tal currency," as it was
called; irredeemable, and of no intrinsic value. The consequence was a
general derangement of trade and finance. The continental currency
declined to such a degree, that forty dollars in paper were equivalent
to only one in specie. Congress attempted to put a stop to this
depreciation, by making paper money a legal tender, at its nominal
value, in the discharge of debts, however contracted. This opened the
door to knavery, and added a new feature to the evil.

The commissaries now found it difficult to purchase supplies for the
immediate wants of the army, and impossible to provide any stores in
advance. They were left destitute of funds, and the public credit was
prostrated by the accumulating debts suffered to remain uncancelled.
The changes which had taken place in the commissary department added
to this confusion. The commissary-general, instead of receiving, as
heretofore, a commission on expenditures, was to have a fixed salary
in paper currency; and his deputies were to be compensated in like
manner, without the usual allowance of rations and forage. No
competent agents could be procured on such terms; and the derangement
produced throughout the department compelled Colonel Wadsworth, the
able and upright commissary-general, to resign.

In the present emergency Washington was reluctantly compelled, by the
distresses of the army, to call upon the counties of the State for
supplies of grain and cattle, proportioned to their respective
abilities. These supplies were to be brought into the camp within a
certain time; the grain to be measured and the cattle estimated by any
two of the magistrates of the county in conjunction with the
commissary, and certificates to be given by the latter, specifying the
quantity of each and the terms of payment. Wherever a compliance with
this call was refused, the articles required were to be impressed: it
was a painful alternative, yet nothing else could save the army from
dissolution or starving. Washington charged his officers to act with
as much tenderness as possible, graduating the exaction according to
the stock of each individual, so that no family should be deprived of
what was necessary to its subsistence. To the honor of the magistrates
and the people of Jersey, Washington testifies that his requisitions
were punctually complied with, and in many counties exceeded.

As the winter advanced, the cold increased in severity. It was the
most intense