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A Scheme 
 
 [or a 
 
 Paper Currency 
 
 By 
 Richard Fry 
 
 1739 
 
The fifth publication of the Club for Colonial Reprints 
 of Providence, Rhode Island 
 
 ONE HUNDRED COPIES 
 
A Scheme 
 
 fo 
 
 r a 
 
 Paper Currency 
 
 Together with Two Petitions written 
 in Boston Gaol in 1739-174.0 
 
 By 
 Richard Fry 
 
 With an introduction by 
 Andrew McFarland Davis 
 
 VERSITY 
 
 or 
 
 Providence, Rhode Island 
 1908 
 

 8PREGKELS 
 
Table of Contents 
 
 Introduction ........ 7 
 
 The Petition of Richard Fry 22 
 
 A Scheme for a Paper Currency . . . -41 
 
 The Petition of the Prisoners . . . . -73 
 
 190887 
 
Introduction 
 
 By 
 
 Andrew McFarland Davis 
 
OF THi 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 CAfJPO' 
 
 OR the complete understand- 
 ing of the petition of Rich- 
 ard Fry and of the scheme 
 for a paper currency which 
 is annexed to the petition, it 
 is essential that one should 
 consider not only the laws 
 then in force relating to the 
 collection of debts but also one should bear in mind 
 the condition of the currency question in the Province 
 of Massachusetts Bay at that time. It is further requi- 
 site that the notions then prevalent as to what might 
 constitute a proper basis for a currency adapted for 
 circulation as a medium of trade should be constantly 
 remembered. That a proposition for a public meas- 
 ure should be addressed to the Assembly from the jail, 
 with evident hope and expectation that the source 
 from which it originated would not impair its effi- 
 ciency, necessarily compels one to recognize the 
 fact that indiscriminate imprisonment for debt re- 
 lieved all prisoners, to a certain extent, from the 
 stigma which is cast upon such unfortunates by their 
 confinement to-day. We do not think any the less 
 of Mr. Pickwick because he preferred imprisonment 
 to the payment of Dodson & Fogg's execution. 
 
[x] Introduction 
 
 Nor would any document signed by him in the 
 Fleet Prison lose importance from its source. 
 
 There were three persons whose names were asso- 
 ciated with the original suit in which Fry was held 
 a prisoner ; Samuel Waldo and Thomas Westbrook, 
 plaintiffs, and Richard Fry, defendant. Waldo was 
 a Boston man of great wealth, which in those days 
 was equivalent to saying that he had large holdings 
 of real estate. At a later date he moved to Fal- 
 mouth, the settlement from which the modern 
 Portland has grown, where it was known that his 
 acreage was well up in the thousands, while the author 
 of the Waldo Genealogy puts his entire holdings in 
 what is now Maine at 500,000 acres. His name 
 appears in the Frost and Leighton suit, in which 
 the York Court twice refused to carry out a Royal 
 Order, issued on an appeal to the Privy Council 
 from one of their judgments. He was the repre- 
 sentative in Boston of Ralph Gulston, who had a 
 contract with the Crown to furnish masts and spars, 
 and he it was who employed Leighton to cut down 
 the trees which caused Frost to bring his action of 
 trespass. Waldo was a man of many enterprises, 
 and in the course of his career incurred much hos- 
 tility, but on the whole he was esteemed, and in the 
 Louisburg expedition he, as General, held the sec- 
 
Introduction [xi] 
 
 ond place in command of the Massachusetts troops. 
 His prominence at that time has procured for him 
 recognition in our Biographical Dictionaries. 
 
 Westbrook, better known as Colonel Westbrook, 
 was also a well-known man. He lived on the Stroud- 
 water, just west of what we now know as Portland, 
 Maine, where he had a farm and much real estate 
 along the river. He also owned land on the Pre- 
 sumpscot. He figures in the politics of the Prov- 
 ince, as the Colonel, whom Dummer against his 
 will and practically under compulsion from the as- 
 sembly, appointed to carry out an Indian raid. It was 
 under his directions as Colonel that Father Rasle's 
 camp was destroyed and his papers, amongst which 
 was the Abenaki dictionary, were captured. 
 
 Just what brought Waldo and Westbrook to- 
 gether in this partnership; just what the terms of 
 the partnership were ; and what were the separate 
 contributions of the partners to the enterprise, does 
 not appear, but we find these two men associ- 
 ated in October, 1734, as partners in a lease to Fry 
 of a paper-mill on the Stroudwater. 
 
 Richard Fry was an Englishman who, as he states 
 in his petition addressed to the General Court, came 
 over here in 1731. His claim for fame rests pri- 
 marily upon his scheme for a paper currency, and 
 
[xii] Introduction 
 
 secondarily upon the hundreds of papers in suits in 
 which he figured as plaintiff or defendant, with 
 which the files of Sufi-olk County for many years, 
 especially 1736 to 1741, inclusive, are cluttered up. 
 Winsor, in the Narrative and Critical History of 
 America, alludes to him as a printer, but he himself 
 in an advertisement defined his avocation or avoca- 
 tions as ** Stationer, Bookseller, Paper-Maker, and 
 Rag Merchant." His claim that he was a paper- 
 maker by occupation, furnishes the probable basis 
 for the lease of the Stroudwater Mill to him. 
 
 The advertisement which has been alluded to ap- 
 peared in The Weekly Rehearsal, published in Bos- 
 ton on May i, 1732, and as it bears the marks of 
 the man's peculiarities, it is worth reproducing. 
 
 ^~T^HIS is to give Notice^ That Richard Fry, Sta- 
 tioner , Bookseller, Paper-tnaker ^ Rag Mer- 
 chant from the City of London, keeps at Mr. Tho. 
 Fleet'j-, Printer, at the Heart & Crown in Cornhill, 
 Boston ; where the said Fry is ready to accommodate 
 all Gentlemen Merchants and Tradesmen with Setts of 
 Accompt Books after the tnost tieatest Manner. And 
 whereas it has been the common Method of the ?fwst cu- 
 rious Merchants in Boston, to Procure their Books from 
 London. This is to acquaint those Gentlernen, that 
 
Introduction [xiii] 
 
 / the said Fry will sell all sorts of Accompt Books done 
 after the most acute Manner, for Twenty per Cent. 
 cheaper than they can have them from London. / re- 
 turn the Publick Thanks for following the Direction 
 of niy former Advertisefnent for gathering Rags, and 
 hope they will still continue the like Method, having re- 
 ceived upwards of Seven Thousand Weight already. 
 For the pleasing Entertainment of the Polite part of 
 Mankind, I have Printed the most beautiful Poems of 
 Mr. Stephen Duck; the fajnous ^Wt^hir^ Poet. It 
 is a full Demonstration to tne, that the People of New- 
 England have a fine Taste for good Sense and polite 
 Learning, having already Sold 1200 of those Poems. 
 
 Rich. Fry. 
 
 The published Scheme which comprises the 
 greater part of the reprint given herewith bears date 
 April 19, 1739, but it is evident that it was not 
 submitted to the Assembly for some time after that 
 date. An advertisement inserted by Fry in The 
 Boston Gazette for May 28, 1739, speaks of it as 
 "now in the Press." This advertisement, which 
 foreshadowed to the Public the benefits about to 
 be conferred on them through the submission of 
 the Scheme to the General Court, reads as follows : 
 
[xiv] Introduction 
 
 THIS is to inform the Publick that there is now 
 
 in the Press ^ and will be laid before the Great and Gen- 
 eral Court, a Paper Scheme, drawn for the Good and 
 Benefit of every individual Member of the whole Prov- 
 ince ; and what will much please his Royal Majesty ; 
 for the Glory of our King is the Happiness of his Sub- 
 jects : And every Merchant in Great-Britain that 
 trades to New-England, will find their Accoimt by it ; 
 and there is no Man that has the least Shadow of 
 Fou?idation of Co?nmon Reason, but must allow the 
 said Scheme to be reasonable and just : I have laid all 
 my Schetnes to be proved by the Mathefnaticks, and all 
 Mankind well knows. Figures will not lye ; and notwith- 
 standing the dismal Idea of the Tear Forty One, / dont 
 doubt the least seeing of it a Tear o/' Jubilee, and in a 
 few Tears having the Ballance of Trade in Favour of 
 this Province from all Parts of the Trading World ; for 
 it's plain to a Demonstration, by the just Schemes of 
 Peter the Great, the late Czar of Muscovy, in the Run 
 of a few Years, arrived to such a vast Pitch of Glory, 
 whose Empire now f?iakes as grand an Appearance as 
 any E?npire on the Earth, which Empire for Improve- 
 ment, is no way^, to be compared with his Royal Maj- 
 esty s Dominions in America. 
 
 / hu7nbly beg Leave to subscribe myself, 
 A true and hearty Lover of New England, 
 
 Richard Fry. 
 Boston Gaol May, 1739. 
 
Introduction [^v] 
 
 It would be difficult to determine from the lan- 
 guage of Fry's petition to the General Court, 
 given below, what was the basis of the suit 
 upon which he was held a prisoner for debt. 
 He alludes only to mills " across Presumscot 
 River," while it appears from papers in the Suf- 
 olk files that the paper-mill, the lease of which 
 was the basis of the suit, was situated on the 
 Stroudwater, and Fry's letters or at any rate some of 
 them are at this time dated from Stroudwater. 
 There were saw-mills on the Presumpscot and there 
 was at least one saw-mill in addition to the paper- 
 mill on the Stroudwater. It is not essential for 
 our purpose that we should unravel all the intrica- 
 cies of this litigation. Certain facts, however, may 
 be ascertained from the papers of the suits and while 
 they are not on their face reconcilable with some of 
 Fry's statements, it is quite possible that one famil- 
 iar with the details of the early history of Falmouth 
 might discover what the difficulty was. 
 
 The suit was for rent due for the occupation and 
 use of a paper-mill on the Stroudwater, which was 
 leased to Fry by Waldo and Westbrook, October 
 14, 1734, for the term of twenty-one years, at the 
 annual rental of forty pounds sterling, payable in 
 quarterly instalments. Simultaneously with this 
 
[xvi] Introduction 
 
 document, another was executed between the same 
 parties wherein Waldo and Westbrook agreed to 
 build a house for Fry and to lease it to him for ten 
 per cent of the cost. They also agreed, if the use 
 of the saw-mill was found prejudicial to the paper- 
 mill by drawing down the water, that they would 
 lease the same to Fry. 
 
