THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON BY VARNUM LANSING COLLINS WITH A PORTRAIT OF GENERAL WASHINGTON ENGRAVED BY SIDNEY L. SMITH PRINCETON, N. J. THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 1908 Copyright, 1908, by THE PRINCETON UNIVERSITY LIBRARY PRESS OF THE NEW ERA PRINTING C LANCASTER. PA. TO P. L. C. PREFACE THE Mutiny of the Pennsylvania Line in June, 1783, and the resulting session of the Continental Congress at Princeton do not bulk large in a general survey of the American Revolution ; and accordingly writers on that portion of American history have given scarcely more than passing mention to the incidents leading to the flight of Congress from Philadelphia, and almost without excep- tion have dismissed the session at Princeton with few words. But, on the one hand, it would be difficult to find incidents more significant of the times than those which drove Congress from Philadelphia; while, on the other, many of the scenes witnessed at Princeton during the session of Congress were as memorable, and much of the legislation there enacted was as important, as any immediately succeeding the cessation of Revolutionary hostilities. The inside history, moreover, of the efforts made by the various States to influence, in the light of the mutiny, the great debate at Princeton on the federal residence question has never received detailed consider- ation. The present volume then is, in the first place, an attempt to arrive at a fuller knowledge of the Congres- sional history of the Summer and Autumn of 1783. Any narrative of that history, however, if it aim at completeness must prove to be the chronicle of an admix- ture of work and play. For Congressional life at Prince- ton was so circumstanced by local conditions and Congress- men absorbed so readily the social and academic influences of the genial Jersey village whither they had betaken themselves, that the full story of their daily doings finds itself following a double thread. If the representatives viii CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON of the United States in Congress Assembled debated the weightier matters of the law in the morning, they also found time in the afternoon to attend the collegiate Fourth of July exercises ; if they waxed eloquent over the Indian question on the 22d of September, two days later they sat mutely enough and at least outwardly calm through the long oratorical periods of an academic com- mencement programme. General Washington himself could, with Thomas Paine, turn from Congressional committee meetings to primitive experiments in natural philosophy; and His Excellency the Minister Plenipo- tentiary from the Netherlands, once the formalities of his reception by Congress were over, found life in govern- mental circles at Princeton anything but overwhelmed by problems of international diplomacy. The second aim of this book then is to afford a glimpse of Congressional informal life when a Jersey college town was the national capital. And the peculiarly close relation between the two threads of the narrative has led me to hope that, although the merit of unity has to a certain extent been sacrificed, yet the value of an endeavor to contribute, however slightly, to the history of the period has not been altogether destroyed. Much of the material used has been gathered from manuscript sources and in many cases recourse has also been had to the originals of the printed sources. Perhaps it is hardly necessary to say that quotations from the manuscripts invariably follow the originals in spelling and punctuation. The Journal of Congress is obviously the basis of the account of the formal proceedings at Princeton ; but by searching the manuscript Papers of the Continental Congress and by examining all other contemporary relevant documents to which access has been gained, I have sought to add flesh to the Journal's bare bones. The sources of the other side of the story PREFACE IX are, it is believed, sufficiently indicated in the footnotes. Reference to the selected list of authorities printed in Appendix VI will explain abbreviated titles used in these footnotes. The first five appendixes may seem to need justifica- tion. They contain unpublished material which appeared to be too valuable to discard entirely. Mr. Boudinot's accounts with a local merchant throw light on prevalent economic conditions in New Jersey, or at least one sec- tion of it ; lists of citizens such as the signers of the two addresses to Congress have distinct local and genealogical value ; and it seemed worth while to rescue from oblivion the memory of the Reverend Dr. Thomas Wren, of Ports- mouth, England, whose honorary degree from Princeton was in direct recognition of his generous services to American Revolutionary prisoners and was conferred practically at the suggestion of Congress. The two Commencement orations are reprinted because of the unique occasion on which they were delivered, because of their frank allusion to the distinguished visitors who honored that occasion by their presence, and because incidentally they are characteristic examples of eighteenth century American college oratory. My obligations are many. For their permission to avail myself of the collections which they administer I am indebted to Mr. Herbert Putnam, Librarian of Con- gress, to Mr. Andrew H. Allen, late Superintendent of the Library of the State Department, Washington, D. C., and to Mr. Wilberforce Eames, Librarian of the Lenox Library, New York City ; and 1 would be ungrateful to forget that the late Dr. Gregory B. Keen permitted the use of certain manuscripts in the Library of the Pennsyl- vania Historical Society, and that the officials of Harvard College Library and of the New York State Library at Albany have shown me many courtesies. To Mr. Worth- X CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON ington C. Ford, Chief of the Division of Manuscripts, Library of Congress, are due my hearty thanks for proof- reading Appendixes II and III with the original docu- ments when unavoidable circumstances prevented my own performance of that irksome task; and I am par- ticularly glad to acknowledge the valuable help given at various times by my friend and former colleague Mr. Wm. Warner Bishop, now Superintendent of the Read- ing Room, Library of Congress. My chief general indebtedness however is to Mr. Stanislaus Murray Hamilton, formerly of the Bureau of Rolls and Library in the State Department at Washing- ton. To his intimate knowledge of the manuscripts ot the Continental Congress so long under his curatorship, and now in the Library of Congress, to his ready and sympathetic interest and to his unfailingly generous and scholarly assistance I am under lasting obligations. The painting of "Prospect," Colonel George Morgan's home at Princeton, now for the first time published, is owned by Mrs. Hughes Oliphant, of Washington, D. C. It is a pleasure to express my appreciation of her permis- sion to use this interesting picture. V. L. C. PRINCETON, N. J., November 20, 1907. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. THE ARMY AND THE FURLOUGH ORDERS i II. THE MUTINY AND CONGRESS . . . . -9 III. PUBLIC OPINION AND THE FLIGHT OF CONGRESS . 30 IV. NEW JERSEY'S RECEPTION OF HER VISITORS . .41 V. THE PRINCETON SESSION BEGINS . . . .60 VI. WASHINGTON is CALLED TO PRINCETON . . 94 VII. PRINCETON IN 1783. . .. . . . . -113 VIII. THE SUMMER'S DEBATES . . . . . . 137 IX. CONGRESS AT COMMENCEMENT . . . . . -155 X. THE RESIDENCE DEBATE . . . . . .167 XI. THE BEGINNING OF THE END . . . . 193 XII. THE DUTCH MINISTER ARRIVES . '. . .216 XIII. THE END OF THE SESSION ... ; . 237 XIV. A RETROSPECT . 244 APPENDIX I. President Boudinot's Account with Thomas Stockton, of Princeton . . . . 255 II. Signers of the Quaker Memorial to Con- gress 259 III. Signers of the Philadelphia Address to Con- gress .... . 263 IV. Boudinot-Wren Correspondence . , .270 V. Orations delivered before Congress at Com- mencement . . . . . .272 VI. List of Principal Sources and Authorities . 278 INDEX . 281 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE GENERAL WASHINGTON, By Charles W. Peale. Engraved by Sidney L. Smith . . . Frontispiece. PROCLAMATION ADJOURNING CONGRESS TO PRINCETON facing 28 COLONEL GEORGE MORGAN'S LETTER OFFERING "PROSPECT " TO CONGRESS ......... 44 LETTER OFFERING NASSAU HALL TO CONGRESS . . -47 JOHN CAPE'S OFFER TO CATER FOR CONGRESS . . .50 "PROSPECT" [from a painting by Maria Templeton] facing 56 REPORT ON DESIGN OF A STATUE OF GENERAL WASHINGTON . 98 REPORT ON DESIGN OF A STATUE OF GENERAL WASHINGTON {second leaf} ......... 99 "RocKiNGHAM," GENERAL WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS . 103 "NASSAU HALL" [from the engraving by Dawkins] facing 113 MRS. RICHARD STOCKTON'S VERSES TO GENERAL WASHING- TON .... 133 GENERAL WASHINGTON ON THE PEACE ESTABLISHMENT . .139 JOHN WITHERSPOON [from the engraving by Trotter] facing 160 ELIAS BOUDINOT [from the engraving by Durand] . facing 186 PRINCETON STATEMENT OF ACCOMMODATIONS FOR CONGRESS . 198 PRINCETON STATEMENT OF ACCOMMODATIONS FOR CONGRESS (second leaf ~) . . . . . . . -199 JAMES MADISON [from the engraving by Leney] . facing 223 THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON CHAPTER I THE ARMY AND THE FURLOUGH ORDERS ON the afternoon of Sunday, March 23, 1783, the " Tri- omphe," a French sloop of war under command of Chev- alier Duquesne, dropped anchor off Philadelphia after a seven weeks' voyage from Cadiz. She had been sent by the Marquis de Lafayette with a special dispatch to Elias Boudinot, President of the Continental Congress, then sitting at Philadelphia. This letter of less than a hun- dred words contained, as Lafayette had hoped, the first authentic information received in America that a general \ treaty of peace had been signed and that the War of the Revolution was at~a*"entt. " The news was not unexpected ; for, eleven days earlier, the packet "Washington" had arrived with dispatches announcing the signing of preliminary articles of peace by the representatives of Great Britain and the United States; and although some men, the Commander-in- Chief himself among them, feared that warfare was not yet over, nevertheless the conclusion of a general treaty was very confidently believed to be forthcoming. Lafayette's communication was not official, but of its authoritativeness there could be no doubt ; and in order that his "fellow citizens of the army" might receive ' the earliest notice of this glorious end of all their Toils 2 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON and Labours," 1 Mr Boudinot that Sunday evening hurried off a letter to General Washington, in camp with the main army at Newburgh on the Hudson, to put him in posses- sion of the glad news that had sent a thrill of joy through the calm of a Quaker Sabbath. Seldom, however, has such news been received by a battle-scarred army with less evident signs of satisfaction than this by the American troops at large. Not that peace was unwelcome ; none knew better than the soldiers of the Revolution the real hardships of war. But to them the formal cessation of hostilities and the signing of a treaty of peace had a more serious import than merely the end of active military service, even though that meant to many the sweetness of return to home and family after years of absence and separation. They knew that Con- gress was anxious to rid itself of the expense of their maintenance ; that furthermore American national senti- ment if any existed was instinctively opposed to a standing army ; and they realized that their speedy dis- bandment, the next logical step, was a foregone conclu- sion. Had their condition and temper been other than they were, disbandment would have been accepted as a natural sequel to the return of peace. But arrearages of years' standing in rations and clothing and many months' back pay were owing them. Promise after promise had been made and broken ; month after month had gone by since Cornwallis was taken ; the main army had returned north, and at Newburgh had gone into encampment; another long winter of discontent had been spent, and yet the settlement of the country's financial debt to the army seemed to be as far away as ever. The officers complained that shadows had been offered to them while the substance had been gleaned by others ; they had borne all that men could bear ; their property was gone, their 'Boudinot, Vol. i, p. 302. THE ARMY AND THE FURLOUGH ORDERS 3 private means exhausted, and their friends wearied with their incessant applications for relief ; they had struggled with their difficulties year after year in the vain hope that each would be the last, and now their embarrass- ments were thickening so fast that many of them were able to go no further. 1 As for the rank and file ill-fed, ill-clad, ill-shod their uneasiness was notorious, and had become dangerous; their patience was so nearly spent that any further test of it might have instant fatal result. It mattered little whether their grievances were the result chiefly of neglect on the part of the States, or, as Washington believed and we know, were due to the intrinsic faultiness of the confederation under whose arti- cles the States were associated. Disbandment stared them in the face, and they asked one another in vain how they would get their due when once disbanded. Soldiers who had retired from the army on the basis of half pay for life, offered by Congressional resolution of October, 1780, had become objects of obloquy, and public clamor had arisen against even this mode of settlement. The more the army had grumbled the more unpopular it had be- come ; the lower it fell in public esteem the more des- perate it grew. The astute author of the Newburgh Addresses, Major John Armstrong, had fingered the pulse of his audience before he hinted at old age in poverty, wretchedness and contempt as the probable reward of a soldiery with no marks of military distinction save want, infirmities, and fears. Except on ethical grounds it is difficult to blame the feeling that the time seemed ripe for a demon- stration which should compel the States to relieve a situa- tion all the more galling because it was of their making. The people in general appeared to have no desire to help the army ; Congress could not ; and viewing matters 1 Address of the officers to Congress, Journal, April 26th, 1 783. 4 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON solely from the standpoint of the enlisted men there truly seemed to be nothing else to do. And such indeed had been the avowed purpose of the Newburgh Addresses. How Washington's tremendous personality turned the tables on that ominous occasion does not require repetition here. The story has been told a score of times. In re- sponse to his appeal, Congress on March 226. agreed to com- mute half-pay for life into full pay for five years. The next afternoon, Sunday the 2 3d, the " Triomphe " reached Philadelphia, and President Boudinot in his letter to Washington that night took the opportunity to inform him also of the Commutation Act. The army heard the news in silence, and sullenly waited for the next step. The probability of disbandment with- out settlement had already made it difficult to maintain discipline, as Washington himself admitted, 1 and the frag- mentary manner in which the intelligence of peace had reached the army only strengthened the suspicion that dispatches had from time to time been held back from the troops with a view to keeping them in service beyond their enlisted period. So strong was the feeling thus produced that, before publishing in camp the proclama- tion issued by Congress on April nth announcing cessa- tion of hostilities on land and sea, Washington called a full council of his officers to consider the advisability of suppressing the document, an action which would have been so impolitic that it is strange that he should have considered it. The council decided unanimously that it would be less risky to publish the proclamation ; and accordingly Washington issued general orders that it be read in public the next day at noon. The orders bear marks of particularly careful composition ; they remind the troops of their peculiarly honorable position as the patriot army, and of the important part they had played 'Washington to Boudinot, April i8th, Sparks, Vol. 8, p. 421. THE ARMY AND THE FURLOUGH ORDERS 5 in the struggle for independence, and they point out that now there remains to them as the " actors in this mighty scene" nothing but "to preserve a perfect unvarying consistency of character through the very last act, to close the drama with applause, and to retire from the military theatre with the same approbation of angels and men which has crowned all their former actions." 1 After this rhetorical flight Washington closed his paragraph with the abrupt remark that, meanwhile, no military neg- lects or excesses would go unpunished as long as he retained command of the army. It was further ordered\ that an extra ration of liquor be issued to every man 1 wherewith ' ' to drink perpetual independencj2j^id4rappi- * ness to Jjie_JJited~~StaTes of America. " Onecannot help suspecting that the next day, when the soldiers gave three huzzas after the reading of the orders and the proclama- tion, it must have been a question in the minds of the by- standers rrhrthrr rum. The further approbation of men and angels, how- ever valuable in the abstract, would have been earned bi the troops so much less perfunctorily had a little hard cash been distributed with the liquor. Meanwhile at Philadelphia, on the i8th, in a determined effort to raise money Congress had proposed further tax- ation, and a week later, April 26th, issued an address to the States wherein was contained a direct appeal in behalf of the army. On May 2d Alexander Hamilton moved that inasmuch as it was the desire of Congress to enable offi- cers and soldiers to return ' ' with convenience and sat- isfaction " when the time came for a reduction of the army, and inasmuch as it would therefore be necessary to advance them a part of their pay, the States be earnestly urged to make every effort in their power to forward the collection of taxes in order that Congress might relieve 1 Sparks, Vol. 8, p. 568. CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON "the necessities of a meritorious army." But it was money, not motions, that the meritorious army sorely needed; and it watched its unsatisfied dissolution ap- proaching step by step. Congress indeed had done all in its puny power to relieve the troops ; for weeks, as Mr. Boudinot wrote to Washington, it had been "most faithfully and honestly engaged in laying a foundation for their future security as well as making provision for a present supply." More, he said, was not in its power; and he hoped that the soldiers would not in this last hour dishonor themselves and forfeit their hard-earned glory by violent measures. They should not think themselves the only sufferers; the burden was also heavy on the shoulders of the members of Congress, and not a man in the army would envy the latter their position were he to be one week in their place. 1 The belief nevertheless had been steadily growing in Congressional circles that it was high time to begin the reduction of the forces ; and, if for no other reason than to curtail expenses, on May 26th a motion framed by Mr. Hamilton was agreed to, instructing Washington to grant furloughs to non-commissioned officers and men enlisted to serve during the war who would be discharged as soon as a definitive treaty of peace were concluded ; and the Secretary at War, together with the Commander-in- Chief, was directed to take proper measures for conduct- ing such troops to their respective homes in such manner as might be most convenient to themselves and the States through which they should pass. And acting on a tact- ful suggestion made some time previously by Washing- ton, the furloughed men were allowed to carry home their arms and accoutrements. The resolution of the 26th of May had been adopted on grounds of economy, and Washington lost no time in issuing on June 2 d the 'Boudinot, Vol. I, p. 300. THE ARMY AND THE FURLOUGH ORDERS 7 necessary orders to the commanders of the different corps of the army. The officers at Newburgh, however, resolved to make one more effort to secure public action, and appointed a committee to draft an address to Washington entreating that the orders be suspended or altered so that no officer or private be compelled to accept furlough until some settlement of accounts had been reached, balances struck, and certificates of amounts due had been given including commutation for officers and the gratuity for privates. By the furlough orders they found themselves forced to leave the army without means of defraying debts incurred during service, or even paying their petty obligations to their servants, much less of carrying home to their families that support of which long military service had deprived them. Exposed as they were to the insults of the meanest camp-follower no less than to arrest by the sheriff, they pointed out that the furlough orders were sending them home without means, and without the smallest prospect of obtaining credit until they could get into business ; and they begged therefore that the orders be suspended or that money be given them sufficient to let them start for home honorably. Washington was deeply moved by their confidence in him and assured them that no one was more cognizant of their distress than himself ; and, while reminding them that he was after all only a public servant and as much under orders as they, he nevertheless agreed to alter the orders to the extent of permitting as many of the " war- men," i. e., those enlisted for the war, as did not wish furlough to report to the adjutant-general, so that an equal number of the three-year men might be furloughed in their place, and thus the main object of the resolution the reduction of expenses might still be fulfilled. This reply and this act, together with Washington's evi- 8 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON dently sincere sympathy, were sufficient to stifle any expression of bitterness that the furlough order may have engendered at the Newburgh camp. But elsewhere were quickened the seeds of resentment already sown ; and their sudden harvest Congress was to reap before the month had passed. The story of that harvest and its sequel, of the mutiny of the troops at Lancaster and Philadelphia, of the ignominious flight of Congress from the city which had been its home for five consecutive years, to a small but already historic Jersey village ten miles beyond the Delaware, and of the five months sojourn of Congress in that village is the story con- tained in this volume. CHAPTER II THE MUTINY AND CONGRESS AT the Philadelphia barracks were quartered three companies of the Twentieth Pennsylvania Infantry and one of artillery, composed chiefly of recruits, of whom the majority had been enlisted but five months at most and had seen no more arduous service than employment as guards for British prisoners. With them were also a number of veterans whose participation in the mutiny of 1781 had lgft_an ugly stain on their recordr Tn"e~recruits imagined themselves worse off than they really were; the veterans had had experience in revolt; all were discontented with the present and fearful of the future. Many had received no pay since December and they scented danger in the proposals of furlough, and viewed with distrust any fresh promise of payment. Knowing their disposition, General Arthur St. Clair, who was sta- tioned at Philadelphia, wrote to the Paymaster General, John Pierce, on request of Robert Morris, Superintendent of Finance, asking him to come to Philadelphia or send some one in his stead to make a settlement ; and he re- ceived the answer that Pierce himself would arrive in a few days. But the Paymaster General failed to appear, for the reason, assigned later, that the army ledgers were all at Newburgh. 1 On May soth and June 2d St. Clair called on Morris to ask for the share of pay due to the troops under his command, but was met each time with the obvious answer that preferences could not be made and that his men would receive their share with the rest of the army. 2 Meanwhile all had to wait until the neces- 1 Letters of Washington, 63, folio 287. 1 Morris' Diary, May joth and June 2d. 9 IO CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON sary paper money should be prepared, adequate cash being out of the question. On the night of June I2th there were added to the Philadelphia troops about two hundred furloughed men of the Maryland Line on their way home. This acces- sion of numbers, coupled almost certainly with civilian instigation and with the news of the protest against furloughs without pay addressed to Washington a week before at Newburgh by his officers, led the malcontents at the Philadelphia barracks to decide on bold measures. On the 1 3th, just as General St. Clair was about to issue orders conforming to Washington's instructions, the ser- geants got together and drew up a remonstrance which was delivered to Congress that day. This document has disappeared from its place among the papers of the Con- tinental Congress; but from a letter to Edmund Ran- dolph written by James Madison l a few days later (June 1 7th), we learn that it described the hardships the soldiery had endured for their country's cause, declared it to be their country's duty to grant them satisfaction and ended by demanding that Congress give a satisfactory answer before night, or they would not be responsible for the consequences. To this "very turbulent and indecent" 2 address Congress made no reply, but General St. Clair and Benjamin Lincoln, Secretary at War, immediately went among the men and by adopting what Madison called "prudent and soothing measures," succeeded in allaying their fears. President Boudinot, General St. Clair, and Nathaniel Gorham and Thomas Fitzsimmons, members of Congress, came to tell Robert Morris of the mutinous disposition of the troops and to seek reassurance, and they particularly informed him of the morning's re- monstrance. But the Financier could give them no sat- 1 Gilpin's Madison, Vol. I, p. 548. Hunt's Madison, Vol. I, p. 478. 1 Boudinot to the American Ministers at Paris. Wharton, Vol. 6, p. 546. THE MUTINY AND CONGRESS II isfaction ; he frankly replied that he had planned to go to Bethlehem that evening to visit his assistant, Gouver- neur Morris ; he had not the money wherewith to pay the soldiers and therefore saw no reason for cancelling his engagement and remaining in the city even though the soldiers should mutiny. 1 No official notice was taken of the remonstrance of the sergeants and St. Clair issued orders that pay-rolls for February, March, and April, and returns of the number of men and the length of their enlistment should be made, and that commanding officers should send for as many furloughs as would be needed. Application for warrants based on the pay-rolls was to be made at the War Office, where they would be honored in notes signed by Robert Morris. At this the restlessness of the troops was re- newed, the absence of any reference to pay for January being the immediate cause. Later in the day a second order from the Commander-in-Chief was posted by St. Clair, calling for lists of all those who declined furloughs. The omission of the January pay seems to have been accidental, for on the i7th further orders were issued that the payment for January should be in cash and that of the other three months in Morris' notes. This change the soldiers thought to be a result of the sergeants' re- monstrance already mentioned and according to Colonel Richard Humpton, commanding the barracks, they ex- ulted in what they considered a victory, and began to refuse to obey their officers. Even then the situation might have been saved had not an unfortunate order from the Paymaster General's department come to the artill- ery paymaster as he was disbursing his cash. He was directed to give to those who declined furloughs only their January pay, 2 and at this murmurings broke out 1 Morris' Diary, June I3th. 2 There seems to have been a misunderstanding about the matter. On June 7th, when he was giving Philip Audibert, Assistant Paymaster General, $50,000 12 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON noisily. It now became apparent that the situation had suddenly grown critical. There was but little doubt in the minds of many members of Congress that more than mere discontent lay behind the attitude of the troops. That private individuals, whose names have been success- fully concealed, but who as public creditors were ill affected toward the government because of unpaid and overdue interest on certificates, were conniving at this discontent, if not actually encouraging it, was clearly the opinion of men like Benjamin Hawkins and Hugh Williamson, of North Carolina, Elias Boudinot, of New Jersey, Colonel Richard Butler, of Lancaster, and Gen- eral St. Clair, of Philadelphia. The tone of Madison's correspondence on the situation also implies the existence of outside influences, and Washington broadly intimated his belief in this partial explanation of the army's distem- per. On the other hand, we have the sworn affidavit of James Bennett, a sergeant major in the artillery, to the effect that early in June he had been approached one day at the "Doctor Franklin" tavern, on Second Street, Philadelphia, by two officers, Captain Henry Carberry 1 worth of the notes he had been signing, Morris told him to advise Paymaster Pierce to pay only those who had accepted furloughs, his reason apparently being that he would not have notes enough for all ; but when Major Jackson called ten days later to enquire on behalf of General St. Clair and General Lincoln, whether the pay then being distributed was for furloughed men only, Morris said it was not (Diary June yth and 17th). 1 Henry Carberry was the son of Mary Carberry, of St. Mary's County, Mary- land. He entered the army in January, 1777, as a first lieutenant in Hartley's Additional Continental Regiment, becoming captain in November, 1778. In August, 1779, he was wounded in battle, and retired from service in 1781. In 1784 he returned from Europe whither he had fled after the mutiny, and was arrested at Baltimore, and brought to jail at Annapolis. He confessed his guilt and begged for mercy. His subsequent record was unimpeachable. In 1791 he became a captain in General St. Glair's Levies, and in March, 1792, a captain in the U. S. Infantry. In February, 1794, he resigned. He served as Colonel of the thirty-sixth U. S. Infantry from March, 1813, to March, 1815, and died May 26, 1822. (Papers Continental Congress, 38, pp. 209-211, and Heitman.) THE MUTINY AND CONGRESS 13 and John Sullivan. 1 The latter asked him if the soldiers were expecting speedy settlement. When Bennett re- plied affirmatively, he was informed that he and his com- rades were deceiving themselves ; that they were to be dismissed without any settlement whatsoever. "But," continued Sullivan, " if you will assemble the troops un- der arms and be headed by us, we will take you where you'll get every farthing." And Carberry and Sullivan always claimed that they were the sole originators and prime movers of this mutiny ; but so far as the present writer has been able to discover, no statement of their plans has been preserved. Meanwhile at the Lancaster barracks a more acute con- dition was confronting the authorities. Colonel Richard Butler, of the Third Pennsylvania, in command of the barracks, had promptly complied with General St. Clair's revised orders, but on the morning of the i/th his ser- geants called on him and informed him that they had de- termined to go to Philadelphia to obtain justice. They said they wanted not furloughs but settlement, and they desired to be kept in active service until settlement was complete. He reasoned with them and they dispersed ap- parently satisfied ; but he soon heard that they were pre- paring to leave Lancaster. With Colonel Samuel Attlee and the other officers in the town, he hastened to the 1 John Sullivan belonged to a wealthy Irish family, and through sheer admira- tion of the principles for which the colonies were righting came by way of France, in 1779, to enter American service. In September of that year he joined General Stephen Moylan's Fourth Regiment of Light Dragoons as a cornet, receiving a cap- taincy the next month. He served through the war, and Moylan testified later that he did not know of " an officer who conducted himself with more honor and spirit. ' ' When the Dragoons of the Fourth Regiment were disbanded, Sullivan had his accounts made, and on the issuance of the furlough order of May 26th he obtained leave of absence, and soon thereafter turned up with Carberry in connec- tion with the mutiny. In 1785 he endeavored to get his back pay, but his military record was closed on June 27th, 1786, when the damning words "left service without leave " were placed against his name. (Pap- Cont. Cong. 38, pp. 79, 209, 215, and Heitman.) 14 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON parade ground and gathering the men around him made a speech. He told them that measures had been taken for closing their accounts even before the orders of the 1 7th arrived; he reminded them that returns had been called for of those who accepted furloughs and those who did not ; returns for clothing had also been ordered, together with pay-rolls for January to be settled in cash and pay-rolls for February, March, and April to be settled in Morris' notes, with assurance of quarters and provi- sions until the order was fulfilled. This offer he repeated, and at the same time pointed out the impossibility of com- pleting the rolls away from the place where the men were stationed ; and he urged them to remain at Lancaster in obedience to their officers. But these sensible words fell on deaf ears. Carberry and Sullivan had been sending letters to the sergeants, insinuating that the government was intentionally delay- ing payment with the purpose of ultimate repudiation, and assuring them that the only way in which they could secure their back-pay was to come to Philadelphia and demand it. The fact that these letters were anonymous had not lessened their effectiveness. Colonel Butler's speech was sniffed at, and at half-past eight that morning (June 1 7th), about one hundred and twenty men started for Philadelphia under the leadership of a sergeant named Nagle. They went fully armed, with ammunition and field-pieces, and grapeshot in plenty. Colonel Butler, on consultation with his officers, de- cided to send representatives after them to try to induce them to return. Captains Walker, Montgomery, and Chrystie were appointed to the task, and Lieutenant E. Butler was sent on to Philadelphia to deliver to President Dickinson of the State Council the following letter from Colonel William Henry, with a similar letter from Colonel Butler. THE MUTINY AND CONGRESS 1 5 LANCASTER, June i7th, 1783. Sir, Eighty armed soldiers set off this morning for Philadelphia to cooperate with those now in the City in such measures as may appear to them the most likely to procure their pay (or perhaps to possess themselves of money at any rate). I have thought it my duty to give the most timely information possible that the City may not be surprized. I am informed that part of Gen 1 . Ar- mand's Corps will be here to-morrow on their way to Philadelphia & am of opinion from what has transpired from some of the men who are still here, that they will follow the others to the City & share the same fate, they have thrown out several threats, that they will rob the Bank, the Treasury &ca. &ca. I am Sir Your very humble servant WILLIAM HENRY*. His Excellf John Dickinson, Esq. r On coming up with the mutineers, Captain Chrystie read to them an address which Colonel Butler had pre- pared, repeating in clearer terms his statements of the morning, and closing with these words : ' ' Nor do we imagine that your appearance at Phila- delphia can have any good effect in your favor as it will be justly constreud into a menace rather than a proper means of Seeking Justice after what is offered You." 2 But the Colonel's communication was as futile as his speech, and the march was continued. Lieutenant Butler had meanwhile pushed on to Phila- delphia with the letters of Colonels Henry and Butler and had handed them to Mr. Dickinson, who at once transmitted them to Congress. To Robert Morris, whose office was the storm centre of governmental circles, and to whom every bit of bad news was invariably hurried by half a dozen callers, Mr. Dickinson brought the contents 'Pap. Cont. Cong. 38, p. 123. Dipl. Corr. U. S., Vol. I, p. 14. 2 Pap. Cont. Cong., 38, p. 37. Dipl. Corr. U. S., Vol. I, p. 17. 1 6 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON of the two letters, and Major Jackson, Assistant Secretary at War, with other disconcerted gentlemen, came in to discuss the latest phase. 1 To Morris they seemed to look as to a magician, hoping against hope to see him perform the miracle of making money out of nothing ; but they left unsatisfied, while the Financier in spite of the gather- ing storm remained the calmest man in Philadelphia. Congress turned the dispatches over to the Secretary at War, and at the same time appointed Alexander Hamilton, Oliver Ellsworth, and Richard Peters a com- mittee to confer with the State Council as to the proper steps to be taken with regard to the mutineers. At the conference 2 the Congressmen proposed that the Council call out a detachment of the militia to intercept them, pointing out the danger incurred by allowing them to join the troops in the Philadelphia barracks whose ugly temper had already been revealed in the remonstrance of a few days before. But the Council demurred, asserting that the militia would not come out unless the mutineers committed acts of violence. The Congressional commit- tee then, on the iQth, directed Major Jackson , 3 Assistant Secretary at War, to go out and meet the Lancaster men and endeavor to turn them back. He went ; he assured them that Congress had no intentions other than to do them justice ; he promised they should be allowed to remain in the service until their accounts were settled if they preferred that arrangement to furloughs ; he agreed that they should receive share in the allowance of pay which was being made to the army at large, and he pointed out the injudiciousness of their present action ; but he might have addressed the trees on the roadside with just as much effect, and he came back to Philadel- phia unsuccessful in his mission. 1 Morris' Diary, June 1 9th. 8 See report of the committee in Journal for July 1st. 3 Hamilton to Jackson, Pap. Cont. Cong. 38, p. 161. THE MUTINY AND CONGRESS 17 On the morning of Friday, June 2Oth, with drums beat- ing and bayonets fixed, the Lancaster detachment, less a score who had deserted on the way, marched into town as gaily as if on parade. Welcomed with cheers by the citizens, at the barracks where they calmly quartered themselves they were received by their comrades with open arms as brothers and fellow-sufferers, and when Colonel Humpton announced at afternoon roll-call that they would be paid off at Lancaster and nowhere else he only added fuel to a growing fire. The air was alive with wild rumors ; some said that the mutineers intended to raid the Bank ; others declared that an assault would be made on the Council ; others that Congress was to be seized and held for ransom; everyone knew why the men had come, but no one could tell just what they proposed to do. Such was the exciting state of affairs in the capital of the United States when the members of Congress ad- journed on Friday afternoon according to their custom, not expecting to re-assemble until the following Monday. 1 That night two men, one in the uniform of an officer, the other in civilian dress, appeared at the barracks and enquired for Sergeant Nagle. When Nagle came out accompanied by several other men a long conversation took place of which no record has been left, save that the visitors informed their hearers, on alleged unimpeachable authority, that they would receive just one month's pay and no more whether they accepted furlough or not. This information to disgruntled men, who in many cases were hundreds of miles away from home and who had families awaiting them, was hardly pacifying. Nor was 1 In the afternoon the Committee of Congress, Peters, Hamilton, and Ells- worth called on Morris and had a long conference with him, and Morris agreed that all who had not been paid for January should receive that month's pay in specie and that of the next three months in notes, but the Lancaster men were to be paid at Lancaster only. ( Diary, June 2oth. ) 2 1 8 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON it intended to be. Carberry and Sullivan for they were the two visitors had gone to the barracks with the sole purpose of perfecting arrangements for a demon- stration of force. At the barracks the next morning everything was ominously calm until General St. Clair and the two Morrises with President Dickinson went to address the men. They were hooted down for their pains. Mr. Dickinson on his return home spent an unpleasant half hour, if we may believe the story of Sergeant Nagle, as overheard a day or two later by an outsider named Ben- jamin Spyker, Jr. 1 and recited subsequently in the latter's sworn affidavit. 2 Nagle said that he and another man were deputed to go on the morning of the twenty-first to President Dickinson's house in Market Street and get his signature to a document engaging to give within three days a final statement as to the manner in which the authorities intended to settle with the soldiery. Mr. Dickinson, who happened to know his unwelcome callers personally, was much perturbed, and adopting dilatory tactics at once opened a bottle of wine for them. When it was finished he ordered another, whereupon Nagle in- formed him that they "had not come to get groggy, but to get their rights," and gave him half an hour in which to consider their errand. This grace was extended to thirty-five minutes, and when that time was up and Mr. Dickinson had not signed, Nagle told his companion to fetch the garrison while he guarded the now thoroughly frightened president. Mr. Dickinson then asked if he might not go upstairs in order to use his private pen and ink, only to receive the curt reply that he must sign where he was. Driven to bay he then tremblingly put 1 A son (?) of Benjamin Spyker, the delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and prominent in the history of Berks Co., Pennsylvania. Cf. Montgomery's History of Berks Co. (Reading, Pa., 1894.) 2 Pap. Cont. Cong. 38, p. 57. THE MUTINY AND CONGRESS 1 9 his name to the document, and his visitors departed. Some time during that lively morning he and Colonel Humpton visited Mr. Morris to inform him of the atti- tude of the mutineers. The Financier advocated calling out the militia, and sent for Thomas Willing, president of the new bank, and advised him to take whatever pre- caution the directors should deem expedient. Either Nagle did not think President Dickinson's auto- graph of sufficient weight, or his comrades at the barracks saw nothing to be gained by a wait of three days ; for at half past twelve when all the officers were away at din- ner the long roll was suddenly sounded. The President was entertaining at his own table the officers of the two companies which had arrived at Philadelphia on the i$th from Charleston. 1 His guests hurried to the barracks and with their companies fell in to a man. The Lancas- ter detachment and about one hundred and fifty of the recruits were already drawn up. No one save Nagle seemed to know why the long roll had been sounded nor where the troops were going; but it was soon made clear that they were bound for the State House. The news spread like wildfire ; the city was at once in an uproar. Word reached Morris just after Thomas Willing left the Office of Finance ; he hurried home to allay the fears of his family, and then went to the house of a friend to await developments. The Carolina com- panies proceeded to President Dickinson's residence, un- aware that he had hastened to the State House where the Council was in session. Several troops of militia paraded, says Major Denny, a statement which is corroborated by the diary of Jacob Hiltsheimer the Philadelphia stock- raiser, 2 and discredits the assertion of the Council that 1 Journal of Major Ebenezer Denny, Pennsylvania Historical Society Memoirs, Vol. 7 (1860) p. 256-257. *Penna. Mag,, Vol. 16, p. 165. 