On the following morning, agreeably to the preconcerted plan, the commissioner, having been notified, attended at the office of the Morrison, at the appointed hour: and, in the mean time, Messrs. G. and S. having agreed between themselves to raise the amount immediately wanted by the commissioner, little remained to be done. Terms were at once agreed upon—two millions of bonds were deposited in the vaults of the Morrison, and in a few days the commissioner started for the State of ——, with 250,000 dollars in good cash, and highly gratified with his reception and success. How much of the balance the State has ever received, the condition of their treasury will best explain. Certain it is, that the embarrassment, which, in more than one instance, has followed similar transactions, has been severely felt, and will be well remembered by our Western brethren.
A WORD ABOUT THE WEST.
And here—politics aside—a question may well be asked, which every man can answer for himself, so far as opinion goes. Have not the inexperience and inefficiency of some of their agents, and the villainy and irresponsibility of those with whom they have negotiated, contributed more to induce a proposition, in some of the States, to disgrace themselves by repudiating their debts, than any want of a proper sense of honor among the men of the West? If such is admitted to be the fact, it may, in some degree, excuse the rashness of their tempers; but whoever entertains such a proposition, after a moment’s reflection, would sell—not his own birth right—but his country and his kin for a morsel of bread.
THE BUBBLE WELL BLOWN.
To the uninitiated, it will seem a singular circumstance, that a company, without a dollar in their vaults, should undertake to loan two millions; but they forget the maxim, that credit is the life of business. This maxim formerly meant, that a credit, well sustained, gave success to enterprise—but by its misapplication and misuse, it has come to a different signification, viz: that the more one owes, the more he has to sport with; and it was precisely on this principle, that the Morrison Kennel contracted with the commissioner. It was only carrying out, in another shape, the invention of Nicholas—“always to be the borrower, when he appeared to lend.” They had now obtained possession of 2,000,000 of the bonds of the State of ——, by advancing only one eighth part of the amount. On the remainder, they could borrow largely, and they were now prepared to wing aloft a new flight; their gaseous inflation borne upward and onward by the breath of a fame of their own creation; and they were not long in choosing which way they should direct their course.
MYSTERIES LEFT UNEXPLAINED.
Some evil-minded people will perhaps begin to surmise that Nicholas was the master-moving spirit in this matter, and that he was artfully contriving to get his pay of the Morrison at the expense of some one else; perhaps of that nondescript body called the public. Only one thing, however, is certain; he did get his pay but as every story has a sequel, this will be found to have one also. If the Morrison did not lend him the State Bonds to support his own credit abroad, and then rally their own, by negotiating his bonds, appearances and common fame, whose poisoned breath we admit is no standard of truth, were certainly against them. On what principle matters were arranged between them, is not certainly known; but it is now matter of history that a system of issuing bonds, certificates, endorsing and counter endorsing, exchange and re-exchange, was adopted, by which they drew together a large amount of capital, and both became proud examples of the splendid results which a single inventive genius, like Fulton in steam, or Nicholas in finance, may produce. The affection existing between them was equalled only by the rivalry shown by each, in offices of kindness to the other.
CHARITY BEGINNING AT HOME.
The little responsibilities of endorsing or negotiating a million or two of bonds or certificates, were all undertaken and performed as mere offices of love. What if they were moved to such kindness by the promise, or the hope, of a reciprocal support? it but proves the excellence of their hearts, and the nearer approach to that command of the Master, that we “love our enemies,” and it is for such things only that we have reward. Their duty was to protect the commercial interests, of which they each considered themselves as the head; and, therefore, the first rule of propriety, and the first law of nature, imposed upon them the necessity of first taking care of themselves, individually, and their liberality in this respect cannot be too highly commended. They had a facility for raising money that other people had not, and duty required that they should enable their debtors to pay them; and if, in the accommodations necessarily granted for that purpose, the Morrison should lose a few hundred thousands, nobody would ever know how it had been lost. The stockholders, a vagabond race scattered over the face of the earth, whom nobody knows, would have to bear it; and, (aside,) perhaps they could screen themselves, and protect the Morrison, by throwing it all upon Nicholas, should things go wrong. After all, what was such a loss, compared with the importance and public benefit of supporting the commercial interest.
A CURE FOR HYPO.