Sir, Philada December 20. 1780 You will receive herewith enclosed, a Commission appointing you one Minister to the Court of Petersburgh, with Instructions for your Government in the important Mission with which you are entrusted, as also a Letter of Credence to her Imperial Majesty the Empress of all the Russias; to be delivered when you shall be openly received in your public Character at that Court.(1)
I have also enclosed a Copy of the Letter of Credence for your Perusal and Information.
Provided you proceed to the Court of Petersburgh you will draw on Doctor Franklin for fifteen hundred Pounds Sterling for one Year's Salary, agreeable to the resolve of Congress of this Day herewith enclosed (2)
With the warmest Wishes for your Prosperity, an honorable & successful Execution of your Mission
I am dear Sir, yours &c, &c, S.H.

LB (DNA: PCC, item 15).
(1) For the decision to send a minister to Russia, and Dana's appointment, commission, instructions, and letter of credence, See JCC, 18:1155, 1164, 1166-73. For an analysis of Dana's mission to St. Petersburg, see David M. Griffiths, "American Commercial Diplomacy in Russia, 1780 to 1783," William and Mary Quarterly, 3d ser. 27 (July 1970): 379-410.
(2) JCC, 18:1174. Huntington also sent a copy of this resolve this day with a brief cover letter to Benjamin Franklin. PCC, item 15, fol. 188.