2O CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON the militia would not come out unless acts of violence were committed ; but it has been impossible to find that any effort was made to restrain the mutineers. Indeed, Nagle declared that the militia-men were afraid. At Nagle's direction Sergeant Robinson with an ad- vance guard of thirty men marched to the State House, and on arriving there, pushed his way in to President Dickinson and presented this communication written by Carberry and Sullivan : May it please your Excellency. We the non Commission'd Officers and Soldiers now in this City demand of you and the hon. Council authority to appoint commissioned Officers to command us and re- dress our grievances, which Officers to have full powers to adopt such measures as they may judge most likely to procure us justice. You will immediately issue such au- thority and deliver it to us or otherwise we shall in- stantly let in these injured soldiers upon you, and abide by the consequences. You have only twenty minutes to deliberate on this matter The Officers in general have forsaken us and refuse to take any further command. This I presume you all know. We are in behalf of ourselves and the men Yours &c &C. 1 A few minutes later the rest of the soldiers number- ing in all between two hundred and fifty and three hun- dred in immediate command of Sergeant Townsend, also reached the State House, and there Nagle formed them into a hollow square around the building, posting guards at every entrance. The Council promptly and unanimously resolved to reject the insolent address, but remained close in their room for an hour after its receipt. The secretary was sent out to ask if the document represented the opinion of the soldiers in general, a question which met with further insolence. Meanwhile President Boudinot of 1 Pap. Cont. Cong., 38, p. 27. Dipl. Corr. U. S., Vol. I, p. 35. The threat, as usually quoted, mistakenly speaks of ' ' enraged ' ' instead of ' ' injured ' ' soldiers. THE MUTINY AND CONGRESS 21 Congress, being informed by a member of his committee of the sudden turn that affairs had taken, had issued a hurry call for a special meeting, though for what purpose is by no means clear ; and in obedience to his summons most of his colleagues had gathered in the State House where Congress was wont to sit. As he was about to pass through to the Congress-room several persons pointed at him and cried : ' ' There ! There goes the President of Congress ! Why do you let him pass? " Three soldiers, two of them Frenchmen and the other a man named An- drew Wright, private in Captain Robert Wilkie's com- pany, sprang forward and seized him, and he might have fared badly had not Sergeant Townsend, who happened to be there, ordered the men to release him, reprimand- ing them severely, apologizing to Mr. Boudinot and naively assuring him that they had no intention of insult- ing gentlemen. 1 Soon after one o'clock, six States being represented although this was no quorum, Congress resolved to re- quest the Council to disperse the mutineers. But Mr. Dickinson replied in person that he did not see his way to such action unless actual violence were offered, and with his reply handed to Congress the address the Coun- cil had received. General St. Clair was sent for to urge the men to return to the barracks. His first report, says Madison, gave no encouragement. After various prop- ositions had been rejected as inadequate, Congress de- cided to take no steps whatever toward redress of alleged grievances while thus menaced, and furthermore resolved to remain in session until the regular hour of adjournment but to transact no business. 2 At this juncture St. Clair reported to the Council that he could arrange matters peaceably if the Council would agree to a conference 1 Pap. Cont. Cong. 38, pp. 49 and 73. Affidavits of Sergeants Townsend and Murthwaite. 'Gilpin's Madison, Vol. I, p. 466. Hunt's Madison, Vol. I, p. 483. 22 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON with a committee of the soldiers. Dickinson sought the advice of Boudinot, and when the latter cheerfully acqui- esced the Council consented to the conference. Congress remained in the State House until about half past three, when the members departed unmolested. In fact, Mr. Boudinot alone appears to have come in per- sonal contact with the mutineers. Otherwise, and in spite of the malignant generosity of citizens who passed liquor around, they behaved in an orderly manner, "in- dividuals only," according to Madison, "occasionally uttering offensive words, and wantonly pointing their muskets to the window of the halls of Congress." Elias Boudinot was badly frightened and his letter to Washington written half an hour after the adjournment reveals his agitation. "They have seized," said he, "the public Magazine 1 and I am of opinion that the worst is not yet come. . . . The Militia of the City, will I suppose be called out, but there are some suspicions that the Mutineers value themselves on their interest with the In- habitants. It is therefore the wish of the Members who were assembled, that your Excellency would direct a movement of some of your best Troops, on whom you can depend under these circumstances, toward this City, as it will be of the most dangerous consequences if a Measure of this kind is to be put up with, and no one can tell where it will end." 2 So great was the impression produced on him that he called another meeting of Congress that evening, and at its close penned a second letter to the Commander-in-Chief : PHILADELPHIA 21. June 1783. ii O'Clock P. M. DEAR SIR, This Afternoon I dispatched an Express to your Excellency (a copy of whose dispatches is enclosed) 1 He wrote to the Ministers at Paris that the mutineers " had taken possession of the powder-house and several public arsenals." Wharton, Vol. 6, p. 547. 2 Letters to Washington, 92, p. 224. Boudinot, Vol. I, p. 332. THE MUTINY AND CONGRESS 23 informing of the mutinous conduct of the Troops in the Barracks in this City, part of whom lately came in a mutinous manner from Lancaster. I thought proper to call Congress together this Even- ing since writing by the Express, in order to deliberate on the proper Steps to be taken in consequence of the unpardonable insult of the day. I have the honor to enclose your Excellency the result of our deliberations on the subject. These Resolutions are to be kept a secret till we are sure what the issue of the conference with the Supreme Executive Council will produce. By the last Resolve your Excellency will per- ceive, that the request of the Members present this morn- ing is confirmed, as it has become absolutely necessary that this wound to the dignity of the Foederal Govern- ment should not go unpunished. I have the honor to be, with great respect and esteem, Sir, Your Excellency's Obd* and very humb. Ser* ELIAS BouDiNOT. 1 The resolutions adopted that evening, and of which copies were sent to General Washington, were three in number : Resolved, That the President and Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania be informed that the Authority of the United States having been this day grossly in- sulted by the disorderly and menacing Appearance of a body of Armed Soldiers About the place within which Congress were assembled & the Peace of this city being endangered by the mutinous disposition of the said troops now in the Barracks, it is, in the Opinion of Congress, Necessary that effectual measures be immediately taken for supporting the Public authority. 2 Resolved, That the Committee, on a letter from Col. Butler be directed to Confer, without loss of time with the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania on the 1 Letters to Washington, 92, p. 228. 'Pap. Cont. Cong. I, vol. 35, Journal, June 2ist. 24 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON practicability of carrying the Preceding resolution into effect ; And that in case it shall appear to the Committee that there is not a Satisfactory ground for expecting Ade- quate and Prompt exertions of this State for supporting the dignity of the foederal Government, the President on the Advice of the Committee be Authorized & directed to summon the Members of Congress to meet on Thurs- day next at Trenton or Princeton in New-Jersey in order that further & more effectual measures be taken for sup- pressing the Present revolt & maintaining the dignity and authority of the United States. 1 Resolved, that the Secretary at War be directed to communicate to the Commander in chief the State & dis- position of the said troops, in order that he may take im- mediate measures to dispatch to this City such force as he may judge Expedient for suppressing any disturbances that may Ensue. 1 While these resolutions were being read to Mr. Dick- inson 2 later that night at his house by Hamilton and Ellsworth, and while Morris was again urging him to call out the militia, Carberry and Sullivan were discus- sing the events of the afternoon with twenty or thirty non- commissioned officers and privates at the "Sign of the Three Tuns " on Race Street ' ' near the common. " They assured the soldiers that if a stiff front were kept up they would in a day or two receive their back pay with satis- factory terms for the future. There was plenty of money in the city, they said ; there were merchants who would willingly lend it for such a purpose they mentioned par- ticularly Major Nicholls; and in any case there were more ways than one of getting it. For the time being, however, they counselled order and sobriety. Then Car- berry suggested the appointment of a committee to rep- resent the soldiery, and in a few moments he, with Cap- 1 Pap. Cont. Cong, i, Vol. 35, Journal, June 2ist. * See message of Dickinson and the Council to the General Assembly in Penn- sylvania Gazette, September 24th, giving their version of the whole affair ; and also Hamilton's objecting letter to Dickinson (misprinted Reed) in J. C. Hamilton's edition of A. Hamilton's Works, Vol. I, p. 374, etc. THE MUTINY AND CONGRESS 25 tains Chrystie and Steel and Lieutenants Huston and Sullivan, found himself elected to this duty. At nine o'clock Sunday morning, June 22d, at Mr. Dickinson's house, the first conference between the Con- gressional committee and the State Council took place. Hamilton and Ellsworth informed the Council that in the opinion of Congress the affair of Saturday was of so seri- ous a nature and was fraught with such dangerous possi- bilities that it necessitated the adoption of vigorous and effective measures ' to put a stop to the future progress of the evil, and to compel submission on the part of the offenders." They refrained from specifying what meas- ures they thought would be effective, but at the same time suggested that the militia, or a portion thereof suf- ficient to suppress the revolt, be called out; and they in- formed the Council that Congress had suspended its de- liberations until the State should adopt proper steps to provide against the possibility of a repetition of Satur- day's demonstration. But the Council was not prepared to call out the militia without ascertaining the state and disposition of the men composing it, and replied that it would be necessary to consult with the militia officers for that purpose. The conference was accordingly adjourned until the next day, when, previous to resuming the dis- cussion, Hamilton and Ellsworth sent a letter to President Dickinson requesting that the answer of the Council be made in writing so that there might "be no future misun- derstanding of the case, at the same time enclosing to him a copy of the Congressional resolutions of Saturday night. But at this second conference the Council re- fused to give a written reply, alleging irregularity and incompatibility with the dignity of the State in such pro- cedure. The committee then protestingly accepted an oral answer, of which the substance is found in the writ- ten report made by Hamilton and Ellsworth on July ist, and which was nothing less than a declaration that no aid 26 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON was to be expected from the militia unless the situation became much more threatening. It was the opinion of the Council that it would be unnecessary and inexpedient to call on the militia : conciliation rather than coercion was advocated, especially as there were hints of submis- sion on the part of the mutineers, although they still were under arms and were holding the city arsenal. To these arguments Hamilton replied at some length, and President Dickinson found himself between Scylla and Charybdis, urged on the one hand by the representatives of the United States to call out the militia against the soldiers, while on the other hand he knew that the citi- zens considered the soldiers objects of pity rather than chastisement. He chose to side with the citizens, and after further fruitless discussion Hamilton and Ellsworth retired, with no alternative left under the resolution of Saturday but to advise Mr. Boudinot to adjourn from the city. Nevertheless, desiring to be guiltless of undue haste, and to give the Council a last chance to reconsider, as well as to see what basis of fact existed for the rumors of sub- mission, they withheld their report for twenty-four hours. On Monday night the Council assembled again at Dick- inson's house, and issued orders to the lieutenants of the city and county, all the field officers of the militia, and Captain Morris of the Light Horse to meet the Council in conference at the State House the next morning at ten. At this conference the officers decided with the Council that it would be imprudent to call out the militia, but agreed, if negotiations failed and the soldiers insisted on unreasonable claims, to make every effort to support public authority and to use their influence to dispose public opinion in that direction. And in order to be ready for serious business, ammunition was stealthily dis- tributed to convenient points in the city. This was the first real step toward enforcement of order taken by the State authorities. THE MUTINY AND CONGRESS 2/ President Boudinot had already learned how the wind was blowing, and on Monday had written to his brother Elisha that Dickinson and his Council lacked the neces- sary backbone to call out the militia; the political ma- nceuvers in connection with the question of federal resi- dence which was to be settled in the coming October were "unhinging government" ; the mutineers were pri- vately supported, and it would be a wonder if the members of Congress were not all prisoners before long. "Congress will not sit here," he continued, "but have authorized me to change their place of Residence I mean to adjourn to Princeton if the Inhabitants of Jersey will protect us I have wrote to the Governor particu- larly I wish you could get your Troop of Horse to offer their aid and be ready if necessary to meet us at Princeton on Saturday or Sunday next if required ' 1 1 would not wish anything to be made more public than is necessary for the above purpose " I wish Jersey to show her readiness on this occasion as it may fix Congress as to their permanent residence M1 On Tuesday morning Robert Morris was notified by Hamilton, Fitzsimmons, Wilson, and Peters, to prepare himself for departure from the city, as it was probable that Congress would leave that afternoon. Charles Thomson and Major Jackson came to consult him about money for transportation, and later in the day Alexander Hamilton returned to say that his committee had just re- ported to President Boudinot the fruitlessness of their conferences with the Council. The departure of Con- gress was to be kept secret lest the soldiers should be tempted to seize the members of Congress and Morris himself as hostages for pardon. Mr. Boudinot called and also wrote a note informing Morris of the adjourn- ment. Public business came to a standstill. Closing his office and placing Samuel Lyon, a secretary, on guard 'Boudinot, Vol. I, p. 336. 28 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON over the archives of the department, the Financier with Gouverneur Morris that evening left Philadelphia for Trenton, where he arrived early the next morning and found quarters. 1 On receiving Hamilton's report, President Boudinot orally notified all of his colleagues whom he could find, and then, leaving the following proclamation behind him, set off for Princeton. BY His EXCELLENCY ELIAS BOUDINOT, ESQUIRE, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED. A PROCLAMATION. WHEREAS a body of armed Soldiers in the service of the United States, and quartered in the Barracks of this City, having mutinously renounced their obedience to their Officers, did, on Saturday the Twenty-First Day of this instant, proceed, under the direction of their Serjeants, in a hostile and threatening manner, to the Place in which Congress were assembled, and did surround the same with Guards : And whereas Congress in consequence thereof, did on the same Day resolve, ' ' That the President and Supreme Executive Council of this State should be in- formed, that the authority of the United States having been, that Day, grossly insulted by the disorderly and menacing appearance of a body of armed Soldiers, about the Place within which Congress were assembled ; and that the Peace of this City being endangered by the mutinous Disposition of the said Troops then in the Bar- racks ; it was, in the Opinion of Congress, necessary, that effectual Measures should be immediately taken for sup- porting the public Authority:" And also whereas Con- gress did at the same Time appoint a Committee to con- fer with the said President and Supreme Executive Council on the practicability of carrying the said Resolution into due effect : And also whereas the said Committee have 1 Diary, June 24th. By His EXCELLENCY Elias Boudinot, Efquire, Prefident of the United States in Congrefs Aflimbled. A PROCLAMATION. WHEREAS body of armed Soldiers in the fervke of the Uni:ed States, tad quartered .in the Baruckt of this City, having mutincufly renounced tneirobedience to their Officers, did, on Saturday the Twen ty.Firrt Day cf this inftant, proceed, under the direfliooof their Serjeants, in a hoftile and threalning manr.er, 10 ihc Place in which Congrefs were aflcmbled, and did furnnnd the frme wicli Cjuds: And v/>erc C,agrefc in conference thereof, did 0.1 the fame Day. rtfolve, " Ththe Prcfidcnt an I Supreme Executive Council of tliis State 1 * ' fliould be informed, that the authority of the United Slates hiving Wen, ih ( Day, grofily infulted by the " diforderly and menacing appearance of a body of armedSoldiers, about the Pl.uc vrilhm which Congrefs were artem- " bled; a id that the Peace of tliis City being endangeredby the mutinous Difpoliiioa of the faid Troops then in the " Barracks; it was, in the Opinion of Congref., neccfliry.lhat effectual VKafures (hould be ir.>n>ediaicly taken ft.- " fuppottiog the public Authority:" And alfo whereas (bngrefs did at the fame Time appoint a Committee to con- fer with thefaU Piefident and Supreme Executive Councilonihe praOicability of carrying the faid Refolution inloduc tffeft: And alfo whereas the faid Committee have reported o me, thu they have not received f:isfadory AITurjncej for expeiling adequate and prompt exertion! of this State/or fuppotting the Dignity of Use foederal Covern.iKnt ' And alfowhereas the faidSoIdien ftill continue ins ftate of opeoMutiny and Revolt, fo that the Dignity and Authority ofthe United States would be coodantlyexpofedtoa repetition o Infult, while Congrefs lliall continue to fit m this City, t do therefore, by and with the Advice of the (aid Commitee, and according to the Powers and Aur'iorities in me veft- d for this Purpofe, hereby fjmmon the honourable ch: Dlegates cotnpofing the Coogiefs of the United Slates, and every of them, to meet in Congrefson Thurfdaythe TwentySuth Dayof Juneirdant, at Princeton, in the (late of New- Jerfey, in order that further and more effect ml Mea/ures maybe taken for fupprerting the prefect Retslt, and maintaining the Dignity and Authority of the United States, of which all Offiars of th: United States, civil and military, and all others whom it may concern, are defired to take Notice and govern tbemfdves accordingly. GIVEN under My Hand and Seal at Philadelphia, iti the fte of Pennfylvania, thi Twenty -Fourth Day of June, m the Year of Our Lord One Thoufand Sevea Hundred and Eighty-Three, indof our Sovereignty and Inde- pendence the frventh, ELIAS BOUDINOT. Atteft. SAMUEL STERETT, Private Secretary. > *'J r '^ i ^ rh,!adelj*ii Primed by DAVID C CLAYPOOLE. PROCLAMATION ADJOURNING CONGRESS TO PRINCETON THE MUTINY AND CONGRESS 29 reported to me, that they have not received satisfactory Assurances for expecting- adequate and prompt exertions of this State for supporting the Dignity of the fcederal Government: And also whereas the said Soldiers still continue in a state of open Mutiny and Revolt, so that the Dignity and Authority of the United States would be constantly exposed to a repetition of Insult, while Con- gress shall continue to sit in this City : I do therefore, by and with the Advice of the said Committee, and ac- cording to the Powers and Authorities in me vested for this purpose, hereby summon the honourable the Dele- gates composing the Congress of the United States, and every of them, to meet in Congress on Thursday the Twenty-Sixth Day of June instant, at Princeton, in the state of New-Jersey, in order that further and more effec- tual Measures may be taken for suppressing the present Revolt, and maintaining the Dignity and Authority of the United States, of which all Officers of the United States, civil and military, and all others whom it may con- cern, are desired to take Notice and govern themselves accordingly. GIVEN under my Hand and Seal at Philadelphia, this Twenty-Fourth Day of June, in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty-Three, and of our Sovereignty and Independence the seventh. Attest: ELIAS BouDiNOT. 1 SAMUEL STERETT, Private Secretary. 1 This is probably one of the rarest of the Continental Congress broadsides. Few got outside of Philadelphia, and most of those posted in the city were torn down by the mutineers, an armful at least being so destroyed. The text above given is taken from the copy sent by Mr. Boudinot to Washington ( Letters to Washington, 92, p. 242). The "Diary of Elias Boudinot" contains a facsimile of the proof copy preserved by Mr. Boudinot, and is interesting as it does not show the Claypoole imprint but bears on the other hand the president's autograph correction of the last phrase "and of our Sovereignty," etc., into the more formal "and of the Sovereignty and Independence of the United States," etc., a correc- tion which conforms with the manuscript version preserved in the letter-book of the president of Congress (Pap. Cont. Cong., 16, p. 202) and so published in the contemporary newspapers. CHAPTER III. PUBLIC OPINION AND THE FLIGHT OF CONGRESS. THE proclamation seems to have been entirely unex- pected, and together with the secret withdrawal of Con- gress, created an immediate sensation. At the barracks the memorial of grievances drawn up by the committee of sergeants chosen on Saturday night had been read at evening parade on Tuesday, but whatever enthusiasm that document had created was chilled by the plain busi- ness-like broadsides which began to appear all over the city. In spite of the bravado of some of the bolder spirits who went out to tear them off street corners and tavern doors, the general feeling at first was one of dismay aug- mented by the circulation of well-accredited reports that troops were already on their way to Philadelphia to put the city under martial law and quell the disturbance by sheer force. It was rumored that Washington himself was coming. Carberry and Sullivan fled the next morning, and the bottom of the mutiny at once fell out. This ac- counts for the request for pardon added to the memorial which was handed to the Council that Wednesday at noon. Hearing that the soldiers were in a very tumul- tuous mood, the State Council had just ordered a guard of 100 privates to be called out by the Lieutenant of the City Militia, and the clerk was copying the resolution when Captains Chrystie and Symonds of the committee for the soldiers came in with their list of grievances. There were seven distinct demands made in this memo- rial: (i) that the men should receive half-pay instead of four months' pay, the latter not being equitable since some had been enlisted barely five months, while others had 3 PUBLIC OPINION AND FLIGHT OF CONGRESS 31 three years' pay due them ; (2) that they should receive for the balance of their half-pay certificates which would specify date of redemption and not of the kind ' < we have before this been put off with " ; (3) that they should re- ceive the "small Articles in rations" promised at the beginning of the war and cut off since then, and likewise all deficiencies in clothing, etc. ; (4) that patents for land should be given them with their discharges, and also the regular gratuity ; (5) that all soldiers who had been dis- charged should be included in this proposed settlement, and all who might hereafter be discharged, especially those who had lost a limb ; (6) that the proposed settle- ment be extended to all soldiers of the Pennsylvania line wherever they might be ; (7) that the Lancaster troops be placed on the same footing with the rest. "These," concludes the memorial, "are all the requests your hardy Veterans have to make we think them our right, and we hope to obtain them ; and should the public need our services again, we declare to sacrifice our most endearing convictions to serve them." The memorial was signed by Sergeant James Bennett, " In behalf of the non-Com- missioned Officers and Soldiers in Garrison." 1 The Council read the document, but refused to take any action on it, unless the men should first yield complete submission to authority. Chrystie and Symonds agreed so to inform their clients, but at the same time begged the Council to take all precautions for safety "as everything licentious was to be appre- hended." Whereupon the Council increased the guard to 500 men. Mr. Dickinson sat up all night in readiness for the sig- nal of alarm, and M. de la Luzerne, the French Minister, who had been a deeply interested spectator of the whole affair, left the city at midnight for Princeton, bearing a Pap. Cont. Cong., 38, p. 33. Dipl. Corr. U. S., Vol. I, p. 22. 32 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON letter from Dickinson to Boudinot which recounted the latest developments. 1 Carberry and Sullivan, 2 in their flight, had left behind them a note addressed to Lieutenant William Huston, a member of the committee to represent the soldiers, and an adjutant in Colonel Humpton's regiment. The note said merely : ' ' Consult your own safety. We cannot get to you. H. C.-J. S." Accidentally it was delivered on Thursday to Captain Chrystie who with Symonds took it to Colonel Humpton. The latter at once went to the barracks and talked to the men for an hour, laying stress on the defection of Carberry and Sullivan and enlarging on the dangers of maintaining a hostile attitude now that the authorities were alarmed and thoroughly awakened to the situation. At length all except the Lancaster party grounded their arms, and leaving them at the bar- racks, proceeded to the residence of President Dickinson, where the latter harangued them further on their past and present behavior, insisting that they give further evidence of their good intention of ' ' dutiful submission to the offended majesty of the United States " by com- pelling the Lancaster men also to lay down their arms and return home. 3 1 Pap. Cont. Cong., 38, p. 127, Dickinson to Boudinot June 25th, with en- dorsement by Boudinot : ' ' Rec 4 Thursday Morning 9 "Clock by the Minister of France, who said he rec* it from the Presid* of the State, at 12 "Clock the night before. E. B." 2 In a somewhat theatrical letter of farewell to Colonel Moylan, dated the Cape, June 3Oth, Sullivan says that " a series of injuries and the incessant indignities we experienc'd were our sole inducements for prosecuting the plan at all risks." With Carberry he is being wafted on by a gentle though generous gale, with perfect tranquility of mind, conscious of no unworthy action and regretting nothing but their failure in a noble attempt " And more true joy Marcellus exiled feels Than Caezar with a Senate at his heels." He thanks Colonel Moylan for past kindnesses, and his address will be with Cap- tain Richardson of the First Regiment of Guards, London, a brother of Major Richardson of Philadelphia. (Pap. Cont. Cong., 38, p. 41 ; Dipl. Corr. U. S., Vol. I, p. 37.) Carberry sent a tender letter of good-bye to his mother. 8 Dickinson's message in Pennsylvania Gazette, September 24th, 1783. PUBLIC OPINION AND FLIGHT OF CONGRESS 33 The next morning at roll-call half of the Lancaster con- tingent yielded, and when at noon Colonel Humpton put the barracks under arms the rest also surrendered, and at six in the evening began their march back to Lancaster under the command of Lieutenant Herbert of the Second Pennsylvania. 1 The action of Congress gave rise to much criticism. Outside the barracks opinion was divided. Many of those who condemned it were, to quote Madison's opinion, but partially acquainted with the facts, while many of those who justified it seemed ' ' to have their eye remotely on the disgrace of the Executive Council of the State." 3 The local newspapers welcomed a genuine sensation, and at once became the recipients of more or less apt com- munications on the subject, which were freely copied by their extra- Philadelphia contemporaries. Some corre- spondents, like " Sincerus " in the Freeman s Journal for July 2d and " A Lover of Facts " in the issue for July i6th, upheld the action of Congress, blamed the soldiers for their conduct, and berated the Council for its supineness. More, like " Z " in the Pennsylvania Gazette (July 2d) de- clared that Congress had made a mountain out of a mole- heap, while in "An Observer" (Freeman s Journal, July 2d) the episode found at least one impartial chronicler. It was said by some people, according to "A Lover of Facts" that the flight of Congress was "the base born brat of petulant haste, and not the honourable child of reason " ; but in his opinion Congress acted as deliberately and rationally as the nature of the case admitted. If there was anything regrettable in that action it was to be laid to the door of the "blest mild administration of Pennsylvania! " The Council and the officers of the militia had said that no dependence could be placed in the 1 Dickinson to Boudinot, June 2yth ; Pap. Cont. Cong., 38, p. 143. 2 Madison to Randolph, June 3Oth, Gilpin's Madison, Vol. I, page 553. 3 34 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON militia: his letter was addressed to the militia "If you are guilty, be honest and say so : if not, be men and clear yourselves." In the Pennsylvania Journal, as quoted by the Freeman 's Journal of July 1 6th, a writer grows sarcastic at the expense of Congress, and in a disgusted tone concludes, " I wish Congress would let the affair die, and publish no more about it, and I hope the council will publish nothing. The sooner the whole affair is forgotten the better." On the other hand, " A Friend of Government," in the Freeman s Journal oi July 23d, says he " cannot call discre- tion cowardice," nor blame "a just and liberal resent- ment " ; he defends the proclamation, but regrets that it contained any reflection on the State of Pennsylvania. Robert Morris and General Lincoln came in for their share of blame in the searching questions asked by ' ' Vox Populi " who, in the Freeman s Journal of July 23d, broadly hinted at tricky work on the part of these two officials as the true cause of the mutiny. " Vox Populi " would per- haps have changed his mind had he been given a glimpse of Morris' official letter-book and had there seen the copy of the Financier's emphatic words to James Lovell, re- ceiver of taxes for Massachusetts, under date of June 2d : " For Heaven's sake urge the speedy payment of con- siderable Sums, that we may do Something towards the Releif of those brave Fellows who will be obliged to beg or do worse if they are to be so shamefully deprived of their due." 1 Another correspondent, while admitting the sacredness of the Union, offered his opinion that this sacredness " may in some cases, feel rather too quickly," and after a verbose disquisition "contemplating what the sacred- ness of the union is or ought to be," concluded that Con- gress was touchily precipitate. 2 Another anonymous 1 Moms' Letter Book E, p. 349. * Pennsylvania Gazette, July 2d, and Virginia Gazette, July I2th. PUBLIC OPINION AND FLIGHT OF CONGRESS 35 writer who with interesting self-importance considered himself insulted as a citizen by the departure of Congress, declared that the adjournment could not be justified on the premises : soldiers in Europe had often acted worse, "but we know of no sovereign power, or but very few who acted as Congress did." He granted that the soldiers " behaved exceedingly amiss and reprehensible " ; but the suggestion that they were endangering public peace would have emanated more plausibly from " others and better informed than Congress." 1 Reply to this astounding letter was made in the Gazette of a week later and quoted by various other newspapers. It was easy, remarked the new writer, to say that Congress had acted hastily, inasmuch as no violence had actually been done by the mutineers. But subsequent facts proved that violence was intended, for if nothing serious was contem- plated, why did the leaders decamp? It was only the defection of the leaders that made the plot flash in the pan. After the first shock, however, public opinion settled down to an attitude of cynical indifference, whose keynote had been sounded by a paragraph in the Philadelphia Gazet- teer or the Chronicle of Freedom of June 28th : "The honorable Congress of the United States of America having been for 8 years past resolving and re- solving, did, on Tuesday last, without their usual mature deliberation, hastily resolve to exchange their old sitting place for the more salubrious air of Princeton in the state of New- Jersey, where they will enjoy the double satisfac- tion of the Reverend Doctor W 's lectures on politics and divinity." Boudinot's proclamation is then quoted, and the passage continues : " Though the citizens of Philadelphia do not regret the loss of Congress, yet they are sorry better reasons were 1 Pennsylvania Gazette, July 2d. 36 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON not assigned for their removal. The late Congressional proceedings exhibit neither dignity, fortitude, nor per- severance." 1 And what was true in Philadelphia was true in a sense of the States at large, The mutiny of the soldiers and " flight of Congress," as it was now very generally called, became the talk of the land. While Robert R. Livingston in New York was chaff- ingly congratulating Madison on Congress' departure from Philadelphia a happy release, he says, which nothing but an armed force could have effected 2 Madi- son's colleague, Joseph Jones, writing from Fredericks- burg, in Virginia, was wishing that Congress had shown more firmness to the mutineers, and had remained in Phila- delphia despite the lack of State support. The indignity of the situation could then have been taken up calmly and made a ground for removal from the city. As it is now, said Mr. Jones, Congress is ' ' thought to have been too timid, at the same time that the Executive is blamed for their remissness." The Hon. Samuel Johnson, formerly a member of Congress, writing to ex-Governor Burke of North Carolina, says that the conduct of Congress "is variously represented, some considering it as savouring more of childish Petulance than dignified Resentment, while others think they could not consistent with the Dig- nity of the United States with which they were intrusted have Acted otherwise." 3 Considerations of the effect on public opinion had not, however, been uppermost in the minds of the members of 1 See also Boston Evening Post and the General Advertiser, July 1 9th, 1783, and Salem Gazette, July 1 7th, 1783. 2 Letter of July igth, Writings to Madison, Vol. 13, p. 109. He goes on to ask what will be Madison's future destination, and whether the members of Con- gress have become so " inamored with the pure air of the country as to continue Villagers." 5 State Records of North Carolina, Vol. 16, p. 970. PUBLIC OPINION AND FLIGHT OF CONGRESS 37 Congress when with less than a quorum present they passed their removal resolutions on Saturday, June 2ist, and least of all in Mr. Boudinot's mind when he drew up his proclamation of the 24th. He belonged to the party which disliked Philadelphia as a federal residence ; his letter to his brother shows where his preference lay, and like his colleagues he had been no less frightened than in- sulted by the events of the 2ist. Just why he selected Princeton rather than Trenton for the next place of meeting is nowhere specifically stated in his letter-books ; but the influences that governed his choice are not difficult to surmise. It was not the first time that Princeton had been considered in connection with the federal residence. As early as November, 1 779, Benjamin Rush writing from Philadelphia to Colonel George Morgan of Princeton informed him that some of the members of Congress were talking of purchasing a few square miles of territory near that village wherein to erect public offices and buildings for a permanent federal home "a more central healthy & plentiful Spot" said he " I believe cannot be found on the Continent." l Mr. Boudinot's reasons were, however, chiefly personal. In the first place his experience in Philadelphia led him to prefer a village to a town, however small, as the abode of Congress. Although on one of the most important high- roads in the country, Princeton was rural enough to shield Congress from most of the distractions and various forms of political jobbery that were already hampering legislation. He was moreover well acquainted with Princeton. As a boy he had played along its single street when his father's silversmith shop was also the village postoffice. 2 He had 1 Princeton Collection, Library of Princeton University . 2 There is no truth in Lieutenant J. G. Simcoe's assertion in his Military Jour- nal (N. Y., 1844, p. 269) that Elias Boudinot's father was " a low Frenchman who kept an ale-house at Princeton." He was a silversmith by trade, and post- master of Princeton for a number of years. Hageman, Vol. I, p. 84, and New Jersey Archives, 1st series, Vol. 20, pp. 121, 151, 177, 389, 627. 38 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON married Hannah Stockton, the sister of Princeton's lead- ing citizen, Richard Stockton the Signer, who by wedding Mr. Boudinot's sister Annis was already his brother-in- law. Richard Stockton had died in 1781, but his widow still lived at " Morven," the family homestead on the out- skirts of the village. Furthermore, we cannot ignore the grain of truth lurking in the Gazetteer s sarcastic fling already quoted. Dr. Witherspoon had left Congress but a few months before in order to set the half-ruined Col- lege of New Jersey once more on its feet ; and the recol- lection of his sturdy common sense and the anticipation of a further enlistment of his advice in the struggle with the new problems that now faced the government must have added their weight to Mr. Boudinot's preference. Nor is it probable that as a trustee of the College of New Jersey he had forgotten its unswerving loyalty to the Revolutionary cause or lost sight of the patriotism of citi- zens whose little village rejoiced in a well-earned reputa- tion as a hot-bed of rebellion. Finally, there were in Con- gress at this time five graduates of the College Joseph Montgomery of the Class of 1755, David Howell and Oli- ver Ellsworth who were graduated in 1766, Gunning Bedford and James Madison of 1771, besides Benjamin Hawkins who was a Princeton senior when he enlisted at the beginning of the war, and Alexander Hamilton, the refusal of whose request to be allowed to take the four years' course in two was the only reason that his name did not appear on Princeton class-rolls. In short, Presi- dent Boudinot knew that, come what might, at Princeton Congress would be among tried and trustworthy friends. This knowledge did not, however, lead him to cast prudence to the winds. As we have seen, he had already asked his brother to send his troop of horse to meet him in case protection might be needed. Whether his request was complied with or not, I have not been able to ascer- PUBLIC OPINION AND FLIGHT OF CONGRESS 39 tain. The course of events proved that the presence of additional troops in Princeton was unnecessary. But that his colleagues desired to run no risk is shown by the letter which he wrote to Washington on the evening of June 26th. PRINCETON June 26 th 1783 9 "Clock in the Evening. Dear Sir : I take the first Moment of Leisure since our Arrival here, to inform your Excellency that Congress have re- moved to this Place The reasons of our Conduct, I cannot delay the Post to give you in full They are in short contained in the enclosed Proclamation I think my last was on Monday, the Committee appointed to Confer with the President & Council of the State, could not prevail to have the Militia called to suppress the Rioters They delayed till Tuesday 2 "Clock in hopes of the good Sense of the Council finally prevailing, but finding all ineffectual & being told by the President as the opinion of Council, that unless the Mutineers should go farther than they had done (viz the making Congress & Council Prisoners) the Militia would not turn out, the Committee advised me to summon Congress agreeable to the Resolution of Saturday I accordingly issued the enclosed Proclamation & left the City The Measure roused and alarmed the Council & Citi- zens and they began to see their own danger On being informed that a Plan was in contemplation to attack the Bank, the Militia to the amount of 100 were called out & kept under Arms all Tuesday Night In the morning the Proclamation getting among the soldiers they also were alarmed, and began a Negotiation and many of them have laid down their Arms and it is said have empeached 5 of their Officers as at the bottom of the Business I wish some Citizen of note may not be among the Number two of the former viz Cap* Car- berry & L* Sullivan made off as soon as they heard of the Submission I am in hopes the Mutiny will be crushed However at all Events the Members of Congress here, wish to see the detachment called for by Congress come on. 4O CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON I write this as an Individual that your Exc 7 may be duly informed of what has passed I should be glad to see your Exc 7 with the detachment if consistent with your other Duties I have the honor to be with the greatest Regard and Esteem Your Exc 7 ' most Obed* & Hb Servt His Exc 1 Gen 1 Washington ELIAS BOUDINOT. On the cover of the letter, below the address, is this note: ' ' The Post Rider is desired if he hears that his Exc 7 Gen 1 Washington has passed him on the way to hire a Rider and send this after him. E. B." 1 1 Letters to Washington, 92, p. 241. It was characteristic of the times that Mr. Boudinot should also have utilized his "first moment of leisure" to open an account with Thomas Stockton, a local merchant, by ordering a side of lamb and a gallon of wine, supplementing the latter the next day with two more gallons, seventeen pounds of sugar, and a couple of three-shilling "Juggs," his well- trained steward adequately completing the situation by sending him "50 Lemm ni & 50 Limes." Cf. Mr. Boudinot' s Accounts in Appendix I infra. CHAPTER IV. NEW JERSEY'S RECEPTION OF HER VISITORS. THE news that Trenton or Princeton was to be honored with the presence of Congress had traveled to New Jer- sey as rapidly as post-riders could carry it. When Vice- President Cox of the New Jersey State Council received on the 24th Mr. Boudinot's letter of the day before, he summoned to the French Arms tavern a meeting of the inhabitants of Trenton and its neighborhood ' ' who being justly alarmed at the daring insult offered to the Supreme Government of the American Union, and being desirous of testifying their zeal in support of the Dignity & pri- vileges of Congress " l speedily passed resolutions which were forwarded to President Boudinot the next day by the chairman of the meeting: At a meeting of the Inhabitants of Trenton and the Vicinity at the French Arms on Tuesday the 24 June, 1783- Having been informed from undoubted authority that a most gross and daring insult has been offered to Con- gress, the Supreme Government of the American Union, by a number of lawless People in arms, assembled at the State House in Philadelphia on Saturday last. Resolved unanimously that we think it our immediate duty to express our resentment and indignation at so flagitious a proceeding. Resolved unanimously that we look upon tyranny and anarchy with equal abhorrence ; and as we have, at the risque of every thing opposed the former, we are deter- 1 Pap. Cont. Cong. 46, p. 79, John Cox's letter of the 25th enclosing the reso- lutions. Following these is the report of the Committee consisting of Moore Fur- man, Stacy Potts, and Benjamin Smith appointed to ascertain what accommodations were available. The report is dated June 25th and states that sixty persons can be taken care of. 41 42 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON mined at the same risque, not to be wanting in our efforts to suppress the latter, on whatever occasion or under whatever form it may present itself. Resolved unanimously, that we consider the support of Civil Government and the majesty of the Laws as among the first of Social duties, and riotous Citizens who disturb the public order and violate the dignity of the Union as the worst of Enemies. Resolved unanimously that we feel the utmost chear- fulness in pledging our lives and fortunes to the Govern- ment under which we live, in whatever way our Services may be required, whether in resisting foreign invasion or quelling intestine tumults. Resolved unanimously that we would deem ourselves highly honored by the presence of Congress, and by an opportunity of testifying our zeal in support of their Dignity and Priviledges, should they in their wisdom think proper to adjourn to or fix their Residence in this State. Signed by order and in behalf of the Inhabitants. John Cox David Brearley W m C. Houston Sam 1 W. Stockton Governor Livingston of New Jersey also wrote to Mr. Boudinot on the 24th, assuring him of the loyalty of the State, adding that if Congress should see fit to honor the State with its presence he had not the least doubt that the citizens of New Jersey would cheerfully turn out to re- pel any violence that might be attempted ; and that as soon as he should be informed of the movement of Con- gress to New Jersey, and that there was the least reason to apprehend that the mutineers intended to prosecute their riotous measures, he would with the greatest alac- rity give the necessary orders, and think himself ' ' not a little honored by being personally engaged in defending 1 Pap. Cont. Cong., 46, p. 83. NEW JERSEY'S RECEPTION OF HER VISITORS 43 the representatives of the United States against every in- sult and indignity." 