University of Virginia Library

In the month of September, 1786, a Convention of the people of Maine was sitting at Portland, to consider the expediency of forming themselves into an independent State. This, however, was but a trifle, compared with the disturbances which now began to appear in the southern and western counties of Massachusetts. The General Court had voted customs and excise duties, producing a revenue sufficient to meet the interest on the State debt; but it was necessary, also, to meet the indebtedness of the principal, and to make some response to the repeated requisitions of Congress. As the annual State tax amounted to near a million of dollars, many of the farmers had fallen behind in their payments. They were also encumbered with private debts, to which last, costs were added. A multitude of suits were pending in all the courts; County Conventions, called to complain of grievances, had been followed, in Worcester and the counties west of it, by armed mobs, which prevented the courts from sitting. The real difficulty seemed to have been, the poverty and exhaustion of the

country, consequent upon the late war; the want of certain and remunerative markets for the produce of the farmers; and the depreciation of domestic manufactures by competition from abroad.

The Gazette of Sept. 14th, gives the following, as “late intelligence from Massachusetts:”

We hear from Massachusetts, that the public attention is much excited by the discontents which are prevailing in that State. Conventions have been formed for the purpose of redressing the supposed grievances of the people. The week past, about four hundred men assembled at Northampton, and prevented the sitting of the Court of Common Pleas. From what we can learn, the following are the causes of their discontent: 1. The sitting of the General Court in Boston; 2. The abuses in the practice of the law, and exorbitancy of the fee table; 3. The existence of the Common Pleas and General Sessions, in their present mode of administration; 4. The appropriating the revenue arising from the impost and excise, to the payment of the interest of State securities; 5. The unreasonable and unnecessary grants made by the General Court to the Attorney-General and others; 6. The servants of the government being too numerous, and having too great salaries; 7. The Commonwealth's granting aid, or paying moneys, to Congress, while their accounts remained unsettled; 8. The want of a circulating medium. This last grievance is generally acknowledged in all the States, in a greater or less degree, except in the State of Rhode Island, which seems to be as much distressed by a circulating medium as Massachusetts is for the want of one.

In the same paper is published a proclamation “by His Excellency, James Bowdoin, Esq., Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” setting forth, among other things, that on the 29th day of August, “a large concourse of people from several parts of the county, assembled at the court-house in Northampton, many of whom were armed with guns, swords, and other deadly weapons, and with drums beating and fifes

playing, in contempt and open defiance of the authority of this government, did, by threats of violence, and keeping possession of the court-house until 12 o'clock on the night of the same day, prevent the sitting of the court, and the orderly administration of justice in that county,.... the Attorney-General is hereby directed to prosecute, and bring to condign punishment, the ringleaders and abettors of any similar violation, in future, whenever or wherever it shall be perpetrated within this Commonwealth.”

The condition of things in Massachusetts attracted the very serious attention of Congress. It was feared that the malcontents, who were very numerous in the western part of the State, might seize the arms in the federal arsenal at Springfield, and muster in sufficient force to overturn the government. Congress accordingly voted to enlist thirteen hundred men to sustain Massachusetts in putting down the insurrection in her borders; and a special requisition of half a million of dollars was made upon the States of the Confederacy, to support these troops. But the insurrection broke out before the government soldiers could be mustered. Daniel Shays, of Pelham, a late captain in the Continental army, at the head of a thousand armed men, marched on to Worcester, and effectually prevented the session of the Supreme Court, in that town. (See page 6.) Subsequently, at the head of a smaller number of men, he marched to Springfield, and there prevented the session of the court being held. Likewise at Northampton, the Court of Common Pleas was prevented from holding its usual session.

A letter dated Boston, November 29th, states that “orders have been issued by his excellency, the Commander-in-Chief, for the militia to hold themselves in readiness to march, at the shortest notice. They were in consequence of information received,

of the insurgents being in motion, in several parts, in order, as was supposed, to prevent the sitting of the courts of Common Pleas and Sessions, now holden at Cambridge, for the county of Middlesex. But from the latest accounts, we learn that the malcontents had yesterday proceeded no further on their way than Concord. Whether they would proceed further, was uncertain. However, from the disposition which is made to oppose them, should they attempt it, the friends of government have very little to apprehend.”

Beyond the preventing of the session of the courts, the insurgents do not seem to have had any plan. Governor Bowdoin immediately called out the militia of Massachusetts to the number of four thousand, which troops were placed under the command of General Lincoln. This force, in the midst of one of the severest of winters, marched through Worcester, on their way to Springfield, to relieve General Shepard, who was guarding the federal arsenal there, at the head of a small body of western militia. The insurgents had now assembled, at this point, to the number of about two thousand, in three bodies, under Shays, Luke Day, of West Springfield; Adam Wheeler, of Hubbardston; and Eli Parsons, of Adams. The former, having demanded possession of the federal arsenal, approached from Wilbraham, to take it. General Shepard, with great promptness, brought his small ordnance to bear upon the advancing column of the insurgents, and, when they persisted in approaching, he gave the order to fire. The first discharge was purposely directed over their heads; and when the pieces were leveled at their ranks, a cry of murder arose from those in advance, who broke the ranks, and fled in dismay, leaving three of their comrades dead upon the field. The insurgents, receiving information of the approach of General Lincoln with reinforcements, hastily retreated, in the direction

of Amherst. They were for a while pursued by General Shepard, but succeeded in making good their retreat to Pellham, where they took their position on two lofty elevations, rendered almost inaccessible by reason of the snow. The weather being exceedingly severe, General Lincoln turned aside at Hadley, to put his troops under cover. Negotiations here ensued, and the insurgents offered to disperse, on condition of general pardon. The Massachusetts Sentinel, of January 27th, 1787, gives the following, as the insurgents' “petition.” The document is dated the day of the attack upon General Shepard's forces at Springfield, but was not transmitted to General Lincoln until some days afterwards:

To the Hon. Major-General Lincoln:

Sir:—Unwilling to be any way accessory to the shedding of blood, and greatly desirous of restoring peace and harmony to this convulsed Commonwealth, we propose that all the troops on the part of government be disbanded immediately, and that all and every person who has been acting, or any way aiding or assisting in any of the late risings of the people, may be indemnified in their person and property, until the setting of the next General Court; and no person be taken, molested, or injured, on account of the above said risings of the people, until a fair opportunity can be had for a hearing in the next General Court, respecting the matters of complaints of the people; and that all matters rest as they are in all parts, until that time, and all the persons that have been taken on the part of government, be released without punishment. The above conditions to be made sure by Proclamation, issued by his Excellency the Governor: On which conditions, the people now in arms, in defense of their lives and liberties, will quietly return to their respective habitations, patiently hoping and waiting for constitutional relief from the insupportable burdens they now labor under.

