established in any of these United States, by the authority of the United States in Congress assembled ; and the said courts of admiralty are hereby authorized and required to take cognizance of, and judicially to proceed upon all and all manner of captures, seizures, prizes and reprisals of all ships and goods that are or shall be taken, and to hear and determine the same, and, according to the course of admiralty and the laws of nations, to adjudge and condemn all such ships, vessels and goods, as shall belong to the King of Great Britain or to his subjects, or to any others inhabiting within any of the countries, territories or dominions, or possessions of the aforesaid King of Great Britain:

And that the board of admiralty or secretary of marine forthwith prepare, and lay before the United States in Congress assembled, a draught of instructions for such ships or vessels as shall be commissionated for the purposes above mentioned.

And it is hereby farther Ordained, That the destruction of papers, or the possession of double papers, by any captured vessel, shall be deemed and taken as just cause for the condemnation of such captured vessel; and that, when any prize, having been taken and possessed by the enemy twenty-four hours, shall be retaken from them, the whole of such re-captured prize shall be condemned for the use of the re-captors; but, in cases where the prize shall have continued in the possession of the enemy less than twenty-four hours, it shall be restored to the original owner or owners, except one-third part of the true value thereof, which shall be allowed a salvage to the re-captors.

And it is hereby farther Ordained, That the citizens and inhabitants of these United States be, and they hereby are strictly enjoined and required, to abstain from all intercourse, correspondence or dealings, whatsoever, with the subjects of the said King of GreatBritain, while at open war with these United States, as they will answer the same at their peril; and the Executives of the several States are hereby called upon to take the most vigilant and effectual measures for detecting and suppressing such intercourse, correspondence or dealings, and bringing the authors thereof, or those concerned therein, to condign punishment.

And, in order the more effectually to remove every colourable pretence for continuing such intercourse, it is hereby Ordained, That, from and after the first day of November next no benefit shall be claimed from, nor countenance or regard paid to, any letters of passport or safe conduct, heretofore granted by the Congress of the United States, to any of the citizens or inhabitants thereof, or to any person or persons whatever, for the removal of their property or effects from places within the dominions or possessions of the said King of Great-Britain:

-Provided always, That this Ordinance shall not extend to authorise the capture or condemnation of any vessel belonging to any inhabitant of Bermudas, which being loaded with salt only, may arrive in any of these United States on or before the first day of May next.

And it is hereby Ordained, That all former acts or resolutions of Congress, contrary to the tenor, true intent and meaning of this Ordinance, be and they are hereby repealed.

Done by the United States in Congress assembled, the Twentyseventh Day of March, in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty One, and in the Fifth Year of Our Independence.

Sir,

SAMUEL HUNTINGTON, President.

Attest.-CHARLES THOMSON, Secretary.*

PRES. REED TO MONS. HOLKER, 1781.

I have duly receved your Favours of the 26th & 28th Inst., with the Inclosures, which have been communicated to the Council-as soon as those in the French Language are translated & the Leisure of the Board will admit they will be maturely considered & their Sentiments communicated.

I am Sir,

with due Consideration & Regard,
Your Obed. Hbble Ser.

Directed,

Hon. Mr. Holker, Consul Gen. of France.

Indorsed,-March 31, 1781.

Sir,

PRES. REED TO GEORGE LUX, 1781.

I am to acknowledge your Favour of the 26th Inst. with the Inclosure. We have made Inquiry after Ellis but can obtain no farther Information than what is contained in the inclosed Letter from Col. Nicola. From the Cirumstances as stated in your Letter we fear there would be little Probability of convicting him of

Forgery or even of a Cheat in this State as there has been no Publication of the suppositious Pass in this State. As to treasonable Practices we had a Law some Time ago vesting a very ample Power in the Council to apprehend suspicious Characters, but it being unfavourable to Liberty it was properly made temporary & occasionally renewed, but this has been omitted by the present House of Assembly so that we now stand upon the old & accustomed Footing of the criminal Law in which strict legal Proof will be required. The Attention of the Court & your own in particular I am desired by the Council to acknowledge, & we most sincerely wish a like Vigilance prevailed in every Part of the Country as we are persuaded it would have a happy Tendency to disappoint the Machination of our artful & insidious Enemy.

Catalogue of Sundry Necessaries for pulling down the Wood-work of the steeple at the State-house, and Repairing the remainder, &o.

30 Scaffolds from 40 to 45 feet long, and not less than 3 inches Diameter at top.

30 Ditto,-from 35 to 40 feet, the same diameter at the top, because less than 3 inches diameter at the top end of a scaffold of little use.

pole

is

100 Poles of a more slender Construction, so they be tough & straite, from 30 to 40 feet long, and from 5 to 6 inches diameter at butt & 3 inches at top; this last mentioned article of Poles are chiefly for ledgers, & don't require so great a thickness of butt as the upright poles.