1 These communications, of course, reached Mr. Boudi- not after his decision had been made ; and Trenton had to wait until the winter of 1784 before it became a Con- gressional residence. Princeton was first heard from in the person of Colonel George Morgan, the former Indian Agent, whose model farm of over two hundred acres was situated within a stone's throw south-east of the College. On the brow of the long hill down which his property sloped was his stone farm-house " Prospect." This with all other buildings on his land he offered to Congress in the following letter : Colonel Morgan presents his most respectful Compli- ments to his Excellency the President of Congress, & begs leave, through him, to offer to Congress the Use of several Buildings, on their own Terms, during their Stay at Princeton. One of them will afford a better Room for them to meet in than they can be immediately accommo- dated with elsewhere Any or every part of his Farm & Meadows shall also be at their Command ; And he takes the Liberty to tender his utmost Services, in every way he can be usefull to Congress, during their Residence in New Jersey. Prospect June 25th, 1783.* The next day, June 26th, the citizens of Princeton passed formal resolutions of loyalty, confidence, and welcome which were presented to Congress by Colonel Morgan and Dr. Samuel Stanhope Smith, Vice- President of the College. 3 The Inhabitants of Princeton and its Vicinity being in- formed that gross Indignities have been offered to Con- 1 Pap. Cont. Cong., 68, p. 613. 3 Ibid., 46, p. 67. For the history of " Prospect," now the official residence of the presidents of Princeton University, see Princeton University Bulletin, Vol. 15, No 3, June, 1904. 3 Ibid., 20, Vol. 2, p. 295. 44 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON COLONEL GEORGE MORGAN'S LETTER TO CONGRESS. gress by a number of People in Arms at Philadelphia, do resolve unanimously That we think it our Duty to express the warmest In- dignation and Resentment at such insolent Proceedings. That we equally abhor Tyranny and Anarchy, and as we have always done, so we will continue, at every Risque to oppose both the one and the other under whatever Form they may appear. That we esteem the Support of a good Government as the first Duty of Virtuous Citizens and consider the Vio- lators of it as the most pernicious Enemies. NEW JERSEY'S RECEPTION OF HER VISITORS 45 That we do with the utmost Chearfullness pledge our Lives & Fortunes to the Government under which we Live for the Protection of Congress in whatever way our Services may be required, whether in resisting Foreign Invasions or in quelling intestine Tumults. That we esteem ourselves highly honor'd by the Con- fidence of Congress in the Choice of this Town as the Place of their Residence, [during the present Tumult] l and we take the Earliest Opportunity to testify our Zeal to Sup- port of their Dignity and Privileges, and that we will use our utmost Exertions for their comfortable Accommo- dation. Signed on behalf of the Inhabitants of Princeton and its Neighbourhood by Jona Deare Sam 1 S Smith James M'Comb John Little Robt Stockton Isaac Anderson John Berrien Anth 7 Joline Geo Morgan Andrew MMacken Ch r Beekman Joseph Stout Tho Wiggins Benj n Hunt Tho 8 Stockton Jacob Schenck Enos Kelsey Jn Harrison Robert James Livingston James Hamilton Dan Van Voorhis Stephen Morford Thos Moody Jacob Hyer Noah Morford Elias Woodruff George Bergen Robert Davidson 2 On behalf of the College Dr. Smith also drew up an address whose dignity and touch of pathos make it an ex- ceptional academic document. May it please your Excellency, The governours & masters of the college, happy in an opportunity of paying to the Congress of the United States, 1 The bracketed words are struck out. 2 Pap. Cont. Cong., 46, p. 75 : also Pennsylvania Packet July 1 7th, and Virginia Gazette,}^ 26th, 1783. The manuscript is addressed : "To his Excel- lency Elias Boudinot Esq r . President of Congress Princeton June 26th, 1783,'' and is endorsed "Read June 3Oth, 1783." 46 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON their profoundest & sincerest honours, beg leave to offer them, thro' your Excellency, to that august body. Convinced how few accomodations this small village possesses, in comparison with those which, for several years, Congress have enjoyed in a large & flourishing city, we wish to offer them every convenience that the College, in its present state, can afford. If the Hall, or the library room, can be made of any service to Congress, as places in which to hold their Sessions, or for any other purpose, we pray that they would accept of them during their continuance in this place. And if, in the common shock of our country this institution hath suffered more than other places, both by friends & foes ; from its readiness to assist the one, while the public was yet poor & unprovided with conveniencies for its troops ; & from the peculiar & marked resentment of the other, as supposing it to be a nursery of rebellion, we doubt not but the candour of that most honourable body will readily excuse the marks of military fury which it still retains. Signed, in behalf of the governours & masters of the College, Sam 1 S. Smith, Professor of Divinity & Moral-Philosophy. Nassau- Hall June 26 th 1783. l James Riddle, Prof: Math: 1 Pap. Cont. Cong., 46, p. Ji. Also freemans Journal, July 1 6th, Pennsyl- vania Packet, July 1 7th, and Virginia Gazette, July 26th, 1783. The document is in Dr. Smith's handwriting and is addressed on the back " To His Excellency Elias Boudinot Esqr. President of Congress " and is endorsed " Offer made by the Pro- fessors of Naussau hall of their hall or library for the use of Congress Read 3Oth June, 1783." The word "Professors" is struck out in the endorsement and " Gov. & Masters " inserted. It will be noticed that this communication to Con- gress is signed by the vice-president of the College and by a tutor, and not by President Witherspoon. The diary of President Ezra Stiles of Yale (N. Y., 1901 ), Vol. 3, p. 77, supplies the information that Dr. Witherspoon passed through New Haven a few days later "on a Journey to the Eastward " so that it is practically certain he was not in Princeton when Congress arrived. There can be no other ex- planation for the fact that he did not sign the College offer to Congress. His re- gret at his absence at so notable a juncture must have been equalled only by the completeness of his acquiescence in all the steps which on his return to New Jersey he found had been taken for the accommodation of Congress by his fellow-towns- men and by his colleagues in the Faculty. NEW JERSEY'S RECEPTION OF HER VISITORS 47 GO** tf&^f^r *^-y^ ,f~) f ^ j*~- -' ' JZl^^^Tt^i^ *^~S3**; &&*f~ /?- <6&*<' *f&j*o, ^J^<*^/^4*r<*. ^ : 'W6fe*^&sir?*e44*e' -&'&&'&,!, &tv&frf2 &> eicc^^i^^t^^^' //Q /> X J /? s S J ^!/ fa x y / -^ ' &&* &&?f&e. %?n? P- 815. See also Virginia State Papers, Vol. 3, p. 526. 4 Dunlap, History of the Arts of Design in the United States, Vol. I, p. 254. 5 Letters to Washington, 64, folio 39. WASHINGTON IS CALLED TO PRINCETON 1 03 **? " ROCKINGHAM," GENERAL WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS. 1 On Monday, the 25th, Congress was formally notified of the arrival of the Commander in Chief, and it was ordered that an audience be given to him the next day at high noon. Princeton, town and gown, was fully alive to the importance of the occasion and, not waiting until the morrow when Washington's time and attention would be occupied with his Congressional reception and probable social engagements, held a public meeting early on Mon- day at which the following address was drawn up to be sent post haste to Rocky Hill. TO HIS EXCELLENCY GENERAL WASHINGTON, &C, &C, &C, The inhabitants of Princeton & neighbourhood with the president & faculty of the college beg leave to embrace this opportunity of congratulating your excellency on the late glorious peace on your meeting with congress in this 1 From the drawing made in 1850 for B. F. Lossing's Pictorial Field-book of the Revolution (New York, Harper & Bros., 1852), Vol. 2, p. 837. 104 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON place & the present happy & promising state of public affairs. As the college of New Jersey devoted to the interests of religion & learning was among the first places in America that suffered by the ravages of the enemy so happily this place & neighborhood was the scene of one of the most important & seasonable checks which they received in their progress. The surprise of the Hessians at Trenton & the Subsequent victory at Princeton re- dounded much to the honour of the commander who planned & the handful of troops with him which executed the measures. /et were they even of greater moment to the cause of America than they were brilliant as par- ticular military exploits. We contemplate & adore the wisdom & goodness of divine providence as displayed in many instances in favour of the United States during the course of the war, but in none more than in the unanimous appointment of your excellency to the command of the army. When we con- sider the continuance of your life & health the discern- ment prudence fortitude & patience of your conduct by which you have not only sacrificed as others have done person & property but frequently even reputation itself in the public cause choosing rather to risk your own name than expose the nakedness of your country When we consider the great & unabated attachment of the army & the cordial esteem of all ranks of men & of every state in the union which you have so long Enjoyed & when we consider in contrast the british leaders who have been in Succession opposed to you their attempts to blast each others characters & the short duration of their com- mand we cannot help being of opinion that God him- self has raised you up as a fit & proper instrument for establishing & securing the liberty & happiness of these states. We pray that the Almighty may continue to protect & bless you & that having survived so much fatigue & so many dangers from traitors & in the field you may enjoy WASHINGTON IS CALLED TO PRINCETON 10$ many years of repose in the bosom of your grateful country. Signed in behalf of the whole in a public meeting by JN WITHERSPOON ROB* STOCKTON JONATHAN DEARE JAMES RIDDLE JAMES M'COMB ENOS KELSEY FRANCIS J. JAMES. Princeton August 25, 1783.* Of this address Washington immediately sent the fol- lowing acknowledgment : To THE INHABITANTS OF PRINCETON AND NEIGHBOUR HOOD TOGETHER WITH THE PRESIDENT & FACULTY OF THE COLLEGE. Gentlemen : I receive, with the utmost satisfaction and acknowlege with great sensibility your kind congratulations. 1 Letters to Washington, no, folio 7; also Pennsylvania Packet, August 3Oth, 1783, and Pennsylvania Gazette, September 3d, 1783. The body of the docu- ment appears to be in the hand of tutor James Riddle, one of the signers of the college address to Congress. It is endorsed : " Princeton, 25 th Aug* 1783. Address of the Inhabitants of Princeton & of the President & Faculty of the New Jersey Colledge to His Excell?, Gen 1 Washington." A version of this document is published in Witherspoon's Works (Philadelphia, 1801, Vol. 4, p. 285-6 and Edinburgh, 1805, Vol. 9, p. 152-3). Comparison reveals striking differences. In the printed version, which is undated, the opening paragraph reads : The President and Faculty of the College of New Jersey, beg leave to embrace this opportunity of congratulating your Excellency on the present happy and prom- ising state of public affairs ; and of sincerely wishing you prosperity and success in the ensuing campaign, and in what may yet remain of the important conflict in which the United States are engaged. The second and third paragraphs contain numerous verbal changes, and the clause referring to the British leaders is omitted. The closing paragraph reads : We pray that the Almighty may continue to protect and bless you that the late signal success of the American arms, may pave the way to a speedy and last- ing peace ; and that, having survived so much fatigue, and so many dangers, you may enjoy many years of honorable repose in the bosom of your grateful country. John Witherspoon. The inaccurate and special editing of which this version is guilty is patent when one considers the circumstances under which Washington came to Princeton in 1783. 106 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON The prosperous situation of our public affairs, the flourishing State of this place, and the revival of the Seat of Literature from the ravages of War, encrease to the highest degree, the pleasure I feel in visiting (at the return of Peace) the Scene of our important Military transactions, and in recollecting the period when the Tide of adversity began to turn, and better fortune to smile upon us. If in the execution of an arduous Office, 1 have been so happy as to discharge my duty to the Public with Fidelity and success, and to obtain the good Opinion of my fellow Soldiers and fellow Citizens, I attribute all the Glory to that Supreme Being who hath caused the several parts, which have been employed in the production of the wonderful events we now contemplate, to harmonise in the most perfect manner and who was able by the hum blest Instruments, as well as by the most powerful means to establish and secure the Liberty and happiness of the United States. I now return to you. Gentlemen, my thanks for your benevolent wishes, and make it my earnest prayer to Heaven, that every temporal and divine Blessing may be bestowed on the Inhabitants of Princeton on the Neighbourhood, and on the President and Faculty of the College of New-Jersey, and that the usefulness of this Institution, in promoting the Interests of Religion and Learning, may be universally extended. I am, Gent'n, &c, G. WASHINGTON. Rocky Hill, 25th August 1783. * At about eleven o'clock the next morning, Tuesday, August 26th, General Washington, mounted on his favor- ite roan gelding with the old crooked saddle and the familiar buff and blue saddlecloth of flowered pattern, 2 and followed by his little escort of troopers, started down the dusty road to Princeton. 1 Letters of Washington C, Vol. 5, p. 51 ; also Pennsylvania Packet, August 30th, 1783. 1 See Capt. Lawrence's description in Pennsylvania Magazine, Vol. 15, p. 416. WASHINGTON IS CALLED TO PRINCETON IO? It was one of the proudest days of his life a day that made him willing to forget for the time the discomforts and irksomeness of past months and even the trials and weariness of the past seven years. Not to many men in the world's history has it been given to deserve an honor such as he was about to receive. The Definitive Treaty for which the nation was waiting would seal before the world the triumph of American arms. And for his con- duct of the war, for his achievement of that triumph he was now to receive the public thanks of his country. From Congress he was to hear official recognition of the success of the struggle for liberty in which he had for so long been the one great dominant figure. He had already perused an advance copy of the address that the Presi- dent of Congress would make to him, and in the pocket of his closely fitting skirted coat he carried his carefully written reply. He probably realized that this midsum- mer day would witness the climax of his military career ; but this realization brought with it no regret, for in his mind that morning, beside the errand of the day, there was but one other thought his knowledge that the audi- ence to which he was going would bring him one step nearer Mount Vernon and the old familiar haunts beside the smooth blue stretches of the Potomac. The cavalcade reached Princeton shortly before noon. An air of ill-suppressed excitement pervaded the village, centering about Nassau Hall. The taverns had been crowded to overflowing the night before ; beds were at a premium. The morning stages from Philadelphia and New Brunswick had been weighed down with distin- guished passengers, who added the dignity of their pres- ence to the picturesque groups investing the hundred yards of village street with continuous interest to the sun- burned Jerseymen flocking in from the hamlets and farms of the vicinity. Black-gowned collegians were grouped 108 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON about the central entrance of Nassau Hall waiting to see the hero of the Revolution come in, while the gallery of the prayer-hall was filled with visitors long before the clocks struck twelve. The floor of the hall was reserved for Congress ; the members were grouped together by States, seated and uncovered. President Boudinot, his ruddy countenance cheerier than ever, sat facing them, wearing his hat as a sign of authority. By his side was a vacant chair. Suddenly the buzz of conversation ceased ; the shouts of undergraduates outside rang through the building; the door of the prayer-hall swung open and escorted by two members of the committee on arrange- ments George Washington entered. He was conducted to the seat beside the president. If he looked about him at all during the slight pause which ensued, his glance must have fallen on a grim reminder of one of his most brilliant strategic successes. For on the chapel wall was hanging a massive gilt picture frame ; the full length portrait which it had contained had been torn away by an American cannon ball during the brief bombardment which ended the battle of Princeton in 1 777 by causing the surrender of the British troops sheltered in the college building. The ruined portrait had been that of His Britannic Majesty, George the Second. When Washington had taken the vacant chair, Presi- dent Boudinot, still seated and covered, read amid intense silence the following congratulatory address of Congress : Sir, Congress feel particular pleasure in seeing your Excellency and in congratulating you on the success of a war in which you have acted so conspicuous a part. It has been the singular happiness of the United States that during a war so long, so dangerous and so important Providence has been graciously pleased to preserve the WASHINGTON IS CALLED TO PRINCETON 109 life of a general who has merited and possessed the un- interrupted confidence and affection of his fellow citizens. In other nations many have performed services, for which they have deserved and received the thanks of the Public. But to you, Sir, peculiar praise is due. Your services have been essential in acquiring and establishing the free- dom and independence of your country. They deserve the grateful acknowledgments of a free and independent Nation. Those acknowledgments Congress have the satisfaction of expressing to your Excellency. Hostilities have now ceased, but your Country still needs your services. She wishes to avail herself of your talents in forming the arrangements which will be neces- sary for her in the time of peace. For this reason your attendance at Congress has been requested. A committee is appointed to confer with your excellency & to receive your assistance in preparing & digesting plans relative to those important objects. 1 Washington then read this modest reply : Mr. President, I am too sensible of the honorable re- ception I have now experienced not to be penetrated with the deepest feelings of gratitude Notwithstanding Congress appear to estimate the value of my life beyond any services I have been able to render the United States, yet I must be permitted to consider the wisdom and unanimity of our national councils, the firmness of our citizens, and the patience and bravery of our Troops which have produced so happy a termination of the war as the most conspicuous effect of the divine interposition and the surest presage of our future hap- piness Highly gratified by the favorable sentiments which Congress are pleased to express of my past Conduct and amply rewarded by the confidence and affection of my fellow citizens ; I cannot hesitate to contribute my best endeavours towards the establishment of the national se- curity in whatever manner the Sovereign power may think proper to direct, until the ratification of the defini- tive treaty of peace, or the final evacuation of our country ^Journal, August 26th. IIO CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON by the British forces; after either of which events, I shall ask permission to retire to the peaceful shade of private life. Perhaps, Sir, no occasion may offer more suitable than the present to express my humble thanks to God and my grateful acknowledgments to my country for the great and uniform support I have received in every vicissitude of fortune and for the many distinguished honors which Congress have been pleased to confer upon me in the course of the war. l The President's address to Washington was the pro- duction of a committee consisting of Messrs. Holten, Wilson, Carroll, Huntington and Duane. Mr. Boudinot made the final corrections. The committee reported on August pth, when the address as it was delivered on the 26th was agreed to, the only important alteration being the commendable excision of this infelicitous paragraph in the beginning of the address after the words ' ' so con- spicuous a part, " viz : The Services which you have rendered to your Country, have been extensive, laborious and difficult. Those Parts of them which have been the least known, have not been the last entitled to Applause. In many Periods of the War, your Success depended as much on the wise Caution, with which you concealed, as on the persevering Fortitude, with which you surmounted the Obstacles that lay before you. Your Retreats have been marked with Circumstances not less honorable to your military Character than those which have distinguished your Victories. With the manuscript of the report on the address is an engrossed copy endorsed by Charles Thomson: "The Speech to Gen. Washington August 26th, 1783." This is presumably the official copy which President Boudinot used. Under the endorsement on the back of the report 1 Journal, August 26th. A draft of this reply, containing Washington's auto- graph corrections, is among his letters, Series A, Vol. 7, p. 121. WASHINGTON IS CALLED TO PRINCETON III is an autograph note by Boudinot, to the effect that: " There should not any Copy of this be given out to any Person whatever untill it is executed. E.B." Follow- ing the engrossed address is a copy of Washington's reply in a clerk's hand, and endorsed by Thomson: "General Washington's reply to the speech delivered to him by the President of Congress August 26th, I783-" 1 The simple ceremony was over ; but its very simplicity had stamped it with striking dignity. Stripped as the occasion was of all that was merely external it had drawn its impressiveness solely from the genuineness of the motives that gave it being, and from the poise that con- trolled its proceedings. Whether later in the day there was a banquet in Wash- ington's honor cannot be ascertained ; no hint of it has been found, and yet it is difficult to believe that so patent an opportunity was neglected by men whose social pro- clivities were their leading common trait. Charles Thomson lost no time in carrying out his orders relative to the proposed statue. Washington was scarcely settled at " Rockingham " when he received a communi- cation from the energetic Secretary : PRINCETON August 28*.. 1783 Sir I have the pleasure of enclosing an Act of Congress for erecting an equestrian Statue in honor of your Excel- lency The Bearer, M r Wright, is recommended to me as an Artist skilled in taking Busts, & As I am anxious to execute in the best manner the part assigned to me in this agreeable business, I take the liberty of introducing him to you and requesting the favour of your Excellency to admit him to try his talents. I must also beg the favour of your assistance in giving the fittest description a Pap. Cont. Cong., 19, Vol. 6, pp. 445, 449, 453 and Letters to Washington, 64, folio 27. 112 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON of the events which are to be the subject of the basso relievo With the greatest esteem & respect I have the honor to be Your Excellency's most obed*. & most humble Serv*. CHA S THOMSON. 1 1 Letters to Washington, 64, p. 116. Joseph Wright, a pupil of Benjamin West, carried a letter of introduction from Franklin. He was the son of Patience Wright, who had reputation as a wax modeler, and from whom he had derived his skill " in taking Busts." At Rocky Hill he made a plaster mask of Washington, but had hardly taken it off the General's face when he clumsily let it fall. Washington refused to submit to the ordeal again at his hand. According to Dunlap, Wright, however, made portraits of both General and Mrs. Washington, and we know that subsequently he completed a bust of the former, for in January, 1785, at the suggestion of Thomson, he sent in his bill of fifty guineas (Pap. Cont. Cong., 19, Vol. 6, p. 479). Two months later he wrote to Thomson asking what he should do with the bust (ibid., p. 475), and on April 1st Thomson reported to Congress that the bust was finished and that he would have transmitted it to the United States Minister at Versailles if any measure for defraying the expense had been taken. He asked that a committee be appointed to devise ways and means for settling the account and transporting the bust to Europe. The matter was referred to Messrs. John- son, Bedford and Howell (ibid., p. 473), whose report was adopted on April 6th, resolving that the President of Congress, Richard Henry Lee, draw on the Treasury of the United States in favor of Wright for 233^ dollars, being the amount charged, and Thomson was ordered to have the bust brought to Trenton where Congress was sitting, and to await further orders. It is perhaps unnecessary at this late date to add that the equestrian statue was never completed. CHAPTER VII PRINCETON IN 1783 IT seems to have been taken for granted that no busi- ness of any great importance would be transacted at Princeton until the residence question was settled. Nevertheless as this was not to come up until October, it was expected that in the meantime the Definitive Treaty would arrive, and it was hoped that in any case some progress might be made with the peace establish- ment. The delay in the coming of the treaty, although the betting in London had been 7 to 4 that it would be signed before the middle of August, 1 the uncertainty as to what should be done in the interim, the lingering of the British troops in New York, the wide divergence of opinion on almost every question of policy, the thin atten- dance of representatives, and above all the lack of genuine leaders such as had directed national affairs during the war, saturated Congressional proceedings with a spirit of hesitancy that degenerated, before the summer passed, into what might almost be called indolence. Ezra L'Hommedieu noticed this on his arrival in August to take his seat as a representative from New York. ' ' Con- gress," said he to Governor Clinton, "do not seem at present to be hurried with Business." 2 Two months later James McHenry alluded with mock deference to the "creeping politics" of his associates; 5 and Col. Theo- doric Bland wrote on August i3th to General Weedon that there was little being done of interest or of stirring 1 New York Royal Gazette, September 1 3th, 1783. 2 Clinton MS5. No. 5157, August I5th. 'Hamilton, Vol. I, p. 411. 8 113 114 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON nature. 1 The letters of Madison and Washington, to name only two of the more alert observers on the ground, also echo this thought. As a matter of fact, the midsummer months were loi- tered away in rural surroundings which had their com- pensations even if they lacked metropolitan comforts and public business suffered. It may not be out of place then before passing on to the really important doings of the autumn to picture to ourselves the Jersey village that Congress had made its temporary home. The summer of 1783 was excessively hot, and in Phila- delphia at least there was much sickness, but the health- fulness of Princeton was a point on which everyone agreed, whatever his political tenets may have been. Judge David Howell, who was representing Rhode Island, says in a letter of August 24th to Moses Brown that, while suffocating heat and numerous deaths were taking place in Philadelphia, "a salutary free air and general healthfulness " prevailed in Princeton. Some of the Southern members, he declares, were so enamored of the place that they were contemplating the purchase of property. It was even called the Montpelier of America. 2 Its proximity to New York and Philadelphia a leisurely day's ride by the stage or half a day if one were in a hurry, coupled with its pleasantness of situation tended to increase the popularity and importance which it had so suddenly acquired. Never had a village of seventy- five houses, for this was the size of Princeton at that time, been such a Mecca for prominent men, distinguished strangers, and prospective public beneficiaries. As Washington remarked, it was thronged with visitors "from different parts of the Globe, some to trade, some J T. Balch, Papers relating to the Maryland Line, Phila. (1857), p. 21 1. 2 R. I. Hist. Soc. Moses Brown Papers, Vol. 4, Doc. No. 1053, p. 55. For a copy of this letter I am indebted to the courtesy of Mr. Clarence S. Brigham, Librarian of the Society. PRINCETON IN 1783 1 15 for amusement, and some, I presume, to spy the land." 1 They ranged from his own former housekeeper, Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson, 2 a sweet old lady of eighty, to for- eigners of rank like the Count Del Verm6, a nobleman from Milan whose purpose was " to make a Tour through the united States, and to see the principle Men of each State," * and who incidentally borrowed fifty guineas from General Washington. The Count de Wengierski, a Polish nobleman, accompanied by an Englishman named Vernon, came to spend some days at Princeton, bearing letters of introduction from Clement Biddle, of Philadel- phia, and the Marquis de la Luzerne. 4 An English pro- moter, Arthur Noble, who was nursing a scheme for bringing over from Ireland several families of immigrants, was directed to Princeton by Robert Morris, in order to get Washington's opinion as to the best locality wherein to settle. 5 Thomas Paine, on Washington's advice and invitation, came on from Bordentown so that his presence might at least remind Congress of his past services, inas- much as he felt too modest to push more noisily his claims for consideration. 6 J To Rochambeau, October I5th. 2 Mrs. Thompson had resigned her position on account of age. Washington wished her to give him an account to settle, but she gently refused, saying that she had received .179-6-8 for her services, which she considered ample with the many kindnesses he had shown to her. She went back to New York, but found all her property destroyed by the enemy, and before long she became penniless, as well as homeless. Washington then begged her to come to Mt. Vernon to live under his care, but she replied that she was too old and infirm to undertake the journey. In February 1785 she applied to Congress for aid, pathetically adding that she would not long be a public burden, and a pension of jpioo a year was without delay granted to her. Pap. Cont. Cong., 19, Vol. 6, p. 37 ; 78, Vol. 22, p. 297. 8 Boudinot to Washington. Letters to Washington, 63, folio 307 and Boudinot, Vol. I, p. 342. 4 Letters to Washington, 64, folios 249 and 251. 5 Ibid., folio 297. 6 Letters to Washington P, Vol. 3, No. 512, and Letters to Washington, 64, folio 193. Il6 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON Discharged soldiers, with memorials of one sort or another, straggled into the village and spent their spare time at the taverns swapping stories of their hardships and their valor. Generals like Armand, Marquis de la Rouerie, 1 and Du Portail, came to urge special compen- sation for the corps they commanded, and private indi- viduals like Stephen Moore, who owned the land and timber used in the barracks and fortifications at West Point, spent weeks at Princeton before they contrived to get their due. 2 Young artists like Joseph Wright and William Dunlap came seeking fame and fortune, and hob- nobbed with the clerks of Congress, who themselves struck for higher wages while at Princeton in order to keep pace with the increased demands on their slender wallets. One of the marked characters in the village during the summer must have been an inventor named James McMechen who tried to interest Congress in his wonderful discovery ' ' for facilitating the Navigation of these long and Tedious fresh water Rivers to the west- ward of the alighany mountains." In return for a few thousand acres of land in the West, he proposed to build at government expense a new kind of boat of 20 tons bur- den which by certain mechanical contrivances " to be wrought at no greater expence than that of five men & a Boy " would sail 500 miles down the Ohio with its 20 tons and return upstream with a 5 ton load in the incred- ible time of 1 20 hours or 10 working days " extraordi- nary occurrences & accidents excepted." A convenient pigeon-hole for his petition was found by Messrs. Wil- liamson, McComb and Arnold. 3 But not even this decent burial was the fate of the petition of a Frenchman named 1 See Letters to Washington, 64, folio 219. 8 For Moore's case see Pap. Cont. Cong., 78, Vol. 1 6, pp. 375, 389 and Jour- nal for September 25th. 3 Pap. Cont. Cong., 78, Vol. 16, p. 359, 363. PRINCETON IN 1783 1 17 Collignon, who wished Congress to purchase a copy of his book entitled: " D6couverte d'Etalons justes naturels et invariables, et de la reduction a une parfaite uniformit6 de tous les poids, mesures et pieds des posses- sions de Leurs hautes Puissances, les Etats unis d'Am6r- ique, par des moyens simples avantageux a tout le monde, et faciles a ex6cuter." The practice of the principles expounded in this masterpiece would, according to its author, yield to the United States three millions of livres steady annual revenue, while the first year of its opera- tion would net not less than nine millions, no small matter to a poverty-stricken young republic. But his book was too good to be true, and his offer met with chilling inac- tion. Nothing was done with it. 1 Captain John Paul Jones was another notable visitor. He came to interest Congress in the claims of the American seamen of the Bonhomme Richard, and in the prizes which Denmark had taken from him and had returned to Great Britain. He will appear again in these pages. Governmental officials were necessarily frequent visi- tors. Whenever Robert Morris came to Princeton he was urged by Washington to make his headquarters at Rocky Hill, with invitations of which the following paragraph from a letter of September 3d may be taken as a type : " Mrs. Washington and myself heard with much pleas- ure from Major Jackson, that you & Mrs. Morris had in contemplation a visit to Prince Town, & we join very sincerely in offering you a Bed at our Quarters. The inconvenience of accepting it, can only be to yourselves, as the room is not so commodious as we could wish ; but, in the crowded situation of this place is equal perhaps to any you could get, & none would be happier in having you under their roof." 2 1 Pap. Cont. Cong., 78, Vol. 6, p. 199. 2 Letters to Washington, P., Vol. 3. The acceptance of this invitation is dated the 5th and is in Letters to Washington, 64, folio 143. When Washington heard Il8 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON Of the unofficial side of Congressional life not much has been preserved in the documents, and a contemporary gossipy epistle from Judge Benjamin Huntington to his wife is therefore all the more welcome. Its realism, its humor and its raciness are sufficient excuse for its reprint here, 3 nor is its value lessened because it gives us in pass- ing a hint of local fashions in feminine dress. PRINCETON Septr 8th 1783 Dear Mrs Huntington Since my last Nothing Material has hapned a Dutch Minister is Dayly Expected to arrive in Philadelphia and it was Rumoured that Some of his furniture was arrived last Week This must be a Wonderful great Affair and what Congress can Do with this Great Personage in Princeton is more than Humane Wisdom can Divise for there are not Buildings Sufficient to House more Dons nor Indeed as many as are Already here Some are under Necessity to Go to Philadelphia once or Twice a fort- night to Breath in Polite Air The Country so badly agrees with those Sublime & Delicate Constitutions that it is to be feared that many of them will Contract a Rusticity that Can never be wholly Purged off We have nothing here but the Necessaries and Comforts of Life and who can live so? The Agreeables of the City can- in October that Morris and his wife were coming to the audience given by Con- gress to Van Berckel, the Dutch Minister, he wrote ' ' I pray you to be assured that you can make no Family more happy, than you would do mine, by lodging under their roof and that nothing in my power shall be wanting, to make M rf Morris's time pass as agreeably as possible, in a Batchelor's Hall." Mrs. Wash- ington had left Princeton in the first week of October. She had derived no bene- fit from her residence in New Jersey ; indeed, Washington says that she and most of his body guard and servants had been very unwell ever since coming to Rocky Hill. Alexander Garden in his " Anecdotes " tells how Washington, seeing Mrs. Washington off on her journey to Mount Vernon, accompanied her as far as Trenton and there met General Nathanael Greene returning from his Southern campaign. General Greene reported to Congress at Princeton on October 7th that he had just arrived. Garden then proceeds to describe for his readers an interesting dinner at President Boudinot's which Washington and Greene attended the day of the latter' s arrival at Princeton. 3 Huntington letters, ed. by W. D. McCracken, N. Y., 1897, p. 57. PRINCETON IN 1783 119 not be had in the Country I expect no Business of Im- portance will be Done untill Congress Returns to that Sweet Paridice from which they hastily took Flight in June last Since which Time an Awkward Rustication has been their Painful Situation on an Eminence in the Country where they have no Mosquitoes to Serenade them in bed and in the Day they have a Prospect of no more than 30 or 40 Miles to the High Lands on the Sea Coast nor can they hear the musick of Carts and Waggons on the Pavements in the City nor See the motly Crowd of Beings in those Streets. This must be Truely Distres- sing to Gentlemen of Taste The Ladies make less Com- plaint than the Gentlemen and the Gentlemen who have their Ladies here seem in some degree Contented. The President of Congress who Belongs in the Jersy is obliged to leave his Lady in Philadelphia to keep Possession but has the Promise of a very Genteel House here if he will take it but not Knowing whether Congress will abide in Princetown or not, he is at the utmost Loss what to Do, whether it is best for him and his wife to live together as Peasants do in the Country or for her to be at Philada as the Ladies do, and for him to Live as a Gentleman Doing Business in the Country in hopes of Retiring to the Pleasures and amusements of the City when Business is over this Matter Requiring Great Deliberation Cannot (like the Emigration of Congress in June last) be hastily Determined Thus you See we Great Folks are not without Trouble. I hope to become a small man in a few Weeks and Retire from the Embarrassments of Dig- nity to the Plain & Peaceful Possessions of a Private Life not Desiring to Live without Business but to do useful Business without ye Pangs & Vanity of this Wicked World All I have Wrote is not what I Designed when I began & Consequently have not yet advanced one Step toward any Design and having nothing to Write About am at a Great Loss what to Write because it Requires more Strength of Genius to Build on Hansom Fabrick without Materials than with I am Spending Money very fast but not so fast as I Could with the Same Degree of Industery in Philadelphia & it is a Mortifying Consider- 120 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON ation that my Cash is Spent for no better Purposes, but the Great and General Concerns of a Nation must (be) attended to and the Fashions & Customs of the World are Such as Require it to be Done with Expence A new Fashion is among the Ladies here which is the Same as at Philada The Roll is much less than formerly and is Raised to a peak on their Forehead Frowzled and Powdered and they wear Men's Beaver Hats with a Large Tye of Gauze like a Sash or Mourning Wead about the Crown & Decorated with Feathers & Plumes on the Top which makes a very Daring Appearance The Brim of the Hat is Loped before about as low as their Eyes and is a Kind of Riding Hat They Walk Abroad and Sit in Church in the Same. Some have them in the Same Figure made of Paper and Covered with Silk with Deep Crowns as a Beaver Hat but as this is much out of the Line of Business I was sent here to do I have not been very Particular in the Subject I might also men- tion the Waistcoat and Long Sleaves much like the Rid- ing habits our Ladies wore Twenty five years ago but as they Differ some from them & having no Right to be very Much in Observation upon the Ladies I am not able to say Much on the Subject Give my love in Particular to Every Child in our Family & Regards to Friends & Neighbors I am Dear Spouse your Most Affectionate BENJ HUNTINGTON Mrs Anne Huntington From advertisements in contemporary newspapers and from the daily accounts of President Elias Boudinot and the receipt book wherein Col. George Morgan recorded the payments he made, it is possible to get some idea of economic conditions prevailing at Princeton during the summer of 1783. The leading general merchant in the place was Thomas Stockton, and it is from the bills which he sent to Mr. Boudinot that we get most of our infor- mation of the contemporary cost of living. At Enos Kelsey's could be procured the latest European and West PRINCETON IN 1783 121 Indian fancy goods and haberdashery ; l and when one stepped into John Harrison's to leave a letter for the post- rider to carry to New York or Philadelphia a choice line of American and foreign cloths, silks, velvets and cali- mancoes were awaiting inspection, 2 for, besides being postmaster, Mr. Harrison was a dealer in clothing ma- terials. The harness maker of the village was Noah Morford. He charged Colonel Morgan four pounds seventeen shillings and sixpence for a saddle with " Cir- cingle, etc.," and two shillings for a pair of bridle reins. Stephen Morford, his kinsman, a major in the Revolu- tionary war, had laid aside the sword to take up the scales in a grocery store. The village shoemaker was John Huff to whom one day that summer Colonel Morgan supplied the leather for 6 pairs of shoes and recorded payment for the work done as follows : 3 2 pair for self at 4/- 2 pair for Servant Maid 4/ One pair for Nancy Morgan 3/6 i pair for Negro Boy Peter 3/- Daniel Van Voorhis, a Philadelphia goldsmith, had come to Princeton that spring and had opened a store a short distance east of the college, and was carrying on his business in all its branches. In the New Jersey Gazette 4 his advertisement informs the public that his work is done with dispatch and in the neatest manner, the newest fashions and on the most reasonable terms, inasmuch as he is able to execute orders at a lower price at Princeton than it could be done at Philadelphia. At his store were to be found the largest and latest variety of gold and sil- 1 New Jersey Gazette, December loth, 1782. Kelsey had been a major in the army, then deputy quartermaster and deputy commissary. *New Je rsey Gazette, February 5th, 1783. 3 Col. Morgan's Receipt Book, Library of Princeton University. A shilling was worth very nearly 1 8 cents of our money. 4 February 5th, 1783. 122 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON ver knee or shoe buckles ; his scissor-chains were of the newest patterns, his gold beads and chains, his spoons and punch-strainers and his soup ladles were all above reproach. The Harneds, William and Josiah, were the tailors whose names most frequently appear in Colonel Morgan's receipt book that summer, although one Jared Sexton made for twenty-six shillings a suit of clothes for Thomas Hutchins, an undergraduate living with the Colonel, and for fifteen shillings and fourpence turned a coat and trimmings for George White-Eyes, one of the three Delaware Indian youths being educated at Princeton by the government under Colonel Morgan's guardianship. From the same source we learn that John Runyan sheared the Colonel's sheep at three pence a head, while James Finley did the weaving and Francis Gasper charged for fulling & raising 26 yds blanketing at ? d 15 "o fulling, dying & raising 8 Y" 1 * Cloth @ 15* io"o For a new building which Colonel Morgan was erecting a carpenter named Philip Hartman supplied one hundred and ten sash lights at seven pence each ; and when the advent of summer boarders compelled the Colonel to increase his sleeping accommodations Christopher Doughty made two bedsteads for him at six shillings apiece. For general work around the farm at ' ' Prospect " John Woodman received eight dollars, or one pound, two shillings and six pence per month of twenty-six working days with extras for special jobs. The expenses of the President's Household were not lessened by the change of residence from Philadelphia to Princeton. During the last days of June and the whole of July and August two Households were maintained ; and toward the end of the summer when the Philadel- phia establishment was virtually closed, the increased de- mands on presidential hospitality at Princeton effectively prevented any decrease in expenses. PRINCETON IN 1783 123 It cost President Boudinot 50 to move to Princeton, but this amount undoubtedly included the cartage of the six wagon loads of documents that accompanied Congress to its new home. It did not however include the expenses of the overworked clerks of Congress who spent three days attending to the transportation ; they memorialized their superiors later in the autumn for reimbursement. The transportation item ran the total expenditure of the Philadelphia Household for June, 1783, up to 152 us. i id. In July this total was only 48 175. 