r interest at six per cent.; but upon one
third of the amount, entitled "deferred stock," the interest was not to
commence till the year 1800. This interest was not to be redeemable at a
faster rate than eight dollars upon the hundred, annually, including the
yearly interest, and it was left to the option of the public creditors
to subscribe, or not, to this new loan.

The amount of state debts assumed by the general government, by the act,
was twenty-one millions, five hundred thousand dollars. For this the act
authorized an additional loan, payable in certificates of the state
debts, which were distributed among the states in specific
proportions;[26] but no certificates were to be received except such as
had been issued for services or supplies during the war.

"The effect of this measure," says Marshall, "was great and rapid. The
public paper suddenly rose, and was for a short time above par. The
immense wealth which individuals acquired by this unexpected
appreciation could not be viewed with indifference. Those who
participated in its advantages regarded the author of a system to which
they were so greatly indebted, with an enthusiasm of attachment to which
scarcely any limits were assigned. To many others, this adventitious
collection of wealth in particular hands was a subject rather of chagrin
than of pleasure; and the reputation which the success of his plans gave
to the secretary of the treasury was not contemplated with unconcern."

The discussions which Hamilton's report produced in and out of
Congress, in the public press and in private circles, fearfully agitated
the country, and called forth the first regular and systematic
opposition to the principles on which the affairs of the Union were
administered. In this discussion Washington was greatly interested, yet
he avoided all semblance of participation in it. He heartily approved of
Hamilton's plan for restoring the public credit and laying the
foundation of national policy, as the most perfect that human wisdom had
yet devised; but he concealed his opinions in his own breast, except
when in private conversation with intimate friends. He looked with
ineffable disgust upon the sectional jealousies which the discussion
revealed; and in an able letter to Dr. Stuart, written toward the close
of March, in reply to remarks of that gentleman concerning a spirit of
jealousy in Virginia toward the eastern states, he spoke out warmly. The
latter section of the U