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ROBERT 111.111DLET011.]
'RIBM 1116/0a1.613113)0
•'With sweetest Bowers enrichid,
From various gardens mill'd with care."
?Olt TIM ONITTIUDIURCIN STAR AND BANNER.
BED JACKET'S MUSING.
By Mrs. Lydia Jane Peterson.
ON to the west! Still to the west! •
They urge the red-skin race.
Which like a billow of the deep
Can find no resting place.
By mightier waves, and winds of heaven,
With sullen murmur onward driven,
Till, dashing on the echoing shore,
broken, lost forevermore!
So is the red wave rolling on
Before the pale fac'd race ;
With whom the breath of heaven seems blent,
To sweep us from our place.
Where once our chiefs, and warrior sires,
Assembled round their council fires;
in vaunted hall, with cushiou'd scat,
In childish pomp debaters meet.
Where once our fathers' voices rose
Like thunders dread and deep;
The pale face talks as if he fear'd
To break an infant's sleep.
Where once we chas'd the savage beast,
Drest the wild deer, and held the feast;
Or battled with a hostile band.
The cities of their dwellings stand.
Our fathers' hunting grounds arc now
Green glades, and cullur'd fields;
O'er which pale menials guide the plough,
And reap abundant yields.
They gather riches from the sod
That drank our butchcr'd fathers' blood;
And cat the yellow cars that fall
Above their graves' My soul be still!
Be still proud heart! 'Twere well to break
With smother'd grief and ire;
But hopeless, bootless, now, to wake
The warrior's ardent fire.
The white man came by stealth and wrong,
But now his arm is great and strong;
While we, who were so mighty then,
Are now a few degraded men.
They call'd us Brother! and besought
A place with es to dwell;
And, with the guise of friendship, bought
The lands we chose to sell;
Till firmly rooted by our side,
They spread their branches far and wide;
And strengthening on the land we gave,
Began to dig for us a grave!
With instruments of fearful sound,
They piered us trunk nod limb;
And blood streams from the ragged wound
Made the red war-paint dim.
And then in peace, with serpent wile,
They stab'd us with a treacherous smile;
Presenting the accursed bowl,
Whose venoli'd contents kill the soul.
And now - by river, cliff or bay,
Along the Atlantic shore.
The Red Man's track is wash'd away,
His voice is heard no more.
And we who dwell the lake beside,
And o'er its silver waters glide,
Are melting silently away,
Like snow drift in the sun of May.
And westward from their fathers graves
Our brother tribes roll on ;
Till soon from all his heritage
The red man will be gone
No moccasin will print the
Where once ten thousand warriors trod;
No wamprun'd bosom heave the sigh
Where low in death his chieftains lie.
Bat soon beyond the rocky hills,
Beneath a stranger sky,
The remnants of our mighty tribes
Shall pine away and die.
Who then that fills the Red man's place,
Will mourn for his extinguished race?
Oh! who will shed one generous tear
Above the last poor Indian's bier?
italsl Fil2Y2@aral(ol-2.40
FROM THE ISALTIMORE MONUMENT.
E ./G E-. 4" PEIRCY:
A LEGEND OF THE REVOLUTION.
SY Mill. LYDIA JANE PLIRSON.
[COICLIIDED PROM OEM LAST.]
She watched him from her window as he walk=
ell slowly away in the direction of a small duster
trf buildings that still retained the name of the
town. Her heart would not bo quiet, and the
tears stood trembling in her blue eyes like dew in
the bosom of the violet. "Oh, Dudley !" she cri
sd,.nwhat change has come over thee I 83 cold,
ao desponding, so unhappy now when restored to
thy tome and love! Where is the ardor of thy
mature? where thy trust in Omnipotence ?" and
sgain she sought for consolation to Him of divine
compassion. She then applied herself to her va
rious tasks, and hour after hour passed on, and
Carlton returned not. What could detain him I
Dinner was ready and yet ho came not. She
waited, and wondered, and wept.
At length, as the afternoon advanced, he came,
accompanied by a young Officer who had been his
fellow soldier in the campaign and had returned
with him. He was a man of much personal beau
ty and the most insinuating and captivating man
ners, and from whose tongue every argument
came with double weight. He also possessed the
art of accommodating his manners and sentiments
to the dispositions or opinions of those whom he
sought to please. In short he was a most sedu
cing companion. Carlton introduced him to his
wife es Col. Benton, an intimate friend, and she
was happy to see returning cheerfulness in the
gay smile and animated conversation of her hus
band, who, during dinner, seemed like his former
lett Benton spent the evening , with them, in
course of which Carlton informed Ellen that he
had obliged them by loaning him a sum sufficient
to establish him in some business, by which ho
could repair his losses and attain his former Inds
pendence. She thanked Benton fervently ; for
she felt herself not only obliged to him for pecunia
ry aid, but for a richer blessing—the returning
ease and cheerfulness of her husband, whose hap
piness was dearer to het than any other earthly
treasure. The time passed joyously till a late
hour, when the Col, took leave with apparent re
luctance. Front this' time be became a constant
miter at Carlton's, who
-; soon removed from the
poor cot that had sheltered his family in their des
olation, to a neat and comfortable house, which he
furnished in a plain, but handsome manner, far
more consistent with Ellin's ideas of propriety
than the elegant style of their first fair home.
