History of Westchester County, New York, Vol. I
To urge the warm friends of Liberty to de- " cency and good order, this Congress assures the public that effectual " measures shall be taken to secure the enemies of American Liberty in " this Colony, and do require the good people of this City and Colony to " desist from all Riots, and leave the offenders against so good a cauf-e to be " dealt with by the constitutional representatives i f the Colony "--the subsequently infamous " Committee to detect Conspiracies," then in em bryo, having been, undoubtedly, the "constitutional" agency referred to, {Journal of the I'rovincial Congress, "Wednesday afternoon, .lune 12, "1776.")
It has been said, apologetically, that the Congress wjis intimidated ; and that the mob was the controlling power ; but the overwhelming military force which was then in the City, with General Washington at its head, indicated no such state of affairs; and it is undoubtedly true that that series of Mobs, directed by leaders of the Rebellion -- one of whom, if no more, was a member of the Provincial Congre.ss-- against those of the Colonists who were not of the Rebellion, was intended to give to the new-formed " Committee to detect Consiiiracies," subsequently so obnoxious to every honorable man, a good set-off in its work of perseeutii^n and outrage.
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1774-1783.
and compelling the latter to seek safety in flight.' It as=!unied judicial functions, in putting some of its victims on " trial," before itself or a Committee of its members ; sometimes it graciously absolved those whom it had seized on mere "informations;"' and, occasionally, it honored a victim of a local Committee, by listening to an Appeal from the decision of that inferior tribunal,* although it was not always exempt from an appearance, at least, of partiality to the Respondent in the Case.' In the same connection, it called into existence and inaugurated the " Com- " mittee to detect Conspiracies," that powerful inquisitorial agency of the Rebellion, in New York, whose doings will be noticed more fully, hereafter. ********