DANIEL SHAYS. Per order Daniel Gray, Chairman. Wilbraham, Jan. 25, 1787.

But General Lincoln had no authority to conclude a treaty

with them. While the negotiations were pending, the insurgents, being hard pressed for provisions, broke up their camp, and retreated to Petersham. General Lincoln, receiving intelligence of this sudden movement on the part of the insurgents, immediately started in pursuit, and after pushing forward all night, through a driving storm of snow, and accomplishing a march of forty miles, entered Petersham early the next morning, to the utter astonishment of the insurgents. He succeeded in taking one hundred and fifty of their number prisoners, and the remainder, having had a moment's warning, fled hastily by the northern road, most of their leaders escaping into New Hampshire. Lincoln, having thus dispersed the insurgents east of the Connecticut line, moved into Berkshire County, where the malcontents were still more numerous.

The General Court having been called together on the 30th of February, a declaration of rebellion was put forth, and money was voted, with additional troops to supply the place of Lincoln's men, whose term of enlistment would soon expire. The border States were also called upon to assist in arresting and dispersing the insurgents, some of whom lurked in their extreme towns, from whence they made predatory excursions into Massachusetts, and often kidnapped and carried off with them the more prominent friends of government and order. The States of New Hampshire, New York, and Connecticut, promptly complied with the request of Massachusetts; but Rhode Island and Vermont were more backward. Governor Collins, of the former State, in reply to the letter of Governor Bowdoin, requesting that the fugitives who were deeply concerned in the rebellion might be given up, according to the articles of confederation, replied, that “in consequence of the misconduct of the postmaster, your letter has but just been opened, in the upper house, and I sent it to the lower house,

to receive its instructions, who have not given me any instructions, and so I cannot do anything about the rebellion, and they cannot be meddled with!” Many of the insurgents escaped to Canada; but there they found no encouragement. At last, the General Court offered a free pardon, on their laying down arms and taking the oath of allegiance, to all who had served among the insurgents in the capacity of privates, or as non-commissioned officers—depriving them, however, for a period of three years, of the privilege of suffrage; to set as jurymen; or to be employed as school-masters, inn-keepers, or retailers of ardent spirits. Commissioners were appointed, who were authorized to confer pardon, on such terms as they might see fit, and as circumstances might warrant, to those not included in the free pardon—active leaders—those taken in arms a second time—or such as had fired upon or wounded any loyal subject of the Commonwealth. Of the prisoners taken by General Lincoln, fourteen were found guilty of high treason, and sentenced to death. Others were convicted of sedition, but were not executed; indeed, the punishment inflicted, and the terms imposed by the Commissioners, of which, seven hundred and ninety availed themselves, were, in general, very moderate—harsh measures not being deemed safe—as at least one-third of the whole population of the State was thought to sympathize with the insurgents—and the prevalence of this sentiment showed itself at the next election, when the energetic Governor Bowdoin, who had redeemed the State from impending ruin, was dropped, and John Hancock, of Braintree, was elected in his place. Many, also, who had been most zealous against the insurgents, in the General Court, failed of an election.

And thus ended the Shays rebellion.

At the close of the war of our Revolution, it was found that a large proportion of the wealthy men of the Colonial times had been extirpated; while another part had become impoverished by the war. A new moneyed class had sprung up in their places, especially in the eastern States. These were principally individuals who had suddenly acquired their possessions by engaging in privateering, and by speculations in the fluctuating paper money which abounded during the war. At the same time, large claims against their less fortunate neighbors had accumulated in the hands of these men, many of whom seemed disposed to press their legal rights to the utmost. The sudden fortunes realized by the war had introduced a spirit of luxury into the maritime towns; and even the tastes and manners of the inhabitants of the rural districts had in a measure become tainted by the effects of military services, in which a large proportion of the male population had been more or less engaged. From various causes, the commnnity was fast becoming divided into two embittered factions of creditors and debtors. The certificates of the public debt, parted with at a great discount, by the officers of the late army, and others to whom they had been given, were fast accumulating in the hands of a few speculators, able to wait until the times should resume their wonted activity. With the examples of the Continental currency before their eyes, an opinion gained ground among the people, oppressed

by taxes, to meet their debts, that the holders of certificates by purchase were only entitled to receive what they had paid—an opinion which tended to still further depreciation. Others of the debtor party evinced more liberal and expansive views. Stops and tender-laws were persistently called for by many; and in several States this demand was acceded to by their Legislatures. New issues of paper money was then demanded, which, by their depreciation, might sweep off the whole mass of debt, public and private. Such issues were made in the States of Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and South Carolina. But in no State did the currency so rapidly depreciate as in Rhode Island, (or Rogues' Island, as it was commonly called—see page 16,) its paper soon being held at the rate of eight for one. The act which passed its General Assembly, provided for the emission of one hundred thousand pounds, in paper money. This new emission was to be a legal tender for the payment of all debts at that time due, or that might thereafter become due, in that State. The preamble of the bill represented that there was not in the State a solid currency sufficient for the purposes of trade and commerce, and for the payment of just debts, and hence the necessity of an act of legislation to relieve debtors of their embarrassments. The bill provided that the new emission be loaned out on the credit of landed securities of double the value, bearing interest at the rate of four per cent. per annum, for seven years, and to be called in by equal annual payments in seven succeeding years. If a creditor refused to receive the paper tendry in liquidation of his demands, the debtor might lodge it with a justice of the Superior or of an inferior Court, whose duty it was to give him a certificate of its being so lodged, which was to operate as a final discharge of the debtor. The justice was to cite the creditor to come and receive the paper which had been previously tendered him, and in case of neglect, the justice was to cause the same to be advertised in all the newspapers of the State—the expense of which wholesale advertising was to be paid out of the money so lodged; and if the creditor did not call and receive the remainder within three months, it became a forfeiture to the State.