And now she expected to be once more happy ;
but when day slier day passed, and Carlton enter
ed into no business, but continued to devote all
his time to the society of Benton and a few other
officers, her Gems returned. How hardly is the
nneophisticated heart convinced of error in those
it loves! How slow is the innocent and confi
ding bosons to discern evil in others ! Ellen had
*Pen and Wind many things before she suspected
that Col. Benton was an infidel and a profligate.
AT that her heart's idol was imbibing the poiscia of
tails sophisms or catching the infection of his di:mi.
rrthas. -But at length the trholo, truth burst
upon her at once like a thunder bolt upon a green
willow, shivering its verdure and rending its heart
asunder.
Carlton, with Benton, returned home late one
evening so evidently under the influence of intox
ication that she could be blind to it no longer.—
She was inexpressibly agonized at the conviction,
and.as they vented their bacchanal mirth and jest
ed on the most sacred and awful subjects, she felt
as if life itself was deserting her very soul. She
proposed to retire, alleging indisposition. Carlton
bade her go, swearing that his friend and himself
wanted neither women nor preachers in their
company. She went to her chamber, and beside
the pillow of her child wept with broken supplica
tion to heaven, while the thoughtless couple revel
led on. Poor Carlton was indeed lost. He had
entortit the labyrinth from whence so few ever es
cape. The toil, the privation, the exposure, the
sufferings of his soldier life had given him a relish
for the strong liquors which he bad at first used
as stimulants to his wearied nature and preven
tives of disease. The poison fastened at once upon
his brain, reason staggered, and Benton had gain
ed an ascendency through which he instilled his
deistical sophisms; for Carlton, though a profes
sed christian, wan not an experimental one.—
These are some of the evils scattered by the hand
of the war demon; many a strong trunk, round
which the tender vines are clinging, is levelled to
the earth, and many, very many seared, withered,
stripped of their foliage and beauty, and left to in
volve the sweet dependent plants in their loath
some decay.
Ellen saw it all and resigned all hope of earthly
happiness, only entreating support and assistance
to boar her lot as became a Christian. Oh, how
bitter was that hour ! To see herself at once the
devoted victim of despair, poverty, dishonor and
content! To see her idolized babe made to share
all the bitterness of her cup, and instead of enter
ing on the stage of action, supported by a father's
fortune, honor, and interest, obliged to feel oven in
his childhood, want and scorn ; and if ever he
rose in the world to surmount the base prejudice
which even in this land of equality, will still whis
per ..Me son of a drunkard ;" and worst of all, to
see the man whom she had so loved—on whom
she had, in full confidence, built the citadel of all
her hopes, lost to honor, to society, to her, and to
his God. Bitter is her grief who lays a loved
companion in the deep, dark grave ; but no grief
can compare with hors whose husband plunges
into the vortex of dissipation. He no longer lives
to her or to himself; but walks the earth a moving
pestilence—a living mourning to his friends, suf
fering himself a continual death and hell, in the
pangs of sickness, the reproaches of conscience,
the pity of the philanthropic, and the scorn and
reproaches of the hard-hearted and self-sufficient.
Well may she exclaim with the lamenting proph
et, "Is it nothing to you 1 all ye that paw by, be
hold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my
sorrow !" Surely the victim of intemperance is
the very vampire of which superstition has dream
ed—the wretched and vindictive creature, con
demned for his sins to come from the grave and
feed on the life of hie best beloved ones, until
none who were once dear to him remain to furnish
the revolting feast.
Poor Carlton ! on the next morning bow hum
bled, how wretched ho felt, while Ellen arose with
a weight of grief upon her spirits which forbade
her to wear hitr usual smile. They sat down si
lently to breakfast. Carlton leaned his forehead
upon his hand and sighed profoundly. His wife
felt her heart choking her, and neither could eat.
The poor babe looked for the wonted smile from
ono to the other, and missing the fond caress,
wept its first bitter tears. Carlton arose and took
his hat.
"Dudley !" said Ellen, hurriedly, "I wish you
could content yourself to remain at home to-day ;
I have projected some improvements in our garden
and grounds which I wish to submit to your con
sideration, and I have a new and very interesting
book which I cannot half enjoy unless we read it
together;—and then we shall have our favorite
dish for dinner, and make amends for our light
breakfast. We can pass the day very happily ;
and when both weary, hero is our pretty plaything,
Henry, to amuse us."