 Fry occupied the mill until December 25, 1736, 
 without making any money payments for his rent, 
 although he was credited by his landlords with 
 fifty reams of paper delivered to them, which was 
 valued at ten pounds sterling. The claim for rent 
 for this period amounted to eighty pounds, on 
 which credit was given for ten pounds on account 
 of the paper, and judgment was obtained for the net 
 amount due, seventy pounds. The exact date of 
 Fry's committal to jail does not appear, but in 
 April, 1739, he had been incarcerated upwards of 
 one year and was then undergoing his second year of 
 confinement. On the twenty-first of June, 1738, at 
 a hearing on appeal in York, in the case of Fry, 
 appellant, vs. Waldo and Westbrook, appellees, the 
 original judgment was confirmed and execution was 
 issued August 9, 1738. In all probability he was 
 committed to jail very soon after this. 
 
 On the twenty-second of June, 1739, his petition 
 
Introduction [xvii] 
 
 for a review of his case came before the Assembly. 
 This was disposed of by an order in the House grant- 
 ing a hearing on the twenty-ninth of June, provided 
 the Council should concur. The Council agreed to 
 this, and on that day Fry filed a supplementary 
 petition, explanatory of the references in the orig- 
 inal petition to certain papers said to have been 
 seized by the Sheriff of York County, and withheld 
 by him from Fry, which he claimed were of im- 
 portance in this suit. He was embarrassed appar- 
 ently by the fact that there was no equity jurisdiction 
 for the Courts. The papers in question did not 
 affect the plaintiff Westbrook. They bore upon the 
 case, but were executed by Waldo alone, and Fry 
 wanted the General Court to give him what relief 
 it could from the situation in which he found him- 
 self. On the sixth of October, the Council dismissed 
 this petition for a review of the case, in which de- 
 cision the House on the ninth concurred. 
 
 No reference is made in these proceedings to 
 Fry's proposition to benefit the Province by his 
 scheme for a paper currency, nor did the Assembly 
 seem to think that "his great improvements in the 
 Province," and his four years of waiting while he 
 kept his family "in a pretty genteel manner," enti- 
 tled him to a tract of waste land, for the benefit of 
 
[xviii] Introduction 
 
 himself and his New England born son. It is prob- 
 able, however, that Fry submitted his scheme to the 
 Assembly, and it is quite certain that he did about 
 this time forward to the Council a similar proposi- 
 tion, the original of which has been preserved in the 
 Archives and is in the following language : 
 
 To His Excellency Jonathan Belcher Esc^"" 
 Cap^ Generall & GovERNOUR in Cheife in and 
 over his majesties Province of the Massachusetts 
 Bay In New England & To the Honourable his 
 Majesties Councill. 
 
 Worthy & Honourable Gentlemen 
 
 I Have Humbly made bold To Lay before 
 you a small scheme; and as theire is an absolute 
 nessesity for the Gentlemen of this province to 
 come into a Just Scheme for a paper Currency till 
 such time as by frugallity and Dent of Industry 
 Silver & Gold be brought to Pass Amongst us as A 
 Medium, it's plaine to a Demonstration. If the 
 Gentlemen will unite; they may Directly Emitt 
 such a sufficient Sum by notes of hand, and upon 
 such a solid footing as to be Equall to Gold or Sil- 
 ver, theire is no Person of this Honourable Board 
 
Introduction [^i^l 
 
 but knows the dismall State the Seven United 
 provinces were Reduced too, not many Ages since; 
 butt they all united as one man and pursewed Just 
 & Reasonable Schemes and with Indefaticable In- 
 dustry, hath brought them to make that Glorious 
 figure they now Appear in the world; they had all 
 theire Ruff Materialls to produce from Other Coun- 
 trys for theire Manafactury's, butt it is not so with 
 us, we haveing them all within our Selves ; and If 
 the Gentlemen of this province will proceed with 
 the Same vigour and Resolution as they did may 
 in the Run of A few years Arrive to As Great A 
 Pitch of Glory as the United States of Holland, and 
 I Dont Doubt of seeing the New England Com- 
 pany make as Great a figure as the East India 
 Company in Holland, which Boasts of Haveing 
 Subdued more Leagues of Country then there are 
 Acres of Land in all Holland, of haveing Thirty 
 Thousand Souldiers & A Vast number of Ships in 
 its Service of Employing Commonly one hundred 
 Thousand men. 
 
 May it Please your Honours haveing nothing 
 more to add, only wishing that Allmighty God will 
 Inspire you with the Same Noble & Generous Reso- 
 lution and Courage As Guided the States of the once 
 poor. Low & Distressed States of Holland, butt now 
 
[xx] Introduction 
 
 the most high and mighty ; which is the Earnest 
 
 and Hearty Prayer 
 
 of your Honours most Humble 
 and Obedient Servant at Command 
 
 Richard Fry 
 Boston Gaol 
 June 
 
 1739 
 
 This document was originally folded and sealed 
 and was addressed on the outside to ** His Excel- 
 lency Jonathan Belcher Esq'^ and his majesties Hon- 
 ourable Council These for Capt Gibson." 
 
 It was sealed with an armorial seal, the impress 
 from which in sealing wax is still distinct. Mr. 
 Henry E. Woods, Commissioner of Public Records 
 for Massachusetts, tells me that the description of the 
 seal is as follows : " Out of a ducal coronet or, an 
 heraldic antelope's head argent, attired, crined and 
 tufted of the first," that it was the crest of the Frere, 
 Freer, or Fryer family of London and Counties Es- 
 sex and Worcester, that it is said to have been 
 granted April 10, 1572, .and that it was borne by 
 Sir John Fryer, Bart., Lord Mayor of London in 
 1 72 1, who died without issue. It would seem 
 therefore that the seal was one which Fry had 
 
Introduction [^^^1 
 
 brought over with him, and he very likely had or 
 thought he had a right to use it. 
 
 We find Fry in jail in 1739, where he says he 
 had already been for nearly two years. In 1741 he 
 is still there. His quarrel with Waldo and West- 
 brook had ramified and he was now being pursued by 
 one Massey, who apparently was in partnership with 
 him at one time in the manufacture of paper on the 
 Stroudwater. The lively spirit that could main- 
 tain all those quarrels and simultaneously bombard 
 the General Court with petitions and schemes for a 
 paper currency, must have been a difficult one to 
 hold in restraint and to keep subject to the disci- 
 pline of the jail. When we find that in the sum- 
 mer of 1740, the prisoners held for debt forwarded 
 to the General Court, the complaint and remon- 
 strance which is printed at the end of this volume, 
 we may be sure that he had a hand in getting it up. 
 This document bears his signature as well as several 
 others and is interesting in that it reveals to us the 
 fact that charitable persons were in the habit of 
 contributing for the relief of prisoners held for debt. 
 A fence had been built in the prison yard which 
 made it difficult for the prisoners to receive this 
 benefit and they claimed from the General Court 
 protection against this invasion of their rights. 
 
[xxii] 
 
 Introduction 
 
 Moreover they complained specifically of mal- 
 treatment at the hands of one of the under-keepers. 
 This matter was not finally disposed of for some 
 months, and in the meantime Fry, not satisfied with 
 the progress of the complaint of the prisoners at 
 large, forwarded to the Council a personal statement 
 that the under-keeper in question was a supporter of 
 the Land Bank and that he was in the habit of 
 receiving and passing the bills of that bank. It 
 will be observed that this complaint was addressed 
 to the Council alone. The Governor and the 
 Council were hostile to the Land Bank, and the 
 Governor had by proclamation enjoined all public 
 officials under his control from receiving or paying 
 out the bills known as Land Bank bills. On the 
 other hand the House was composed of supporters 
 of this scheme and Fry in thus appealing to the 
 prejudices of the Council, was likely to arouse 
 friendly support for the under-keeper, if his denun- 
 ciation became known to the Representatives. 
 
 It is probable that he was not absolutely impecu- 
 nious and that his prolonged residence in the jail 
 was not altogether involuntary. There are deposi- 
 tions on file showing that in 1741 two deputy sher- 
 iffs had an interview with him in the jail yard. 
 The one from York had brought with him certain 
 
Introduction [xxiii] 
 
 movable property and packages which had come 
 into his possession officially and which he wished to 
 turn over to Fry. The other was a Suffolk deputy 
 and his presence was not at first to be accounted for. 
 Fry was evidently suspicious of the purpose of the 
 deputies and there was much haggling before he 
 accepted delivery of the property in a manner which 
 was satisfactory to them, but when he had done so 
 the Suffolk deputy immediately attached it. The 
 testimony shows that the packages contained bills of 
 public-credit and, whether Fry was right or wrong, 
 we can not repress a feeling of indignation that a 
 prisoner should have been thus exposed to the trick- 
 ery of these deputies. 
 
 Still further evidence that he had not lost all his 
 property is shown by the fact that his widow, Mar- 
 tha Fry of Boston, who describes herself as " paper- 
 maker," took out letters of administration on his 
 estate on the twenty -seventh of August, 1745. 
 
 In his advertisement he said " I have printed the 
 most beautiful poems of Mr. Stephen Duck, the 
 famous Wiltshire Poet. It is a full demonstration 
 to me that the people of New-England have a fine 
 taste for good sense and polite learning, having 
 already sold 1200 of these Poems." Here we have 
 an opportunity to test his literary taste, and to this 
 
[xxiv] Introduction 
 
 test we can add one other. His name appears on 
 the list of subscribers to Prince's Chronology. 
 
 Such are the traces that this flighty adventurer 
 has left behind him. The fact that a large part of 
 his life in the Province was spent either in the back- 
 woods at Stroudwater or in the jail at Boston, did not 
 prevent him from asserting that ** this most noble 
 Province of the Massachusetts-Bay is superior to any 
 Province in his Majesty's Dominions in America." 
 The fifteen colonies which were to arrive at as great 
 a pitch of glory as the fifteen provinces of China, 
 were the thirteen colonies which became the 
 original thirteen states together with Nova-Scotia 
 and Newfoundland. Twenty per cent was his fa- 
 vorite lure, and we may be sure it had its effect 
 upon Samuel Waldo. He would sell "all sorts of 
 Accompt Books" . . . "for twenty per cent 
 cheaper than they can have them from London." 
 The New River Company in London paid twenty 
 per cent interest. His proposed mills at Dorches- 
 ter Neck would "produce twenty per cent" He 
 pads his paper with extensive quotations from 
 Douglass's Essay Concerning Silver and Paper 
 Currencies, but it is fair to him to say that he 
 gives a hint to that effect. 
 
 When he was released from jail we do not know. 
 
Introduction [xxv] 
 
 but it is a singular sequence to this story of litiga- 
 tion and quarrels that Waldo and Westbrook subse- 
 quently fell at loggerheads and Westbrook's prop- 
 erty was seized and sold under execution. The 
 harshness of this treatment aroused the sympathy of 
 Westbrook's friends and stirred up much indigna- 
 tion against Waldo. 
 
