nd test his claim,
as against an individual. To this the bondholders have been
invited; but conscious that they have no valid claim, have not
sought their remedy. Relying upon empty (because false)
denunciation, they have made it a point of honor to show what
can be shown by judicial investigation; i. e., that there being
no debt, there has been no default. The crocodile tears which
have been shed over ruined creditors, are on a par with the
baseless denunciations which have been heaped upon the State.
Those bonds were purchased by a bank then tottering to its
fall--purchased in violation of the charter of the bank, or
fraudulently, by concealing the transaction under the name of
an individual, as may best suit those concerned--purchased in
violation of the terms of the law under which the bonds were
issued, and in disregard of the Constitution of Mississippi, of
which the law was an infraction. To sustain the credit of that
rickety bank, the bonds were hypothecated abroad for interest
on loans which could not be met as they became due.

'A smaller amount is due for what are termed Planters' Bank
bonds of Mississippi. These evidences of debt, as well as the
coupons issued to cover accruing interest, are receivable for
State lands; and no one has a right to assume they will not be
provided for otherwise, by or before the date at which the
whole debt becomes due.

'JEFFERSON DAVIS.'

To this letter the London _Times_, in its money article, of the 13th
July, 1849, replied as follows:

'The case of Mississippi stands thus: In 1838 the State issued
bonds for five millions of dollars, to establish the Union
Bank. These bonds were dated June, 1838, bearing five per cent.
interest from date, and it was stipulated with the bank that
they should not be sold under their par value. On the 18th
August following, the bank sold all these bonds to the United
States Bank for five millions of dollars, payable in five equal
instalments in November, January, March, May, and July, but
without interest. The money was punctually paid to the
Mississippi Bank, and the Legislature of Mississippi, on the
terms of the sale being communicated to them, resolved, _'That
the sale of the bonds was highly advantageous to the State, and