"I understand you," said Carlton; "I could stay
with pleasure, but I have a pre-engagement.—
Good morning; :' and he walked into the street;
but his heart smote him, his conscience upbraided
him fearfully. What was ho doing thus to sacri
fice all his treasure and happiness to a monster
who would ultimately devour him. Ho turned
and looked wistfully towards the house. Had he
been but a novice in intemperance, Ellen's gen
tleness might have won him ; but he had indulged
in inebriety for months—his brain was effected,
his vitals • were on fire, the unquenchable thirst
was kindled. He sighed as he thought of the
rgisery he was creating. A big tear fell on his
hand. He dashed it away. "Fool !" said he,
"catch the pleasures are they fade ;" and quicken
ing his pace, was soon with Benton at the tavern.
This day a young man fell into their company
who refused to drink with thorn, alleging that,
were it even a present gratification, it would be
certain death here, and perhaps eternal misery
hereafter. This remark caused a roar of merri
ment, and Benton answered, "Well done, super
stition ! so you say your creed with the rest of the
fools 'I"
oYes," ho replied, know that fools hold what
ever creed is taught them, but thousands wiser
than we youngsters, after examining all sides,
weighing all arguments, and investigating history,
art, and nature, have subscribed to this creed and
lived respectfully by it, an honor to their race, and
a blessing to the world, and died tranquilly and
happily, rejoicing in their faith in God their Sa
viour. Even if their creed was a delusion, it was
a blessed one ; but, 0, gentlemen, if it be eternal
truth-1f christianity is indeed a divine revelation!!
Oh; think of it. It is a matter of dreadful im
port:, •
Benton hod been bred an infidel, and only
laughed the louder, but Carlton felt the full weight
of the all-important If.
That evening he returned early and alone.—
Ellen saw him approach with real pleasure, and
met him with a smile, if not of joy, of heaitfelt
satisfaction. The evening was passed almost
cheerfully. Carlton inquired for her new book—
it was produced, and some time devoted to it, and
the child was caressed by the hither, who bad, by
looking coldly on him, almost broken his mother's
heart. Her fond hopes revived. How like the
"I WISH NO OTHER HERALD, NO OTHER SPEAKER OP MITT° AOTIOIIB
etatuelreparanallau, aq,ll
anxious nurse of a consumptive patient i$ she who
watches the progress of intemperance . upon a be
loved husband or son. At times elevated by the
most flattering hopes only to be made to feel more
intensely the bitterness of despair.
• Carlton did certainly meditate a reform, and
that night. on his pillow, surrounded by darkness,
he heard "If it be eternal truth" still sounding in
his ears. He could nut sleep. He thought of
death. Some invisible power scorned to say to
him, audibly, "You must die!" He could not
hear to hear it. Annihilation seemed almost as
dreadful as eternal misery, and most fervently did
he wish that ho had never doubted. But his faith
in Christianity he could not win hack, and now •
his only resource was to be firmly established in
his new creed. He repented every argument in
favor of deism, but all would not quiet his mind,
or chase the phantoms attendant on the tremen
dous if. Ho would have prayed, but he remem
bered to have read in the blasphomed book, "He
that cometh unto God must come believing that
he is, and that he is a rewarder of all such as dili
gently seek him." Ho, therefore, could not ap
proach, end he felt that it was an evil and bitter
thing, to have forsaken the Lord.
Ho arose unrefreshed and gloomy, and as soon
as he Could excuse himself, sought Benton in
hopes that his subtle arguments might chase the
gloom from his mind, and assure him that ho was
indeed on a level with the beasts that perish.—
Glorious ambition in a reasoning creature ! And
what is reason 1 The treasure of the wise, and
the idol of fools ! It is even so ; a treasure
em
ployed by the truly wise in the attainment of
knowledge, religion and eternal life. An idol that
fools "set up and bow down to, receiving item
Deity, when, in reality, 'tis a poor perverted facul
ty of which the poor beast partakes, and which he
uses to a better purpose than his sceptical master.
If, indeed, the superiority of reason were the only
pre-Cminence of man above a beast, it would lie an
unenviable possession. The reason of the brute
is sufficient to enable him to perform all the func
tions of life without retrospection, or anxiety for
the future, while man is perplexing himself with
vain speculations; looking, with useless regrets,on
the irrecoverable past, and dwelling, with tortur
ing anxiety, on a future which no forethought of
his can direct or control, while death, inevitable
death is ever present to his mind, embittering all
his enjoyments. •Did not ration point to heaven
and illumine the page of Divine Revelation,it would
truly be a curse to its possessor, as it is no longer
upright, but like a warped and contorted mirror,
shadowing forth every thing erroneously, and for
ever presenting images of past and future ill,with
out presenting any right way of prevention or es--
cape.
Poor Carlton! ho had sworn to follow no other
light than that of reason,and his reason he was fast
loosing in the whirl of intoxication. It was already
ruined, darkened. depraved; yet it raised its voice
against the 'course ho was pursuing, and he firmly
resolved to drink to excess no more. -
Benton, ever gay and amusing, soon discovered
tho state of his mind, and levelled all the artillery
of wit, ridicule, and merriment at the spirit that
oppressed him. He shrunk, with a false shame,
before the laughing eyes of the company. Alt, if
ho could have seen their naked souls he would have
discovered nothing to move 'his envy. Miserable,
doubting, tormented creatures were they all; yet,
deceived by their show of assurance, and taking
their faith upon trust, ho banished his uneasiness,
or drowned it in liquor; and that day he became
so much intoxicated as to be unable to return to
his house. Benton procured a carriage and con
veyed him home. Ellen commanded her feelings,
and when she had assisted to put her lost husband
to bed, she desired Benton to sit flown and suffer
her to remonstrate with him for a few minutes.