 At the time when Fry submitted his scheme for 
 a paper-currency, the Province was exclusively de- 
 pendent upon the bills of public credit emitted by 
 the Provincial government, for a medium of trade. 
 Originally put forth in 1690, in the days of the 
 interim government inaugurated after the deposition 
 of Andros, for the purpose of settling obligations 
 which the existing government could not hope to 
 meet by ordinary taxation, the facility with which 
 they were accepted by the people had led the Pro- 
 vincial government to adopt them and it had come 
 to pass that the Province settled all current obliga- 
 tions by the emission of bills of public credit. 
 With each emission of bills there was a promise 
 on the part of the government that on a certain 
 future year taxes would be laid to call in the 
 same amount of bills as were then emitted. It had 
 resulted that the annual taxes were laid not for 
 current expenses but to call in outstanding bills of 
 
fxxvil Introduction 
 
 public credit. The facility with which the Prov- 
 ince could thus meet its obligations, had led to a 
 steady increase of the number of bills in circulation. 
 Silver had been driven out of use in the Province. 
 The example of Massachusetts had been followed by 
 other colonies and the great excess of bills in circu- 
 lation had put them at a heavy discount. At the 
 time when Fry submitted his scheme there were 
 outstanding two classes of bills, known as " old 
 tenor " and ** new tenor." The original bills were 
 stated upon their face " to be equal in value to mon- 
 ey." They were a legal tender, and were receivable 
 by the government in all payments. The value of 
 the new bills was stated in given weights of silver 
 or gold at a fixed price per ounce. Their function 
 was the same as the old bills, but as their value was 
 stated at par in bullion, and the old bills were cir- 
 culating at a discount of nearly seventy-five per cent., 
 it was provided that the new bills should be received 
 for taxes on the basis of one of the new for three of 
 the old. The depreciation of the Massachusetts 
 old tenor currency at this time was greatly in excess 
 of the natural depreciation which would have been 
 caused by the emissions of that Province alone. 
 Orders had been issued by the Privy Council that 
 the number of bills in circulation must be steadily 
 
Introduction [xxvii] 
 
 reduced so that by 1741 the Province would have 
 outstanding only an amount equal to the needs 
 for the annual expenses of the government and these 
 alone were to constitute the circulating medium. 
 Belcher, the Royal Governor of the Province, faith- 
 fully endeavored to carry out these orders, and 
 steadily reduced the amount of Massachusetts bills 
 in circulation. Nevertheless, silver continued to 
 rise, owing to the bills which flowed in from 
 Rhode Island, to fill the gap occasioned by the 
 Massachusetts withdrawals. The Governor in 
 Rhode Island was elective and was not quite so 
 subservient to Royal orders. 
 
 It was realized by all that the amount of bills 
 to which the Privy Council had undertaken to 
 limit the Province after 1741, even if they should 
 circulate at par, was inadequate and efforts were put 
 forth in many directions to furnish relief to the 
 impending situation. Fantastic schemes were pro- 
 pounded in abundance by amateur financiers. There 
 had been for several years a determined effort on the 
 part of certain Boston capitalists to get back to a 
 specie basis. Fry, in the portion of his scheme 
 which quotes from the Essay Concerning Silver and 
 Paper Currencies, gives Douglass's resume of the 
 merchants' notes of 1733. The idea of the mer- 
 
[xxviiil Introduction 
 
 chants was to check the inflow of Rhode Island 
 bills by refusing to receive them, and as the gov- 
 ernment was simultaneously reducing the amount of 
 Massachusetts bills, to supply the vacancy occasioned 
 by the refusal to accept the Rhode Island bills and 
 the reduction of the Massachusetts bills, by a cur- 
 rency of their own, based upon the credits, joint 
 and several, of the signers of the bills. Silver was 
 then worth 19s. an ounce in old tenor, and the 
 new bills were to be redeemed in silver on this basis 
 in three instalments, three-sevenths at the end of 
 three years, three-sevenths at the end of six years, 
 and the balance at the end of ten years. There 
 was no capitalization of the company. The sub- 
 scribers merely borrowed the notes and agreed to 
 use them in trade. They also agreed to refuse to 
 receive Rhode Island bills. Their idea was that 
 they could by these redemptions in silver gradu- 
 ally furnish specie for use in trade. Their hopes 
 were checked by the sudden rise in silver, which 
 occurred just after they had launched their scheme. 
 In 1738, and again in 1739, attempts were made 
 to float a loan of Province bills which, like the 
 new tenor bills, had their value stated in silver at a 
 fixed price. These bills were to be borrowed by 
 certain underwriters who were to pay annually lor 
 
Introduction [xxix] 
 
 ten years to the Province for each^i,ooo borrowed 
 ^105 in silver at 6s. 8d. per ounce. These schemes 
 failed for lack of patronage. 
 
 In 1739, the time was rapidly approaching when, 
 under the Royal Order, there would be at command 
 of the government only about ^30,000 of the bills 
 of the Province for a circulating medium for trade. 
 The Representatives in the summer of that year 
 appointed a committee which was authorized to 
 receive in the recess of the Court any scheme or 
 proposals from any persons whomsoever for the fur- 
 nishing a further medium of trade in such a way 
 and manner as that the value thereof might be 
 maintained. It is evident from the foregoing that 
 the Assembly was in a proper frame of mind to 
 entertain propositions emanating from any source 
 and it was to be apprehended that they would not 
 exercise much discrimination in considering the 
 schemes which should be submitted. 
 
 It was under these circumstances that the Land 
 Bank and Manufactory Scheme applied for incorpo- 
 ration. This scheme was based upon a plan 
 which had been before the public in one form or 
 another for many years. The company was to emit 
 its notes, the denominational values of which were 
 stated to be in silver at 6s. 8d. an ounce; the notes 
 
[xxx] Introduction 
 
 were payable in twenty years and then might be 
 redeemed in produce of various sorts. Subscribers 
 to the scheme agreed to borrow these notes and to 
 give security therefor by mortgage of real estate or 
 pledge of personal property. Incredible as it may 
 seem this scheme found followers throughout the 
 Province, and a House of Representatives was 
 chosen which was composed largely of its patrons. 
 Fortunately the Governor and Council were equally 
 hostile, and under their stimulation the Boston 
 merchants organized a counter-scheme, which was 
 known as the Silver Bank. Their plan was some- 
 what similar to that of the company which issued 
 the merchants' notes of 1733. They emitted notes 
 on the credit of their personal responsibility. Ac- 
 cepting the discount of the Province bills as the 
 basis on which the notes should be emitted, they 
 promised to receive them on a sliding scale of im- 
 provement in the discount, which would bring the 
 value of the bills, measured by the price of silver 
 stated on their face, from 28s. ^d, in 1741 to 20s. 
 in 1755. There is no occasion to follow the for- 
 tunes of these two schemes to their abrupt and 
 forcible closure, through the medium of parlia- 
 mentary interference. We have already got beyond 
 the date of Fry's scheme and reference to these 
 
Introduction [xxxi] 
 
 is made simply to show the kind of schemes for a 
 paper currency that were then considered. 
 
 It is plain that, had there been a combination of 
 wealthy merchants to develop the regions in Boston 
 which Fry pointed out as suitable for the purpose, 
 their notes might have been as acceptable as those of 
 the Land or Silver Banks. He had, however, abso- 
 lutely nothing to build on, and like all vagabond in- 
 tellects ranging at large, he occasionally uttered a 
 profound truth. How prophetic, what he said of 
 the Mill Pond? We have to study our ancient 
 maps of Boston to find where the pond was. It has 
 proved to be as he said, " a fine beautiful tract of 
 Land," " More fit to build houses on." A portion 
 of the land which he wished to improve as the basis 
 of his scheme is covered with warehouses, and scat- 
 tered over a part of it are buildings erected by the 
 Boston Wharf Company. If this Company had 
 been in existence in 1739, perhaps he might have 
 utilized it for his purpose and thus have posed as a 
 benefactor instead of a prisoner. 
 
The Petition of Richard Fry 
 
 with 
 
 A Scheme 
 
 for a 
 
 Paper Currency 
 
This Petition fills two pages, the second numbered ii, of a single 
 folio sheet, which is folded around the Scheme for a Paper Currency 
 so that the blank leaf forms the back cover. That this is the way 
 it was originally issued is likely, although the breaks in the fold of 
 the first page of the Scheme^ in the John Carter Brown Library 
 copy, show that this was at some time the outside of the pamphlet. 
 
 The Scheme occupies ten numbered folio pages, on three single 
 sheets, with the signature marks B, C, D. The Postscript is on 
 pages 1 1 and 12. 
 
fs-^o^ /^^ttCV f^fl^sx <»^u\\ f^^\t\\ ^^ovN\ fS^'&i\ r^i'duA i^-ouA ^-..o«A n-.^'v^X r^.fZv'-V r^:^ii\\ <^^v\\ f9^%A f^ffS^Sk 
 
 >^ >^ 4^ 4^ 4^ >^ >^ >;^ '^ >;^ 4^ ^^ >^ •^ >9^ >^ 
 
 To His Excellency 
 JONATHAN BELCHER, Esq; 
 
 Captain General and Governour in Chief 
 in and over His Majesty's Province of the 
 Massachusetts-Bay in New- England. 
 
 To the Honourable His Majesty's Council. 
 And the Honourable House of Represen- 
 tatives, in General Court assembled at 
 Boston. 
 
 The Petition of Richard Fry of Boston. 
 
 Humbly Sheweth^ 
 
 HE late great Piece of Justice done 
 unto your most humble Petitioner, 
 in dismissing the High Sheriff of 
 Tork's most unreasonable and un- 
 just Petition, imboldens me to lay 
 before you the present great Hard- 
 ships and Sufferings I labour under : And know- 
 ing the Justice and Wisdom of this Great As- 
 sembly, flatters me with great Hopes and Expecta- 
 tions of having my Desires and Requests granted. 
 
