.” Thus armed with the whole financial pow er of the country, there seemed to be no bounds (o the ojierations ol’ the company of which Law was the head. The whole timin’ j became a fancy stock, and all thought or j calculation of returns of dividends was swal lowed up in the enormous speculation upon the shares themselves. The original propri etors were in haste to make all the nionev they could, and to convert their shares into gold: and the few other hankers who stood alool from the speculation, foreseeing that a great crisis was approaching, hastened to I to collect all the specie they could lay their | hands upon, and began to drain the compa i “y s coders by all the means within their I reach. At this period the shares bad reach j cd the enormous price of ten thousand livres; i it which price their aggregate nominal value exceeded by more than eighty times the ■ amount ol all tlie specie in the country. In I this state of things, the Government, which j had wilfully and wickedly lent its aid to the I delusion of its infatuated subjects, saw that! ’ ruin was the only remedy, and that this i mighty fabric must he prostrated in the dust upon the heads of the crowd below. The J first blow came from a royal edict of the twenty first May, seventeen hundred and. twenty, ordering the value of the shares to be reduced to five thousand. Thus one-half [ of the property of each stockholder was an ” ( *llus3pl’s Modern Europe. t Ray nil. Hist. Piiilos. ct. Politique hv. xvi. : militated! The notes of the bank were or dered to a similar 1 eduction in value. This was national bankruptcy; and the tide of public feeling poised but for a moment at its height, to ebb with a rapidity and power I more feartul than iU flow. Popular favor i instantly turned to popular rage; and- amidst ihe bankruptcy of tliousands slid the execra tions of die kingdom, the great projector re tired from the country. The public distress was so great, and the publie creditors so nu merous, that Government was under the ne cessity of affording them some relief. This duty it ivas also under a moral obligation to ’ discharge, inasmuch as its deluded subjects i had hcen led into the snare partly on the j Government’s ownflaimises: above four hun -1 fortunes in paper; and the State, after liquidating these debts, which amounted to a surn 100 incredi i ble to be named, charged itself with the enor mous debt of sixteen hundred and thirty-one millions of livres, to lie paid in specie. Law himself passed over to England, and took a great house in London, where he lived j splendidly lor a while, receiving crowds of people, who came to visit the man who had shaken by his bold scliemes the social foun dations of a whole kingdom. Although his property in France had been confiscated, yet his official salary was continued to him by his patron, the Regent, until the dealli of that prince, on the 2d December, 1723. With him perished all Law’s hopes of regaining his private fortune. He became embarrass ; cd; suits were commenced against him by his creditors, both in France and England, and he was threatened with imprisonment. I In 1725 he went again noon the continent, ! and fixed his residence in Venice. There, in . obscurity and comparative poverty, the great i adventurer, who bail controlled the whole j wealth of France, and had involved in his ’ schemes the whole credit of the civilized world, died on the 21st of March, 1759. Ihe I following bitter and taunting epitaph appear ed soon after in the French journals: “Hire lie* the Scotch projector, Unenuallcd calculator, Who, hy the algebraic rule, Hath matte old France to play the fool!” Correspondence of the Charleston Courier. “ New York, May 25, 1837. “ Dear Sir : You will ask what is the slate j of things lierrf? I reply, all is yet uncertain j ! —until the e# cl of the failures here, and I I may even the banks, lis known in EmWPnheend • ‘, * • That whielP agetravates public distress jis ascribed as its cause , and tin., effort to ! turn this distress to a political account, gives a false fine to every thing. The evil Is severs J enough, but it is hard to say which has done most, to produce the panic which enhances every evil,* t!ie anarchical bowlings ol tlic ! penny presses, or the more specious, but not j less unprincipled ravings of the opposition pa- pers. The one treats all corporations as as- • sociations of licensed swindlers—the other { holds up the Government asdic most wanton, ; and wicked, and heartless oppressor of the i people. There is probably a spite of truth j | at the bottom of both complaints. Tire banks j and their officers have, no doubt, enerttrngetl a favored set of large dealers to monopolize 1 the business of the country, or obtain the whole issues of the banks to shave on—and - it may be true that the adverse efforts