1823.] 
army had dyiven congress and the com- 
mander-in-chief almost to desperation, 
and a part of the troops to mutiny ; be 
supplied thearmy with four or five thou- 
sand barrels. of flour, :upon his private 
eredit; and, on.a promise to that effect, 
persuaded a member to withdraw an in- 
tended motion to sanction a procedure 
which, although common in Europe, 
would have had a very injurious efiect 
upon the cause of the country: this 
was to authorise General Washington to 
seize all the provisions that could be 
found within a circle of twenty miles of 
his camp.* While U. S. financier, his 
notes constituted, for large transactions, 
part of the circulating medium. Many 
other similar instances occurred of this 
patriotic interposition cf his own personal 
responsibility for supplies, which could 
not otherwise have been obtained. 
In the first year in which he served as 
a representative in congress, he signed 
the memorable parchment containing the 
Declaration that for ever separated us 
from England; and thus pledged himself 
to join heart.and hand with the destinies 
of his country, while some of -his col- 
leagues, who possessed less firmness, 
drew back and retired from the contest. 
He was thrice successively elected to 
congress, in 1776, 77, and 78. 
The exertion of his talents in the pub- 
lic councils, the use of his credit in pro- 
curing supplies at home, of bis personal 
labour as special agent, or congres- 
sional committee-man, and of those in 
his pay, in procuring others from abroad, 
were not the only means employed by 
him in aiding the cause in which be bad 
embarked. The free and public expres- 
‘sion of his seniimenis upon all occa- 
sions, in the almost daily and nightly 
meetings of tie zealous; in the inter- 
change of friendly intercourse with his 
fellow-cilizens, and the confident tone of 
ullimate success which he supported, 
served (o rouse the desponding, to fix 
the wavering, and confirm the brave. 
Besides, the extensive commercial and 
private correspondence which he main- 
tained with England, furnished bim with 
early intelligence of all the public mea- 
sures resolved on by the British govern- 
ment, the debates in parliament, and 
with much private information of im- 
portance to this country. ‘These letters 
he read to a few select mercantile 
friends, who regularly met in the insu- 
rance rvom at the Merchants’ Coflce- 
* Debates on the renewal of tle cliarter 
of the Bank of North America, p. 47. 
Philadelphia, 1786, 
Memoirs of the Life of Robert Morris. 
. house, and through them the intelligence. 
235 
they contained was diffused among the 
citizens, and thus kept alive the spirit of 
opposition, made them acquainted with 
the gradual progress of hostile; move- 
ments, and convinced them how little 
was to be expected from the govern- 
ment in respect io the alleviation of the 
oppression and hardships against which 
the colonies had for a long time most 
humbly, earmestly, and eloquently re- 
monstrated. ‘This practice, which be- 
gan previously to the suspension of the 
intercourse between the two countries, 
he continued during the war: and 
through the medium of friends on the 
continent, especiaily in France and Hol- 
land, he received for a time the des- 
patches which had formerly come direct 
from England. 
The increasing and clamorous wants 
of the army, particularly for provisions, 
and the alarming Jetter written by the 
commander-in-chief to congress on the 
subject, on being communicated to Mr. 
Morris, induced him to propose to raise 
an immediate fund to purchase supplies, 
by the formation of a paper-money bank; 
and, to establish confidence in it with the 
public, he also proposed a subscription 
among the citizens in the form of bonds, 
obliging them to pay, if it should be- 
come necessary, in gold and silver, the 
amounts annexed to their names, to 
fulfil. the engagements of the bank. Mr. 
Morris headed the list with a subscrip- 
tion of 10,0001.; otbers followed, to the 
amount of 300,0001. The directors 
were authorised to borrow money on 
the credit of the bank, and to grant spe- 
cial notes, bearing interest at six per 
cent. The credit thus given to the bank 
effected the object intended, and the in- 
stitution was continued until tbe Bank 
of North America went into operation in 
the succeeding year.* It was probably 
on this occasion that he purchased the 
four or five thousand barrels of flour 
above mentioned, on his own credit, for 
the army, before the funds could be col- 
lected to pay for it.F 
On the occasion of the important, and, 
as regarded the fate of the Union, the 
decisive measure of the altack on Corn 
_ * Of ninety-six subscribers who gave 
their bonds, six only ave alive, viz, Charles 
Thompson, Richard Peters, ‘Thomas 
Leiper, Wm. Hall, John Donaldson, and 
John Mease, For the original list, and 
account of the bank, see the Pennsylvania 
Packet for June 1781. 
+ Debates on the Bank of North Ame- 
rica, p. 47, 
wallis, 