[36] Richard Fry's Petition 
 
 I am now confin'd in his Majesty's Goal at the 
 Suit of Mr. Samuel Waldo of Bostoii, and Thomas 
 Westbrook of Falmouth ^ Esq ; for Seventy Pounds 
 Sterling, obtained against me at the last Superior 
 Court held at 7^ork. Your most humble Petitioner 
 in fact saith, that for want of one Writing or In- 
 strument, under the Hand of Mr. Sa??iuel Waldo of 
 Boston^ which was taken away from your Petitioner 
 by Ahrahatn Tyler ^ the Under-Sheriff for the County 
 of Torky under Colour of an Execution from Mr. 
 Samuel Waldo of Boston^ and hath taken and con- 
 verted the said Writing or Instrument to his own 
 Use, to the great Damage of your Petitioner. Your 
 most humble Petitioner further observes. It has been 
 always the Wisdom of this great Assembly to reward 
 all those that have any ways served this Province, 
 with Rewards and Favours. Your Petitioner in- 
 dented with Mr. Samuel Waldo in the Year 1731 in 
 Londony to have built within ten Months after my 
 Arrival in New-England^ a Paper Mill. Your Pe- 
 titioner arrived in New-England in the Year 1731, 
 and waited four Years wholly at his own Expence, 
 till such Time as the said Mills were built. Your 
 Petitioner, willing to promote the Good of this 
 Country, drew a Plan for sundry Sorts of Mills to 
 be built, which was across Presumscot River in Fal- 
 
Richard Fry's Petition [37] 
 
 mouth; which Scheme the said Waldo and West- 
 brook came into, and built the said Mills. And your 
 Petitioner sent for one Mr. John Collier from Eng- 
 land, which took the Lease of the said Mills at Two 
 hundred Pounds Sterling per Ann. for twenty one 
 Years. Your Petitioner was to pay Sixty four Pounds 
 Sterling per Ann. for twenty-one Years, for the Paper 
 Mills. And the said Samuel Waldo and Thomas 
 Westbrook confessed before Capt. Greenwood., Mr. 
 George Cradock and Mr. Bra?idon, Merchants of Bos- 
 ton, that they held and owned in the Township of 
 Falmouth, Fifteen thousand Acres of Land, and that 
 one Acre with another was Three Pounds more in 
 Value for the Improvement of these Mills. But the 
 said Waldo and Westbrook not content with their 
 Improvement of Two hundred and sixty four Pounds 
 Sterling per Ann. and the vast Improvements of 
 their Land, they coveted the Improvement of all the 
 Mills, and paid Mr. John Collier Six hundred Pounds 
 for his Lease, the said Collier finding what Sort of 
 Men he had to deal withal, sold them his said 
 Lease. The said Waldo and Westbrook offer' d your 
 most humble Petitioner Five hundred Pounds for the 
 Loan of my Lease, but I would not comply with 
 their most unreasonable and unjust Request : So 
 they have entred into a Combination with the 
 
[38] Richard Fry's Petition 
 
 Deputy-Sheriff of Toj'k^ Abraham Tyler, under Col- 
 our ot an Execution hath violently entred my 
 Mills, and have converted all my Substance to their 
 own Use, and have committed my Body to Boston 
 Goal. Your most humble Petitioner in fact saith, 
 he is not indebted one Farthing either to Samuel 
 Waldo, Thomas Westbrook or Abraha?n Tyler, but the 
 said Waldo, Westbrook and Tyler have proceeded 
 contrary to all Law, Justice, Reason or Equity now 
 subsisting in the Christian World. Your most 
 humble Petitioner prays to have Leave to bring 
 his Writ of Review to be tried in the County of 
 Suffolk, at the next Superiour Court to be held in 
 August, against the said Samuel Waldo and Thomas 
 Westbrook : The Reason is, because I am confined 
 in Boston Goal, and my Witnesses are in Boston. Your 
 Petitioner further prays, for his great Improvements 
 in this Province, and his leaving his own Native 
 Country, and his great Charges in coming over and 
 waiting four Years at his own Expence. (And there 
 is no Member of this Honourable House but must 
 know the keeping a Family in a pretty genteel 
 Manner, four Years, must amount to a large Sum.) 
 Your humble Petitioner prays to have a Tract of 
 the Waste Lands granted him, belonging to this 
 Province; which in time may be serviceable to his 
 
Richard Fry's Petition [39] 
 
 New-England born Son, 'James-Brook Fry: Which 
 said Son GOD in his good Providence hath given 
 to your Petitioner in these his great Troubles and 
 Afflictions. Your most humble Petitioner leaveth 
 all his Desires and Requests to the great Wisdom 
 and Order of this great and august Assembly. 
 
 Ki chard Fry. 
 

 
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Sft Sft Sft Sft Sft Jfh Sft jft 3f^ 3f% Sfy> Jfh Sf^ 3jfi^ Sn. 3f& 
 
 JOT9IR jetSK *?♦?=; *Wji^ Ji^S^ ^'^v^ *!51S^ ^"^J"^ J<?f5*' "^fS^ j'^IJk ^v^ *'?«''; *3»5»; J'^ti'^ 'tlli*; 
 
 »^» »x»' •ji' ^x»» *^« 
 
 ►ja» ^^^ ^^<f •a*' •h*^ ^a* •a* •xfc*' •^'^ *A* 
 
 SCHEME 
 
 FOR A 
 
 Paper Currency. 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
 EADING in News-Papers, 
 
 the last sitting of the Honourable 
 Assembly of this Province, of a 
 Petition sign'd by a great Number 
 of the Freeholders of this Town, 
 was presented to the Court, for 
 Relief under their present difficult and distressing 
 Circumstances, for want of a sufficient Medium ; 
 whereby the Trade and Business of the Town is 
 very much decayed, Law-Suits increased, and Cash 
 to purchase the Necessaries of Life hard to be 
 
[42] A Currency Scheme 
 
 attained, even by many of good Estates among 
 them. It must plainly appear, to a Mathematical 
 Demonstration, that nothing can help or relieve 
 this Town out of its present great Difficulties and 
 bad Circumstances, but Frugality and Industry, and 
 pursuing just and reasonable Schemes. For any 
 reasonable Man living to think that the Printing a 
 few Rheams of Paper, without the least Shadow of 
 Foundation, and calling it Money, will relieve them, 
 they are vastly mistaken, it will only lead them into 
 a vast Labyrinth of Evils. 
 
 The following Scheme will appear to a full 
 Demonstration what vast Service it will be to this 
 Town. 
 
 It must be allowed that a Number can perform 
 more than a few, which is just and reasonable: For 
 the Gentlemen in England^ Holland and other Parts 
 of the Trading World, form themselves into Soci- 
 eties and Companies for the carrying on vast 
 Designs in Trade and Commerce. The Dutch 
 are the only People who have got Money by their 
 first Scheme: Their Maxims are thus, when they 
 have a Mind to bring any Manufactury into their 
 Country, they always procure the best Workmen 
 from that Country where that Manufactury is car- 
 ried on to the utmost Perfection. Having procured 
 
A Currency Scheme [43 I 
 
 Workmen, they perform to those Men their En- 
 gagements and Contracts to the least Tittle: And 
 those Workmen finding themselves justly dealt 
 withal, they directly bring that Manufactury to as 
 great Perfection as it is carried on in the Country 
 they came from. And thus from these wise 
 Maxims, which the Dutch have followed, they have 
 brought them to that glorious Figure which they 
 now make in the World. 
 
 NOW to my Schefne. There is the compleat- 
 est Place for the Erecting and Building Twenty 
 Mills on of any Place I ever saw in my Life; it is 
 from the Warehouse of Job Lewis, Esq ; near the 
 Fortification, across to his Warehouse on Dorchester 
 Point. I suppose, was it possible, that such a Place 
 could be procured as near Amsterda?n as this is to 
 Boston, the Dutch would give One hundred Thousand 
 Pounds Sterling for such a convenient Place. 
 
 Our Mother Country will be much pleas'd with 
 this Scheme, because not one Mill will interfere 
 with any of the Manufacturies in Great Britatji. 
 I shall explain the great Benefit and Advantage of 
 sundry of these Mills ; which by the Parity of 
 Reason will explain the rest. It's plain to a Dem- 
 onstration, that those Corn Mills which are erected 
 on the Mill Pond, will in a few Years be of no Ser- 
 
[44] A Currency Scheme 
 
 vice. The Reason is, Because the Pond fills so fast 
 with Filth, that there will not be sufficient Water 
 to carry on the said Mills. And such a fine, beau- 
 tiful Tract of Land will be more fit to build Streets 
 of Houses on ; and ten Times the Improvement 
 than they are at present employ'd in. And these 
 Corn Mills, (to be built on the aforementioned 
 Place) may be built to the same advantage as 
 in England. The Corn Mills have been vastly im- 
 proved in England with Twenty Years. And 
 these Mills being built to the same Perfection they 
 are now built in England, they will grind more 
 Flour by six lb. Weight out of a Bushel of Wheat, 
 and make better Flour, than any Mill now built in 
 America. (For all the Mills now built in America, 
 are built in the old Form.) So that the Merchants 
 of Boston may purchase Wheat from the Wheat 
 Countries, and supply the West-Indies Cheaper than 
 either New-Tor k or Philadelphia. For the Truth 
 of these Facts I appeal to the Millers and Bakers of 
 Boston. A Number of Saw-Mills for the Ship 
 Builders and Joiners, they will be able to demon- 
 strate. Leather Mills, the Gentlemen Leather- 
 Sellers will be able to inform. Linseed Oil Mills, 
 the Consumers of Oil will be able to inform. 
 There being vast Quantities of Iron Bog Ore at the 
 
A Currency Scheme [45] 
 
 Eastward, Mills to run into Piggs for Great-Britain. 
 Bark Mills for grinding Tanners Bark, both for 
 home Consumption and Ireland, several Gentlemen 
 will be able to inform. A Number of Logwood 
 Mills, a Number of Merchants will be able to 
 inform : And so by a Parity of Reason all the rest 
 of the Mills are explained. The Place lies entirely 
 on Water Carriage, and has a constant Supply of 
 Water all the Summer, which is the only Time to 
 perform Business. It has already been justly Sur- 
 veyed, and a Plan taken. And was a Number of 
 Gentlemen to be incorporated by the General As- 
 sembly, they might bring this Scheme to Perfection 
 immediately, to the vast Service of this Town and 
 Province in general. I can with Modesty say, this 
 is the best Scheme that ever was on the Tapis since 
 the Colony has been settled. It is not like the 
 Uncertainty of the Mine Adventurers, but as soon 
 as these Mills are built they will produce a certain 
 Profit, as sure as the Sun that moves. The Corn 
 Mills at Bow near London, with twelve Pair of 
 Stones, are let at Nine hundred Pounds Sterling a 
 Year, and I will Mathematically prove, that twelve 
 Pair of Stones built on the abovementioned Place 
 will produce as much Profit as the Mills at Bow. 
 And such a fine Scituation for Mills cannot be 
 
