In the first year in which he served as a representative in congress, he signed the memorable parchment con taining the declaration that for ever separated us from England, and thus pledged himself to join heart and hand with the destinies of his country, while some of his col leagues, who possessed less firmness, drew back and retired from the contest. He was thrice successively elected to congress, in 1776, '77, and '78.
The exertion of his talents in the public councils, the use of his credit in procuring supplies at home, of his personal labour as special agent, or congressional com mittee-man, and of those in his pay, in procuring others from abroad, were not the only means employed by hint in aiding the cause in which he had embarked. The free and public expression of his sentiments upon all occasions, in the almost daily and nightly meetings of the zealous ; in the interchange of friendly intercourse with his fellow citizens, and the confident tone of ulti mate success which he supported, served to rouse the desponding, to fix the wavering, and confirm the brave. Besides, the extensive commercial and private corre spondence which he maintained with England, furnished him with early intelligence of all the public measures resolved on by the British government, the debates in parliament, and with much private information of im portance to this country. These letters he read to a few select mercantile friends, who regularly met in the in surance room at the Merchants' Coffee-house, and through them the intelligence they contained was dif fused among the citizens, and thus kept alive the spirit of opposition, made them acquainted with the gradual progress of hostile movements, and convinced them how little was to be expected from the government in respect to the alleviation of the oppression and hardships against which the colonies had for a long time most humbly, earnestly, and eloquently remonstrated. This practice, which began previously to the suspension of the inter course between the two countries, he continued during the war : and through the route of the continent, espe cially France and Holland, he received for a time the despatches which had formerly come direct from Eng land.
The increasing and clamorous wants of the army, par ticularly for provisions, and the alarming letter written by the commander in chief to congress on the subject, on being communicated to Mr. Morris, induced him to pro pose to raise an immediate fund to purchase supplies, by the formation of a paper-money bank ; and to establish confidence in it with the public, he also proposed a sub scription among the citizens in the form of bonds, oblig ing them to pay, if it should become necessary, in gold and silver, the amounts annexed to their names, to fulfil the engagements of the bank. Mr. Morris headed the
list with a subscription of 10,000/. ; others followed, to the amount of 300,0001. The directors were authorized to borrow money on the credit of the bank, and to grant special notes, bearing interest at six per cent. The credit thus given to the bank effected the object intended, and the institution was continued until the Bank of North America went into operation, in the succeeding year.* It was probably on this occasion, that he pur chased the four or five thousand barrels of flour above mentioned, on his own credit, for the army, before the funds could be collected to pay for it.t If the grand, and as regarded the fate of the union, the decisive measure of the attack on Cornwallis, did not originate with Mr. Alorris, as the facts communicated to the writer induce him to believe ; there can be no doubt of his warmly approving it, that he first proposed it to the commander in chief, and provided the funds to enable general Washington to move the army. At that time, the American army lay at New-Windsor, waiting for the French fleet and troops from the West Indies, to co operate with them in an intended attack on New York ; but count De Grasse, the French admiral, changed the destination of his squadron, and went into the Chesa peake. The serious nature of the proposed operation in the south, and his total inability, from the want of funds, to move the army, induced general Washington to hesitate in giving his assent to the proposition ; but the promise of Mr. Morris to supply the necessary means, overcame his scruples, and the first intelligence congress had of the movement, was the march of the troops, on the third of September, through Philadelphia. It was not, however, until the army had passed the city 15 miles, that he was relieved from his anxiety respecting his promise to general Washington of a competent pecuniary supply. His object, for this end, was the loan of the French military chest, and the proposition was made to the French minister Luzerne, who refused in the most positive manner to assent. His persuasive talents suc ceeded with count Rochambeau, and at Chester, whither Mr. Morris repaired, it was obtained. It is probable that the joy naturally felt on meeting at that place an express from the marquis Fayette, announcing the arrival of count De Grasse in the Chesapeake, with an assurance from Mr. Morris that our army could not move without funds, contributed to the obtaining this fortunate loan.