1. When the Virginia delegation laid its “instruction” before Congress on 22 August 1780, it was “referred to the committee appointed to superintend the printing the Journal” (Journals of the Continental Congress, XVII, 755). The committee’s report, if any, is apparently not on record. By authorization of Congress and the President in 1799, the Folwell Press of Philadelphia published the following year a reprint of the original edition of the journals of the Continental Congress, under the title, Journals of Congress: Containing Their Proceedings. Volume V of this edition, covering 1779, records how each delegate voted on many motions, resolutions, and bills, while the next volume, covering 1780, omits these listings altogether. Hence the reason for the Virginia legislature’s request becomes evident (see also Burnett, Letters description begins Edmund C. Burnett, ed., Letters of Members of the Continental Congress (8 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1921–36). description ends , V, 371). On 1 March 1781, due to Maryland’s ratification, the Articles of Confederation went into effect. Article IX of this document required Congress to “publish the Journal of their proceedings monthly” and, except on matters requiring secrecy, “the yeas and nays of the delegates of each state on any question shall be entered on the Journal.…” Conforming with this mandate, Congress on 16 March 1781 resumed the publication of the yeas and nays.