[46 J A Currency Scheme 
 
 better in any Place in the World. There is now 
 an absolute Necessity for coming into a just Scheme 
 in order to have Money pass for a Supply of our 
 common Necessities, till such time as by our Fru- 
 gality and Dent of Industry we bring Silver and 
 Gold to pass as a proper Medium ; which was the 
 real Design of his Majesty's Royal Instruction not 
 to make any more Paper Bills, which is absolutely 
 a common Cheat, let them be made in any Form or 
 Shape whatever, without a solid Foundation to sup- 
 port their Value. Was a Number of Gentlemen to 
 be incorporated, and the whole Body liable to be 
 sued as one Man, their Notes of Hand would pass 
 better than any Money to be made by the Province, 
 because the Profits arising by the Mills would be a 
 solid Foundation. I shall only mention one Com- 
 pany in London, that is the New-River Company, 
 which pays them Twenty per Cent. Interest ; then, 
 would not the Notes of such a Company pass equal 
 with Bank Notes, or Gold or Silver. I will Mathe- 
 matically demonstrate to any Man living, that these 
 Mills will produce Twenty per Cent, then conse- 
 quently their Notes must pass equal to Silver and 
 (iold. All Mechanicks are now brought to be 
 proved by mathematical Demonstrations, so that it 
 is impossible to err in building these Mills, for it 
 
A Currency Scheme [47] 
 
 may be computed to a single Farthing what each 
 Mill will cost. And these Mills being built accord- 
 ing to the Mathematicks, then it may be easily 
 demonstrated what each Mill will produce yearly, 
 so that the Company may proceed like wise Master- 
 Builders. And when the above Mills are brought 
 to Perfection, a vast Number of great Schemes may 
 be laid before the Company, which they will natur- 
 ally come into : For we have a common Proverb, 
 Mathematical Demonstrations can no Man gainsay. 
 And it would certainly be for the Interest of New- 
 Englaiid not to make one Paper Bill more: The 
 Reason is, The Notes of Hand made by the Com- 
 pany will answer the Ends and Purposes of purchas- 
 ing all the Necessaries of Life ; and these Notes not 
 being made a Tender in Law, it would absolutely 
 oblige the Merchants to bring Gold and Silver to 
 answer all Specialties, or else it would be impossible 
 for them to carry on Trade and Merchandize. For 
 so long as the Assembly continues to make Paper 
 Bills the whole Publick will depend on them. 
 Each Gentleman will flatter himself he shall be able 
 to procure as many Bills as will answer all his 
 Designs. But any Man that knows the just State 
 of the Province must allow that according to its 
 present Scituation it requires a Million ready Specie 
 
[4S] A Currency Scheme 
 
 to carry on the Trade of the Province: It is there- 
 fore a meer Jest to make a few Paper Bills, think- 
 ing that will answer the End, it will only embarrass 
 and entirely Ruin hundreds of Families, and bring 
 on Law-Suits almost numberless. It must be al- 
 low'd that a Merchant managed his Affairs with 
 Prudence and Caution, when he has brought his 
 Trading to such a Point that his Profits may be 
 large, and his Loss not considerable. But should a 
 Man of Traffick put Twenty thousand Pounds on 
 board a leaky Vessel, and send it to the Spanish 
 West-Indies, through as many Dangers as there are 
 Shelves in the Sea, or Points in the Compass, with 
 the bare Hopes of gaining Six Pence, would not all 
 Mankind post up such a Merchant for a mad Man : 
 I leave the Application. 
 
 This Body Politick may be justly compared to 
 a Merchant beginning the World with One huji- 
 dred Thousand Pounds, and directly advanceth to 
 a Trade that requires One Million ready Specie. 
 Notwithstanding the Merchant has an exceeding 
 good Character in all Parts of the trading World, 
 and his Credit supported a vast many Years with a 
 fair Shew, yet in the End it will be the intire Ruin, 
 not only of himself, but of vast Numbers of other 
 Men. The Reason is, It is plain that for want of 
 
A Currency Scheme [49] 
 
 a sufficient Sum to carry on his Trade, he is often 
 obliged to part with his Goods for less than Prime 
 Cost, besides making use of Userers and griping 
 Extortioners, which will always Prey on him like 
 so many Vultures or Horseleach's : And the poor 
 honest Gentleman, so far from growing Rich for 
 the Reward of his great Pains and Industry, not 
 only sinks his own private Patrimony of One hun- 
 dred thousafid Pounds^ but a great many Hundreds 
 besides. His Character is entirely ruin'd in all 
 Parts of the Trading World, and his End may be 
 in Ruin and Want. And his Substance, with other 
 honest Gentlemen's, who consign'd to him, got into 
 the Hands of base unworthy Knaves, who have 
 watched all Opportunities to take Advantage of the 
 poor Gentleman's Necessity. 
 
 His Excellency JONATHAN BELCHER, Esq ; 
 our Governor, hath twice recommended to the Gen- 
 eral Assembly the employing a Number of Men to 
 take an exact Survey of this Province, and the Ex- 
 tent of its Bounds. For this Province is hardly 
 known by our Mother Country. And I can with 
 humble Modesty observe, that the State of this 
 Province was never yet fairly stated. 
 
 Our Mother Country never was so full of Men 
 and Money since the glorious House of Hanover 
 
fro] A Currency Scheme 
 
 came to reign over us. And was a just Plan to be 
 taken of this Province, and laid before the Nobility, 
 Gentry and substantial Farmers in England, the 
 young Branches will bring their Fortunes into 
 New-England and purchase Lands. For it may be 
 Mathematically demonstrated, for a Gentleman to 
 bring to New-England Five thousand Pounds Sterling, 
 and lay it out in Lands, it would in twenty Years 
 time be worth Thirty thousand Pounds Sterling, if 
 they are improved after the same Manner they are 
 in England. For the Lands there are prodigiously 
 improved within these Twenty Years past : For a 
 vast Quantity of Land was then Let for Eighteen 
 Pe?ice per Acre, which are now Let for Twenty 
 Shillings per Acre. And I will demonstrate to any 
 Man living, that the Lands in New-Englatid are as 
 good as they are in Old. 
 
 As I am obliged to go to England with all my 
 Law Suits, for want of a Court of Equity in this 
 Country : And being forc'd to stay some Time 
 there before I can bring my Affairs to a final Lssue, 
 I will imploy my Time to lay down before our 
 Nobility, Gentry and Farmers The Glorious 
 State oe this Province, and what noble 
 Improvements they may make for their young 
 Branches. Their Fortunes at home make but an 
 
A Currency Scheme [S^] 
 
 indifferent Figure there, but if laid out in New- 
 England will with industrious Improvement produce 
 as noble Estates as the Originals they sprang from. 
 And it is not in the least to be doubted but his 
 Royal Majesty and Parliament will encourage such 
 a noble Undertaking, so much for the Good of 
 OUR Mother Country in Trade and Commerce. 
 Our young Nobility, Gentry and Farmers com- 
 ing now to New-Efiglafidy is not like the Gentle- 
 mens first Settling this howling Wilderness, at vast 
 Expence, and the almost insupportable Difficulties. 
 But those worthy good Gentlemen have fairly paved 
 the Way. That as soon as our Gentry shall arrive 
 at Boston^ they will find no difference, either in 
 Provision or polite Conversation, (without the least 
 Disparagement to any Part of Great- Britain) for 
 their Money may be improved Fifty per Cent, more 
 than they can be in Great-Britain^ if it is improved 
 either in Lands or Manufacturies. And I suppose 
 further. Was not the Gentlemen of this Province to 
 come into my Scheme of the Mills, I will lay all 
 my Schemes mathematically before several of our 
 Companies in London, and they will as certainly 
 come into the said Scheme, as sure as the Sun that 
 moves. For they are all so full of Money, that 
 shew them mathematical Demonstrations, and they 
 
[r2l A Currency Scheme 
 
 will venture their Substance to the Ends of the 
 Earth ; so I can with humble Modesty say, pro- 
 vided Almighty GOD spare my Life to bring my 
 Projections to Perfection, to the infinite Advantage 
 of our Mother Country, and to the great Benefit of 
 New-England. For I may justly observe, this most 
 noble Province of the Massachusetts-Bay is superior 
 to any Province in his Majesty's Dominions in 
 America, both for Health and to be improved. 
 And I further observe, these young Branches of our 
 Nobility, Gentry and substantial Farmers, bringing 
 large Substance, would be able to procure all Sorts 
 of Naval Stores for Great-Britain, and entirely pre- 
 vent the Baltick Trade. And there is no Merchant 
 but what knows that immense Trade, so much 
 taken Care of by the Northern Princes, particularly 
 the Czar of Muscovy, after he came home from his 
 Travels, (having taken a Tour thro' France, Eng- 
 land and Holland) observing what mighty Riches 
 they acquired by Trade and Merchandize, and 
 forming a just Idea of these Countries, that they 
 could raise but small Quantities of Naval Stores; 
 and having large Dominions, he immediately gave 
 Orders to all his Subjects to raise prodigious Quan- 
 tities of Naval Stores, and he being an absolute 
 Prince it was immediately comply'd with : Which 
 
A Currency Scheme [ss] 
 
 was the first Scheme he laid to bring forward those 
 mighty Schemes which he afterwards compleated. 
 And all Mankind are Witnesses, from those just 
 Schemes formed by him, to what a mighty Figure 
 they make, and at present appear in the World. 
 The Empire of Muscovy is no ways to be compared 
 with his Majesty's Dominions in America. And 
 was his Majesty's Colonies to be justly improved by 
 proper Encouragements from our Mother Country, 
 it would make our King one of the greatest Mon- 
 archs on Earth. For it must be Men of large 
 Fortunes to proceed on that Scheme of procuring 
 Naval Stores, and not Beggars. For it is plain that 
 the People at the Eastward can but just support 
 Nature, by cutting Timber and Cord Wood, so it's 
 plain to a Demonstration what Quantities of Naval 
 Stores we may expect from those People. 
 
 From the whole, I most humbly conceive it 
 would be the great Interest of this most noble 
 Province, for the Great and General Court to pass 
 an Act to encourage our young Nobility, Gentry 
 and Farmers to come and settle amongst us, setting 
 forth the Goodness of the Land, and the vast Im- 
 provements they may make of their Money, and to 
 grant them what Lands they want to improve. 
 Suppose but one single Hundred of our young 
 
[54] A Currency Scheme 
 
 Nobility and Gentry was to come with Five thou- 
 sand Pounds Sterling in each Cientleman's Pocket, 
 the Moment they arrive in Bosto?i^ the whole Land 
 will be worth double the Value by their coming; 
 this can be mathematically demonstrated : But I 
 don't doubt but Thousands of our worthy honest 
 Gentlemen's Sons will come and settle to the ut- 
 most Bounds of this most noble Province : And 
 then if a French War happen, King George and 
 Canada forever ; then his glorious Majesty King 
 Georcje will have a compleat Empire. 
 
