Brighton; and had the whole
of the lots been sold at the price for which many were, previous to the
crash, the original speculators would have realised three million of
dollars. But the infatuation was not confined to the precincts of New
York: every where it existed. Government lands, which could only be
paid for in specie, were eagerly sought after; plans of new towns were
puffed up; drawings made, in which every street was laid down and named;
churches, theatres, hospitals, rail-road communications, canals,
steam-boats in the offing, all appeared on paper as if actually in
existence, when, in fact, the very site was as yet a forest, with not a
log--but within a mile of the pretended city. Lots in these visionary
cities were eagerly purchased, increased daily in value, and afforded a
fine harvest to those who took advantage of the credulity of others.
One man would buy a lot with extensive _water privileges_, and, upon
going to examine it, would find those privileges rather too extensive,
the whole lot being _under water_. Even after the crisis, there was a
man still going about who made a good livelihood by setting up his plan
of a city, the lots of which he sold by public auction, on condition of
one dollar being paid down to secure the purchase, if approved of. The
mania had not yet subsided, and many paid down their dollar upon their
purchase of a lot. This was all he required. He went to the next town,
and sold the same lots over and over again.

To check this madness of speculation, was one reason why an act of
Congress was passed, obliging all purchasers of government lands to pay
in specie. Nevertheless, government received nine or ten millions in
specie after the bill passed. Now, when it is considered what a large
portion of the capital drawn from England was applied to these wild
speculations--sums which, when they were required, could not be
realised, as, when the crisis occurred, property thus purchased
immediately fell to about one-tenth of what was paid for it--it will be
clearly seen that, from this unfortunate mania, a great portion of the
present distress must have arisen.

The attempt of General Jackson and his successors, to introduce a specie
currency into a country which exists upon credit, was an act of folly,
and has ended in complete failure. [See note 1.] A few weeks after he
had issued from the Mint a large coinage of gold, there was hardly an
eagle to be seen, and the metal might