One of the first acts of the congress was the appointment of a committee "to consider of the ways and means to prevent the dangers to which this colony is exposed by its intestine enemies." Although the committee was headed by one of the principal conservatives of the province, John Also]), who soon afterward resigned his seat in the continental congress on account of the Declaration of Independence, it brought in a report recommending stringent measure's against suspected persons. Uumors of conspiracies by the Tories of New York had long been rife, some of them resting on more substantial foundations than suspicion. Investigations of various alleged transactions by emissaries of Governor Tryon's for providing suspected individuals with arms and ammunition disclosed strong moral evidence in support of the charges. In the month of June the famous " Hickey plot " to poison Washington and other American generals was unearthed; and proofs were found which resulted in the hanging of the chief person accused. In such circumstances, and in view of the crisis of invasion then impending, it is not surprising that the third provincial congress, although comprising in its membership influential men of singularly calm and judicious temperament, who had previously been noted for moderation, was pervaded by a determination to deal summarily wit li all Tories of the dangerous or irreconcilable type. The Alsop report was followed by an elaborate series of resolutions concerning such characters, wherein ;i number of them were indicated by name, with directions that they be brought before the congress either by the process of summons or by that of arrest. The specified persons were divided into two