to con iine the payment for lands to specie by one party, and the distribution of tlic public tno | iicvs by the other, may have aggravated the I evils of that state of things, produced hy a | distinct and different course of action, without I which tlic other causes would have produced . VyA, m rtwJ..atld..temporary evils. There is by which men who were clerks ten*years since, have imported and sold front half a million to two millions of foreign goods which the country din not want, when here. They could only sell 011 credit. Those who purchased them homo, where ptirehas ers were also tempted to Imy, not because they i required them, but because they too could .ret! them on credit. Notes were taken—these notes ! were discounted, and the proceeds invested, not! in farms, oh no, but inf oten/oft,in cities, in woods, lithographed cities. Pay day came—the goods ! were gone—the notes were gone and the coun try merchant had only his town lots in the woods; hisdeht to the merchants was unpaid; the mer chants debt to the English banker was unpaid. These bankers are now the Jorcien creditors, j The true course of drawing Uponbllloflading I and invoice was quite tiki slow, and indeed 1 very inconvenient to men who had no bill of lading or invoice to forward. The greedy English bankers, therefore, opened a credit, with which this immense amount of goods was bought, imported, and sold again on credit, mid finally disposed of ns above. Air. Biddle says otir honor is at stake—the 11a- lion has worn their clothes, and should pav lor them. Now, I protest against this most unwarrantableefiort to father the wild specu lations of merchants without capital, and greedy English bankers, upon the whole na tion. It is unsound philosophy thus to make tlte whole country responsible for the spccu- i lotions of these two classes. The British debt [ did not arise in the prosecution of a legitimate I trade. The English bankers were greedv for large commissions, and gave open credits to encourage speculation. “Many men, who, a few years ago, had not ten thousand dollars capital, and who could not have sent a bill ol lading, have imported and sold live hundred thousand dollars’ worth of goods, which a man who had to pay an equivalent for them 1 would not have sent for unless the demand would have insured him a sound purchaser 1 at short credit. This forced trade gave a fictitious prosperity to the country? hut it is an allair between the British banker and bis confederate—the nation has nothing to do with it. The goods are gone—the money is paid away for lands; and this foreign debt never will lie paid, and never ought to be paid, lor the lies! reasons. Those who owe it have got nothing to pay it with; and those who do not owe it, are under no obligation to pay it, merely because the creditor lives thirty days’ sail across the water. As soon as this truth is realized by the British credi tors, things will recover, when they reconcile to themselves to put up with a loss which trading on false principles lias produced— business will resume its old channels. Some say ice must scud specie, in honor, to pav our debts—others say, at least, let ns send them cotton. 1 his tee is a verv fraternal expression. A man who has speculated, that w, made wild bargains, until he has got no thing but pictures of cities to pav his debts,! takes his friend by the button, and saysJ “these are sad times, but tcc must pay our debts. His friend replies, that that is quite an individual affair, and hints that it would he well lor every man in this matter to pad- tile his own canoe, li e have nothin— to do with the foreign debt. Nor is there but one material obstacle in the way of paying it ; and that is, those persons who owe it, have neither gold nor silver, nor cotton. 1 hey arc reduced to mere lithographed ernes, and they won t do for remittances. I lie result, then, is that the fbrei—n debt must go unpaid, until those who owe it can ; [7 ibeir cities into gold, silver, or cotton. It we put the debt due to English bankers —not to England—for if America owed r.ngland, as these grandiloquent -ramblers at American rulers would say, she has the means to pay—if we put it at sixty millions, all now lost, for at least a century, it can . accounted tor. The expenditures in this city bv upstart nabobs, importing on open credits, til houses, furniture, carria—cs, ser- : i vants, Si C . f or t |, e | ast „ vo vcars cilv 1 alone, will amount to about four millions dead loss. Then take Brooklyn, Williams-;’ burgh and Harlem, cabbage gardens sold in ; twenty-five feet by a hundred, throw | in New Brighton and sundry other such \ speculations, and ten millions is a small es i nmate. Then Michigan, Illinois, fcc ten mil i lions; uncalled for improvements, rail roads, ’ Sic. with no cusiom, stock lost, five