debts as are now most pressing, and that the said Committee shall hereafter lay before the Congress proper vouchers for such disbursements. A true copy from the minutes:

“MAT. VISSCHER, Clerk.”

The same gentlemen, Deputies from Albany, produced the Draft mentioned in the said Resolve of the Committee of Albany, which is in the words following, to wit:

“Albany Committee Chamber, August 16, 1775.

“GENTLEMEN: Please to pay to Messrs. Abraham Ten Broeck, Jacob Cuyler, and Robert Yates, or either of them, or order, the sum of One Thousand Pounds, for the use of this Committee, to be applied towards defraying part of the publick charge, as per advice of a resolve from the Committee. We are, Gentlemen, your most obedient humble servants. By order of the Committee:

“ABRAHAM YATES, JUN., Chairman.

“To the Provincial Congress of New-York.”

Ordered, That Peter Van Brugh Livingston, Esq., pay to Abraham. Ten Broeck, Jacob Cuyler, and Robert Yates, or either of them, or their order, One Thousand Pounds, on account of the use of the Committee of Albany, to be applied towards defraying the publick charge accrued in that part of the Colony, and take a receipt for the same.

Ordered, That Peter Van Brugh Livingston, Esq., pay to Mr. Joseph Hallett Six Thousand Pounds, on account, and take his receipt for the same, to be applied towards discharging the debts he has contracted, in purchasing and forwarding Flour for the use of the Army at Cambridge, in obedience to an order of the honourable Continental Congress to this Congress.

Mr. Beekman made a motion, which was seconded, in the words following, to wit:

MR. PRESIDENT: I move that the following Resolves be entered into, viz: Whereas the success of measures necessary to be adopted and pursued by this Congress may, in many instances, depend on their being kept secret until their execution; and whereas it is often necessary, for the publick good, that intelligence received by this Congress should also be kept secret, at least for a time:

Resolved, therefore, That the President of this Congress do, in full Congress, administer, or cause to be administered by some Magistrate, to each Member of this Congress, and that he do take, the following Oath, to wit:

“You do solemnly and sincerely, in the presence of Almighty God, swear that you will not, directly or indirectly, divulge or make known any resolve, order, act, or debate, of or in this Congress, or of any Committee thereof, or the matter of the same, or any thing relating thereto, or any part thereof, or any act, matter, or thing, to be done in or towards the execution thereof, except to such person or persons, not of this Congress, as shall by them or their Committee be necessarily employed in or relating to such execution; nor give any advice or information to any person or persons that may in any wise obstruct, or tend to obstruct, the execution thereof, nor divulge or make known to any person or persons, either directly or indirectly, any information or intelligence which shall be received by this Congress, or any Committee thereof, if the same, or any part thereof, shall be enjoined by resolve or order of this Congress, or of such Committee, to be kept secret, until such secrecy be dispensed with, by further resolve or order of this Congress, or by such Committee. So help you God.”

2. Resolved, That the like Oath be administered to and taken by each of the Secretaries of this Congress.

3. Resolved, That the following Oath be administered by a Magistrate to and taken by every person or persons, not of this Congress, who shall be in any wise employed by this Congress, or any Committee thereof, in any matter, business, or thing, whatsoever, in or relating to which secrecy shall have been so enjoined by resolve or order of this Congress, to wit:

“You do solemnly and sincerely, in the presence of Almighty God, swear that you will well and faithfully execute such trust as the Provincial Congress of this Colony, or any Committee thereof, shall repose in you, and you shall accept of; and that in the execution of the said trust you will conduct yourself with all possible care, secrecy, and despatch; and, also, that in the execution thereof you will faithfully obey and perform all such orders and directions as you shall from time to time receive from the said Congress or Committee; and that you will not, without leave of the said Congress or Committee, in any wise howsoever, either directly or indirectly, divulge or make known any matter or thing whatsoever, in or in any wise relating to the said trust, or the execution thereof, whether you accept the same or not, except such matter or things as may necessarily consist in or arise from the execution thereof. So help you God.”*

The same motion being read a second time, debates arose thereon; and the question being put thereon, it was carried in the affirmative, in the manner following, viz:

Dissentients: from New-York, Mr. Clarkson, Mr. Low, Mr. Kissam, Mr. Verplanck, Mr. Yates, Mr. De Lancey, Mr. Roosevelt; from Dutchess, Col. Hoffman; from Westchester, Col. James Van Cortlandt; from Queen’s, Mr. French, Mr. Townsend; from King’s, Mr. Williams.

Mr. Kissam, from the Committee appointed to confer with Colonel Duer, delivered their Report, which was read and filed, and is in the words following, viz:

The Committee appointed to confer with Mr Duer report, that it appears to the Committee that Mr. Duer’s private affairs are so peculiarly circumstanced as to render it extremely imprudent for him to accept of his appointment to the office of Deputy Aujutant-General in the Continental Army, in this Colony. That the Committee are fully satisfied that the said Mr. Duer has the utmost willingness to enter into the service, and that he is a hearty friend to the cause of America, in her present contest with Great Britain. That he proposed a mode for the removing the difficulties that lie in the way of his acceptance of the aforesaid appointment, which, though it affords a strong proof of his readiness to accept the office, yet is of such a nature as that the Committee are of opinion it would be inconvenient to comply with; and therefore do further report it as their opinion that he ought to be permitted to decline the appointment, and to be furnished with a copy of this Report, as a testimony that his so declining proceeds,

* List of Members who took the General Oath of Secrecy.

I do solemnly and sincerely swear, that I will keep secret such things as shall be, by order of this Congress, recommended to me for that purpose by the President for the time being, until leave by him given to reveal it by order of the Congress. So help me God.

List of Members and others who took the General and Particular Oath of Secrecy.

GENERAL OATH.

List of Members and others who took the General and Particular Oath of Secrecy.

PARTICULAR OATH.

Oath of Secrecy taken by the Secretaries.

I do solemnly swear, on the Holy Evangelists of Almighty God, that I have not, directly or indirectly, divulged or made known, to any person or persons whatsoever, the purport or contents of any questions which were put and carried by this Provincial Congress, relating to the Cannon on the Buttery, nor mentioned, divulged, or hinted, any matter or thing relating to the removal of the said Cannon, except to my fellow-Secretary, until after the firing had begun at the Battery this morning; and that I do not recollect to have had any conversation with my fellow-Secretary, on that subject, until this morning.

JOHN MCKESSON,
ROBERT BENSON.

Sworn this 25th day of August, before me,

WM. WADDELL, Alderman.