for all the United States of America. He assigned to this bank a capital of four hundred thousand dollars, divided in shares of four hundred dollars each, in money of gold or silver, to be procured by means of subscriptions; by the same means this capital might be increased, when expedient, and according to certain restrictions. Twelve directors were to manage the bank; it was recognised by Congress under the name of the president, directors and company of the bank of North America. All its operations were to be subject to the inspection of the treasurer. Such were the bases and principal features of this establishment. The utility to be derived from it was, that the bills of the bank, payable on demand, should be declared legal money for the payment of all excises and taxes in each of the United States, and receivable into the chests of the public treasury as gold or silver. The Congress adopted this plan by a special Subscribers presented themselves in throng, and all the shares were soon taken. The States realised an extraordinary benefit from this institution. The treasurer, by means of exchequer notes, was enabled to anticipate the produce of imposts and taxes. Not content with having brought, by means of the bank, the capitals and credit of the stockholders to the support of public credit, he was disposed to operate the same effect in his own name, and with his private credit. He accordingly threw into circulation no small sum of obligations signed by himself, and payable at different terms out of foreign subsidies, or even out of the revenues of the United States. And although with time these obligations had amounted to upwards of five hundred and eighty-one thousand dollars, they still never depreciated, excepting, perhaps, a little towards the end of the war; so great was the confidence of the public in the good faith and punctuality of the treasurer. Thus, at that very epoch in which the credit of the state was almost entirely annihilated, and its bills nearly without value, that of a single individual was stable and universal. It is impossible to overrate the advantages which resulted to the government from having, in these obligations of the treasurer, the means of anticipating the produce of taxes, at a time when such anticipation was not only necessary, but indispensable. By this aid it was enabled to provide for the wants of the army, no longer by way of requisitions, but by regular contracts. This new mode had the most happy effects; it produced economy in purchases, exactness in supplies, and a cordial satisfaction among the people, who had always manifested an extreme disgust at the compulsory requisitions. It cannot be advanced, assuredly, that this anticipated employment of the produce of taxes is an example to be imitated; nor even can it be denied, on the contrary, that it has dangers. But Robert Morris had the faculty of using this resource with so much discretion, and of introducing so admirable an order and economy into all parts of the public expense, that no manner of inconvenience resulted from it.

But a foundation was necessary to all these new dispositions of the treasurer; and this foundation consisted in taxes. The Congress therefore decreed that the states should be required to furnish the treasury, by way of assessments, with the sum of eight millions of dollars; and at the same time determined what should be, in this sum, the contingent of each state. Such was the urgency of the affairs of the republic, and the confidence that all had placed in the treasurer, that the states conformed willingly to this new decree of Congress; and thus an efficacious remedy was at length applied to the penury of the treasury. The solicitude of Robert Morris for the prosperity of the state did not end here.

The province of Pennsylvania, as a country abounding in wheat, was that from which was drawn the greater part of the supplies of flour for the use of the army. The want of money had occasioned, towards the beginning of the year, an extreme slowness in the delivery of these supplies. But Morris was no sooner in place, than he employed his private credit in the purchase of flour for the soldiers. He afterwards undertook, with the approbation of government, to furnish the requisitions for similar supplies that might be made upon Pennsylvania during the present year, on condition, however, of being authorised to reimburse himself from the produce of the apportioned contribution of that province. It amounted to upwards of eleven hundred and twenty thousand dollars. In this manner, by the cares of the treasurer, public credit was resuscitated, and the exhausted treasury was sufficiently replenished to meet expenses. To him it was principally owing that the armies of America did not disband; and that the Congress, instead of yielding to an inevitable necessity, recovered the means not only of sustaining the efforts of the enemy, but even of resuming the offensive with vigor and success. Certainly, the Americans owed, and still owe, as much acknowledgment to the financial operations of Robert Morris, as to the negotiations of Benjamin Franklin, or even to the arms of George Washington.

Before the salutary effect of this new system had braced the tottering state, a sinister event had given room to fear that the present year would prove the last of the republic. The terror it occasioned was the first cause, or at least the most powerful incitement, of the introduction of a better method. At this time, as we have already remarked, the soldiers experienced the most intolerable destitution, not only of all the parts of military equipment, but even of articles the most necessary to life. Their discontent was extreme. A particular motive still aggravated the ill humor of the regular troops of Pennsylvania. They had enlisted for three years, or during all the war. The ambiguity of the terms of their engagement led them to think it had expired with the year 1780. They claimed therefore the right to return to their homes, while the government contended that they were bound to serve till the end of the war. These two causes combined,

so heated all heads, that a violent tumult broke out in the night of the first of January. The mutineers declared that they would march under arms, to the very place where Congress was in session, in order to obtain the redress of their grievances. Their number amounted to near fifteen hundred men. The officers endeavored to quell the insurrection, but it was in vain; and in the riot that ensued, several of the seditious and one officer were killed. General Wayne presented himself, a man by his valor of great authority with the soldiers; he advanced against the mutineers pistol in hand; but he was told to take care what he was about to do, or that even he would be cut to pieces. Already their bayonets were directed against his breast. Immediately after, collecting the artillery, baggage and wagons, which belonged to their division, they put theinselves on the march, in the best order, upon Middlebrook. At night they intrenched themselves with the same caution as if they had been in an enemy's country. They had elected for their chief a certain Williams, a British deserter, and had given him a sort of council of war, composed of all the sergeants of the companies. From Middlebrook they marched upon Princeton, and encamped there. They would not suffer officers among them. The marquis de la Fayette, general St. Clair, and colonel Laurens, who had hastened to Princeton to endeavor to allay the ferment, were constrained to leave the town.

