then request the favor of you to replace it, especially as his situation places him more immediately under your care than mine. All that I can therefore do with propriety is to make you acquainted with his case. He has served his country zealously, and has a right to her care; gratitude as well as policy dictates it.

I fear too little attention has in general been paid to our captive seamen. I often hear of many entering into the enemy's service for want of bread, and for ill treatment not retaliated; even those, who have had the good fortune and address to escape, are frequently obliged, in seeking opportunities to return home, to wander about from place to place, friendless, penniless, ignorant of the language of the strangers through whose land they pass, making known their wants only by the voice of distress, and subsisting on the wretched husks cast to them by the frugal hand of charity. Nor is this all; although their misfortunes, on finding American vessels bound home, ought to recommend them to their brethren, yet it too often happens that masters of American vessels inhumanly refuse (unless paid passage money) to carry home these unfortunate people, though offering to do duty without wages as sailors during the voyage. I am, dear Sir, with sincere esteem and regard, &c.

JOHN JAY.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Passy, 11 July, 1781.

SIR, The number of Congress bills that have been drawn on the ministers in Spain and Holland, which I am by my acceptances obliged to pay, as well as those drawn upon myself, the extreme importance of sup

porting the credit of Congress, which would be disgraced in a political, as well as a pecuniary light, through all the courts of Europe, if those bills should go back protested, and the unexpected delays arising with regard to the intended loan in Holland, all those considerations have compelled me to stop the one million five hundred thousand livres, which were to have been sent by way of Amsterdam. As soon as more money can be furnished to me by this court, I shall take care to replace that sum, and forward with it as great an addition as possible. I am now soliciting supplies of clothing, arms, ammunition, &c., to replace what has been unfortunately lost in the Marquis de Lafayette; and hope to succeed.

Captain Jackson, who is truly zealous for the service, has been exceedingly solicitous and earnest with me to induce me to permit the money to go in this ship; but, for the reasons above mentioned, I find it absolutely necessary to retain it for the present, which I doubt not will be approved by Congress. With great respect, I have the honor to be, &c.

B. FRANKLIN.

FROM ROBERT MORRIS TO B. FRANKLIN.

Efforts to restore the Credit of the United States. Necessity of foreign Aid.

SIR,

Philadelphia, 13 July, 1781.

The unanimous appointment to the superintendency of our finances, with which Congress have honored me, and my conviction of the necessity that some one person should endeavour to introduce method and economy into the administration of affairs, have induced

me, though with reluctance, to accept that office.* Mr. Jay will receive by this conveyance, and forward to you, copies of those resolutions and letters, which may be necessary to explain my appointment and powers.

I wish I could as readily effect, as I most ardently desire, the accomplishment of all proper arrangements. Thoroughly convinced, that no country is truly independent, until, with her own credit and resources, she is able to defend herself and correct her enemies, it shall be my constant endeavour to establish our credit and draw out our resources in such manner, that we may be little burdensome, and essentially useful to our friends.

I am sure I need not mention to you the importance of collecting a revenue with ease, and expending it with economy. As little need I detail the time, the authority, the ability, the favorable circumstances, that must combine for these purposes. But I think that I may assert, that the situation of a country, just emerging from dependence and struggling for existence, is peculiarly unfavorable; and I may add, that this country, by relying too much on paper, is in a condition of peculiar disorder and debility. To rescue and restore her is an object equal to my warmest wishes, though probably beyond the stretch of my abilities.

Success will greatly depend on the pecuniary aid we may obtain from abroad; because money is necessary to introduce economy, while, at the same time, economy is necessary to obtain money; besides that a greater plenty of solid circulating medium is required to support those operations, which must give stability

* Mr. Morris was appointed Superintendent of Finance on the 20th of February, 1781, but did not engage in the duties of the office till May following.

to our credit, fruitfulness to our revenue, and activity to our operations. Among those things, which, after the experience and example of other ages and nations, I have been induced to adopt, is that of a national bank, the plan of which I enclose. I mean to render this a principal pillar of American credit, so as to obtain the money of individuals for the benefit of the Union, and thereby bind those individuals more strongly to the general cause by the ties of private interest. To the efficacy of this plan, as well as to the establishment of a mint, which would also be of use, a considerable sum of money is necessary, and, indeed, it is indispensably so for many other purposes.

Be not alarmed, Sir, from what I have said, with the apprehension that I am about to direct solicitations to the court of Versailles; which, after the repeated favors they have conferred, must be peculiarly disagreeable. On the contrary, as I am convinced, that the moneys of France will all be usefully employed in the vigorous prosecution of the war by her own fleets and armies, I lament every sum which is diverted from them. Our necessities have indeed called for her aid, and perhaps they may continue to do so. Those calls have hitherto been favorably attended to, and the pressure of our necessities has been generously alleviated; nor do I at all doubt, that future exigencies will excite the same dispositions in our favor, and that those dispositions will be followed with correspondent effects. But I again repeat my wish, at once to render America independent of, and useful to, her friends.

With these views, I have directed Mr. Jay to ask a considerable sum from the court of Madrid, to be advanced us at the Havana, and brought thence by us, if it cannot conveniently be landed here from Span

ish men-of-war.* I say a considerable sum, because, as I have declared to him, I do not wish to labor under the weight of obligation, without deriving from it any real benefit; and because I consider the advance of small sums rather as a temporary palliation than a radical remedy. Our disorders are such, that the former can be of no use, and it would be better to desist in a desultory defence, than to put on the delusive appearances of a vigor we do not feel; for this lulls the people into a dangerous security, and softens those hopes of the enemy, which give duration and extent to the war. It is the disorder of our finances, which has prevented us from a powerful coöperation with our allies, and which has enabled the enemy to linger on our coasts with the dregs of a force once formidable; and it is from this cause, that they have been permitted to extend the theatre, and multiply the victims, of their ambition.

America alone will not derive benefit from the advances which Spain may make to her. All the associates in the war will feel the consequential advantages. The expense of the American war now hangs a heavy weight about the neck of Britain, and enfeebles her on that element, which she called her own. An increase of that expense, or the loss of her posts here, must necessarily follow from additional efforts on our part; and either of these must be a consequential benefit to those who are opposed to her. France will derive a small immediate benefit from it, as she will thereby get more money here for her bills of exchange, than she can at present procure. But it is not so much from any advantage, which may be expected to

* See a letter from Mr. Morris, in the Diplomatic Correspondence, Vol. VII. p. 421.