purchases for the use of his department, and payments made to his deputies; and that the said account, with the vouchers thereto, appeared as perfect and satisfactory as any accounts that have hitherto come before us, but that the accounts of his deputies have not been examined so as to ascertain the exact balance, or to judge on which side it may fall.

"WILLIAM GOVETT, "JOHN D. Mercer.

"The original of the above, General Mifflin hath lodged with me, and I certify the same to be a true copy. JOSEPH NOURSE, "Late Assistant Auditor-General."

On this licentious and rude attack of one of the first characters under the American revolution, a friend of his wishes to state the following facts, which can be authenticated from public documents, viz:

1. Since the date of the above certificate, General Mifflin has been twice at New York to settle his accounts with Congress, but a general rule of that body, not to settle with the principal of any department without a previous settlement with all the deputies, has hitherto prevented the final adjustment of his accounts.

2. Several of the deputies have lately settled their accounts, and some few of them have declared that they are not in debt to Congress, and at present not in circumstances to attend at New York for the purpose of final settlement; but General Mifflin does not consider himself in any degree responsible for any of his deputies, as scarce any of them were appointed by himself, or by his direction, or at his request; and they generally drew for their own expenditures.

3. General Mifflin received his pay in a very depreciated state, and since the adjustment of his accounts by the commissioners as above, he has been obliged to pay several sums in specie, which he had not charged at all, or only in continental money, and he has a very considerable balance now due him by the continent.

4. To show the public sense of General Mifflin's services, let it be remembered that he was appointed quartermaster-general in August, 1775, resigned in May, 1776, and in September, 1776, a committee of Congress made a request that the commander-in-chief would direct General Mifflin to resume the quartermaster-general's department, which, like a true patriot, on account of the difficulty of the times, he did without any rigid regard to his own interest, and in Pennsylvania there is a cloud of evidence of the exertions he made for the public service in the moments of extremest danger.* To the Printer of the Independent Gazeteer, Philadelphia.

Richmond, 21st March, 1788.

Sir: From some of your Gazettes which have lately reached me, and particularly from one of the 13th instant, I find that I am charged as a public defaulter to a very considerable amount. This assertion is made to support a charge against the Federal constitution, which those writers say is calculated to screen defaulters from justice. Without pretending to inquire whether the constitution be, in this respect, misunderstood or misrepresented, I readily agree that if, on fair investigation, that fault shall really appear, an amendment ought to be made.

*From the "Independent Gazetteer," March 6, 1788.

I stand charged in a two-fold capacity: first, as a Chairman of Committees of Congress, and secondly, as Superintendant of the Finances. But it so happens that in neither of those capacities did I ever touch one shilling of the public money.

At an early period of the revolution, I contracted with the committees to import arms, ammunition, and clothing, and was employed to export American produce, and make remittances, on account of the United States, for the purpose of lodging funds in Europe. To effect these objects I received considerable sums of money. The business has been performed, but the accounts are not yet settled. Among the various causes which have hitherto delayed the settlement, I shall only mention here that I have not yet been able to obtain the required vouchers for delivery of articles in different parts of America, nor the duplicates of some accounts, and other needful papers, which were lost at sea during the war. It was my intention to have gone in person to New York, where alone (since the removal of Congress) this business can be finally adjusted; but circumstances unexpected obliged me to come to this country. I therefore employed a gentleman to proceed on the settlement of those accounts, but during the investigation, obstacles arose which he was not sufficiently acquainted with the transactions to remove; and as some of the deficient vouchers are to be obtained in this state and South Carolina, he came on hither, and is now in pursuit of them. I have indeed been less solicitous on this subject than otherwise I should have been, from the conviction that there is a balance in my favor, so that no charge could justly lie against my reputation. Nor could my interest suffer by the delay; for the date of a certificate to be received for the balance was immaterial.

As Superintendant of the Finances, I have no accounts to settle. As I never received any of the public money, none of it can be in my hands. It was received in, and paid from the public treasury on my warrants. The party to whom it was paid was accountable; and the accounts were all in the treasury office, open (during my administration) to the inspection of every American citizen. The only point of responsibility, therefore, in which I can possibly stand is for the propriety of issues to others by my authority. It is true that I caused a statement of the receipts and expenditures to be made and printed, but this was not, by any means, intended for a settlement with Congress, but to be transmitted by them (if they should think proper) to the several states; for I have ever been of opinion that the people ought to know how much of their money goes into the public treasury, and for what purposes it is issued. Perhaps some persons may remember, that in conformity to this opinion, I caused the receipts (even during the war) to be published (monthly) in the Gazettes; and the expenditures, as I have already mentioned, were open to public inspection. This mode of conduct was reprehended by some, and perhaps justly. My fellow-citizens will judge whether it looks like the concealment of a public defaulter. As to the suggestion that the United States in Congress were influenced by me to neglect the duty of calling me to account, I shall not attempt to refute it. Every man who feels for the dignity of America, must revolt at such an insult to her representatives.

Before I conclude, I think it necessary to apologize for having written this letter, to all who may take the trouble of reading it. A newspaper is certainly an improper place for stating and settling public accounts, especially those which are already before the proper tribunal. But I thought it in some sort a duty to take notice of charges which, if not controverted, might have influenced weak minds to oppose the constitution. This was at least the ostensible reason for bringing me forward on the present occasion. With what decency or propriety it has been done, I leave to the reflection of the authors. Their exultation on my "losses and crosses" is characteristic. To every pleasure which can arise from the gratification of such passions they are heartily welcome; and the more so, as I hope and expect the enjoyment will be of short duration. ROBERT MORRIS.*

* From the "Independent Gazetteer," April 8, 1788.

INDEX.