The news of the insurrection reached Philadelphia. The Congress viewed the affair in that serious light which its importance demanded. They immediately despatched commissioners, among whom were generals Reed and Sullivan, to investigate facts and ordain measures calculated to reestablish tranquillity. Arrived in the vicinity of Princeton, they sent to demand of the mutineers what was the motive of their conduct, and what would content them? They answered with arrogance, that they were determined to be put off no longer with empty promises; and their intention was, that all the soldiers who had served three years should have their discharge; that those who should be discharged, and those who should remain in service, should receive immediately the full arrears of their pay, clothing and provisions; and moreover, that they insisted on being paid punctually for the future, without even the delay of twenty-four hours.

General Clinton, who was at New York, being soon informed of this defection in the American army, resolved to leave no means untried that could turn it to advantage. He hastened to despatch to the insurgents, three American loyalists, commissioned to make the following proposals to them in his name; to be taken under the protection of the British government; to have a free pardon for all past offences; to have the pay due to them from Congress faithfully paid, without any expectation of military service in return, although it would be received if voluntarily offered; and the only conditions

required on their side, were to lay down their arms, and return to their allegiance. The inability of Congress to satisfy their just demands, and the severity with which they would be treated if they returned to their former servitude, were points to be strongly urged by the agents; and the insurgents were invited to send persons to Amboy, to meet others who would be appointed by Clinton, in order to discuss and settle the treaty, and bring matters to a final conclusion. But the British general thought proper to do yet more; in order to imbolden the insurgents by his proximity, he passed over to Staten Island with no small part of his troops. He would not however proceed still farther, and venture to set foot in New Jersey, for fear of exciting a general alarm, and throwing the mutineers directly back into the arms of Congress. The insurgents made no positive answer to Clinton; and they detained his emissaries. In the meantime, the committee of Congress and the delegates of the rebels had opened a negotiation; but such was the exasperation of minds on both sides, that it seemed next to impossible that the differences should be settled by an amicable adjustment. They first offered to grant discharges to those who had taken arms indeterminately, for three years, or for the term of the war. In cases where the written engagements could not be produced, the soldiers should be admitted to make oath. They were promised certificates in reimbursement of the sums they had lost by the depreciation of paper money; they were assured of the earliest possible payment of arrears; of the immediate delivery of such articles of clothing as they stood in the most urgent need of; and of a total oblivion with respect to their past conduct. These propositions were not fruitless; the mutineers accepted them, and the disturbance was appeased. They afterwards marched to Trenton, where the promises which had been made them were realised. They delivered into the hands of the commissioners the emissaries of Clinton, who were accordingly hanged without ceremony or delay.

Thus terminated a tumult which had occasioned the most anxious apprehensions to the American government, and inspired the British general with the most flattering hopes. It is true that many excellent soldiers solicited their discharge, and abandoned the army to rejoin their families. Washington, during the mutiny, made no movement whatever. He remained tranquil in his head-quarters at New Windsor, on the banks of the Hudson. His conduct is to be attributed to several motives. He apprehended lest his own soldiers might take part in the insurrection, or lest their inconsiderable number might not be capable of overawing the mutineers. In retiring from the borders of the Hudson, he must have left exposed to the enterprises of the British general those passages which already had been so often contested. His principal fear, however, was that of lessening his authority over the troops, if he exerted it without suc

cess, and it must be admitted that it might have had the most disastrous consequences. Perhaps also, within his own breast, he was not sorry that the Congress as well as the governments of the several states, should have been roused by such a spur; that being struck with the difficulty of collecting the funds necessary to the support of the army, they might for the future redouble activity in that vital part of the public service. A few days after this event, the regular troops of New Jersey, excited by the example of the insurrection of the Pennsylvanians, and encouraged by the success that attended it, erected in like manner the standard of revolt. But Washington marched against them a strong corps of soldiers whose fidelity had been proved in the late sedition; the mutineers were soon brought to a sense of duty; and their ringleaders chastised with exemplary severity. This act of rigor put an end to all mutinies. They were followed at least by this salutary consequence, that the government, more clearsighted with respect to its interests, made useful efforts to remedy the origin of the evil. It sent to camp a sufficient quantity of money, in gold and silver, to discharge the pay of three months. The soldiers, consoled by this relief, resumed patience to wait till the operations of finance, which we have mentioned above, had produced the happy effects that were to be expected from them.

During the time in which the Congress, supported by the opinion of Washington and of the most influential individuals of the confederation, labored to reestablish order in the internal administration, the first source of military successes, the war was carried on with spirit in the provinces of the south. General Greene marched at the head of formidable forces to the deliverance of South Carolina. Lord Cornwallis, considering it as a prey that could not escape him, had left it almost without defence, in order to prosecute his designs against Virginia. After his departure, the command of that province devolved upon lord Rawdon, a young man full of ardor and talents. He had established his head-quarters at Cambden, a place fortified with much diligence. Its garrison, however, was feeble, and, if it sufficed for the defence of the town, it was by no means in a condition to keep the field. The same weakness existed in all the other posts of the province, that were still occupied by the English. As the public sentiment was every where hostile to their domination, they were compelled to divide their troops into a great number of petty detachments in order to maintain themselves in positions necessary to their safety and subsistence. The principal of these points were, the city of Charleston itself, and those of Cambden, Ninety Six, and Augusta.

Upon the first rumor of the retreat of Cornwallis towards Virginia, the Carolinians had conceived hopes of a new order of things. Already, in many places, they had broken out with violence against the British authorities. Sumpter and Marion, both very enterprising