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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 --FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1779
A letter, of 18, and one, of 20, from General Washington, were read:2
[Note 2: 2 These letters are in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 152, VIII, folios 175, 181. The first is printed in the Writings of Washington (Ford), VIII, 110.]
Ordered, That the letter, of 18, be referred to a committee of five:
The members chosen, Mr. [John] Mathews, Mr. [Philip] Schuyler, Mr. [Roger] Sherman, Mr. [Elbridge] Gerry, and Mr. [William Churchill] Houston.
Ordered, That the report of the committee, to whom was referred the report of the Board of War on the construction of the resolution of March 15, 1779, be referred to the foregoing committee.
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Ordered, That the letter, of 20th, be referred to the committee appointed to correspond with the commanding officer of the southern department.
A letter, of this day, from J. Gibson, was read, accepting the office of commissioner of the Board of Treasury.1
[Note 1: 1 This letter is in the Papers of the Continental Congress. No. 78, X, folio 179.]
The Committee on the Treasury brought in a report; Whereupon,
Ordered, That a warrant issue on the treasurer, in favour of Mr. N[athaniel] Peabody, one of the delegates for the State of New Hampshire, on his application, for five thousand dollars; for which the said State is to be accountable.
That a warrant issue on the treasurer, in favour of Mr. J[esse] Root, one of the delegates for the State of Connecticut, on his application, for two thousand dollars; for which the said State is to be accountable.
That a warrant issue on the treasurer, in favour of W. Kinnan, copper plate printer to the United States, for fifteen hundred dollars; for which he is to be accountable.2
[Note 2: 2 This report, dated November 26, is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 136, III, folio 841.]
A report from the Board of War was read; Whereupon,
Resolved, That the returns for cloathing for officers in the medical staff, (regimental surgeons and their mates, who are to draw with the regimental staff, excepted) be signed by the director general or the physician general and surgeon general of the district, and such cloathing shall be delivered either by the cloathier general, or any sub-cloathier in the State in which the officer to receive cloathing shall reside, as is provided in the cases of other staff officers not taken from the line:
That no cloathing shall be sold or delivered to non-commissioned officers or soldiers beyond the articles they have received as their bounty, until the whole of the army
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shall have received their bounty cloathing, it being the intention hereof that the surplus only shall be disposed of.1
[Note 1: 1 This report, dated November 25, is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 147, II, folio 621.]
Mr. [James] Forbes desires that Mr. Stone, whom he put in nomination to be appointed a commissioner of the Board of War, be withdrawn, he being appointed one of the council of the State of Maryland.
Mr. [George] Plater communicated to the house an extract of a letter:
Ordered, That the same be referred to a committee of three to enquire into the intelligence contained in the said extract.
The members chosen, Mr. [George] Plater, Mr. [William Churchill] Houston, and Mr. [Nathaniel] Peabody.
On motion of Mr. [Philip] Schuyler, seconded by Mr. John] Mathews,
Resolved, That when any committee appointed by Congress have prepared their report, the same shall be delivered to the secretary at the table, who shall immediately endorse thereon the day of delivery, and if more than one are delivered on the same day, the first shall be endorsed No. 1, the second No. 2, and so on, to the intent that on the following day, after the journals, and any despatches which may have been received, and the reports from the Board of Treasury and Board of War are severally read, decided upon or postponed, the reports of the committees may be read in the order of the dates and numbers endorsed on them.
That all reports which have been already delivered to the President,Postponed shall be taken up in the order in which they were delivered, and before any others that may here after be delivered.2
[Note 2: 2 This motion, in the writing of Philip Schuyler, is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 36, IV, folio 351.]
The committee appointed to correspond with the commanding officer of the southern department, to whom was referred the letter, of 20, from General Washington, brought in a report, which was read.
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The Committee appointed to correspond with General Lincoln and to whom was referred the letter of the 20th. inst, from General Washington, Report,
That General Washington be informed the North Carolina Brigade alone will by no means be a sufficient reinforcement for the defence of the Southern department; and that unless farther aid can be immediately sent to General Lincoln, the total loss of the two States of South Carolina and Georgia will in all probability follow. It is therefore become indispensably necessary to detach a larger part of the Continental forces to the aid of Southern department.
Therefore, Resolved, That General Washington be directed to order one thousand men in addition to North Carolina troops to proceed immediately to join General Lincoln. And that the Commander in Chief be authorized to order out the militia of the States of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, (if he shall think it necessary) not exceeding 1500 men to supply the place of the troops ordered to the Southward.1
[Note 1: 1 This report, in the writing of John Mathews, is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 19, VI, folio 283. The report was recommitted on the 27th.]
The committee appointed to report on the resolutions, of 23, delivered in a report;
The Committee appointed to report the manner in which the resolution of the [23] day of November, instant, relative to the drawing bills of Exchange on Mr. Jay and Mr Lawrence shall be carried into execution, report the following resolutions:
1. Resolved, That the bills be prepared under the direction of the Board of Treasury, and with such checks as they may devise to prevent counterfeits, and be signed by the Treasurer of Loans.
2d. Resolved, That a proportion of the Bills, to the amount of seventy thousand pounds stirling, be remitted by the Board of TreasuryPostponed to the Continental Commissioner of Loans at Boston, thirty-five thousand of which to be drawn upon Mr. Jay, and the remainder upon Mr. Lawrence.
