their sessions in May, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-nine, and to be paid into the publick Treasury on or before the last day of May next, after.

And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if the General Court, at their sessions in May, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven, or at their sessions in May, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight, or at their sessions in May, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-nine, and some time before the twentieth day of July in each year, shall not agree and conclude upon an act apportioning the sums which by this act are engaged to be in each of said years assessed and levied, that then and in such case, each Town and other places within this Colony shall pay by a Tax to be levied on the polls and estates, both real and personal, within their limits, the same proportion of the said sums, as the said Towns and other places were taxed by the General Court, in the Tax Act then last preceding; and the Colony Treasurer is hereby fully empowered and directed, some time in the month of July, in each of the years aforesaid, to issue and send forth his warrants, directed to the Selectmen or Assessors of each Town within this Colony, requiring them to assess the polls and estates, both real and personal, within their several Towns, for their respective parts and proportions of the sums before directed and engaged to be assessed, to be paid into the Treasury at the aforementioned times; and the Assessors, as also persons assessed, shall observe, be governed by and subject to all such rules and directions as shall have been given in the last preceding Tax Act.

In Council, August 23, 1775: This engrossed Bill having had three several readings, Resolved, That it pass to be enacted.

The Report of the Committee appointed to consider the Resolves of Congress relative to the estates of the Refugees, was read and considered, and ordered to subside.

Resolved, That the Resolve which passed the House in the forenoon, appointing a Committee to sign and number the Notes, be reconsidered and recommitted to Major Hawley, Mr. Paine, and Colonel Freeman; and that Deacon Plympton be on the said Committee, in the room of Mr. Story, excused.

The Report of the Committee appointed to consider the Resolves of the Continental Congress relative to Saltpetre being amended, was read and accepted, and is as follows, viz:

Whereas the hopourable Continental Congress have strongly recommended to the Assemblies and Conventions of the United Colonjes, to appoint one or more person or persons, fry each Colony, to put in practice the making Saltpetre, according to such mode as shall be best adapted to their particular circumstances and to buy up, on account of the United Colonies, all the good merchantable Saltpetre that shall be made in said Colonies by the first day of October, 1776: Therefore, in compliance with said re-commendation, and for the carrying so valuable a purpose into execution,

It is Resolved, That Dr. Whiting, Deacon Baker, of Boston, and Captain John Peck, be a Committee, whose business it shall be faithfully and diligently to apply themselves to the manufacturing of Saltpetre, for the space of three months from the first day of September, 1775, jointly or severally, in such places in this Colony as they shall judge most suitable for that purpose; and they are hereby directed to use all diligence to discover the most eligible and successful method of manufacturing that important commodity, and to communicate all the useful knowledge they shall acquire in said business to all such as request it of them, and that they from time to time publish, in the newspapers or otherwise, all the useful discoveries they may make in the progress of said business; and each of the said Committee shall be allowed and paid out of the publick Terasury of this Colony, for the said term of three months, four Shillings per day for every day they shall be employed in said service, as a reward for the aforesaid service.

And it is further Resolved, That said Committee are hereby empowered to buy up all the good and merchantable Saltpetre that shall be made within this Colony by the first day of said October, 1776, at half a dollar a pound; and the said Committee are also directed to buy up all the good and merchantable Sulphur that shall be refined in this Colony by the first day of said October, at nine Pence per pound, the sellers of Sulphur producing a certificate from a major part of the Selectmen either of the Towns to which he or they belong or the Town where such Sulphur was refined, certifying that the same was produced and refined from mines and ores within this Colony; and the said Committee shall deliver such Saltpetre and Sulphur to such person or persons as shall be appointed by the General Court to receive the same, and shall receive out of the Colony Treasury from time to time such sums of money as upon the presentation made to them by said Committee, they shall judge necessary for buying up said Saltpetre and Sulphur.

And it is further Resolved, That it be strongly recommended to the inhabitants of the several Towns in this Colony that they exert themselves in promoting this important manufacture, as the surest means of preserving their own lives, liberties and estates; of insuring the salvation of their Country and its future prosperity, by erecting one or more Saltpetre works, in each Town where it may be done with probable success; and that they not only thoroughly attend to the working of those materials from which Saltpetre may be speedily procured without any previous management, but that they also take especial care to collect together under proper sheds those materials (the knowledge of which may be easily obtained from publications) which, by fermenting and putrefying together, will in due time afford Saltpetre with ease and in great plenty.

And it is further Resolved, That the several methods of making Saltpetre recommended by the honourable Continental Congress to the United Colonies be immediately reprinted, together with the foregoing Resolves, and that there be added thereto, by way of appendix, the method of making Saltpetre practised by Doctor Graham, and that one of the pamphlets be sent to the Selectmen of each Town within this Colony; and that Dr. Whiting procure the reprinting the several methods recommended by the honourable Continental Congress for making Saltpetre, together with the foregoing Resolves, and distribute them agreeable thereto.

In Council, August 24, 1775: Read and concurred.

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

Thursday, August 24, 1775.

A Petition of Ebenezer Briggs and others, of Wareham, praying this Court to order a number of Boats to be provided for the use of the Soldiers stationed in said Town, was read, and committed to Colonel Cushing, Captain Adams, and Mr. Mills.

On the Petition of several Armourers,* who have been engaged in the service of this Colony:

Resolved, That the sum of four Pounds, lawful money, be paid out of the publick Treasury of this Colony, to each Armourer who has been engaged in the service aforesaid, on his producing a certificate of his being appointed to the service of an Armourer.

In Council, August 24, 1775: Read and concurred.

The Committee on his Excellency General Washington’s

*To the Gentlemen of the House of Representatives at WATERTOWN:

We, your humble petitioners, being Armourers in the service of the Province of Massachusetts-Bay, do desire your Honours would grant us our request, as we have worked some considerable time without any regulation, and without receiving any pay; and not knowing the price we work for, and not having any encouragement to work only for the good of our Country; and as many of us have families, and depend upon our wages for their subsistence, we therefore pray your Honours that you would give us immediate relief, by putting in a head armourer, and paying us some money, which we stand in need of, and cannot carry on our business and live comfortably without. We therefore pray your Honours that you would provide some house or some comtortable able place for us, and some person to cook for us, as one or two of us have every day to attend the cooking business; which is detrimental to the Country.

CAMBRIDGE, July 18, 1775.