millions, j I Turn then to Alabama, Florida, St. Josephs, | Apalachicola, &.c. say five millions. Mis-| sissippi lands, of which there are a thousand acres to one laborer, over-paid lor lands and cities ten millions. New Orleans—all Lou isiana, lands, lots, joint stock speculations— at least twenty millions. Here we have six ty-four millions sunk—that is, to the indivi duals who owe the persons who supplied the means; but we have said nothing of all the joint stock companies all over New F.ng land—a v, over the lace of the whole country, who build hotels where there are no cus tomers; roads where there arc no travel-: lers; liouses where there are no tenants, and j cities where the foxes yet burrow. Why, the only wounder is, that this crash did not come before. True, all the money is here, but it has changed 1 hands; and those who are in debt happen not to he the persons who have the means to pay. What must be the result.'’ Why, creditors must be losers; and, whether at home or abroad, this truth must be real ised, and then business- .dll go on. The people will eat and and. ’• and be clothed, and upstart clerks, turneit ...erchanls, living like princes, must go to work in a small way. | Trade must resume its ancient safeguards, j jarnl a life of industry must be the true 1 source of affluence. Speculation is gambling 5 —the fate of gamblers has come U]x>n some who deserve it, and they have ruined innocent ! men who trusted them. OBSERVER. New York, May 30. The gloom thickens every moment. The | domestic dealers have done. Now comes | the turn of the great dealers in foreign bills, j j The news of the banks suspending will send j | back al)oirt terr millions of drafts next month. The fail in credit of the United States Bank j will also have a terrible effect. The entire j change in the asi>ect of Ne>v York is wontler ful. Every thing speaks of a change. The I omnibuses which were crowded by all sorts l of people, frouv the merchant flurrying on : business, to llie washer-woman,- carrying home her work, are comparatively empty. People who have any tiling to do walk, and • save their shillings to huv bread. The eat ing houses are deserted—l went into one un der the Exchange, where the merchants used |to congregate ; all seemed in confusion; the j ; keeper said lie was moving. I asked, why ? i i Because, said lie, iny customers are gone;; vvtierc a hundred clerks came in to lunch, ami’ expended from two to eight shillings, not one ’ comes now. They dine at home. There is | a change in the aspect of every thing, except : Notaries with their pockets full of protests, ! and the change is all lor the worse. Wall-st. jis a house of mourning. The merchants] 1 have been so stunned by the shock, that they I have not yet had the heart to pick tip the ] pieces. Rents have had a strange somerset, j ! Large and splendid houses can ue had for a j I fourth their former rates, while small snug, houses are in demand. A case occurred of a I ! man who lived in a place at two thousand dollars rent. He failed and took a small 1 house for six hundred ; his landlord, (o in- I (luce him to stay, offered to reduce his rent, 1 first to fifteen hundred ; it was too high; ; then to a tirousaml; that, too, was too high; j “why, then, you may have it for the same | rent’ you are to’ give for the small house. ’ ] “To tell the truth,*’ said the tenant, “I can’t jatlbrd it, for every servant is three hundred ] dollars, and the furniture of such a house is -, ..j ..... me ,ms.” Pahe'es are a drug. For to furnish and keep a palace. There are cumuli tine hawses Aw thwaiext cctifurv, arid tntrwarehou.se, erected on trie burnt district, will lie ample for at least the next fifty years. What think you ol a lied chamber furnished ] at hvc thousand dollars? A house and furni j Jure of a great importer cost enough to huv a j large rice plantation, and yet, with this p'al jpable account for our Ibreign debt, it is all ‘laid to the “tampering with tfie currency” ! and the “specie circular,” and these mad-men ] tlmik that if the deposites had not been re- I moved, and the United States Bank had been I rechartered, all this blow up would have j been avoided. Men resort to anv mode of I i accounting fiir their misfortunes, except as- 1 cribing it tu their own folly or improvidence. ] As to “tampering with the currency,” it i meaits just as much as—bugaboo! or anv ! other unintelligible exclamation, easier made than understood. That Mr. Clay, and Mr. Calhoun, and Mr. Webster should be now set down for prophets is no wonder. Bein<r j out, they did as outs usually do—prophesied | ruin from the measures of tiiose who were in I me places they wished to occupy, Tlie pub *r u i” <J' S tress— ergo-—these men are pro phets. Now, it remains to lie proved that i ,11,: ‘‘‘stress was causal liy the measures