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A History of the Maryland Press, 1777-1790
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couraged ... to begin a School at the Orphan House for Academical Learning with Mr. Lang-
worthy, who I think is a very good Classical Scholar and in other Respects is better qualifyed
than any person I know here for the undertaking... I have accordingly agreed to give him £ 50.
pr annum, and his Board and lodging, and next Monday, the 14th Instant he is to open his School
with about half a dozen youth, and I doubt not, but their number will soon be increased."1
It is difficult to determine how long he remained at his new position, but
he had probably left before the great fire which destroyed Bethesda
Orphanage in the Spring of 1773; his name is not mentioned by Haber-
sham as among those who were there at that time.
SECRETARY OF THE GEORGIA COUNCIL OF SAFETY AND MEMBER OF
THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS
Langworthy in 1774 entered a new and far more important period of
his life. On August 10 of that year he signed the Loyalist: protest to the
Declaration of Independence. However, like so many of his contem-
poraries he soon reversed his position and on December 11, 1775 was
unanimously elected Secretary to the General Committee of the Georgia
Council of Safety. It was perhaps in this capacity that he became a
warm friend of Button Gwinnett who was President of the Council and
in a position to help him. After the death of Gwinnett in a duel, Lang-
worthy was chosen to succeed him in the Continental Congress. His
term of service ran from November 17, 1777 to April 12, 1779, undis-
tinguished by any conspicuous action on his part. However, on April 10,
1778 he and Thomas Burke withdrew from a meeting of Congress at
which an unnecessarily offensive reply to a letter from Washington was
being considered in order that there might not be the necessary quorum
present to transact business. The rules of Congress, however, forbade
members from withdrawing without permission so the official messenger
was dispatched to bring them back. Burke told him, "Devil a foot will
I go tonight. It is too late and too unreasonable" but Langworthy
said that he would return presently and after the messenger had come
a second time with a personal note from his friend, William Duer, he
returned and excused himself by saying that he had been under the
impression that the session had adjourned. He later claimed that he had
a cold which, he said, kept him from hearing well enough to know that
Congress was still in session. Burke, however, remained at home and
two weeks later was forced to explain his absence to Congress at a
2 Coll. of the Georgia Hist. Soc. Vol VI, p. 117.
[ 38 ]
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