654
AN GAOḊAL.
the last stated meeting, whether Capt. Thomas
Batt be expelled from the So., it was unanimously
arried in the affirmative." At this meeting there
were present twenty-one members, among them
Generals Wayne, Shee, and Nixon and several of
the First Troop of Philadelphia Cavalry.
The pent-up flames of war at last broke forth,
and most of the members of the Society of the
Friendly Sons of St. Patrick became partici¬
pants and actors in the stirring scenes which
followed.
The festivities of the society, the wit, the song,
and the joke yielded to the stern requisitions of
duty, and the excitement of the banquet was
succeeded by that of danger, battle and glory.
The minutes of the society came down regularly
to the meeting of June 17, 1776. Here there is
a gap until Setember 1778, with this only entry,
namely, "The State of Pennsylvania having been
invaded, and the city of Philadelphia taken by the
British army under the command of General Sir
Wm. Howe, in September, 1777, the society had
no meeting until September 1778 ; the minutes
of the meetings of September and December, 1776
and March and June 1777, are, unfortunately lost.'
The meetings from September 1778, until the end
of the war were regularly held, and though those
who were in the army and navy are generally
noted as absent, yet we find many of them snatch¬
ing occasional moments of enjoyment, amid the
hardships of war, in a reunion at the festival of
the society. "Absent in camp," "absent at sea,"
are frequent entries opposite the names of mem¬
bers, and at the meeting, June 17, 1779, it was
agreed that such members of the society as are
officers in the army, shall not be subject to fines
for absence while in service in the field." Gen¬
eral Wayne was present at this meeting, as were
several members of the First Troop. The case of
members absent at sea had already been provided
for in the 4th rule.
Intimately connected with the glory of the
Society of the Sons of St. Patrick, is a matter which
must be referred to in some detail.
In the year 1780, a transaction took place in
Philadelphia almost unparalleled in the history of
nations and patriotism, which casts a luster not
only on the individuals who were the author of
it, but on the whole community to which they
belonged.
At the time alluded to, when everything depend¬
ed on a vigorous prosecution of the war; when the
American army was in imminent danger of being
compelled to yield to famine — a far more danger¬
ous enemy than the British; when the urgent
expostulations of the commander-in-chief, and the
strenuous recommendations of Congress, had utter¬
ly failed to arouse a just sense of the danger of
the crisis, the genuine love of country, and most
noble self-sacrifices of some individuals in Phila.
supplied the place of the slumbering patriotism of
the country, and saved her cause from most dis¬
graceful ruin. In this great emergency was con¬
ceived and promptly carried into operation the
plan of the Bank of Pennsylvania, established for
supplying the army of the United States with pro¬
visions for two months.
On the 17th of June 1780, the following paper
which deserves to rank as supplement to the Dec¬
laration of Independence, was signed by ninety-
three individuals and firms:
"Whereas, In the present situation of public
affairs in the United States, the greatest and most
vigorous exertions are required for the successful
management of the just and necessary war in
which they were engaged with Great Britain; We
the subscribers, deeply impressed with the senti¬
ments that on such an occasion should govern us
in the prosecution of a war, on the event of which
our own freedom and that of our posterity and the
freedom and independence of the United States are
all involved, hereby severally pledge our property
and credit for the several sums specified and men¬
tioned after our names, to support the credit of
a bank to be established for furnishing a supply of
provisions for the armies of the United States;
And do hereby severally promise and engage to
execute to the directors of the said bank bonds of
the form hereunto annexed.
"Witness our hands, this 17th day of June, in
the year of our Lord 1780."
Then follow the names of the subscribers, with
the sums respectively subscribed, amounting to
£300,000 Pennsylvania, currency payable in gold
or silver.
Of this amount, twenty-seven members of the
Friendly Sons of St. Patrick subscribed £103,000
The names of these, with the amounts of their
subscriptions are as follows, namely;
Robert Morris £10,000
Blair M'Clenachan 10,000
William Bingham 5,000
J. M. Nesbitt & Co. 5,000
Richard Peters 5,000
Samuel Meredith 5,000
James Mease 5000
Thomas Barclay 5,000
Hugh Shiell 5,000
John Dunlap 4,000
John Nixon 5,000
George Campbell 2,000
John Mease 4,000
Bunner, Murray & Co. 6,000
John Patton 2,000
Benjamin Fuller 2,000
Geo. Meade & Co. 2,000
John Donaldson 2,000
Henry Hill 5,000
Kean & Nichols 4,000
