could be obtained; as they knew it was absolutely impossible for the institutions, from which it issued, to redeem it then, whatever might be the case thereafter.

This plan was communicated to the parent board, and further instructions requested. No response having been received, and the paper daily becoming less valuable, the officers of the branch took it for granted that their suggestion was approved; and proceeded, forthwith, to loan the paper, as par funds, on the same principles that governed them, in other cases. In a few months, nearly the whole amount was disposed of, on security which was believed to be good. About three-fourths of it proved to be so; every cent of which, principal and interest, was collected. That amount exceeded the value of the whole remittance, if the residue had been lost; this, however, was not the case. A large portion of the remaining fourth was also collected; so that the sum saved, fell but very little short of the nominal amount of the remittance; and even that deficiency would have been much less than it was, had it not been for the distressing pressure produced by the sudden discontinuance of the office, accompanied by an order, promptly executed, to put in suit every debt due to the institution, without delay.

It is impossible for a person, who did not see the reckless course of Mr. Wilson, the Cashier and agent of the mother Bank, to form an adequate idea of the desolation which it produced. The business of Cincinnati and its vicinity was prostrated; many of her most intelligent business men were ruined; and she did not recover from the shock, for many years. In 1821 and 1822, when this work of desolation was going on, the whole country was laboring under great pecuniary embarrassment. Money was not to be had, on any terms. Creditors found it necessary, every where, to indulge their debtors: and without such indulgence, the entire West must have become a community of bankrupts. Such was the state of things, when this severe blow was

inflicted on the people of Cincinnati. In carrying out the order, every debtor to the institution, however wealthy, was prosecuted to judgment and execution. There were a few who obtained a short respite, by giving mortgages on real estate, with power to confess judgment; but in the end they suffered more severely than those who permitted the law to take its course.

It is a fact, highly honorable to the persecuted debtors of that institution, that the statute of usury was not plead, in a single instance; though it was a fact, easy of proof, that in at least half of the cases, the defendants did not receive from the bank more than sixty, or at most, seventy per cent. of the amount for which they gave their notes.

It was understood, that Mr. Wilson, who had plenary powers to act as his judgment might dictate, adopted this plan, on his own responsibility, but it was subsequently approved by the mother board. He assigned as the reason for his conduct, the false pretence, that the managers of the office had loaned the funds in their possession, with a profusion that proved them to be unworthy of confidence. The fact, however, was as stated above, that, until the time of receiving the Land office deposites, the discounts at Cincinnati were less than the population and business of the city would have justified, and were perfectly secure. The excess complained of, resulted entirely from the loans which were made, to save the depreciated paper, cast on the office, by the arrangement with the Treasury.

The institution was very unfortunate, in the selection of Mr. Wilson, as its agent. Though a correct accountant and probably an honest man, he was weak and prejudiced, open to flattery, and very easily imposed on. His character, at Cincinnati, was soon penetrated, and he became the tool and the dupe of men who knew how to use him.

After his return to Philadelphia, for the purpose of justifying the steps he had taken, an exaggerated statement was published, calculated to create a belief, that the Bank

would sustain a heavy loss, by the operations of their office in Cincinnati. The fact, however, was very much the reverse. They received their own with triple usury. Every dollar of capital furnished the branch, including the Land office trash, charged as par funds, has been repaid, and they have made a very large profit on real estate, taken from their debtors, at their own valuation, which in many instances did not exceed half the amount of its intrinsic value.

CHAPTER XXIII.

Contract of Judge Symmes with the Board of Treasury. His proposition to purchase two millions of acres, entitling him to College lands.— Deposite of money on account.-Misunderstanding with Congress.-Contract closed by agents for one million of acres.- College lands thereby relinquished. Terms of sale and settlement established.-Published at Trenton. -Progress of the Miami settlements.-History of the College township.

It is proposed in this chapter to state the nature of the contract of John C. Symmes and his associates, for lands between the Miami rivers, and give some of the facts connected with the purchase. It is generally known, that at the close of the Revolutionary war, each State set up an exclusive claim to the unappropriated land within the limits of its charter. Those States which had no vacant land, of which number was the State of New Jersey, remonstrated against the claim, as unjust and inequitable. They contended, that as the war had been sustained, and the independence of the country acquired by the blood and treasure of all the States, every thing which had been wrested from the crown, in the struggle, belonged to the United States, in their confederate character, as a matter of right; and should be held for their joint and equal benefit.

There was much excitement on that subject, and propositions were made in the public prints of the day, advising the destitute States to seize on portions of those vacant lands, for their own use. To allay the ferment, Congress made strong appeals to the justice and patriotism of the States, holding those claims, to make liberal cessions to Congress, for the common benefit of the Union. That re

quisition was complied with, by several of the States. Virginia made a cession of the entire territory, north-west of the Ohio; and Connecticut ceded all her claim to the same territory, excepting that district, on Lake Erie, known by the name of "the Connecticut Reserve."

Soon after these cessions were made, Congress passed an ordinance to sell and dispose of the ceded territory. Their first sale was a tract of two millions of acres, on either side of the Muskingum river, to a New England company represented by Sargent, Cutler, and others. Immediately thereafter, John Cleves Symmes, then Chief Justice of New Jersey, proposed to a number of his friends, most of whom had been officers in the Revolutionary army, to join him in purchasing a tract of two millions of acres, between the Miami rivers. They agreed to take limited interests in such a contract, provided a plan was devised for the management and disposal of it, which to them should appear safe and prudent. On that intimation, Mr. Symmes drew up a plan, which he submitted, and which, being approved of, he published in pamphlet form, entitled "Terms of sale and settlement of Miami Lands." [See Appendix A-B.] He then submitted a proposition to Congress, on the 29th of August, 1787, to purchase, for himself and associates, all the land lying between the Miami rivers, south of a line drawn due west from the western termination of the northern boundary of the grant to Sargent, Cutler & Co., on the same terms that had been granted to that Company, excepting only, that instead of two townships for the use of an University, only one might be assigned him for the use of an academy.

This application was referred to the Board of Treasury, to take order, [See Congress Journal, Vol. XII. page 150.] At the same time, he paid into the Treasury about eightytwo thousand dollars, the principal part of which had been advanced by his associates. His proposition having been accepted, and the first payment deposited, he did not wait