of j o° vern >nent; for it may be, that the distress i has come in spite of the measures proper to I Prevent it. \ ulgar reasoners arc apt to look | upon all concurring events as necessarily the i j relation of cause and effect. The deposites ! were removed from one place and put into! another, some few years ago, and have since j tn*en ordered to be deposited with the States. I * lie treasury circular did direct that the pub- Ik lands should be paid tor in the legal tender, and the old United States Bank charter hav- j ing run out, anew one has been granted by one i of the States. It is now incumbent upon those ‘ who cry “I told you so,” to show the exact mode, and also the necessary and inevitable evil operations of these events. I take it that tfie suspension of specie payments is owin'* j altogether to the fact, that specie is in i mand lor exportation. If not wanted lor that 1 purpose there would lie no run; no demand. That a currency of solvent bank paper, re deemable in specie with enough of specie for small change, is the best suited to the present state of the world, no one who is versed in these matters will deny; and such, after all: the tampering, was the currency of this coun try. Ihe extended specie basis was in pro- I portion to the extended business of the conn- ! try and its rapid settlement, and had there! been no foreign debt to pay, that currency j would have remained sound. The panic, I which the measures of (tie Bank of England : l.„ . I 1 . . O . i have produced, has created a rush for specie. l The complaint that the increase of the specie \ basis has produced over issues, is rather shal low. The fact is, that the new mode of do ing business upon open credits, lias tempted | men of. no means to import goods, for which j the country would not pay, and credit was necessary to tempt dealers’ to buy. But this complaint, that the merchants have been min ed by too great facilities in getting discount, :s treating them like children, from whom you must keep edged tools, for fear they wilfeut their fingers. All the evils complained of, hv those who ascribe our present ruin to tamper ing with the currency, consist in excessive credits or bank facilities. America is, indeed, an anomaly—our principal political difficttl- | tics arise from the surplus revenue, and our , financial onestrom too great facility in getting money. In all cass of plethora, temperance and moderation are remedies. If our foreign debt can lie paid in cotton, rice, tobacco, ash- Jes, &c. then our domestic currency and trade will go on again, but with more temperance and regard to the fixed laws of trade. OBSERVER. A doctor and a poet quarreled. An indif ferent person was referred to, to settle the dis pute. The latter made the following reply: l.ntCre faulty both—do prnance for vottr crimes: DarJ, take his physic—doctor, read his rhymes. JVDGXI ‘wABM3B ? S PSCIgSO?T3. FI. FA. AND RULE AGAINST TIIE SIIER TROUP SUPERIOR COURT, AUGUST TERM, 1835. Homer V. M. Miller vs. Stephen O’Kellv. j I In the above case, a fi. fa. in favor of the I plaintiff was levied upon a note of hand, pay table to the defendant as his property, by the sheriff of said county. The counsel for both) ! the parties in interest consent, that the ques ! tion now before the court shaft be governed by the decision of the court as to whether cl oses in action are legally subject to levy and; sale bv the sheriff under execution. W hat is, a chose in action ? “ Choses in action are debts i lowing, arrears of rent, legacies, residuary] ] personal estate, money in the funds, Sic. where a man hath-not the occupation, but : merely a bare right to occupy the thing in; ■question, the possession whereof may, how-j ’ ever, be recovered bv a suit or action at law.” | Ist Bac. Abr. 490. 2d 81. Com. 396. “ A bill of exchange being a chose in action, and a ■ a mere security for a debt, it is not to be considered as goods and chattels, and it there- ; ] fore does not pass by a bequest of all the ics-, tator’s ‘ property,’ ’ in a particular house, i though bank mites would have passed, they being quasi cash; and upon the same principle a bank note, ot bill, cannot be taken in exccu - tion, < r as a distress for rent.” Chilty on Bills, 2. Mr. Chitty in his general practice (a most valuable work, recently pttblislied.) ! page 99, vol. Ist, remarks that “ the princi pal distinctions between personal tangible ] property in possession and choses in action, 1 are several. First, the former (personal tan- j gible property in possession) whether money or goods, may be taken in execution and sold ] Kir the debt of the owner, whilst lie either has I or is entitled to immediate possession; whereas ! no chose in action, or mere security foi a debt, ; or personal performance of a contract, can be; so taken, or legally seized