The measures taken by Dickinson, the President of Pennsylvania, for punishing this insult, not being satisfactory to Congress, they assembled nine days after at Princeton, in Jersey.  The people of Pennsylvania sent petitions, declaring their indignation at what had passed, their devotion to the federal head, and their dispositions to protect it, and praying them to return; the legislature as soon as assembled did the same thing; the Executive, whose irresolution had been so exceptionable, made apologies.  But Congress were now removed; and to the opinion that this example was proper, other causes were now added sufficient to prevent their return to Philadelphia.

Page 155, I. 2.  Omit ‘La dette actuelle,’ &c.

And also, ‘Les details,’ &c. &c. to the end of the paragraph, ’celles des Etats Unis’ page 156.  The reason is, that these passages seem to suppose that the several sums emitted by Congress at different times, amounting nominally to two hundred millions of dollars, had been actually worth that at the time of emission, and of course, that the soldiers and others had received that sum from Congress.  But nothing is further from the truth.  The soldier, victualler, or other persons who received forty dollars for a service at the close of the year 1779, received, in fact, no more than he who received one dollar for the same service in the year 1775, or 1776; because in those years the paper money was at par with silver; whereas, by the close of 1779, forty paper dollars were worth but one of silver, and would buy no more of the necessaries of life.  To know what the monies emitted by Congress were worth to the people at the time they received them, we will state the date and amount of every several emission, the depreciation of paper money at the time, and the real worth of the emission in silver or gold.

     [Illustration:  Depreciation of Money 1775-1779, page411]

[* The sum actually voted was 50,000,400, but part of it was for exchange of old bills, without saying how much.  It is presumed that these exchanges absorbed 25,552,780, because the remainder 24,447,620, with all the other emissions preceding September 2nd, 1779, will amount to 159,948,880, the sum which Congress declared to be then in circulation.]

Thus it appears that the two hundred millions of dollars, emitted by Congress, were worth to those who received them, but about thirty-six millions of silver dollars.  If we estimate at the same value the like sum of two hundred millions, supposed to have been emitted by the States, and reckon the Federal debt, foreign and domestic, at about forty-three millions, and the State debts at about twenty-five millions, it will form an amount of one hundred and forty millions of dollars, or seven hundred and thirty-five millions of livres Tournois, the total sum which the war has cost the inhabitants of the United States.  It continued eight years, from the battle of Lexington to the cessation of hostilities in America.  The annual expense then was about seventeen millions and five hundred thousand dollars, while that of our enemies was a greater number of guineas.