CHAPTER LXV.

THE day on which the supplementary Bank bill passed the Senate, a resolution was adopted by it, requesting the President, "to cause a communication to be made to the National Assembly of France, respecting the late BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.”

This distinguished American died on the twentieth of April, seventeen hundred and ninety. On the annunciation of this event, that body resolved to wear mourning, as a testimonial of their respect for his memory; and ordered a letter of condolence to be addressed to Congress. The grateful office of paying a national tribute to one, whose career is full of interest and of instruction, was confided by the President to Hamilton.

The letter, to be signed by Washington, was in the following terms :*—" Sir, I received with particular satisfaction, and took an early opportunity of imparting to Congress, the communication made by your letter of the twentieth of June last, in the name of the National Assembly of France. So peculiar and so signal an expression of the esteem of that respectable body, for a citizen of the United States, whose eminent and patriotic services are indelibly engraved on the minds of his countrymen, cannot fail to be appreciated by them, as it ought

* January, 27, 1791.

to be. On my part, I assure you, Sir, that I am sensible of all its value.

"The circumstances which, under the patronage of a monarch, who has proved himself to be the friend of the people over whom he reigns, have promised the blessings of liberty to the French nation, could not have been uninteresting to the free citizens of the United States; especially, when they recollected the dispositions which were manifested by the individuals, as well as by the Government of that nation, towards their still recent exertions in support of their own rights.

"It is, with real pleasure, Sir, that I embrace the opportunity now afforded me of testifying, through you, to the National Assembly, the sincere, cordial and earnest wish I entertain, that their labors may speedily issue in the firm establishment of a Constitution, which, by wisely conciliating the indispensable principles of public order, with the enjoyment and exercise of the essential rights of man, shall perpetuate the freedom and happiness of the people of France.

"The impressions naturally produced by similarity of political sentiment, are justly to be regarded as causes of national sympathy, calculated to confirm the amicable ties which may otherwise subsist among nations. This reflection, independent of its more particular reference, must dispose every benevolent mind to unite in the wish, that a general diffusion of the true principles of liberty, assimilating as well as ameliorating the condition of mankind, and fostering the maxims of an ingenuous and virtuous policy, may tend to strengthen the fraternity of the human race, to assuage the jealousies and animosities of its various subdivisions, and to convince them more and more, that their true interests and felicity will best

be promoted by mutual good will, and universal har mony.

*

"The friendship to which you allude, in the close of your letter, has caused me to perceive with particular pleasure, that one, who had endeared himself to this country by his ardent zeal and useful efforts in the cause of liberty has, by the same titles, acquired the confidence and affection of his own. May it ever be his chief aim to continue to be beloved, as one of her most virtuous and most faithful citizens.

"I beg you, Sir, to accept my acknowledgments for the sentiments in your letter, which relate more particularly to myself; and, at the same time, to be assured of the most perfect consideration on my part."

One of the great objects of the institution of a National Bank is seen to have been the establishment of an uniform circulating medium upon a specie basis.

Previous to the Revolution, the very limited metallic currency of the Anglo-American colonies consisted, of the silver which passed thither from Mexico and the Southern part of this Continent through the West Indies; together with the returns for the non-enumerated commodities shipped to the foreign markets in the South of Europe; to which, from a jealous desire to secure a monopoly to the manufactures of Great Britain, the trade of her Colonies was restricted.

From the course of the direct commerce with England, they were largely indebted to her; and, instead of receiving coin from the parent nation, there was a continual drain of it. Hence, the amount of silver in circulation was much below the wants of the people of America; while gold (which prompted its discovery and settlement) was rarely seen.

* La Fayette.

In consequence of the non-importation agreements previous to the war, and of the cessation of the direct trade with the mother country, after the severance of the Empire, the specie capital was, for a short time, increased. This soon disappeared before a gross and vicious paper circulation; which, ceasing to perform its intended office, rendered the importation of specie from Cuba an object of great necessity, and large profit. From this source, and from the remittances in coin, by France, the deficient circulation was in some measure supplied.

The moment that the Continental paper issues ceased to circulate, and the Congress of the Confederation were compelled to adopt a specie standard, the necessity of regulating the value of the coin became obvious; either to prevent fraud, to introduce an uniform money of account, to facilitate the exchanges, or to fix a legal tender. The inducements to this were increased by the discovery of the fact, that the dollars, which were the principal coins in circulation, were leaving the country, in exchange for light gold.

Deriding as "chimerical," the idea that "it would be beneficial to abolish all paper, and depend altogether upon specie for commerce and finance," Hamilton is observed, as early as seventeen hundred and eighty-one, urging upon Congress the exercise of "the privilege of coining." Influenced by this suggestion, instructions were given to the Superintendent of Finance, on the seventh of January of the next year, to prepare a table of rates, at which the coins in circulation should be received at the Treasury. This resolution called forth from that officer an elaborate reply, touching upon many of the leading considerations involved in the adoption of a monetary system. It proposed the creation of a Mint; and that there should be

one money standard, affixed to a silver coin. Another communication gave the draft of an act, establishing the rates of value for the coins of England, France, Spain, Portugal and Holland; and, at which all foreign gold should be estimated. No measures being taken on this subject, Hamilton, it is seen, in the succeeding year, from his seat in Congress, pressed upon that officer the establishment of a "National coinage."

The imbecile counsels of the Confederacy prevented the adoption of this measure; but, two years after, a resolution passed,* declaring that "the money unit should be one dollar; that the smallest coin should be of copper, two hundred to a dollar, and that the several intermediate pieces should increase in a decimal ratio."+

The Board of Treasury recommended, the next year, a money standard, and a decimal money of account, which were established; and a Mint.

Under the Confederation, though Congress had the sole power of regulating the alloy and value of the coins, July 6, 1785.

*

In American State Papers, Finance, vol. 1, 103, is found a proposi tion for a decimal ratio-the source not stated. The lowest denomination to be one twenty-seventh part of a penny sterling. Its advantages were stated to be, its easy adjustment with the existing currency of the States; its banishment of other currencies; the minuteness of its lowest denomination as an accurate measure of the smallest variations of quality or quantity; and its decimal proportion. It suggested five coins: a gold piece equal to ten dollars; a dollar; a tenpence; a penny; and a quarter of a grain of fine silverthat to be the unit. In page 105, do. is a paper of Jefferson's, entitled "Notes on the establishment of a Money Mint and of a Coinage for the United States." In an original letter from him to Robert Morris, found among the Hamilton manuscripts, there is an application for his report to Congress, which, it states, is not on file; and a letter from Gouverneur Morris on the same subject is mentioned. These letters propose four coins; omitting the smallest coin specified in the document previously mentioned, of which Gouverneur Morris is believed to be the author.