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CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. Philadelphia, Tuesday, September 5, 1775. Agreeable to adjournment, a number of the Members met; but there not being sufficient to enter upon business, the Congress was adjourned from day to day until Wednesday, the 13th. Wednesday, September 13, 1775. The Congress met according to adjournment. The Province of Georgia, having appointed Delegates to represent them in Congress, and three of the said Delegates attending, their Credentials were produced, read, and approved, as follows: “GEORGIA. “The alarming and critical situation of affairs upon the Continent of America having, at length, roused the attention of this Province, and the several inhabitants thereof being desirous of uniting with their Sister Colonies in the great and important cause, a general election was held throughout the Province, for Delegates to sit in Provincial Congress; and the said Delegates having so met in Savannah, on the fourth day of July, proceeded upon the consideration of such business as appeared to be fit and necessary; and, among other things, they made choice of five Delegates to represent this Province in the Grand Continental Congress, now sitting in Philadelphia, viz: Archibald Bullock, Esq., John Houston, Esq., the Rev. Dr. Zubly, Noble Wimberly Jones, Esq., and Lyman Hall, Esq. Now, therefore, be it known, and we, the several Delegates for the different Parishes and Districts in this Province, in Provincial Congress assembled, do hereby declare the said Archibald Bullock and John Houston, Esqrs., the Rev. Dr. Zubly, Noble Wimberly Jones and Lyman Hall, Esqrs., duly and fairly elected as the Delegates for this Province; and we do authorize and require the said Archibald Bullock and John Houston, Esqrs., the Rev. Dr. Zubly, Noble Wimberly Jones and Lyman Hall, Esqrs., or any three of them, immediately to repair to the said City of Philadelphia, and there to take their seats, as the Representatives of the Province of Georgia, in the General Congress now sitting, to do, transact, join, and concur with the several Delegates from the other Colonies and Provinces upon this Continent, in all such matters and things as shall appear eligible and fit, at this alarming time, for the preservation and defence of our rights and liberties, and for the restoration of harmony, upon constitutional principles, between Great Britain and America. “And we give and grant to the said Archibald Bullock and John Houston, Esqrs., the Rev. Dr. Zubly, Noble Wimberly Jones and Lyman Hall, Esqrs., or any three of them, in whose fidelity, honour, and ability, we very much confide, our full and whole power in the premises; and do promise and engage, in behalf of ourselves and our constituents, respectively, (the inhabitants of the Province of Georgia,) under the sacred ties of virtue, honour, and love of our Country, to abide by, enforce, and carry into execution, or endeavour, at the risk and expense of life and property, so to do, all and whatsoever our said Delegates, or any three of them, in concurrence with the rest of the Delegates from the several Colonies and Provinces upon this Continent, shall resolve and agree upon, or as shall be agreed and resolved upon by the said Continental Congress, now sitting in Philadelphia aforesaid, while our said Delegates, or any three of them, shall be so sitting. “Signed in Provincial Congress, this 15th day of July, 1775, by fifty-three Members.” The Delegates from Virginia, appointed by a Convention of that Colony, at Richmond, August 11, 1775, produced their Credentials, which were read and approved, as follows: “VIRGINIA, IN CONVENTION, August 11, 1775. “The Convention being about to proceed to the choice of Deputies to represent this Colony in General Congress, Edmund Pendleton, Esq., expressed his most grateful acknowledgments for the honour done him in two former appointments to that important trust, but, on account of the declining state of his health, entreated to be excused from the present nomination; which excuse being accepted, “Resolved, unanimously, That the thanks of this Convention are justly due to George Washington, Patrick Henry, and Edmund Pendleton, Esqrs., three of the worthy Deputies who represented this Colony in the late Continental Congress, for their faithful discharge of that important trust; and this body are only induced to dispense with their future services of the like nature, by the appointment of the two former to other offices in the publick service incompatible with their attendance on this, and the infirm state of health of the latter. “The Convention then proceeded to the appointment of Deputies to represent this Colony in General Congress, for one year, and the members having prepared tickets, with the names of the Deputies to be appointed, and put the same into the ballot-box, Mr. Robert Carter Nicholas, Mr. Cary, Mr. Pendleton, and Mr. Adams, were appointed to examine the ballot-box, and report upon whom the majority fell, who retired, and after some time, returned into Convention, and reported, that they had, according to order, examined the ballot-box, and that the numbers appeared as follows:
“Resolved, That the said Peyton Randolph, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Richard Bland, and George Wythe, Esqrs., be appointed Deputies to represent this Colony in General Congress for one year, and that they have power to meet and to adjourn for such time and to such place or places as may be thought most proper. “Resolved, That the said Deputies, or any four of them, be a sufficient number to represent this Colony. “Saturday, August 12, 1775. “Richard Bland, Esq., returned this Convention his most grateful acknowledgments for the great honour they had pleased a third time to confer on him, by appointing him one of the Deputies to represent this Colony in General Congress, and said that this fresh instance of their approbation was sufficient for an old man, almost deprived of sight, whose greatest ambition had ever been to receive the plaudit of his Country, whenever he should retire from the publick stage of life: That the honourable testimony he lately received of this approbation, joined with his present appointment, should ever animate him, as far as he was able, to support the glorious cause in which America is now engaged, but that his advanced age rendered him incapable of taking an active part in those weighty and important concerns which must necessarily be agitated in the great Council of the United Colonies; and therefore begging leave to decline the honour they had been pleased to confer on him, and desiring that some person, more fit and able, might supply his place. “Resolved, unanimously, That the thanks of this Convention are justly due to the said Richard Bland, Esq., one of the worthy Deputies who represented this Colony in the late Continental Congress, for his faithful discharge of that important trust, and this body are only induced to dispense with his future services of the like nature, on account of his advanced age. “Tuesday, August 15, 1775. “The Convention proceeded to the appointment of a Deputy to represent this Colony in General Congress, in the room of Richard Bland, Esq., who hath resigned; and the members having prepared tickets, with the name of the Deputy to be appointed, a Committee was. appointed to examine the ballot-box, and report on whom the majority fell; who retired, and after some time, reported that the numbers stood as follows:
“Resolved, That the said Francis Lightfoot Lee, Esq., be appointed a Deputy to represent this Colony in General Congress. “JOHN TAZEWELL, Clerk of the Convention,” Also, the Delegates from Maryland, having been reappointed by the Convention of their Colony at Annapolis, *
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