On motion,

Ordered, That Messrs. Ridgely, Clowes, and Clark, be a Committee to wait upon his Honour the Governour, with the Bill to prohibit the importation of Slaves into this Government, for his perusal and concurrence.

Monday, March 27, 1775.

The Doorkeeper informed the House that Mr. Secretary waited at the door.

Ordered, That he be admitted; and he was admitted accordingly, and informed the House that his Honour the Governour, by him, returned the Bill to prohibit the importation of Slaves into this Government, to which his Honour cannot give his assent.

Wednesday, March 29, 1775.

On motion,

The draught of Instructions for the gentlemen appointed by the House to represent this Government at an American Congress, proposed to be held at Philadelphia in May next, was, by order, read the second time, paragraph by paragraph, agreed to, and ordered to be transcribed on the minutes, and follows in these words, to wit:

Instructions to the Deputies appointed by this Government to meet in General Congress on the tenth day of MAY next.

1. That in every act to be done in Congress, you studiously avoid, as you have heretofore done, every thing disrespectful or offensive to our most gracious Sovereign, or in any measure invasive of his just rights and prerogative.

2. That you do adhere to those claims, and resolutions made and agreed upon at the last meeting of the Congress; yet, for the restoration of that harmony with the Parent State which is so essential to the security and happiness of the whole British Empire, and which is so ardently wished for by this House, you may, on your parts, yield such contested claims of right as do not apparently belong to the Colonists, or are not essentially necessary to their well being.

3. If His Majesty should be pleased graciously to appoint any person or persons to treat with the Colonies on the present unhappy disputes subsisting between them and the Parent State, you, or any of you the Congress shall nominate, may treat with such person or persons on behalf of the inhabitants of this Government.

4. If the Congress, when formed, shall not, in every question to be voted by Provinces, allow this Government an equal vote with any other Province or Government on this Continent, you are decently but firmly to urge the right of this Government to an equal voice in Congress with the other Colonies.

The House adjourned till the fifth day of June next.

PENNSYLVANIA COUNCIL.

At a Council held at Philadelphia, on Monday, 13th March, 1775:

Present, the Hon. John Penn, Esquire, Governour, Benjamin Chew and Edward Shippen, Junior, Esquires.

The Governour laid before the Board a Letter that he received last night by the Packet from the Right Honourable the Earl of Dartmouth, one of His Majesty’s principal Secretaries of State, dated the 7th of January, 1775, which was read, and follows in these words, viz:

Whitehall, January 7, 1775.

SIR: I am very much obliged to you for the early communication of the proceedings of the General Congress.

These proceedings are of a very extraordinary nature, and it is with concern I see, by your letter of the 6th of December, that the Resolution for Non-Importation has been so generally adopted in the Colony under your government. Such measures and proceedings are but ill calculated to restore peace and union between Great Britain and the Colonies. But though they may in the moment provoke the vengeance of Government, I will hope that we may yet, in the consideration of the business, be led to some proposition that may ultimately bring about a happy accommodation upon some general constitutional plan.

Your letter of the 3d of November, No. 5, states the case respecting the boundary line between Pennsylvania and Maryland, in a very different light from that in which it was represented to me. And the King, confiding in your assertion that the extension of the jurisdiction of Pennsylvania up to the line settled and marked by the Commissioners, had been so far from having the effect to disturb the peace of his subjects; and occasioning violence and bloodshed, that it had a quite contrary tendency, and given universal satisfaction, is graciously pleased to approve the arrangement made by your Proclamation of the 15th of September, and permit you to recall that issued on the 2d of November.

I am, Sir, your most obedient humble servant,

DARTMOUTH.

Deputy Governour Penn.

The Board, taking the latter part of the above Letter into consideration, were of opinion that it would be advisable for the Governour to issue a Proclamation agreeable to His Majesty’s permission, signified in the said Letter, to recall the Governour’s Proclamation of the 2d of November last, It is accordingly ordered that a draught of a Proclamation be prepared, to be laid before the Board at their next meeting.

Memorandum, March 16, 1775.

The Governour this day wrote to Governour Eden the following Letter, on the subject of the Proclamation to be issued respecting the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland:

Philadelphia, March 16, 1775.

SIR: I make no doubt you have been informed, since your return from England, that in the month of September last I issued a Proclamation for extending the jurisdiction of Pennsylvania and the Counties of New-Castle, Kent, and Sussex, up to the boundary lines run and marked by the Commissioners appointed to that service, and that I afterwards revoked that Proclamation by a subsequent one of the 2d of November, in consequence of His Majesty’s orders, signified to me by the Secretary of State, “that I should desist from issuing any orders for extending the jurisdiction of Pennsylvania beyond those places where it had been usually exercised, until His Majesty’s further pleasure should be made known therein.” I am now to inform you that I have received a letter from the Earl of Dartmouth by the last Packet, advising me that His Majesty, “on further consideration, is graciously pleased to approve the arrangement made by my Proclamation of the 15th of September, and to permit me to recall that of the 2d of November;” and I propose immediately to issue a new Proclamation, to make known His Majesty’s pleasure in this matter, and to enforce that of the 15th of September.

I am, with great respect, your Excellency’s most obedient and most humble servant,

JOHN PENN.

To His Excellency Robert Eden, Esquire, Governour and Commander-in-Chief of the Province of Maryland, Annapolis.

BOSTON TOWN-MEETING.

At a Meeting of the Inhabitants of the Town of Boston, on Monday, March 13th, 1775, upon a motion made and seconded,

Voted, That the Committee of Correspondence be directed to draw up an exact state of the behaviour of the Troops under the command of General Gage, and of the Navy under the command of Admiral Graves, going as far back as they shall judge proper; and also carefully to observe their conduct in future, taking their information upon oath before two Justices of the Peace, quorum unux, always giving legal notice to the persons accused of disorderly proceedings, and report to the Town.

Attest:

WILLIAM COOPER, Town Clerk.

MEETING OF THE INHABITANTS OF HACKENSACK, NEW-JERSEY.

At a Meeting of the Inhabitants of the Precinct of Hackensack, in the County of Bergen and Province of New-Jersey, held pursuant to an Act of Assembly of the