days on a voyage to Canada, in the service of this Colony.

In Council, August 4, 1775: Read and concurred.

A Bill for removing all the Officers, both civil and military, in this Colony, was read the first time, and ordered to be read again at five o’clock in the afternoon.

An Account of Mr. Benjamin Batchelder, for taking care of and keeping Horses, which were employed in escorting General Washington, was read, and committed to the Committee on Accounts; and, also, an Account of Joseph Chaddock, for escorting the Delegates of this Colony from Brookfield to Springfield, on their way to the Continental Congress;* also, an Account of the Honourable James Warren, Esq., of his expenses to Providence in July last.

The Committee appointed to prepare directions to persons employed to procure Powder, reported. The Report was read and recommitted.

The Report of the Committee of this House, on the Report of a Committee of both Houses, who were appointed to confer with Mr. Brown on the situation of our friends in Boston, was again read, and recommitted.

Ordered, That Captain Goodman, Mr. Hale, Deacon Rawson, Mr. Ingals, and Captain Bragdon, be a Committee to consider what is proper to be done relative to the expense of billeting Soldiers from their respective homes to Head-Quarters.

The Report of the Committee, giving directions to those persons who are to procure Powder from several Towns in the Colony, was read, and accepted; and is as follows, viz:

Whereas it has been represented to this House that a larger quantity of Powder is wanted than is at present in the Magazine, and considering how much depends upon that most necessary article, which, under God, if provided, may prove the salvation of America: It is, therefore, Resolved, That the respective Towns and Districts, in the Counties hereafter named, (they lying least exposed to the depredations of the enemy of any which have not already been draughted upon,) be directed to deliver to the Committee who are appointed for that purpose their Towns’ stock of Powder, except so much as is proposed to be reserved in each Town and District, according to the following schedule. And the Committee are hereby directed to give their Receipts to the respective Selectmen of such Towns and Districts as they shall receive Powder from, in the form following, viz:

“The . . day of . . . 1775, received of A. B. C. Selectmen of the Town of . . . . the Town’s stock of Powder, containing . . . . weight, to the use of the Continental Army, which Powder is to be replaced again as soon as the state of the publick Magazine will admit, or paid for in Money.”

And the Committee appointed to receive the Powder are hereby severally empowered and directed to employ such Teamsters as shall be necessary, with all possible despatch, to convey the same to the Committee of Supplies, and upon the delivering of said Powder, and producing a Certificate from either of the Committee-men appointed to collect said Powder, setting forth the sum agreed on for the conveyance of the same, the Committee of Supplies shall give said Teamsters a Certificate of the receipt of said Powder, which Certificate being laid before the Council, said Teamsters shall receive a warrant from the major part of the Council on the publick Treasury of the Colony for the sum agreed upon, to be paid in Colony Notes and Bills; and the Receiver-General is hereby directed to pay the same accordingly.

And the Committee appointed for the aforementioned purposes are still further directed and empowered to collect Powder from other Towns than are expressed in the following schedule, where it may be had, and give their receipts as expressed above. And, also, to purchase of any private person who may have of that article to sell, and lay their accounts of Powder so purchased before this Court. The persons whose names follow are appointed a Committee for the purposes expressed in the foregoing Resolve.

SUFFOLK: Mr. Perry and Captain Vose.

ESSEX: Mr. Mighill and Mr. Webster.

MIDDLESEX: Dr. Fletcher, Deacon Stickney, and Col. Smith.

PLYMOUTH: Colonel Cushing.

BRISTOL: Colonel Williams.

SUFFOLK COUNTY.—To be left in Town of Milton 2 half barrels, Dedham 1 ditto, Medfield 1, Wrentham 2, Needham. 1, Stoughtonham 1, Medway 1, Bellingham 1, Walpole 1.

ESSEX COUNTY.—To be left in Town of Danvers 2 half barrels, Newbury 2 ditto, Newburyport 8.