6d., while in August it fell to 28 i6s. 8d. In March, April and May the totals had been 206, 191, 195 respectively. The expenses of the Princeton Household alone concern us here, and from the sheets which Mr. Boudinot endorsed as " Rough copies of Tho Stockton's Acc to " is obtainable the itemized cost of food supplies for June, July and four days of August. 1 Elsewhere among the same papers are summarized Mr. Stockton's bills for the rest of August, all of September and eleven days of October. For the month August 3d to September 2d his bill was 43 6s. iod., for September 3d to October 4th 46 i8s. 5d., and for October 5th to October nth, when the account closes, it amounted to 21 95. 2d. But as Stockton's ac- count includes neither rental, service nor incidentals the total expense was probably not less than it had been at Philadelphia with one household. For September, October and the first ten days of November, i. e., for the period when Washington and other visitors, as well as the President's entire family, were at Princeton, and in- cluding the entertainment of the Dutch Minister at the President's house in Philadelphia, and the five hilarious days of His Excellency's stay in Princeton, the Princeton and Philadelphia accounts, excepting Mr, Stockton's statement above mentioned, seem to have been combined, 1 See Appendix I. 124 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON and the entire expenditure for that period, ending No- vember loth, when Mr. Boudinot's account with the steward of the President's Household was brought to a close, amounted to 489 175. 6d., or roughly 210 per month. If it had not been for the increase of social entertain- ment which went far to make village life bearable to the oppidans of Congress, the cost of living at Princeton would probably have been lessened. For, examining the President's accounts more closely we find that the veal which Mrs. Boudinot ate in Philadelphia cost eight pence per pound while the veal her husband bought in Prince- ton on the same date cost half that price. Beef bought by Mrs. Boudinot in July cost ten to fourteen pence a pound while the beef the President of Congress served to his guests at the banquet on the Fourth was charged at eight pence. At Princeton eggs were a shilling a score, while at Philadelphia they were a penny each. The President's butter cost him a shilling a pound while his wife at Philadelphia had to pay half a crown for the same quantity. At Princeton a side of lamb was worth seven shillings, a tongue two ; chickens were nine pence apiece; lump sugar cost a shilling and three pence a pound. For six shillings one could buy a bushel of beans and for three or four shillings a peck of peas. Limes were in great demand at the President's table and he paid fifteen shillings a hundred for them, while the pineapples he had occasion to use cost him two shillings and six pence each. The wine he usually drank was priced at eight shillings per gallon. A bushel of potatoes brought twenty-four shillings, a bushel of beets fifteen ; cucum- bers were three pence each and onions four pence half- penny a bunch. Seven ducks cost five shillings and ten pence, or ten pence each ; fish was priced at five shillings a pound and clams at eighteen pence a hundred. Tal- PRINCETON IN 1783 12$ low for the candles in his chandeliers was bought at the rate of eighteen pence a pound, boiling soap two pence more. A scrubbing brush was valued at three shillings and six pence, a sweeping brush at four and a half and a " large scrubbing brush " at five. The clay pipes smoked by Mr. Boudinot cost two pence apiece while the cigars he offered to his friends were procurable at less than one penny each. Flour seems to have been cheaper at Philadelphia than at Princeton for Mr. Boudinot bought his chief supply there. What he purchased in the village cost him twenty-three shillings a hundred- weight. He paid five pounds a ton for the hay he gave his private horses ; what he paid for the forty bushels of oats he fed them is not recorded. Leaving these basal concepts of domestic living, let us go higher in the social structure. It was in the nature of things the country over, at this period, that the taverns should be the centers of daily life, and the transient conditions prevailing in Princeton during the summer of 1783 made this general fact locally only more true. Twenty years before, the King's highway be- tween Philadelphia and New York was admittedly "one of the most public roads in the country"; 1 and, as the seat of the College of New Jersey was the halfway stop for every stage-line on that thoroughfare, it natur- ally resulted that there were no better known taverns on the road than those at Princeton. The sign of "New Jersey College " had not swung to every passing breeze for over sixteen years without acquiring more than a local reputation. 2 Under the cheery management of Christo- pher Beekman this tavern had become probably the most 1 Pennsylvania Gazette, December Ifth, 1763. 2 See advertisement of William Hick in Pennsylvania Chronicle, August icth, 1 767, that he has taken the tavern of Princeton ' ' nearly opposite to, and at the sign of, the New Jersey College." It is now the Nassau Inn. 126 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON popular resort in Princeton. It was here that the Fourth of July was usually kept in approved and bibulous man- ner ; l here the all-day celebration of CornwalhV surrender had taken place on October 22d, 1781 ; 2 and here the local Revolutionary patriots had been wont to meet in committee. 3 Colonel Jacob Hyer's tavern " Hudibras Inn " on the south side of the street was as well known and perhaps older. Colonel Hyer had long been a resi- dent of Princeton. Before 1768 he had kept the " King's Arm Tavern " and in that year had moved into the "com- modious Inn long known by the name of Hudibras." 4 During the war he had been a quartermaster at Princeton, then a lieutenant colonel and finally colonel of the Third Middlesex Militia. John Adams had spent a Sunday at his tavern in 1774* and the court martial of Lieutenant Colonel Fisher took place in his main room. 6 Under the Sign of the College and also at Hudibras Inn had occurred on April igih, 1783, the celebration of the peace pre- liminaries. 7 A third tavern was managed by Jacob Ber- gen who had a contract with one of the stage-coach lines and whose establishment was nearly opposite the college. The name of his tavern has not come down to us ; it is generally referred to as " Jacob Bergen's." 8 The scene on the main street was ever changing. On Wednesday and Friday mornings before the sun was fairly up things were astir at Bergen's tavern, and pas- 1 See New Jersey Gazette, July llth, 1781. *See New Jersey Gazette, October 3ist, 1781. s See New Jersey Gazette, August 7th, 1782. 4 New York Gazette, June 2Oth, 1768. The issue for May l6th, 1765, adver- tises the sale by Geo. Campbell of his "noted and well accustomed tavern the Hudebras at Prince-Town." 5 See his Life and Works, Vol. 2, p. 355. 8 New Jersey Gazette, March 28th, 1781. 7 New Jersey Gazette, April 23d, 1783. 8 E. g., New Jersey Gazette, November loth, 1779, notice of a meeting at this tavern relative to local quartermaster. The building has preserved its original external appearance but it is now occupied by a store. PRINCETON IN 1783 127 sengers for Elizabeth and Philadelphia were roused to take their seats in the "New Waggons" run by Aaron Longstreet and Joseph Smith representing the Philadel- phia end, John Nicholson and a Mr. Hudson managing in Princeton. 1 Those going east got breakfast at the "Indian Queen" in New Brunswick, dined at Elizabeth and so to New York that evening, "boats being always in readiness." Those going west breakfasted at the "French Arms," Trenton, another ordinary owned by Bergen, dined at the " Cross Keys," Bristol, and alighted at the "Indian King "on Market Street, Philadelphia, late in the afternoon. On Tuesdays and Fridays as the eight o'clock breakfast bell was ringing in the college belfry the undergraduates had already been to prayers and had indulged in an hour's study besides 2 Johnson and Drake's coach which had left Elizabeth the afternoon before and had spent the night at New Brunswick would provided the roads had been in good condition come whirling up to Bergen's with its hungry, sleepy load. The through trip on this coach cost each passenger forty shillings in gold or silver. After they had eaten break- fast and had disappeared down the turnpike to Trenton, ^Pennsylvania Gazette, June nth, 1783. The price per passenger or for each 150 Ibs. of freight or baggage was $2 to Princeton either way. 2 We get a glimpse of Princeton undergraduate life at this period from a letter of Samuel Beach, a member of the class of 1783. His letter was written in the following January when he had become a tutor. " I rise in the morning at 5 or at half after 5 o'clock and attend prayers in the hall. From that time until 8, I study to prepare for having a recitation. At 8 we breakfast, and from 8 till 9 some walk and idle about, but I generally sit down to study. At 9 o'clock I attend the recitation of the Junior class which generally employs me an hour and a half, and sometimes two hours. From eleven till one, I am preparing to hear the afternoon recitation. At one o'clock we dine, and after dinner we generally walk and divert ourselves untill 2. Then I attend the recitation of the Sophomore class untill 4 but this only every other day. After which I study untill 5 then go to prayers. After prayers we divert ourselves according to our several inclinations until 6 o'clock We sup at six. After six, all must be in their rooms at their studies I go to bed at 1 1, sometimes at twelve. Besides this I have to visit all the rooms in my entry three times a day, that is in the forenoon afternoon and in the evening and likewise hear a private recita- tion. Thus almost or indeed I may say quite all my time is employed." (Prince- ton Collection, Library of Princeton University. ) 128 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON their next stop, the street became busy with village housewives striking bargains with noisy hucksters who sold the fresh fish and the fruit that tickled Congressional palates and made undergraduate mouths water. At noon a bustle was occasioned by the arrival of coaches from east and west. From Philadelphia on Tues- days and Fridays came Johnson and Drake's conveyances. On Tuesdays and Thursdays from Elizabeth came Charles Bessonnett and Gershon Johnston's popular " New York Flying Machine," while from the opposite direction ap peared its mate which had left the " Bunch of Grapes" on Third Street between Market and Arch in Philadel- phia at 4 a. m. 1 This company boasted that it not only made the distance between Elizabeth and Philadelphia in one day, but by the admirable connections enjoyed with other lines rendered it now possible for a traveller to make the trip from Elizabeth, N. J., to Alexandria, Va., in only four days, a distance of 240 miles. Ichabod Grumman, Jr. and John Mercereau owned a line that also made the Elizabeth-Philadelphia trip in one day. Their coaches ran Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and met to exchange passengers at Princeton, where dinner was also taken. A cheaper vehicle made the same trip Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Mondays, Wednes- days and Fridays the trip was made by a "Waggon" run by Bessonnett. 2 The meeting of these rival vehicles usually happened about the Congressional dinner hour, 1 Pennsylvania Gazette, June 1 8th, 1783. 2 The price for the through trip in the coaches was thirty-five shillings or six dollars an inside seat, and four for an outside. In Bessonnett' s Waggon the price was one guinea a seat. Each passenger was allowed 14 pounds of baggage under his seat ; but every 150 pounds of extra baggage was charged at one guinea more and fractions proportionately. When Miss Mary Boudinot, daughter of the presi- dent, went to Philadelphia on September 8th and returned on the igth she occu- pied an inside seat for which she paid 12 shillings and 6 pence each way. The fare from Princeton to New York for an inside seat must therefore have been 22 shillings and 6 pence. PRINCETON IN 1783 129 and made the village street a lively thoroughfare for the few minutes preceding the welcome ringing of dinner bell. A little later, when the meal was over, when the last tankard had been drained, the last piece of news told and the refreshed passengers had exchanged coaches and gone their respective ways, and Congress- men had turned with reluctant feet back to Nassau Hall, there fell over the village the slumberous quietude of the long summer afternoon, only to be broken by the clatter of hoofs as some distinguished soldier with his aide rode up to the " Sign of the College " and tossing his reins to the beaming Christopher called for a flagon of ale before he went on to Rocky Hill to see Washington or strode across the street to look up President Boudinot in Nassau Hall. At sundown on Tuesdays and Thursdays the passen- gers of Aaron Longstreet's " New Waggon " running be- tween Philadelphia and Elizabeth, arrived for supper and a night's lodging 1 and brought their share of fresh news for the evening's conversation. Once a week gaiety of another sort was added to local life by a French dancing master named D'Orssiere who came from Philadelphia to hold a class in one of the tav- erns. He advertised that while he taught " all sorts of Dances the most in Fashion " he would instruct his pupils chiefly in "the graces and manners." 2 The undergrad- uates of the college seized the opportunity to become better acquainted with the village belles, and presum- ably enjoyed themselves hugely until the trustees passed a resolution forbidding their attendance. 3 1 Pennsylvania Gazette, June nth, 1783. *New Jersey Gazette, March I2th, 1783. 3 " It being represented, that permitting the students to attend a dancing school in the town is useless to them in point of manners, they being generally past that period of youth in which the manners are formed, & it being represented that their attendance in such school involves them immediately, or by consequence 130 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON The members of Congress saw Princeton society at private dinners and snug little wine parties, and it was then that the courtly ladies of the day shone in their bro- caded glory. So grave and reverend a senior as Oliver Ellsworth carried away recollections that cropped out, some weeks after he had left Congress, in a letter to Mr. Holten. " Pray tell me " says he, " what you are about in Congress . . . also how you come on with the Prince- ton Girls, not to say anything of the Married Women " and he asks that his best respects be given to " Mr. Van Voorhis & Lady & Miss Kitty & our good brother Geary & Messrs Ellery & Hoel & all other Conquering Friends." 1 For those who, like Madison, cared less for the pleas- ures of conviviality and social life it was but a few minutes ride out to " Tusculum," a mile away, where hearty wel- come and sober conversation were always to be found with Dr. John Witherspoon ; and it can be no venturesome guess to say that the young Virginian and his more thoughtful colleagues spent many an evening on the Tusculum porch looking across the valley at the lights of the village with the college belfry rising over the trees, while in his deep voice and blunt manner the Doctor discoursed on the com- plications and decadence of present politics, and dis- cussed plans for the future. Washington had not been long at Rocky Hill before he discovered that an expert cook was an absolute necessity, and he requested Daniel Parker of New York to get Mr. Fraunces, the well-known tavern keeper, to send him one in considerable expences, to the injury & ill report of the college, & it being held in a tavern, & often late at night, circumstances unfriendly to the order of good government of the institution it was unanimously resolved, that from henceforth the students shall not be permitted to attend a dancing school, during the sessions of the college, under any pretense whatever." (Minutes of Trustees, September 26th, 1783.) 1 Emmet Collection, Lenox Library, No. 601. PRINCETON IN 1783 131 immediately Mrs. Thompson, his former housekeeper, could assist in the selection he wanted a person who had understanding in the matter, a German preferred, one who could order as well as get a dinner and who could make dishes and proportion them properly for any com- pany up to the number of thirty. If he could get such a cook well recommended for honesty, sobriety and good temper, he would deem himself fortunate. 1 The Commander in Chief, with his aides and trooper escort, soon became a familiar figure in the neighborhood. Picturesque glimpses of him like that so enthusiastically recorded by William Dunlap, 2 the artist, could not have been exceptional. When he was not riding for exercise and pleasure he was coming in to Princeton to attend some consultation such as the one to which Samuel Huntington invited him the day before the college Commencement. PRINCETON Septem* 22* 1783 Sir A committee to whom the copy of Gen 1 , du Portail's letter of the i6 th Inst* address* 1 to your Excellency; is refer 4 : desire conference with you upon the Subject of that letter. If you will please to name a time most agreeable to you, the Committee will be happy to wait upon you in the Congress Chamber. Should half past nine in the morning suit with your engagements, give me leave to request the honour of your company to breakfast at my lodgings in the morn- ing of the Same day previous to the conference. I have the Honour To be with perfect respect your humble ; Serv* SAM L HUNTINGTON' Gen 1 Washington. 1 Letters of Washington, P, Vol. 3, September i8th, 1783. 2 History of the Arts of Design in the United States, Vol. I, p. 252. 3 Letters to Washington, 64, p. 200. 132 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON If hospitality was lavish at " Rockingham," and William Dunlap who spent some time at Rocky Hill leads us to believe that it was, 1 there is no reason to doubt that "Morven" was equally a social rendezvous. Around Mrs. Annis Stockton, one of the most gracious hostesses in the State, society at Princeton centered ; and the fact that the British had pillaged " Morven " and slashed the portrait of Richard the Signer across the throat had only added to the interest of the mansion and the honor of the family. Mrs. Stockton had long been a warm friend of General Washington, and her pleasure at his coming to Princeton was expressed in verse, an accomplishment in which she had more than average skill and which she frequently exhibited. Among Washington's papers there is a manuscript 2 endorsed in the General's handwriting From M. Stockton I st Sep. 1783. The manuscript itself is in the characteristic script of the mistress of " Morven" and begins with this unsigned note: Once more pardon the Effusions of Gratitude and Esteem, or Command the Muse no more to trouble you, for she Can not be restrain'd Even by timidity. after which follow these verses : MORVEN AUGUST THE 26. With all thy Countries Blessings on thy head And all the glory that Encircles Man, Thy martial fame to distant nations spread And realms unblesst by freedoms genial plan 1 Dunlap, Vol. I, p. 254. *Pap. Cont. Cong., 64, p. 125. Five stanzas of the poem have been printed with different date in Boudinot, Vol. I, p. 29. PRINCETON IN 1783 133 * x*-e *+. **.*.- MRS. RICHARD STOCKTON'S VERSES TO GENERAL WASHINGTON. Address'd by Statemen Legislatures kings Rever'd by thousands as you pass along While Every Muse with ardour spreads her wings To greet our Heroe in immortal Song : Say ; can a female voice an audience gain ? And Stop a moment thy triumphal Car And wilt thou listen to a peaceful Strain? Unskill'd to paint the horrid Scenes of war 134 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON Tho oft the muse with rapture heard thy name And placed thee foremost on the Sacred Scroll With patriots who had gain'd Eeternal fame By wonderous deeds that penetrate the soul Yet what is glory what are martial deeds Unpurified at Virtues awful Shrine And oft remorse a glorious day Succeeds The Motive only Stamps the deed devine But thy last legacy renowned Chief Has deck'd thy brow with honours more Sublime Twin'd in thy wreath the Christian's firm belief And nobly own'd thy faith to future time Thus crown'd return to Vernon's soft retreat There with Amanda taste unmixed joy May flowers Spontaneous rise beneath your feet Nor Sorrow Ever pour her hard alloy May nature paint those blissful walks more gay And rural graces haunt the peaceful grove May angels gaurd you in your lonely way And prompt the path to brighter Scenes above And oh if happly in your native Shade One thought of jersey Enters in your mind Forget not her on Morvens humble glade Who feels for you a friendship most refin'd EMELIA. These lines, and the accompanying apologetic letter which does not appear to have been preserved by Wash- ington, drew from him his well-known bantering reply of September 2d l beginning: You apply to me, my dear Madam, for absolution as tho' I was your father Confessor; and as tho' you had committed a crime, great in itself, yet of the venial class 1 Boudinot, Vol. I , p. 30, dates this letter September 24th, evidently a mis- print. The authority for the earlier date is Washington's autograph draft in Let- ters of Washington, P, Vol. 3, No. 510. Moreover the poem was not written on the announcement of peace as Miss Boudinot states, but on the occasion of Wash- ington's arrival at Princeton. PRINCETON IN 1783 135 You had reason good for I find myself strangely disposed to be a very indulgent ghostly Adviser on this occasion ; and, notwithstanding ' you are the most offend- ing Soul alive ' (that is, if it is a crime to write elegant Poetry) yet if you will come and dine with me on Thurs- day, and go thro' the proper course of penetence which shall be prescribed, I will strive hard to assist you in ex- piating these poetical trespasses on this side of purgatory. Another poem * was written by Mrs. Stockton the day before Commencement and sent out to Rocky Hill to Washington, who endorsed it From Mrs. Stockton Poetical Epistle 22d Sep. 1783. The wrapper in which this " epistle " was covered is addressed by Mrs. Stockton, but the poem itself is in another hand. To GEN 1 WASHINGTON, AN EPISTLE Sir-* When infant voices lisp thy honord name, And every heart reverberates thy fame, Oh, charge me not with Fiction in my lays, For heavenly truth stood by and twin'd the bays, Then bid me bind it on my heroes brow And told me fame would every sprig allow With Joy the Sacred mandate I obeyed, And on my Soul rushed the inchanting maid : For not Apollo with his brightest Beam, Nor deeds which Maro sung inspird by him, Could animate my song like such a theme. But Ah she kept far distant from my view That the bright wreath would be disclaim'd by you, I grant that Fiction with her airy train In Ancient times held a despotic reign, When Virgil's heroes, death and ruin hurl'd And ev'ry light depopulates a world ^ap. Cont. Cong., 64, p. 201. 136 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON They traced their lineage from the blest abodes, Nor sprung from men they own'd no Sires but Gods But I the paths of Sober reason tread Have Seen thy actions in the balance weigh'd The universal voice will join with me And Echo what thy country owes to thee O that thy genius would my lays refine, And kindle in my Soul a ray divine Give me to gain the Summit of the hill, And drinking Deep of the Pierian rill Transmit thy virtues with the tide of time, And grave thy name in characters Sublime Some tuneful Homer shall, in future days, Sing thy Exploits in celebrated lays, While my Ambition has no other aim, Than as thy friend to set my humble name. EMELIA. Morven, 22 Sepr. 1783. These are not the only lines the mistress of " Morven" ever wrote to General Washington, nor are they among the best examples of her skill although they fall within our period. Their stilted couplets, however, accord well with the easily conjured picture of her stiff-laced eigh- teenth century figure seated at her high mahogany desk, as she wrote to her dead husband's friend and sprinkled over her linen-rag paper the sand that still glistens on the ink. CHAPTER VIII THE SUMMER'S DEBATES THE appointment of a committee of conference with Washington had opened the way for some discussion of the peace establishment prior to Washington's arrival, but nothing had come of it. With the Commander in Chief safely at Princeton, however, the promoters of the scheme lost no time in pushing it to the front, expecting that his influence would speedily bring about some defi- nite results. The day after Washington's reception by Congress, Colonel Bland, of Virginia, seconded by Mr. Holten, of Massachusetts, moved that on the 2Qth Con- gress resolve itself into a committee of the whole to take into consideration what powers existed in Congress under the Confederation for the formation of a military peace establishment. Rhode Island, in the person of Messrs. Howell and Ellery, promptly moved to amend by insert- ing the words " whether any and " after the word " con- sideration." The amendment was lost by a vote of four States to one, five being divided. This division of States indicates as clearly as anything can the difference of opinion as to the powers in question. Mr. Williamson, of North Carolina, seconded by Mr. Read, of South Caro- lina, then moved the postponement of the main question to propose that on the 2gth Congress go into a committee of the whole " to consider the question of a peace estab- lishment." This motion, too, was lost, only six States voting in its favor, New Jersey being divided. Whether a vote on the main question then followed cannot be determined from the Journal as there is no entry con- cerning the ultimate action. But it is certain that under 138 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON date of the 2gth there is no reference to any discussion of the peace establishment. Instead, we find one of those disappointments of which the Journal is full, the sole entry of that date referring to the ridiculously ungermane matter of lottery tickets in the dead-letter office. Washington had thought that a few days' association with the members of Congress would have acquainted him with their views on the subject, but at the end of his first week at Rocky Hill he admitted to General Howe that he was as much in the dark as ever ; l and on September 3d he told Colonel Pickering that as yet he had had no conference with the committee on the peace establish- ment. 2 Shortly after this, however, he met the members of the committee and received for criticism a copy of Hamilton's report of June i/th; and on the 8th of Sep- tember he sent back a long document entitled, ' ' Obser- vations consequent of a Request of the Committee." 3 This valuable contribution to the literature of the subject the committee presented to Congress on the loth with- out comment, and it was entered and read that day. 4 The Journal neither records this fact nor contains any further entry relating to the peace establishment until late in October. Fitful efforts were made to reach conclusions, and Wash- ington himself wrote to General Du Portail on September 23d asking him to favor the committee with his views of what the artillery and engineering branches of the army should be in times of peace, and the General responded a week later with a carefully worked out statement. 5 Through September and into October the discussion 1 Letters of Washington, B, 1 6, pt. 2, No. 247, August 3 1st. *Ibid., No. 251. This was the committee appointed August 7th. 3 Pap. Cont. Cong., 38, pt. 2, p. 343. *Ibid., p. 353. 5 Letters of Washington, B, 16, pt. 2, No. 262 and Pap. Cont. Cong., 38, p. 355- THE SUMMER'S DEBATES 139 lingered, but under so many discouragements that even the ardor of its advocates was dampened. 1 President ^.**.<*^r- e-t*~-f _ GENERAL WASHINGTON ON THE PEACE ESTABLISHMENT (LAST LEAF). Boudinot subsequently wrote to the American Commis- sioners at Paris that the matter had occupied the main 1 J. F. Mercer to Gen. Weedon, September 2Oth, in Balch, Papers Relating to the Maryland Line, p. 213. 140 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON attention of Congress ; which was probably the case, but it had occupied attention not because Congress was eager or ready to settle it, but simply because it was a matter that would not let itself be ignored, however often its determination might be deferred. Washington had concluded by October 23d that there was " a great diversity of sentiment among the Members of Congress respecting a Peace Establishment; and great opposition will be given to the measure whenever it is brought forward. " l But on the very day he wrote these words the report of Hamilton, Madison, Ellsworth, Wil- son, and Holten, which had been made on June i/th and tabled for consideration until nine States should be rep- resented, and which he had himself just criticized for the new committee, was brought up in committee of the whole. On October 24th, which was devoted to de- bate on it, the chairman of the committee, Mr. Carroll, reported ' ' That it is the Opinion of the Com ee that some garrisons ought to be maintained in time of peace at the expence of the United States for their security and de- fence, under their present circumstances," 2 and the en- dorsement on the manuscript records the fact that this postulate met with only one dissentient vote. Mr. Carroll further reported that the committee desired to sit again, and it was ordered to do so on the twenty-fifth. But there is no reference to the discussion on that date. On the two succeeding days no quorum was present and then came the reception to the Dutch Minister and the preparations for leaving Princeton. And thus died, after a listless struggle for life, the first effort to organize the military establishment of the United States in times of peace. Washington was much disgusted, although not sur- x To Gen. Knox, October 23d. Letters of Washington, P, Vol. 3, No. 526. 2 Pap. Cont. Cong., 38, pt. 2, p. 367. THE SUMMER'S DEBATES 141 prised, for he had long ago given up hope of any immedi- ate decision. It had seemed to him in September that there would never be any hope as long as Congress re- mained in Princeton, for he believed that there was not sufficient representation to discuss the really "great national points." And at Princeton Congress apparently was to stay because of personal animosities, the southern members not being willing to run risk of "being further removed from the Centre of the Empire " and their oppo- nents not being willing to " give up what they conceived to be a point gained by the late retreat to Princeton." So it looked as if they would remain at Princeton "to the dissatisfaction of the Majority, and the great let to business, having none of the Public Offices about them nor no places to accomodate them if they were brought up, and the Members from this or some other causes are eternally absent." 1 The gravity of the fast approach- ing debate on federal residence was daily increasing. However much the important peace establishment was neglected, it is certain nevertheless that Washington was called on for advice in the consideration and disposal of many other matters of public concern. One of these was the resolution passed on September loth 2 bearing on the pay of officers promoted after the declaration of peace. As far back as May 26th Mr. Dyer of Massachusetts had moved " that all promotions hereafter made in the Army of the United States shall, in consideration of the Cessa- tion of Hostilities, be considered only as Honorary, but not entitle those promoted to any Additional pay or emolu- ment on Account thereof." 3 This had been referred to Messrs. Dyer, Clark and Williamson, who reported on 1 Washington to Clinton, September nth, 1783. Letters of Washington, P, Vol. 3, p. 183. Sparks, Vol. 8, p. 485. 2 The manuscript is dated September gth, while the Journal enters it under date of the loth. Pap. Cont. Cong., 21, p. 357. p. 359. 142 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON June 4th practically in the language of the motion. 1 Their report was referred back to Major General Lincoln, Secretary of War, who, on July 26th addressed this letter to President Boudinot: PRINCETON July 26. 1783. Sir, On the motion of M P Dyer, and the report of a com- mittee of Congress on that motion I beg leave to sub- mit the following report. That, during the existence of the present army, all vacan- cies be filled up (excepting new appointments of Ensigns) as has been heretofore practised. But where rank by Brevet is conferred the act of Congress directing the ap- pointment should express that it is by Brevet and it may now be resolved that in the future where commis- sions by Brevet are issued they shall not be considered as granting, or entitling to any pecuniary gratuity, or other emolument than rank in the army of the United States. I have the honor to be, with perfect respect, Your excellency's most obedient Servant B. LINCOLN. 2 His Excellency The President of Congress. The endorsement of the letter shows that it was received on the day of its writing ; but it was laid aside until Sep- tember 3d, when it was referred to a fresh committee consisting of Messrs. McHenry, Peters, and Duane. Dr. McHenry sent the papers on the subject to Rocky Hill for Washington's advice, and on September 5th the latter responded with a communication which supported Gen- eral Lincoln's attitude, and suggested that the Secretary of War inform the Paymaster-General that brevet com- missions did not entitle the recipients to pay or emolu- J Pap. Cont. Cong., 21, p. 361. *Ibid., p. 363. THE SUMMER'S DEBATES 143 ments unless the same were distinctly expressed in the resolution granting the commissions. 1 This suggestion the committee accordingly adopted as its report on Sep- tember Qth, and it was embodied in the resolution which was passed the next day. 3 At about this juncture Congress received the report of General Howe on the proceedings of the court martial held at Philadelphia to try the officers and privates im- plicated in the June mutiny. The investigation had been conducted by Howe with the utmost dignity and restraint. He had appreciated to the fullest extent the desire of the government and of Washington not to stir up unnecessary ill-feeling and yet not to let so serious a breach of discipline go unpunished. When he reported to President Dickinson on his arrival at Philadelphia, and had shown him his orders, Dickin- son requested the Chief Justice of the State, Thomas McKean, and Justice George Bryan of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to take the civilian depositions before the military trial began. 3 No information of value was elicited from that source. General St. Clair had in the meantime caused the arrest of the officers and soldiers implicated or suspected, and then General Howe at once convened all the other officers of the Pennsylvania Line in the city and sought their cooperation in the difficult task before him. But with pardonable feelings of delicacy they begged to be excused from service on the court martial, and he accordingly selected its members from the officers of the Massachusetts Line and from the staff officers who happened to be in the city. 4 The board as finally constituted contained no officer of lower rank than captain. It was presided over by Brigadier General John 1 Letters of Washington, A, Vol. 7 (unpaged). 3 Pap. Cont. Cong., 21, p-357- 8 Ibid., 38, p. 147. 4 Capt. John Paul Jones had been requested by Robert Morris to serve on the court martial, but his ill health was sufficient to excuse him. (Diary, July nth. ) 144 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON Patterson, and was held at Howe's camp, sitting for the first time on July i8th, after a delay caused by the atti- tude of the Pennsylvania officers, the non-arrival of Judge Advocate Edwards, who did not report to General Howe until the I4th, and by the indisposition of Count Kos- ciusko, who was a member of the court. 1 After a session of about three weeks a verdict of guilty was reached in the case of all the men concerned in the mutiny itself, and sentence of death was passed on Ser- geants Christian Nagle and John Morrison of the Third Pennsylvania Infantry, while Gunner Lilly and Drummer Horn of the Fourth Pennsylvania Artillery, Thomas Flowers and William Carman, privates in the Third Penn- sylvania Infantry, were sentenced to corporal punish- ment. The date of execution was set for August 22d. These verdicts General Howe forwarded to Congress on the 1 2th 2 and stated that the trial of Lieutenant Huston was unfinished while that of Lieutenants Chrystie and Symonds would come next. The last three had been arrested by order of St. Clair on suspicion of being in collusion with the mutineers. 3 By permission of St. Clair and the Council they had, as will be remembered, accepted appointments on a committee to represent the mutineers in conference, and while on that committee they had refused to report to St. Clair the intention of their clients. They were also blamed for accepting appointments on a committee whose commission from the malcontents contained the following obnoxious clause : You are to remember that every effort in your power must be exerted to bring about the speedy & most ample justice; And even to use compulsive measures should they be found necessary. * It may be here stated that they were acquitted. 1 Pap. Cont. Cong., 38, p. 101. 2 Ibid., p. 105. 8 Ibid., p. 19. * Ibid., p. 25. THE SUMMER'S DEBATES 145 On August 1 3th Sergeant Nagle petitioned Washington for mercy, 1 following his plea on the i$th with a similar petition to President Boudinot 2 . General Howe's letter of the 1 2th had been in the meantime laid before Con- gress and had been sent to a committee who on the 1 5th reported a motion that the sentences against the soldiers be suspended until the whole proceedings had been laid before Congress ten days for consideration. This resolution coming up again on the i8th for a second reading was passed, and that day President Boudinot wrote 3 to Howe enclosing the act, and the letter was acknowledged five days later. 4 On the sist he wrote 5 hoping to forward the proceedings of the trial shortly. On September 2d he sent 6 the papers to Washington who transmitted them to President Boudinot, and on the Qth they were referred to Messrs. Duane, Read and Rutledge. Boudinot's expectation 7 that mercy would be extended to the culprits was not disappointed, for on the I3th the committee recommended that the convicted men be pardoned, that the acquittal of Symonds, Chrystie and Huston be confirmed and that General Howe be thanked for his prudent conduct of the inquiry. 8 With the report was offered a draft of the proclama- tion of pardon. Boudinot issued the proclamation that day and in the evening forwarded the resolution to Gen- eral Howe ; and Washington was directed on September 23d to signify to the officers and privates of the detach- 1 Pap. Cont. Cong., 38, p. 183. 2 Ibid., p. 189. 8 Ibid., 1 6, p. 242. * Ibid., 38, p. 109. 5 Ibid., p. 115. 6 Ibid., p. 119. Letters to Washingson, 64, folio 135. 7 Boudinot to Franklin, Sept. 9th. Pap. Cont. Cong., 16, p. 244. Boudinot, Vol. r, p. 374. 8 Pap. Cont. Cong., 21, p. 367. 10 146 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON ment under Howe the satisfaction of Congress with their "promptitude and Alacrity " on the service in which they had been engaged. 1 The men in Howe's detachment had been pursued by ill fortune. Their miserable condition when they reached Princeton on the way to Philadelphia has already been mentioned. At the Germantown camp measles broke out, caught, it was thought, on the march through New Jersey, "as many houses on the road were full of it," and almost all of the detachment suffered from the epidemic. 2 The troops began their march back to headquarters on August 23d and for five days the exodus was continued. The sick men were moved as soon as it could be done with safety. Washington desired the soldiers to rejoin the main army as speedily as possible, and apparently did not understand Howe's slowness in carrying out this wish. On September I4th Howe wrote to Washington hoping soon to pay his respects to him at Rocky Hill ; he would have done so sooner had he not been disinclined to leave Philadelphia until all the matters committed to his charge were settled. 3 But he was still in Philadelphia on October 2ist, detained there by lack of funds to pay a public debt for which he was being held responsible. " I find myself," says he, compell'd to divest myself of my private resources for Debts not my own, & with thousands due to me from my Country to be almost in a state of ab- solute want." 4 Saturday, September i3th, was a red letter day of the Princeton session. On that day was carried the final report of the committee consisting of Rutledge, Ells- worth, Bedford, Gorham and Madison, to whom had been referred the act of the Virginia Legislature of January 2d, 1 Letters to Washington, 64, folio 205. 1 Ibid., folio 78. 8 Ibid., folio 164. 4 Ibid., folio 303. THE SUMMER'S DEBATES 147 1781, offering to cede all of the western land claimed by Virginia, except what is now Kentucky. No other report acted on during the five months of the stay of Congress at Princeton was so full of meaning for the future territorial expansion and development of the United States. It practically ended the long wrangle over the western lands, and opened the way for a land policy which would in every feature surpass the plans and possibilities of the individual claimants. The report had come up for discussion on Septem- ber nth, when the Maryland members, finding that New Jersey and Delaware were absent, endeavored to have consideration postponed for a week, and failed. On the 1 3th the debate being continued, Maryland pro- posed as a substitute for the report a resolution that a committee be appointed to report on the territory lying outside of the boundaries of the undivided States, but within the limits of the United States, with a view to the formation of one or more new States, and also to re- port on the establishment of a land office. But New Jersey and Maryland, with Mr. Foster, New Hamp- shire's solitary representative, alone voted in favor of the substitute and then the report itself came up. In the report the committee had either answered or agreed to each of eight conditions Virginia had attached to the offer of cession ; and it was resolved that, if Virginia would, modify her conditions in accordance with the terms of the report, Congress would accept the cession. The two States which had voted in the affirmative on the substitute now took the negative, and the resolution was passed by eight yeas to two nays. It need scarcely be added that on October 2Oth Virginia agreed to the new terms and the cession was formally completed by a deed of transfer on March ist, 1784. Closely connected with the question of the land policy 148 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON of the United States was that of Indian relations, and the presence in Princeton of three Delaware Indian youths, who in 1779 had been sent there for education at government expense an experiment not altogether a success together with the reports of their progress and conduct which reached the ears of Congressmen dur- ing the summer, lent the whole matter of the national policy toward the Indians a very real interest which it otherwise might have lacked. l On August 1 3th Messrs. Williamson, Wilson, Izard, Duane and Carroll, acting as a committee on a resolution of the first named gentleman reported the draft of an Or- dinance prohibiting the settlement or purchase of lands belonging to Indians. August 1 5th was assigned for a 1 The understanding on which the three boys had been left at Princeton was that if the United States should be successful in the contest with Great Britain, the Delaware tribe would cede to the government a portion of its territory in compen- sation for the expense incurred by the boys' education. One of them, George White-Eyes, now twelve years of age, had fully equalled all expectations. With his cousin John Killbuck, a lad of nineteen, he was reading Latin and both were almost ready to enter college ; but John had contracted some sort of irregular marriage with a serving-maid at " Prospect" and she expected soon to become a mother. He wished to legalize his marriage, complete his studies and take his wife home to his own country, where he intended to become a merchant. Thomas Killbuck, the remaining government ward, was about twenty-one years old and had proved too old to be reclaimed. He was pitifully homesick and desired only to be allowed to go home. This general situation Colonel Morgan, into whose charge the boys had been given, laid before Robert Morris in September, advising him that Thomas be sent back to his people, that temporary provision be made for John and his family and that George White-Eyes' education be continued. Mr. Morris handed the documents to President Boudinot, who laid them before Congress with the result that the whole matter was entrusted to a committee composed of Messrs. Hawkins, Ellery and Mercer. But these gentlemen thought it inexpedient to send the trio back to their tribe in the present unsettled condition of Indian affairs, and offered a resolution that Colonel Morgan apprentice Thomas Killbuck to a good blacksmith he had picked up the rudiments of that trade and that he make the necessary provision for the maintenance of John Killbuck and young White-Eyes. Thomas petitioned Congress several times during the next twelve months but it was not until October, 1785, that he and his brother were released from what had become to them bondage. George White-Eyes entered college, but was never graduated. Cf. Princeton University Bulletin, Vol. 13, p. 101, et seq. THE SUMMER'S DEBATES 149 second reading, but it was not called up until the when consideration was ordered to be postponed for one week. It was the 28th, however, before the draft was taken from the table, and then it was referred to a grand committee of eleven members who met that evening in the college library room. 1 Their report on the draft was delivered September ist, and again a delay occurred, during which the final report on the Virginia cession was debated and agreed to. In the meantime the State of Pennsylvania had been considering that portion of the general Indian question which concerned itself, and on September i3th the Pennsylvania delegates received in- structions from the State Legislature to obtain from Congress its sense of a proposed conference between Pennsylvania and neighboring Indians respecting a pur- chase from the latter of lands lying within the borders of the State. The communication being read in Congress was referred to a committee which reported on the ipth inst., and the report came up for consideration on the 2Oth. Its gist was that Congress had no objection to the proposed conference, provided nothing resembling a treaty was entered into with the Indians, the treaty-making power being vested in the United States in Congress assembled, and provided that due notice of the conference be given to the executives of Virginia and New York, who should be allowed to send commissioners to said conference. Mr. Gerry, aided by Mr. Ellery, believing that the general Indian policy of the United States should be set- tled before any individual State should be allowed to enter into personal negotiations, endeavored to have considera- tion postponed for a few days and his motion fell victim to an avalanche of nays. An amendment, however, was carried striking out the first proviso. Massachusetts then sought to have the date of the conference fixed for some x Pap. Cont. Cong., 30, pp. 27, 29. 