Resolution on the Pauly and Beaumarchais Claims, 14 June 1784

Resolution on the Pauly and Beaumarchais Claims

Editorial Note

On 27 May there was laid before the House of Delegates a petition of Lewis Abraham Pauly (1743–1828) (ViHi: Pauly Family Bible Records) and a letter from Governor Benjamin Harrison enclosing a memorial from Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais. Both petition and memorial contained claims against Virginia for military supplies purchased in behalf of the state during the late war (JHDV description begins Journal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia; Begun and Held at the Capitol, in the City of Williamsburg. Beginning in 1780, the portion after the semicolon reads, Begun and Held in the Town of Richmond. In the County of Henrico. The journal for each session has its own title page and is individually paginated. The edition used is the one in which the journals for 1777–1786 are brought together in two volumes, with each journal published in Richmond in either 1827 or 1828 and often called the “Thomas W. White reprint.” description ends , May 1784, p. 24). Pauly’s claim rested on charges against the bankrupt J. Pierre Penet and associates. Beaumarchais’s were complicated by the fact that his former agent had engaged in a speculation that decreased the market value of the supplies delivered. These papers were committed for investigation and report to the standing Committee of Commerce. JM, as chairman of the committee, offered this resolution.

[14 June 1784]

Resolved, that it is the opinion of this committee, That the claims of the said Lewis Abraham Pauley, and Mr. Beaumarchais against this State for military stores and clothing, furnished the same, ought to be referred to the executive for their settlement; and that they make report to the Legislature of such balances as shall appear to be due the said claimants.1

Printed copy (JHDV description begins Journal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia; Begun and Held at the Capitol, in the City of Williamsburg. Beginning in 1780, the portion after the semicolon reads, Begun and Held in the Town of Richmond. In the County of Henrico. The journal for each session has its own title page and is individually paginated. The edition used is the one in which the journals for 1777–1786 are brought together in two volumes, with each journal published in Richmond in either 1827 or 1828 and often called the “Thomas W. White reprint.” description ends , May 1784, p. 56). Ms copy of the resolution has not been found.

1. The immediate outcome of the resolution was that Governor Harrison directed Solicitor General Leighton Wood to audit the claims and subsequently informed Beaumarchais’s current agent in Baltimore that it would be necessary for him or a representative to come to Richmond to explain his retainer’s “several demands” (Executive Letter Book description begins Executive Letter Book, 1783–1786, manuscript in Virginia State Library. description ends , p. 347). On 23 June the governor forwarded to the delegates Wood’s statement of Pauly’s accounts, rendered “in so perfect a manner that Nothing is left for me to say on the subject, except that I suppose the State may with Safety pay to Mr. Pauly the balance due Penet da Costa Freres & Company.” Harrison cautioned, however, that payment in full would probably open the floodgates for other claims by those hoodwinked by “that adventurer” Penet (ibid., pp. 350–51). Under pressure of other business, and with only a week of the current session left, Speaker John Tyler apparently never presented these papers to the House.

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Source Project: Madison Papers
Title: Resolution on the Pauly and Beaumarchais Claims, 14 June 1784
Author: Madison, James
Date: 14 June 1784

Reference

Cite as: “Resolution on the Pauly and Beaumarchais Claims, 14 June 1784,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/01-08-02-0038. [Original source: The Papers of James Madison, vol. 8, 10 March 1784 – 28 March 1786, ed. Robert A. Rutland and William M. E. Rachal. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1973, pp. 69–70.]