tried to express to her the feelings his lips had not life to utter. The prelate then pointing towards Heaven, he raised his eyes in answer to the thought. At eight minutes past five he expired without a struggle, in the same chamber which the triumphant Napoleon had occupied, in the same place where, for the last time dictating peace as a conqueror, he slept amid all the illusions of victory, promising himself a glorious marriage and the eternity of his dynasty. It was the twenty-second July the anniversary of the act which had given to the Duke of Reichstadt his last name and title, the anniversary of the day on which the Prince learnt at Schoenbrunn the death of Napoleon.

On the coffin was the following inscription:

"To the memory of Joseph François Charles, Duke of Reichstadt, son of Napoleon, Emperor of the French, and of the Archduchess Maria Louisa of Austria, born at Paris, twentieth March, 1812, saluted in his cradle by the title of King of Rome. In the flower of his youth, and endowed with every fine quality of mind and body, of an imposing stature, noble and agreeable features, elegant in his language, remarkable for his military information and aptitude, he was attacked with a phthisis and died in the Emperor's castle at Schoenbrunn near Vienna, the twenty-second July, 1832. "

Unfortunate Prince, when in agony you slowly approached the tomb, you exclaimed, "so young alas! must I end a useless and obscure life? My birth and my death-they are my history." Ah! your life did not close without fame, though deprived of the perilous honors of power, the terrible brilliancy of battles, without great events, but not great qualities. Your existence furnishes, by its contrast with the prodigious life of your father, one of the most eloquent pages of history, perhaps the most worthy of our meditations. That being is not extinguished without glory which learns how to conquer the love and regrets of the Imperial family, and of a people whom the author of your being crushed under the power of his victories. The lamentations of the people of Vienna escorting to the tomb of the Czars the coffin of the son of Napoleon, is a noble funeral oration. The tears shed at your funeral are preferable to those drawn by victory: for victory draws more than tears.

If, to give the world one of its sublimest lessons, heaven chose that your premature end should be the termination of a great sacrifice, at least it took care to adorn the victim with such high qualities and precious gifts, as rendered him worthy of the oblation, and consecrated him forever in the memory of mankind.

AMONG the phrases which within a year or two past have been resounded through the community by partizan zeal, for the purpose of disturbing the reflection and judgment of our fellow-citizens, none perhaps has been the subject of so much senseless declamation as that at the head of the present article. If reliance is to be placed upon the evidence furnished by newspaper paragraphs, dinner orations, and Congress speeches, "the Credit System," is the veritable horn of plenty from which all the bounties bestowed upon our favored land have been poured forth. The extent and fertility of our territory-the variety and value of its staple productions-the indomitable energy of our citizens and the habits of industry and thrift so widely diffused among them-the security furnished by our system of self-government against improper restraints upon individual enterprise-and the protection for the acquisitions of diligence and economy, guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States in its golden provision that nothing but a sound and equal currency shall ever be made a legal tender for the payment of debts-these are all nothing compared with the CREDIT SYSTEM in promoting the prosperity of the country.

The phrase in question denotes something wholly distinct from that mutual confidence and good faith among men, which are the most essential elements of the prosperity and happiness of all communities. These fundamentals of well ordered society require to be preserved equally from violent outrage and fraudulent cupidity. The principal object for surrendering a portion of our natural liberty, and submitting to the restraints of any form of Government, is to afford this protection by placing every individual, however different with regard to strength, cunning, talent, and wealth, equally under the broad œgis of the law.

But is the artificial policy, dignified with the name of the “Credit

*The credit system of France, Great Britain, and the United States. By H. C. Carey, author of the Principles of Political Economy. Philadelphia. 1838.

System" as organized in England, and for which such omnipotent control over the right and privileges of every class of citizens has been claimed in this country, intended to promote this security? Not at all. On the other hand, its direct tendency is to subvert that equality of rights which is the foundation of our forms of Government to sacrifice the physical comfort and the moral welfare of the many, upon the altar of Mammon for the advantage of the few-to bestow inordinate power upon the mere shadow of wealth at the expense of permanent general prosperity-to invest combinations of irresponsible individuals with the monopoly of an artificial measure of value, by which arbitrary control over the subsistence of all other classes is conferred upon them, and they are enabled to modify, pervert, and break down, with impunity, all laws which interfere with their cupidity. By means of secret and concerted arrangements, these soulless combinations are able to practice acts of injustice, vitally affecting the most important interests of those who are unable to resist their power, which no individual could venture to perpetrate without becoming obnoxious to the penal laws. Hence the manifold advantages of capital loaned upon credit for the encouragement of industry and enterprise, are diminished by the increase of risk. Confounding two things wholly distinct in their effects upon the community-the loan of mere credit and the loan of actual capital-the modern "Credit System," has deeply impaired integrity and good faith, and nearly destroyed mercantile stability.