150 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON time posterior to agreement on terms of accommodation between the United States and the Indians, but the two negatives of Pennsylvania and Virginia were sufficient to defeat this proposition. Massachusetts retaliated on Pennsylvania a few minutes later when the question on the report up to the proviso was called for, by securing the vote of Rhode Island for the negative, thus defeating the measure in toto. 1 Mr. Ellery of Rhode Island then offered a fresh motion to the effect that when an agree- ment should be reached between the United States and the pro-British Indians, Congress would have no objec- tions to the conference. Pennsylvania and Virginia both declined the motion and it failed of passage. Thus matters rested over Sunday. On Monday morning, September 23d, the ordinance reported on the ist was passed by Congress and a conse- quent proclamation was issued, whereby all persons were forbidden to settle on land inhabited or claimed by Indians without the limits or jurisdiction of any State, or from purchasing or receiving by gift or cession any such land or claims, without the express authority and direc- tion of the United States, and every purchase, settlement, gift or cession made without this authority was thereby declared null and void. 2 On October 3d the matter of the national policy toward the Indians was reverted to, when a general convention with the Indians was dis- cussed, and the next day the Superintendent of Finance was ordered to reserve clothing and stores for 2,000 soldiers and for gifts to the Indians at the proposed conference. The debate on residence now intervening, for the next ten days nothing was done with Indian affairs. On Octo- ber 1 4th consideration of the report was resumed, and 'Pap. Cont. Cong., 20, Vol. 2, p. 161 is the report. 1 Ibid., 30, p. 31. THE SUMMER'S DEBATES 151 an important paragraph was agreed to whereby were conceded the wisdom and necessity of erecting the west- ern district into what would now be called a territory, and of appointing a committee to draft a plan for tempor- ary government of such a territory, until by their number and circumstances its inhabitants should be entitled to admittance into the union as members of a free, sovereign and independent state. The next day the full report was passed. The committee, Messrs. Duane, Peters, Carroll, Hawkins and Lee stated that they had consulted with Washington and had attentively considered the papers and letters given to them. They confined their report to the Indian affairs in the northern and middle departments, having insufficient data for the southern region, and to the settlement of the western country. The preamble is a clear statement of the present and possible relations existing between the United States and the Indian Tribes, and the following recommendations were offered : First, that a convention be held with the Indians of the northern and middle departments who had fought on the British side, for the purpose of receiving them into favor and protection, for establishing boundaries, and for ex- tinguishing animosities and contention. Second, that a committee be appointed to report an ordinance regulat- ing Indian trade, and prohibiting civil and military offic- ers from trading with the Indians or purchasing land of them without express sanction from Congress. Third, these measures were not to be construed as affecting the territorial claims of any of the States of the Union within their respective limits. And fourth, inasmuch as these measures would by no means secure the United States against the increase of "feeble, disorderly and dispersed " settlements in the west, and as such settlements would give the United States endless trouble, it was submitted 152 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON that, as soon as circumstances would allow, it would be wise to erect a territory out of the western district agree- able to the decision of October i4th. The rest of the report was referred back to the committee for further consideration. On October 2Oth a report was made by the committee on the Pennsylvania communication, and on the 22d it was considered. The committee suggested that, inasmuch as the application from the Legislature had emanated apparently from sentiments of respect and con- sideration for the Federal Government, and from a praiseworthy design to avoid complication with Federal action in Indian affairs, it be resolved that the commis- sioners for the convention under act of October i$th notify the Supreme Executive of Pennsylvania of the time and place of the convention so that commissioners from that State might attend, and that the Commissioners of the United States give every aid in their power, not incompatible with the best interests of the United States, to the commissioners of Pennsylvania in furthering the object which that State had in view. Massachusetts and Rhode Island alone voted against the report, and aided by the absence of New Jersey and Delaware, which both favored it, succeeded in prevent- ing its passage. i Nothing daunted, the Pennsylvania members bided their time, and on October 3Oth in Mr. Gerry's absence moved a reconsideration, and the report with a few minor verbal changes was agreed to by a vote of seven to one, Rhode Island voting still in the negative, Massachusetts and South Carolina being divided. The retrospect over the summer's work could not have been flattering. The reports on the Virginia cession and on Indian affairs alone marked progress. The plan of a peace establishment was either dead or dying. The 1 These documents are in Pap. Cont. Cong., 30, pp. 35, 175, 229, and Ibid., 20, Vol. 2, p. 165. THE SUMMER'S DEBATES 153 department of foreign affairs, quite as important at this critical period as any other, was still without a head. The finances of the republic were being slowly straight- ened out, but with inconceivable friction and almost entirely at the nervous expense of the Financier. He was the object of "almost daily attack," says Madison, and his department would be "reduced to its crisis" at his final resignation. 1 As for the Definitive Treaty, the members of Congress had given up expectations of any treaty other than one in the language of the Provisional Articles. The dilatory tactics of Great Britain were fully appreciated, and the rejection of the American Com- missioners' commercial proposals was speedily learned in letters from Laurens, received at Princeton about the middle of August. " From these dispatches," says Ezra L'Hommedieu, " it seems far from British policy to make any treaty with America on the Principles of Reciprocity. They have now every advantage of our Commerce with- out any Obstructions, on our part, given on theirs." 2 The impressions of an English officer, F. Michaelis, 3 who in September made a secret trip out of the British lines at New York for the express purpose of sounding public opinion, would have us believe that Congress had not improved its reputation during the summer. The nation, according to his observation, was ' ' sick of Con- gress ; they speak of them with the utmost contempt ; Congress themselves are tired of their Situation, the unpopularity of which they feel even in the streets of Princeton " ; the members all expected, and most of them wished for a revolution, and this revolution was believed to be close at hand ; there was an opposition 1 Madison to Jefferson, September zoth. Gilpin's Madison, Vol. I, p. 573; Hunt's Madison, Vol. 2, p. 21. 2 Clinton MSS., 5165, August 22d. 'Bancroft MSS., America, 2, p. 225. 154 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON to it, weak in power though strong in abilities, of which Charles Thomson was thought to be the head, with the eastern states supporting him. Michaelis, however, con- sidered that "the junto of Washington, Wederspoon, 1 Marbois and the Cincinnati, besides the clear majority of the people in Congress, and I am confident a majority of the people at large" would carry its point. It is an interesting coincidence that two days after Michaelis penned this passage, Stephen Higginson, of Massachu- setts, wrote to Colonel Bland and inquired about ' ' the Designs of the Aristocratic Junto in Congress." 2 The expected revolution, if not openly discussed, was at least broadly hinted at in tavern taprooms, for it was in such a public resort that Michaelis overheard the objection raised against Baltimore as a Federal residence that it was too warm, to which the significant answer was made that " By the time the weather grows warm the Congress will sit nowhere." Michaelis was in Princeton during the college Com- mencement season, and had ample opportunity to note candid expressions of public opinion from the crowd of visitors who came to the village on that occasion, and although a biassed observer, his impressions are not with- out their value. 1 John Witherspoon. 1 Virginia Magazine, Vol. 9, p. 76. CHAPTER IX CONGRESS AT COMMENCEMENT ON September 226. the New Jersey branch of the Society of the Cincinnati met at Princeton to hold its an- nual session and to elect officers for the ensuing year. Forty-five members assembled. The minutes of the meet- ings contain nothing but the barest record of business done. At nine o'clock on the following morning before the ballots were cast for the new officers, an election of honorary members was held and President Boudinot, Governor Livingston of New Jersey and Brigadier Gen- eral David Forman were elected. General Elias Dayton was then reelected to the presidency, Colonel Brearly to the Vice Presidency and the Rev. Andrew Hunter to the secretaryship. Major Richard Cox was chosen Treasurer and Doctor Ebenezer Elmer assistant treasurer. The next morning, September 24th, the Society met at eight o'clock and elected Frederick Freylinghuysen, Robert Lettice Hooper and Dr. Thomas Henderson as honorary members. The president was ordered to inform the newly chosen members of their election and a committee was appointed to draw up a set of by-laws. Then, after arranging to meet next year on July 4th at Trenton, the Society adjourned to attend the Commence- ment exercises of the college. 1 Congress likewise, after a brief session to which the Journal contains no allusion, but at which at least one report was delivered, 2 adjourned 1 MS. Minutes of the Society of the Cincinnati in the State of New Jersey. For a certified copy of these minutes I am indebted to the courtesy of W. T. B. S. Imlay, Esq., Secretary of the Society. 3 Report of Williamson, Clark and Gerry on Ebenezer Greene. (Pap. Cont. Cong., 19, Vol. 2, p. 521.) His case was acted on, October I3th. Extract of 155 I$6 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON for the same purpose, leaving, in the words of the day's valedictorian, the "affairs of empires and the fate of na- tions to attend on the essays of inexperienced youth." The exercises were held in the old Presbyterian church, a stone's throw from Nassau Hall. The injuries the edi- fice had suffered by its use as a barracks during the Revo- lution were partially concealed by half finished restora- tions, and a platform had been erected across the pulpit end of the building. The Pennsylvania Gazette for October 8th contains the complete programme. 1 Princeton, September 2j. On Wednesday the 24th instant, the public commence- ment was held in the college church, before a very polite assembly. The exercises were introduced with a prayer by the president ; after which succeeded a latin salutatory oration on the union of learning and religion, by Mr. Holmes. An English oration on the dangers and advantages of popular elections, by Mr. Beach. A forensic disputation of this question, Is there any sufficient reason in the state of society, and the improve- ment of the human mind, why a more cool and dispas- sionate eloquence should be cultivated among us than was among the ancients? by Messrs. A. Green, J. Radclift and S. Beach. An oration on the subject of female education ; by Mr. Snowden. A dispute on this question, Was Brutus justified in killing Caesar? by Messrs. J. Venable, G. Snowden and E. Taylor. An oration on taste, by Mr. Ford. A dispute on the question, Can any measure that is morally evil be politically good? by Messrs. J. Venable and J. Radclift. N. H. Minutes referring him to Congress (June 2d, 1783) was received September 22d, and turned over to the above committee. 'See also Rivington's Royal Gazette, October 4th, 1783, Pennsylvania Packet, October 7th, 1783. CONGRESS AT COMMENCEMENT 157 An oration on delicacy of sentiment, by Mr. Woodruff. The degree of batchelor of arts was then conferred on the following young gentlemen, Samuel Beach, William Clements, Ashbel Green, Obidiah Holmes, James Hunt, Timothy Ford, Nathaniel Lawrence, Jacob Le Roy, Jacob Radclift, Joseph Riddle, Gilbert Snowden, Edward Taylor, Joseph Venable, George Woodruff. Mr. Ephraim Ramsay A. B. in Philadelphia was admitted ad eundem in this college. The degree of master of arts was conferred on the reverend John Blair Smith of Hamden-Sidney, in Vir- ginia, Messrs. Andrew Bayard, Jonathan Dayton, Mor- gan Lewis, Aaron Ogden, George Merchant, James Rid- dle, Joseph Rue, Richard Stockton, Peter Wilson and Aaron Woodruff, alumni of this college. The honorary degree of master of arts was conferred on Ralph Bowie, Esquire, of Lincoln's inn, and colonel David Cobb, A.M. in Harvard, and colonel David Humphrey, A.M. in Yale, were admitted ad eundem in this college. The degree of doctor of divinity was conferred on the reverend Elizur Goodrich of Durham in Connecticut, one of the fellows of Yale college, on the reverend Charles Nesbit of Montrose in Scotland, on the reverend Mr. Wren, of Portsmouth in England. 1 The President then gave the charge to the class that had just commenced, and the whole of the exercises were 1 Benjamin Franklin (Wharton, Vol. 6, p. 588) had suggested this mark of ap- preciation, and Dr. Wren was further honored a few days later by a vote of thanks from Congress " for his humane and benevolent attention to the Citizens of these United States who were prisoners at Portsmouth in G.B. during the War " (Pap. Cont. Cong. Secret Journal, Vol. 3, No. 6, p. 199, also Pap. Cont. Cong. 16, p. 264, Boudinot's letter transmitting the resolution of Congress). He was a non- conformist minister of Portsmouth who had by his sympathy and material aid done much to alleviate the suffering of American privateersmen confined in Forton Prison near Portsmouth. He started a relief fund for their benefit and collected throughout Great Britain 3815 175. 6d. paying to officers five to eight shillings and to crews two shillings per week wherewith to buy comforts. Dr. Wren's ac- knowledgment of the diploma of the college and the vote of thanks from Congress was dated Portsmouth, February 12, 1 784, and addressed to President Boudinot. It is in the Princeton Collection, Library of Princeton University. Dr. Wren died on October 30, 1787, in his 63d year. An appreciative obituary of him may be found in the Gentleman 1 s Magazine for 1787, p. 1026. 158 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON concluded with a valedictory oration pronounced by Mr. A. Green. The assembly was remarkably decent and attentive, and the young gentlemen acquitted themselves in such a manner as to procure the approbation of some of the foremost characters in America. We do not know who were in the body of the house, but it is safe to say that on the platform sat a company of men to many of whom it would have been difficult to refuse the Gazette s appellation of ' ' foremost characters in America." Nor was their sole claim to the title based on the fact that into their hands had been entrusted the reins of government laid down by those who had thrown off British rule. They were not fortuitously among the leading men of America. Most of the great civilian fig- ures of the Revolution were indeed no longer in Congress, and with one supreme exception we cannot say what military heroes were present other than those in the ranks of the New Jersey Cincinnati, although the circumstances surrounding this Commencement lead us to cherish the belief that they were not alone ; but of the men whose presence can be affirmed scarcely one is missing from the annals of the war and, no strange thing for a company of young men in such a youthful country, most of them had careers of distinction still awaiting them. Even the graduating class could claim a share in the war just ended ; for Ashbel Green, the valedictorian, had served in the army before he had ever thought of college, and Nathaniel Lawrence, 1 who had formerly been a stu- dent at Princeton and was now to receive his degree as a member of the Class of 1783, was a captain in the 2d North Carolina regiment and for nearly two years had suffered on Long Island the hardships of a prisoner of war in British confinement. Dr. John Witherspoon, who with consciousness of patri- otic duty well done had returned to build up the totter- 1 See North Carolina State Records, Vol. 16, pp. 881, 939. CONGRESS AT COMMENCEMENT 159 ing institution on whose behalf that day he acted as host, presided in academic gown and his gratification at the 6clat attending this the fifteenth anniversary of his first Commencement as president of the College of New Jer- sey was said to be plainly visible. Conspicuous in his buff and blue, the cynosure of all eyes, was General Washington, who had ridden in from Rocky Hill that morning to honor the occasion with his presence. Beside him was the Continental Congress grouped about Elias Boudinot, its distinguished president. In that body it would have been easy to mark the classic head and snow white hair of Charles Thomson, its cul- tured secretary, and in contrast the youthful countenance of James Madison of Virginia, the most brilliant of the younger generation, or the still more youthful face of Benjamin Hawkins of North Carolina, who was yet in his twenties, but who had not been too young to serve in the war as Washington's staff interpreter. Not far from Madison sat his classmate, Gunning Bed- ford of Delaware, who too had been one of Washington's aides. Another Virginian was Dr. Arthur Lee, who after an education at Eton and Edinburgh had renounced medi- cine for law and law for politics, and then had served more or less successfully as one of the American Com- missioners at Paris during the war. James Tilton, Rich- ard Peters, Theodoric Bland and Thomas Fitzsimmons had all at one time or another commanded troops. Rich- ard Peters became Secretary of the Board of War and Commissioner of War. James Tilton, who had aban- doned a lucrative medical practice to enter the army, had rendered valuable service when in charge of military hospitals in New Jersey. Colonel Bland, too, had left medicine for active military service and had captained the first troop of Virginia cavalry, and won promotion by his brilliant work. Still another doctor was James McHenry l6o CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON who had studied under Benjamin Rush, and had entered the army as assistant surgeon in 1776, becoming Medical Director. Hugh Williamson and Samuel Holten also boasted medical diplomas. James Duane, Elbridge Gerry, William Ellery and Abraham Clark were old familiar figures ; they had served almost continuously from the outset of the struggle for independence, and the last three had signed their names to the Declaration. Oliver Ells- worth had left Congress by this time, and so also had Alexander Hamilton, the ablest man of them all. Diplomatic circles were represented by the French Min- ister, the Marquis de la Luzerne. 1 Among the Trustees of the college who were present 2 we find a number of leading Revolutionary Presbyterian names: the Rev. Dr. John Rodgers, "the most accom- plished clergyman of his day " who had been chaplain of General Heath's Brigade in 1776, and whose churches in Wall Street and Beekman Street, New York, had been used by the British as a barracks and a hospital and then left in ruins ; the Rev. Dr. Elihu Spencer whose ardent advocacy of the cause of independence had made him a special object of hatred to the Tories ; the Rev. John Woodhull (Princeton, 1766), the Leacock pastor who had induced his male parishioners to shoulder muskets to Valley Forge, accompanying them as chaplain ; the Rev. Dr. George Duffield (Princeton, 1752) one of the ' ' sturdiest and most vivacious of the Revolutionary preachers " 3 who had served as chaplain during the war and on whose head a price had been set by the enemy ; and 1 New Jersey local historians, relying on Ashbel Green's autobiography, keep repeating the statement that the Dutch Minister, M. Van Berckel, was also present. But Van Berckel did not land on American soil until October. * The complete list is James Boyd, John Bayard, George Duffield, Timothy Johns, John Mason, Alexander McWhorter, John Rodgers, Azel Roe, Robert Smith, William Peartree Smith, Jonathan Bayard Smith, Isaac Snowden, Elihu Spencer, John Woodhull and Elias Boudinot. 8 M. C. Tyler, Lit. Hist. Am. Revol., Vol. 2, p. 312. JOHN WriHERsrooN {From the engraving drawn from life by T. Trotter , published in 1785] CONGRESS AT COMMENCEMENT l6l the Rev. Dr. Alexander McWhorter (Princeton, 1757) chaplain of Knox's Artillery Brigade. Among the lay trus- tees were Col. John Bayard, the Philadelphia merchant, patriot and ex-Congressman who had fought at Brandy- wine, Germantown, Trenton and Princeton, and had re- ceived the personal commendation of Washington for his bravery in the latter engagement; Jonathan Bayard Smith (Princeton, 1760), one of the first espousers of the Revolutionary cause in Philadelphia and also an ex- member of Congress. And finally, as reminders of the old colonial days which had gone forever, William Pear- tree Smith and the Rev. Dr. Timothy Johnes, the last two of the original trustees of the college. Of the eight Princeton graduates who received the Master's degree, three, Jonathan Dayton, Morgan Lewis, and Aaron Ogden, had served with distinction on the battlefield. One might have counted on that platform seven signers of the Declaration of Independence l and nine signers of the Articles of Confederation. 2 Four had signed both of these instruments. 3 Eleven were to affix their names to the Constitution 4 a few years later and one other, Elbridge Gerry, attended the Constitutional Convention but did not sign. One ex-president of Congress, Samuel Huntington, and two future Presidents of the United States, Washington and Madison, were there. A future President of Princeton, young Ashbel Green, delivered the valedictory, while still another, Dr. Samuel Stanhope Smith, assisted Witherspoon in the details of that morn- ing's ceremony. 1 Abraham Clark, William Ellery, William Floyd, Elbridge Gerry, Samuel Huntington, James Wilson, John Witherspoon. 2 Daniel Carroll, John Collins, James Duane, William Ellery, Elbridge Gerry, Samuel Holten, Samuel Huntington, Jonathan B. Smith, John Witherspoon. 3 Samuel Huntington, William Ellery, Elbridge Gerry, John Witherspoon. 4 Gunning Bedford, Daniel Carroll, Jonathan Dayton, Thomas Fitzsimmons, Nathaniel Gorham, James McHenry, James Madison, John Rutledge, George Washington, Hugh Williamson, James Wilson. II 1 62 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON For national interest this Commencement group is probably unparalleled in American academic history. Seated together in the audience were the members of the New Jersey branch of the Society of the Cincinnati. The Society's Minutes show that General Elias Dayton, who commanded the famous Jersey Brigade, was there with Colonel Jonathan Forman, Major Richard Cox and Dr. Ebenezer Elmer. Its secretary, Andrew Hunter (Princeton, 1772), had been a chaplain in the army. To F. Michaelis, the eavesdropping English officer already mentioned, we are indebted for a curious account of the exercises of the day. As we would expect, he saw and heard nothing that pleased him ; and his detailed observations on the character of Washington and the members of Congress make good reading if poor history. Of Witherspoon and Commencement he has this to say : An account of the present face of things in America would be very defective indeed if no mention was made of this political firebrand, who perhaps had not a less share in the Revolution than Washington himself. He poisons the minds of his young students and through them the Continent. He is the intimate friend of the General ; and had I no other arguments to support my ideas of Washington's designs, I think his intimacy with a man of so different a character with his own (for Washington's private one is perfectly amiable) would justify my suspicions. The commencement was a favourable opportunity for conveying certain sentiments to the public at large (for even women were present) . . . This farce was evidently introductory of the drama that is to follow. The great maxim which this commencement was to establish was the following : "A time may come in every Republic, and that may be the case with America, when anarchy makes it the duty of the man who has the majority of the people with him, to take the helm into his own hands, in order to save his country ; and the person who opposes him deserves the utmost revenge of his nation, deserves to be sent to Nova Scotia. Vox populi vox dei. CONGRESS AT COMMENCEMENT 163 These were the very words of the Moderator who decided on the question, was Brutus justifiable in kill- ing Caesar? Or they thought us all who heard them blockheads, or they were not afraid of avowing their designs. This was plainer English still than the pactum confederationis of the Cincinnati. When the young man who with a great deal of passionate claquerie defended his favorite Brutus extolled the virtue of the man who could stab even his father when attempting the liberties of his country, I thought I saw Washington's face clouded ; he did not dare to look the orator in the face who stood just before him, but with downcast look seemed wishing to hide the impression which a subject that touched him so near, had I thought very visibly made on his countenance . . . The orations of the younger boys were full of the coarsest invectives against British tyranny. I will do Mr. Wetherspoon the justice to think he was not the author of them, for they were too poor indeed ; besides they evidently conveyed different senti- ments ; there was one of them not unfavorable to liberal sentiments even towards Britons. But upon the whole it is but just to suppose that Wetherspoon had read them all. The Minister of Peace was not present, though ex- pected ; but I have a right to think that all or almost all the members of Congress and all the Cincinnati in the neighborhood assisted at this entertainment. The Cin- cinnati sat together en corps. 1 Of two orations at least, delivered at that Commence- ment and which have survived the lapse of time, it may be said that they contain nothing that could by any stretch of imagination be classed as ' ' coarse invective against British tyranny." That the war should be touched on was only reasonable. Elsewhere, Commencement speak- ers might have failed to allude with pride to its success- ful termination, but at Princeton this was impossible. The College of New Jersey had nothing to be ashamed of, nothing to regret, in that strife. Washington, of course, was the chief guest of the occa- 1 Bancroft MSS., Carleton Papers, 36, Amer. 2, p. 225. 164 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON sion, and both the orations mentioned above contain laudatory reference to him. The first was delivered by one of the boys of the col- lege grammar-school, in the annual public oratorical contest of the graduation exercises the evening before Commencement Day. His name has not come down although the Pennsylvania Packet published his composi- tion a few days later. It contains this paragraph of thinly- veiled compliment: I bless God, too, that while I shall be employed in ex- amining the various opinions of philosophers respecting those qualities which constitute true greatness, I live at a time and in a country where I have the honor and hope to feel the advantage of seeing exhibited in one character, a living example of them all. I will not attempt his praise. His superior worth is acknowledged over all the world ; it is deeply felt in the hearts of his fellow citizens, and will, I trust, not only continue to inspire the most grateful recollection of his inestimable services, but also to inspire some portion of the same spirit of true patriotism, that has excited those glorious efforts which, by the blessing of Providence have effectuated the polit- ical salvation of this happy country. 1 Ashbel Green, the valedictorian of the graduating class, took full advantage of the prerogatives of his office, and in his speech the climax of Commencement Day's interest was reached. After bidding the customary farewell to the trustees, president, faculty, graduates, and under- graduates of the college, the orator thanked the members of Congress, " Illustrious Senators of America," for the honor of their presence, assuring them that The faithful historian, some American Livy or Robert- son, shall tell to ages yet unborn, the deeds of those patriots whose virtue, wisdom and perseverance, procured the blessings which they enjoyed ; and as wise, virtuous and firm as the American Congress, shall be a compliment to the legislators of futurity. 1 See Appendix V. CONGRESS AT COMMENCEMENT 165 Then turning to Washington, he continued amid the breathless attention of the audience and the visible embar- rassment of the General : Nor in that day, illustrious and magnanimous chief, shall thy actions and thy exploits be unrecorded. Some future bard, whom all the muses love oh, that it might be some happy son of Nassau Hall, shall tell in all the majesty of epic song, the man whose prudent conduct, and whose gallant sword, taught the tyrants of the earth to fear oppression, and opened an asylum for the virtuous, and free to all the world. But, adventurous bard, who- ever thou art, beware. Leave poetic fiction and ornament to those whose themes require it ; the greatest panegyric of my hero is his true character. The next day, so Ashbel Green tells us in the auto- biography he wrote almost three score years later, he happened to meet Washington in one of the corridors of Nassau Hall. The General stopped him and congratu- lated him on his oration, and after a few minutes' conver- sation left him the flattered bearer of words of well-wish- ing to his classmates. The trustees of the college at no time took any official notice of the presence of Congress at Princeton ; but they not could repress their enthusiasm for the Commander in Chief, and on returning from the Commencement exercises they sought to testify to their respect for him. They did not even offer, much less give, the empty formal tribute of an honorary degree ; but in their manuscript minutes may be read this paragraph : "The board being desirous to give some testimony of their high respect for the character of his excellency general Washington, who has so auspiciously conducted the armies of America. Resolved, that the Rev d -D ri Witherspoon, Rodgers & Jones, be a committee to wait upon his Excellency to request him to sit for his picture to be taken by Mr Charles Wilson Peale of Philadelphia And, ordered that his portrait, when finished be placed in the hall of 1 66 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON the college in the room of the picture of the late king of Great Britain, which was torn away by a ball from the american artillery in the battle of Princeton. Adjourned till to morrow morning 9 o'clock. 25 th day; the board met according to adjournment. D r Witherspoon reported that his Excellency Gen 1 . Washington had delivered to him fifty guineas which he begged the trustees to accept as a testimony of his respect for the college. Resolved, that the board accept it; & that the same committee who were appointed to sollicit his Excellency'* picture, at the same time present to him the thanks of the board for this instance of his politeness & generosity. 1 No compliment could have been more delicate and tactful than this request. By seeking to perpetuate the memory of its favorite hero, the College of New Jersey, which had supported the Revolution so long and so loyally, and had suffered as no other educational institu- tion in the land for its championing the cause of liberty, could not have closed more felicitously its Revolutionary service, sealed the recollection of those dark days, and honored him who had turned those days into light. And some recognition of the debt he owed to Princeton, its building, its president, its graduates and its townsmen, some grateful thought of the pivotal battle he had won on the frozen slopes hard by the village, must have been in Washington's mind when he made his gift to the college. 2 The portrait was painted by Peale, and a year later was hung in the prayer hall 3 in the old gilt frame from which George the Second used to frown down upon his embryo rebels. Minutes of the Board of Trustees, Vol. I, p. 236, September 24th and 25th, 1783- 2 Washington's opinion of Princeton may be found in his correspondence with his adopted son G. W. Parke Custis who was a student there 14 years later. 3 " Mr. C. W. Peale having executed a portrait of his Excellency Gen 1 Wash- ington, according to the order of the board Ordered that it be hung up in the college Hall agreeably to a former resolution." (Minutes, Vol. I, p. 245, Sep- tember 29th, 1784.) The portrait is still in Nassau Hall. See Frontispiece. CHAPTER X THE RESIDENCE DEBATE WITH the ushering in of October the time was at hand for the debate on the selection of a site for the location of a permanent national capital. The important bearing of this question's decision on the future of the country was fully realized ; and as a preliminary step each State had been advised of the forthcoming debate and had been requested to make an offer of a site for the capital if it so desired. It was very plain, however, that the favored spot would be located either in one of the middle-eastern or in one of the middle-southern States, and between these two sections of the country the rivalry soon became keen. The northern and southern extremes were out of the question ; the west was unthought of. All summer long only a hint at the subject had been needed to arouse a heated discussion within the cool stone walls of Nassau Hall. Moreover, the selection of a permanent seat of government obviously involved that of a temporary sub- stitute to be used until the special administrative and residential buildings which would have to be erected at the permanent site, should be ready for occupancy. The presence of Congress, even as a transient guest, meant much in a business way to any place thus honored. To Philadelphia, for example, it was said to have meant $100,000 a year; and at Princeton the President's House- hold alone gave to one merchant an average of a thousand dollars' worth of business each month. Added to the business gain was the social prestige. Arguing then that possession was nine points of the law, an advantage was thought to be given to whatever State should manage to 167 1 68 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON keep Congress, if only temporarily. The rivalry for the temporary residence was therefore as intense and personal as that for its more important successor. Philadelphia had many supporters, who based her quali- fications on her past record. Philadelphia had been the seat of government six years out of the seven of that gov- ernment's existence, and it was fondly believed that if Congress could be got back for the time being to its old quarters, Pennsylvania would be almost assured of the decision on a permanent capital. The expected arrival of a Minister Plenipotentiary from Holland, said to be on his way, was urged as one reason for a return to Phila- delphia. There, and there better than anywhere else, he and other foreign representatives, who were also thought to be coming, could be properly entertained. 1 It was also declared that unless Congress did return to Philadelphia the Union was in danger of dissolution ; the great State of Pennsylvania would be "so Convulsed " that it would not be "in a capacity of Contributing to the Necessities of the United States." Let us go back for only six weeks, men said, to show that no resentment is harbored against the city, and all will be " Peace & Quiet" ; then if Con- gress should remove from the city ' ' there would be no blame or uneasiness." 2 But the opponents of Philadel- phia were determined that Congress should not return. The Southern states voted solidly together on this point, as on nearly everything else, and the other candidates for the honor of Congressional residence saw no advantage to be derived from tempting Providence in allowing Con- gress to return for any conciliatory visit, were it never so short. Valiant attempts to get Congress back had not been wanting. In a previous chapter it has been noted that on Clinton MSS., 5165, L'Hommedieu to Clinton, August 22d. 2 Ibid. t 5157, L'Hommedieu to Clinton, August I5th. THE RESIDENCE DEBATE 169 July 2d, at the very beginning of the Princeton session when it was learned that General Howe's detachment was on its way to Philadelphia, Mr. Mercer had tried to effect a return to the Pennsylvania capital. Again, on the last day of that month Mr. Read moved that "on the the president shall adjourn Congress to meet in Philadelphia, on there to continue until the last Monday in October next, at which time the president shall again adjourn Congress to meet at Annapolis on the Friday following, unless Con- gress shall before that time have determined otherwise." This coming up on August ist, Mr. Bland moved to fill the first blank with "August 8th" and the second with "August 1 2th, "and also to strike out the clause, "thereto continue . . . otherwise." The clause was struck out, and Mr. Lee then moved, and it was ordered, that Wed- nesday the 6th be appointed for the consideration of the amended motion. But, before the 6th arrived the friends of the measure, foreseeing its defeat and believing that no great good would result from allowing the vote to go on record, withdrew it. "The more moderate oppo- nents," says Madison, " concurred in the inexpediency of proclaiming unnecessarily an aversion in Cong 8 to Philad*, But some of this class were so keen in their hostility that a motion was made by two of them to return, who on the question voted solid ag' their own motion. The public will not I believe fix on the proceeding as one of the brightest pages of the Journals. The abuses to which such an artifice may be extended are palpable. The merit of it in this application belongs to M r . Howel of R. I. & M r . B d of V. The motion was first made by M r . L. but in the course of the transaction devolved on M r . Howel." 1 The incident to which Madison alludes was this. On the i ith Mr. Howell seconded by Colonel Bland moved : 1 Madison Papers, Letters of Madison, Vol. I, p. 109, Madison to Randolph, August 1 8th. Gilpin's Madison Vol. I, p. 565, Hunt's Madison, Vol. 2, p. 9. The letter as printed by Gilpin differs slightly from the above. I/O CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON "That on the 15 th Inst. The President adjourn Con- gress to meet at Philadelphia on the 2i gt Inst." 1 The motion came up on the I3th, when Mr. Reed attempted to have it postponed in order to consider a motion of his own, namely : Whereas the resolution of Saturday the 2i 8t day of June last, enabling the President to summon Congress to meet at Trenton or Princeton on Thursday then next fol- lowing, had for its object that further and more effectual measures might be taken for suppressing the then Exist- ing revolt of certain troops of the Pennsylvania line & maintaining the dignity and Authority of the United States: And Whereas it is no longer found necessary or Expedient that Congress should continue at Princeton Resolved that on friday the 1 5 th Inst the President do adjourn Congress to meet on Monday next the 21 st at the City of Philadelphia And that on the second Monday in October next the President do in like manner Adjourn Congress to meet on the monday following at Annapolis in the State of Maryland unless Congress shall in the meantime order otherwise. 2 But Congress refused to postpone, and consideration of Mr. Howell's motion was continued. Then the dele- gates from Pennsylvania not seeing the trap into which they were walking moved to postpone so that a declara- tion made that morning by one of their number might be entered on the Journal ; and the entry was made : The delegates of Pennsylvania are authorised by the President and Council of that State to declare in the most respectful terms to Congress that their return to Phila- delphia is Sincerely desired by the President and Council as an Event which would give them the Greatest Satis- faction. 3 Debate on Mr. Howell's motion was then resumed until an adjournment was called for and carried. The 1 Pap. Cont. Cong., 36, Motions, Vol. 4, p. 2OI. * Journal, August 1 3th and Pap. Cont. Cong., 36, Vol. 2, p. 209. 8 Journal, August 1 3th. THE RESIDENCE DEBATE next day Mr. Duane with Benjamin Huntington as a second endeavored to have consideration postponed and failed ; and when the question was put on the Howell motion, the result was found to be six nays to two yeas with one divided vote, while Foster, of New Hampshire, and David Howell, of Rhode Island, the mover of the motion, also voted nay, although their votes did not count, since their States were not constitutionally represented. Of the episode Madison in the letter to Randolph already quoted had this further to say : I know of none that will read with pleasure this affair unless it be the Executive of P a . and those who wish to refer the removal of Cong 8 , to other motives than the na- tional dignity & welfare. J. F. Mercer also referred to the incident in plain language : The Question for the return to Phil* had been decided in the negative prior to my arrival I must think a worthy colleague, hurried this matter on with unbecoming pre- cipitation & I am at a loss to reconcile with his pro- fessed, candor & openness, his making a motion with an intention of voting ag'. it, supported by M r . Howell the inventor of this ingenious, & honourable device. 1 In vain did the Legislature of Pennsylvania try to con- ciliate Congress by taking every step to expiate the default of its Executive save the extreme one of impeachment which some of the more violent members of Congress had demanded. 2 In vain was the public banquet, men- tioned earlier in these pages, arranged for the officers of the army ; successful though it was as a social function it failed utterly in its more subtle duty. In vain did the State offer to Congress the same quarters it had formerly occupied in Philadelphia ; and in vain were the financial 1 Madison Papers, Letters to Madison, Vol. 13, p. nr, August I4th. 2 Gilpin's Madison, Vol. I, p. 569 ; Hunt's Madison, Vol. 2, p. 16. Madison to Randolph, September 8th. CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON recommendations of Congress unanimously adopted. Madison thought that this very complaisance by its obvi- ousness of purpose would ' ' be far from softening the dis- like " entertained by many for Philadelphia. He believed that the city would continue to be "obnoxious while it contains and respects an obnoxious Character."