The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1807-12-15
AL ~ ob'ervasicns which carried conviction


CUR, to resuscicate morality and Co conquer
vice as ne conquered his enemies. We have
g'ory enough, we must now have morals
Ills majesty, who in his active solcitlGc fer
every thing that intei ests public adrniristra-
ton, awaAes every desire ofrestoration, ap-
pears here in the just i'igor Of the provisions
upon the failures, IN have been ootstripped
by the public Indignation itself; failures -
which, far from being subject of shame for
those who are guilty Of them, are become the
means OF enrich:n6 themselves and OF coc,v
calculating the distress of those who are the
victims of them! two powerful causes have
led II this deplorable state Of things, the o.
versurning occasioned by the revolution and
the impcrfection Of the ancient commerce.
al legislation.
MIR. Segur afterwards took cursorv view
of the system Of the new law; he laid orcn
its morality and the grounds Of its principal
prov sions
The conpilevs had two evil. to dread in
seeking remedy to be applied to the harm
which bankruptcies do to commerce and TO
the whole class of society, excess of intlul-
gence or of severity. If misconduct and i'll
faith occasion criminal bankruptcies unde-
serving OF any excuse, it must also he confcs-
sed that trade has its storms, and the mer-
Chant who is ship-wreckcd is sometimes less
culpable than unfortunate. War, scarcity,
even plenty ITSELF may have frustrated the
wisest combinations he may have been the
victim of fraudulent bankruptcies: The le-
gislature would, therefore, have acted with
too much severity in placing all who fai! up-
on a level. and in considering them ali as
guilty, until the investigation of their affairs
had justified its conduct; thew will therefore
be looked upon neither as guilty nor as innc-
cent; the law places them in this uncertain
moral situation, which leaves to the honest
man the consoling assurance of seeing his pro-
bity placed by the side IF his misfortune,
and to the trader who is disorderly in his bl-
sincss, or of i'll faith in his intcntionss, the
undoubted expectation Of the shame and pu-
nishlnent which he is to undergo. Thus no.
thing will be COMPOUNDED, because public o.
piIlion will distinguish like the law, simple
failures, bankruptcies through misconduct
and fraudulent bankruptcies. In fine, the
man who fails through misfortune, besides
the Testimony or his own conscience and the
interest OF public opinion, will preserve the
hope OF appearing again in the career of
commerce, if he liquidates his debts.
MIR. Ireilhard succeeded Mr. Segur in
stating the grounds for the 9th, 10th, and
18th articles of the book presented.
1t has been too long forgotten, said he, that
the prosperity of commerce can only be rails
ed upon economy, upon order, without which
there can be no economy, and upon good
faith. True credit always depends upon the
opinion which man gives of his good con-
duct and his intelligence. Who are the men
who have acquired great reputation in
trade, and whose signatures, respected to the
very extremities of the. globe, have caused
orders to be executed with a punctuaiity
which even sovereigns could not always pro-
mise themselves Private persons whose
outset was obscure, who by long labours, hap
py conceptions, wise combinations, deep me-
citations upon their profession, and above all
by an uniform modesty and an unalterablc
loyalty, contrived to captivate the confidence
OF all civilized nations?
Far be 1t from US to think that these meri-
torious men are at this day without success
sors; but what do we for the most part see?
Men who bctake themselves to the profession
of commerce with a revolving giddiness, and
display in it greediness incompatible with
dehcacy. The orator thought it more urgent
to rectity public opinion in order to improve
morals, as opulence, however destitute il
might be of merit and honour, was again OBJ
tanning q Consideration which merit destitute
of opulence could not reach.
MIR. Ireilhard could not help rejecting up
on these conjugal unions, wherein the husband
passes an acknowledgment to the wife, of
marriage portion which he never received, as
if he prepared himself beforehand for acuui-
sitions which he might defraud his creditors
of! What, said the orator, were the fruits
of those fraudulent separations, of those feign-
ed acts? Furniture, jewels, plate, every
thing was included in the wife's property, and
at the moment of catastrophe often prcpar-
ed for long time before, the wife with her
fictitious dowry, her matrimonial advantages,
her indemnities for debts which she had not
paid, and her pretended acquisitions, absorb
ed the whole fortune of her husband. The
unfortunate creditors were condemned to pass
their days in privations and in tears, whilst
the wife quietly }enjoyed life in the midst of
luxury and dleness. The rts contributed to
the decoration cf her sumpGous dwelling /;
every taste, every wish was anticipated, and
if she deigncd by chance to grant small pit
lance to any unhappy wretchcs, less through
charity than from an interested vanity, these
pretended acts of humanity were pompously
proclaimed by officious writer's, even in foreign
courts.
Il term must be put to so much immortality.
And when can we hope for more favorable
moment to put an end to what gives us so
mu al scandal, than when the sovereign him
self gives the example Of every social and do
mcstic vireue' Has he not right to expect
that individuals, brought back to the practice
Of the modest virtues and to the hab is of
regular life, will feel the value of simple plea
sures, which are most lasting from their being
pureS