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up a shout,

"huzza for old rags

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one, as big as a harrow, suspended over your head as a ca- "huzza for Mynheer!" This пору. We will have a tragi-ideot-like roar shall hardly have politi-comi-farcical exhibition.ceased, when Mynheer shall come We will have all our actors dressed forward again, and, flinging down out in paper-doublets and fool's-the old rag and holding out a caps and bells. Some shall dance guinea, shall swear, in a voice of about, crying" old rags for ever, thunder, that the guinea is worth the solid system of finance." all the old rags in the world. Others shall step one foot forward, Wereupon the buffoons shall set and with smiling air and soft ac-up a shout louder than the last cent, assure us that we are merely "down with old rags! huzza for in a transition from a happy state" the guinea! huzza for Mynto one more happy; and this "heer!" Amongst the rest we buffoon shall add, that, in order will have a parcel of Jews, the to make the transit pleasant, we spokesman of whom shall stepought to amuse ourselves with forward and comfort us with fordigging holes and filling them up tune telling. He shall say

again. Then shall come a swag-"Neva mind, neva mind, 'tish gering, hectoring, brass-faced" oney dree per centch; dat ish bully, bellowing out: "Poh!" all; 'tish vera easy ting." Then " 'tis all a lie! It is not night, all the whole band of buffoons "you grumbling villains. It is shall dance and caper, and flock "only a rascally cloud that has about Moses and cheer him and 46 got before the sun. He shall pat him on the back till he is black in the face, and till his big round eyes are ready to bolt out of his head. Then shall come a

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re-appear in a moment and put your eyes out with light." This actor shall be, as it were, an upstart upon the theatre. He long, gaunt, greedy-looking hound shall bolt at once out of the green-of a fellow in top boots, and with Then shall come a Dutch-a negro-driver's whip in his hand; man, who shall swear, as occasion and he, in most solemn accent,and demands, that black is white, and laying his other hand to his breast, that white is black. He shall shall assure us, upon his hobring an old rag in his hand, and nour, that pure humanity induces swear that it is as good as a gui-him to wish that bread may be ява. Then the buffoons shall set dear. This actor shall have at

his elbow a theatrical Satan with fire or his pipe, I have no an amazing tail and horns and hesitation in saying, that there

with a prompter's book in his hands. When the humane advo vocate for dear bread has finished his speech, Old Nick shall set fire and brimstone to his paper doublet; to escape he shall run a mongst the rest; and the whole botheration band shall go off burning and blazing like so many faggots at an auto-da-fe.

To return from this anticipated scene of fun, let me thank you for having well exposed the monstrous folly of measuring the effect of Peel's Bill by the standard of the price of gold. Nothing, surely, was ever equal to this in point of folly. I pointed it out in my second Letter to Mr. PEEL (page 455, Vol. 38. Feb. 17, 1821); but, contempt, joined, perhaps, to a little laziness, prevented me from going into the matter in the 'elaborate manner that you have. Whether Mr. PERRY will still continue to exult in the circumstance, that the Spanish Legislator, may now, without any fear of the Inquisition, take down from his shelf " a "Blackstone or a Ricardo," is more than I can say; but, if the Spanish Legislator do take down the latter from his shelf for any

purpose but that of lighting his

ought to be an Inquisition, or something else, to deprive such an ignoramus of the power of laws.

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Before I come to your second proposition, let me observe, that you are likely never to receive any answer to your first. You received none in the House, except we look for it in that foolish remark of VAN, in which he referred to the distresses of other countries, and asked; particularly as to America, whether Peel's Bill produced the fall of prices there. If you had been informed of the facts, and could have spoken a second time in the debate, how completely you might have closed up his mouth! You had completely proved what I had years before asserted, that our distress. was not produced by a transition from war to peace; because, as you showed, the "prosperity," as it is called, came and visited this country a second time in part of 1817 and 1818; and that was three years after the peace took place. And you showed, by the amount of bank-notes out during this period of second" prosperity," compared with the amount out before it, and after it that the prosperity kept pace with the

State Banks, private Banks, and

bank notes. But, had you known wrote his book about May 1816. the history of the American dis- The Congress, however, in that tresses, what an answer you year, established by law (a fatal would have had for VAN, who law) an infernal National Bank. really seems to understand nothing Out of this sprang other Banks, at all about the affairs of the country over the finances of banks of all sorts, to such an exwhich he has been chosen to pre-tent, that, in Kentucky, the Leside. gislature passed no less than forty Now, Sir, the fact is, that all Bank Charter Bills in one week in was high-flying prosperity in the year 1817! Need I say, that America,notwithstanding war and prosperity" came back again?

