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Excerpt from Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789, Vol. 22 The elaboration of the Government, to fit the purposes for which it was formed, progressed during the year. The Post Office was reorganized; the Department of Foreign Af fairs was formed the foreign diplomatic and consular estab lishment was enlarged. Holland recognized American in dependence in July; in September Sweden was ready to make a treaty. Various departments of the Army were ar ranged, and regulations made for the War Department. The duties of the Secretary of Congress were defined, and he became in some sort the Secretary of State. He corre sponded with the States, and was the keeper of the Great Seal. After six years of delay, it had been adopted on J une 20, and the Government now had a mark of its authority and a coat of arms. The judiciary system was in operation. The Court of Appeals in cases of capture tried cases, and a special court was organized, in the manner prescribed by the Articles of Confederation, to settle the boundary controversy between Pennsylvania and Connecticut. So far as the ordi nary functions went, the Government was working fairly well, and might have lasted for many years, if it had not been for fatal weakness at the most vital point. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.