"You, Mr. Benton," she continued, stare a
wealthy old bachelor, and therefore at liberty to
act as you please. Ido not wish to censure your
conduct as far as it concerns only yourself; but
look at my situation. I have no relative on this
side the wide ocean, except that poor helpless
child; and you well know that, for some time, we
have been living upon the loan your generosity
favored us with. You also know better dam I do,
n what a deplorable manner my husband is spew
ing his time. You must be conscious that he and
his family aro on the brink of irretrievable ruin.
Oh, think, if you had a family, would you thus
devote them to misery, want, and scorn I Your
influence over Carlton is groat. If you would ex
ert it to restore him to himself and me, the bless
ing of her who is ready to perish would be forever
yours. Do, I beseech you, prove yourself truly
his friend, by endeavoring to persuade him to go
into some business, and forsake .this dissipated
course, which you know must undo him forever."
Denton seemed touched. 4 feel the truth of
your appeal, madam," he replied, "and I cannot
but grieve for you ; yet I fear Carlton is irreclaim
able. I know that no earthly power could win
me from my present course, and so I judge him by
myself. I would advise you to bear with forti
tude, and seek happiness in your own resources.
'Tis folly for a person to be dependent for happi
ness upon the caprices of another. You aro a lady
of respectability, and, come to the worst, can main
tain yourself; therefore I advise you to give, your
self no farther uneasiness about him. Good
night."
As he spoke she felt her heart rising with bitter
emotions, and as he loft the house she burst into
a passion of weeping, crying like a deserted child.
She resolved, however, to make one more effort to
expostulate with her husband freely, whether ho
would hear nr not; and next morning, at break
fast,.after an uncomfortable silence on both sides,
she observed him press his hand on his forehead
with a heavy sigh.
“Dudley," she said, nI see that you are unhap
py ; I see that I am superlatively so. We were
not always thus. We wore once the happiest of
the happy. We loved and ware beloved ; we
were conscious of performing our duty, and blest
with the approbation of each other, and of our own
hearts. 0, Carlton ! could we have believed, two
short years ago, that we could over have sat thus
unhappily together I It was not in the power of
any changing circumstances to render us thus.—
What then has caused this change t 0, Dudley !
dear Dudley ! let your heart answer. Listen to
its dictates—suffer the monitor within to plead,
not only in behalf of me and this poor babe, but
for yourself. Oh start from the abyss on the brink
of which you stand, and into which your fall
would dniz your wife and child. If your strength
TO KEEP MINE HONOR PROK OORRIIPTION.",-.-.43HAXB.
111114 , a earPt.P2lXElD,lfilft
is not sufficient, we know Him who is mighty to
save, mid who will give good gifts unto all those
that ask . .him."
"Then, in that faith, Ellen," be replied, ""ask
him o r pity and support; for you
will soon have no I am lost irretrievably.
Ellen! Ellen ! I have lost my faith in Christianity !
I cannot pray, to him whom I have denied I will
revel on yet awhile, and then die. You may live
respectably, and then exchange earth for heaven.
Oh. Ido hope you may. lam undone—lost for
ever I"
"Dudley !" she cried, in an agony of broken
sobs, "only forsake the company of Denton and
his associates, remain at home, and all will yet he
"No, no!" he answered, PT cannot stay at
home ; I must mix with company to dissipatelhe
horror that haunts me. Benton Is my friend.—
We are living on his bounty. Ho values my
company and wishes my welfare."
t'Oh, say not so ! ho cannot desire your welfare,
or ho would not seek to win you from the heaven
of domestic love hero, and the heaven of divine
love hereafter—to plunge you at once into the
eternal hell of remorse and agony ! 0 be entreat
ed to forsake his company !"
She clung to his bosom and wet it with tears.—
He supported her in his arms, and sho felt a few
hot tears drop on her neck. She plead on—it was
in vain ! Oh, horrid control of vice when once
the soul has submitted to its sway ! That once
noble and devoted husband turned from his sob
bing,. heart-broken wife, and sought his dissolute
companions. He forsook "The Fountain of
Mercy" and the spring of e.onsolation,q.aud hewed
out for himself cisterns, broken cisterns that could
hold no water." His history is soon told—beast
liness, poverty, contempt, cruelty, remorse, distrac
tion and disease.
