Ordered, That the said Letter be referred to the Committee to whom the other Letters recommending Officers are referred.

Colonel McDougall and Colonel Brasher, who, by order of the Congress, had gone to wait on General Lee, to request a change in the mode of his order to the Officer of the Port-Guard, returned, and reported that General Lee had given a new order to the Officer of the Port-Guard with respect to persons permitted to go on board his Excellency’s Ship the Dutchess of Gordon.

The said Order being read, was in the words following, to wit:

“New-York, February 13, 1776.

“SIR: You will give orders to the Sentinels posted on the wharves to permit all persons who have leave or liberty from the Provincial Congress, or the Committee of Safety, to pass on board the ship where Mr. Tryon resides.

“CHARLES LEE, Major-General.

“To the Commanding Officer of the Port-Guard.”

Ordered, That Major-General Lee’s said Order, and a certified copy of the Permit or Order of this Congress of this morning, that his Majesty’s Council of this Colony, the Mayor of this City, and the Deputy Secretaries of the Colony, be permitted to go on board his Excellency’s Ship, be delivered to the Officer of the Port-Guard by one of the Secretaries.

Some Accounts for billeting a part of Major-General Lee’s Guards were produced and read. Thereupon,

Ordered, That all Accounts contracted by Major-General Lee for the Continental service, be audited for payment by Colonel McDougall; and, being so audited, that they be paid by Colonel Peter T. Curtenius, until a proper person is appointed for that purpose by the Continental Congress.

Die Mercurii, 10 ho. A. M., February 14, 1776.

The Congress met pursuant to adjournment.

Present: Brigadier-General Woodhull, President.

FOR NEW-YORK.—Mr. Beekman, Mr. Sands, Captain Rutgers, Mr. Helme, Colonel McDougall, Mr. Roosevelt, Colonel Brasher.

FOR ALBANY.—Mr. Abraham Yates, Colonel Nicoll, Mr. Oothoudt, Colonel Rensselaer, Mr. Gansevoort.

FOR SUFFOLK.—General Woodhull, Mr. Wickham, Mr. L’Hommedieu, Mr. Hobart.

FOR ULSTER.—Mr. Lefever, Mr. Dewitt, Mr. Rhea.

FOR KING’s.—Mr. Covenhoven, Mr. Leffertse.

FOR ORANGE.—Mr. Herring, Mr. Allison.

FOR DUTCHESS.—Colonel M. Graham, Major R. G. Livingston, Colonel P. Ten Broeck, Mr. G. Livingston.

FOR WESTCHESTER.—Colonel L. Graham, Mr. Ward, Colonel G. Drake, Dr. Graham.

FOR TRYON.—Mr. Moore, Mr. Wills.

FOR CHARLOTTE.—Dr. Williams.

The Congress, considering that the Writs for electing Representatives in this Colony are returnable this day, and that the General Assembly may have occasion to meet in the Chamber,

Ordered, That Messrs. Roosevelt and Abraham Yates request of the Mayor of this City the use of the Common-Council Room for the Congress.

Messrs. Murray, Sansom & Co., sent in a request by Mr. Robert Murray, for leave to send Provisions, and certain other articles in their request mentioned, on board of the Ship Dutchess of Gordon.

The Congress consented that part of the said Provisions be sent on board, together with the other articles. Thereupon,

Ordered, That Messrs. Murray, Sansom & Co., be permitted to put on board of the Ship Dutchess of Gordon, five barrels Pork, five barrels Beef, one box Candles, one coil of three-inch Rope, some Blocks, one bolt of Canvass No. 1, and two cords of Firewood, for the use of said Ship and her crew.

A Letter from Abraham Godwin, dated yesterday, offering his service to his country as a Captain, and alleging that he had inlisted the best part of his Company, was read and filed.

Ordered, That it be referred with the other Letters on that subject.

The Petition of John De Wint, of Orange Town, in the County of Orange,* praying leave to export Provisions to the Island of St. Thomas, in the Danish West-Indies, was read and filed.

Ordered, That the said Petition be rejected.

A Petition of Guert Spt. De Wint, Esquire, was read. He thereby requests leave to export a large quantity of Provisions and Lumber for the use of his Estate in the Island of St. Thomas, in the Danish West-Indies; likewise leave to export his Household Furniture, Horses and Carriages, and his family, and a generous supply of all the good things of this country, for the use of himself and family at sea.

Ordered, That that part of the Petition of Guert Spt. De Wint, Esq., which relates to removal of his Family, Horses, Carriages, and Household Furniture, and a necessary supply of Provisions only for their use at sea, be referred to the General Committee of the City and County of New-York; and that all the other parts of the said Petition be rejected.

A Letter from Major-General Lee, submitting to the Congress the case of Jean Baptiste De Gas, and the establishment of a Company of Artificers, &c., was read and filed, and is in the words following, to wit:

“New-York, February 14, 1776.

“SIR: Enclosed I take the liberty of sending the case of Jean Baptiste De Gas, a Canadian, submitting to the consideration of the Provincial Congress whether it would not be proper to furnish him with a necessary sum of money to enable him to proceed to Mr. Hancock, to whom he has been recommended.

“Sir, as, in all probability, a considerable body of troops will be stationed in this city and its environs during the present contest, I would take the liberty to propose to the Congress the establishment of a Corps of Artificers. Such an establishment is not only necessary for the different military works, but I apprehend it will answer very materially in point of economy.

“There is another circumstance I must beg leave to

* To the Honourable Provincial Congress of the Province of NEW-YORK, now assembled at NEW-YORK:

The humble Petition of JOHN DE WINT, of ORANGE Town, and County of ORANGE, showeth:

That your Petitioner has long resided in this Province, and has now a large and numerous family about him. That your Petitioner has a Plantation in the Island of St. Thomas, in the Danish West-Indies, which has been the entire support of himself and numerous family, who cannot subsist without the income of said estate. And whereas, through the prohibition of exporting lumber, his said estate must sink this year’s crop, now standing on the fields; your Petitioner therefore prays your indulgence or permission to ship, for the sole use of said estate, ten thousand staves and five thousand hoops.

That your Petitioner has on said Plantation one hundred and sixty Negroes, whose support entirely depends on provisions from America, and, by that means, the support of himself and numerous family depend on the same. Your Petitioner therefore prays your indulgence to ship, for the use of said Negroes, fifty casks of white flour, fifty casks of rye flour, twenty-five tierces of bread, and ten barrels of pork. And your Petitioner shall forever pray.

JOHN DE WINT.

February 14, 1776