Pending the passage of this bill, John Jenckes, John Brown, and Thomas Trueman, members of the lower house, put themselves on record as adverse to its passage, stating their objections in detail, and concluding with the following: “Notwithstanding the specious pretenses under which the bill has been introduced, as if it were intended thereby to relieve the distressed, we conceive it to be calculated only to accommodate certain persons, who, being deeply indebted for real estate and other property, purchased under contracts to be paid for in solid coin, and who have now promoted this matter to serve their own private purposes: and although we are ready to unite in any reasonable act to relieve the distressed, we are fully convinced the passing of this bill is not a measure which will have that tendency.”

Subsequently, at the same legislature, an additional act was passed, declaring that if any person should charge for goods or other commodities, a greater price in paper tendry than in specie, such person should forfeit and pay the sum of one hundred pounds, one-half of which sum reverted to the complainant, and the remainder to the State. This law, though similar to that formerly recommended by Congress, to support the credit of the Continental money, was now generally regarded as oppressive and unjust, and obtained for Rhode Island an unenviable notoriety. The bill was virulently opposed

by many members of the legislature by which it was passed.

To illustrate the beatific workings of the Rhode Island law, we cite the following statement of affairs in Newport, published about a month after its passage:

The merchants have almost universally shut up stores, and business of every kind is stopped. The country withholds the usual supplies of provision, which distresses principally the sticklers for their iniquitous money, being generally those who are impoverished, or largely in debt, who please themselves with this easy way of being freed from the just demands of their creditors. On Friday, serious riot and disorder prevailed. A number of persons, headed by one Wanton and one Anthony, insolently demanded that the stores in which corn was lodged, should be opened, and the corn sold for the new emission. One of the merchants, who was a Quaker, was so intimidated by their threats, that he consented. But they were not equally successful in their attempt upon another store; the owners of which resented the demand, and determined to defend their property, upon the risk of their lives. The number which collected to preserve the peace, and to assist in defending the property endangered, was so great, and their passions so justly warmed, that the fate of the ringleaders of the riot hung on the slenderest thread. At length, Mr. Collins, Governor of the State, and two of his council, appeared. He stopped to call away one of the ringleaders of the riot, and went to his house. A council was called. The Governor and civil officers were present. Vigorous steps were thought best, by the majority; but the Governor assured them that he had informed one of the ringleaders that if he again violated the peace, he should exert his utmost authority for the support of the government, and that he replied he might depend upon his peaceable conduct in future. On this, the council arose. Notwithstanding the assurance of this disturber of the peace, he soon after made an unprovoked attack upon one of the persons who had appeared in defense of the property in danger. A number of persons interfered, and the tranquillity of the city continued when our last accounts left them. The same disorder begins to pervade every

part of the State. Threats to break open cribs and rob the wealthy farmers, daily increase. If reason does not effect a change of measures, surely these turbulent disorders must. Rhode Island is soundly flagellated—and doubtless her sister States will learn wisdom.

The following anecdote, which is related by the Providence Gazette, as occurring in Newport, is illustrative of another phase which the paper money system assumed:

A butcher had sold meat for paper money, till he was no longer able to furnish his stall by means of that medium, and resolved on refusing it. A silversmith demanded to purchase beef for paper, and a young man who had charge of the stall in the absence of the butcher, said his orders were to sell for hard money, only. The former persisted, weighed off a lot, and tendered paper; but the man refusing to receive it, the beef was carried off. The butcher, on returning to his stall, was informed of the circumstance, and immediately repaired to the shop of his paper money customer, who, being absent, he laid out a number of articles, the prices of which were ascertained by a person who attended the shop. The silversmith soon after arrived, and acquainted the butcher that he had lodged complaints against him for violating the good and wholesome laws of the State, by refusing to receive paper money for beef. The latter assured him he was sorry for the occasion: had he been present the paper money would probably have been received; and proposed a compromise. The former replied that it was too late, and that the laws must have their course. The butcher then said he had laid aside sundry articles of silver ware, amounting to about six pounds, for which, the paper was laid down. The silversmith, now, in his turn, declined receiving it, alleging that because his stock had cost him silver, he must have half the sum in hard money. The butcher replied that his stock of beef had also cost silver; and, after some altercation, carried off the articles, leaving the silversmith to reflect on the consistency of his conduct. The knight of the cleaver, in his turn, entered a complaint; and the silversmith is about to commence a suit against him: so that the affair is likely to produce business for the gentlemen of the law.

Upon the passage of the bill for the new emission, much dissatisfaction began to be expressed by holders of the latest emission of the Continental paper, which was then considered as little better than worthless. Many of these “promises to pay” were held by citizens of the neighboring States; and not a small amount of the same was in the hands of Massachusetts men. A correspondent of the Sentinel thus writes:

A citizen of Massachusetts wishes to be informed whether the Legislature of Rhode Island have made the continental new emission which was issued by that State, a tender equally with the emission they are about to issue; if they have not, the other States will justly consider them as cheats, traitors to the nation, public robbers, and armed plunderers of their neighbors. It is hoped by every friend of America, that the wicked folly of Rhode Island may be a warning to all the other States to avoid the dangerous plan of paper money.