or transferred, nrrt_ ] even a bank note, and, a fortiori, not a bill of 1 exchange, promissory note, or check on a ; hanker, or a deed, or anv writing, although) the money thereby secured might be imme diately received.” The counsel for flic plaintiff, in his argu ment, contended, that inasmuch as the judo 1 ciarv act of 1799 declares all the property of the party shall lie bound from the time ol ; the signing of the judgment against him, the: ; execution issuing upon such judgment might property fasten ‘upon the promissory note in I question, as the property of the defendant. |aml that the'sheriff might ‘legally advertise and sell the same for the benefit of the Credit or. Is a promissory note tangible property, j upon which the officer could levy and make a ] valid sale ? What is its character i By the authority already cited it is, in legal contem plation, a those in action, and a chose in ac ; tion is a mere security for a debt, or perfortn -1 a nee of a contract. The promissory note is j not money, but a bare promise to pay money, I !on a specified day. The money', when paid, j ! would he tangible property, wliereas the note iis onlv a promise for its payment. Ihe de- : j fentkmt Iras tan the actual occupation of the ] money specified in the note, but it is only eri ’ deuce of his right to occupy the same at the ] | time when it is payable; hence the evidence to deliver a chattel, on :i given day. is not to I 111 IIUI ILI U Vliunvn ’ • j ; lie considered as the chattel itsell. II this j distinction he kept in view, there can be no; ! difficulty. We must not take the shadow lor ; ; the substance. I have nf rt been able to find ] j any reported case where flic principle has: lieen settled, that a promissory note for the payment of money is subject to seizure and sale under execution ; bui I find in the ease of Handy vs. Dobbin, 12th John. Reports, 220, this principle established, “ hank hills or money and every thing belonging to the debt orof a tangible nature, except choses in action, |, “[■’ - - bv statute, ! between hank notes, and other choses in ar- I bon, docs not appear to lie a very rational , one, so far as the principle of the thing is concerned. A common promissory note is for the payment of money—and a hank note is lor nothing more. The reason, however, advocated bv the Court in the case last cited is, that “ bank btlls are treated civiliter as tno nev, a tender in them is good, unless it lie I specially objected to at the time.” lathe [ case of the Maine Fire and Marine Insn : ranee Company vs. Lemuel Weeks and Trtts | b’cs, 7th Mass. Rep. 438, it was determined I that negotiable notes Were not such chattels ! as could be seized and sold under execution. 1 | Tlie same principle was settled in the cases of j i Berry vs. Coates and Trustee, 9th Mass. I I Kep- 33?, Denton vs. Livingston, 9th Johns.! Rep. 99, Ingalls vs, Lord, Ist Correa’s Rep. j 210. llow far a court of equity would! aid a judgment creditor in the application of the defendant's choses in action to the pav ment of his debt, when he had no .adequa te common law remedy, it is not now necessary to consider. From” an examination of the ; authorities within the reach of the court, it is of the opinion that the promissory note levied i upon by the sheriff being a those in action , is not such a tangible chattel as is legally sub | ject to levy and sale, by virtue ofan execution I ; against the defendant. Let the rule against! . the slierift lie dischnrured. HIRAM WARNER, ! JuJgo Sup. Court Cmvria Circuit. Georgia. comittinvicATioy. Soim* preceding numbers from the pen of* Sydney/ j the nu hor of the following communication, were! | published in the Republican Herald. As that pa-1 per has been obliged to submit to a temporary suspen sion, on account of the scarcity of paper, and the gre.v difficulty in procuring it, we have been requested by the talented author to continue the series, with which \u cheerfully comply. Cos!, ll'ebb: I had not intended to have I troubled either yourselt or readers with nnv turther remarks of mine in order to prove the unsoundness ol a doctrine which I believe to be of very recent birth, namely—“that a subse quent legislature may repeafthe charter of a bank granted by a prior legislature, the bank having done nothing on its part by which a forfeiture of its charter was incurred,” but fir j the remarks of a writer in the last number of I your paper, over the signature of “ Solon.” I I had supposed that a bare reference to the j judicial decisions upon Ibis subject would bei I sufficient to satisfy* any one desiring to be! ! satisfied that the doctrine entertained By “ So- 1 . Ion” could not lie supported; and hence it was ! that in my former communication I done hut little more than state the question at issue, and refer to the