Ellen Carlton found the power of religion suf
ficient to sustain her under the anguish of her lot,
and she supported herself and child comfortably
by her skill in fancy and other needle-works. But
she sometimes felt keenly the injustice of the
world, which implicates a man's family in his
guilt and disgrace. She could not always retain
her meekness when she saw the uneducated and
ungenteel loaded with honors because they were
connected with wealth and honor, while she her
self was utterly neglected because her husband
had undone himself and her. Some looked on
her with that degrading pity which it is so bard
for the generous spirit to endure; others, if any
one, struck by her gentle and polished manners,
inquired her name, replied, carelessly, aO,
'ii.,
that drunken Carttan's wife" and she was no
more thought of. Often did she feel the cruelty
of society, which sees no farther into the charac
ter than the texture of the dress or the contents of
the pocket. The woman who is bereft of a kind
husband by death, and of an affluent fortune by
fire, or other calamity, finds sympathy and aid,
while she who is more bitterly and utterly heresy
. Arrshrs,,ounsi of inteniperanCe, rinds herself de.
heglected, and forgotten. The artinkaid's
suffering family are outcasts from society, however
keen their sensibilities, however delicate their c
ucation, !lowerver refined their intellect. They
are classed with the low and despicable; must
bear the tortures of a broken heart, the agonff.§ of
a wounded spirit, the contempt of the cruel, and
the bitterness of want unpitied and alone, while
the remembrance of the past and bleak prospect of
futurity, aed their pangs to every present sorrow.
But Mrs. Carlton was not forsaken of Him in
whom she trusted, and she found "strength accord
ing to her day."
Peace had been proclaimed. The independence
of her country was achieved,, and although it had
cost her all she held dear, she did most fervently
thank God that the sacrifice had not been made in
vain. She had received no intelligence from her
parents since she saw them depart from America ;
but now the white sails again swelled over the
green waters, and she began to hope that her
mother, if alive, would write to her. 0, how of
ten had her thoughts reverted to that dearest
friend, and how did she long to hear of her wel
fare—to peruse the sincere traces of her deep and
sweet affection. • These thoughts were working
busily in her bosom as she watched the vessels
sweeping landward, apparently between the wave
and the sky, when her mother entered her apart
ment ! There passed then a few indescribable
moments ! Each clung to the bosom of her only
and long absent friend, while images of all that
had passed since they parted crowded on each
heart, and came in broken sentences from their
lips. Joy and sorrow, pain and pleasure were
strangely mingled in their feelings, and it was long
ore they were, in any degree, composed.
At length Mrs. Peircy informed her daughter
that Mr. Peircy had died about a year previous,
and she had disposed of her property and come
over in quest of her children. Deeply as she
mourned the lost ones, she rejoiced to find one re
maining, and to be able to make that ono wealthy.
Ellen was restored to the rank in society which
she so richly ornamented, and her boy received an
education that set off to advantage the rudiments
of knowledge and piety instilled by his mother in
his childhood, and placed him amongst his fel
lows. But ho never forgot the generous friend
ship of some, though lowly their lot, or dm heart
less pride of others, although they endeavored by
numerous apologies and servile condescension to
obtain the favor of those whom, in adversity, they
had slighted
Ellen enjoyed the mournful satisfaction of
smoothing the death bed of her self-immolated but
evoi , loved Carlton. Sweet fell his murmurs of
penitence and returning affection upon her with
ered heart, and his deep repentance and humble
reliance on his once rejected Redeemer, and hope
of acceptance with God through the mediation of
the sinner's Friend, remained a solace to the heart
of his mourners when they had watched by 'his
death bed and wept over his grave.
LIBERTY, PA., 1837.
From the /Vankiin Repository.
NAY—judge not harshly of. thy . Brother's mind,
Though ignorance doth o'er it hold her sway:
Though superstitution's dark'oing mist doth blind
His spirit from the light of perfect day.
That shincth on thy more exalted way—
Despise him not, if to his feelings cling
The rites wherewith his youth was taught to pray;
Look not on him as some inferior thing,
Sunk far beneath Truth's bright and cheering ray,
Unworthy of his birth-right; he cau claim
As deep an interest in that glorious stay
As thou would'st yield the gifted—and the game
Which burneth now , so dimly, yet may be;
Thy bencen-star throughout eternity. B.
a. asatta
tivahlaDa - eD@ atatootalgao
2100atte2.8
From the President of the U. States to both Houses
el - Congress, at their Sproul Session, held Sep
tember 4, 1837.
Fellow-Citizens of the Senate
and House of Repreaentaves:
The act of the 23..1 of June, 1836,regulating the
deposites of the public money, and directing the
employment of State, District, and Territorial
banks for that purpose, made it the duty of the
Secretary of the Treasury to discontinue the use
of such of them as should at any time refuse to
redeem their notes in specie,and to substitute oth
or bunko, provided a sufficient number could be
obtained to receive the public deposites upon the
terms and conditions therein prescribed. The
general and almost simultaneous suspension of
specie payment:, by the banks in May last,rendor.
ed the performance of this duly imperative,in res.
pect to those which had been selected under the
act, and made it, at the same time, impracticable
to employ the requisite number of otherP,upon the
prescribed conditions. The specific regulations
established by Congress fur the deposits and safe
keeping of the public moneys having thus unex
pectedly become inoperative,l felt it to be my duty
to afford you an early opportunity for the exercise
of your supervisory powers over the subject.
