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William Douglass, author of the Discourse and Postscript, also wrote a contemporary history. Perhaps it is surprising, in light of Douglass's hard money views, that he did not approve of the currency reform. In part, the explanation is political: Douglass disliked Governor Shirley, and the currency reform had been a cooperative effort managed by Thomas Hutchinson and Governor Shirley. Douglass was politically aligned with a group of Boston merchants who supported the previous governor, Governor Belcher. They had many reasons for opposing Shirley: religious, ethical, political and economic. Belcher was a dissenter, while Shirley was an Anglican. Shirley's supporters had used underhanded methods to discredit Belcher and obtain his dismissal. Once in power, Shirley aligned himself with former land bankers. The land bankers and merchants shared a deep-seated mutual antagonism. The merchants viewed the land bankers as wild-eyed inflationists, while the land bankers resented the heavy-handed methods Belcher and the merchants had used to crush the land bank. When King George's war began, Shirley used his influence with the land bankers in the assembly to lead the colony into several costly military expeditions. Financing the expeditions with newly printed money fueled inflation. The expeditions also brought high taxes, which combined with the loss of men, crippled the colonies commerce. Shirley's enemies were taking their complaints to London, and they felt they were making headway, and that Shirley would shortly be dismissed in disgrace. Douglass's Summary was written, in part, as an anti-Shirley diatribe to be used in this endeavor.

When the currency reform was enacted, Douglass and his merchant friends were deeply suspicious. What were Shirley and his inflation-loving land-banker allies up to, they wondered? Whatever it was, they were sure it was no good. Some felt Shirley would reform the currency as a way to save himself from being dismissed. Others suspected financial skullduggery. Douglass's innuendoes regarding Bollan should be interpreted as reflecting such suspicions: Bollan was Shirley's son-in-law. Others felt that the currency reform was a ruse, and after it had served its political purpose, Shirley would find a way to renege.

Most of the following excerpt, which comes from one of Douglass's many discursive footnotes, must have been originally composed in early 1749 (1748 under the old calendar) immediately after the currency reform was adopted. From what is written, the reimbursement money had not yet arrived in the colony, which definitely places it before September of 1749. Moreover, Douglass writes about agent Palmer is if he is living: Palmer died in the summer of 1749. The final paragraph of this excerpt comes from another footnote that appears much later in the text, and it seems to have been composed in 1750, after the actual implementation of the reform had begun.