the Colonies of New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and South-Carolina, to Great Britain, Ireland, and the British Islands in the West-Indies, under certain conditions and limitations;” and the other, “An Act commonly called the Fishery Bill.”

Friday, July 7, 1775.

The following is his Excellency’s Answer to the Message of this Congress:

Savannah, July 7, 1775.

GENTLEMEN: I have taken the opinion of His Majesty’s Council relative to the request made by the gentlemen who have assembled together by the name of a Provincial Congress, and must premise, that I cannot consider that meeting as constitutional; but as the request is expressed in such loyal and dutiful terms, and the ends proposed being such as every good man must, most ardently wish for, I will certainly appoint a day of Fasting and Prayer to be observed throughout this Province.

JAS. WRIGHT.

To Stephen Drayton, Esq., and the other Gentlemen who waited on the Governour.

A motion was made and seconded, that the thanks of this Congress be given to his Excellency the Governour, for his Answer to the Message of this Congress, and his ready compliance with their request; which, being put, unanimously passed in the affirmative.

Ordered, That Dr. Zubly, John Smith, and Joseph Clay, be a Committee for that purpose.

A motion was made and seconded, that five persons be chosen to represent this Province in the Continental Congress appointed to be held at the City of Philadelphia on the 10th of May last; and the question being put, it passed unanimously in the affirmative.

The Congress then proceeded to the choice, when John Houstoun and Archibald Bullock, Esquires, the Rev. Dr. Zubly, Noble Wimberly Jones, and Lyman Hall, Esq’s, were duly elected.

Dr. Zubly expressed his surprise at being chosen, and said that he thought himself, for many reasons, a very improper person; but the choice was insisted upon, and the Doctor declared he would by no means go unless he had the approbation of his congregation; whereupon, Noble Wimherly Jones and John Houstoun, Esquires, were appointed to request their consent.

A motion was made and seconded, that a Secret Committee be appointed, which being agreed to, it was

Resolved, That the President do nominate seven per-sons to be that Committee, whose business it shall be to be vigilant and active in the discovery of all matters which may affect the publick; and that they shall have right to lay all such intelligence and information before the President of this Congress while sitting, and in its recess before the President of the Council of Safety, in order that the evil designs of wicked men may be early frustrated. A motion was made and seconded, that the Congress do petition the King upon the present unhappy situation of affairs; which being agreed to, it was ordered that Dr. Zubly do prepare and bring in the same,

A motion was made and seconded, that a Letter be forthwith wrote to the President of the Continental Congress, giving him an account of the proceedings of this Congress; which being agreed to, it was ordered that Dr. Zubly, John Smith, William Young, William Le Conte, and William Gibbons, Esquires, be a Committee for that purpose.

John Walton, Esquire, who was elected as well for Wrightsborough Township as for the Town and District of Augusta, came in and took his seat for the former.

A motion was made and seconded, that an Address be presented to his Excellency the Governour by this Congress; which being agreed to, it was ordered that Dr. Zubly, Basil Cowper, John Walton, Joseph Clay, and Edward Telfair, be a Committee to draw up the same.

Saturday, July 8, 1775.

Resolved, That this Congress are of opinion that the Paper delivered into this Congress on the second day of its meeting, ought not to have been entitled or dressed in the form of Resolves, but rather as recommendations, or in nature of a Petition or Address to this Congress.

Resolved, nevertheless, from the desire this Congress hath to promote union and concord among ourselves, and as it does not appear that the said Paper was intended to be considered as coming from a distinct or independent body, that therefore the matter contained in the same (being such as is in the general agreeable to us) shall be duly considered and attended to.

A motion was made and seconded, that a sum, not exceeding Ten Thousand Pounds sterling, be provided to defray the necessary services of this Province in the present alarming and distracted state of affairs, which passed unanimously in the affirmative.

A motion was then made and seconded, that the Congress resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole, to consider ways and means, for raising and sinking the said sum of Ten Thousand Pounds sterling; which being agreed to, the Congress resolved itself into a Committee accordingly.

The President having resumed the Chair, Mr. Clay, from the Committee of the Whole C.ongress, reported, that they had entered upon the consideration of ways and means, had made 3pme progress therein, and desired leave to sit again.

The President reported to the Congress that he had, in obedience to the resolution of yesterday, nominated seven persons to be a Secret Committee.

Doctor Zubly, who was ordered to prepare and bring in a Petition to His Majesty, reported that he had done so, and produced a Paper containing the same, which he delivered into the President; and the said Paper being read, and approved of, it was Resolved that the President do sign the same.

A motion was made and seconded, that a Committee of Intelligence be appointed; which Being agreed to, it was

Ordered, That William Young, David Zubly, Stephen Drayton, Daniel Roberts, John Glen, Edward Telfair, William Ewen, Joseph Clay, and George Walton, Esquires, be that Committee.

William Young, Esquire, of the Committee appointed to write a Letter to the President of the Continental Congress, reported, that they had done so, and delivered a Paper into the President containing the same; which being read, and approved of, it was

Resolved, That the President do sign the same, and that it be forthwith sent.

Monday, July 10, 1775.

The following Resolves were unanimously entered into:

Whereas, by the unrelenting fury of a despotick Ministry, with a view to enforce the most oppressive Acts of a venal and corrupted Parliament, an army of mercenaries, under an unfeeling commander, has actually begun a civil war in Americn: and whereas, the apparent iniquity and cruelty of these destructive measures have, however, had this good effect, to unite men of all ranks in the common cause: and whereas, to consult on means of safety, and the method of obtaining redress, the good people of this Province of Georgia have thought proper to appoint a Provincial Congress, the Delegates met at the said Con-” gress,” now assembled from every part of the Province, besides adopting the Resolutions of the late Continental Congress, find it prudent to enter into such other Resolu-tions as may best express their own sense and the sense of their constituents, on the present unhappy situation of things, and therefore thought fit and necessary to resolve as follows, viz:

Resolved, That we wore born free, have all the feelings of men, and are entitled to all the natural rights of mankind.

Resolved, That by birth or incorporation we arc all Britons, and whatever Britons may claim as their birthrights is also ours.

Resolved, That in the British Empire, to which we belong, the Constitution is superiour to every man or set of men whatever, and that it is a crime of the deepest dye, in any instance, to impair or take it away, or deprive the meanest subject of its benefits.

Resolved, That that part of the American Continent which we inhabit was originally granted by the Crown.