 And I verily think that the Opinion of the 
 ingenious Dr. Mather will certainly come to pass : 
 For the Doctor in his Letter to one Anthony Wil- 
 liam Boheme^ late Chaplain to his Royal Highness 
 Geor(}e when Prince of Denmark : The Con- 
 tents of which Letter was this. That Dr. Mather 
 had remitted so much Money by Bills of Exchange 
 (collected from private Gentlemen in N ew- Engl and) 
 for the Propagation of the GOSPEL in Mallabar 
 East Indies : The Money was to be sent to Pro- 
 fessus Frankus at Hall in Saxony. After Dr. Mather 
 had given a beautiful Description of Church Af- 
 fairs, he concludes his Letter with political Affairs ; 
 and gives a fine Account of this Part of the World ; 
 and heartily lamenting the Misfortune of the Canda 
 
A Currency Scheme [SS] 
 
 Expedition ; (but wholly lays the Blame on the 
 Old-England Men) for he declares, That no Men on 
 the Earth could proceed with more Courage and 
 Resolution than the New-England Men : But the 
 Dr. concludes with this noble Saying, That I really 
 and verily think, that in less than fifty Years, the 
 glorious House of Hanover will be Emperors 
 of all America, and then it will be the greatest 
 Empire in the whole World. Now to any think- 
 ing Man, the Doctor's Thoughts will certainly 
 come to pass : For we see what a glorious Settle- 
 ment is carrying on at Georgia^ and how the English 
 Nation are spirited to support that Province. And 
 it is not in the least to be doubted but by proper 
 Application to his Royal Majesty and Parliament, 
 they would come into any Measures to make the 
 Frontiers of this Province a strong Barrier against 
 Canada ; and then if the French and Spaniards dare 
 to go to War with Great-Britain, so certain we shall 
 take Canada and the Spanish West-Indies which will 
 put a final End to all the Villanies committed on 
 us by the Spaniards, and there is no true Englishmen 
 but hopes and wishes to see that Day. 
 
 The worthy ingenious Capt. Plaisted informed 
 me he had received a Letter from Mr. Silas Hooper, 
 Merchant in London, dated October 8. 1738. wherein 
 
[i^6] A Currency Scheme 
 
 he informs him, That the Pot-Ash remitted from 
 New-England to him, was allowed to be as good as 
 that Pot- Ash which comes from Russia. It ap- 
 peared by our Book of Entries, there was upwards 
 of Two Thousand Tuns imported from the North- 
 ern Kingdoms in one Year : And Pot-Ash being 
 worth Thirty Pounds per Ton, (the said 200 Tons at 
 30/. per Ton, amounts to Sixty Thousand Pounds^ 
 And as the Pot- Ash pays to his Majesty Six Pounds 
 per Ton Duty ; I do not doubt in the least for the 
 Encouragement of this Manufactury in these Parts, 
 by properly applying to the Parliament for the 
 Drawback to be taken off, it would be done, and a 
 Royal Bounty granted : And the Gentlemen of this 
 Province coming to a just Way of thinking, they 
 might flow in Riches as they please. And these 
 Gentlemen or Society that are concerned in the 
 aforementioned Mills, might directly bring this 
 Scheme of the Pot-Ash to Perfection ; and what 
 glorious Farms would be produced from this 
 Scheme of Pot-Ash r 
 
 I had almost forgot to mention one more great 
 Benefit to this great Town of Boston in the building 
 these Mills, which all Mankind must allow to be 
 just; that is thus, Suppose it should happen a War, 
 by having such a hne Communication with the 
 
A Currency Scheme [57] 
 
 Castle, we might soon supply that Fortress with 
 Ten Thousand brave Fellows that would face any 
 Enemy on the whole Earth. And by this Scheme 
 the great Town of Bosto?i may be made impregnable. 
 We may see to what a glorious Spirit the English 
 Nation are arrived to, in improving every Thing 
 that's possible to be done for the Good of the 
 Publick ; witness the advancing 700,000/. towards 
 building a Bridge from Westminster across to Lam- 
 beth ; and there is no Gentlemen, that are thinking 
 Men, but knows the Profits arising by Tole of the 
 said Bridge will not bring in more than Two per 
 Cent Interest ; but they all know it's for the Good 
 of their Country, therefore they see it necessary it 
 should be done notwithstanding the Insufficiency of 
 the Premium for such a vast Undertaking. There- 
 fore as the aforementioned Mills can be mathemat- 
 ically proved, to produce Twenty per Cent, it will 
 be look'd upon in England, if it is not done, that 
 the Gentlemen of this Country do not consult their 
 own Interest and the general Good the whole Coun- 
 try will reap therefrom. And for any Person or 
 Persons to send Home any dismal Complaint of the 
 State of the Province, it will be look'd upon as only 
 noisy Faction and Clamour. 
 
 I have been always surprized to think what vast 
 
[58] A Currency Scheme 
 
 Improvements have been performed by the (jentle- 
 men of this Province in one Century. But now, 
 provided our young Nobility, Gentry and Farmers 
 come over, with their Pockets full of Money, what 
 vast Improvements may be expected in the next 
 Century. 
 
 I don't in the least doubt but these fifteen Colo- 
 nies w^ill arrive to as great a Pitch of Glory as those 
 fifteen Provinces of China. And as Sir William 
 Temple observeth, it must be allowed to be the 
 greatest, richest and most populous Kingdom now 
 known in the World ; and will be found perhaps 
 to owe its Riches, Force, Civility and Felicity to 
 the admirable Constitution of its Government, more 
 than any other. The Empire consists of fifteen 
 several Kingdoms, which are govern'd by Vice- 
 Roys, who yet live in Greatness, Splendor and 
 Riches, equal to great and sovereign Kings. In the 
 whole Kingdom there are 145 Capital Cities, of 
 mighty Extent and magnificent Buildings ; and 
 I 321 lesser Cities, but all walled round; the Num- 
 ber of Villages is infinite: And no Country in the 
 known World is so full of Inhabitants, nor so im- 
 proved by Agriculture and Manufacturies, by infinite 
 Growth of numerous Commodies, by Canals of 
 incredible Length, Conjunction of Rivers, by Con- 
 
A Currency Scheme [59] 
 
 venience of Ways for the Transportation of all Sorts 
 of Goods from one Province to another ; so as no 
 Country has so great a Trade. 
 
 There is a vulgar Error, to the vast Damage 
 of this Province, that the New- England Oak is far 
 inferiour to the Oak in Old England ; and the Error 
 has so long prevailed that it's now really allowed by 
 all Sorts of People to be Fact : And the only Rea- 
 son I find to Support this Opinion is, that the Ships 
 built in New-England will not last so long as those 
 built in Old: I grant what they say. Those Ships 
 that have been hitherto built, are not so good as 
 those built in England. The Reason is plain to a 
 Demonstration why they are not so good, The 
 People that procure the Timber cut it down in 
 Season and out of Season, for they are obliged to eat 
 it as fast as they cut it. The Ship Builders are 
 poor, and the Merchants will always keep them so, 
 according to the present Scheme they act by ; so 
 that it cannot be expected, from the solid Reason 
 of things, these People can build with regular sea- 
 son'd Stuff I can with Modesty say, I understand 
 the just and true Nature and Goodness of Oak, as 
 well as any Man living. And I am fully deter- 
 mined to prove, before the Commissioners of his 
 Majesty's Royal Navy, that there is as good Oak in 
 
[6o] A Currency Scheme 
 
 America as any in Old England. And that it would 
 save his Majesty some hundred thousand Pounds Ster- 
 ling, by building Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Rate 
 Men of War in New-England. I am certain of 
 destroying this vulgar Error concerning the Oak, 
 and with as much Pleasure as Daniel destroyed Bell 
 and the Dragon. For the English Nation are ar- 
 rived to a line Method in polite Reason and Think- 
 ing. For in the present Age, no Man that has or 
 really pretends to have the least Shadow or Founda- 
 tion of common Reason, will by any Means be 
 Hoodwink'd, but shew him mathematical Demon- 
 stration and he will come into your Scheme directly, 
 so that any Man that Grounds His Hypothesis on 
 solid Truth will certainly gain his Scheme. 
 
 I humbly make bold to make use of an Observa- 
 tion of a worthy, learned Gentleman, who is look'd 
 upon by all Men in the Province to be a Gentleman 
 of solid Knowledge and Learning, he lately wrote 
 an Essay concerning Silver and Paper Currencies ; 
 and it is allowed to be compleatly done: He ob- 
 serveth thus on a private Bank. Private Credit, or 
 Notes on a good solid Foundation, are better than 
 publick Bills ; the former cannot impune or break 
 their Faith, (they are a Coerusion) the Publick is 
 the Dernier Resort, and in bad Administrations 
 
A Currency Scheme [^^] 
 
 frequently break their publick Faith. Hence the 
 Credit of a well regulated Commerce or Corpora- 
 tion, is better than that of the Civil Administration. 
 The Bank Money at Fenice is 20 per Cent, better 
 than common Currency. This private commercial 
 Credit in all polite Nations is so sacred at present 
 that the Civil Government stands corrected by it. 
 The Generallity of the United Provinces did Anno 
 1693, Coin alloy'd Pieces, called ^aad Sckellings, 
 at 6 Stivers each, being near i o per Ce?it. above their 
 intrinsick Value. The Bank retain'd their Integ- 
 rity, and it again rose to 1 3 and 1 5 per Cent, this 
 obliged the Government to reduce these Sckellings 
 to 5 and half Stivers, their intrinsick Value, and have 
 continued so ever since. And the Agio of the 
 Bank fell to 3 or 5 per Cent, as formerly. Anno 
 1720, France being in the most dismal Confusion 
 by their Paper Currency, their Court was obliged 
 to apply to the Merchants and Bankers for their 
 Advice, concerning a Method to be used to find out 
 the natural Proportion between publick Bills and 
 Silver Species, and to Limit their proper Effects to 
 a certain Sum; a plain Illustration that private is 
 better than publick Credit. We have among our 
 selves our Merchants Notes, so called, being well 
 founded, were 1 1 and half per Cent, in December 
 
 or tmi 
 
 Of 
 
[62] A Currency Scheme 
 
 1737; will be 18 per Cent, in 'December 1738; 12 
 and half per Cefit. 3 7ths of them then paid off, in 
 December 1739; 19 and \\2\i per Cent, in December 
 1740; 26 and half per Cent, in December 1741 ; and 
 '>^\ per Cent, in December 1742, better than the pres- 
 ent Value ot our Province Bills at 27 per Cent, be- 
 cause they are continually growing better until they 
 come to their lix'd Value, at which they are to be 
 paid off. Thus it will be with these Notes made 
 by the Company for the Building these Mills. 
 