About the time of the passage of the Rhode Island bill, a similar enactment passed the legislature of New York. The following extract, referring to this act, is from a letter dated at New York city, April 19th, 1786, and addressed to a gentleman in Philadelphia:

The paper money bill is passed, making it a legal tender in all cases of prosecution—an inducement for people to refuse paying their debts, which many imagine was not altogether necessary. This operates as a general obstruction to business, which will not only prevent people fatiguing themselves too much, but will liberalize men's notions of property, and, in time, may bring back the apostolic practice of having all things in common. It will also take off our hearts and lessen our affections for this transitory world, the fashion whereof changeth; and further, verifies the proverb, that “riches take to themselves wings and flee away;” and shows the particular pertinence of the wise man's question, “What good bath a man of all the labor wherewith he laboreth under the sun?”

In a letter dated Philadelphia, April 12th, 1786, the writer says:

A few days ago a vessel arrived at this city, from New York, with a cargo of wheat for sale, driven from that port by the dread of paper money, and attracted to Philadelphia by the solid coin of the Bank of North America.

Never did a more favorable opportunity present itself to the State of Pennsylvania to enrich herself at the folly and inconsistency of her sister States. Should Maryland and Delaware issue paper money, agreeable to the wishes of the lazy and involved of their citizens, and Pennsylvania call in, by taxes, all her late paper emissions, there can be no doubt but that Philadelphia will soon become the Amsterdam of the United States. Before the emission of our present paper currency, the Bank of North America was the reservoir of the greatest part of the specie in the country.

The friends of the paper money may be reduced to the following classes: 1st, debtors; 2d, speculators; and 3d, brokers: —while its enemies are all honest lawyers, doctors, parsons, merchants, and farmers.

The annexed “Price Current of the Paper Emissions in the different States, August 19, 1786,” is reported by Jacques La Blanch, “two doors east of the cells:”

Pennsylvania Paper, 10 per cent. discount.
New Jersey Paper, 15 per cent. discount.
New York Paper, (counterfeit.)
Rogues' Island Paper, 500 per cent. discount.
North Carolina Paper, 50 per cent. discount.
South Carolina Paper, 20 to 25 per cent. discount.

The subjoined is a fair specimen of the many repinings given vent to through the newspapers, at this time:

The period of the late war was considered as the paper age of this country. We were told that it was to be succeeded by a golden one, after the peace. But, alas! peace is arrived, and the paper age,—or as it might be more properly called, the paper rage,—still remains.

Connecticut, fortunately, and to her credit let it be said, never for a moment contemplated entering upon the magnificent scheme inaugurated by her less thoughtful and more enterprising neighbors. A gentleman writing from Hartford, under date of June 12th, 1786, says: “Our legislature has not been knavish enough to adopt that pernicious principle which prevails, in our neighboring legislatures, of placing private debts on a footing different from what the parties intended at the contract. A tendry law—a law which infringes every rule of justice, and annihilates every security in society—a law against which the vassals of an European despot would rise in rebellion—has yet no existence in Connecticut. We only regret that a measure of this kind, which has placed New York, Rhode Island and New Jersey, on a level with the worst tyrants in monarchies, had not fewer promoters and abettors in our legislature.”

As Connecticut, therefore, was wholly free from any participation in the paper money scheme, her citizens could well afford to look with complacency upon the tumult and turmoil their neighbors had by their own free will and act brought home to their doors; and her poets and wits did not fail to make the misfortunes of their brethren abroad the subjects of many a good-natured reprimand, and of innocent burlesque.

In some “New Year's Verses” printed in the American Mercury, at Hartford, for January 1, 1787, the following allusion is made to the paper currency:

Then, too, your politicians old
Turn rags, by tons, to solid gold;
Till artists, scarcely at the halves,
Would fashion them to molten calves:
While all the jacktars at the oar,
With all the knaves and fools ashore,
Can scarce pass tender-acts enough
To keep these gods upon the hough—
Till their own saints before 'em fall,
As once the Jews bow'd down to Baal.

The “Subaltern,” an “old friend” of the printer of the Gazette, informs the latter that a petition is preparing to be presented to his Excellency, the Governor, to convene the legislature for the express purpose of emitting paper money; and as the expense of paper, printing, and signing, would be considerable, the Gazette's correspondent, in order to save the costs attending the convening of the legislature, submits the following, as the outlines of such an act:

Whereas Peter Blacklegs and his associates, inhabitants of the State of Connecticut, have ever lived as nearly obedient to the laws of the land as was absolutely necessary to keep them from the whipping-post and pillory; and have been at more pains to obtain property by indirect means, than it has cost others by fair, open and direct ones, to get rich: and they having once been loaded with debts, which, by the laws, they were nearly being forced to pay; when, fortunately for them, the late war occurred, and paper money was plenty, they paid their creditors in a depreciated paper, which was worth nearly one-twentieth of the solid property for which they were in debt. Being by this fortunate event made easy in their circumstances, they have ever since been cabaling for the good of the public, as in meeting at taverns to increase the revenue by the consumption of excisable articles, and watching for opportunities to obtain new credits, till they have again become largely in debt to a set of men who have no merit but that of being industrious, enterprising, and honest, and who are now so unjust, impertinent, and daring, as to bring actions for the recovery thereof.

Be it enacted, &c., That the said Peter Blacklegs and his associates be, and are hereby exonerated from all claims, debts, dues and demands, either of a public or private nature; and all suits now pending against them are hereby stayed. And to the end that no subject of the State may hereafter be

tempted to accumulate more wealth than his neighbor, be it further enacted, That when any subject of this State shall be suspected to have become rich by industry, frugality and economy, twelve of his nearest neighbors shall assemble, and divide among them such overplus wealth as they may find he possesses. Provided, always, that the said twelve nearest neighbors are men who spend at least three days in the week, at some tavern, and their expenses for distilled spirits have been for the last six months (next immediately preceding their being so called to sit as judges) equal to all their family expenses, &c.

