in a temporal point of view, the way of man is not in himself, and that some people even in America, as well as in England, are very poor.

No. VI.

Coming to America an advantage to most people, &c.-Yet amidst the beauties, riches, &c., in the country, the publisher's astonishment at the scarceness of cash!—At a loss to account for this deficiency. Prohibiting one and three dollar bills in the latter part of President Jackson's administration, &c., &c., made an increase of difficulty.

IT has been acknowledged already that coming to America is an advantage to many, inasmuch as hitherto there has been such a vast and extensive field for trade and labor-that working men can better provide for themselves and families-that mechanics can find employment and good wagesmerchants a suitable place for an establishment, and men of wealth can lay out their property to as good, or perhaps to better advantage than in Europe. At least property has been laid out to procure as delightful situations, it is likely, for one half or one quarter of the sum for families to live in, or to accumulate as fast or more so, probably, than in England. And there have been some people, though without title, in America, who (as it appeared to me) were possessed of property to an amount equal to most of our richest noblemen in England. Witness

the Hon. ***** *******, of whose property, according to report, has been estimated at upwards of twenty millions of dollars. Mr. is said to be worth upwards of a million per annum; and Mr.

at whose house I called, whom a tenant of his told me that he had as much land as five hundred farms which would average four hundred acres apiece.

Yet amidst all the beauties and riches seen in America, there was one thing which was a mystery to me—a subject too deep for me to fathom or understand—namely, a scarcity of money. And what made me so sensible of it was, its being repeated successively, as it were, by all kinds of people for three or four years together. To hear people of so much property say they had no money-to hear this frequently declared by citizens, merchants, farmers, and mechanics-to hear it repeated by their wives, hired girls, daughters, tailoresses, dressmakers, and young women working in factories-to hear this so often mentioned by people apparently of the most industrious habits and sober character-some of whom, perhaps, could earn from one to two dollars per day, who could always have work, and, as it seemed, steadily kept at it—and to hear many of these people declare it with every mark of sincerity as religious characters, hundreds of whom, I presume, have told me that they had not a cent in the world— was one of the most mysterious things, as a person from Europe, that I ever knew. In England, as it appeared to me, most people (the poor excepted) had generally some money by them, but in America

even the rich were without it; and amidst people apparently of the first quality, in some parts of the country, who were rich in houses, land, furniture, &c., whose apartments were neatly furnished, papered and carpeted, and which, for beauty, neatness, and grandeur, equalled many of the rich in England, there was no money. I have travelled, I presume, thousands of miles by land and hundreds by water, and hence I speak experimentally of the matter in general, and not contractedly, of particular cases. Nevertheless, I admired the simplicity of a people who, with one voice, so freely acknowledged it, and the contentment they seemed to enjoy without it. I reflected upon the following words, viz: "The love of money is the root of all evil," and doubted whether it could be possessed without loving it, and being more or less corrupted by it; for, by observing the minds and characters of many, I could not but notice that many in America seemed more contented than people in my own country; and hence I concluded that if money could not be possessed without producing haughtiness, covetousness, peevishness, and discontentment, it was a blessing to live without it. It was, however, a trial to me in my circumstances: yet amidst many difficulties, I found the inhabitants in general, whether religious or irreligious, a humane, and many of them, a kind people. When I have travelled a whole day with but little success, and found my body and spirits depressed with weariness, I have been discouraged, and, to my grief, have complained of my fate in travelling among people where

riches and poverty were so blended together; for even when I found persons who wanted to trade with me, this difficulty was in the way. Among such people it very commonly happened that some had six or ten cents instead of a shilling, and others had fifteen or eighteen instead of twenty-five. Yet among these people in the country, I generally found a supply of my bread and water; and nothing scarcely has given me greater satisfaction than the conduct of some Americans who have so kindly ministered to my wants in such circumstances. Hence in reference to some of them, I scruple not to say, "I was a stranger and they took me in."

Whatever was the cause of this deficiency amidst all the business, trade, and labor in America, I never could understand-whether there was too little cash in circulation for the population and business of the country-whether it was a universal ambition to double property, and consequently caused merchants and men of business to withhold all to purchase a double quantity of goods or land for speculation, while they obliged every mechanic and laborer to have so much weekly of their merchandise, or to wait till they could pay them-and whether this principle did not so universally prevail as to cause every mechanic to withhold all to purchase a lot, and another an additional farm, I could not tell.

During the latter part of President Jackson's administration, the United States Bank was shut up. Some time after this period, in York State, one dollar, and, at a later period, three dollar bills were pro

hibited in their circulation; and about the month of May, 1837, all the banks in that state refused to cash any of their notes for twelve months together. This made considerable difficulty for that season; and, truly, when the whole complication of such causes were brought into contact with each other-when the effects of those causes were felt as having demanded specie alone for land in the west; having removed the deposits and shut up the United States Bank-the necessity the merchants were under in such circumstances, to keep all the cash they could get to send to Europe to purchase goods-the destructive fires that had previously happened in New York, &c., &c., so drained the country of cash that it was a difficult thing to find any. This pressure gave rise to the "shin plaster" system; and hence not only corporations issued forth papers of fifty and twenty-five cents each, but manufacturers, butchers, and such people had recourse to the same means, to as small an amount as six, if not three cents each. If people had five dollar bills they could not change them; and if others, on a journey, wanted to put up at a tavern they knew not how to entertain them. They wanted to know whether they had the specie, and if not they wanted not their custom.

An individual was speaking of a person whom a landlord refused something to eat through this difficulty, when he generously interfered and engaged to be accountable for payment; and it was generally acknowledged that America had never seen such a time before. It is true that in consequence of the