authorities. Solon, alter some prcliminarv remarks, sa vs*, “ be had supposed that no principle in the sci ence of government was established upon a I firmer basis than that the acts ot one legislature | were not binding upon a subsequent one.”; In answer to this position I have to remark.! that no principle is belter established than I that a. subsequent legislature cannot repeal the act of a former legislature, by which act and 1 to the continuance of which ‘the public faith I is pledged, to the protection of rights and pri-! vileges granted under it. Wherever such rights and privileges eannot f>e interfered with by the repeal, then I readily admit the power! ot a subsequent legislature to make it. The! contrary of this would seem to me a most dangerous doctrine. You bind individuals hv their contracts, and after entered into, whc-l ther they arc satisfied with them or not, what ever may be the consequences flowing from them, however ruinous in their effects vet thev must be enforced; and the only answer to be given to such complaints is, that li e party complaining should have looked to the I consequences bo hire he entered into the con tract. But you will permit the verv power which coerces such pertbnnance to disregard and rescind at pleasure its own nWigatmns. m the inamtaiuance of which too the” pubhc faith is pledged, without the consent of the other parly. ■ . Solon says that, contrary to all lexicogta phers with whom he is acquainted, I have at tempted to confound the terms contract and grant, and that upon that my whole argu ment is suspended, and promises out of my own i mouth to condemn me, Sic. And in what : manner does lie effect this mighty condemna ! tion? Not, lam sure, bv quoting any authori- ty to show that, in a legal point of view, the I terms are considered different and have a dif ferent meaning; but solely by his own declara tion and forced analysis of the word contract. In support of the position which I then assumed i I quoted the authority of Judge Blackstone, j and am willing to leave it to your readers to ] determine whose opinion is entitled to most Uveifflit, the opinion of Blackstone or the opi nion of Solon. But lest Solon;might object to j the authoritv offfudge Blackstone,! beg leave to offer one of more recent date; it is to be found in the report of (now) Chief Justice- Tanev, when Secretary of the Treasury, up on the removal of the deposites. He says— ! “ It has been settled by repeated adjudications! that a charter granted hv a State to a corpo- • i ration like that of the Bank of the United : States, is a contract lictwecn the sovereignty : which grants it and Ike stockholders.” Solon 1 says that a grant is a mere gratuity, and from , thence argues that the party granting can at pleasure resume the grant, lo me, at least, ! this is new doctrine. 1 had early learned that a party was always estopped by his own grant. The language of Chief Justice Mar j shall is, that “ a contract executed, as well as one executory, contains obligations binding on both parties. A grant in its own nature I amounts to an extinguishment of the right of the grantor, and implies a contract not to . reasserT that right. A party is therefore al ways estopped by his own grant.”—6 branch Reps. 137. In the same case he says further, “ Since then in fact a grant is a contract executed, the obligations of which still con tinues, and since “the constitution uses the general term contract without distinguishing between those which are executory and those ! which are executed, it must be construed to - comprehend the latter as well as the former. ! Let us carry out the doctrine of Solon, and ike consequences to which it will lead. The drift of his argument is, that because a charter is a grant, a mere gratuity, the Icgie j lature has a right at any time to repeal it; thus : resuming to itsell again the powers and pri i vileges conferred. The fee simple title of all ; that portion of our State which has front lime ! to time, as the Indian right of occupancy has been extinguished by the General Government, been brought in market was in the State. Bytlie I different land lottery acts, this title has gone out lof the State,and lias become a vested title in that - portionofliereitr’lcnswho were lortunatedra w ersinthedifferent lotteries:, it willnot lie denied, 1 presume, that this was, on the part of the State, a grant to her citizens. Now would any one contend that the next legislature ; would have a right to repeal all the land lotte !ry acts, and thereby declare the rights granted : to he destroyed, and re-vest the title in the * State ? This would he considered a most monstrous and absurd position; and yet, upon the principle for which Solon contends, the ’ legislature would have a perfect right to do so° and upon (lie same principle the State