160 Pieces of good tough Oake Scantling for Pullocks clear of Nots, 16 feet long each, 3 by 4,

42 Rafters, 24 feet long, 7 by 5 & 3,

21 Collar-beams, 15 feet long, 7 by 2,

Reduced. 2360 feet. 1512

857

4229 feet.

3500 feet of Laths,-5000 feet of inch Boards.

8000 Shingles-2000 feet of 3 inch pine.

Plank Reduced, 10 of which plank must be 30 feet long & good stuff.

1 Takel & fall, and a Leading Block.

1 Coile of the largest sort of Ratling, for Lashings, &c.

About 100 lbs. of 20 & 200 lbs. of 10 Nails for present use, till such time as the Wood-work is pulled down, when I Expect there will be a sufficient supply.*

DUBOIS AND GOFORTH TO PRES. REED, 1781.

May it Please your Excellency,

We just read your favour of the 27th Inst., in which you are fearfull some mistake had taken place with respect to those Gentlemen who had been in Captivity, as you Imagine they had not been refer'd to a settlement of their Prison Acct in Phil; the fact is, we have settled with Capt Turnbull for his Depreciation and that only, being furnish'd with the accounts from the Paymaster of the Regiment and Directed to settle by the Pay Roles, we concluded that every Payment between the first Jan', 1777, unto the 1st August, 1780, was to be made good by an allowance-agreeable to the scale of Depreciation, on this principle we proceeded so far and no farther; Refering the prison acc" to be settl'd in Phil". We have sent for Capt Turnbull, who is coming to settle his Prison Accts, and will wait on your Excellency. Council is Pleas'd to observe that they do not perfectly understand what is meant by Settleing with those on Command at Fort Pitt. With respect to which we would beg leave to observe that we conceive that it was not only the Intent of the Legislature, but also a matter that your Excellency has much at heart that the whole of the Pensylvania line should be settled with on the Score of Depreciation, and that for this purpose different Posts were assigned for the different Regiments, and that all such acct should be settled agreeable to the Pay Roles. On this principle we proceeded with regard to those on Command at Fort Pitt, Stating their acct and completing their Certificates in the Books, to be under the Immediate direction of the Honorable the Supreme Executive Council. We still hope no mistake has yet taken place that can in any respect effect the Public Interest, Permit us to say that we shall at all times pay the greatest Respect to your Excellencys orders and are never more happy than when we have them

* There is no date to this paper-but it was probably the foundation of the Assembly's action on page 52, being found among the papers of this year. See also Col. Rec., Vol. XII., p. 682.

Pointedly, and therefore shall Proceed no farther in that Respect untill we are Honor'd with your positive Order. In the mean while we beg leave to subscribe ourselves

your most Obedient &

verry Humble Servants,

AB DUBOIS,

WILLIAM GOFORTH.*

Directed,

His Excellency Joseph Reed, President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pensylvania.

JOHN NICHOLSON TO PRES. REED, 1781.

Carlisle, April 1st, 1781.

Sir,

I arrived at this place last night. The settlement with the troops at York Town lasted longer than the time published and I could not leave any part of the business, however it is no inconvenience to the Troops here. I have finished the business at each post before I left it (a few at Downings town excepted.) There are yet numbers of the discharged men unsettled with who have not attended, many of them may plead ignorance of the time fixed for settlement, I would beg leave to suggest the propriety of publishing a reasonable time for revisiting the several posts on my return; after which, I think, their having neglected to attend ought to deprive them of the priviledge of any future settlement. I shall wait at this place for the further orders of Council. I fear I shall run out of Certificates, I am almost certain I shall, I wish I had brought some quires more, but my Sulkey Box would not contain them. I must request Council will forward three or four quires by some safe and sure conveyance. The advances to the prisoners have not yet come on. There are a number of Officers here who have been prisoners; hitherto we met with none except those two at Yellow springs mentioned in a former letter. They wish earnestly to have a settlement, I wish we could accommodate them. I suppose the papers from the Auditor General will arrive shortly, then every difficulty will be obviated. The depreciation due to the Penn line will amount to a very great The difficulty in settlement would be very little, if they were all engaged from the same time; but the different times of Commencement, the frequent promotions and reduction of sergeants and Corporals, the desertions of privates and the times of their absense and rejoining their regiments, first examining the muster rolls, &c. for all these things, and then calculating on the time ascertained, is - attended with no little trouble.

sum.

There are a number of Officers who had been taken prisoners in * See pages 13, 17, 67.