I have had the honor of receiving and presenting to Congress your Letter of the 6th Instant, which came by the hand of Captain Blecker.
The Letter is committed to a special Committee, when a Report is made and Congress shall have formed a Resolve on the important subjects treated of, if it be within the line of my Presidency, you shall be immediately advised by Sir, Your Most Obedient & Most Humble Servant.(1)
1 Indian agent James Deane's October 6 letter to Congress was read on October 19 and referred to a committee consisting of John Witherspoon, Gouverneur Morris, and William Henry Drayton, who were already engaged in preparing a "plan of an attack upon Quebec" that was laid before Congress on October 22. Containing evidence of strong pro-American sentiment among the French Canadians and the Caughnawaga Indians, who declared that "Congress can never expect a more favorable Opportunity to dispossess the Enemy of Canada than the present," Deane's letter arrived at an opportune moment for proponents of a Canadian invasion. Although the impetus for the attack that Congress approved at this time came from the marquis de Lafayette, and relations with France rather than with the Canadians and the northern Indians was the principal factor weighed by Congress, Deane's intelligence was undoubtedly gratifying to Lafayette's supporters. No evidence has been found, however, to indicate that Deane was "immediately advised" of the proposed attack on Quebec. See JCC, 12:1023, 1042-45; PCC, item 78, 7:217-20; and Committee for Foreign Affairs to Washington, October 27, 1778.