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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, JUNE 15, 1779
A letter, of May 30th, from General Schuyler, was read, enclosing a letter, of 21 of the same month, from James Deane, a list of the Indians' names to whom commissions will be given, and a list of the officers in Captain Lee's ranging company, and the time of their entering into the service:2
[Note 2: 2 Schuyler's letter is in thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 152, III, folio 446; that of Deane, in No. 78, VII, folio 243.]
Ordered, That an extract of the letter with the list of Indians' names and of Captain Lee's officers be referred to the Board of War.
That so much of the letter as relates to Indian affairs, together with Mr. Deane's letter, be referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs and to the Committee of Intelligence.
A letter, of this day, from Dr. J. Morgan, was read, charging Dr. William Shippen, Jun. in the service of the United States, with mal-practices, and misconduct in office, and declaring his readiness to give before the proper court having jurisdiction, the necessary evidence in the premises against the said Dr. William Shippen.3
[Note 3: 3 This letter is in thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 63, folio 129.]
On motion of Mr. [Henry] Laurens, seconded by Mr. [William Henry] Drayton,
Resolved, That a copy of the said letter be transmitted to the Commander in Chief, and that he be directed to cause such proceedings to be had thereon, as that the charges alluded to in it be speedily enquired into, and justice done.
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Ordered, That an extract of the letter, with the above resolution, be transmitted to Dr. Shippen.
A petition from Samuel De Lucena, respecting a sulphur mine, was read:
Ordered, That it be referred to the Board of War.
A memorial of Azariah Horton, deputy commissary general of musters, was read:1
[Note 1: 1 Lucena's petition, dated June 14, is in thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 42, IV, folio 200; Horton's memorial, dated June 14, is in No. 41, IV, folio 67.]
Ordered, That the same, together with the reports of the Board of War respecting the department of the commissary of musters be referred to a committee of three:
The members chosen, Mr. [Henry] Laurens, Mr. [Joseph] Spencer, and Mr. [Nathaniel] Scudder.
A letter, of 4, from the Board of War, was read:2
[Note 2: 2 This letter is in thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 147, III, folio 385.]
Ordered, That the same, together with the report of the Board on the department of the military stores, be referred to the committee appointed to enquire into the state of the several departments and boards.
The commissioners of accounts having reported on the accounts of Joseph Grief, appointed by the council of Pensylvania to purchase provisions for the use of the continental army:
Ordered, That the same be referred to the Board of Treasury.
The Committee on the Treasury brought in a report; Whereupon,
Ordered, That a warrant issue on the treasurer, in favour of Mr. S[amuel] Adams, one of the delegates of Massachusetts bay, on his application, for fifteen hundred dollars, for which the said State is to be accountable?3
[Note 3: 3 This report, dated June 14, is in thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 136, III, folio 385. The paragraph on McConnel (p. 736) formed a part of the same report]
That a Warrant issue on the treasurer, in favour of William Henry, Esq. of Lancaster, in the State of Pensylvania, for
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fifty thousand dollars advanced on the application of the Board of War and Ordnance, to enable the said William Henry to purchase leather, linnen, &c. to carry on the business of his department; for which he is to be accountable.1
[Note 1: 1 This report, dated June 15, is in thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 136, III, folio 389.]
The Board, having considered a letter of the 3d Inst., from General Smallwood to the Honble William Paca, Esquire, Member of Congress from maryland, beg leave to report:
That a warrant issue on he Treasurer in favor of the Delegates of Maryland, for 9736 dollars, to enable them to exchange for General Smallwood a like sum of the Emissions of May 20, andAgd. 15th June reconsidered and recommitted. April 11, 1778, the said State to be charged therewith, recommitted. and to repay it in the month of August next.
That a warrant issue on the treasurer, in favour of Mr. Frederick Muhlenberg, one of the delegates of the State of Pensylvania, on his application for fifteen hundred dollars, for which the said State is to be accountable.
That a warrant issue on the treasurer, in favour of Colonel Benjamin Flower, commissary general of military stores, on the application of the Board of War and Ordnance, for five hundred thousand dollars, for the use of his department, to be issued from time to time from the treasury as the necessities of the department shall require, for which the said Colonel B. Flower is to be accountable.
The Committee on the Treasury, to whom was referred the memorial of William Storey, of the 4th of May last, having considered the same, beg leave to report the following resolution:
Resolved, That for his services as Clerk to the Navy Board from the 1st of May, 1778, to the present time, he received the same allowance as has been made to a Clerk in the Office of the Secretary who is directed to transmit an account thereof and a copy of this resolution to the Navy Board of the Eastern District.2
[Note 2: 2 This report, dated June 12, is in thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 136, III, folio 381.]
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The Board of Treasury, to whom were referred a petition of Archibald McConnel, the memorial of William Storey, and a letter of the 3d from General Smallwood to the Honble William Paca, Esq. brought in a report; Whereupon,
Resolved, That Thomas Smith, Esq. commissioner of the continental loan office of Pensylvania, be directed to receive of Archibald McConnel four thousand dollars of the emissions of May 20th, 1777, and April 11, 1778, and issue loan office certificates or indented receipts for the same, as the petitioner shall judge expedient.1
[Note 1: 1 See note on p. 734,ante.]