 The worthy Gentleman very justly observeth 
 further, When Paper Money is in a continued 
 Course of depreciating, all Debts and other Con- 
 tracts, are paid in less Value than they are contracted 
 for: which is an unjust, but natural Operation of 
 this false Medium. The generous foreign Adven- 
 turer or Merchant, and consequently Trade in its 
 genuine Sense, is hurt; the Shopkeeper and Mer- 
 chant Hucksters, who have a long Credit from 
 their Merchants and abuse this Credit Industry and 
 Frugality, the only Means of growing rich, are 
 turned aside ; in the Place of being industrious, the 
 young Men, called Gentlemen, follow no other 
 Business but Drinking and CJaming ; many in 
 Quality of Shopkeepers become Drones ; Trades- 
 men, of all Occupations in Boston, loiter away much 
 
A Currency Scheme [^3] 
 
 of their Time ; the Husbandmen, in the Country, 
 spend many idle Days in their little Rum Taverns. 
 Frugality is superceeded by Prodigality and Extrava- 
 gancy, as is too apparent in fine Houses and Furni- 
 ture, Chaises and other Equipages, Velvets, Scarlets, 
 rich Silks and Laces. Thus far saith that learned 
 and ingenious Gentleman, the Author of the Silver 
 and Paper Scheme. 
 
 From the whole of this Scheme I observe, and 
 will make it appear to any Gentleman or Body of 
 Gentlemen, that these Mills aforementioned, will 
 produce Twenty thousand Pounds neat Profit each 
 Year. But this Scheme is a small trifling one to 
 what I have by me. And as I have drawn all my 
 Schemes to be proved by the Mathematicks, and all 
 Mankind perfectly knowns that Figures will not 
 lye, if rightly placed. And I don't doubt having 
 the Approbation of all solid, wise judicious and 
 thinking Men in all Nations of the trading World. 
 For there is no Parts on the whole Earth, where 
 Money is to be got and improved, more than what 
 is to be got in his Majesty's Provinces in America. 
 I shall endeavour, to the utmost of my Power, to 
 forward the Establishment of a Bank, on such a 
 Footing as to bring the wise Men in all the trading 
 Nations to be concerned in it. And I do not in 
 
[ 64 ] A Currency Scheme 
 
 the least doubt of having his Royal Majesty's Ap- 
 probation, and that great and dernier Resort, our 
 great and august Parliament of Great Britain, which 
 Assembly is now the Glory of the whole Earth. 
 
 We may see what a noble Harmony there is 
 between the Parliament and our most gracious 
 King, by the bottom Clause of his Majesty's 
 Speech, which he recommends thus, 
 
 My Lords and Gentlemen, 
 
 / cannot but earnestly recomt?iend it to you, ?jot to 
 suffer any Prejudices or Animosities to have any Share 
 in your Deliberations at this important Conjuncture, 
 which seems in a particular Manner to call upon you to 
 unite in carrying on such Measures as will be tnost con- 
 ducive to the true Interest and Advantage of My People. 
 
 The most noble Lords Answer to his Majesty 
 is full of Duty. 
 
 We are deeply sensible how unbecoming and pernicious 
 it would be at any Time, to suffer either Prejudices or 
 Animosities to ?fiix themselves with parliamentary De- 
 liberations : And your Majesty'^ gracious Recom- 
 mendation to us particularly to avoid them at this impor- 
 
A Currency Scheme [^S] 
 
 tunate Conjuncture ^ cannot fail to awaken in us a more 
 than ordinary Caution on that Head. Great-Britain 
 hath but one common Interest consisting in the Security 
 of your Majesty'j Person and Government^ and the 
 We fare and Happiness of your People. And when 
 your Majesty is pleased to exhort us to Unanimity^ 
 it is only calling upon us to unite to our own Preserva- 
 tion. We therefore beseech your Majesty to accept 
 the strongest and fnost affectionate Assurances^ that we 
 will zealously and cheerfully concur in all such Measures 
 as shall he most condusive to those great and desirable 
 Ends. 
 
 Thus answered our most noble Lords, which 
 is like Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver, and a 
 glorious Pattern for all his Majesty's Subjects. 
 
 And as Sir Robert Le Estrange justly ob- 
 serveth, Let Error, Corruption or Iniquity be 
 never so strong, never so popular, let the Ignorance 
 of things necessary to be known be never so dark 
 and palpable, we may yet assure our selves. That 
 however Truth and Justice may suffer a temporary 
 Eclipse, they will yet at the long run as certainly 
 
[ 66 ] A Currency Scheme 
 
 vindicate themselves, and recover their original 
 Glory, as the setting Sun shall rise again. 
 
 P. S. Cu?n sit alioqui multo deforrnius^ 
 
 Amittere quam non assequi haudem. 
 Plin. Ep. Lib. 8. 
 
 I am, 
 
 Gentlemen, 
 
 Your most obedient 
 humble Servant, 
 Boston Goal, going onward Two Years 
 of my unjust Confinement. 
 April 19, 1739. 
 
 Richard Fry. 
 
A Currency Scheme \^^7] 
 
 POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 SINCE the finishing this Scheme, the worthy 
 and ingenious Capt. Cyprian Southack made 
 me a Present of the New-E?igland Coasting-Pilot. 
 And as I am informed, the Motive that induced 
 him to make me this Present, was his hearing that 
 I was drawing the present State of the Province: 
 he was willing to forward such an Undertaking as 
 much as lay in his Power. As it is allowed by all 
 Mankind, that Ingratitude is as bad as the Sin of 
 Witchcraft, therefore I think it my Duty to return 
 Capt. Southack my most hearty Thanks for 
 the Present of his New-England Coasting Pilots in 
 this publick Manner. And all the Gentlemen of 
 this most noble Province ought to know what a just 
 Value our late most glorious King WILLIAM 
 shew'd Capt. Southack, for this his noble 
 Undertaking. The following Order of his Royal 
 Majesty will demonstrate it. 
 
[68] A Currency Scheme 
 
 At the Court at Whitehall the 26th of February^ 
 1694. 
 
 PRESENT, 
 
 The King's most Excellent Majesty in Council. 
 WHEREAS Capt. Cyprian Southack, who 
 has been for several Tears e??iployed by the Government 
 of New-England at Sea, and has performed divers 
 signal Services in several Expeditions ; having this 
 Day had the Honour to Kiss his Majesty's Hand; 
 presented to his Majesty a Draught of New- En gland, 
 Newfoundland, Nova-Scotia, and the River of Can- 
 ada, and the Seas and Territories thereunto adjoining, 
 niade by hitnself in the said several Expeditions : His 
 Majesty taking into his gracious Consideration the said 
 Cyprian Southack, and for his jurther En- 
 couragement, is pleased to Order as is hereby ordered the 
 Sutn of Fifty Pounds, to be paid to him for the Buying 
 a Gold Chain and Medal, as a Mark of his Majesty's 
 Royal Favour; and that the Right Honourable the 
 Lords Commissioners of the Treasury do give all neces- 
 sary Directions for the speedy Payment of the said Sum. 
 
 John Nicholis. 
 
A Currency Scheme [^9] 
 
 You plainly see what a just Sense of the Merits 
 of this Gentleman his Royal Majesty conceived. 
 And I must humbly observe to the Gentlemen of 
 this most noble Province, that they could not ex- 
 press their just Value and Esteem for our great 
 Deliverer, our late most august and glorious King 
 WILLIAM, than by erecting to his Memory his 
 Majesty's Statue on Horseback, erected on a Pedes- 
 tal, and placed before the Town House facing King 
 Street: And there is not one Man in the Province, 
 that is a Lover of Liberty and Property, but what 
 will contribute towards such a noble Undertaking. 
 The Gentlemen of Ireland have, notwithstanding 
 the famous Monument in the City of D2iblin, 
 erected soon after, and in Memory of his Majesty's 
 glorious Actions, further to perpetuate the same, 
 erected another of glorious Structure in the great 
 River of Boy?ie, where the chief Scene of their 
 Deliverance was, by the Almighty's assisting his 
 Majesty's Arms, fully compleated. From this glo- 
 rious Example I hope the Gentlemen of this most 
 noble Province will not be wanting to erect a 
 Trophy of Honour, in Memory of him they have 
 express'd so great a Value for by Words ; but as for 
 Words we all know they cost nothing. As for the 
 worthy and ingenious Capt. Southack, I have 
 
[70] A Currency Scheme 
 
 not heard that he has received any Gratuity by way 
 of Bounty for his great Labour and Pains in serving 
 this most noble Province. Mankind nothing more 
 imitates almighty God, than by rewarding those 
 that lay out their Powers and Faculties in serving 
 Mankind, This Coasting Pilot gives me a just Idea of 
 the Coast of his Majesty's Provinces from New-Tork 
 to the Bay of J'^iinday. The very Islands are able to 
 contain Millions of People; which absolutely de- 
 stroys that vile selhsh Principle of some People which 
 say they are not for Strangers coming amongst them, 
 because they shall not have Land enough for their 
 Children ; which is really a childish Story. 
 
 Upon moderate Computation the Gentlemen 
 Farmers have borrowed on Bond and Mortgages 
 upwards of Five hundred thousand Pounds ; of which 
 the greatest Part is let at i o per Cent. And accord- 
 ing to the present Scituation of Affairs, it is impossi- 
 ble for those Cjentlemen to pay off their Securities: 
 So that a Gentleman that has Mortgaged his Form 
 for 500/. that is worth 2000, his Farm on Prose- 
 cution is certainly forfeited for want of the 500/. 
 And its impossible it should be otherwise whilst the 
 griping Usurers Monopolizes into their own Coffers, 
 the Bulk of that small Quantity of running Specie 
 that is now Extant amongst us. And as the old 
 
A Currency Scheme \7^] 
 
 saying is, The just Value of any Commodity what- 
 ever, is what it will fetch. The only Remedy to 
 avoid this great Evil, is for the Assembly of this 
 Province, as I observed before, to lay just Schemes, 
 to perswade and allure our young Nobility, Gen- 
 try and Farmers to come and settle among us ; 
 and it's not to be doubted, but these Gentlemen 
 would purchase the Farms of those Gentlemen 
 that have involved themselves, and are now in a 
 State of Bondage ; and they may put Money suf- 
 ficient in their Pockets to proceed on the Set- 
 tlement of new Farms on the out Lands, with 
 Resolution and Vigour. And in a few Years, by 
 common Industry, they will have as good Farms 
 as they at first parted with, and an entire Free- 
 dom from the grand Oppression they then labour'd 
 under. And upon the Arrival of a Number of 
 our young Nobility and Farmers, with a Quantity 
 of Money, it would make it a Year of Jubilee 
 for all those Gentlemen that now labour under 
 the present grand Oppressions. For all Gentle- 
 men well knows what a vast Number of Farms 
 must be put to Sale in few Years; And no Pur- 
 chasers can appear to buy of these Country Peo- 
 ple: The Reason is, because they will not have 
 Money to pay for them. And further, I observe 
 
fyzl A Currency Scheme 
 
 to the Gentlemen Shopkeepers not to purchase 
 large Quantities of English Goods, for some time, 
 till the Ballance of Trade is brought to a more 
 fix Standard ; for it may be mathematically proved, 
 that as certain as any Man buys large Quantities 
 of Goods, so certain he will be ruined : For as 
 some Gentlemen have lately got Estates by the 
 prodigious Rise of Goods, so certainly some Men 
 will be ruined by their great Fall ; which will 
 come to pass, as sure as the Sun that moves. 
 