^- On September 5th Dr. McHenry, with Arthur Lee seconding him, moved that on Friday the I2th a decision be made on a temporary residence for Congress; but the I2th saw no meeting and nothing tending toward a decision is to be found in the Journal until October. The subject of jurisdiction came up instead ; and Madison who had post- poned his return to Virginia partly on account of his inter- est in the residence debate admitted to Thomas Jefferson that he doubted if either the permanent or temporary residence would be selected that winter ; in which case of course Congress would remain at Princeton. 2 The question as to what jurisdiction Congress should exercise over a federal residence had been relegated to a committee in July. On the 28th of that month Madison had written to Randolph informing him of the fact and pointing out the constitutional perplexities that entered into its consideration. The more the subject was viewed the less easy, said he, did it become to mark the just boundary between the authority of Congress and that of the State, and between the authority of Congress and the privileges of the citizens of the State. " May it not also be made a question " he asks " whether, in constitutional strictness, the gift of any State, without the concurrence of all the rest, can authorize Congress to exercise any powers not delegated by the Confederation, as Con- gress, it would seem, are incompetent to every act not x Gilpin's Madison, Vol. i, p. 568 ; Hunt's Madison, Vol. 2, p. 13. Madison to Randolph, August 3 That the appointment of Judges & the executive power within the said territory, should vest in Congress. 1 Madison to Randolph, July 28th. Gilpin's Madison, Vol. i, p. 559 ; Hunt's Madison, Vol. 2, p. 4. 2 Pap. Cont. Cong., 23, p. 149. 174 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON Res'! that the People inhabiting within the said terri- torry, should enjoy the privilege of trial by Jury, & of being governed by Laws made by Representatives of their own election. 1 The second is as follows : That the district which may be ceded to & accepted by Congress for their permanent residence, ought to be en- tirely exempted from the authority of the State ceding the same ; and the organization & administration of the powers of Gov* within the s^ district concentrated be- tween Congress & the inhabitants thereof. 2 The first of these documents was evidently considered by Bancroft 3 to be the adopted report of the committee of the whole, although the references to Madison's cor- respondence cited by him in his footnote offer no support of his opinion. The documents themselves bear no iden- tifying marks and the phraseology of the sentence refer- ring to jurisdiction in Mr. Gerry's residence motion of October 7th would seem to show that Congress had not settled the question before the residence debate began. On October 6th according to agreement the debate on the permanent residence opened with eleven States form- ally present, while New Hampshire showed but one rep- resentative and Georgia as usual none. In order to con- fine the discussion within reasonable limits Mr. Gerry, with Mr. Holten seconding, moved that the house go into committee of the whole to consider the propositions of only the States from New York to Virginia inclusive. This was negatived. Then he moved with Mr. Foster seconding that the whole discussion be postponed, which motion was also negatived, as was its successor by Mr. Howell, with Ellery seconding, that the discussion be postponed until the last Monday of the month. It was 'Pap. Cont. Cong., 46, p. 93. 2 Ibid., 23, p. 161. Vol. 6, p. 98. THE RESIDENCE DEBATE 175 then resolved to go down the list of States in the order in which they stood beginning with New Hampshire. New Hampshire and Massachusetts were declined as candidates without even a call for yea and nay votes, and Rhode Island received only the vote of her own repre- sentatives. Connecticut also was rejected without hesi- tation and without a yea and nay vote. New York 1 had to be content with the votes of her own representatives and those of Connecticut, with half a vote from Rhode Island, Mr. Ellery being satisfied with New York as a residence. New Jersey received the votes of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, beside those of her three repre- sentatives, Mr. Boudinot himself calling for the yeas and nays. 2 1 On March 2Oth, 1783, Governor Clinton had sent to President Boudinot the act of the corporation of Kingston on the Hudson, and the joint resolution of both houses of the Legislature respecting a permanent residence of Congress in that township, offering exclusive jurisdiction over the district and enclosing a map of the same. (Pap. Cont. Cong., 46, p. i.) Lewis Morris had offered the manor of Morrisania, N. Y., for permanent resi- dence and his memorial is dated September 3Oth. It was delayed on the road and did not reach Congress until October i8th. (Pap. Cont. Cong., 46, p. 125, and 78, Vol. 14, p. 547.) 2 Four different offers had come from New Jersey. On June igth Ephraim Harris, Speaker of the New Jersey Assembly, had forwarded to president Boudinot the resolution of the Legislature asking Congress to make its permanent residence in New Jersey and also enclosing the proceedings of the inhabitants of the town- ship of Nottingham in the county of Burlington relative thereto, and a map. ( Pap. Cont. Cong., 46, p. 35.) On July i6th had been read the Newark address which has already come under our notice. On August 4th the inhabitants of New Bruns- wick and vicinity drew up an address modestly suggesting " the Banks of the Raritan, as not being unworthy of their Attention" (i. A PRINCETON OFFER OF ACCOMMODATION FOR CONGRESS (Second leaf) after reading the two statements on the i$th, Congress vouchsafed no reply other than the very suggestive one of silence. When at length the decisions of October 2 ist became known, Princeton at any rate realized that its days as a Congressional residence were numbered. The last act in the passing of the Army of the Revo- lution was now approaching. On the igth of September Washington had written 2 from Rocky Hill to Congress respecting the condition of the furloughed troops, spe- cially referring to the clothing of the troops on the North River, and to the future of the corps of engineers. The paragraph regarding the furloughed troops read : Perhaps, among the Multiplicity of public concerns, an attention to the Situation of the Troops on Furlough, may have yielded to more urgent business ; but this being also a matter of importance, I take the liberty of bringing 2 Letters of Washington, 152, Vol. n, p. 487. 20O CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON it to view ; as, on the footing they stand at present, a considerable expence, without the prospect of an adequate benefit, is incurred ; unless the impolicy of giving by public Proclamation, authenticity to the discharges while the British forces remain in New York, can be deemed such. I call them discharges, because it is in this light the Furloughs have all along been considered ; and no call, I am persuaded, will ever bring the common Soldiery back to their Colours the whole matter therefore lyes, in bal- lancing properly between the expence of delay, and the public annunciation of an epoch which may be premature. This was read on September iQth and referred to Messrs. Huntington, Gerry and Duane, who on the 2Qth reported : That his Excellency the Commander in Chief's said Letter of the 19* Instant respects three Particulars First Cloathing for the Troops of the North River Secondly The Troops on Furlough in pursuance of the Acts of Congress of the 26 th of May & the i I th of June and the 9 th of August last Thirdly The Corps of Engineers Your Committee beg leave to observe that sufficient provision is already made on the first of these Heads by the Act of Congress of the day of Instant. That with regard to the last it is still under the Delib- eration of your Committee, and it appears difficult to make any Report thereon untill the settlement of the Peace-establishment. With regard to the second Object viz 4 , the Troops who are on a Furlough your Committee are of Opinion that it will be best provided for by the following Procla- mation which they subjoin for the Consideration of Con- gress to witt Then follows a draft of a proclamation of thanks to the army. This proclamation had been submitted to Wash- ington and contained the suggestions which he had made in letter to Mr. Huntington : THE BEGINNING OF THE END 2OI ROCKY HILL 25th Septr. 1783. Sir : I have perused the report & Proclamation which you were pleased to put into my hand for consideration ; and think an alteration in the first, and, a consequent one in the other indispensibly necessary ; Because, as the re- port now stands, it is not broad enough to comprehend the several cases which exist; for the Troops of the Southern Army were furloughed by General Greene, whilst those, which lay in a manner between the two armies, were under the more immediate direction of the Secretary at War, & acted upon by him. It appears to me proper therefore to strike out the latter part of the report & after the words " during the War" in the third line, to insert "and who by resolution of Congress of the & of were entitled to Furloughs or absolutely discharged from the said Service, from and after the day of next " The Proclamation conforming thereto, Congress may, if they conceive there is propriety in it, (after the neces- sary recitals are made) offer their thanks to the Army, generally, for its long & faithful Services ; and then add that the further Services in the field of the Officers who have been deranged, & returned on furloughs in conse- quence of the aforesaid resolutions, can now be dispensed with That they have the permission of Congress to retire from Service and that they are no longer liable from their present Engagements to be called into Com- mand again. I can see no greater inconvenience resulting from this measure than is to be found in many other instances aris- ing from not making the Peace Establishment a primary, instead of a subsequent Act to them, for had this taken place in time, a system might have been formed, & every thing relative to that system made to accord with it whereas the longer it is delayed the more incongruous probably it will be, as we are by this means forming the extremities, before we have moulded the body, conse- quently the body must be made to conform and grow to the limbs, not the limbs to the Body which may be found as difficult in the Political as Natural formation of things, 202 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON and like thereunto the attempt will more than probably produce a Monster. A Proclamation couched in some such terms as is here suggested would I think, reduce all the General as well as other Officers, except those who were retained with the three years men, and such as are immediately em- ployed in the Staff, wh c . h I think consists of only Baron de Steuben & G : Duportail, and would moreover I think, leave out all the Engineers for the future decision of Congress. I have the hon r to be, Sir &c a G? WASHINGTON. The Hon ble Sam 1 Huntington, Chairman of a Corn 66 of Congress. 1 The report was on the 3Oth recommitted, together with one on the subject of the provisional articles of peace, and on the 3d of October the committee reported again 2 That not having been able to discover the Sense of Congress Whether a proclam n ought to be prepared for enjoyning the Observation of all the Articles of the pro- visional Treaty for restoring Peace ; or a Proclamation for the special Purpose enjoyning the Observation of the Sixth Article only ; they have submitted a draft of a proc- lamation suitable to each Case for the Consideration of Congress. The Report on the Commander in Chiefs Letter they beg leave to return without Amendment. On October 1 8th, accordingly, the proclamation thank- ing and discharging the Army was agreed to by Congress and at once published by the President. That day also a proclamation, drawn by Messrs. Duane, S. Huntington, and Holten, appointing Thursday, De- cember nth, a day of public thanksgiving, was agreed to by Congress and issued by President Boudinot. 3 On 1 Letters of Washington, A, Vol. 7. Original autograph draft. 2 Pap. Cont. Cong., 25, Vol. 2, p. 271. 8 Ibid., 24, p. 473. THE BEGINNING OF THE END 203 October 2Oth Messrs. Duane, Ellery and S. Huntington reported on a motion to transmit to the States copies of the preliminary articles of peace. This was considered on the 22d, and a letter of transmission to be sent to the State Executives was submitted by the committee. l IN CONGRESS, PRINCETON 1783. Sir: Firmly persuaded that the Honour and Prosperity of the United States must depend on a faithful Performance of every national engagement and eminently so of Treaties with foreign Powers, Congress would consider with deep Regret any Act which might render it impracticable to give a just Efficiency to the provisional articles for the Restoration of Peace which are expressly stipulated to be inserted in the definitive Treaty ; They have therefore directed Exemplifications of those provisional articles, and their own Ratification thereof to be transmitted to the repective States. Your Excellency's most obed' humble Servant, During September and October great strides had been made toward winding up the affairs of the army. Besides issuing the October proclamation of discharge and thanks, Congress contrived to square up numerous civilian war claims on a money basis giving Robert Morris many a a cause to "shudder"; and by means of brevet commis- sions it had also endeavored to satisfy the wishes of de- serving officers. On August 28th Captain Winthrop Sergeant was pro- moted to a majority by brevet. He had been a captain in the Massachusetts Artillery since its organization in December, 1776, and had been assured that promotion would take place in favor of the senior captain whenever a vacancy occurred. The method of promotion had been changed just as he became senior captain and he found 'Pap. Cont. Cong., 29, pp. 331, 333. 204 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON his inferiors promoted over his head. Since 1779 he had served General Howe as an aide, and he now applied for an advance. The committee to whom had been referred his letter of August loth to President Boudinot with General Howe's supporting communication, favored his claim, 1 with the result as noted. On September i ith a brevet commission of major was likewise issued to Captain North, 2 Baron Steuben's aide. Major Murnan s on the i5th was brevetted a Lieutenant Colonel, and on the same day three American seamen who lost their limbs on the " Bonhomme Richard " in Sep- tember 1779 received a pension of forty dollars per annum. On the 25th, Stephen Moore, after laying siege for eight weeks to Congressional attention, had to be satisfied with an order to the Superintendent of Finance referring his claim for timber and hay used and land occupied at West Point by American troops to three arbitrators whose valuation was to be accepted by both parties and the cus- tomary mode of settlement then to be followed by the Superintendent. On the 3Oth was passed the resolution emanating from a report of McHenry, Peters, and Bland, made on September i8th 4 promoting every officer under x Pap. Cont. Cong., 78, Vol. 21, p. 321. 1 William North, of Massachusetts, enlisted in May, 1776, as a second lieu- tenant in Knox's regiment of Continental Artillery. A year later he was captain in Lee's Additional Continental Regiment, being transferred in April, 1779, to Spencer's Regiment which later became the i6th Massachusetts. He was Steu- ben's aide from May, 1779, to November, 1783. He was transferred in January, 1781, to the gth Massachusetts and in January, 1783, to the 4th Massachusetts. Remaining in the army he was promoted Major and Inspector in April, 1784, serving four years. In July, 1798, he was made Brigadier General and Adjutant General, U. S. A., and on June I5th, 1800, was honorably discharged. He died January 4th, 1836. (Heitman.) 3 John Barnard de Murnan came from France and in January 1779 was appointed major in the Engineer Corps. He resigned from the army in February 1 784 and received a testimonial from Congress to his great services and fine abili- ties. ( Heitman. ) 4 Pap. Cont. Cong., 27, p. 241. THE BEGINNING OF THE END 20$ the major general rank, who was still holding the rank he held in 1777, one grade higher and to lieutenant colo- nels of that date were granted colonelcy commissions. Two of Pulaski's captains, Second and de Pontiere l were promoted to the rank of Majors by brevet and lieutenant Beaulieu 2 also of Pulaski's Legion, received a captaincy by brevet, while to Captain Haskell, 3 General Howe's aide, was issued a brevet commission of major. Lieuten- ant Edward Phelan 4 likewise received a commission of captain. October ist it was ordered that the accounts of John Halsted, who had been a commissary for the army be settled on the principles of a report handed to Congress on his case by Robert Morris. On the 6th William Langbourne (or Langburn) of the 6th Virginia who had entered the army in 1777 and had served through the war with "disinterestedness and reputation" received a brevet commission of lieutenant colonel. On that date too it was ordered that Wash- ington reward for their faithful service the troopers com- posing his bodyguard by allowing them to keep their horses and accoutrements when they should finally be discharged. 5 1 Louis de Pontiere was an aide to Steuben from February, 1778, to April, 1784. 2 Louis I. de Beaulieu came from France and joined Pulaski in March, 1779- He was taken prisoner at Savannah, October gth, 1 779, and was exchanged. In the following May he was wounded at Charleston. From that time to the close of the war he was on leave. 3 Elnathon Haskell of Massachusetts served as a second lieutenant in the loth Continental Infantry from July to December, 1776. On January ist, 1777, he became 1st Lieutenant and adjutant in the I4th Massachusetts, being promoted to a captaincy in April, 1778, and to brigade major in May. He was Gen. Howe's aide from September, 1782, to November, 3d, 1783. From that date to June 2oth, 1784, he served in Jackson's Continental Regiment. (Heitman. ) 4 Lieutenant Phelan became an ensign in Henley's Additional Continental Regiment in July, 1777, and in April, 1779, was transferred to Jackson's regiment which later became the 1 6th Massachusetts. He was promoted to a lieutenancy in October, 1781. He died January 7th, 1810. (Heitman.) 5 These men had been prevailed on to remain with Washington when the rest of their regiment had been furloughed. He wrote to Morris on October 3d that 206 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON On the loth the accounts of the French officers in the Engineer Corps, Major General Du Portail, 1 Brigadier General Laumoy, and Colonel Gouvion whose private interests now recalled them to France, were directed to be adjusted by Robert Morris, and such monies as the state of finances would permit were ordered to be ad- vanced to them with interest-bearing certificates for the balances ; and the Secretary of War was directed to express to the French Minister the deep sense Congress enter- tained of their distinguished merit, their zeal, and their ability in the service of the United States. On October they were indispensable, but that their detention had been longer than was ex- pected ; they had spent their three months' pay in clothing which they were using in public service ; they had received no recompense for their voluntary service and were growing uneasy ; unless something were done for them they would leave him and he suggested that a little pay, say two months, be advanced to them. (Letters of Washington, A, vol. 7-) The above order was the result. 1 Louis Lebique Du Portail, who with his fellow officers had received leave of absence from the French government, entered the American service as a colonel of Engineers in July, 1777. He was made Major General Chief Engineer in No- vember, 1781. After the declaration of peace he endeavored to get special recog- nition for his corps of engineers but futile requests to Washington and a fruitless trip to Princeton showed him in October, 1783, that circumstances would not allow Congress to gratify his wish. On the 6th he wrote therefore to President Boudinot that he had concluded that individual settlements would be the best method of closing up the matter. Deeming that the United States would have no further use for his services and those of Laumoy and Gouvion he begged permission to return to France, opportunities for them having risen which might not occur again, and he also asked that their accounts be settled as soon as possible. The resolu- tion of October loth resulted ; but Robert Morris, when Du Portail came on the 1 3th in person to show him the act, immediately saw visions of all the foreigners in the army thronging to his office armed with similar documents, and promptly told him that the paymaster was already owing more than $250,000 to foreign officers, and with more engagements now on his hand than he could satisfy he was under the painful necessity of refusing to advance funds. This statement Du Portail at once forwarded to Boudinot, suggesting the inadvisability of allowing foreigners who had served America to leave the country without at least some of their due ; such a proceeding would stamp America as either destitute of means or lacking in justice. His letter was read on October 3Oth and referred to Wil- liamson, Osgood, and Ellery, whose report was read January 22d, 1784, ordering the Superintendent of Finance to pay them what he could in order to enable them to get home. (Pap. Cont. Cong., 78, Vol. 8, pp. 31, 43.) THE BEGINNING OF THE END 2O7 1 6th passage to France for these gallant officers was provided in the packet "Washington" at government expense, which they did not use. On the 1 3th the Secretary of War was directed to issue a brevet commission of colonel to Lieutenant Colonel Ter- nant. 1 The same day the account of Ebenezer Greene was ordered to be settled, and the report of the special com- mittee to whom the application of Count de Kosciusko, with accompanying documents, had been referred, was read and carried. Colonel Kosciusko in September had solicited Washington's interest in the promotion to a brigadier generalship which he desired. Washington kindly enough forwarded the letter to President Boudinot and recom- mended special promotion to the desired rank. Kosciusko feared that his name would fall into oblivion if he were made to share in the general promotions. But the reso- lution of September 3Oth already covered his case, hence the committee could do nothing further for him, deeply impressed though they were with his merit, than to recom- mend that the Secretary of War transmit the brevet com- mission of brigadier general to him and signify at the same time the appreciation of Congress for his "long, faithful and meritorious service." 2 On October i3th, too, Captain Nathan Goodale, of the Fifth Massachusetts, who had just been promoted to the rank of major by brevet, received a major's commission in the line of the army, in recognition of his extraordi r nary services. 3 Four days later the Paymaster was 1 Jean Baptiste Ternant, a Frenchman, had joined the Continental Army in Sep- tember, 1778, as lieutenant colonel and inspector, serving in Fulaski's Legion He had been taken prisoner at Charleston in May, 1780. Three years later Lincoln recommended him for promotion, and the committee appointed brought in a resolution to that effect on September 3Oth, which was lost. (Pap. Cont. Cong., 149, Vol. 2, p. 531.) 2 Letters of Washington, 64 folio 213 ; Letters of Washington, A, Vol. 7, letter of October 2d ; and Pap. Cont. Cong., 19, Vol. 3, p. 401. 3 Captain Goodale entered the army in 1775 as a lieutenant under General Putnam. In the campaign of 1776 he served in the engineers and several of the 208 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON directed to settle with Captain Post's company of Artil- lery Artificers, and the next day $1,455 were ordered to be paid Major Jackson in compensation for his services as Secretary to Mr. Laurens at the Court of Versailles ; and to Major General Greene in recognition of his bril- liant conduct of the Southern campaign were presented the two guns captured from the British at the Cowpens, Augusta or Eutaw, and he received leave of absence to visit his family in Rhode Island. 1 On the twentieth a petition of General Knox asking extra allowance for extraordinary services at West Point was refused on recommendation of Williamson, Osgood and Tilton, the committee to whom it had been referred, a decision which, however, was reconsidered ten days later under fresh influences, when he was granted pay of a major general in a separate department for the period of his command at West Point. 2 works erected around New York were due to his skill and knowledge. In No- vember, 1776, he returned to service under Putnam as a captain, but his oppor- tunity to distinguish himself signally did not come until August, 1777, when General Gates called for volunteers to get information about Burgoyne's position after Ticonderoga. Goodale undertook the perilous task accompanied by a ser- geant and six privates, and succeeded after encountering all manner of hardships. Gates kept him at scouting work, and he became so accomplished a woodsman that before the British army finally surrendered, Goodale took no less than 121 prisoners himself. General Putnam interested himself in him and in June, 1783, wrote to Washington urging special reward. The Commander in Chief passed the letter to Jackson, who in turn handed the correspondence to President Boudinot. McHenry, Peters and Bland, Boudinot's committee, in July consulted Major General Lincoln, who approved of Goodale' s memorial and hoped he would be rewarded with some material promotion. The committee reported on October 4th, and on the I3th the action above noted was taken. (Pap. Cont. Cong., 149, Vol. 3, pp. 213, 221, 225, 229.) 1 Ellery, Madison and Duane had delivered a report to this effect on the I4th. (Pap. Cont. Cong., Vol. 2, p. 505.) General Greene was at some loss to know how to get the cannon voted to him ; he was not even quite sure where they were. (Letters to Washington, 64, folio 334, November 3d, 1783.) 2 Knox's case is easily traceable in the Papers of the Continental Congress. No. 19, Volume 3, page 393, is his claim dated June 2d, 1783 ; 19, Vol. 3, 389, is Washington's letter of June 6th to Lincoln favoring the claim. June I ith General THE BEGINNING OF THE END On the thirtieth, also, the long-standing claim of Col- onel Richard Varick, Washington's secretary, was al- lowed, 1 and the State of New York was recommended to settle and pay him arrears and charge the sum to the United States. Colonel Varick had found it a simpler matter to get money for his copyists than for himself, because in their case he was free to adopt an easier course. On August i8th he had written to Washington 2 that his copyists needed money ; six months had elapsed since they had received any pay whatever ; $900 was due them, and not less than that sum would pay for their Lincoln wrote to President Boudinot ( 19, Vol. 3, p. 379), enclosing Knox's claim and supporting it. The next day it was referred to Williamson, Bland and Hamilton, who on the I7th reported adversely (19, Vol. 3, 387). There the matter rested until the autumn. September 2gth Knox wrote to Washington that his expenses at West Point were exceeding his salary, and asked him to lay the matter before Congress (Letters to Washington 64, fo. 221 ). October I2th, Lincoln wrote to Boudinot requesting fresh consideration of the case. This letter was referred to Williamson, Osgood and Tilton (19, Vol. 3, p. 387), and they refused October 2oth to give him any extra allowance (19, Vol. 3, p. 377). On the 3Oth the favorable final action was taken. 1 Richard Varick had entered the army in June, I77S as a captain in one of the New York regiments, and also received appointment as secretary to General Schuyler, acting thus until September, 1776, when he resigned in compliance with Congressional resolutions, and by General Schuyler' s resignation also lost his secretaryship. Later in the month he was appointed deputy muster master general to the Northern Army, acting as chief until 1778. On November 12, 1776, he had been promoted to a lieutenant colonelcy, and in the following April was chosen first deputy muster master general under direction of General Joseph Ward, and acted as such until January, 1 780, when Congress abolished the office and dis- charged its members with allowance of one year's pay, this being the gratuity allowed to other deranged officers. From August, 1779, to the time of his dis- charge he had received none of his pay or subsistence, and on August 2Oth, 1783, he petitioned Congress to direct the State of New York to settle his account, mak- ing good the depreciation that had meanwhile occurred. This had been referred to a committee, L' Hommedieu, McHenry and S. Huntingdon, on September 8th, whose report of the I5th was not acted on. Varick then pushed the matter by memorializing Congress on the 26th, whereupon a fresh committee, Clark, Bland and McHenry, took it up, reporting on October 1st the resolution which passed on the 3Oth (Pap. Cont. Cong., 78, Vol. 23, pp. 199 and 203 ; and 19, Vol. 6, pp. 113 and 115). * Letters to Washington, 64, folios 42 and 152. 14 2IO CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON work to the end of August. It does not appear what hidden money-making machinery was put into operation, but on September loth Robert Morris forwarded the necessary $1,800.* What proved to be the shadow cast by a coming event was encountered on October 24th, when a belated report was made by Huntington, Duane and Madison in regard to a communication received more than a month before from the French Minister. It seems that in the middle of September (i8th) M. de la Luzerne had intimated to Congress that he had a communication of interest to offer. President Boudinot delegated Messrs. Duane, Fitzsim- mons, Gerry, Samuel Huntington and Ellery to receive it, and they met the French Minister one evening in Nassau Hall according to appointment. Luzerne had received dispatches from Vergennes dated July 2ist, stating that it was difficult to know when the Definitive Treaty would be concluded ; France and Great Britain were perfectly agreed on every point respecting their treaty ; the same was true of Spain, while Holland had not quite settled the details of her treaty. But, with the exception of Great Britain, all the powers, ' ' attached to the true principles by which negotiations of such Import- ance ought to be regulated," were determined to sign only in concert, and the negotiation was checked by nothing but the delay in the Anglo-American treaty. In regard to it there seemed to be "a state of Languor " occasioned, so Vergennes thought, by the British pleni- potentiary. By admitting English vessels to American ports too soon, the United States had made a tactical error and had deprived themselves of a powerful weapon to induce Great Britain to conclude the treaty. Had the former prohibitory laws been adhered to until the final settlement of peace, the United States would have furnished "the most powerful Arm" to the party sin- THE BEGINNING OF THE END 211 cerely desiring a conclusion of peace. Congress might, however, rest assured that the Definitive Treaty would not be signed but in concert, and Vergennes ended by deprecating the suggestion that a third party should be requested to act as mediator between Great Britain and the United States. The American Commissioners would do better by forcing their claims themselves. A report l embodying the above information was deliv- ered on September I9th. It was referred to Messrs. Huntington, Duane and Madison who allowed a month to elapse and then on October 24th brought in their reply : Resolved that the Minister Plenipotentiary of France be informed that Congress received much Pleasure from his Communication of the Resolution of the Belligerent Parties not to sign a definitive Treaty of Peace with Great Britain, but in Concert with the United States. That it gives them equal satisfaction to learn that his most Chris- tian Majesty had in view the Commerce of the United States ; and that it is the earnest wish that such a Spirit of Liberality may pervade Commercial Regulations, on both sides, as will extend the Intercourse and mutual Interest of the two Nations, and preserve and encrease the reciprocal Confidence and affection which have so eminently distinguished their Alliance. 2 The foreign commerce of the republic received no little attention from Congress toward the end of the session. The subject had been brought into prominence by the alarmist tone of the dispatches sent over by Adams, Jay and Franklin during the summer, hinting broadly at for- eign disdain of the American government, and plainly asserting the danger to American commerce lurking in the prohibitive commercial policy inaugurated by Great Britain. J Pap. Cont. Cong., 25, 2, p. 295. *Ibid., 25, Vol. 2, p. 291. 212 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON These matters obviously belonged to the province of the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, but no successor had been appointed to Robert Livingston, who had resigned in June ; and the report of Samuel Huntington, Lee and Higginson made on August 26th on a motion of Hunt- ington that a committee be appointed to perform the duties of a Secretary until Livingston's successor should be chosen, does not seem to have been acted on at the time. Mr. Duane had moved that a list of the documents in the Foreign Office be made out and laid before Con- gress. Both of these propositions were embodied in the report which unluckily fell on the day of Washington's reception by Congress, and foreign affairs were for the time relegated to the background. Early in September, however, President Boudinot appointed Messrs. Duane, Rutledge, Fitzsimmons, Gerry and Higginson a committee to analyze the foreign dis- patches and to report what steps should be taken to count- eract the conditions which they revealed. On September 1 9th Mr. Duane read the analysis in Congress, 1 and a few days later the Journal says September 26th, while the manuscript itself is dated September 2Qth brought in a report 2 from his committee on the proposed remedies. It was resolved, on advice of this report, first, to appoint a committee to prepare an address to the States upon the subject of commerce, naming the conditions in Europe, the evils to be apprehended and the steps to be taken by the United States. Messrs. Duane, Fitzsimmons and Lee were appointed. Secondly, it was resolved to appoint a committee to consider the domestic invigoration of the Union and the elevation of its political and commercial status abroad. Messrs. Duane, Fitzsimmons and Lee were also appointed to be this committee. ^ap. Cont. Cong., 25, Vol. 2, p. 257. *Ibid., 24, p. 95. See Secret Journals of Congress, Vol. 3 (Bost, 1821), p. 398. THE BEGINNING OF THE END 213 James McHenry, seconded by Daniel Carroll, here sub- mitted a resolution l which aimed to assist Congressional discussion of these important topics, and of which the preamble summed up very tersely the situation confront- ing the United States a situation created by its new relations with European powers as a result of peace, and also by its domestic concerns as a self-governing people. The various sources of trade that were now open to the United States, the restrictive commercial system being introduced by Great Britain, the necessity of securing immediately all possible foreign advantages and of ad- ministering funds for the punctual discharge of financial obligations, the preservation and securing of domestic har- mony, with provision against external attack whether by Indians or by other possible enemies all of these matters specially requiring the collective deliberation of the States, Dr. McHenry moved that they be earnestly recom- mended to forward representatives as soon as possible that so the wisdom of each State might be exercised where the interest of each was so deeply concerned. Serious consideration could thus be given to the contents of the recent dispatches from Europe he cited their most salient points and to recommendations in the April Ad- dress to the States which had not yet been carried out, and some general system might be devised whereby the injurious effects of British commercial policy might best be counteracted, and the stability of American commerce assured. He offered the resolution in order that, if Great Britain should be successful in carrying out her plans, or if the United States should fail to grasp foreign advant- ages through lack of sufficient representation to discuss them, or should lose national character through neglect of financial obligations, or should fail to make arrange- ments essential to national security and internal harmony, 1 Pap. Cont. Cong., 24, p. 77. 214 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON Congress at least would not be to blame. This motion was assigned for consideration, but before it came up attendance was improved by the imminence of the resi- dence debate. And when that debate was over Mr. Duane had a report to make from the committee appointed by the second resolution of September 26th. Nothing was done about the proposed Address to the States until the next year. 1 But on October 22d Mr. Duane reported a series of instructions 2 to the American Ministers in Eu- rope, which passed Congress on the twenty-ninth. The Ministers were to announce to his majesty the " Emperor" of Germany the high sense Congress entertained of his exalted character and eminent virtues, and to signify the desire of the United States that a treaty of amity and com- merce might be entered into between the two nations. In the second place the Ministers were to meet all ad- vances and encourage every disposition shown by Euro- pean powers to form treaties, laying it down, however, as a fundamental principle that the basis of all such treaties should be one of perfect reciprocity, and no first treaty should be of more than fifteen years' duration. The third instruction was to put a stop to all loans in whatever part of Europe, and was not agreed to, being recommitted for further consideration. Fourthly, the American Ministers were to press upon his Danish Majesty the necessity of giving complete satisfaction for the prizes captured by Captain Paul Jones and taken to the port of Bergen, the value of said prizes being 50,000. His Majesty was at the same time to be assured of the sincerity of the desire of the United States to cultivate the friendship of Den- mark, and to further commercial intercourse with that country. The Ministers were next instructed to find out 1 See Pap. Cont. Cong., 24, p. 99, for the draft of the address timidly drawn up by Gerry, Read, Williamson, Chase and Jefferson in April, 1784. *Ibid., 25, Vol. 2, p. 309. Wharton, Vol. 6, p. 717. THE BEGINNING OF THE END 21$ why the expedition of the " Alliance " and the Bonhomme Richard " was carried out at the expense and on the ac- count of the Court of France, and also whether any of the prizes taken, due to American officers and seamen, were still in Europe and whether any part of the profit accru- ing from the prizes had been placed to the credit of the United States. By the sixth instruction the ministers were directed to see to it that the United States was not further implicated in the affairs of the Armed Neutrality. Although Congress approved of the principles of that convention, since it was founded on the liberal basis of maintenance of the rights of neutrals and of the privileges of commerce, yet it was unwilling to become a party to any confederacy which might hereafter too far compli- cate the interest of the United States with the politics of Europe. If, therefore, affairs had not gone too far to make the step possible, no further measures were to be taken toward admitting the United States into the con- federacy. Seventhly, the American peace commissioners were urged to forward the conclusion of the Definitive Treaty as quickly as possible, even if they were compelled to accept the Provisional Articles as the basis of the per- manent treaty. The eighth and ninth heads were special permission to Jay to recall Carmichael to Paris, if the latter's absence from Madrid would not injure American interests ; Carmichael was to settle his accounts with Jay, and the latter was given permission to go to Bath for his health if he found it necessary. CHAPTER XII THE DUTCH MINISTER ARRIVES FOR several weeks past the members of Congress had been looking for the arrival of a Minister Plenipotentiary from the Netherlands, and the public prints had fostered the general interest in his coming. The accredited Min- ister, Peter John Van Berckel, burgomaster of the city of Rotterdam and a leader in the Assembly, had asked Dumas to write over to Philadelphia and engage for him a house and buy horses and a carriage, as he himself knew no one in America. Dumas had turned the matter over to Livingston, to whom Van Berckel wrote on March 26th, soliciting his aid in the selection of a house and the pur- chase of six horses and a carosse. 1 Livingston, however, was about to resign, and on June 2d wrote to Boudinot that owing to the brevity of his stay in town he would be unable to attend to the commission, and he asked for directions. 2 Toward the end of the summer, as the time for Van Berckel's expected arrival drew near, rumors began to float that other foreign representatives also were on their way. At Philadelphia the economic effect of these rumors was marked. The Philadelphia correspondent of the Boston Evening Post writes in the issue of August i6th: Houses are fitting up in this city for the reception of foreign Ambassadors who are expected to arrive one from Spain, one from Denmark, and one from Sweden ; and it is talked, that one will be sent from Vienna, and one from Berlin, but those are not fully determined ; however, 1 See his letter in Pap. Cent. Cong., 99, p. 21 2 Pap. Cont. Cong., 79, Vol. 3, p. 243. 216 THE DUTCH MINISTER ARRIVES 2 17 people begin to flock hither from all parts, and rents rise amazingly. On the Qth of September the packet ship " General Washington " anchored at Philadelphia, and a wave of excitement was caused when < ' Baron de Beelen of Bert- holff with his suite from the Imperial Court of Germany " disembarked, though, as the Virginia Gazette remarked, whether he came as "Minister, Consul, or resident" would be better known when his credentials were pre- sented. A London letter dated June 2Oth, printed in the same issue of the paper, announced that Van Berckel was expected to sail from Europe in the end of June, and was to come " with his suite in a new 60 gun ship, and is to be attended by four frigates, on board of which are going a great number of the Dutch gentry, and two very opulent merchants of Amsterdam, who intend to fix estab- lished houses, in Philadelphia and New York, and to put considerable sums of money into the new public Penn- sylvania bank." 1 According to a dispatch from Utrecht, dated May 2d and published in the Virginia Gazette July I2th, Van Berckel was to sail in the "Hercula," commanded by Capt. De Melvil, and accompanying his war vessel were the " Centaur" of 44 guns, " La Ceres " of 40 and two other frigates. The Salem Gazette of August 2ist stated that on the 4th of June Van Berckel had taken leave of their High Mightinesses and of the Lords of the States of Holland and West Friesland ; the addresses of fare- well delivered by him on these occasions were pub- lished by the Virginia Gazette on October 4th, and faith- fully copied by its Salem contemporary in its issue of October 23d. On the 8th the Pennsylvania Gazette in- formed its readers that a vessel had just come in from Amsterdam after a voyage of thirteen weeks, having left 1 Virginia Gazette, September 27th. 2l8 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON Europe in company with the vessel which bore Van Berckel, and it was believed having on board a part of his excellency's baggage. This was probably the source of the rumor at Princeton on October pth that the Dutch Minister had arrived in this country. 1 At last, on October nth, the Independent Gazetteer an- nounced that the "Hercula" had arrived in the river after a long passage, and was momently expected in the city. The voyage had been " tedious and tempestuous." 2 Fifteen weeks and three days was Van Berckel's record of its duration. 3 In a storm off Nantucket one of his convoys had gone down and over three hundred men were drowned. Late that afternoon, October nth, his excel- lency landed at the Philadelphia wharf and the bells of Christ Church rang out peals of welcome. 4 One of the best houses in the most fashionable part of the city was to have been provided for him, 5 but there was a hitch in the negotiation and the first foreign Minister accredited to the United States after its independence was admitted, was compelled to put up at the City Tavern on Second Street near Walnut. 6 While there was no public house in Philadelphia which enjoyed a better reputation in the country than the City Tavern, and while it probably compared favorably with the best hotels of Amsterdam, yet the Dutch Minister felt the neglect keenly ; and the fact that the horses he had ordered had been obtained ameliorated but little the state of his feelings. Boudinot remarked to General Philemon Dickinson that Van Berckel was "rather disgusted with his reception at his 1 L' Hommedieu to Clinton, October gih. Clinton MSS. No. 5214. 