3d. Resolved, That a proportion of the said bills to the amount of thirty thousand pounds stirling, be remitted by the Board of Treasury Postponed to the Continental Commissioner of Loans for the State of South Carolina, at Charlestown, fifteen thousand pounds of which to be drawn upon Mr. Jay, the remainder upon Mr. Lawrence.
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4th. Resolved, That bills for the residue of the money to be drawn Postponed for be placed in the hands of the Treasurer of Loans at Philadelphia.
5th. Resolved, That the said Treasurer, and the said Commissioners of loans for the States of Massachusetts Bay and South Carolina Postponed respectively, shall be empowered to dispose of the said bills at the current price, or at such price as the Board of Treasury shall from time to time direct.
Resolved, That the person or persons disposing of such bills be directed to take a duplicate receipt or certificate from the purchasers, which certificate shall express the marks and numbers of the bills, the amount of the sum mentioned therein, and the consideration for which they were sold, one of which certificates shall be transmitted to the Treasury, and the other retained by the said loan officers respectively.
6. Resolved, That the said several persons report weekly, or by Postponed every post, to the Board of Treasury the current rate of exchange at the several places at which they reside.
7th. That the Board of Treasury may at their discretion suspend the sale of such bills, or report to Congress their reasons for so doing, that they may receive their directions thereon.
8th. That the Committee of Foreign affairs be directed to write to Mr. Jay and Mr. Lawrence informing them of the drafts that will be made upon them, and explaining fully the reasons that urge Congress to draw, directing them to keep up a mutual correspondence and to afford each other every assistance in procuring the money to pay the bills.
9th Resolved, That y1/8 pr cent on monies received in payment for the said bills shall be allowed to the persons intrusted with the sale thereof.1
[Note 1: 1 This report, in the writing of Robert R. Livingston, is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 26, folio 91. It was in part adopted November 29.]
Also the committee, to whom was referred the memorial of Mr. Simitière, delivered in a report.
The Committee, to whom was Referred the Memorial of Pierre Eugene du Simitière, of the 22 July last, report:
That they have considered the subject of the said Memorial and have been frequently addressed by the Memorialist, who has given
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them a full explanation of the design and extent of his work, and of the plan he proposes in the conduct and execution of it, a sketch of which is herewith enclosed for the inspection of Congress.
That they have carefully examined the collections of the Memorialist, in order to determine, as precisely as possible, on the sufficiency of his materials, and find that they have been made with great care and attention, are large and well assorted, and must have been obtained at a very considerable expense.
That the said collections consist of a variety of scarce and curious books, both printed and manuscript, of maps, charts, plans, drawings, of productions, natural and artificial, of extracts from records and other public muniments, of notes, observations, and remarks made by the Memorialist in the course of his reading or while travelling through the different parts of North America, all relating to the subject of his intended work.
That the said work, though designed more especially as Memoirs relative to that part of North America which comprehends the territories of the United States, will extend also to Nova Scotia, Canada and the Northern Counties, and Southward to the Florida's and Bahama Islands.
On the foregoing state, the Committee beg leave to propose the following resolutions:
Whereas Pierre Eugene du Simitière, of the City of Philadelphia, hath with great industry and at much expense, collected materials for a Passed. literary work, to be entitled "Memoirs and observations on the origin and present state of North America" and hath solicited Congress to grant him encouragement in preparing and publishing the same; and whereas Congress are fully satisfied, that a work of this nature will greatly tend to diffuse useful knowledge,
Resolved, That Congress for the encouragement of the said Mr. Du Simitière, for carrying on and completing his said undertaking, recommend to the several states upon the [an obliterated line] to afford him such assistance as may be most beneficial to him in rendering Iris said work complete and useful.
Resolved, That the sum of two thousand dollars in Continental bills, or other Currency equivalent be paid yearly to the said Mr. Du Passed Simitière for three years, the better to enable him to proceed in and finish the same.
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The Committee beg leave further to report that as the collections of the said Mr. Du Simitière under the article of history are particularly Negatived ample, and he has paid great attention to the study thereof, and as some honorary distinction, by which he may become more publicly known will much conduce to his better success in the aforementioned work;
Resolved, That the sd. Pierre Eugene du Simitière be appointed Historiographer to the Congress of the United States.1
[Note 1: 1 This report, in the writing of William Churchill Houston, is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 19, II, folio 175. It is endorsed: "Received, November 26, 1779. December 27, To be considered Friday, December 31."]
The delegates of Pensylvania laid before Congress an extract from the proceedings of the general assembly of Pensylvania, relative to Captain Lee's and Captain Porter's companies in Colonel Lamb's regiment of artillery:
Ordered, That it be referred to the Board of War.
Congress proceeded to the election of commissioners for the board of admiralty, and the ballots being taken,
Thomas Waring, Esq. and William Whipple, Esq. were elected.2
[Note 2: 2 "The third Commissioner is not yet elected, but will probably be a Gentleman from some one of the more central States, it being tho't beneficial to the whole to take the Commissioners from different parts of the United States."--Huntington to Waring, November 27, 1779. Waring was from South Carolina, and Whipple from New Hampshire.]
Adjourned to 10 oClock to Morrow.
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