altering the Government of this Colony, be directed to attend the House.

Ordered, That the Messenger of the House be directed to enjoin the said Mills and Otis, upon their honour, not to leave the Town until they have liberty from the Court.

Ordered, That Major Hawley, Colonel Freeman, Captain Partridge, Captain Goodman, and Colonel Grout, be a Committee to pass any further examination upon Mills and Otis, which they shall think proper.

Mr. Cushing brought down from the Board a Letter from his Excellency General Washington, concerning the state of the Army and the propriety of fitting out Privateers.

Ordered, That Colonel Sawyer, Colonel Cushing, and Mr. Cushing, with such as the honourable Board shall join, be a Committee to consider the aforementioned Letter, and report thereon.

Then the House adjourned till to-morrow morning, nine o’clock.

Sabbath-day, August 13, 1775.

Ordered, That Mr. Pitts be sent to the honourable Board, to inquire of them whether they shall have any thing to lay before the House before the time for publick worship.

Mr. Pitts returned, and reported that he had done the Message.

Afternoon.

Moses Gill, Esq., brought down from the Board the Resolve of the Committee of both Houses, in consequence of General Washington’s Letter respecting desertion from the Army.

“In Council August 13, 1775.

“Whereas it is made evident to this Court, that many Non-Commissioned Officers and Soldiers, belonging to the Continental Army, do absent themselves from their duty, and that there is great reason to believe divers of them are employed in their own private business while they are drawing pay from the publick, and all the measures hitherto used have been ineffectual to prevent such base and pernicious practices: Therefore, in order to reform this mischief and abuse,

“It is Resolved, That the Committees of Correspondence for the several Towns in this Colony, and the Selectmen, where such Committees are not chosen, be and hereby are directed and enjoined to make careful and diligent inquiry, from time to time, whether there be any Non-Commissioned Officers or Soldiers, within their respective Towns, belonging to the said Army; and if any such shall be found, that they bring them to a strict and impartial examination, upon what account they left the Army, by whose leave, and for what time; and to require all such as have no furloughs, or whose furloughs are out, and have no real impediment of sickness, to return to their duty immediately; and in case they neglect it, that such Committees or Selectmen do, without fail or delay, send an account of their names, the Company and Regiment to which they belong, and the places where they are lurking, to his Excellency General Washington, that such infamous deserters and defrauders of the publick may not go unpunished. And it is strongly recommended to all the inhabitants of this Colony to be aiding and assisting to their said Committees and Selectmen in the execution of this Resolve, and that they by no means countenance, harbour, or conceal, but, on the other hand, give information of all such delinquents to the said Committees or Selectmen; and also to the said Committees and Selectmen, that they be vigilant and faithful in the discharge of this trust.

“To the Committee of Correspondence in the Town of  . .

“And his Excellency General Washington is hereby requested to give orders that the foregoing Resolve be posted up in such publick places in the Camps as to him shall seem proper, that the soldiery of the Army may be excited to take into their consideration the baseness, fraud, and villany of the abovementioned practice; that they may thereby be made sensible that every one who shall be guilty thereof will greatly disparage himself, become justly contemptible, and deserving of severe punishment, and wholly forfeit the respectable character of an American Volunteer.

“Ordered, That the foregoing Resolve be printed in Handbills, and directed to the Committees of Correspondence or Selectmen in the several Towns in this Colony, and that fifty copies thereof be sent to General Washington. Also, that a Committee be appointed to procure the printing the said Handbills, to direct the printer as to number, and to superscribe them to the several Towns, &c. That the following Letter to General Washington accompany the said copies, viz:

“Watertown, August 13, 1775.

“SIR: The enclosed Handbills will sufficiently serve to satisfy your Excellency that the General Court fully concur with you in your opinion of the importance and necessity of the utmost exertions for the reformation of the infamous practices mentioned in your Letter of the 7th instant, directed to the President of the honourable Board, and also of the readiness of the General Court to co-operate with you in every measure tending to remedy the mischief therein complained of.”

Read and concurred.

Ordered, That Colonel Freeman, Major Hallet, and Colonel Thompson, be a Committee to see to the printing this Resolve in Handbills, and sending it to the several Towns in the Colony, and that fifty copies thereof be sent to General Washington.

The House then adjourned till to-morrow morning, eight o’clock.

Monday, August 14, 1775.

The Petition from the Inhabitants of Machias, and the Account accompanying it, were read, and committed to Colonel Otis, Colonel Thompson, and Mr. Cushing.

The Petition of the Committee of Inspection and Correspondence for the Town of Falmouth, read, and committed to Mr. Durfee, Colonel Cushing, and Colonel Otis.

Resolved, That the Committee of Supplies be directed to assist Captain James Curtis with suitable carriages to convey one ton of Stores from Watertown to Newburyport, and lay their accounts before this House.

The Report of the Committee respecting the abating the Town of Boston, and some other suffering Towns, their Colony Taxes, in whole or in part, read and recommitted.

Ordered, That Captain Foster, Mr. Singletary, and Captain Morton, be a Committee to procure the quantity of Shot specified in the Report of the Committee to furnish the Town of Gloucester with Men and Ammunition.

The Letter from the Selectmen of Newburyport, respecting their Town’s stock of Powder, read, and

Ordered, That the Resolve for collecting Powder from several Towns be dispensed with as to Newburyport.

Ordered, That Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Story, and Captain Goodman, with such as the honourable Board shall join, be a Committee to consult what measures can be taken to cut off the communication of intelligence which is said to go to the enemy by means of the Man-of-War at Portsmouth.

Ordered, That a Message go to the Board, acquainting them that the House considered the Memorial of the Town of Gloucester, and the Letter from General Washington,* brought down by Captain White, to belong to the department of the Board to consider of.

Mr. Sullivan accordingly went with a Message from the House, to inform the Board that it was the opinion of the

*CAMBRIDGE, HEAD-QUARTERS, August 14, 1775.

SIR: His Excellency being obliged to attend some business in the lines, has directed me to acquaint you and the honourable Court, that he has received a letter from General Gage, which has determined him to order the Officers now at Watertown, together with those at Cape-Ann, to be confined in Northampton jail. General Gage is resolved to know no distinction of rank among our prisoners in his hands, which obliges General Washington, very contrary to his disposition, to observe the same rule of treatment to those gentlemen, to whom It will be proper to explain the reasons of a conduct which otherwise may appear harsh and cruel. The common men the General Court will order to such places as they think proper.

I have, by the General’s direction, also enclosed you the letter from Cape-Ann. He would gladly give them the desired assistance, but you are no strangers to the state of our ammunition. We have reason to expect some speedy supplies, and when any can be spared from the necessary use of the Army with propriety, it will doubtless be done; in the mean time his Excellency refers them to the General Court for the direction and advice they request.

I have the honour to be, with great respect, Sir, your most obedient humble servant,

JOSEPH REED, Secretary.