PREFACE.

The present volume contains an account of the Bills of Credit issued by Congress usually known as Continental Money; a name given to the notes in the earliest stages of their existence as denoting their origin from the Confederated efforts of America, as being common to all the thirteen colonies, and as a mark distinguishing them from their separate and individual issues. The apparent nonredemption of this currency has always seemed to stand as a reproach against the United States, while the history of the notes and the reasons why they were not fully liquidated, have been but imperfectly known. The elucidation of this matter is the object proposed in the following pages, for which through several years, during the intervals of leisure from professional duties, the materials have been gathered and placed in order. The assistance of friends has enabled the author, when time did not suffice,