could resume to itself the title to every loot ] of soil Within the Corporate limits of our city, j for all of our citizens have received a title by ! virtue of an act of the legislature, j Solon lays it down that charters are indeed ! nothing more titan common sfSfufes, partaking nothing of the nature of contracts, Sic. Jus tice Story, however, one of the most profound jurists that our country has ever produced, seems to lie of a different opinion. “A char ter (he says) is certainly in form ami sub stance a contract. It is'a grant of powers, 1 rights and privileges, and it usually gives a Icmaeitv to take and to hold property. It upon the faith of wlurh it was jTCceptcd. It imparts obligations and duties on their part, which they are not at liberty to disregard; , and it implies a contract on the part of the j legislature that the rights and privileges so ; granted shall lie enjoyed, h is-vhol!v i teriul in such cases whether the corporation lake for their own benefit, or for the benefit of ] other persons, &c. A charter to a hank, or insurance or turnpike company, is certainty a f contract, founded on a valuable consideration. If the State should make a grant of funds in aid of such a corporation, it has never been j supposed that it could revoke them at pica ] sure.”—3 Story’s Com.on theCnnstilution 250 Solon has stated that I have made a pom j pons parade of authorities, many of which ; have no application to the question. I would I heg leave to inform him that, before he had ventured such an assertion, he should at least have read those authorities, so as to have been able to have spoken advisedly on the sub ject. This, lam well convinced, he has not done; for if lie had, he would at least have offered us some proof in support of so grave a charge. He has chosen, however, to re sort to the ordinary means of disposing of that which cannot bedisposed of by fair argument, hv a sweeping denial of its applicability. I think I may safely say to hint, that however this erode of investigation might for its bold ness and recklessness take with the vulgar and unthinking, yet in an intelligent and reflecting community it will not answer the desired pur pose. I have already shown the applic.ihilit v oi the case of Fletcher vs. Peck, reported in is* j Crar.ch, as well as the authority Cited from j Story’s Commentaries on tire Constitution;and by offering a brief statement of the facts in the case ol’ Dartmouth College vs. Wood ward, in 4 AN hcaton’s Reports, its peculiar application to the question will lie apparent. 1 he legislature of New Isa rnpshire had, with out the consent of the corporation, passed an act changing tire organization of the original provincial charter of the college, and transfer ring all the rights, privileges and franchises from the old charter trustees to new trustees appointed under the act. The constitution ality of this act was contested before the Su preme Court ot the United States, on the ground ttuit the original provincial charter was a contract w ittiin the meaning ot the constitu tion of the United States, and that the amenda tory act was void as impairing the obligation of that charter; and so the Court, after solemn | argument, decided.—4 Wheaton’s Reps. 518. | I he Court held that so soon as the corpora- I sion became organized and in esse, the charter j became a contract with the corporators.—lb. W liether Solon will be able to see theapplica bility of the principles involved in this case to the question under discussion, I am at a loss to say; certain I am, however, that nei ther yourself or readers will he at a loss to discover their force, and if lliey cannot be j scct ! by Solon, he must not otilv be a very “quiet but a very blind man. Another ground assumed by Solon is, the fact that the legislature lias imposed upon banks additional restrictions, nr rather duties, to those which accompanied their charters,and that in proof of the soundness of the legisla tion the banks have quietly submitted to it. ; This is certainly a strange argument for the i settlement of a legal principle. The (act that : the banks submitted to it is no proof of its : constitutionality. According In this mode of reasoning, if a man should tamely submit to a i wrong it would be an establishment of the j principle that he had no right, even if he ; chose, to assert it. But if Solon willexamine the principle he will find a material difference between the legislature pointing out the man lier in which a grant shall lie exercised apd destroying that grant altogether. Solon lays down the doctrine that banks being chartered tor the benefit of the commu nity, if the legislature find that they did not an swer the purposes for which they were intend ed. then it has the right to rr’roal them. This is a broad assertion, hut surely it requires son.#