1 was also led to apprehend that the suspension
of specie payments, increasing the embarrass
ments before existing in the pecuniary affairs of
the conntry,would so fur diminish the public rev
come that the nem uing receipts into the Treasury
would not,with the reserved five millions,be Both.
ciorit to defray , the unavoidable expenses of the
Government until the usual period for the meet
ing oftiongrege; whilst the authority to call upon
the States for a portion of the sums deposited with
them was too restricted to enable the department
to realize a sufficient amount from that source.—
These apprehensions have been justified by sub.
sequent results, which render it certain that this
deficiency will occur, if additional means ballot
provided by Congress.
The difficulties experienced by the mercantile
interest in meeting their engagements, Induced
them to apply to me, previously to the actual sus.
pension of specie
,payments, for indUlgence upon
their bonds for duties; and all the relief authorized
by law was promptly and cheerfully granted.—
The dependance of the Treasury upon the avails
of these bonds, to enable it to make the deposites
with the States required by law, led me,in the out
set, to limit this indulgence to the Ist of Septem
bon but it has since been extended to the Ist of
October, that the matter might be submitted to
your further direction.
Questions were also expected to arise,in the re
ctal:4in respect to the October instalment of those
deposites,requiring the interposition of:Congress.
A provision of another act, passed about the
same eime,and intended to secure a faithful corn
Ounce with the obligation of the United States
to satisfy all demands upon them, in specie or its
equivalent, prohibited the offer of any bank note
not convertible on the spot into gold or silver, at
the will of the holder; and the ability of the Gov.
ernment, with millions on deposite,to meet its en
gagements in the manner thus required by law,
was rendered very doubtful by the event to which
I have referred.
Sensible that adequate provisions for these un
expected exigencies could only be made by Con-
R erun convinced that some of their would ha in
dispensably necessary to the public . service,before
the regular period of your meeting; and desirous
also, to enable you to exercise, at the earliest mu.
mont,your lull constitutional powers for the relief
of the country, I . oould not, with prorriely, avoid
eubjebting you to the ill/ COll ven ion GI) ofassembling
at as early a day as the state of the popular, ;op.
resentatton would.permit. lam sure that I have
done but justice to your feelings, in believing that
this inconvenience will be cheerfully encounteted,
in the hope of rendering your meeting conducive
to the good of the country.
During the earlier stages of the revulsion throe
which we have just passed, much acrimonious
discussion arose, and great diversity of opinion
existed, as to its real causes. This was not sur
prising. The opordtions of credit are so diversi
fied, and the influences which affect them so tin.
morous, & often so subtle, that even impartial &
well informed persons areseldom found toagree in
respect to them To Inherent difficulties were
also added other tendencies, which were by no
means favorable to the discovery of truth. It
was hardly to be expected, that those who disap.
proved the policy of the Government in relation
to the currency, would in the excited meteor pub
lic feeling produced .by the occasion, fail to at
tribute to that policy any extensive embarrass.
mont in the monetary affairs of the country. The
matter thus became connected with the passions
and confficts of pal ty; opinions wore more or less
affected by political considerations; and differ
ences were prolonged which might otherwise
have boon determined by an appeal to facts, by
the exercise of reason, or by mutual concessions.
It is, however, a cheering reflection, that clrcum.
stances of this nature cannot cannot prevent a
community so intelligent as ours from ultimately
arriving at correct conclusions. Encouraged by
tho firm belief uf this truth, I proceed to state my .
views, so far as may be necessary to aplear un
derstanding of the remedies I feel it my duty to
p ropose, and of the reasons by which I have been
led to recommend them.
Tho history of trade in the United Stated for
he last three or four years, affords the most con•
vincing evidence that our present condition is
chiefly to be attributed to over action in all the
departments of business; an over action deriving,
perhaps s its first impulses from antecedent causes,
but stimulated to its destructive consequences by
excessive issues of bank paper, - and by other fa
cilities for the acquisition and enlargement of
credit. At the commencement of the year 1834.
the banking capital of the U. States, including
that of tho napunal bank then existing, amounted
to about 8200,000,000; the bank notes then in cir
culation to about $95,000,000. and the loans and
discounts•ot the banks to $324,000,000. Between
that time and the 6rstfofJanuary,lB36,being the
latest period to which accurate accounts have
been received, our banking capital was increased
to more than $251,000,000; our piper circulation
to more than $140,000,000, and the loans and diet.
counts to more than $457,000,000. To this vast
increase aro to be added the many millions of
credit, acquired by mans of foreign loans,contrac.
ted by the states and state maitutions, and, above
all, by the lavish accommodations extended by
foreign dealers to our merchants.