Ordered, That so much of the said report as relates to the memorial of William Storey be re-committed, and that the Board take order thereon.
That so much as relates to General Smallwood's letter be also re-committed.
The committee appointed to prepare an answer to the letter from his most Christian Majesty brought in a draught, which was read and agreed to; as follows:
GREAT, FAITHFUL, AND BELOVED FRIEND AND ALLY,
The repeated proofs we have received of your majesty's regard for these United States will lead their citizens to rejoice in every event that may conduce to your happiness or glory. It affords us particular pleasure to hear that Providence has been pleased to bless your nuptials with the birth of a princess; and we pray God that the virtues and honours of your illustrious family may be perpetuated in a race of descendants worthy of so great and so good an ancestor.
We receive with great satisfaction and sensibility your majesty's assurances of esteem and constant regard; and we entreat you to be persuaded that the permanence and stability of our friendship will be equal to the magnanimity
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of that conduct, and the importance of those good offices, by which it was created.
Permit us to request the favour of your majesty to oblige us with portraits of yourself and royal consort, that, by being placed in our council chamber, the representatives of these states may daily have before their eyes the first royal friends and patrons of their cause.
We beseech the Supreme Disposer of events to keep you both in his holy protection, and long to continue to France the blessings resulting from the administration of a prince who nobly asserts the rights of mankind.
Done at Philadelphia, the fifteenth day of June, 1779. By the Congress of the United States of America. Your faithful friends and allies.
Ordered, That copies thereof be made out, signed by the President, and transmitted.
The said committee having prepared a representation and request to his most christian majesty, the same was agreed to as follows:
The representation and request of the Congress of the United States of America, to their great, faithful, and beloved friend and ally, Lewis the sixteenth, king of France and Navarre.
The full confidence we repose in your majesty's constant attention to the great objects of the treaties subsisting between us, and our earnest desire vigorously to co-operate in the attainment of them, induce us to submit the following facts and proposals to your condition:
At the commencement of the present war, we were in a great degree destitute of arms, ammunition and clothing for our armies; and supplies have since been irregular, fortuitous and scanty. Our husbandmen have
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been so much interrupted by frequent calls to arms, that even the productions of our fertile country have been considerably diminished; and other natural effects of war have rendered our usual commodities for exportation less abundant than formerly.
Our coasts have long been, and still are, so infested by the enemy's cruisers, that our commerce has been greatly injured, and both exports and imports become very hazardous. For want of naval stores, our marine exertions have been less extensive than they otherwise would have been. And while commodities proper for remittances remain scarce, and the transportation of them precarious, we have little reason to expect ample supplies from private contracts and commercial projects.
We are impressed with the strongest conviction of your majesty's friendly disposition towards us; and we are persuaded that the same magnanimity which induced your majesty to unite with us in frustrating the cruel designs of a nation whose power and lust of dominion had become dangerous to their neighbours, and oppressive to us, will continue to influence your majesty to exertions glorious to France and advantageous to your allies. We therefore take the liberty of requesting your majesty to furnish us with these necessary supplies, an estimate of which we have ordered our minister to lay before you; and we pledge the faith of these states for the repayment with interest of whatever sums may be advanced for that purpose, as soon as the restoration of peace shall have enabled us. Be assured that they shall be vigorously used against the common enemy, with whom we shall neither conclude peace nor truce without your concurrence; and that it is our sincere desire, that the alliance between us may be as beneficial to France, as it has been liberal and salutary to these United States.
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On the 10th July, the board of war having laid before Congress an estimate of sundry articles proper to be sent for, amounting to five hundred and five thousand seven hundred and ninety-two pounds five shillings and six pence sterling; and the marine committee having laid before Congress an estimate of articles in their department, necessary to be sent for, amounting to sixty thousand three hundred and fifty-six pounds eleven shillings two farthings sterling.
Ordered, That copies of the said invoices be made out by the board of war and marine committee respectively, and delivered to the President, to be by him transmitted, with the representation, to his most Christian Majesty.1
[Note 1: 1 These letters, etc., were entered only in the manuscript Secret Journals, Foreign Affairs.]
Ordered, That the estimate of articles necessary in the department of the Board of War and Ordnance reported by the Board of War be referred to a committee of three:2
[Note 2: 2 This estimate is in thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 147, III, folio 417.]
The members chosen, Mr. [Meriwether] Smith, Mr. [Henry] Marchant, and Mr. [William] Whipple.3
[Note 3: 3 In thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 42, V, folio 150, is a petition of John Macpherson, of this date, endorsed as read July 15. It must have been read June 15 as Thomson has noted on it the ballots for this committee, as follows: Armstrong, 2; Whipple, 4; Smith, 8; Marchant, 6; Huntington, 3; Scudder, 1; Ellery, 1; Laurens, 3; and Gerry, 2.]
Adjourned to 10 oClock to Morrow.
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