1823.] 
frontiers, then sorely assailed ; and to re- 
lieve the officers of the Pennsylvania line 
from their distress, occasioned by the 
failure of the internal revenae, which 
had been mortgaged for payment of 
interest of certificates granted them for 
military ‘services. It euabied the mer- 
chants to clear the bay, and even the river 
Delaware, of the hostile cruizers (which 
destroyed the little commerce that was 
left, and harassed our internal trade,) by 
-fitting out, among other armed vessels, 
the ship “Hyder Ally,” which, under 
the command of the late gallant Bar- 
ney, in four days after she sailed, 
brought into port the sloop of war 
General Monk, which the British, with 
accurate knowledge of all public move- 
ments, had fitted out at New-York, 
with the particular object of capturing 
her.* By loans from the bank the city 
authorities relieved the pressing wants 
of the capital, which suffered in a va- 
riety of ways from the exhausted state 
of its funds, the necessary consequence 
of the war. But the support of public 
credit, the defence of the state and har- 
bour, and relief of the city funds, were 
not the only results from this happy 
financial expcdient of Mr. Morris. By 
aceominodations to the citizens it pro- 
moted internal improvements, gave a 
spring to trade, and greatly increased the 
* The following statement of the com- 
parative force of the two vessels, was pub- 
lished in a newspaper of the day. 
41. The General Monk carried eighteen 
nine pounders; the Hyder Ally carried 
only four nines and twelve six pounders, 
2. The General Monk carried 150 men; 
the Hyder Ally only 120 men. 
3. The General Monk was completely 
fitted for sea, and was officered and man- 
ned with a crew regularly trained, and 
perfectly disciplined, by long experience, 
in the British navy. Phe Hyder Ally was 
a letter of marque a few days before the 
battle. Most of her officers were young 
men. Her captain brought up in a count- 
ing-house, who had become a sea-oflicer, 
as many of our farmers, lawyers, and doc- 
tors, became generals from necessity and 
patriotism. The crew was picked up the 
week before in the streets of Philadelphia; 
many of them were landsmen, and most of 
them had never been in action before. 
_ 4 The General Monk lost fifty-three 
men in killed and wounded; the Hyder 
Ally lost only eleven. 
Add to these circumstances, that the vic- 
tory, under all these disparities, was ob- 
tained in twenty-five minates ; and it will 
appear to be one of the most honourable 
exploits to the flag of the United States 
that occurred during the war, 
Memoirs of ihe Life of Robert Morris. 
239 
circulating medium by the issue of bills, 
which, being convertible at will into 
gold or silver, were universally received 
as equal thereto, and commanded the 
most unbounded confidence. Hun- 
dreds availed themselves of the security 
afforded by the vaults of the bank to de- 
posit their cash, which, from the impos- 
sibility of investing it, had long been hid 
from the light ; and the constant current 
of deposits in the course of trade, autho- 
rized the directors to increase their bu- 
siness, and the amount of their issues, to 
a most unprecedented extent. The 
consequence of this was a speedy and 
most perceptible change in the state of 
affairs, both public and private. 
In the same year, an additional mark of 
the confidence reposed in the talents and 
integrity of Mr. Morris, was evinced by 
tlie legislature of Pennsylvania, by their 
appointment of him as their agent to 
purchase the supplies demanded of the 
state for the public service. By the na- 
ture of the organization of the general 
government, the annual necessities of 
the public funds, provisions. and other 
supplies were apportioned among the 
several states, and large demands were 
made upon Pennsylvania in 1781. Mr. 
Morris was appointed to furnish them, 
and a particular resolve of congress per- 
mitted him to undertake the trust. 
The supplies were furnished in anticipa- 
ion, before the money was obtained 
from the state treasury: and while he 
thus enabled the state promptly to com~ 
ply with the demands of congress, he 
shows, by his account of the transaction, 
that the plan of his operations was more 
economical than any other, which, under 
the state of thincs at the time, could 
have been adopted. Those only who 
are old enough to recollect the state of 
parties at the time in Pennsylvania, or 
have made themselves acquainted with 
them, can duly appreciate the extent of 
the compliment paid to Mr. Morris by 
his appointment upon the occasion men- 
tioned, Political feuds, arising in part 
from a difference of opinion on the sub- 
ject of the constitution of Pennsylyania 
of 1776, prevailed to a great extent; and 
the conduct of the ruling party, who 
were opposed to any change in that 
feeble instrument, was on many occa- 
sions marked by want of both intelli- 
gence and liberality of sentiment. Mr. 
Morris was considered the head of what 
they chose to term the aristocratic 
party; that is, that portion of men of 
wealth, great public consideration, supe- 
rior education, and liberal ideas, who 
ardently 
