, 1841-04-24

{ Whether there be such a law Of nature
l or necessity, or not, certain 1t is that | nov
; began to experience the existence Of soint
!; ause or other by which the equilibrium o
my new Credit System was sadly disturbed
At first | ascribed it to the great numbers O
banks which had grown out OF the system
with capitals "paid in, or secured TO be pail
, in a similar manner to ours; and the oper..
ton Of the old saving that "too much pud
ding will choke a dog. This however "a
SO contrary to my first principle, -ar,
hat i, WIS u..eriy impossible TO have toe
much of a good thing, and Of course an ex.
cess of credit and paper money. that dis.
carded it with contemptuous indignation.-
At length | hit the mai! on the mead. ! dis
covered the origin Of all the dangers Which
now began TO threaten my system in two
great sources, namely, the "Specie Circular
and the Specie Humbug." These two hmm
bugs plagued me exceedingly. The former
interiered with the founding of my cities in
the West, by striking at the root Of my Gre
dit System, which contemplated the entire
extension ofevery thing but promises to pay
instead of payments; and the latter was a
serious obstacle 10 my plan Of causing the
people 10 give up their absurd prejudices in
favor Of silver and gold, by keeping the lat
Ter out of sight until they should actually
forget such things ever existed. | always
considered specie as the great ally of igno-
rance and harharis;n. and was convinced in
M own mind tina, an extensive paper circC-
latinn representing nothing, and which nobo-
dv was obliged 10 redeem. was the sole age y
of refinement and civilization. And here
must do myself the Justice 10 state lhlt the
idea which 4 Great Financier' Of the pres
cnt day has since carried into practice, oi Is
suing The notes of deiunct institutions, upon
the above principle. was suggested by me in
4 confidential conversation.
BE This rs i, NAV, these two miscellaneous
lurnhnrs caused a sudden revolution in the
fuot.tide of nv affairs. The underheaded
people. | mean the bi--pawed farmer, and
the hard-iandcd mechanics and l,borers,
began oncr more IL recall to mind those de-
n"raIizin. substitutes for papermoney, silver
and gold. which are well dennlnina;ad IN -"
Scriptures the root of all evil. Certain mis-
chicvouS fellows. out of revenge for being
disappointed in g.,ting discounts NJ my bank.
began 10 write ESSAYS IN some OF the news
papers whose editors were in Il similar pre-
dlcsincn;, full of The most dISOrgaaIzIng prIn-
cipIcs. They mainiaied the enormous heresy
If equal rights; denounced MenopolIes; de-
MED that Il promise was the actual substance
of the thing promised, and CALLED the nbli.a-
ton; and dared Ia ~n>inuate that Il supersiruc-
,ure that had no foundation would be very
likely to fall TO the ground, the first storm.
i, encountered. Nay, they haG the hardI
hood to assert Ina, of nothing, nothing could
come, and thus stuck at the very hear, ofmy
system. In vain did | marshal my forces,
consisting Of editors Of newspapers whom
| had consolidated by my generosity. and
who repaid me with gratitude; politicians
whom | had linked tody and soul with the
existence of my system. and who lived and
breathed in that alone; and legislators who
had grown out of like toad stools from rotten
wood. In vain did ] set on foot the cry Of
Luco Foco, Fanny Wright. Robert Dale and
Jack Cade; equal vain that | called on the
people vino owed more than they could pay;
the people who sighed to make promises they
could not fulfil, and all those who desired Ia
live by their wits instead OF labor, to come
forth and defend their possessions, their NOR
ais and their religion. All would not do
The stubborn ignorance of the mass of mau-
kind, which prevents them from knowing
when they are well of, or properly dlstin-
gushing betwixed happiness and misery, re-
sisted the eifnrts of reason and virtue, and
it becomes evident that the crisis ofmv great
Credit System was at hand.
1t beloved us, therefore, TO make ready
for the shock; and accordingly proceeded to
prepare ourselves for a rum unon our Bank.
We had only specie enough in our vaults to
pay postage of our letters. and our capital
consisted entirely of the following ileme:
Firstly.-The notes Of hand which repre-
sented the stock Of The bank.
Second y.-Thc stock Of the bank which
represented the notes of hand.
Thirdlv.-The debts due TO the band, to
wit, the notes of the president. directors, and
editors and politicians, we had thought It pru-
dent 10 make friends of, in order 10 resist
the stupid, ignorant hostility of the "big
paws and others. had almost forgot to
mention that somewhat rising one-thIrd more
than the whole amount of the nominal cap.
tal of our bank. was loaned 10 myself and
the Directors, of which ] had by far the lare-
est share, as was but just. seeing had not
only invented the great improvement IN the