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A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875
Journals of the Continental Congress --THURSDAY, JULY 25, 1776
Resolved, That two months' pay be advanced to Mons. Jacque Antoine de Franchessin; he to be accountable.
A memorial of Samuel Holden Parsons, of Lyme, in Connecticut, was presented to Congress, and read:
Resolved, That it be referred to a committee of three:
The members chosen, Mr. [Thomas] Jefferson, Mr. [James] Wilson, and Mr. [Roger] Sherman.
A memorial from sundry officers who served in Canada, and are now unemployed, was laid before Congress, and read:
Resolved, That it be referred to the Board of War.
Agreeable to order, the Congress resolved itself into a committee of the whole, to take into their farther consideration, the articles of confederation; ∥after some time,∥ the president resumed the chair, and Mr. [Benjamin] Harrison reported, that the committee have made farther progress in the consideration of the articles of confederation; but, not having gone through, desired leave to sit again.
A letter of the 23, from General Washington,1 enclosing a letter from Governor Trumbull, to the General;
[Note 1: 1 The letter of Washington, is in thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 152, II, 289. That of the Committee of Safety of New Hampshire, is in No. 64, folio 13.]
A letter of the 19 July, from Governor Trumbull, with sundry depositions;
One from the committee of safety of New Hampshire 16 July, [were laid before Congress, and read.]
Resolved, That the letter from General Washington be referred to the Board of War.
The Committee of Claims reported, that there is due,
To Francis Gurney, for expences of himself and others,
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escorting money to Cambridge, in February last, the sum of £61 2=162 84/90ths dollars, over and beside the money advanced to him:
To Henry Wisner, for the expences of an express paid by him, the sum of 20 dollars:
To Thomas Dewees, for boarding prisoners of state, the sum of 437 68/90ths dollars:
To David Lenox, for expences in going after deserters, the sum of 3186/90ths dollars, to be paid to David Sproat:
To William Trickett, for stationary, the sum of 43 76/90ths dollars:
To Philip Nolan, for ferriages of General Lee's guards, the sum of 4 12/90ths dollars:
To Elizabeth Slaving, for boarding and nursing a sick soldier, the sum of 4 dollars:
To John Piling, for chairs for the war office, the sum of 12 dollars:
To John Kerling, for provisions for General Lee's guards, the sum of 4 54/90ths dollars.
To Isaac Cooper, for his attendance as a guard over powder, the sum of 11 dollars.
To Furman and Hunt, for necessaries furnished the prisoners at Trenton, the sum of 47 87/90ths dollars:
To John Bates, for camp kettles, the sum of 98 60/90ths dollars:
The Committee of Treasury also reported that there is due,
To Elijah Bennet, post rider, in the service of the United States, from Hartford, in Connecticut, to various places, amounting to £399 10 5=[1331 dollars and 66/90ths,] deducting the sum of £245 19 9 [--819 dollars and 86/90ths,] which he has received from the colony of Connecticut, the balance being £153 10 8=511 56/72 dollars.
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To Michael Philips, employed by Brigadier General Wooster in making sundry repairs in the citadel and hospital in Montreal, carting, &c. the sum of £119 7 [=397 dollars and 75/90ths,] deducting the sum of £28 16 5 [=96 dollars and 7/90ths,] which he received from Major Nicholson, the balance being £90 10 7 equal to 301 68/90ths:
To James Budden, for the expence of a detachment of the troop of light horse escorting 300,000 dollars to New York, the sum of 82 dollars:
Ordered, That the said accounts be paid.
Resolved, That this Congress will, to morrow, resolve itself into a committee of the whole, to take into their farther consideration, the Articles of Confederation.
Adjourned to 9 o'Clock to Morrow1
[Note 1: 1 "I find myself under a necessity of applying to the honourable the General Court for leave to return home. I have attended here so long and so constantly, that I feel myself necessitated to ask the favour on account of my health, as well as on many other accounts. I beg leave to propose to the honourable Court, an alteration in their plan of delegation in Congress, which, it appears to me, would be more agreeable to the health and convenience of the members, and much more conducive to the publick good, than the present. No gentleman can possibly attend to an incessant round of thinking, speaking, and writing, upon the most intricate, as well as important concerns of human society, from one end of the year to another, without trying both his mental and bodily strength. I would therefore humbly propose, that the honourable Court would be pleased to appoint nine members to attend in Congress--three or five at a time. In this case, four or six might be at home at a time, and every member might be relieved once in three or four months. In this way you would always have members in Congress who would have in their minds a complete chain of the proceedings here, as well as in the General Court; both kinds of which knowledge are necessary for a proper conduct here. In this way, the lives and health, and, indeed, the sound minds, of the delegates here, would be in less danger than they are at present, and, in my humble opinion, the publick business would be much better done. This proposal, however, is only submitted to the honourable body, whose sole right it is to judge of it. For myself, I must entreat the General Court to give me leave to resign, and immediately to appoint some other gentleman in my room."John Adams to the Massachusetts Assembly, 25 July, 1776. Force,American Archives, Fifth Series, I, 571.]
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