Read at the Meeting of the Historical Society, May 5, 1879.

We are all familiar with the appearance of those rudely engraved, poorly printed pieces of coarse paper which awaken recollections of traditionary fortunes ruthlessly snatched from our ancestors; which bear devices and mottoes suggestive of "Poor Richard;" which recall the sufferings of Valley Forge, and which are so surrounded with an atmosphere of buff and blue as to render most appropriate the name given to them. of Continental Money.

In our city, a hundred years ago, these notes were exercising a potent influence. They had not then reached that state of depreciation which made their existence as money only a question of time. Their zealous friends hoped, by "Tender Laws" and other measures, to infuse new confidence in their value. But neither the proposition to exchange the notes in circulation for certificates of indebtedness bearing interest, VOL. III.-25

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