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That it revisited the American States as it did England, at that time? All was flourishing; but, how long did the flourish last? Curious coincidence! Until the '

kept on getting more and more scarce till I left the country, in November, 1819, hastening home to participate in the blessings of P.el's Bill, which was passed by the Six Acts parliament in the preceding month of July; and, I

invasion until the peace, the news of which reached that country in February 1815. I beg you to mark the epochs. Flour was, in some cases, so high as 12 dollars a barrel. The peace, the "sud-winter of 1819! Then money "den transition," brought down became a little less plenty; and it flour to about 6 dollars a barrel. But, was it the peace? No, it was certain acts of the Congress for collecting the duties in specie. This made the banks draw in their paper; and the merchants, and even farmers, tumbled about like rotten sheep! Mr. MATHEW find, that the "distress," as it CAREY, of Philadelphia, published has been called there too, has a little work on the subject, a co-been increasing ever since. And py of which he sent me to Eng-what was the cause of this second land. It was lost, or sold, at distress? Precisely the same as Botley after my departure in 1817; and, I am sorry I have it not; for the picture he drew of the distess was so precisely suited to our present state, that it would be valuable at this time. He

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that of the former distress, a large contraction of the paper-money. Two hundred banks, or thereabouts, broke between October 1818 and October 1819. The general government received its

custom duties in specie, or in bills | tioned to the extent of the comof its own bank; and the circula-mercial transactions carried on tion became contracted. This between the two countries; and, was the cause, and the cause still I believe, that it is very well remains at work, and will, I ope, known, that of the commercial remain, until the American people transactions of America nearly rid themselves of that degrading two-thirds of the whole are with curse, a public debt. England! There VAN; pretty So that VANNY might have smiling VAN; you see there is been met and put down upon his something in the world that reown ground. The good of it is,quires knowledge besides those too, that the price of gold and Scotch herrings of which you were silver remained the same during once a Commissioner!

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the whole of these several periods; Yes, VAN, and in both these and there was no law to authorize a cases of American distress" a refusal to pay in specie. Any man part, at least, of the cause was, might, at any time, during the " English acts of parliament." whole of these years, refuse to take It ought to be known to a Chanpayment in notes of any sort. cellor of the Exchequer in EngWhat, then, becomes of Mr. Ri-land, that much of the means of cardo's doctrine? VAN appears giving credit and of putting forth to have put on a smile, when he bank notes in America is derived said, can the distress in Ame-from credit obtained there from "rica have been occasioned by merchants here. Now,can the mer"an English act of parliament." chant, who has a capital of 100,000 Yes, VAN, notwithstanding that pounds, and who is in the habit sweet self-complacent smile of of having 30,000 of it in Ameyours. Yes, VAN; and, be it rica, let that 30,000 remain there, known to the English Chancellor if, by an English act of parliaof the Exchequer, that, as the ment, his capital be reduced to currency in London cannot be 50,000? Oh, no, VAN: a mercontracted without producing a chant cannot work by hocus-poproportionate contraction at Li-cus, nor can you, if you really verpool, the currency of this king-give us payments in gold. There dom cannot be contracted without was a merchant at New York who producing a contraction of the had two banks, one in town and currency in America, propor-one in the country. His means

consisted of his credit in London. | lations! How are they to forgive That was curtailed in the spring you for repeating to their faces, of 1819; and, in the August after, to their very blocks, the substance his notes were at a discount of 50 of my Registers, on this subject, per cent! for three years past! However, we are in a state of things, which makes a man like you an object of fear to ignorance in power. The great blazer, PITT, had the

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Thus it is, Sir, to have to do with self-complacent ignorance! One must, in a dispute with it, lose one's temper or give up one's good manners. It is impossible, first skimming of the nation's rewithout self-abasement, to treat sources. Addington and Perit with respect; and yet it is be- ceval skimmed the pan pretty neath one to be seriously angry clean. The present gentry are with it. Talk of banishment as got to skim-milk. It is nearly long as they please, there is no sky-blue. And, therefore, they punishment equal to that of be- will be more tame, and are more ing compelled to chop such blocks tame, than any of their predeces→ with a razor! And yet, "God sors, with regard to those who "forbid" (to use the words of have the courage to contradict Judge Best) that the affair should them. The whole nation is be(as yet) be taken out of the hands ginning to recognize the truth of of VAN! my doctrines; and those doc

Thus, and no farther, however,

You are a staunch "ministe- trines, as far as they relate to “rial man,” as people call it. the effects of cash-payments, I You hate us reformers. You have, at last, in your excellent wish for the thing to exist. You speech, heard openly and ably will, I dare say, support even maintained in the Honourable VAN against the reformers. But, House itself. the true men will never forgive you for this act of rebellion. do I agree with you. Your two They will look upon you as a last propositions I dissent from. self-hunting dog; and they will The third Thave already dismissed, never suffer you to feed with the ahd, with regard to the second, I pack. But, how are they to for-am now going to endeavour to give your taunts! Your remind-convince you of your error. ing them of their ignorant say- Your second proposition is, ings; their wild, their mad calcu-that the Labouring Class suffers

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