The Boston Daily Advertiser, about a week later, published the annexed startling “piece of information,” for the benefit of “all whom it may concern:”

To all Little Rogues and Great Blockheads.—The following alarming intelligence is communicated for their information and caution. A dangerous plot is on foot for a combination of all the wicked wits in every State throughout America. Their plan is, the moment they catch a little rogue in his tricks, to hold him there, call all the world to see and deride him, and then whip him as severely as the surgeons shall think he can bear, and live. A blockhead whose skin is too thick to feel the rod, is to be dressed in an ass's skin, with large ears pending from his head, and to be publicly paraded, in this manner, on a wooden horse, through the principal town of the State he dwells in. Should such a child of turpitude be discovered, as a little rogue and great blockhead united in one person, on a signal given, the wretch is to be made to run the gauntlet, and be severely whipped through the whole continent. In the neighboring State of Connecticut, they have already taken hold of one Peter Blacklegs, a great dealer in paper money; and it is thought not unlikely but they will whip him to death before they have done with him; as they appear inclined to show no mercy to him; to the great terror of little rogues, who have been used to plead public good, to cover their purposes, and are now constantly in bodily fear of the cat of nine tails, or jackass skin and wooden horse.

The Gazette, through the month of October, 1786, published the following

Proposals for printing, by subscription, as soon as a sufficient number of subscribers shall appear, to defray all expenses and clear the editor two thousand pounds, a new edition of PAPER MONEY, upon the following plan: It will be printed on thick paper, that it may be easily divided, one bill into two, which will be very profitable. The device, on one side, will be, Dr. Faustus paying the devil for the “black art,” in paper money: in the devil's mouth, these words, “Cursedly bit, by G---!” On the reverse, the devil tendering his paper money to the States of New York and Rhode Island, for the debt he owes them for not granting the impost. In his mouth, these words, “Gage de mon amor”—[token of my love]—the States accepting the money, for fear of offending their tutelar deity. The price, to subscribers, will be four shillings per dozen, the first month; eight, the second; and will rise proportionally, as it is to appreciate five per cent, per month.

N. B.—Subscribers are desired to send in their names before the millennium commences, because then all fraud is to cease; whereas the present plan is to cheat everybody.

Belphegor Copperplate.

Some six months later, Mr. Copperplate communicates with the well-wishers of paper money, in the subjoined advertisement:

The well-wishers of PAPER MONEY are now respectfully informed that the subscriber has on hand, and is prepared to furnish them with any description of paper bills they shall choose, from the smallest cents [It is difficult to determine whether the word is cents or sense in the manuscript] of Congress, up to the federal American eagle. As the device upon the bills was new, great pains was taken to have it well engraved; as, in all probability, this will be the last time the devil's image will be stamped upon Connecticut copper. The editor presumes this circumstance will meet with universal approbation. He is, however, very sorry to inform the public that the engraver was guilty of a small mistake, and that was, in not placing the right head upon one of the devils; and it

was discovered so lately that it could not possibly be amended. Therefore it is probable that this poor devil will be doomed to carry a Wronghead upon his shoulders to all eternity, if Copper devils last so long.

Belphegor Copperplate.

The following treatise on paper money, which we find in the Gazette, will, we doubt not, prove generally acceptable, on account of its brevity. It is said to have been the production of a Dutch farmer:

Money IS MONEY—AND—PAPER IS PAPER.

But notwithstanding all that was said against the issue of paper money, even those States which discarded the plan as disreputable and dishonest, were far from enjoying a sound currency. The excessive importation of foreign goods had drained the country of specie. The circulating medium consisted principally of treasury orders on the State tax collectors, and depreciated certificates of State and federal debt. Even among those in favor of meeting the public liabilities by taxation, there was a lack of agreement as to the way in which taxes should be raised. The unlimited importation of foreign goods, and the consequent pressure upon domestic manufacturers, had diminished, to a considerable extent, the old prejudice against custom duties. A party had sprung up, in favor of raising a large part of the public debt in that way, thus reviving the old Colonial schemes for the protection of domestic industry by duties upon foreign goods. This, however, was opposed by merchants, as injurious to their interests. And while there was this confliction of opinions as to which was the better method, another and a large party were dissatisfied with either.

As the nickname of William Wimble so frequently occurs in The Anarchiad, it seems proper that some mention should be made of the personage burlesqued under this name, and of the causes which prompted our poets and wits to hold him up to the public gaze as an especial object of ridicule, and of their undisguised contempt; the political inconsistencies which were charged upon him; and some account of the Wimble controversy;—all of which should be fairly understood, in order properly to appreciate the numerous satires directed against him.

Without entering into a detailed and unimportant narration of the early history and private life of Mr. Williams, it will suffice our purpose to say, that at different periods in a long term of political service, he held numerous offices of honor and trust in the gift of the people.

Besides having been, for a number of years, a Judge of the Windham County Court, Mr. Williams represented the State, for one term, at the federal capitol. He also occupied, for several successive years, a seat in the upper house of the Connecticut Legislature.

His politics appears originally to have been strongly tainted with toryism; though at a later period of his life he established himself ostensibly upon the platform of the Democratic party. He was virulently opposed, in common

with his party, to the order universal of the Cincinnati; but especially did the Connecticut division of this band of veteran soldiers become the object of his proscription, and of his public and private abuse.

Mr. Williams was a Senator in the Connecticut Legislature, in 1786, and at that session, was among “the gentlemen nominated by the votes of the freemen, to stand for election” the following year, “as sent in to the General Assembly.”

With a patriotic desire of aiding his party in the approaching election, and at the same time to brighten the prospect of being able to secure the seat to which he had been nominated, Mr. Williams, in the month of April, 1786, transmitted by private conveyance, a political document or “Address,” to his friend and political partner, Joseph Hopkins, Esq., of Waterbury, desiring him to examine said address, and, if its contents met with his approval, Mr. Hopkins was requested to correct the manuscript for the printer, and to dispatch it forthwith to New Haven and Litchfield for publication in the organs of the Democratic party in each of said counties. Mr. Williams earnestly desired that his address should be printed “before the next freeman's meeting shall be held, which will be in about two months.”

This address, (to which was appended the signature, “Agricola,”) together with a letter of instructions from Mr. Williams to Mr. Hopkins, were delivered into the hands of Mr. David Smith, for conveyance to Waterbury. During the transit of these despatches from Lebanon to Waterbury, and through some hocus-pocus arrangement not defined in any rule of mathematical science, the contents of Mr. Williams's private letter-political became known to the public as soon as to Mr. Hopkins; and the Society of the Cincinnati, through its

poets and wits, at once set about frustrating the well-arranged plan Mr. Williams had set on foot for the purpose of making proselytes to the Democratic party.

