one at Great Barrington; one at Plymouth; and one at Falmouth, in the County of Barnstable.

And it is further resolved, That Mr. James Winthrop be appointed Postmaster for the Town of Cambridge; Mr. Edward Morris, for Salem; Mr. James Foster, for Ipswich; Mr. Simeon Greenough, for Haverhill; Mr. Bulkley Emerson, for Newburyport; Captain Nathaniel Kimball, for Kennebunk; Mr. Samuel Freeman, for Falmouth, in Cumberland; Mr. John Wood, for Georgetown; Mr. Isaiah Thomas, for Worcester; Mr. Moses Church, for Springfield; Doctor William Whiting, for Great Barrington; Mr. Joseph Nye, third, for Sandwich; William Watson, Esquire, for Plymouth; and Mr. Moses Swift, for Falmouth, in Barnstable.

And that Captain Jonathan Brown, Jonas Dix, Esq., and David Cheever, Esquire, be a Committee to give directions for the setting off and returning of the Posts in their several routes, and to appoint the number of Riders, and to agree with them. And to agree also with the Postmasters for their services. And that the Rates of and Duties for Postage of Letters, &c., be as follows, viz:

The above rates to be paid in lawful money of this Colony.

The above Rates are for the Postage of a Single Letter. They are to be doubled for all Double Letters; trebled for all Treble Letters; and for every ounce weight four times as much to be charged as for a Single Letter; and that the Postmasters be accountable to the aforesaid Committee for what they shall receive. And that the foregoing Rules and Orders continue until the Continental Congress, or the Congress, or future House of Representatives of this Colony, shall make some further order relative to the same.

The Committee appointed to draw a Resolve respecting a Court of Inquiry, reported; and,

Ordered, That Monday, at three o’clock in the afternoon be assigned for taking the same into consideration.

Adjourned till to-morrow morning, eight o’clock,

Sunday, May 14, 1775.

Met, and adjourned to twelve o’clock.

At twelve o’clock met, and adjourned to three o’clock.

At three o’clock met again.

Moved, That a Committee be appointed to apply to the Committee of Safety for a list of such persons as they have given Listing Orders to, that this Congress may commission such as they think proper without delay.

Resolved, That the further consideration of this matter be referred until to-morrow morning.

Adjourned till, to-morrow morning, nine o’clock.

Monday, May 15, 1775, A. M.

Resolved, That four o’clock, in the afternoon of this day, be assigned for making choice of two persons, Members of this Congress, to attend the Provincial Congress of New-Hampshire, on Wednesday next.

The Order of the Day was moved for, and read.

Resolved, That David Cheever, Esquire, for reasons by him offered, be excused from serving in the business to which he was appointed by a Resolve of this Congress, passed the twelfth instant, for establishing Post Offices and Post-Riders; and that Mr. William Greenleaf, Joseph Greenleaf, Esquire, and Mr. John Pitts, be added to the Committee therein appointed.

Resolved, That five o’clock, this afternoon, be assigned for the choice of a person to serve on the Committee of Supplies, in the room of Colonel Lee, deceased.

Ordered, That the Committee appointed to prepare an application to the Continental Congress, be directed to insert a clause therein, desiring that the said Congress would take some measures for directing and regulating the American Forces.

The Committee appointed to prepare an Introduction to the Depositions relating to the late affair at Lexington, reported. The same was recommitted, for the purpose of examining it, to find if the Narrative contained in the said Introduction be supported by the Depositions, and to add such other Depositions as may be procured.

Ordered, That Mr. Fisher, Colonel Field, and Mr. Bullen, be a Committee to examine the Letters of Governour Hutchinson, lately discovered, and report to this Congress such Letters and Extracts as they think it will be proper to publish.

Ordered, That Colonel Warren, Mr. Sawyer, and Major Bliss, be a Committee to take into consideration the subject of a Letter, read in Congress, from William Watson, Esquire, to Colonel Warren and Mr. Lothrop.

Colonel Barrett, who was appointed to take a Deposition at Concord, reported; the Deposition reported was ordered to be committed to the Committee who were appointed to prepare an Introduction to the Depositions.

The Committee appointed to take into consideration Extracts of a Letter from the Honourable Enoch Freeman, Esquire, reported a Letter to the Eastern Tribes of Indians; which was accepted, and ordered to be authenticated, and sent to Mr. John Lane, to be communicated to them.

The Committee appointed to consider a Letter from William Watson, Esquire, of Plymouth, reported the following Resolve; which was accepted, and ordered to be printed, and dispersed to the several Towns in the Colony, and is as follows, viz:

“Whereas, some of the inhabitants of this Colony, and most of them such as have been inimical to the Constitution and interest of the same, are now (after having united themselves with our enemies in reducing us to the distresses and difficulties we are labouring under) taking steps to remove themselves and effects out of this Colony into the Government of Nova-Scotia and elsewhere, in order to avoid their proportion of the burdens necessarily incurred for our defence: to prevent which, it is

“Resolved, That no person be, from this time, permitted to move his Goods and Effects out of this Colony, unless he shall obtain the permission of the Committee of Correspondence of the Town he belongs to, or (if no such Committee be there appointed) of the Selectmen, or the majority of them, under their hands, for that purpose, but by the leave of this or some future Congress. And the several Committees of Correspondence, or Selectmen, where there are no such Committees, are hereby directed to be very vigilant in observing the motions of all such persons whom they may have reason to suspect, and to see that this Resolve be carried into full execution.”

Adjourned to three o’clock, P. M.

Afternoon.

The Committee appointed to consider the Extracts of a Letter from the Honourable Enoch Freeman, Esquire, reported a Resolve respecting an Embassy to Canada; which being read, and amended, was accepted, (and a copy ordered to be authenticated and sent to the Selectmen of Falmouth,) and is as follows, viz:

“Whereas, it is absolutely necessary for the interest and safety of this Colony, in its present unhappy situation, that the most certain, intelligence from Canada of the designs and manæuvres of the inhabitants of that Colony should be obtained as speedily as possible: And whereas, the Selectmen of the Town of Falmouth having been alarmed by reports, which had prevailed in the eastern parts of the Colony, that the Canadians would soon attack them on their frontiers, and thereby bring not only themselves, but the whole Colony, into a still more deplorable situation: and judging it of the utmost importance, that the truth or falsity of such reports should be known without delay, have employed Mr. Jabez Matthews and Mr. David Dinsmore to go across the woods to Quebeck, in order to observe the motions of the people there, and, as far as possible, to gain a knowledge of their intentions:

“Therefore, resolved, That this Congress do approve of the care and attention of the Selectmen of Fulmouth to the general interest of the Colony.