 I must observe, by way of Comfort, to the 
 Gentlemen that labour at present under great Op- 
 pressions, that we have a common saying, A des- 
 perate Disease must have a desperate Cure ; but if 
 more pacifick Measures can be found out, it will be 
 vastly more pleasing to this Body Politick. For 
 as Harmony and sincere Love are the just Foun- 
 dation of all Happiness both in this World and 
 the World to come, and as our General Assem- 
 bly are the proper Physicians, it is not in the 
 least doubted but they will make a sound Cure 
 of this Body Politick, and lay a solid Foundation 
 of Happiness for the rising Generations. And 
 what more noble and grand than to lay great 
 Designs for future Ages to copy after ; which will be 
 lasting Monuments of Praise to our great Assembly. 
 
The Petition of the Prisoners 
 
 in 
 
 Boston Gaol 
 1740 
 
The prisoners in the Boston jail, which was located on Queen 
 Street, now Court, facing Franklin Avenue, the site of what is now the 
 "old" Court House back of the City Hall, petitioned the General 
 Court for a redress of their complaints, in June, 1739. In March, 
 1740, N. S., this was rejected on the ground that it contained 
 " divers very injurious and insolent expressions." Having admin- 
 istered this reproof to the prisoners, the Assembly referred the 
 matter to a Committee, which reported a year later. The Com- 
 mittee recommended that the legislature pass a law to authorize the 
 whipping of prisoners in place of fines for swearing, drunkenness 
 and such like offences, and to remove the restraints which might be 
 put upon those who desired to make gifts to the prisoners. A 
 rough draft of such a law was prepared, but in the end the peti- 
 tion was once more rejected on the ground that it should have been 
 sent to the Court of General Sessions. 
 
 The following document is a new petition which was prepared 
 after the inferior Court had failed to act to the satisTaction of the 
 prisoners. It is preserved in the State House at Boston, Massachu- 
 setts JrchiveSy volume 41, page 711. 
 
To His Excellency Johnathan Belcher Esq/ Captain 
 General, and Governour in cheife in and over his 
 Majestys Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New 
 England, and to his Majestys Most Hono.^'^ Coun- 
 cil and to the Hon.'''" the house of Representaves 
 Now Asembled in Boston. 
 
 The Humble petition of the prisoners for Debt 
 in Boston Goal. Your Most humble Petitioners. 
 Most Humbly Shew^eth. 
 
 In Most Humble Obedience to the Order of the 
 report of the great and General Courts Most 
 Hon-"^ Committee on the petition of y" prisoners 
 for debt in Boston Goal Dated Nov.' 21 : 1740. 
 Your Most humble Petitioners in Obedience to 
 that Order have Laid our complaint before the 
 Hon''''^ his Majestys Bench of Justiceces of the 
 peace against William Young the Keeper of Bos- 
 ton Goal, for his Most wicked and Barbarous and 
 Most unhuman treatment of the Debtors in Bos- 
 ton Goal under his Care the Hon.'''' Bench Choose 
 a Committee to examine into the Complaint, and 
 the committee of his Majestys Justiceces have ex- 
 amined into y' prisoners complaint and the pris- 
 oners proved all thier aligations against the Turn 
 key William Young and the committee Faithfully 
 
[ 76 1 The Prisoners' Petition 
 
 promised the prisoners to Redress and relevie all 
 their great Hardships and Greviances but no fur- 
 ther proceedings have been Done by the said com- 
 mittee having been diverted by his Smooth Soft oyly 
 flattering faire words and promises. And William 
 Young in Oppen high and manefest contempt of all 
 Law Reason and Justice in Open defiance of the 
 Report of the great and General Courts Most 
 Hon.^'^ Committee, Still Continues and repeateth 
 dayly his Most wicked and Triranical proceedings 
 against us your Most humble petitioners and when 
 your Most humble petitioners have told the 
 Keeper Young that the Great and General Courts 
 Most Hon.''^* Committee have Condemned his pro- 
 ceedings William Young Plumply told y^ prisoners 
 that they might take th e I'lcport of the General 
 Courts Committee and wipe all their Arses with 
 the General Courts Most Honrable Committees 
 report — for he Said he did not no ways Value the 
 Committees Report as one Farthing. Alter the 
 Report Made to y^ Honrable House by the Com- 
 mittee a great Number of Prisoners finding No 
 Immediate Releif notwithstanding they had proved 
 all their Aligations by a whole Cloud of Wittnesses 
 before the Most Hon.^^'^ Committee and finding they 
 was by Order in the Report Orderd Down from 
 
The Prisoners' Petition [771 
 
 this Most High and Supream Court to an Inferiour 
 Court to have Justice done them it Actualy reduced 
 a great Number of prisoners to the utmost Delemna. 
 And in the Month of January last past in that Most 
 dismal Weather of Snow and cold for five days 
 togeather haveing neither Victuals Drink Nor fire- 
 ing, and Lying on the Bare plank boards and almost 
 Starved and perished and almost Ready to dye on 
 the Spott) and that Most wicked Arbitrary Gate 
 aCross the very face of the Prison Yard Kept fast 
 lock't Barred and Bolted So Intierly prevented the 
 poor Hungry Disstressed prisoners from makeing 
 thier Most deploriable case Known to people as 
 they pass along the Street) they came to the follow- 
 ing resolution and Break their way thro' Iron Barrs 
 and Bolts & Stone Walls And the Debtors have 
 Actually Broke Boston Goal live times Since the 
 Most Hon."^ General Courts Committee was at the 
 Goal, to the Number of thirty odd prisoners, and 
 will be to the damage of the County Some thou- 
 sands of Pounds) but Your Most Humble Peti- 
 tioners humbly apprehend it ought to fall on the 
 Keeper William Young for it can be proved that 
 it was Intierly oweing to his wicked Arbitrary 
 & Most Triranical proceeding that made the poor 
 prisoners Break y^ Goal. 
 
[78] The Prisoners' Petition 
 
 Since the Most Hon.''''' General Courts Committee 
 was here, Young the Keeper has had final tryals 
 with prisoners for his Barbarous Treatment, and 
 was finaly Cast at Court for his wicked proceed- 
 ings, and William Young and his Son in order to 
 Screen themSelves from their wicked proceedings, 
 both Father and Son absolutely and Bone fide in 
 Open Court and in Open defiance of all the Laws 
 of God and Man Actualy have forsworn them 
 Selves and now are presented Informed against to 
 the Grand Jury for the Same 
 
 And the said William Young & his Son are Now 
 Trying all that lyes in their power Interest and 
 friends to Indeavour to prevent the Grand Jury 
 from finding the Bill of Indictment. Your Most 
 Humble Petitioners Most Humbly pray this Great 
 and General Court to take our Most deplorable 
 Case into Your Wise considerations) and your Most 
 Humble Petitioners after two Years Application to 
 this Great and General Court, and somany Com- 
 mittees Choose and the Prisoners always proved 
 all their aligations by a whole Cloud of wittnesses 
 that wee hope now the time is come that Your 
 Humble petitioners May be Redressed and Boston 
 Goal to be putt on the Same footing with the 
 Goals in England. 
 
The Prisoners' Petition 1 79 ] 
 
 And that wicked Arbitrary and Triranical gate 
 which is built aCross the prison yard May by an 
 Order from this most Hon.^'' Great and General 
 Court be Directly Demolished as Absolutely Re- 
 pugnant to Your province Law Repugnant to all 
 the Most Solemn Accts of parliament for Liberty 
 and property and finaly Repugnant to the Moral 
 Reason & fittness of common Accts of Human- 
 itty. and that this Agust Court will Turn William 
 Young out of his Office of Keeper of Boston Goal, 
 for wee Most humbly Leave it to the Just Im- 
 partial consideration of this Agust Court to See 
 wether Such a Man can be fitt to govern the Goal, 
 that is Actualy guilty of these following Notori- 
 ous Monsterous Crimes and finaly condemned in 
 the Law for Beating Prisoners, for Beating persons 
 that came purely to aid Asist and Releive the 
 poor Hungry prisoners, for Robing A Man of 
 his Hatt in the prison Yard and to compleat all 
 his Most Notorious trirany he is now Complained 
 of to the Grand Jury with his Son for perjury 
 and for the said William Young to Despice the 
 General Courts Committee their Report, by telling 
 the Prisoners they might wipe all their Arses with 
 the Report of the Committee, and now wee Loudly 
 call on William Young that Monster of wicked- 
 
[So] The Prisoners' Petition 
 
 ness to Disprove the least Article of all Our Ali- 
 gations wee have Exhibitated against him to this 
 Great and General Court for these Tv^^o Years 
 past. 
 
 And finaly wee pray a s you are Gentlemen, as You 
 are Christians & as You are Guardians of the 
 Libertys of the people, that this great and General 
 Court will take that petition Your Hon.'''" Com- 
 mittee made their Report on y'^ 21 November. 
 1740. and for this August Court to proceed on 
 that petition According to the Great Wisdom of 
 this most Hon.'''^ Great and General Court. And 
 Your Most humble Petitioners as in Duty bound 
 Shall for ever pray. 
 
 Connelius Campbel Solomon Hewes 
 
 Rich"* Fry Arch*^ Mac Parran 
 
 JeflFery fackson 
 
 Jonathan Farnum 
 
 Barnabas Allen 
 
 William Dunn 
 
 Joshua Mirick 
 
 Peter Walker 
 
 Eleezer Veesey 
 
 Jane Blake 
 
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