The subjoined is the commencement of the famous Wimble war, and made its appearance in the Hartford Courant. The reader is to understand the patriotic epistle annexed, as being a copy of the letter from Mr. Williams to Mr. Hopkins:

The following is said to be the genuine copy of a letter from a patriot in one part of the State, to a patriot in another part of the State.

[Private.]

12th August, 1786.

Worthy and Dear Sir:—Entertaining a high opinion of your good sense, integrity, and virtue, and the more happy to believe your sentiments agree with mine, in the interesting subject of the enclosed address; I therefore venture to send it to you, with a desire, if the substance should be agreeable, you would be so good as to correct, alter or model it as you please, and send it to New Haven printer first, Litchfield, or whom you think proper, soon as possible, as it is very probable efforts are and will be made and making to secure a majority in the next Assembly in favor of the first plan mentioned therein.

You have doubtless observed, in the papers, the Cincinnati Society requested to give a universal attendance, at New Haven, the 12th September, next, on matters of importance, &c. What they are, you can guess as well as I.

The freeman's meetings in our two counties are second Tuesday of September. I wish it may reach them before.

It was with much reluctance the writer meddled with the matter. I believe nothing but a sense of duty compelled. Having long waited, and anxiously expected that you or some other patriot would have done it much better.

His [honor] was with me, yesterday, before it was quite done. I asked his opinion, &c. He was pleased to speak more favorable of it than it deserved. His opinion is firmly fixed with ours. Gov. W., [Oliver Wolcott,] you know, is most strongly the other way. But I think the majority of the U. H.

[upper House] are right. Time does not permit me to add, but only to beg and confide that you will keep my name impenetrably concealed, and earnestly hoping and expecting to see you in October,

I am, &c., ------

A rhythmical and satirical version of the foregoing, by our poets and wits, was published in the same number of the Courant as that from which the above is copied. It is as follows:

The following is said to be the genuine copy of a letter from a poet in one part of the State to a poet in another part of the State.

[Private.]

12th August, 1786. Dear, Worthy Sir:—Ere you read more
My letters private,—shut the door,—
As I believe your patriot heart to
Be quite brimfull of sense and virtue;
And as you know I'm such another,
We doubtless think alike, good brother.
I therefore send you this address,
And you must send it to the press.
To suit our party, as I should,
I've told some fibs, for public good;
If they're too little, or too few,
No one can set them right, like you—
So I beg you'll alter, fix, and model,
As suits that puzzling piece, your noddle—
And strain them through your scribbling sive,
That fools who read may all believe;
Then, from your copper-coining mint,
Let them pass current out in print.
Make haste, or it will never answer;
And print it everywhere you can, sir;
Lose not a moment, in this instance,
For the majority's against us;
And all the world that's firm and steady,
Believes us fools and knaves already.
You see, sir, by the last Gazette,
The Cincinnati are to meet:
Their fair pretense is but a blind—
There must be roguery in the wind,
If, from the schemes that we are brewing,
We guess what other folks are doing:
So, print my plan of orthodoxies,
And have it out before our proxies.
My fears forbade to touch the matter,
But sense of duty got the better;
You must believe this, false or true,
And I'll believe as much for you.
I've waited, anxious that yourself,
Or other patriotic elf,
Who could have done it so much better,
Would do the job—and save this letter.
That you're a patriot, can't be doubted—
The proof is plain enough about it,
Since you have made, for years, of late,
One-half the uproar in the State:
Like tinker erst, to aid his calling,
“Great is Diana!” ne'er ceased bawling.
---, the great, just now came right in,
While I was puzzling and inditing;
He read my piece, and lik'd my wit,
And prais'd me till I almost split:
He's the right man to suit my taste—
Depend upon't, we have him fast;
Just as we please, we'll drive our guide,
As beggars set on horseback, ride.
That W[olcott] is a dangerous man;
He's honest—so dislikes our plan;
And since he's stubborn yet, and stout,
We must find means to turn him out.
The U[pper] H[ouse,] which makes me sad,
Have some few more almost as bad;
I think the major part, d'ye see!
Are right—that is—are just like me.
Pray do n't betray me to the rabble,
But keep my name impenetrable;
I might, for making all this rout,
As well be hanged, as get found out—
Should lose my place—which cost such pain—
And never get ten votes again.
Hoping to see you, in October,
With face full long, and cant full sober:
So pray be cautious, sly, and nimble—
Your loving servant,
William Wimble.

In the New Haven Gazette of the following week (October 19th, 1786) appeared the appended letter, which the reader

may suppose to have been written by Mr. Hopkins, in reply to the previously published letter of Mr. Williams's:

The following is said to be the genuine copy of an intercepted letter, which is supposed to have been written in answer to the letter from a patriot in one part of the State to a patriot in another part of the State.

[Private.]

August 23, 1786.

Honored and Dear Sir:—I have received, with very great satisfaction, your letter dated the 12th day of this instant, August. I thank you most heartily for the favorable opinion you entertain of me as a patriot, and am pleased to find that we agree so entirely in sentiment. I am sorry to acquaint you that there seemed to be some marks of violence upon the seal, insomuch that I am really afraid that some evil-minded persons have opened and taken copies therefrom; which, you are sensible, might be of infinite disadvantage to our public as well as private character. But I do not think those sons of sophistry will dare to print or make use of our correspondence, because several great names are hinted at therein. I am glad to hear—has given his opinion so strong on our side.

It becomes us to be excessively circumspect, or we shall not be able to carry all points. We must secretly communicate our proposed nomination and advice to a few leading men in the towns, on whose discretion we can rely. For should our plans be detected, we shall undoubtedly be charged with intriguing, in an unjust and unconstitutional manner. This would be furnishing a handle for our opposers to use against us, and we may be sure they would not fail to do it.