MIDDLESEX COUNTY.—To be left in Town of Woburn 2 half barrels, Concord 2 ditto, Newton 2, Reading 2, Marlboro 2, Billerica 1, Framingham 2, Chelmsford 2, Sherburne 1, Sudbury 2, Weston 1, Littleton 1, Hopkinton 1, Tewksbury 1, Acton 1, Dunstable 1, Lincoln 1, Wilmington 1.

PLYMOUTH COUNTY.—To be left in Town of Middle-bury 2 half barrels, Bridgewater 2 ditto, Abington 2, Halifax 1, Plymouth 12, Pembroke 2, Hanover 2, Andover 2, Rowley 2, Haverhill 2, Topsfield 1, Boxford 1, Almsbury 2, Bradford 1, Middletown 1, Methuen 1, West-ford 1, Waltham 1, Stow 1, Groton I, Shirley 1, Pepperell 1, Townsend 1, Ashley 1, Natick 1, Dracut 1, Bedford 1, Holliston 1, Kingston 2.

BRISTOL COUNTY.—To he left in Town of Taunton 2 half barrels, Rehoboth 2 ditto, Norton 1, Marshfield 1, Freetown 2, Berkley 1, Attlebury 2, Raynham 1, Easton 1, Dartmouth 1.

In Council, August 4, 1775: Read and concurred.

The Committee on the Letter from Newburyport reported. The Report was recommitted.

Afternoon.

Ordered, That Captain Morton, Major Goodwin, and Colonel Hale, be a Committee to consider what method shall be taken to supply those Soldiers with Blankets who have not as yet received any.

The Committee on the Petition of the Town of Camden, in Penobscot-Bay, and the papers accompanying it, reported. The Report was read and accepted, and it is as follows, viz:

Upon the Petition of James Minot and others, Committee of Safety of the Town of Camden, setting forth the distressed circumstances of said Town on account of the great scarcity of bread, and praying for assistance; and considering their firmness to the cause for which we are now struggling:

Resolved, That the Committee of Supplies be directed to supply said James Minot with two hundred bushels of Indian Corn, and take his receipt for the same; which Corn to be delivered to the care of the Committee of Safety of said Camden, in the County of Lincoln, to be distributed to the inhabitants as they, the said Committee, shall think proper: And for the pay of said Corn, the said Committee of Safety are to supply the American Forces raised for defence of the sea-coast, that shall or may be stationed near or at said Town, with fresh Meat, or any thing that may answer for the billeting said Forces; and the said Committee of Safety are to be accountable to the General Court of the Colony.

In Council, August 4, 1775: Read and concurred.

Ordered, That Mr. Cushing be of the Committee on Colonel Arnold’s Account, in the room of Mr. Devens.

Ordered, That Mr. Rice, Mr. Pilsbury, and Mr. Devens, be a Committee to procure such Resolves of the late Congresses or of this House, as might be of service to the eastward settlements, and to send them a number of copies, especially to Camden and Deer-Island; and to

*“IN COMMITTEE OF SAFETY, CAMBRIDGE, April 25, 1775.

“Resolved, That Captain Joseph Chaddock be ordered with the Troop of Horse under his command to proceed forward as an Escort to the Honourable Members of the Continental Congress, on their way to Philadelphia, until they are met by an Escort from the Colony of Connecticut.

JOSEPH WARREN, Chairman.”

In obedience to a Resolve of the Committee of Safety, at Cambridge, April 25, 1775, I have waited two days and a half with thirteen Men of the Troop of Horse under my command, from Brookfield as far as Springfield-Ferry, as an Escort to the Honourable Members of the Continental Congress, on their way to Philadelphia.

BROOKFIELD, April 28, 1775.

JOSEPH CHADDOCK, Captain.

Lieutenant David Hitchcock, Corporal A. Walker, Corporal Benja-min Potter, Corporal Roger Bruce, Corporal Joseph Bush, Jun., Elisha Holten, Thomas Moore, Jedediah Baldwin, Benjamin Gilbert, Nath. Barrett,J. Guttler, Thomas Hill, Daniel Bartlett.