The consequences of this redundancy of credit,
and of the spirit of reckless apeculation engender.
ed by it, were a foreign debt contracted by our
citizens, estimated in March last at more than
$30,000,00 0 ; the' extension to traders in the trite-'
rior of our country of credits fur Fktpplies greatly
beyond the wants of the people; the investment
of 839,500,000 in unproductive public lands,in tho
years 1835 and 1836,whilst in the preceding year
the sales amounted to only 000.000; the efea.l
tion of debts, to an almost countless amount, for
real estate in existing or anticipated cities and
villages, equally unproductive, and at prices now
seen to have been greatly disproportionate to their
real value; the expenditure of immense sums in
improvements which, in many cases, have been
found to be ruinously improvident; the diversion
to other pursuits of much of the labor that should
have listen applied to agriculture, thereby contd.
buting to the expenditure of large cams in the
importation of grain from Europe—an exiiendi
ture which *Mounting in . 1834 to shout tiM•000
UVOLe..'Bo,4lloi t
, ••7 . , • o ~•1, .....);.$
was, in. the fi rst two galactose_
__cif this ~ • ;t .
increased to more than 112,0011,0001114 1 ,i i . t;•4,- ,
without enumerating other . htitaintie'rein I. :,..., ;
rapid growth among ell classes, andd • ... ' i.;
.:; •
our crest Cdfnmercial towns. of luxuriolkia7.; ;1• '4-'
founded too otten be fancied weallb,ann dein' ,''. • •.',-
tal alike to the industrY; gie - tesiciordei;, f ' i , 1 1 .5, , "
morals of our people. ,' ,
.' .• *7- - .g•N't •.."..,, n
It was so impossible that sillik a itittli'ef
li i ii
could long continne,that the p - frect,iirt, • 4...,q
was present to the minds of ixentitieretiVT:::
fore it actuelly came. Mino t hoarsest!, kimitsii.
reedy anticipated its severity. A etmOisMailiC :f:: .
circumstances inadequate of th nntens - eintailiiit ifi'''" ;j•
innur d
duce such wide spread end cala '7•:,-.=•
meets, tended so greatly to aggravate thalkbliftli;f 4 .,
they cannot be . overlooked in corisiderlig,ithelcV•l
history. Among these may.be -ntintliatetn: failo7.
most prominent...he great kiss ofealtitatistiettlite -;,,
by our commercial empotium .in 311 , 11101 Or Po6!tii - ,':
1835—a loss, the effucts of which • were undht it.'..
led at the lime, because postponed fora sintsion.ll# - ;' , ,f,','
the great facilities of credit then exigible .tIinALW , . - „'
turbing effects, in our commercial Ifids";.,c
transfers of the public moneys tatinkeid ,by.` he , :' , 3,'
deposit° law of June, - 1836; and therneastri/ea:::a::
dopted by the foreign creditors of our merchants - '-'
to reduce their debts, and to withdtaw.frettiltbff:'' -.
U. States a large portion of our specie. ' ' '''.:.;;-. • '
However unwilling any of our tiltheinis ntay.:, ~
heretofore have been le assign to these eadieillitC, -,
chief instrumentality in preducing the priteetil: - ,
state of things, the developments substeqoanny
made, and the actual condition of, other nommer.
Mal countries, must, as it seems to me,74lititad ail; ! ' . ..
remaining doubts upon the subject:: It has 0644 •i.' .
appeared that evils, similar to those suffered by ~., •
ourselvos,have been expetiencsdinGreat Britabitil:: 7
on the conunentand. indeed i throtightnit the coin= s :;;• ..
marmot world: and that in other'countriesote tablE - .',
as in our own, they hive been uniforinly preceded':' •,,,
by an undue enlargement of the boundaried*
trade, prompted, as with us, by unprecederiteo l lS;' , .'
pensions of the sistems of credit.. A , rofitionostl*,...~'
the - amount of banking capiti.l.- and tbe iisiiiitalif. •",‘7. -
paper credits put, in circulation in Oreat,"Britailii:, '
by banks, and in other ways, during the years' ~....,
1834, 1835 and 1836 ( will show an augmentutiort
~.•';
of the paper currency there, as much disprepor s „ ~
tioned to the real wants of trade as in the U.Bteloinr-.-.:
With this redundancy of the paper curieney;lliere . 4 . -, -
arose in that country altos spirit of adventurous sitics....:?.
~
ulation, embracing the whole range of human eater..., 1-
prise. Aid WWI profusely gives:fie projected impro v e.;;:. '
meets; large investments were made in 'Waist 'NAO .
and loans; credits for goods were granted with rui. -.• .
bounded liberality to merchants in foreign! stonoteleal
and all the means of acquiring and employ's:lr eastillit `...•,,
were pot in active operation, and extended their;
.-,
effects to every department of bovines.; and tnete*.. ....
quarter of the globe. The reaction was ItMWI.. Wilt
in its violent:o. to, the extraordinary diameter of ',* so, ..,
events whichloicle , l it; The eontuiremia/ etennut, ~_.• .
city of Great Brintin.were subjected 49, thet:llreaffir ' • '''
difficulties,and their debtors itk this country ettranot
only soddenly deprived of accustomed and.expeetint ' .', .
credits, but called upon for payments.whlsh b irithatts'
teal posture of things here,coold only Wrestle ihnoighq . ~-, •,
&general pressure,and at the:Most rulootd(*sactirifiese.',„.. -
In view of these facts,it would seem iniptissitilefor, ° • -
sincere inquirers after truth to resist the toircietian,..7.'-`,
that the causes of the revulsion in both qopqritir haire,7. , ;:.
been substantially the same Two noitioas; , thit'to6lor. , ; J.
commercial in 'the word, enjoying but. recile ll l.,thor , .' :
the highest degree of apparent prosperity, aodwiehiC..
taining with each other the closest relations*wae& --
denly, in a time of profound peace, mid 'withosa;
mat national disaster. arrested in their careerslesity.,..
plunged into a state of embarrassment and distresa,..4 . ~.