The publication which has more immediately drawn our attention to this subject at the present time, is obviously a piece justicatif to the famous letter of Mr. Nicholas Biddle, addressed through the public newspapers to Ex-President Adams, on the fifth of April last. That notable document spoke for itself in terms so explicit as to require neither comment nor explanation. All the discreet supporters of the Bank of the United States in every section of the Union were struck with dismay at its promulgation-while the people at large, rejoiced that the Corypheus of the "Credit System" in this country, had cast aside the tricks, pretences, and newspaper puffery, under which its management had been previously veiled, and presented its policy holdly before the world as an antagonist power to the principles of Government, established by the Constitution of the United States. Every feeling of indignation which the insolence of the language was calculated to excite, was smothered by the ludicrous spectacle presented by an aspiring clerk employed by a few capitalists abroad, and speculators at home, strutting forth from behind his desk with his pen behind his ear, and dictating to the Legislature of the State of New York, and to the people of the Union at large, in such a pompous style of military grandiloquence. No great period of time had elapsed, before it was discovered, that this flourish of belligerent phrases, concluding with

the delicate parallel between the position of Mr. Biddle himself— posted in his broker's office contriving schemes politically subversive of the best interests of the community, in order to bring profit to his employers, and odium on the Government,-and that of the patriot Jackson before New Orleans fighting the embattled enemies of his country-was a sad blunder. His doctrines on the currency were found also, on examination by some of his friends, to be so much at variance with all honesty and fair dealing, as to threaten more injury to the "Credit System" than the most powerful attack upon it from whatever quarter. Under these circumstances the publication in question was made by Mr. Carey for the evident purpose of justifying and expounding the leading views of this unfortunate letter. By whom its principal materials were furnished, or under whose direction they were strung together, cannot concern the public in the slightest degree. In offering to the consideration of our readers some general views upon the "Credit System" we do not propose to follow the details of Mr. Carey's book. The character of his facts, a great portion of which appear to have been made to order, will be seen by the samples we shall furnish in the sequel.

The credit system of England, of which our own is an humble attempt at imitation, is regarded by many as the most beneficial invention of modern times. The unalloyed advantages derived from its operation in the extent of her commerce and manufactures, and the vast wealth of many of her great proprietors and capitalists, are continually held forth to our admiration. Many active and influential individuals, from views that are not difficult of comprehension, are constantly insisting before the American people, that the highest welfare of the community at large will be promoted, by extending this system greatly beyond the principles which have been adopted by England. This sentiment appears to be the staple of the publication in question, as well as of the document to which it is evidently a subsidiary.

Like most imitators, these advocates of the English system seem to be more deeply enamoured with faults and defects, become incurable by the course of events, than with any of its real advantages. Because England during the long and bloody wars of the French revolution, legalized the suspension of specie payments, this country according to these high authorities, ought to have pursued the same course in a period of profound peace and universal commercial intercourse, for the purpose of enabling a few gamblers on a large scale, to realize their unrighteous profits-and after the suspension had been effected, to continue it longer than otherwise would have been done, by their profligate management. Contracts which had been entered into under the faith and confidence that they would be fairly liquidated, were discharged by a depreciated medium, worth in the market from one-tenth to one-fourth part of the currency

in view of which they had been made, by which all calculation, foresight, and economy, on the part of the community at large, were frustrated through the overpowering influence of the banks. The plentifulness of paper currency, and the facility of obtaining accommodations had led to vast numbers of improvident engagements. A sudden contraction of issues rendered it impossible to fulfil them. The misfortunes and consequent distress of thousands upon thousands of meritorious individuals, whose property and means of livelihood, had been suddenly swept away by these flagitious expansions and contractions of the currency, issued and controlled by the banks, were flippantly ascribed to the hostility of the Government! The results of the experiment of the English government upon the prosperity of her people, were of course, kept out of view. What they were, one of her most enlightened and distinguished statesmen, has informed us. In 1828, Mr. Huskisson stated in the House of Commons in the debate on the national debt bill, that "the bank restriction of 1797, which had continued for a quarter of a century, had produced more calamitous consequences-more confusion-more moral and political evils, than any other measure Parliament had ever sanctioned." In this opinion, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, of that time, Mr. Goulborn, who entertained different views from those of Mr. Huskisson on most questions of general policy, immediately expressed his entire concurrence. That they were both abundantly justified by the state of things actually produced by this favorite feature of the "Credit System," will be shown in the proper place.

As to the wealth and prosperity which this system is represented to have poured forth upon the English nation-the fact, that its operation has concentrated the whole property in the kingdom into a few hands, while the mass of the population have been gradually reduced to a condition of poverty and dependence, is wholly overlooked. But as a matter of example to the free, prosperous, and independent citizens of the United States, this is by far the most important consequence of the "Credit System." That such has been the effect of its operation, we have only to refer our readers to a work of the highest authority-MARSHALL'S STATISTICS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE. Among the exhibits contained in the seventh volume, may be found a statement, which elucidates this point more conclusively than could be done by any quantity of argumentative deduction. By a careful analysis of the latest population returns, it is shown that all the inhabitants of the three kingdoms amounting to twenty-four million three hundred and six thousand seven hundred and nineteen, are devoted to a condition of laborious and unremitting exertion for their subsistence, excepting two hundred and seventy-five thousand two hundred and four individuals belonging to the higher classes-consisting of nobility, capitalists, bank