3 Independent Gazetteer, October 1 8th. 3 Lenox Library, Letters of Van Berckel ; October I2th to the States General. < Independent Gazetteer, October 1 8th. 6 Gilpin's Madison, Vol. I, p. 575 ; Hunt's Madison, Vol. 2, p. 23, Madison to Randolph, September 3Oth. ^Pennsylvania Gazette, October I5th ; Virginia Gazette, October 25th. THE DUTCH MINISTER ARRIVES 219 first landing." 1 Madison grumbled to Randolph that six horses were a regrettable extravagance "wherever commerce prevails there will be an inequality of wealth, and wherever the latter goes a simplicity of manners must decline." 2 Van Berckel gave himself a week in which to test his horses and to recover from his voyage and his surprise at not finding Congress in Philadelphia. Robert Morris entertained him at dinner on October I3th 3 and Richard Phillips, Mr. Boudinot's steward, received orders to give him the late presidential mansion and to do anything in his power to make him comfortable.* But the steward made the mistake of allowing his own ideas of diplomatic courtesy to precipitate a mild international complication. When he saw the days passing inertly, he intimated to the Dutch Minister that his failure to announce officially his presence as a foreign representative was lacking in dignity and productive of comment. This from a lackey Van Berckel resented ; and, falling readily into what was almost a public custom when trouble was brewing, he consulted Robert Morris. The latter at once communi- cated with Mr. Boudinot, who on October 23d expressed to Morris his mortification at Phillips' indiscretion, beg- ging him to assure Van Berckel that ' ' it must have arose either from the ignorance or insolence of a weak old Man," for he believed that Phillips "had never heard the Idea even suggested from any Person whatever." No word had yet been received from Van Berckel. For some unknown reason a letter which he wrote on the igth, formally announcing his arrival in America, enclosing a Boudinot, Vol. i, p. 403. 'Gilpin's Madison, Vol. i, p. 575 ; Hunt's Madison, Vol. 2, p. 23, Madison to Randolph, September 3Oth. 3 Morris' Diary. 4 Pap. Cont. Cong., 15, p. 252; Boudinot, Vol. I, p. 400; Wharton, Vol. 6, P- 7I3- 220 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON copy of his credentials and praying the honor of an audi- ence with Congress did not reach Princeton until the evening of the 24th. Mr. Boudinot at once dispatched his Secretary, Charles Sterrett, with a letter assuring Van Berckel of his joy at the news of the Minister's safe arrival, and also of the pleasure he would have in render- ing his residence in America as ' ' agreeable as this Infant Country will admit." He told him that he would an- nounce to Congress the next day the fact of his arrival and would transmit without delay the decision as to an audience. The Trustees of the College of New Jersey had not needed the cumbersome machinery of official channels to inform them of the arrival of a Minister from the land of William of Nassau, in honor of whom Nassau Hall was named. The fact that he was in the country was suffic- ient unto them, and on October 22d oddly enough the anniversary date of the signing of the college charter while Congress was listening to the draft of a treaty with Denmark 1 on which, characteristically, no action was taken, the Trustees of the college being met on business connected with the upbuilding of the institution, seized the oppor- tunity to resolve that a congratulatory address be pre- sented to the Minister from Holland on behalf of the cor- poration. Dr. Witherspoon was requested to prepare it, and it was agreed to in these simple terms : To His Excellency Van Berckel 'minister plenipotentiary from the States of the United Netherlands, to the United States of America. May it please your Excellency The trustees of the college of New Jersey beg leave to congratulate your Excellency on your arrival in this country. The name by which the building is distinguished in which our instruc- tion is conducted, will sufficiently inform your Excel- lency of the attachment we have ever had to the States !Pap. Cont. Cong., 25, Vol. 2, p. 315. THE DUTCH MINISTER ARRIVES 221 of the United Netherlands. And the friendship, counte- nance, & assistance, which we have received from Hol- land call upon us, in the most particular manner to express our gratitude to your constituents, by wishing you all happiness, comfort, & success in your present important mission. Signed in the name & by order of the board JOHN WITHERSPOON Presdt 1 Nassau Hall, Oct. 22, 1783. On the morning of the 25th Mr. Boudinot officially an- nounced to his colleagues the arrival of the Dutch Min- ister, the receipt of his letter of the ipth and his request for an audience. Congress suspended discussion of the Peace Establishment and sent the letter to an inevitable committee, whose report 2 was in very short order pre- sented and agreed to, whereby it was Resolved That the said honorable P. J. Van Berckel be received as Minister plenipotentiary from their high Mightinesses the states general of the United [provinces of the] 3 Netherlands and that agreeably to his request he be admitted to a public Audience in Congress. That the Congress room in Princeton on Thursday next at Noon be appointed as the time and place for such Audience. That the superintendent of finance and secretary at War or either of them perform on this occasion the duties as- signed to the Secretary for foreign affairs in the cere- monial respecting foreign Ministers and that they inform the supreme executives of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, his excellency the commander in chief, the hon bl *. the Minister plenipotentiary of [their high Mightinesses the States general of the United provinces] s France & such 1 Minutes of the Trustees, Vol. I, p. 241. The blanks are in the minutes. The document sent is not among the Van Berckel papers at Washington, nor does an acknowledgment seem to have been received by the Trustees. 2 Pap. Cont. Cong., 25, Vol. 2, p. 299. * Bracketed words struck out. The preamble to the resolution as printed in the Journal is found in Pap. Cont. Cong., 25, Vol. 2, pp. 303, 305. 222 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON civil and military gentlemen as are in or near to Prince- town of the public Audience to be given to the honorable the Minister plenipotentiary of their high Mightinesses the States general of the United [provinces of the] 5 Netherlands. Ordered That the superintendent of finance and secre- tary at war or either of them take Order for an enter- tainment to be given at the public expense to the hon ble . P. J. Van Berkel Minister plenipotentiary from their High Mightinesses the States general of the United [prov- inces of the] 3 Netherlands to the United States of America, On thursday next the day assigned for the public Audi- ence of the said Minister. It was further ordered, although the Journal does not show it, that the Superintendent of Finance and the Sec- retary of War or either of them should see to the provis- ion of suitable apartments for the accommodation of the Minister during his attendance on Congress. 1 The ceremonial for such occasions was also spread on the Journal. 2 On Sunday, Charles Thomson sent three copies of it to Boudinot, 3 and one of these the President at once forwarded to Van Berckel with the results of Saturday morning's deliberations. In his letter of that day he tells the Minister of the great satisfaction Congress had expressed at the news of his arrival and says that notwithstanding pressing business of national importance Congress immediately took his request into consideration, and in order that he might be received before the close of the session (the first Monday of November), Thursday the soth had been appointed for the audience. The Presi- dent also enclosed a copy of the ceremonial to be used on the occasion, and after inviting the Minister and his suite to dinner on Friday, the day after the audience, he closed with this apology : . Cont. Cong., 149, Letters of B. Lincoln, Vol. 3, p. 261. * The ceremonial is not published in the Journal, but appears in the Secret Journal, Vol. 3 (1821), p. 410. 3 Pap. Cont. Cong., 181, Memorandum book 1783 (unpaged). JAMES MADISON [From the engraving by Leney] THE DUTCH MINISTER ARRIVES 223 We feel ourselves greatly mortified, that our present circumstances in a small Country village, prevent us giv- ing you a reception more agreeable to our wishes But I hope these unavoidable deficiencies will be compensated by the sincerity of our Joy on this occasion." 1 And Madison, whose ill humor was well-nigh chronic by this time he had that summer been crossed in love felt constrained to comment on the "charming situation in which Congress found itself " for receiving a foreign Minister, in an obscure village, undetermined where the winter would be spent and without even a Secretary for Foreign Affairs. 2 It was indeed a sore trial to Congressional dignity, but President Boudinot determined to make the reception and audience as imposing as possible. On the twenty- fifth he wrote to Robert Morris and Major General Lin- coln informing them of the important duties assigned to them, 5 and Morris deputed Major Jackson to assist Lin- coln, suggesting at the same time that he "bespeak wine of Capt 1 ; Barney and M r . Fitzsimmons &c." 4 At the re- quest of Van Berckel to have the audience postponed until Friday or Saturday, 5 President Boudinot named Friday, as Saturday would be the last day of their official existence, and a quorum would certainly be lacking. 6 This change of date was accepted by Congress on the 3Oth. Van Berckel called on Morris on October 28th to con- sult about the journey to Princeton and the ceremony, 7 J Pap. Cont. Cong., 16, p. 253 ; Wharton, Vol. 6, p. 715. 2 Madison to Randolph, October I3th. Gilpin's Madison, Vol. i, p. 579. Hunt's Madison, Vol. 2, p. 24. 3 Pap. Cont. Cong., 16, p. 255 ; Boudinot, Vol. I, p. 401. 4 Morris' Diary, October 27th, 28th. This presumably was the Thomas Fitz- simmons to whom the President of Congress had paid three days before ,22, IDS., for "Clarett." 5 Pap. Cont. Cong., 99, p. 25 ; Wharton, Vol. 6, p. 716. 6 Ibid., 16, p. 256 ; Wharton, Vol. 6, p. 716. 7 Morris' Diary, October 28th. 224 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON and gave him a copy of the address which he intended to deliver in Congress and which Morris at once sent to Boudinot. 1 On the 2Qth an express was hurried to Colonel Frelinghuysen with a copy of Van Berckel's Dutch credentials and a request from Congress that he " read them over in that language in public at the audi- ence, before a translation is read." 2 To Major General Philemon Dickinson, President Bou- dinot wrote the same day telling him that the Dutch Minister was ' ' to pass through Trenton tomorrow noon . . . Could you not get the Troop of Horse in your Neighborhood to turn out & escort him from the Ferry thro' the Town It would give reputation to the charac- ter of our State abroad and it would be increasing . . . of the business if the Gent n of Trenton were to wait on him as he passed thro, the Town. I thought it my duty as a Citizen of Jersey to give you these few hints which you can improve on as you think proper." 3 On Thursday morning, October soth, Van Berckel started from Philadelphia in his private coach, followed by his retinue and accompanied by the French Minister, M. de la Luzerne, 4 and by Robert Morris. 5 Late in the afternoon he was met on the road by Washington's troopers, and thus escorted he reached Princeton that evening. On the outskirts of the village he found Gen- eral Lincoln and a party of other gentlemen waiting to welcome him, and to conduct him to the apartments se- lected for his use. His letters home say that these apart- ments were in the house of the " clergyman " at Prince- !Pap. Cont. Cong., 137, Vol. 3, p. 235. 2 Ibid., 1 6, p. 260. 3 Boudinot, Vol. I, p. 403. Dickinson was major general of the New Jersey Militia. 4 Independent Gazetteer, November 1st, Pennsylvania Gazette, November 5th, etc. 5 Morris' Diary, October 3Oth. THE DUTCH MINISTER ARRIVES 22$ ton. 1 As Dr. Witherspoon was pastor of the only church at Princeton at this time and Vice President Smith of the college was occupying the President's house on the campus, we must conclude that Van Berckel was lodged at " Tusculum," Dr. Witherspoon's private residence. That night he went to call on President Boudinot, and the details of the next morning's ceremony were finally rehearsed. The day had been a busy one at Princeton. Besides the action on the cases of Richard Varick and Generals Knox and Bailey already mentioned, that of George Bond, deputy secretary of Congress had been considered and the Superintendent of Finance had been directed to pay him the sum of $500. 2 Amends were also made for the additional labor that fell to the lot of Robert Patton, messenger of Congress during its Princeton session, by granting him ten dollars per month extra pay from June 2ist to the date of the adjournment. Lest the new Congress which would assemble on the first Monday of November should not be able to muster a quorum and elect a president during the few remaining 1 Lenox Library, Bancroft MSS. 2 George Bond had been appointed in November, 1779, but his salary of $1000 a year had been inadequate from the start. He had possessed private means, but had now expended every shilling, and embarrassed by debt he found it almost impossible to support his wife and two children. In May, 1782, he had applied for an increase of salary, and in November the committee on his application had reported it inexpedient to raise salaries. In November and December he had applied again, but nothing had been done. In October, 1783, he wrote to Bou- dinot in reference to the great additional expense incurred by him through the removal of Congress to Princeton ; he intended to resign and locate in New York, and hoped Congress might speedily consider his claim. Charles Thomson, his chief, testified to his faithful and discreet service and told the committee that the United States could ill afford to let such a man leave government employ poorer than when he entered it. The committee, Beresford, Williamson and Mercer, reported favorably on October 22d, but Bond had to spend another week of uncer- tainty before he saw the report taken up. On October 3<3th the grant above men- tioned was made. (Pap. Cont. Cong., 78, Vol. 4, pp. 357, 361, 409, 413, 417, and Ibid., 19, Vol. I, p. 397.) 15 226 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON days of its stay at Princeton, it was ordered that if no president were elected by November i2th, the appointed date of removal from Princeton, the secretary should adjourn Congress to meet at Annapolis on the twenty- sixth as agreed. The request of the Pennsylvania dele- gates for a sense of Congress on the proposed conference between that State and the Indians was taken up and settled, with the result already recorded in these pages. It was ordered furthermore that the President send to the executives of the States copies of the acts of Congress respecting the proposed residences on the Delaware and the Potomac, and also of the resolution on adjournment. A report of Duane, Gerry and Lee on a report of Liv- ingston regarding an agent or consul at the Island of Madeira was to have been considered, but at present there was no time for it. And up at his quarters on Rocky Hill, in the " Blue Room " overlooking the Millstone valley all aglow in its autumn foliage, Washington that Thursday was putting his signature to his Farewell Orders to the American Army. In the evening a horseman left " Rockingham " bearing the document addressed to General Knox. The letter which accompanied the Orders told Knox that they were not to be issued until November 2d, and that Washington himself would attend to their publication in the Philadelphia papers. 1 1 Letters of Washington, B, Vol. 16, pt. 2, No. 293. The "Blue Room" was then, as it is now, the chief apartment at "Rockingham." On the second floor of the house and opening onto the long covered balcony facing the valley, it was used by Washington as his reception room and office. The house has passed through many hands during the last 124 years, and more than once came almost to ruin before it was rescued in 1896 by the patriotic generosity of the late Mrs. J. Thompson Swann, of Princeton. When she bought the property it was the dilapidated tenement home of between forty and fifty Italian quarrymen and their families. But even then, amid all the squalor and filth, the " Blue Room " was kept unused and immaculate. Its bare floors and plain walls, and the blue dado that gives it its name, were spotless, while in one corner stood a rude table on which THE DUTCH MINISTER ARRIVES 227 October 315! dawned fair as behooved the importance of the day. But business in Congress began tamely enough, although there was much to be done before twelve. George Bond resigned his position as deputy secretary of Congress since the condition of his private affairs did not allow him to continue in public service. Nathan Jones, a clerk in the war office, also resigned for the same reason. Then the committee on the memorial of Henry Remsen, Jr., and Benjamin Bankson, clerks in the secretary's office, which had been read on October ist, rather reluctantly advised granting them $200 each for their extra services and expenses. 1 These domestic matters cleared the way for the consideration of the con- sulship at Madeira. The report 2 of Duane, Gerry and Lee was taken up and the resolution in accordance with the report was adopted. It is of interest as it gives an insight into our commercial affairs after the war, in at least one corner of the globe : That altho' no Commercial Treaty hath yet taken place between the Queen of Portugal and the United States, your Committee are well informed that, in Consequence of the Revocation of the Edict of that Queen in 1776 for day and night a taper burned, a touching mark of Italian deference to tradition and a revered name. " Rockingham" has been carefully restored and is now a depository of Revolutionary relics, particularly Washingtoniana, and is owned by the Washington Headquarters Association of Rocky Hill. J The memorial had been written and presented on October ist, and had been referred to Clarke, Holten and Hawkins. It represented that the removal of Congress to Princeton had "by enhancing the Articles of Consumption" so increased the cost of living that the petitioners in their financial straits were com- pelled to apply to Congress for relief. They had never been reimbursed for the expenses incurred during the three days while the papers of Congress were being transported from Philadelphia, although the clerks of the War and Pay Offices had been granted sums to defray their travelling expenses. They hesitated to name the amount which they thought would be fair, but they thought 200 dollars each would "relieve them of their necessities." (Pap. Cont. Cong., 41, Vol. 8, P. 335- ) 2 Pap. Cont. Cong., 25, Vol. 2, p. 319. 228 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON restraining the Commerce of the United States with her dominions the Ships and Vessels of these States are permitted & do actually trade at the Island of Madeira as was usual before the War. That your Committee are further informed that accord- ing to the Arrangements established in the Island of Madeira for regulating Trade no Vessel can be cleared out without passing thro' the Office of the Agent or Consul of the Nation to which she belongs. That the Clearance of the first American Vessell which arrived at the said Island after the Repeal of the said Edict meeting with Obstructions for want of a Consul or Agent on behalf of these States the Governor thought fit to send for M Pintard a Native of the State of New York residing on that Island and gave him a Commission to Act in the Character of Agent for the United States and then directed the said Vessell to pass thro' his Office. That your Committee are further informed that the British Factory in the said Island regulates the prices of Wine in which is included a national Duty of four hun- dred and sixty Reis per Pipe which every person who Ships in British Bottoms is obliged to pay to the Consul of that Nation, which Duty is applied to the Relief and Support of distressed British subjects the Governor being allowed annually a certain Sum from that Fund : That under this pretext every Merch* who ships in American Bottoms charges the same Duty and puts the money in his own pocket Upon this State of Facts your Committee are of Opinion that tho' no Consul ought to be appointed at the said Island for the United States untill the Treaty with the Queen of Portugal now in Contemplation shall be com- pleated ; Yet that it will be of advantage to appoint an Agent especially as it can be done without Expence or Inconvenience And therefore your Committee submit the following Resolution Resolved that a Commercial agent be appointed to assist the Merchants & other Citizens of these United States trading to the Island of Madeira : And that John Marsden Pintard be appointed Agent accordingly. The long delayed ratification of the contract entered THE DUTCH MINISTER ARRIVES 22Q into by Franklin on February 2 5th with the Court of Versailles for a loan of six millions of livres, was next passed. It had been drawn up in August, as the manu- script report of Madison, Wilson and Higginson on the contract and the letter of Franklin of June 22d shows. 1 Luzerne sent in a communication to enquire about it on September i/th. Ten days later Madison, Duane and S. Huntington, committee on this letter, reported that they had found the form of ratification, and moved that the French Minister be informed of the fact and that it be transmitted without delay of the American Commis- sioners in France. 2 This report had been adopted on October 2d, but formal ratification did not take place until the 3ist. John Dunlap, who had applied in a letter of October 2 ist for the honor of being allowed to remain government printer in the place where Congress would reside, was reappointed. 3 The long-deferred claim of Thomas Paine then came up. Early in June he had requested of President Boudi- not permission to lay before Congress an account of his services, and his request was referred to Messrs. Clarke, Peters and Hawkins. He was to have met them on Mon- day, June 23d, but the mutiny upset all the machinery of government, and Congress left Philadelphia so hastily that Paine was not given an opportunity of stating his case. He mildly sought a hearing, but received no satis- faction until August, when the committee delivered a report (August i$th, read on August i8th) wherein it was stated that ' ' a just and impartial account of our interest for public Fredom and happiness should be handed down to posterity " ; that this would best be done by an official historiographer, one too " who has been and is governed . Cont. Cong., 25, Vol. 2, p. 323. * Ibid., p. 269. 8 Ibid., 78, Vol. 8, p. 39. 230 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON by the most disinterested principles of public good, totally uninfluenced by party of every kind " ; that Thomas Paine had rendered invaluable services to the United States " without having sought, received or stipulated for any honors, advantages, or emoluments for himself. That a History of the American revolution compiled by Mf Paine is certainly to be desired," and therefore the com- mittee proposed that he be appointed historiographer to the United States at a salary to be decided later. Accord- ing to James Cheetham this proposition was met with a burst of indignation. 1 It was not however withdrawn, but was allowed to lie on the table. On September loth, Washington invited Paine to Princeton as his guest. " Your presence," he wrote, "may remind Congress of your past services to this Country, & if it is in my power to impress them command my best exertions with free- dom as they will be rendered chearfully by one who en- tertains a lively sense of the importance of your Works." This letter had been delivered to Paine by a son of Colo- nel Morgan and in reply he had asked that the considera- tion of his appointment as historiographer might be post- poned until he could present certain facts himself ; he felt hurt by the neglect of Congress ; its silence was akin to condemnation, and its justification must be at the expense of his reputation. On October 2d he had sent to Wash- ington an account of himself for transmission to the com- mittee on his claim, and later in the month followed it to Princeton. On October 3ist the proposition of appoint- ing him historiographer was taken up and discussed. But even the weight of Washington's influence was of no avail. The case was referred to a fresh committee, Messrs. Car- roll, Gerry and Ellery, and Paine had to suffer another disappointment and exercise further patience. 2 Cheetham, Life of Paine, 1809, p. 94. 2 Pap. Cont. Cong., 55, pp. 73, 79, 8l ; 19, Vol. 5, p. I ; Letters of Wash- ington, P, Vol. 3, no. 512 ; Letters to Washington, 64, folios 193, 223. In M. D. THE DUTCH MINISTER ARRIVES 23! It was now near noon, and at "Tusculum" Van Berckel was ready when Robert Morris and General Lincoln arrived to notify him that Congress was waiting his presence. In his coach he at once set out for Prince- ton. Just before he reached the village a horseman came galloping up the highroad from the eastward and drew rein at the college campus. It proved to be Colonel Matthias Ogden of the ist New Jersey Regiment, who the afternoon before had landed at New York in the ship ''Hartford" from England. Learning that the packet carrying the Definitive Treaty, which had sailed on Sep- tember 2Oth, had not yet been sighted, he found that he was the bearer of the first authentic news of the Treaty's signing, and he set off express for Princeton, tarrying at Elizabeth that night to send letters, announcing his news, to Washington and to Elias Boudinot. 1 Pushing on he outstripped the postboys, for Mr. Boudinot says that the Colonel himself brought the tidings to Princeton. The joy that he created may easily be imagined. Van Berckel found himself in the presence of a smiling com- pany when a few moments later he was ushered in by General Lincoln and Mr. Morris, who had met him as he alighted at the steps of Nassau Hall. In order to accommodate the crowd of visitors the audience was held in the prayer-hall. Besides Washing- ton and M. de la Luzerne there was a large gathering of military men and " many gentlemen of eminence, together Conway's edition of Paine's Works (Vol. 4, pp. 471-472) is an interesting account of the experiment Washington and Paine made in the Millstone at Rocky Hill of stirring the muddy river bed and setting fire to the gas thus liberated, as it reached the surface of the water, in this manner corroborating what seems to have been a local saying that the river could be set on fire. l New York Gazette, November ist ; Letters to Washington, 64, folio 320 and Pap. Cont. Cong., 78, Vol. 17, p. 361. The treaty did not arrive until after Congress had adjourned from Princeton and Mr. Boudinot' s term of office had come to an end. He was no longer a member when it was ratified in the follow- ing January. 232 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON with a number of ladies of the first character." 1 The doors of the hall, by special order of Congress, were left open during the audience so that those who could not gain admission might at least hear the addresses. Morris and Lincoln conducted the Dutch Minister to the chair placed in front of the President of Congress. The members were seated by States and uncovered. Elias Boudinot wore his hat, but Van Berckel was bare- headed. On being introduced he read the following address : 2 Messieurs du Congres! Avant que je Vous expose la commission dont Mes- seigneurs les Etats Generaux des Pais-bas Unis m'ont honor6 permettez moi que je fasse 6clater la joye, que me cause la satisfaction, de me trouver aujourdhui dans cette Assembled, et d'y rencontrer de ces hommes illustres, que le Siecle pr6sent admire, que la posterite" se proposera tou- jours pour modele de Patriotisme, et dont I'6ternit6 m6me ne saura que r6compenser les merites. Pendant que toute TEurope tenoit les yeux fix6s sur Vos exploits, Leurs Hautes Puissances ne pouvoient que S'y interesser tres serieusement, se souvenant toujours des dangers et des vicissitudes, que Leurs peres ont du subir, avant que de pouvoir s'affranchir du joug, ou ils etoient attaches : Elles connoissent mieux que tout autre, la va- leur d'une Iibert6 independante, et savoient justement apprecier la grandeur de Vos desseins : Elles applaudis- soient aux entreprises genreuses, inspires par 1'amour de la Patrie entamees avec prudence, et soutenues avec 1 William Gordon, History of the . . . United States, Vol. 3 (N. Y. 1789) p. 374- *The documents relating to the Dutch Minister's audience are found in a volume labelled "Letters of Van Berckel," (Pap. Cont. Cong., 99). Folios 911 contain a translation of the Minister's Address in Secretary Thomson's handwriting ; folios 29-30, President Boudinot' s reply with his autograph correc- tions ; folios 31-33, the Address of the States General to the United States ; folios 34-36, the same signed and sealed ; folios 37-40, translation of the Address of the States General ; folios 41-43, Van Berckel's French address ; folios 45-46, Presi- dent Boudinot' s rough draft of his reply. THE DUTCH MINISTER ARRIVES 233 un courage heroi'que : Elles se rejouissent, a la fin, du suc- ces heureux, qui couronne Vos travaux. Pour vous convaincre de Leur affection, et de la part qu'Elles prennent dans ce qui regarde Votre Republique, mes Maitres m'ont charge^ Messieurs, de Vous feliciter de 1'accomplissement de Vos desirs, qui toient, de faire valoir Votre determination absolue, et de jouir de ce tr^sor inestimable & naturel, qui Vous place au rang des Puissances Souveraines & Independantes. Qu'il est flatteur pour moi, de me trouver aujourdhui 1'organe et 1'interprete des Sentimens et des dispositions de mes Maitres, et de pouvoir Vous assurer de Leur part, qu'Ils ne souhaitent rien plus ardemment que le bonheur de Votre Republique, et 1'affermissement de 1'Union de Vos Etats ! Puisse cette union, fond6e sur les principes du vrai Patriotisme, et de 1'amour du bien public, telle- ment se cimenter, que ni la fausse ambition, ni la jalousie ni I'inter^t particulier ne soyent jamais en etat, d'y porter la moindre atteinte ! Puisse I'administration d'un gouv- ernement sage et prudent fixer la prosperit6 et 1'abon- dance au milieu de ce Peuple, et le combler d'une gloire, qui n'ait d'autres bornes que celles des deux Poles, ni d'autre terme, qui celui des Sie"cles. Leurs Hautes Puissances, Messieurs, ne se contentent pas de Vous faire uniquement des complimens de felicita- tions, qui par euxmemes ne sont que tres steriles : mais convaincues, qu'un Commerce mutuel, et une bienveuil- lance reciproque sont les moyens les plus surs, pour res- serrer de plus en plus, ces sacr6s liens d'amiti6, qui Vous unissent deja, Elles m'ont ordonn6, de Vous temoigner, qu'Elles n'ont rien plus a coeur, que de travailler effi- cacement, a rendre cette Amiti6, fertile & fructueuse, et de contribuer tout le possible a 1'aggrandisement d'un Alli6, dont Elles se promettent les m6mes efforts. Voila 1'esquisse, mais encore une esquisse bien foible & defectueuse des Sentimens de mes Maitres, dont la Sin- cerit6 surpasse 1'expression, mais qui pourtant se manifeste dans les Lettres que je viens de Vous remettre de Leur part : Voila, Messieurs, voila le but de la Mission, dont Us m'ont honor ; puisse-je dignement repondre a Leur attente, et gagner au meme terns Votre Affection et Votre 234 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON confiance, qui me sont si necessaires, pour reussir dans mes enterprises ! Quant a moi, sans ruse et sans artifice, j'agirai toujours avec cette droiture, cette candeur, et cordialite qui font le Caractere distinctif d'un vrai Re- publicain, et qui, par la meme, me sont autant de titres et de Surs garants, de parvenir a ce point de mon ambi- tion, qui est, de m'acquerir les suffrages du Congres, 1'amitie de ceux qui le composent, et 1'estime de toute la Nation Americaine. Then taking his seat he handed his credentials to his secretary, who in turn handed them to Charles Thomson, the Secretary of Congress. The latter passed them on to Colonel Freylinghusen, whose Dutch ancestry had made him the official interpreter for the day, and he read them in the original. Charles Thomson then read a translation. President Boudinot now rose and taking off his hat read this response : Sir. In a Contest for the rights of human Nature, the Citi- zens of [the united States of] l America could not but be impressed with the glorious Example of those illustrious Patriots, who triumphing over every Difficulty & Danger, established the Liberties of the united Netherlands on the most honorable & permanent Basis Congress at an early Period of the War, sought the Friendship of their high Mightinesses ; convinced that the same inviolable Regard for Liberty, and the same Wis- dom Justice & Magnanimity, which led their forefathers to Glory, was handed down unimpaired to their Posterity. And [great was our Pleasure] l our Satisfaction was great in accomplishing with them a Treaty of Amity & Com- merce, on terms so acceptable to both Nations. [It is Sir with the highest Satisfaction, that] 1 With the sincerest Pleasure, Sir, we receive the honorable Testi- monials of the Confidence & Esteem of their High Mighti- nesses, and their affectionate Congratulations on the Success of our Efforts in the sacred Cause of Liberty, [which you have this day presented] l 1 Bracketed words struck out. THE DUTCH MINISTER ARRIVES 235 We assure you Sir, that it is our earnest desire to unite with their High Mightinesses in every Measure, which can promote the most unreserved Confidence and the most friendly intercourse between the two Nations who have [supported] l vindicated their freedom l amidst the most trying Scenes of Danger and Distress, and have been equally blessed by the gracious Interposition of divine Providence with that Sovereignty and Independence so essential to their Safety and Happiness. Governed by the same ardent Love of Freedom, and same Maxims of Policy, cemented by a liberal System of Commerce and earnestly disposed to advance our mutual Prosperity by a Reciprocity of good Offices ; we persuade ourselves that the most friendly and beneficial Connection between the two Republics will be preserved inviolate to the latest Ages* It adds Sir, greatly to our Pleasure on this interesting Occasion that their High Mightinesses have employed as their minister a Gentleman so highly celebrated for Recti- tude and Patriotism, and from whose illustrious Family these united States have received the most distinguished Proofs of Regard and Friendship. President Boudinot handed the manuscript of this ad- dress to Secretary Thomson, by whom it was given to the Minister, and the latter punctiliously rose to receive it. This was the cue for the approach of Robert Morris and General Lincoln, who then conducted the Minister back to his coach, while Congress resumed business with a sigh of relief that no hitch had marred the complete formality of the occasion. Van Berckel reached his apartments in safety and well pleased ; but he had no sooner got indoors when the faith- ful committee 2 on arrangements appeared again, this 1 Here Boudinot' s own draft ends and the address is completed in another hand. 2 Robert Morris was in Princeton only a day and a half, but he spent his time well. He notes in his diary of November 2d that besides attending the ' ' public entertainments ' ' in honor of Van Berckel, he visited many members of Congress and General Washington, and had a conference with a committee of Congress on the Dutch loan " which they promised not to meddle with." 236 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON time to invite him formally to the state banquet ordered in his honor. This was served either at Christopher Beekman's tavern or at President Boudinot's house. Over fifty covers were laid, and Mr. Boudinot did the honors. In the evening General Washington called at ' ' Tusculum " with a number of officers to pay his respects. The next day the members of Congress called, and Presi- dent Boudinot gave another dinner of fifty covers, which Washington paralleled on Sunday afternoon by inviting Van Berckel and most of the members of Congress and officers in the neighborhood to dine with him at " Rock- ingham." Nothing was left undone that could erase any unfavorable first impressions Van Berckel may have received. The close of the session was marked by a round of the liveliest festivities in his honor. He was in Princeton only five days, but the first thing he did on his return to Philadelphia was to write home to his Gov- ernment for more money, so sadly had his funds been depleted by banquets and wines, which, as he says, the social honor of his country demanded that he provide during his brief stay in the little village of Princeton. 1 And Mr. Boudinot who was writing to the American Commissioners at Paris, with probably unconscious humor remarked that the Dutch Minister appeared to be ' ' a person very much suited to the manners of the American people." 1 See Van Berckel' s letters in Lenox Library, Bancroft MSS. Holland and America, Vol. I. CHAPTER XIII THE END OF THE SESSION At the village post office on the night of Friday the 3ist occurred the only untoward incident that is to be charged against the community during the stay of Con- gress in its midst. At about nine o'clock a mailbag, which was lying on the counter and contained all the mail for the east, together with $3,500 in Morris' notes and $2,800 in Michael Hil- legas' notes, besides all of Washington's recent corre- spondence which he was forwarding to Colonel Varick to be copied, was stolen by a person or persons unknown. While the post rider, James Martin, a man of untarnished record, was in the rear room talking over the events of the day with John Harrison, the postmaster, some one entered the office, blew out the solitary candle that lighted it, and made off with the bag. Harrison and Martin at once went around to the various local resorts where they thought they might find the thief, but in the darkness and rain pursuit was fruitless, and they then reported the robbery to President Boudinot. He decided that nothing could be done that night, but the next day he informed Congress of the affair. In view of the scarcity of money the loss of the notes fell peculiarly hard, and Washington had something to say about the stupidity of the local officials. The Postmaster General was directed, on motion of Mr. Ellery, to inquire into the circumstances of the robbery, 1 while the notes were at once advertised in the papers. A few days later as Dr. Witherspoon's farmhand, a 'Pap. Cont. Cong., 4, 275. 237 238 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON Scotchman named William McLean who had formerly been a soldier in the British army, was bringing home the doctor's cows, he saw a portmanteau lying in the ditch bordering the meadow. He called a negro, appropriately named Fortune, and together they carried the find up to the house where John Witherspoon, Jr., the Doctor's son, discovered that it was the lost mailbag. McLean, who could neither read nor write, had not even heard of the theft. The bag was returned to the general post office and its contents were found to be intact, with the excep- tion of a few private letters written by Congressmen, which had been opened. 1 The Postmaster General reported on November 22d, exonerating Martin and Harrison, 2 but the committee on his report, Messrs. Gerry, Howell and McComb, offered a reward of $300 for the detection of the culprit, and recommended that all the documents in the case be referred to the Governor of the State of New Jersey, with instruc- tion to investigate rigidly the conduct of Harrison and Martin.* Jonathan Deare and Judge Olden of Princeton were appointed by Governor Livingston to conduct the local investigation ; but they elicited no damaging testi- mony, although they drew 4. 155. for their services and disbursements. In May of the next year, Governor Liv- ingston reported the complete exoneration of the local postal authorities, and the matter was dropped. 4 In 1791 Harrison became treasurer of the college, and subse- quently trustee and treasurer of the Presbyterian Church at Princeton, so that his reputation in the community does not seem to have suffered. J Pap. Cont. Cong., 68, p. 621, et seq. * Ibid., 61, p. 155. *Ibid., 19, Vol. 3, p. 83. 4 Letters to Washington, C, Vol. 5, p. 58, and P, Vol. 3, p. 213 ; Journal, November ist, 1783, and January 6th, April 6th and May nth, 1784; Pap. Cont. Cong., 36, Vol. 4, p. 343. THE END OF THE SESSION 239 On Saturday, November ist, in spite of President Boudinot's fears to the contrary, a quorum was present and business of interest, if not of great importance, was transacted. Charles Thomson was ordered to provide General Greene with a clerk to copy for permanent record his history of the southern campaign. To Lieutenant Richard Fullerton, who had fought with conspicuous bravery at Long Island, Trenton and Princeton and had served with distinction in various appointments in the southern army, was awarded a brevet commission of cap- tain as a reward for his meritorious conduct; and in answer to the memorial of William Stewart, a lieutenant in Hazen's Second Canadian Regiment, who had been engaged in suppressing trade and intercourse with the enemy, and now found himself far from home and pressed by poverty, the Superintendent of Finance was ordered to advance to him two months' pay. 1 Robert Morris was also directed to inform the Farmers General of France, to whom a balance of 846,770 livres was still owed by the United States, and whose letter of July to Franklin pro- posing that the principal be paid in tobacco they waived all interest on the debt 2 had been forwarded to Con- gress by Morris on September I5th, and referred then to a committee reporting November ist, that the United States thanked them for their generosity, and that as soon as the revenue measure of the preceding April should take effect the interest accruing on the balance due to the Farmers General would be punctually remitted, and that if this were not satisfactory, the United States begged them to be assured that all possible endeavors would be made to discharge the principal as soon as the state of public finances would admit. A long report, delivered on October 29th by Messrs. 1 Pap. Cont. Cong., 78, Vol. 21, p. 337, and 19, Vol. 5, p. 419. 2 Ibid., 26, p. 461. 240 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON Carroll, Duane and S. Huntington, on the vital question of improving the attendance of members, was now spread on the minutes and it was resolved hereafter to have a call-over of the States every morning at eleven, and to send regularly a copy of the record to the State Execu- tives in order that they might be kept posted on the attendance of their representatives. 1 Captain John Paul Jones, 2 who had announced his readi- ness to go to Europe as prize agent for the United States 1 Pap. Cont. Cong., 23, p. 145 ; Journal, November 1st. This expedient failed of it purpose, as the history of the first few weeks of. the next Congress shows ; and in February of the following year Luzerne, writing to Rayneval, adverts to the trouble and gives the excuses which he had heard for non-attend- ance. In almost Biblical phrase he says : " L'un etait oblige d'aller chez lui pour prendre soin de son enfant malade, un autre pour se marier, un troisieme avait des affaires personnelles tres pressantes. J'en rencontrai un qui m'a dit que sa femme le rappelai." (Bancroft MSS. Arch. Franc., 1783-85, p. 169.) 2 Jones had written to Morris on October I3th, and to Congress five days later, recalling attention to the interests of the officers and men who had served on the " Bonhomme Richard " under his command four years ago ; only 45 of the 170 Americans in the crew had received their wages. Nothing had been done for the others in wages, bounties or prize money, nor had any steps been taken to make good the losses they may have sustained privately when the " Bonhomme Richard " sank. He had applied again and again for consideration ; he had " wrote volumes " to Franklin and De Sartine, but he was sent back and forth from one to the other, and never received satisfaction. The balance due was 27,667 livres. In his letter of October I3tb to Morris, he had enclosed a copy of the communication he had made to Robert Livingston about the matter on May loth, 1782, and from which he had achieved no results. He hoped Congress would take the matter up. He also called attention to the fact that Denmark had sent back to England toward the end of 1779 two 22 gun ships, the "Union " of London, and the " Betsey " of Liverpool, both richly laden, which he had sent to the port of Bergen as prizes. Denmark had a right to refuse asylum, but none to return them to England. Now that Great Britain had acknowledged the independence of the United States, he hoped Congress would take such effective measures as would obtain acknowledg- ments to the American flag, and also secure justice to his officers and men. In his letter of October l8th to Congress on the same subject, he had made his offer to go to Europe. To the two vessels mentioned in his letter to Morris he now added a brigantine, which he had omitted to mention before, but which had been forced out of American hands by the Danish government and restored to Great Britain. His letters were referred to Samuel Huntington, Arthur Lee and James Duane, and they reported on October 29th. Their report was not taken up until November 1st. (Pap. Cont. Cong., Vol. 3, pp. 207, 21 1, 215, 305.) THE END OF THE SESSION 241 and enforce the claims of his country, was recommended to Franklin in that capacity, and transportation for him in the ship " Washington " was provided. Elias Boudinot's last official act was to write a re- sponse to a letter of good will and congratulation from the Burgomasters and Senate of the Imperial Free City of Hamburgh, which had been delivered to Congress a few days before Van Berckel's reception by a special envoy, John Abraham de Boor. 1 The letter was com- mitted to the consideration of S. Huntington, Arthur Lee and James Duane. In consonance with their report of October 29th, President Boudinot was ordered to communicate in terms of the most sincere regard the satisfaction given by the letter, and the committee was instructed to confer with de Boor on the subject matter of the missive. 