WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 1779 Mr. William Fleming, a delegate from Virginia, attended and produced the credentials of his appointment, which were read, as follows: VIRGINIA, To wit, In General Assembly. Monday December 14th 1778 Resolved, that William Fleming, of Powhatan, Esquire, be elected a Delegate to represent this Commonwealth in Congress, in the room of John Banister, Esquire, who hath resigned. Teste. ARCHIBALD CARY, S. S. A petition of Captain John Baptist Allin was read, with sundry papers enclosed: Ordered, That the same be referred to the Board of War. A letter, of 27, from N. Greene, Q. M. G., was read: Ordered, That it be referred to the committee appointed to superintend the departments of the quarter master and commissary general. A petition of Gideon Olmstead, Artemas White and Aquilla Ramsdill, claimants of the sloop Active, was read,3 praying that the whole amount of the said sloop and cargo may be advanced to them out of the public treasury, upon their tendering sufficient security to refund the same with interest, if Congress shall so determine, or one half thereof upon their own security. 'The original is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, Virginia, Credentials of Delegates. 2 This petition is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 42, I, folio 41. This petition is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 42, VI, folio 25. no no A motion was made by Mr. [Thomas] Burke, seconded by Mr. Samuel] Adams, that it be referred to the Board of Treasury, on which the yeas and nays being required by Mr. [Henry] Laurens, Mr. Plater, ay ay ay Henry, no Rhode Island, Virginia, Collins, ay Connecticut, R. H. Lee, no New York, North Carolina, no New Jersey, South Carolina, A motion was made by Mr. [Meriwether] Smith, seconded by Mr. [Henry] Laurens, That the prayer of the petition be rejected. After debate, A motion was made by Mr. [William Henry] Drayton, seconded by Mr. [John] Witherspoon, that the consideration thereof be postponed until the 15 of September, on which the yeas and nays being required by Mr. [Henry] Laurens, So it was resolved in the affirmative. A letter, of 27, from J. Reed, president of the State of Pensylvania, was read;1 Whereupon, A motion was made by Mr. [William Henry] Drayton, seconded by Mr. [Gouverneur] Morris, 1 This letter is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 69, II, folio 57. 51828-VOL XIII-08- -34 That the president make application to the president of the State of Pensylvania, to desire that he will specify those "transactions respecting General Arnold," which "are likely again to become the subject of discussions between Congress and the authority of the State," alluded to in his letter of the 27, as information received through the delegates of that State; Congress not being acquainted with any such transactions on their part, and to assure the president that Congress, being disposed to preserve the most perfect harmony with the State of Pensylvania, wish to avoid every transaction likely to become the subject of discussion with the State. A motion was made by Mr. [William] Paca, seconded by Mr. [John] Armstrong, that the letter from Mr. President Reed be referred to the committee to whom was referred the letter from Major General Arnold. On the motion for commitment, the yeas and nays being required by Mr. [William Henry] Drayton, So it was resolved in the affirmative. A motion was then made by Mr. [William Henry] Drayton, seconded by Mr. [Cyrus] Griffin, That the committee be instructed to make application to the president of the State of Pensylvania, to desire that he will specify those "transactions respecting General Arnold," which "are likely again to become the subject of discussions between Congress and the authority of the State," alluded to in the president's letter of the 27, as information received through the delegates of this State; Congress not being acquainted with any such transactions on their part, and to assure the president that Congress, being disposed to preserve the most perfect harmony with the State of Pensylvania, wish to avoid every transaction likely to become the subject of discussion with the State. When the question was about to be put, the previous question was moved by Mr. R[ichard] H[enry] Lee, seconded by Mr. [Roger] Sherman; and on the previous question, the yeas and nays being required by Mr. [William Henry] Drayton, |