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1775.] of their British brethren. A letter was also prepared, and signed by the president, to the lord mayor, aldermen, and livery of London, thanking them for the friendly disposition they had shown to the rights of America. On the 20th of July. Congress was informed, by a letter from the Convention of Georgia, that that colony had acceded to the general association, and had appointed delegates to attend the Congress. On the 25th of July, an address to the Assembly of Jamaica was agreed to, generally stating the grievances of the colonies, and thanking the Assembly for its good intentions. An additional sum, to the value of one million of Spanish milled dollars, was, on the same day, ordered to be struck in bills. On the 26th of July, Congress authorized the appointment of a postmaster-general for the United Colonies, to hold his office at Philadelphia, with power to appoint as many deputies as he might deem proper and necessary: and, under his direction, a line of posts was ordered from Falmouth, in New England, to Savannah, in Georgia, with as many cross posts as the postmaster-general should think fit. Benjamin Franklin was, by a unanimous vote, appointed to the office. On the 28th of July, an address to the people of Ireland was adopted, setting forth the motives and object of the colonists. On the 31st of July, Congress agreed to a report, which declared a resolution of the British House of Commons, of February 20, 1775, commonly called Lord North’s motion, inadmissible as the basis of reconciliation. The resolution referred to proposed to transfer the right of taxing the colonies, under certain restrictions, to the colonial assemblies. The terms it offered were rejected, among other reasons, because, in the opinion of the Congress, the proposition imported only a suspension of the mode, and not a renunciation of the pretended right to tax the colonies. At the same time, it was made the duty of a committee, in the recess of Congress, to inquire into the cheapest and easiest methods of making salt in the country, and to make inquiry after virgin lead and leaden ore, &c.

On the 1st of August, Congress adjourned to the 5th of September, 1775, having first passed a resolution declaring the non-exportation and non-importation association to comprise the islands of Jersey. Guernsey, Sark, Alderney, and Man, and every European island and settlement within the
 * VOL. I.75