I need not, surely, to tell you, honored and dear sir, that the present is a very dark and difficult day. The good people of this State must not be crowded, however the matter may be. It is necessary, for their interest, that we should keep up our influence amongst them. Indeed, you are not unacquainted with my laboriousness; and if it did not look a little like vanity, in me, I should say, successful labors in this vineyard. I desire not, praised be God, to take more merit to myself than I deserve; but am so conscious of having

done and suffered so much in a good cause, that I might do injustice to myself and friends if I attempted to conceal my sentiments and doings.

I shall not spare my pains and labor, to get a good Assembly elected, so far as my little influence extends: and hoping, with you, we shall meet with many of our trusty and beloved friends, in October,

I remain, &c., ------

As in the preceding instance, so in the present, the wicked poets and wits tortured the contents of Mr. Hopkins's private prosodial composition into a public satire in poetical measure and most complete Hudibrastic verse:

The following is said to be the genuine copy of an intercepted letter, which is supposed to have been written in answer to the letter from a poet in one part of the State to a poet in another part of the State.

[Private.]

August 23, 1786. Dear, Honored Sir:—I've got your letter,
Which makes me feel a great deal better;
I thank you, from my very gizzard,
You think me such a patriot wizzard;
And in that point am pleas'd to find
That you and I are of a mind.
I'm dreadful sorry to reveal
I've found some violence on the seal,
Which makes me fear it was broken open,
And some rapscallions have been copying.
This might make us (as they'd contrive it)
Stink both in public and in private:
But since great names are therein hinted,
I think they'll never dare to print it:
And if they should, I'm glad to see
That --- is as bad as we;
And we shall find him, fairly tried,
The better half upon our side.
That's a fine piece to fill the weekly
Gazettes, that you've signed “Agricola.”
You know I never used to flatter;
I'll change some words, but keep the matter,
And send it through our prints, in turn, all,
First midwif'd in New Haven Journal.
We have great need of circumspection,
To gain our points in next election,
And send our secret nomination
To leading men, of tried discretion,
Whom we have taught to vote by rule,
And never tell tales out of school:
For, should our secrets get to leaking,
They'll charge us all with vile intriguing;
This our opposers would make use on,
To prove we'd broke the constitution:
And sons of sophistry and scandal
Would shake us sorely by that handle.
I need not tell you, honored sir,
We're in a dark and dismal stir;
However the public's torn and tatter'd,
The people must be coax'd and flatter'd—
Their interest, sir, and ours, require it—
We'll ride this hobby till we tire it:
You know I've labor'd in this vineyard,
And led our chosen like a swine herd;
I toil'd, last session, long and late,
And (though I say't that should not say't)
Old B[radford] knows, and all our neighbors,
The luck of my laborious labors.
I thank my stars I never itch'd
To have my merit too high pitch'd;
For I have always thought, and said,
I had less merits than I had.
And yet I knew, and still I know it,
It lay so deep I could not show it:
But, when I think what feats I've done—
Made speeches, wrote, and rid, and run—
And recollect how few have back'd me
When all the wicked wits attack'd me;
Now our good cause begins to flag,
'Twould be injustice not to brag.
My pains and watchings shan't be sparing
The next Assembly to get a share in:
We'll choose good folks, you may depend,
As far as my weak means extend—
And join you, next October session,
Just as your honor has been wishing.
Our friends will meet us there, no danger,
From Colonel W[adsworth] down to [Granger;]
I wish I could as safely say
That you'll be in, beyond next May:
And so remain, with duty proper,
Your humble servant,
Joseph Copper.

To the Honorable William Wimble, Esq.

Some two weeks later, quite a spirited correspondence was carried on by Mr. Williams, through the columns of the Connecticut Journal, and General S. H. Parsons, in the Gazette; Mr. Williams affirming that he had good reasons for believing that the letter written by himself to Mr. Hopkins was delivered inviolate to Colonel David Smith, for conveyance some eighteen or nineteen miles; that, a considerable time afterwards, it was sent to Mr. Hopkins, having been first broken open and copied; and that said Colonel Smith carried a copy of the same and exhibited it to his brethren of the Cincinnati Society;—General Parsons having had the principal hand in employing a poet to burlesque him, &c.

Mr. Parsons, in reply, denies that any communication in regard to the letter in question was ever made to the Society of the Cincinnati, by Colonel Smith, or any other person; and affirms that he has in his possession a copy of the letter referred to, and that he came honestly by it, and in a manner concerning which Mr. Williams would probably never be any the wiser. Mr. Parsons is also willing to take his Bible oath that he never had the pleasure of employing a poet to burlesque any man under the signature of “William Wimble;” that he had no agency in procuring the publication of the first letter, and that he never saw the second one until it was in print.

Colonel Smith, referred to in this correspondence, addresses a letter to the public, through the Gazette, over date of November 6th, in which he says: “I did receive a letter about the first of September last, addressed to Joseph Hopkins, Esq.

I lodged it at a public house—from thence it was carried to Waterbury. And I declare, on my honor, that I did not break open said letter, but received it sealed and left it so.”

In a note to the publishers of the Gazette, dated November 3d, Mr. Williams, after correcting several errors in his communication previously published in that paper, says: “Corrected as it ought to be, the strictures upon it will give the writer no trouble. Who also conceives it very unbecoming to enter into a personal quarrel with any man in this way.”

