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

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to july 9, 177G

classes -- private individuals and officers of the crown. A special committee of the congress, known as the Committee to Detect Conspiracies, was created to deal with all cases. John. Jay was made its chairman, and among its members were Gonverneur Morris and Lewis Graham, of Westchester County. In Westchester County the private persons designated as "suspicious or equivocal *' were Frederick Philipse, Caleb Morgan, Nathaniel Underbill, Samuel Merritt, Peter Corne, Peter Huggeford, James Horton, Jr., William Sutton, William Barker, Joshua Purdy, and Absalom Gidney, all of whom wore given the opportunity to show their respect for the committee through the medium of a summons, but, in default of appearance, were to be arrested. The committee was directed to inquire as to their guilt or innocence upon the following points: (1) Whether they had afforded aid or sustenance to the British fleets or armies; (2) whether they had been active in dissuading inhabitants from associating for the defense of the united colonies; (3) whether they had decried the value of the continental money and endeavored to prevent its currency; and (4) whether they had been concerned or actually engaged in any schemes to defeat, retard, or oppose the measures in the interest of the united colonies.