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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 --TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 1779
A letter, of 9, from the Board of War, directed to the Committee of Commerce, was read.
Ordered, That it be referred back to the Committee of Commerce.
A letter, of 9, from Marquis de Brétigny, was read;1 Whereupon,
[Note 1: 1 This letter is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 78, III, folio 251.]
Ordered, That the report on the memorials of the Marquis de Brétigny be recommitted, and that this letter be referred to the said committee.
A letter, of 10, from Doctor Shippen, Director General, was read:
Ordered, That it be referred to the Medical Committee.
Ordered, That two members be added to the said committee.
The members chosen, Mr. [Thomas] Burke and Mr. T[homas] Adams.
A letter, of 25 December last, from Admiral Gambier, was read;2 Whereupon,
[Note 2: 2 This letter is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 78, X, folio 85.]
A motion was made:
Ordered, That the letter and motion be referred to a committee of three:
The members chosen, Mr. G[ouverneur] Morris, Mr. [Thomas] Burke, and Mr. [William Henry] Drayton.
A letter, of 1, from Major De Bois, was read.3
[Note 3: 3 This letter is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 78, II, folio 313.]
Ordered, That it be referred to the Board of War, and that the Board be instructed to inform him that Congress cannot, consistent with the present arrangement of the army, employ him agreeably to his wishes.
A letter, of 2, from Captain James Willing, on board the Ardent, directed to the Committee of Commerce, and
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a letter, of 19 September, from John Bonfield, at Bordeaux, by the Arnold Packet, were read, with an invoice of goods enclosed in the latter.
Ordered, That the foregoing letters be referred to the Committee of Commerce.
A letter, of 19 December, from the Commissioners of Claims, was read:1
[Note 1: 1 This letter is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 58, folio 297.]
Ordered, to lie on the table.
A letter, of this day, from General Washington, was read, with sundry papers enclosed:2
[Note 2: 2 A draft of this letter is in the Washington Papers, A, IV, pt. 1, fo. 227.]
Ordered, That the same be referred to the committee appointed to confer with General Washington.
The Marine Committee laid before Congress a letter to them, from the honble Sr Gérard, respecting the purchase of flour for the subsistence of the French squadron.3
[Note 3: 3 A summary of the letter, in the writing of James Lovell, is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 36, IV, folio 231.]
Ordered, That the said letter be referred to a committee of three, who shall enquire into and report the practicability and manner of supplying the quantity of Bread required for the use of the French fleet, and the engagements which have been made for this purpose, and that the Commissary General and Marine Committee give the committee now to be appointed every necessary information on this subject:
The members chosen, Mr. [James] Duane, Mr. M[eriwether] Smith, and Mr. S[amuel] Adams.
A letter, of 29 December, from Major General Gates, was read.
A memorial from Alexander McNutt, was read:
Ordered, to lie on the table.
Whereas it may happen, that a part of the moneys paid for the months of September, October, and November, to
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the officers and soldiers of the United States, for their pay and subsistence, may be of the emissions oft he 20 May, 1777, and the 11 of April, 1778:
Resolved, That in such case the pay master general and pay masters of the respective departments be directed to exchange such moneys, to the end that the said officers and soldiers be not deprived of the use of the same,
A motion was made, that when Congress adjourn, the adjournment be to 7 o'Clock this evening; on which the yeas and nays being required by Mr. [William Henry] Drayton:
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So it passed in the negative.
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Question put to adjourn, and the yeas and nays being required by Mr. Drayton:
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So it passed in the negative.
Congress resumed the consideration of the publications in the Pennsylvania Packet, of the 2 and 5th instant, under the title of Common Sense to the public on Mr. Deane's affairs, of which Mr. Thomas Paine, secretary to the Committee of Foreign Affairs, has acknowledged himself to be the author; and also the memorials of the minister plenipotentiary of France, of the 5 and 10 instant respecting the said publications; Whereupon,
Resolved, unanimously, That in answer to the memorials of the honorable Sieur Gérard, minister plenipotentiary of his most Christian Majesty, of the 5th and 10th instant
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the president be directed to assure the said Minister, that Congress do fully, in the clearest and most explicit manner, disavow the publications referred to in his said memorials; and as they are convinced by indisputable evidence, [that the supplies shipped in the Amphitrite, Seine, and Mercury were not a present, and that his most Christian Majesty, the great and generous ally of these United States, did not preface his alliance with any supplies whatever sent to America, so they have not authorized the writer of the said publications to make any such assertions as are contained therein, but on the contrary do highly disapprove of the same.1
[Note 1: 1 This resolution, in the writ'rag of Gouverneur Morris, with an amendment [in brackets] by Charles Thomson, is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 36, IV, folio 131. The last sentence continued as follows: "and consider the indiscreet and unfounded references to public papers for support of his Insinuations as an abuse of the confidence reposed in [office conferred on] him by Congress." In transmitting the act to Gérard, Jay wrote: "The explicit disavowal and high disapprobation of Congress, relative to the Publications referred to in this act, will, I flatter myself, be no less satisfactory to his most Christian Majesty, than pleasing to the people of these states. Nor have I the least doubt, but that every attempt to injure the Reputation of either, or impair their mutual confidence, will meet with the Indignation and resentment of both."]
Adjourned to 10 o'Clock to Morrow.
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