the Town; for we can make no defence against a Man-of-War, and, undoubtedly, in a short time there won't be a house standing here.

Pray let Congress be informed of this affair, and let us know whether Thompson had such orders; and pray the Congress to give us some direction, for we are in such confusion nobody seems to be rational.

NEW-KENT COUNTY ( VIRGINIA) COMMITTEE.

At a meeting of the Committee for New-Kent County, at the Court-House, the 1lth day of May, 1775:

The Committee taking into consideration Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation, dated the third day of this month, said to be issued with the advice of His Majesty’s Council, wherein the inhabitants of this Colony are indiscriminately charged, in general terms, with dissatisfaction to His Majesty’s Government, and a design to effect a change in the form of it, think it necessary for themselves and their constituents to declare their sentiments. And accordingly,

Resolved unanimously, That unfeigned loyalty to His Majesty’s person and Government, as by law established, and a due obedience to the laws of our Country, are the ruling principles of the inhabitants of this County; and that the suggestion on which the said Proclamation appears to be founded, so far as it respects the inhabitants of this County, is an injurious reflection upon them, and has no foundation in truth. At the same time we are determined, for ourselves and posterity, to support and maintain the rights and privileges of British subjects, which we are entitled to, against any tyrannical attempts whatever.

Resolved, That the Resolutions of this Committee, entered into on the third of this month, and the first Resolution entered into this day, be sent to the Printers to be published. By order of the Committee:

WILLIAM SMITH, Clerk.

SOMERSET COUNTY (NEW-JERSEY) COMMITTEE.

Pursuant to notice given by the Chairman of the Committee of Correspondence for the County of Somerset, in New-Jersey, the Freeholders of the County met at the Court-House the 11th day of May, 1775:

HENDHTCK FISHER, Esq., chosen Chairman,
FREDERICK FRELINGHUYSEN, Clerk.

1. Resolved, That the several steps taken by the British Ministry to enslave the American Colonies, and especially the late alarming hostilities commenced by the Troops under General Gage against the inhabitants of Massachusetts-Bay, loudly call on the people of this Province to determine what part they will act in this situation of affairs; and that we therefore readily consent to elect Deputies for a Provincial Congress, to meet at Trenton on Tuesday, the 23d instant, agreeable to the advice and direction of the Provincial Committee of Correspondence.

2. Resolved, That the number of Deputies shall be nine, and that they shall be chosen by ballot.

Adjourned for an hour.

Four o’clock, the people re-assembled.

Hendrick Fisher, John Roy, Esquires, Mr. Frederick Frelinghuysen, Mr. Enos Kelsey, Peter Schenck, Jonathan D. Sergeant, Nathaniel Airs, William Patterson, and Abraham Van Nest, Esquires, are appointed Deputies for this County, who, or any five of them, are hereby empowered to meet the Deputies from the other Counties in Provincial Congress, at Trenton, on Tuesday the 23d instant, and to agree to all such measures as shall be judged necessary for the preservation of our constitutional rights and privileges.

Resolved, That the Deputies for this County be instructed, and they are hereby instructed to join with the Deputies from the other Counties, in forming such plan for the Militia of this Province, as to them shall seem proper; and we heartily agree to arm and support such a number of men as they shall order to be raised in this County.

Resolved, That this County will pay the expenses of their Deputies who shall attend the Congress.

Resolved, That Messrs. Tobias Van Norden and Daniel Blackford be added to the Committee of Observation for the Township of Bridgewater. By order:

FREDERICK FRELINGHUYSEN, Clerk.

RECANTATIONS OF MR, BAILEY, MR. M'MASTER, AND MR. ACHINCLOSS.

Whereas, I the subscriber, have, for a long series of time, both done and said many things that I am sensible has proved of great disadvantage to this Town and the Continent in general; and am now determined by my future conduct to convince the publick that I will risk my life and interest in defence of the constitutional privileges of this Continent, and humbly ask the forgiveness of my friends and the Country in general for my past conduct.

P. BAILEY.

Portsmouth, N. H., May 11, 1775.

Whereas, I the subscriber, have, for a long series of time, both done and said many things that I am sensible has proved of great disadvantage to this Town and the Continent in general; and am now determined by my future conduct to convince the publick that I will risk my life and interest in defence of the constitutional privileges of this Continent, and humbly ask the forgiveness of my friends and the Country in general for my past conduct.

JAMES MCMASTER.

Portsmouth, N. H., May 11, 1775.

Whereas my past conduct hath made an ill impression upon the minds of many of the inhabitants of this Town and Province; and as many view me unfriendly to the rights and liberties of British America, I hereby declare that I am heartily sorry that any part of my conduct should have given uneasiness to any of the friends of America; and hereby engage to aid and assist in supporting the common cause of America to the utmost of my power; and I hope my future conduct will render me worthy of the friendship and protection of this Country.

THOS. ACHINCLOSS.

Portsmouth, N.H., May 22, 1775.

COMMITTEE OF SAFETY TO GENERAL THOMAS.

Cambridge, May 11, 1775.

The Captains Caleb Wright and John Holmes, of the County of Berkshire, now report verbally, that your Excellency is willing that about sixty of Colonel Fellows’s men, who have not enlisted, may have liberty to return home, they having first the consent of this Committee. We have conferred with his Excellency General Ward, upon the subject, and are of opinion that no liberty ought to be granted to any for that purpose until the camps are so far strengthened as that all who were called in upon the late alarm may have liberty to return; and as the Troops from Connecticut are very soon expected, we think that these, with others which are daily coming in, will strengthen our hands so far as to relieve those who want to return to their homes. We are, &c.

LETTER FROM FALMOUTH, MASS., TO A GENTLEMAN IN WATERTOWN, DATED MAY 11, 1775.

SIR: It may not be disagreeable to you to have a more particular account of the solemn scene that has been acted here for two or three days past, than it can be expected common fame will give you.

Last Tuesday morning, Lieutenant-Colonel Thompson, of Brunswick, with about fifty armed men, with each a small bough of spruce in his hat, and having a spruce pole, with a green top on it for a standard, landed on the back part of our Neck, at a place called Sandy Point, where is a thick grove of trees. In that place they lay, unknown to the people of the Town, seizing and detaining several persons that happened to pass that way, till about one o'clock, when Captain Mowat, the Surgeon of his ship, and the Reverend Mr. Wiswal, taking a walk that way for their pleasure, were seized and made prisoners. As soon as the master of the ship (one Hogg ) heard of it, he wrote to Colonel Freeman, that if Captain Mowat and the other prisoners were not delivered up in an hour or two, (I do not certainly know the time,) he would lay the Town in ashes. You can hardly conceive the consternation, confusion, and uproar that immediately ensued. Our women were, I believe, every one of them in tears, or praying, or