2 President Boudinot's letter read as follows : PRINCETON i st Nov. 1783. Gentlemen : 1 have the Honor of acknowledging the Receipt of your very respectful & polite Letter of the 29 March last, by the Hands of your Faithful Citizen & Missionary Mf De Boor Congress received this very generous & can- did Communication with all that Pleasure & attention which so great Proffers of Friendship from the honorable the Burgomasters & Senate of the Imperial Free City Hamburg, justly demanded from the United States of America Congress did not delay to take this honorable tender of the affection and Esteem of the worthy Burgomasters & Senate under their immediate Consideration and I am now honored by the Commands of Congress to make 'For text see Wharton, Vol. 6, p. 351. 2 Pap. Cont. Cong., 25, Vol. 2, p. 307, Ibid., 16, p. 266, and Boudinot, Vol. 2, p. II. President Boudinot's own draft is in the Princeton Collection of the Library of Princeton University, and from this the above is taken. It is endorsed by its author : ' ' Original by Capt. Barney Duplicate delivered to Mr. du Boor." 16 242 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON known to the Respectable Representatives of this great & Imperial City, " in Terms expressive of the most sin- cere Regard, the high satisfaction with which the United States in Congress assembled, received the annunciation of their Friendship & Attachment and their affectionate congratulations on the Establishment of the liberty and Independence of the United States of America. That having founded the Commercial System of these States on the Basis of Equality & Reciprocity, Congress will cheerfully meet the wishes of the Burgomasters & Senate of Hamburg and unite with them in encouraging the most friendly intercourse, between the Citizens of the Respective Countries on such liberal Principles as will best promote their mutual advantage and prosperity, and that it is the earnest Prayer of the United States in Con- gress assembled that the Imperial Free City Hamburgh may Continue to encrease in Commerce & Splendor and be blessed with uninterrupted Tranquility " It is with the most sensible Pleasure I make this Com- munication, and hope & pray that a solid foundation will be laid, for the firm establishment of Friendship & Com- munion between the Citizens of our Republics May God Almighty keep the honorable Burgomasters & Senate of the Imperial Free City Hamburg in his holy Protection. I have the honor to be with Sentiments of high Re- spect & Esteem Gent n Your most Obed* and very Hble Serv* ELIAS BOUDINOT, President of the United States in Congress assembled. That afternoon the session came to a formal end with Mr. Holten's motion that the several matters before Con- gress be referred over and recommended to the attention of the United States in Congress assembled, to meet at Princeton on Monday the 3d instant. On Monday morning, November 3d, the new Congress met and, seven States being represented, proceeded to the election of a new President. The honor fell on Thomas Mifflin who was not present. Daniel Carroll was chosen THE END OF THE SESSION 243 temporary chairman, and then Mr. Duane, seconded by Mr. McHenry, moved the customary resolution of thanks to the outgoing President, in testimony of Congressional approbation of his conduct in the chair. The chairman, on motion of Dr. McHenry, was directed to adjourn Con- gress on the 6th to meet at Annapolis on the 26th, 1 thus changing the arrangement made in October. But on Tuesday, November 4th, the 6th was altered to read the 4th, and when adjournment took place that afternoon just after Thomas Jefferson arrived to take his seat Princeton ceased to be the nation's capital. 1 Pap. Cont. Cong., 23, p. 153. CHAPTER XIV A RETROSPECT During the tedious wait until Congress assembled at Annapolis, thoughtful men had ample time to consider calmly the events of the past six months the mutiny and its causes, the flight of Congress from Philadelphia, and the session at Princeton and having reached con- clusions, to predict the future. With that future we need not concern ourselves ; but we may at least look back over that summer's history before we leave its chronicle. Much of it was sufficient to cloud the prospect of the States signatory to the " league of friendship," as the Confeder- ation styled itself. During the course of the war, and particularly in the period immediately after its close, the term " friendship " had grown to be largely a misnomer. Scarcely a man in Congress or in official position had failed to encounter the friction existing between the various sec- tions of the country ; and in quick succession had also occurred the Mutiny of 1781, the Newburgh episode, and the Mutiny of 1783 menaces of an army driven in despe- ration to turn against its own creators. Of these three incidents the second has received wide attention ; it seems as though the part played by Wash- ington had given it a dramatic quality, a picturesqueness lacking in the others. And yet of the trio the mutiny of 1783 alone reached culmination. On no other occasion in the history of the American people has Congress as a body been in such actual physical danger at the hands of its own constituents. That it was a disgraceful episode must be acknowledged, disgraceful alike in its occurrence and in its cause. It is impossible to excuse the men par- 244 A RETROSPECT 245 ticipating in it whatever one's feeling of sympathy may be. As Washington pointed out, they were but recruits and soldiers of a day ; they had not borne the heat and burden of the war and in reality they could have had but few hardships to complain of when compared with the veterans whom he was furloughing. 1 These facts could not be better stated ; but in his anger against the recruits Washington forgot that, had it not been for his own timely presence at Newburgh, a course of procedure not very different in its gravity from that of the Lancaster levies would surely have been pursued only a few weeks earlier by his very veterans themselves. Their wavering loyalty had been restored by the quiet force of his words. Those, however, who attempted by parley to quell the mutiny at Lancaster and Philadelphia were jeered at to their faces and openly threatened ; but the soldier recruit or veteran who would have dared to jeer at the Com- mander in Chief to his face did not exist. In other words, had there been a Washington at the Quaker capital it is improbable that the mutineers would ever have reached the doors of the State House ; and the members of Con- gress would not have found themselves, in the couplet of Philip Freneau, " Sovereigns besieged by angry men, Mere prisoners in the town of Penn." The pitiful helplessness of a Confederation which could allow its governing body to be placed in the anomalous position which Freneau so aptly hits off could not have been more strikingly revealed. Congress was not to blame for its inability to pay off its army ; the fault lay in the neglect of the States to make payment possible, a neglect far less excusable than the mutiny itself. The truth was, men had become de- moralized by the condition of armed truce that succeeded 1 Washington to Boudinot, June 24th, 1783. Boudinot, Vol. I, p. 339 and Sparks, Vol. 8, p. 455. 246 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON warfare, and when peace at length came they had laid aside patriotism and were too eagerly gathering up the unravelled threads of their former lives to give attention to an army whose usefulness was now gone. Let that be the business of others, they said ; as for us we must get together what little we can of the remnant of our private concerns, and settle down to enjoy peace after war; what if taxes are overdue? let them wait until we are again on our feet. In theory the colonies had rebelled against unjust taxation the very word was odious; and now ere the fruit of victory was fairly in their hands they were being taxed, and that right heavily, by their own representatives in Congress assembled ; and they kicked against the pricks. There was no solidarity of interest, no breadth of view, no national spirit; and already there had appeared those sectional antipathies which were to meet fourscore years later in the clash of arms on the battlefields of the Civil War. The republic had scarcely breathed its first breath and it could not realize its new responsibilities; for they were greater than it had dreamed, and had been as it were forced upon it. As for the " flight of Congress," watchers of the times jotted the story down in their diaries along with their weather observations, and discussed it in their wordy letters to one another. They understood full well its deeper significance ; they knew that it meant deca- dence. The opinion of the American public at large has been hinted at in an earlier chapter ; but there was another class of opinion which interested men in public life far more, and for which they waited with no little misgiving the opinion of Europe. Whether the provo- cation of the " flight " were sufficient or not was perhaps debatable ; but it was plain that the gravity of the episode at this early point in the nation's history, when viewed from the standpoint of international status, could scarcely A RETROSPECT 247 be exaggerated. The wisdom of the departure from Philadelphia was at least questionable. It may have been true that the situation of Congress had become almost unbearable it certainly was not very desirable, as Benjamin Hawkins and Hugh Williamson, representa- tives from North Carolina, wrote back to their Governor. It may have been true, as these gentlemen declared, that members found themselves sent from home to seek lodg- ing in a city where they had neither control nor jurisdic- tion, and where they were exposed to the importunities, if not to the insults, of creditors whom they could not pay, and even to the bayonets of a mutinous soldiery whom they could not discharge. 1 Indeed, the prime reasons assigned for the departure may have been valid namely, to discount the plans of the mutineers and to rouse the State authorities to a sense of their duty at least as the hosts of the nation's representatives; but with peace only two months old and the treaty with Great Britain not yet formally concluded, with all the great national questions and policies practically untouched, the flight of Congress could not help but be the severest blow possible to the prestige of the newborn nation. It was regrettable enough that Congress should have been put to flight by a fraction of the army which had won for the country its liberty; but, that Congress in the capital itself could not compel the lifting of a single hand for its protection, was nothing less than a public confession that it had no power wherewith in time of peace to assert even its slender authority ; it was a tacit acknowledgment that the Confederation had outlived its efficiency. This was the impotence that a long-headed minority in Con- gress had wished to hide from keen eyes and listening ears closely attentive to American affairs, 2 an impotence 1 State Records of North Carolina, Vol. 16, p. 854. 2 See Madison to Randolph, July 8th, 1783, Gilpin's Madison, Vol. I, p. 554, Hunt's Madison, Vol. 2, p. 2 ; Hamilton to Dickinson, Hamilton, Vol. I, p. 381. 248 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON which naturally enough was the first conclusion drawn by foreign observers from the story of the mutiny. Hamilton had foreseen this conclusion in his conference with the Pennsylvania State Council before the issuance of the proclamation of departure from Philadelphia, and it was to cure this impotence that he drew up at Prince- ton his set of resolutions calling for a constitutional con- vention to revise the Articles of Confederation, resolu- tions which in disgust at the apathy of the majority, or in hopelessness of their passage, he never offered. It was not long before echoes of the mutiny came from Europe. Vergennes, learning of the affair from Luzerne, remarked that it was " une chose infinement facheuse, parcequ'il produit des scenes qui portent atteinte a 1'au- torite comme a la consideration du Corps representant les Treize-Etats." 1 From the Marquis de Lafayette President Boudinot received a letter in which occurs this paragraph : "Upon Many Points lately debated, My opinions, if worth a Remark, are well and Generally known, But I must frankly Add that the Effect Some late transactions Have Upon European Minds Cannot but Make me Un- easy in the difficulties which a Patriotic, and Deserv- ing Army Have Met with, Europeans Have Been Misled to See a Wane of Public Gratitude in the Opinions that Have from Every Quarter Been Started, Europeans Have, I also Hope, Mistaken Partial Notions for a Wane of disposition to the foederal Union and without the Union, Sir, the United States Cannot preserve that dig- nity, that Vigour, that power, which insures the Glory, the Happiness of a Great, Liberal, and independant Na- tion Nay, it would become our ill fate, of us who Have Worked, fought, and Bled in this Cause, to see the United States a prey to the Snares of European politics." 2 Professor Sumner has called attention to the fact that 1 Bancroft MSS. Archives francaises, 1783-85, p. 87. *Pap. Cont. Cong., 156, p. 360, Nancy, September 7th, 1783. A RETROSPECT 249 financial uneasiness consequent upon the mutiny reduced the amount of American bonds sold in Holland during the summer and autumn of 1783 from 195,000 florins in July to 70,000 in August, 25,000 in September, and 10,000 in October. 1 The American Ministers at Paris, Adams, Franklin, and Jay, declared that the situation of the army, the reluctance of the people to pay taxes, and the circumstances under which Congress removed from Philadelphia, have diminished the admira- tion in which the people of America were held among the nations of Europe, and somewhat abated their ardor for forming connexions with us before our affairs acquire a greater degree of order and consistence. 2 An American lady in England wrote to her Philadel- phia friend that it was laughable to see what pleasure lighted up the countenances of a certain class of persons when they heard the news of "the little riot" in Phila- delphia ; " they magnified it into the annihilation of Con- gress and the utter destruction of the Commonwealth." 3 And Henry Laurens found his presence in London most timely in "explaining or attempting to explain" the mutiny. The enemies of the United States were chuck- ling over the story and exulting in the discomfiture of Congress while the friends of America were fearing the worst. It was believed, he said, that the soldiery " had assumed the reins of government, and that all the States of America were rushing into anarchy."* Sir Guy Car- leton, who at New York had better opportunities for form- ing an opinion, wrote to Lord North as late as October 1 3th of the " distracted State of these provinces." Ac- cording to his information " men of all parties consider r, Vol. 2, p. 113. * To Boudinot, September loth, Wharton, Vol. 6, p. 689. 3 Letter of September 6th, in Pennsylvania Gazette, November 1 9th, 1783. 4 To the American Ministers at Paris, August gth, Wharton, Vol. 6, p. 640. 250 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON another Revolution inevitable, and at no great distance ; they all agreed that Such an event is the only remedy that can prevent their ruin ; but they differ widely in their Several views and political Schemes." Some of those even, said he, who were fierce republicans were convinced that the present system would have to be changed ; but according to him this party was on the decline. Many turned their eyes to Washington and looked on him as the only man able to rescue the country from anarchy and destruction ; these men were suppos- edly under French influence. On the other hand, con- tinued Sir Guy, there were not a few who boldly asserted that a king was indispensable ' ' to the tranquility and good government of a Country so extensive, and so divided by local prejudice and views of so separate interest." 1 It was not surprising that these should have been the opinions of outsiders and foreign onlookers, hostile or friendly. They were expected, and when through the sluggish channels of communication of that day they at length reached the ears of those in authority in this country, they caused after all but little comment and less resentment. Congressmen perhaps went a little more seriously about their business in Nassau Hall, while the better men among them resolved to see to it that the Republic should live down the odium and cast back in the teeth of her deriders these slighting comments on her weakness. Before that day came, however, five years were to pass. Half-hearted and dilatory though the Princeton session was, yet the time was not altogether wasted. Whether as much or more would have been accomplished had Con- gress remained at Philadelphia is an open question. Cer- tain is it that the same amount of work, petty detail though most of it was, would not have been done save 1 Carleton Papers, 36, America, Vol. 2, p. 257. A RETROSPECT 2$ I with far more friction. Looking back, the members might, if they pleased, congratulate themselves on the discharge of the army with some show of decency on the one side, and a certain amount of satisfaction on the other. The Peace Establishment problem had not been solved, but Washington had been formally thanked for his services as Commander in Chief, the federal residence question ap- parently had been settled, and a long advance had been made toward the cession of public lands to the United States and the inauguration of amicable relations with the Indians. Important treaties had been ratified, a foreign Minister had been received with due ceremony, and the first halting steps had been taken by the United States toward the occupation of a ranking place among the nations of the world. Saddled with a debt that seemed overwhelming, stripped of practically all commerce, it was only the buoyant heart which independence gave that nerved the finer spirits of the country to face the future resolutely and make of that country what Wash- ington had so eloquently described in his Circular Letter. It was plain that he had hit the mark when he declared that the first prerequisite to the well-being of the United States was that there should be an indissoluble union under one federal head. But first a union; and in 1783 there was scarcely any. It was a striking fact brought to light by the Congressional committee on representa- tion reporting November ist, that on no occasion since the Continental Congress had come into existence were all the States represented together. Often they had ne- glected to elect representatives ; representatives when elected had loitered in their coming, and after they had come had frequently absented themselves from their seats. Nor was this condition of affairs chargeable in the sum- mer of 1783 to the fact that Congress had left its city home and gone into village residence. The same fault CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON was prevalent when Congress was sitting at Philadelphia ; and later at Annapolis it was to cause so much delay that the French Minister described it at some length in a dis- patch to his government. So obviously important a piece of business as the ratification of the Definitive Treaty was delayed until almost too late by the absence of a quorum to take it from the table. A constitution that could not command a larger respect and a greater unity of interest was proof sufficient of its own ineffici- ency, and its dissolution or its remodelling formed a di- lemma from which there was no escape. But the time had not yet come ; and, as if compelled by a power mightier than itself to humble any latent pride it may have cherished in the marvel of its birth, the nation was to sink lower in its own esteem and drink even more deeply of the cup of self-humiliation. The Mutiny of 1783 was but the beginning of the darkest hour before the dawn the dawn that should set the Union straight upon its upward path. APPENDIX 253 APPENDIX I PRESIDENT BOUDINOT'S ACCOUNT WITH THOMAS STOCKTON OF PRINCETON 1 His EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS, To THOMAS STOCKTON Df. 1783 June 26. For i Side of Lamb ;/, i Gall : Wine 8/ 1 5- " 27. io)4 ft> Vealas^ d 3/1 I qu r Lamb 3/6 6 7 i Peck Beans, & 4 qut 8 Pease 2/6 ....... 2 6 17 ft> Lump Sugar a 1/3 .................... 113 1 5 R> Butter i /- .............................. 15- 254 " 28. }4 bush: Beans 3/. 50 Limes 7/6 ....... 10 3 Pine-apples 7/6 iqu r . Lamb 3/9 ....... n 3 7 Ib Veal 2/4 6 Score Eggs 6/ ............ 8 4 i 9 7 " 29. 6 Chickens, 4/6 15^ ft) mutton 6/7.... n i i7ft>Veala4/ ............................... 58 16 9 " 30. i4# Ib d 4/9 i qu r Lamb 3/6 ........... 8 3 3 quts Pease 1/6. I Peck Beans 1/6 ..... 3 i doz : Cucumbers 3/- 5 qts Pease 2/6 5 6 30 turnips ...................................... 2 18 9 July i. I4X K> mutton 6/. 4 Chickens 3/ ........ 9 - 15 ft) Veal 5 /- ii X ft) Fish 4/9 ......... 9 9 7 Gall : Spirits a 7/6 & Keg & 6/6 ...... 2 19 3 17 9 " 2. */ Duckss\io i qu r Veal 1 6 ft) 5/4.... n 2 i qu r Lamb ................................... 3 6 1 1 X ft> Butter 1 1 /6. 8 Bunches Onions 3/ ............................................ 14 6 i Peck Peas 4/- i Tongue 2/ ........... 6 10 Chickens io/- i Bush: Beats I5/.. I 5 i doz: Chickens 9/ 66 ft) beef a 8 d 44/- 2 13 4 18 6 'Lenox Library, Emmett Collection. 255 256 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON July 4. 33 Chickens 24/9 40 Cucumbers io/ ... i 14 9 " 5. * 20 Ib Tallow jo/ 5 ft> Fish 2/1 ......... i 12 i " 7. 6 Ib Butter 6/ y z Peck Pease 1/6 ........ 7 6 * % Gallon Vinegar ......................... I 6 9 " 8. \f>Yi ft Veal 6/3 i qu r Lamb 3/ ......... 9 3 8 doz : Cucumbers I3/ Ib Chickens 7/6 i o 6 199 " 9. i6)4 Ib Veal 6/3 14 Ib mutton 5/10 ..... 12 i 1 8 Chickens 13/6 Beets & Onions 7/6.. i i i Gall : Wine 8/6 Score Eggs 2/ ......... io 6 Cash paid Jeremiah Sheldon bringing up 2 Barrels flour .......................... 9 2127 14 6 Amount brought over ........................ 23 14 6 1783- July io. For 16 Ib Veal, 5/4, 12 Ib Fish 4/6 ..... 9 io j bush : Pease 3/. 2 quts shelled ditto 2/ 5 2% Ib Butter 2/6 20 Chickens i$/ ...... 17 6 3^ Pecks Beets 8/6 200 Clams 3/ ...... u 6 2 3 io " ii. Head&pluckof Veal5/9^1b Veal3/2 8 2 % Bushel Potatoes ........................... 6 14 2 " 12. 16 Ib Butter i6/ i Score Eggs 1/2 ...... 17 2 3 Ib Raisins 3/ i Peck pease 1/6 ......... 4 6 2 doz: Cucumbers 2/ i Ib Pepper 4/-.. 6 ^ Ib Allspice 1/6 i doz : Squashes 2/.. 36 i .11 2 " 14. i doz: Cucumbers i/ 5 Ib butter 5/.... 6 6% Ib Butter ................................... 66 126 15. 5 doz : Cucumbers 5/ 2 Ib Starch 1/6.. 6 6 X Ib Indico 4/6 4% Ib Soap 7/- ........ n 6 y z Bush : Potatoes I2/- 16 Ib Veal 5/4 17 4 1 qua r . Lamb 3/. 4 Squashes 2/ .......... 5 204 1 6. Pease, Beets Cucumbers & Onions ...... 9 6 32 Ib Mutton 12/2 10^ Ib Butter 10/6.. 128 i 12 2 17. 6 Chickens 3/9 i^ Pecks Pease 4/- ... 7 9 2 Score Eggs 2/- 3 Squashes i/ ......... 3 61b Sugar 3/9 i Peck Pease i/io ........ 5 7 3^ Ib Butter 3/6 i Score Eggs i/- ..... 46 i o io APPENDIX I 257 July 1 8. 9 Ib Fish 4/6 paid M" Rutman for Work 7/6 12 " 19. i Peck Turnips, I Peck Potatoes & 6 Cucumbers 5 6 6 bush : Corn 45/ 5*4 Ib Butter 5/6.... 2 10 6 2 16 ^36 17 6 His EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS To THOMAS STOCKTON D r 1783 July 21. For i Ton Hay 5 i doz : Cucumbers i 51 22. 4 doz : ditto & 3 Melons 6 10 lt> Veal 3/4 6 Chickens 4/6 7 10 i Peck Beans, 4 Cucumbers & half peck Pease 26 16 4 23. 10 Chickens 6/8. Pease & Squashes 2 / 88 88 25. 10 quarts Pease 3/. 2 Doz: Cucum- bersi/ 4 26. 10 Ib Veal 3/4. 8 ^ tt) Butter 8/6 u 10 i Score Eggs i 12 10 27. 12 C. Hay 6o/. i doz: Squashes 1/6.. 316 28. i y z doz : Cucumbers 9"! 1 5 Ib Mutton 5/7 6 4 30. 10^ ib Bacon 10/6 \y z bush: pota- toes 11/3 119 2 doz : Cucumbers I 129 31. iqu r Lamb3/6 i^ bush : potatoes 11/3 14 9 ^ 2. 2 Doz: Cucumbers 1/6 i doz : Squashes I/ 2 i% C' Flour a 23/- 34/6 Barrel 2/6.. i 17 \ l / z Ib Butter 1/6 15 Ib Mutton 5/7... 71 26 4. 2 ft Butter 2/. i^Gs. Rum 9/- 3^ Butter 3/9 14 9 Sundries of Stephen Morford viz* 3 Ib hard Soap 4/. ^ doz : pipes i/ 5 4ft)boi: do 5/n 2 Jb Starch 1/4 73 12 3 Mending Geers &c by N : Morford 19 3 i7 o 6 17 258 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON THROUGH THOMAS STOCKTON PRESIDENT BOUDINOT ALSO HAD THE FOLLOWING ACCOUNT WITH MAHLON TAYLOR. 1783. June 27 To i7X'- b Loaf Sugar @ 1/3 2 Gall. ") Port wine @ 8/6 2 Juggs 3/ j 29 To 10 Gallons Port Wine @ 8/16. 6 lb 2 I 10)4 July 3 To i lb Pepper 3/9 I oz Cinnamon 3/ 6 o * -< 5 Yz Score Eggs @ I / 2 Ib Raisins @ I /- i oz Nutmegs 2/- i Baskett Salt i/io^ 6 Bottles Mustard @ i8 d 7 6 o July 15 3 large dishes @ 6/9 i peck Salt 1/2.. i lb Tea 5/6 Sundry Queen's & Earthen- ware 8/9 i i 5 a i Sweeping Brush 4/6 i Scrubbing ditto 3/6 8 o i Furniture ditto i/. i p r Shoe ditto & Blackball 3/6 4 6 5O bl 4 oz Loaf Sugar @ i6. d 3 7 27 i peck Salt I4 d 6 lb Sugar @ 7^ d 4 20 5 Gallons wine @ 8/ 2 O o }4 G 1 Brandy @ 6/ 3 Aug* i 6 lb Sugar @ ii d i d Sousong Tea I2/ 17 6 i 7 APPENDIX II SIGNERS OF THE QUAKER MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS 1 Isaac Lane Zane (?) John Reynell Tho- Rose John Price, Jun r Hugh Roberts Joseph Penrose Isaac Pickering William Harvey Joshua Morris Daniel Haviland Joshua Brown George Evans Thomas Whitson Anthony Benezet James Thornton Warner Mifflin Sam! Emlen, jun* Daniel Byrnes Geo Dillwyn Jam 8 : Pemberton Jacob Lindley Thoma Lightfoot Mark Reeve William Savery, Jun r John Hoskins George Churchman Thomas Milhous Wm Kersey David Cooper Benj: Swett Owen Jones Eli Yarnall David Evans Silas Downing Aaron Lancaster Edw d Stabler James Moon Benjamin Swain Samuel Coope Allen Farquhar Joshua Baldwin 1 See page 181 ante. John Cowgill Mark Miller John Comfort William Smith Jn. Stapler Francis Wilkinson Tho" Hoopes, Jun r Giles Knight, Jun r Isaac Massey Joshua Bunting James Dugh William Rogers James Smith Christopher Hollings- worth Joseph Bringhurst, Joseph Hawley John Berry Tho? Smedley Jf James Emlen James Whitall, Ju r William Cooper Benjamin Linton Thomas Pearson Owen Hughes Daniel Sharpless Jn Birchall Abner Rogers Thof,Swayne Benj a. Hamton Solomon Miller Mord! Churchman Caleb Kimber John Stapler, Juy Wm. Wilson Thompson Parker Miers Fisher Ab rm Griffith John Milhous Thomas Matthews Joseph Janney Nathan Garrett Ez! Cowgill Joseph Townsend Samuel Trimble William Griscom Jonathan Wright Thomas Evans Enoch Wickersham Jacob Swayne William Webster John Lynn Isaac Coats Richard Strode Jonas Cattell Joshua Hunt Caleb Pennock Dan| Drinker W Fell Wf Dixon William Richardson Nathan Wright William Iddings John Parry William Stevenson Enoch Gray Amos Harvey Joshua Dennock Richard Brown Josiah Bunting Job Whitall John Gracy Joel Chesshir Morris Truman Isaac Wilson David Moore Thomas Follett Samuel Haines William Savery Henry Cowgill Names queried are doubtful readings. 259 26o CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON John Hough Joshua John Tho s Say. Benjamin Mason James Starr Sam! Hopkins John Tatum Jonathan Kirkbride Thomas Conarroe, Sen r . Joseph Pennock John Parker Richard Barnard Thomas Redman Jo 8 . Steer Jun r Jacob Stan- Hugh Webster Jacob Way Sam : Shinn Richard Bartlett Caleb Moris Townsend Thomas W. m Downing Moses Coates Jnf. Flower Joseph Moore David Ridgway James Iddings James Griffitts John Beale Elisha Kirk Wf Penrose Samuel Smith Mahlon Janney David Hall Sam! White Joseph Peirce Aaron Pax son Tho 8 . Evans Peter Yarnall Sam! Gummere Thomas Walmsley William Roberts Mord : Moore Griffith Minshall Refine Weekes Benjamin Hough Israel Thompson Sam! Allinson John Humphreys Samuel Bunting Philip Price Robert Verrel Mordecai Lee Sam! Wetherill Aaron Smith Sam! Starr Daniel Thompson John Collins Jonathan Brown Abraham Hibberd Robert French Abraham Worinton Dugald Cameron Isaac Bonsall Samuel Hampton Joseph Stackhouse John Child Zachariah Jess Samuel Miller James Tyson Benjamin Test Joseph Richardson Jehu Hollingsworth Jacob Worley, pf order George Haworth James Smith J r Joseph Clark John Talbot Joseph Warrington John Hunt William Doughty- Henry Hayes Ezra Comfort William Miller John Eves Caleb Attmore John Lypton Aaron Wills Isaac Clarke John Butler Edmund Prior James Bringhurst Thomas Farquhar Joseph West Joseph Lukens Sam! Clark Thomas Fisher Benedict Dorsey Joseph Potts Sam! Garrigues Ja Gibbons Isaac Larkin Joseph Brinton John Field John Lewden David Bacon Thomas Hough John Townsend Gideon Middleton John Gilbert Geo: Ashbridge Sam! Brown John Roberts Robert Kirkbride Jos: Pickering David Hoopes Richard Poynter Caleb Haines W- Hallowell jutf Tho 8 Attmore Phinf Buckley James Whiteall Jon n Wright Robert Rogers Jeffrey Smedley Lucas Gibbs Griffith John Philip Price, juni John Ferree (Ferrel ?) Thomas Rogers Amos Willets John James John Simpson Henry Cliffton Aaron Oakford Samuel Hutton Norris Jones Caleb Harlan Nathan Robbins David Gumming Sam! Pleasants Benj. Hornor W Ellis Jonathan Shoemaker John Hilliar Joseph Davies APPENDIX II 26l Constantine Lord Rumford Dawes Thomas Paxson Robert Evans Cowperthwaite Cop- land William Sansom Arthur Ho well Caleb Kirk Isaac Thomas Daniel Longstreth John Forman Daniel Dickenson Samuel Cookson Simes Betts Joseph Budd Richard Jones Jacob Lundy, jun r Gabriel Willson Tho? Watson John Home James Starr John Letch worth Edward Darnel Jesse Haines Isaiah Kirk Sam! Richards John Parrish Enoch Evans James Cresson John Hutton John Pugh George Martin John Satterthwait Joshua Gibbs Tho? Hallowell Jos : Russell John Todd Thomas Shoemaker Jacob Maule Caleb Foulke Joshua Howell John Morton Charles West Edward Bradway Sam! Simpson Thomas Pirn Jacob Shoemaker Edward Jones Harmon Updegraff Bernard Taylor Thomas Carey Thomas Stapler John Peirce John Laing Edward Jones Samuel Canby Samuel Hedger Aaron Clayton Thomas Fisher Thomas Bellanger W. Linton Vincent Leeds Richard Price Thomas Massey, J r Ebenezer Robinson Andy McKay Joseph Roberts John Collins Dan 1 Offley Barth? Mather Isaac Jacobs Christopher Dingle Daniel Leeds Joshua Sharpies Samuel Darnel Jos : Sharpless W? Jefferis Jesse Waterman William Cliffton Sam 1 Middleton Joseph James John Roberts Joshua Cresson John Balderston Philip Dennis Ephraim Parvin Henry Drinker Silas Walmsley John Ellis Will 10 Hartshorne Jo* Ridgway Peter Hatton John Scarlet Jona th : Pickering John Wright Cadwalader Jones Owen Biddle Edward Bonsall Moses Moon Thomas Rogers, jun r Lewis Darnel Isaac Cadwallader Benjamin Kite Thomas Stokes William Atkinson Sam| Howell Henry Shaw Cha 8 Dingee Ezekiel Cleaver Rich* Humphreys John Smith Amos Taylor Isaac Webster Edward Moore Abijah Dawes Joshua Way Benjamin Humphreys, p. r order. John Carpenter James Painter William Cooper, Jun r Devenport Marot Joseph Vanlaw William Hoopes Thomas Brown Richard Goodwin Cheyney Jefferis John Hirst John Elliott, jun! Joseph Jenkins W m Jackson, Junr John Drinker Rob^ Wood Jos: Shotwell, junf. Benjamin Cathrall Caleb Seal Daniel Britt Pierce Lamb David Allen John Evans William Otley John Hunt, Jnf Dell Pennell Sam 1 Updegraff Hugh Ely Jacob Shoemaker, jun r 262 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON Henry Brotherton William Folwell James Thornton, Joseph Burrough junior Zachariah Stirredge John Rively Cornell Stevenson Abel James, junf Thomas Trotter Ellis Cleaver Job Haines Joseph Ball Robert Thomas Josiah Furman John Franklin Amos Yarnall Nathan Lewis John Guest Henry Reynolds Jacob Chestnutwood Thomas Roger, Junf Robert Moore Tho? Sugar William Garrigues William Ridgway Edward Garrigues Thos* Franklin Isaac Wright Joseph Talbot Ebenezer Maule Isaac Paxson Raper Hoskins David Hilles Jeremiah Bernard, John Todd, J r . jun' Abiah Coope John Forsythe Cleayton Newbold Jonathan Dawes Abel Walker Tho 1 ! Sharpless Geo : Bowne Hum y Marshall Joshua Lamb Jonathan Gibbs Joseph Richardson, Thomas Clifford Jun r Gerard Blackford, John Haydock Jun^ Johns Hopkins Benj. Clarke John Morris, Junf William Letchworth Tho? Harrison Jonathan Worril Rob* Lewis Caleb Lownes John Duncan Evan Lewis John Haworth Peter Ellis Samuel Taylor John Webb Nathan Jones John Ho well W? Waring John Jackson Thomas Fearnley Edmund Hollinshead George Moore Israel Roberts Richard Wells George Williams Isaac Wharton Daniel Lamb Nathan Sharpless Jacob Tomkins Thomas Speakman William Lownes Isaac James James Jones, Jnr W?' Brewer Thomas Hall Moses Cadwalader W Brown Daniel Ballinger W Starr Elijah Field Sam! Rhoads Samuel Briggs Thomas Parker Joel Sharpies John Robeson Isaac Borton Samuel Hicks James Worstall Robert White John Baily Bleakston Janney Evan Evans Thomas George Anthony Poultney Hezekiah Bates John Maule Oliver Paxson Daniel Mifflin Daniel Dawson Jacob Parke Wf Lippincott W Atkinson John Oldden Ellis Yarnall Elias Ring William Coale Joshua Yarnall Jonas Potts Nathan Williams Philip Marot Daniel Trotter Yeamans Gillingham Charles West, Junf Nathan Littler Jesse Milhous APPENDIX III Peter Summers James Read Charles Cooper Sam! Wetherell, Ju r . T. Matlack W"? L. Blair Peter Whiteside Ad m Clampffer Edward Stiles Jos. Pennell Dan Clymer Jacob Barge Robert Roberts Jacob Graff G? Bickham George Nelson Georg Schiller W? Sheaff Joseph Gray Henry Keppele Isaac Hazlehurst Henry Helmuth John Barclay W? Pollard Tho? Willing Tho' Pryor Cad: Morris Richd. Footman Peter Webster Z:(?)Geo. Meade Tench Francis John Richard, Junr James Hood John Morrell Michael Morgan Jasper Moylan O'Brien Sol Marache John McKim Jonas Phillips Abra Markoe Charles Risk Geo. Haynes John Duz- Mordecai Lewis (blot illegible) Alexf Boyd Majr A. Bunner John Taggart John Steinmetz Joseph Anthony John D. Coxe Josiah Hewes Plunf. Fleison John Fromberger John Jones Mark Willcox Alexf Carlyle Pat*. Byrne Tho 8 . Palmer Wood Hopkins W Wood J. Swanwick Adam Foulke James Newport Michael Kimmell Haym Salomon Charles Charmbarling Jn Loehmann Francis Bailey James Gallager John Keble Lewis Farmer John Barker W? Sellers Jacob Esler Will: Adcock William Moulder Tho 8 Nevell John Weaver William Marshall Hugh Martin Benj Snell James Thompson John Richardson Joseph Kendall John Pringle Casper Singer Isaac Whelen Edw Price Jons. Helm John L. Clarkson Caleb Bickham John Armstrong Jn Webb Checkley Rob? Bridges James Mease John Whitehead Dan 1 : Topham John Woodward John Young Geo: Simpson Gustavus Risberg Stephen Maxfield Sam 1 Hodgson Jacob Plankinhorn Jehosp* Polk John Carter John Sellers James Vanuxem Sampson Harvey Robert Taggart Fran" Gurney Francis Lee Solomon M c Nair George Whelpper William Kenley 1 See page 87 ante. Names queried are doubtful readings. 263 264 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON Jacob L. Sergler W m Allison Josiah Matlack Will: Miller George Duffield John Caldwell Larazett Mailer J. Bleakley John Patton Sam 1 . C. Morris W? Hall Philip Benezet John Craig Francis Feariss Ja 8 Craig, ju! William Semple William Forbes Richard Mason William Graham James Dunlap Ja! Cuming John Pyle William Bell Joseph Parkes Sam 1 . Nicholas Charles Knarij John Perot George Strayly W Turnbull Martin Gaul Robert Smith Christian Darnder (?) John Hazelwood Jn M'Farlane Dean Timmons Peter Lohra Rob' Barnhill N n . Jones Hf Hancock John Keith J? B. Nickolls W m Carron Antoni Froen (?) Robert Smith John Wilson David Seckel John Brown, Jim? John Craig Henry Miller William Richard Joseph Stamper George Reinhart Elias Boys Henry Seckel Tho: Franklin Cornelius Barnes J. Ross W m Shippen Tho. Turner Peter Knight Samuel Powel William Matlack Michael Caner Z. Lenaigre Ws Eckhart Cha 8 Syng Rob 1 Turner James White Archd M: Sparrow Jacob Swem Matt: Henderson John Leamy Mayburry Jolly James Cottinger D? Porter Cornel? Comegys Tho! Shortall Thomas O'Hara John Dugan Garrett Cottringer Richard Sweetman Thof Smith John Rudolph Christopher Byerly John Mease Peter Lex Sam 1 . Read Geo : Ingels Jos. Few J b . Hiltzheimer Jo". Wharton Reuben Haines W5 Gray George Kitts Junior David H. Conyngham Jacob Kitts Sam! Caldwell Charles Stultz William Thorp Sam! Powel Tho! Stanes John Harrison Robt M c Gee Peter Simletter Christian Beackley John Smith Joseph Rakestraw Charles W Nushag Rob Erwin David Sellers Georg David Seckel N n Sellers Michael Gunckel Jacob Miller Lewis Billing James Hutchinson John Phile John Graff Sam] Miles Geo : Aston Robert Davidson Israel Whiten Jacob S. Howell Adam Zantzinger Will m Wister William Keppele James M c Cutchon John M c Cutchon Alex r Russell W m Henderson G Henderson L. Karcher Martain Boreaff Michael Kitts John Everhart W Govett W Nichols Joseph Stiles Reynold Keen John Jones Henry Callaghan Laurence Fitzgerald John Brooks Nathan Hughes MathT Irwin John M c Ginley William Coxe Jun. Sam. Clarkson Isaac Warner Peter Kuhn APPENDIX III 265 James Rowan J h Rush Junior Tho" Maxfeld Edward Pole Sam! Jackson William Shaw AndT Ten Eick David Uber Christoffer Kains Benj n Harbeson William Lamb Joseph Brown Fred. Phile John Gartley James B. Smith Arch* Engles Edmond Nugent Nathl Waters Robl Gumming William Craig Thomas Armat Wm. Hollinshead Andrew Tybout John Souder George Lehman Edward Randolph Mathias Bernhard Henry Deberger Christopher Baker Benj" Van Scyoc Corn. MCaskey George Leib Paine Newman Henry Brusstar W Masters James Brusstar Willcox Phillips W m Thomas Jacob Raell Jacob Weaver Moses Levy John Alexander Mathias Stimble Peter Jeodon W m Clifton M. Leib John Porter Levi Budd Jon Scholfield Jacob Van Siver (?) John Morris James Bryson Dav d Duncan John Reaman Jf Nich 8 Low Step: Collins Matthew Mease Robt Stephens Samuel Dellap Jacob Levering J. Withy Wagner & L, Blanc Df John Baker Jo* Israel John Stephens Caleb Wilkins Joseph Chay John Crynen (?) Jacob Dimand William Johnson Antoine Guerin William Price Mark Hapeny John Lyne Thomas Irwin John Byrnes John Martin Nich 8 Bernard John MKinley Jonathan Draper James West Geo e Logan John Cottringer John Lmton Paul Eszling James Finley Robert Gather Heinrich Avril (?) James Walsh John Smith Hamilton Hazelton John Woods S. Lyons Edward Laskey Donald MIntosh Andrew Doz Mag? Miller Ab: Shoemaker W m Wentworth Samuel Courts W m Keates Tho? Prudden William Clark John Brown Lorenz Schini Thomas Cuthbert Jn Green Henry Dubois Peter Conor Charles Cecil Godfrey Gebler Erhart Miller Rob* Vanhorn George Rutter Elijah Coffing Eb Hazard John Lardner Peter W. Gallaudet James Morphy James Hunter Jo.? Cowperthwaite James Ash Ar. Donaldson Chas. Willing William Bell Matt: McGuire George Way William Reddon John Barrack Joseph Greenway Azaria Horton Jn Burrows Rich 4 Dennis Jno. Harper W. McMurtrie William Brown B. Wistar Ja? Milligan Daniel Eddy Edw? Lynch I. Shallurs John Phillips Tho.' Bowen W? Brown John Pollard Charles Jolly Hugh Bennett 266 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON Norton Pryor Israel (?) Rhor Peter Edenborn Joseph Johnson Peter Boos Christian Hawk Jos: Stretch Simon Miller Rich d Collier Ed. Bartholomew Jacob Simpson P. E. Du Simitiere Isaac Wynn Tho s . Ross Conrad Hanse Rich*. Renshaw Joseph Rees Ephraim Bonham Jon. Fisher John Salts Fra? Hopkinson William Jones Lewis Grant John Bayard Joseph Donaldson, M| Hillegas John Kling Jun. Sam. Magaw Jos'? Bindon Ambrose Simpson Geo: Latimer Leonard Dorsey Mat. MConnell W? Rigden David Evans Alex' Fullerton John Nixon William Fades W: Thomas Sam 1 . MLane Jn Nancarrow Cha 8 W. Peale John Miller David Schaffer, Ju* James Claypoole Edward Fox George Habacker William White John Barnhill Jedidiah Snowden John* Phillips W? Ralston John Biddle Robt Stevenson Frederick Kuhl A. Gilchrist Alexy Foster Lamb' Witmer John Barron Levi Rollings worth Stephen Hollingsworth Ro 1 Caldwell John Lisle William Smith John Dunlap Standish Forde Samuel Sterrup Tho s Roche Samuel Dilworth Ch s M'Clung Jn Purviance Joseph Howell, Jun. Tho 8 Shields John Purdon Thomas Francis Tho s . Fitzgerald W? Richard Bookseller W. Shippen, jr. John Macpherson Cha 8 . Young B. Randolph George Shaw George Bickerton Joseph Fisher W m MIlhenney Benj? Shaw Alexander Boyle Lewis Croner W m Lawrence Blair MClenachan W5? Coats Lect. C. P. Jn David John Ramsay John. White Ben)'? Rush Jacob Morgan, jr. Thomas Paine George Henry Joseph Prowell Ja 8 . Gilchrist Jacob Schreiner John Robert Robert Knox, L* Co! Geo Emlen William Haverstick W Moore Will. Graham W m Henderson Rob! Aitken W Shannon Geo. Esterly Will Budden John Taylor Joseph Penrose James M c Crea Jn Miller, j r : Th Bond Isaac Frank Mercier & Carre Michael Shubart White Matlack W m Barton Dav d Rittenhouse Jn Shee Jo" Abercrombie Henry Kammerer Benjamin G. Eyre, L.C 1 , Tho! Bradford Peter Kraft Wm. Will, L< Co! Rich d . Armi AndT Aitken Jos : Dean, L* Co! 6th Sam 1 . Inglis George A. Baker Batt n C. P. M. W. P. Stanly Abel James Clement Biddle Q M John Chaloner John Fish G Militia D. C. Claypoole Jacob Brady John Vannost James Peale W m Henry C : Clay APPENDIX III 267 W : Clay Sam! Fisher Benj^ Town Thomas Morgan John Le Teller William Williams Ja? Kin near Robert Fitzgerald Thomas Platt John Campbell Andrew Ten Eyck Charles White Matthew Duncan Christo r Seller John Murdock Patrick Grogan Richard Carlton James Scott Daniel Dick Frederick Dick Chalkley James R d Byrne Jos. Carson Daniel Joy James Losbothim Josiah Lockhart Jesse Greenfield Tho". Humphreys Isaac Levy Robert Hiltzheimer Hasman Senf Job Mayer Roger Flahavan Josiah W. Gibbs Isaac Jones J. Rees Isaac Moses Sam| Lewis Wharton Jn Hazelwood, jr. Henry Pratt Hamilton & Son Moses Cohen John Haynes James Hartley Ed Williams W? Roberts B. Pittfield Geo: Mifflin James Cooper Rob* Paisley Sam- Wallis Cadw'y Evans Wm. Hardy Arch. Gardner Michael Dawson Abraham Collings William Downs Paul Cox John Hartly Jacob Souder Isaac Coats, Jun r G. Marcus Young William Stutzer Rich. Young Seymour Hart Sam. Clayton John Rinker Jeremiah Baker Joseph Rush Peter Van Galder Samuel Barns John Wells J. Ollivier et Cy Stephen Geistier George Strepee Adam Weaver Adam Ohl Sam! Clinton Henry Deforest John Sutton Thomas Vaughan James Harries (?) Isaac White W m Coats John Pearce John Taylor Hans Hamilton Thomas Hopkins John Brouwer Hugh Henry Eli Canby Dan. Tyson Ja" Wharton C. P. Raguett Josh. Plowman James Mullen Peter Dick John Fullerton William Hassall John Beck Sam 1 Corry Bryan O'Hara Walt Hall Matthew Lawler Henry W. Physick John Houck John Wall Rob.' Cocks Benjamin Evans Ad? Hubley Fran* Wady Stephen Austin & Co. Rob* McClenachan Caleb Ash Sam! Young Thomas Rice Daniel O'Neaill Jacob Bright Isaac Eyre Robt Jones Dennis Dougherty Roger Flahavan Jun r . John Smith William Griffiths James Miller William Morrell George Evans Jos. Morris Assheton Humphreys Sam} Wharton Edw? Shippen Ferdinand Farmer Robert Molyneux Tho" Stretch Jacob Duch6 Jos. Wilson Jere^ Warder Parker & Cof Jehu Eldredge William Geisse Cartwright, Allenby & Wightman Allen Ridgway John Oldden William Kerlin Dan. King Jacob Hinkler John J Bogert 268 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT PRINCETON David M:Cullough Rich"? Willing John Francis Eph: Elaine John Wharton AndT Carson W? Cavenough Alex* Tod James Byrne Isaac Wikoff John Cox James Roney James Champnis Fr? Kinsell Benj? January Joseph Bispham Nathan Boys W? Woodhouse Robert Patton David Patton Richard Barry Jan Jacob Sluyter Temple Harris Edm d . Milne Thomas Holmes Tho?. Milne Henry Land Jn. Alexander Tobias Barrett Joseph Baker Hugh Hodg Frd* Christian Samuel Meeker Rob' Mullan E Murray Fred. Seckel William Trotter W"> Sheed And w Epple Benj 1 ? Betterton Philip Odenheimer Peter Shreiber Joseph Master Charles Heinitsh Philip Hall Alexander Power Peter Wiltberger Archibald Shaw Thomas Boyd Isaac Connely Peter Drais John Wager John Foster Daniel Craig John Shearman George Sing Walter Baker William Dellap Frederick Meyer W Harris W 1 ? Davey Martin Will Martin Lodwick Edw? Hanlon Georg Kier Chas. Bouman George Walker Conrad Hoff Rud* Nagel Michael Boyer Adam Schuster John Grant Burton Wallace Sam! M. Fox Luke Morris Cha? Humphreys John Rudke W 1 ? Wharton Thomas Bradley Andrew Grebel Friedrich Schredell (?) William Turner George Heyl John Davison Andrew Way Will Pan- James Richardson Christean Dishong Patrick Wright Cad r Dickinson Rich* Phillips John Winkerer Jacob Gascend John Aitken Hugh Frazer William Kinnan William Swanson Daniel Edwards John James Conrad Hister Chr 111 Wirtz, Jr. James H. Low Emanuel Priest Luke Keating Tim? Sloan Philip Stein Thorn? Learning, Jun? Sam! Penrose Jeremiah Barker John Campbell, Juf Solomon MNair Ben Gibbs Garland Thompson Thomas Falconer Jos : Nourse Pat Ferrall John C. Kunze Guilliam Aertsen Jn Henderson George Schlosser Joseph Spencer Dan! Udree Philip Heyl Chas Seitz Philip Wager John Linington Samuel Libe Alexander Robertson James Craig Samuel Keln William Oliphant Elihu Bissel John Richards Philip Clambel '(?) George Haas Sharp Delany Jona Mifflin And . Hodge, Sen 1 ; Jn Mifflin John Dorsey, jun' Hugh De Haven Jn Nicholson G. Evans Cha? Vanderen Adam Melcher Charles Drum (?) Christian Wirtz APPENDIX III 269 William Wirtz Samuel Slayter Will m Allibone John Mason Uphold r George Seitz Archibald Gamble R" I'-it inn UNI mi it 001 009 655 o