At this juncture, “Benevolence, Jr.,” comes to the rescue of Mr. Williams. He despises the treatment his friend has received from the hands of the wicked wits. He assumes that Mr. Williams was the first object against whom some evil-minded fellows hurled their puppy venom. Not designing to exhibit to their fellow citizens the real character of the man, they pushed far beyond even poetic propriety, and endeavored to stamp the character of knave and villain on the same person they would make a fool. The writer contends that all who are acquainted with Mr. Williams must acknowledge the rectitude of his intentions; and however politically wrong they may be, that they are not in the least degree owing to a corrupt heart. “However wrong Mr. Williams may have been, his evil geniuses cannot be justified in so many falsities as they have set forth, nor in their weak and mean attempts to injure his integrity. Piece after piece is ushered in, or expires, with Wimble, Wimble! However apropos that nickname may be, I will not contend; but even that is picturesque of a dirty spirit, in the writer. I can easily justify Mr. Williams for sending his composition, so often sarcastically alluded to, to the person criminated for the desire of the private emoluments arising from the making of coppers. There are so many wicked wits and snarling critics, that a peaceable man

dare not even write an advertisement, without having it corrected by some scholar, for fear of being buffooned and laughed at till he is heartily sick of it. He, like others not accustomed to writing, was doubtful of his abilities in the ornamental parts of composition, chose rather to have his name kept private, and for that reason sent it to his friend. He knew that the writer is not what is to be attended to, in such matters, but the sentiment. And there is not the least appearance of intrigue, nor even a desire to do it, as has been charged. Thus injured, this honest man could not even vindicate himself without being spit in the face, and threatened by an artful, unprincipled fox. Wonder not, then, my countrymen, that an honest man should be a little disturbed, when so many wicked and malicious heads should be jumbled in hotchpot to deprive him of his good character and his office.”

In the Gazette of November 23d, “Trustless Fox” constitutes himself a champion for the case of Mr. Williams, and gives a metrical version of the letter of General Parsons, before mentioned. The author evidently intended to wake the “echo” of the rhythmiical letters of “the wicked poets and wits,” which had previously been put forth; but he seems to have failed in his purpose, and is pretty severely criticised by one “Benevolence, Sen.,” in an article published a few weeks later. The latter, who appears to believe that “Benevolence, Jr.,” and “Trustless Fox,” are one and the same person, makes reply to both, in these words: “You ought, my son, to have reflected that any confession that Mr. Williams was a fool, would operate more to his disadvantage than to the highest impeachment of his integrity; for when men call each other rogues and rascals, it is evident to the candid and impartial, that passion has usurped the place of reason, and that neither party are to be believed; whereas, a deliberate acknowledgment

of intellectual weakness, by a man's friends, has ever gained credit, and proved the cause of his political mortality. You were also very unfortunate in representing the author of ‘Agricola’ as being so grossly ignorant of the English language as to be incapable of composing an essay on a subject within his own profession, sufficiently correct for the public inspection. It is generally known, by your readers, that the author of ‘Agricola’ had the advantage of a public education; his extreme ignorance of grammar, therefore, may be regarded as an argument against his abilities..... Suppose that Mr. Williams should lose his place next election. I dare say that he, or at least his more sensible friends, will attribute it more to your defense of him than to all the ‘doggerel rhyme,’ the ‘hurling of puppy venom,’ the fox ‘spitting in his face,’ or even the whole hotchpot which has been poured against him..... Nothing could have been more opportunely, more happily, and more effectually calculated, than your essay, to fix indelibly the nickname of ‘William Wimble’ upon Mr. William Williams, and to exclude him a seat in the upper house..... I will conclude by bequeathing to the wicked wits and poets the nonsense and blunders, the new-coined words with which you have insulted the English language, and joined together for the sake of making rhyme—the discordant, nonsensical words, which never attempted to chime, before; the violation of the rules of syntax, together with the innumerable elisions and flowers of rhetoric which were never known to grow but in a purslain garden.”

The next advertisement which is gratuitously published for the benefit of Mr. Williams, we find in the “Newsboy's Eclogue for January, 1787,” as printed in the Hartford Courant:

The poets and wits continue their persecutions of Mr. Williams and his friends, in the following lines, (an imitation of Freneau,) from the Gazette of January 25th, 1787:

In the Connecticut Courant of March 15th, 1787, “A Plain Man,” in a letter dated from “Sharon in Conicticot,” thus addresses the publishers:

Misters Printors:—I Desir to se you manefest yure impartialty by printing equaly alik for boath sids, All the larnin and wit seems now to be printed for folks who are in faver of fedral government—they say tis all on their sid—but I mean to sho um the conterary—For my part I acknowledge bouldly I am wun of what they cal the untifedral parte or faxion, that is Ime

a strong admirer of Gen. W[olcott,] Mr. W[illiams] and Mr. H[opkins,] tho I no these wurthe gentlemen have ben most abomminably nicnamed and abused—tis for that verry reson and becaise I think um good poor mens politicioners that Ime detarmined to stan bye um. To be rite doune plain (Mistors Printors) they dont intend to pai the public debt: and a penny saved is good as a penny arned, so I tel my nabors these are the rite men for us and so we'd better to vote for um neext proxying. I expect nothin elce but to be villinafyed by the wicked witts and varsifiers for givin my sentiments so onestly on men and mesurs. But Ime a freedman. But Ide have um for to no Ive a good conshens as void of a Fence as ane wun off um, and that I shudnt cair a bras nor a Copper fardin if theyd put this present compussissin into rim. I concaite twud run the better for it.....Alias! I fear they [the “Cinshinnathures”] have murdered sum of our best men. Its not rite or pollitick to cal there rele names in New Pappers, but we can without harm describ those off um who are dead to all intents and porpuises unles Conicticot will stan fourth and help um at neetx lexion, viz, William Wimble I count as a ded man. General Ronghead I dont esteme much better. And as for Copper, tho hes nation tuf to digh, yet they sai he has taulked so much in faver of Chais and mobs (since they grew unpoplar with us) that the peple of his own Tound are quite out with him and wont put him inn deputy agen. Now my intenshon of inditing this pease for to publish, was not huggermuggerly in the dark, but openlye in dailite to warn our friends of approaching daneger —fourwarned!—fourarmed!—and to mustre all our strength on the secound Munda in Apreil! That is the dai, “the great, the important dai, big with the fat of Wimble and Conicticot.”

On “the great, the important dai,” notwithstanding all the satires that had been directed against these gentlemen, Mr. Williams and his friend Hopkins were duly elected members of the next General Assembly. The publication of “An Elegy on the [political] Death of a Patriot,” (see page 41,) was, therefore premature. And years afterwards, the familiar voice of Mr. Williams continued to be heard wherever a Convention was held, or a party of politicians were assembled.