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