In both countries we have witnessed,thesameieshia: .; .
daey of pspermoneyand other halides of crodlybe • y .
same spirit of speedationt, the same Partial" — wiesteosi i .'-. :
the same diffienklea and revt*wes; inutatierilfttOtit ii ,. - - 7, - .
ly the Atatite oveirwhettning catastrophe. Theme* . ;
material difference between the results in the two
countries has only been, that.' willies there hit trios .-
occurred an extensive derangentement to the theill'Afj
fairs of the Federal and Cate Govertunents.aoessiesi. '.• •
ed by the suspension of specie payment.bytheliankso...: •
' The history oft hese causes and tffects,in Greet Ifrb. - • ~,
tale and the U. States, is substantially thehirtef.
the revulsion in all other commercial eounifiee. itt
presen t & visible effects of these circurnstances on nisi ' . . '
operations of the Government& on the industry ofthe • :
people, point oat the objects which call for your litt; , '.;„•,-
mediate attention. ' ... . • , '..- . • -;• -..'.
They are—to regulate by law the safe kiijklnie r , , :',
transfer and disbursement of the public isorieyisj, :15 ;
designate the fends to be received and Paid byjits:
Government; to enable the Treasury to meerprompe,..,,,
lye Very demand upon it; to'prescriWthe-ternas be' .
indulgence,and the mode of settlement to be addiotild: ,
as well in collecting from individuals the reventeletbat
has acerued,as in withdrawing it item forawe
tories,ard to devise and adopt such' further mebuiree; •
within the constitutional competency of Vongreally;alr
will be best calculated to revive the enterptieeitinflet.,2,. ;
promote the prosperity of the country..ror the doper. A'l. , ;
ne,transfer & disbursement of the revenue. Kationnll
&State banks have always,withtemPorary &
exceptions,beun heretofore employed: but,thoughad.„. ,
vocates of each system are.still to be found, it , ill
parent that the events of, the last few, nxenha hare;':.' .
greatly augmented the desire, long existing mums':.
the people of the U. Statee,to separate the &saliva. -
rations of the Government from. thole,si
or corporations. Again to create a National Thisll,4
a fiscal agent,would be to disregard the popular wit?.
twice solemnly and unequivocally expressed. Ostia°
question of domestic policy is there stronger evidence:.
that the sentiments of abuse majority are deliberate.-
ly fixed; and I cannot concur with those whaAbitilr.
they see,in recent events, • proof that - these Hatt:
meats are,or a reason that they should be. shallot.;
Events similar in their , origin and char.
acter have heretofore frequently occur, ,
.
without producing any such change; atid the.
_ .
lessons of experience must be forgotten' tf,
we suppose that the preeent overtkrovii . iftf'
credit would have been prevented by the ex•
istence of a national bank. Proneness to
excessive issues hwi ever been the vice :of :
the banking system—a vice as promickept iA
national as in State institutions. Tb:s pro !
pensity is as subservient to the advancement
of private interests in the one as
er; and those who direct them both, beinij
principally guided by the same , views nti
•
influenced by the same motives, wil l be
equally ready to stimulate - extravagance of
enterprise, by improvidence of credit. . `- Bow
strikingly is the conclusion sustained by es• ,
perionce l The Bank of theNnited States,
with the vast powers conferred on
Congress, did not, or could not, pievent for
mer and similar embarrassments; por hits
the still greater strength , it bay been said to
possess under its present charter enabled it.
in the existing emergency, to ebeCk other
institutions, or even to bare itself. in Greet
Britain, where, it has been seen, the ears .
-causes have been attended with the ion*
effects, a national bank, pusasstng powers,far greater than are asked for by the weitp".
est advocates of such an itunitistiott hem,
has also proved unable to Prelim* dd 0040
expansion of credit;and the evils that"
from it. . • - • J . :
Nor can 1 4ntl any telitt*grehlid (Otto
re•eotablieliment of a natiorladisulk film - .
derangement alleged at - irlitiiit s te i
the demeatic exchanges of the • •t - • •
• 4
in the facilities it maybe eepttliole • •
ingthem..-Althoughtelvantsmak i r .
were antitOuxt when the filet
United States was ontamil,,l* . ity . ;
garded as an •
one which this Peden' r - 14
bound. or could be cal lid op=
ill