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THE EARL OF DARTMOUTH TO THE GOVERNOURS OF THE COLONIES. [Circular.] Whitehall, October 19, 1774. SIR: His Majesty having thought fit by his Order in Council this day to prohibit the exportation from Great Britain of Gunpowder, or any sort of Arms or Ammunition, I herewith enclose to you a copy of the Order; and it is his Majesty's command that you do take the most effectual measures for arresting, detaining, and securing any Gunpowder, or any sort of Arms or Ammunition which may be attempted to be imported into the Province under your Government, unless the master of the ship having such-Military Stores on board shall produce a license from his Majesty or the Privy Council for the exportation of the same from some of the Ports of this Kingdom. DARTMOUTH. ORDER IN COUNCIL. At the Court of St. James's, the 19th day of October, 1774: Present, the King's most Excellent Majesty in Council, Earl of Rochford, Earl of Dartmouth, Earl of Suffolk, Lord Viscount Townshend, Lord Mansfield, Lord North. G. CHETWYND. PROCEEDINGS OF THE GENERAL COMMITTEE OF CHARLES-TOWN, SOUTH CAROLINA, OCTOBER 20, 1774. Whereas, from the prospect of a Non-Importation Agreement being entered into, there is great reason to apprehend that some mercenary individuals, intending to take advantages of the publick distress, are daily engrossing and buying up large quantities of Goods with a view to keep the same for sale, and hereafter to raise or regulate the prices of them; and it has been suggested, that commissions seeming of this tendency, have been received from such persons in some of our sister Colonies: PETER TIMOTHY, Secretary. A large Committee was at the same time appointed to see and pursue every measure that shall be necessary for the due observance of the above recommendations, &c. TO THE PEOPLE OF HALIFAX COUNTY, IN VIRGINIA. October 20, 1774. MY COUNTRYMEN: At a time when Ministerial power is exerting all its art, conjoined with threatened force, to deprive the Americans of their natural rights and liberties, and at a time when every true-born son of freedom, who has ever been sensible of the heartfelt satisfaction arising from its enjoyment, ought to unite cheerfully with the majority of the people of the community, of which he must consider himself a member, in all such measures as have been, or may be adopted by those gentlemen, chosen by the suffrages of the people, to guard against and defeat the alarming attack made on our liberty by the hand of arbitrary and unjust power; I say, when this at least may be expected of every individual amongst us, at this alarming conjuncture of affairs, as a duty naturally incumbent on him, how is my soul shocked to find a man, not long since of good fame, of property, and holding an office of some importance to the publick good, striving, with all possible fallacy, to disaffect you, my unsuspecting countrymen, against the noble and patriotick Resolves of the late Convention, entered into by our worthy Deputies, with all that reason and prudence which could possibly have governed men in their situation; the adherence to which, strictly, can alone (in the opinion of those whose known experience of the Constitution ought to give weight to their councils) bring us that relief which the people so ardently pray for, by obtaining a repeal of the oppressive and odious "Boston Port Act," so much the subject of consideration, and so much the important object of our present inquietude; a law, in short, my dear countrymen, which strikes at once at the root of our so long boasted liberties, and which, if submitted to, subjects us to the most abject state of slavery. Distracting idea! and sufficient to rouse the attention of the most careless of liberty! And lives there a man amongst us who dare call himself a free man, and yet so destitute of those exquisite feelings, natural to liberty, as to advise you to recede from the Articles of Association, so solemnly entered into as aforesaid, calculated for your happiness, and thereby yield yourselves up to those chains which tyranny and art have been so long preparing for you? Ignoble attempt! and worthy only of that unfortunate wretch who would prefer slavery to freedom, or, if not preferring it, whose dastardly soul would shrink into nothing at the bare idea of defending, with his life and fortune, that liberty which is his birthright, and which nothing but the hand of arbitrary power can tear from him. And if the preservation of all that is dear to you, my countrymen, your civil rights, liberties, and property, depend on your strict attention to the Articles of Association, how greatly are you, and the cause of liberty, indebted to Thomas Yu-e, of your County, for the part he has acted towards the completion of this liberal plan? Vain, deluded man, who could think himself, and a few misguided adherents, of importance sufficient to disjoin that well connected plan of self-preservation, entered into by the wisest and best of men, and whose distinguished abilities, displayed on many important occasions, would do honour to the greatest Senate on earth.
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