Ordered, That Mr. Pitts, Mr. Story, and Mr. Bancroft, be a Committee to consider a motion made by Mr. Speaker, that some suitable person, as an Engineer, be directed to repair to Plymouth, to afford assistance in making necessary works of defence there; and that they have an order to receive a Carriage for a Field-Piece that was made for them by order of the Committee of Supplies.

The Committee on the method for encouraging the manufacturing of Fire-Arms reported. Read, and after debate thereon, recommitted for amendment.

The Committee on the Resolves concerning the Poor of Boston, reported. Read, amended, and accepted, as follows, viz:

Whereas, by two resolves of Congress passed the 1st of May and the 1st of July last, the provision made for the reception and support of the poor of the Towns of Boston and Charlestown, who are driven from those Towns by the cruel hand of tyranny and oppression, is confined to a certain number of Towns in this Colony, as appears by a schedule annexed to said resolves; and whereas numbers of said poor, having relations and connexions in other Towns, or in prospect of some employ, are removed or are about removing themselves to other Towns than those mentioned in said schedules:

Therefore, Resolved, That such suffering poor shall be allowed to remove into any Town in this Colony, they producing a certificate from any of the Selectmen, Town Clerk, or the Overseers of the Poor of Boston or Charlestown, that they are of the poor of the Town to which said Selectmen, &c., does or did in March last belong; and it is hereby recommended to the Selectmen of all such Towns, where said poor are or may be removed, to provide for and employ them in the best and most prudent manner till the further order of this Court; and to all the inhabitants of this Colony, that they may be treated with that humanity and tenderness which their merits and sufferings in the common cause of their Country have entitled them to. And every Town in the Colony that shall receive and provide necessary provisions, fuel or clothing, for the support of such suffering poor, shall be allowed and paid therefor; and said sufferers shall not in future be considered as the poor of that Town to which they remove.

And whereas, from the present confusion, some of the poor of Boston and Charlestown have removed, or may remove out of said Towns without a proper certificate, and the Towns to which such persons have removed, or may remove, may refuse to receive and provide for them for want of the same: It is, notwithstanding, recommended to the Selectmen of such Towns, that if, upon careful inquiry, they shall judge any such person or persons to be of the poor of either of said Towns, that such provision be made as is necessary to prevent their sufferings, until such certificate can be procured, and such Towns shall be reimbursed as is before provided.

And whereas some Towns in the Colony may have a larger number of the poor of the Towns of Boston and Charlestown than has been heretofore assigned them, and more than they are willing to retain, the Selectmen of those Towns may cause such poor to be removed to some Town that shall not have the proportion that has been assigned them, or to any other Town said poor may choose, that shall not object to their being sent to them; and the Selectmen or Overseers of the Poor of such Towns are requested to receive and make provision for them, as is before directed; all reasonable charges attending such removal to be paid by this Colony.

And it is further Resolved, That the Selectmen of the several Towns within this Colony, and such Committees as have been appointed by Congress or this Court, who have transported or received and supported any of the poor of the Towns of Boston or Charlestown, according to the resolves of the late Congress of this Colony or of this Court, relative to such poor, be, and hereby are directed to exhibit to this Court fair accounts of the expense of transporting or receiving and supporting any such poor from the time such expense began, to the 1st day of October last, expressing the name and age of each person so received and supported also, that the Selectmen of the several Towns, who shall still support any of the poor of the Towns aforesaid, be directed, from and after the 1st day of October last, to make up their accounts to the end of every three months, and exhibit them to this Court; and that William Cooper, Esq., cause these resolves to be forthwith printed in handbills, and transmitted to the Selectmen of each Town in this Colony, that the several Towns in this Colony, and the poor sufferers of the Towns of Boston and Charlestown, may have a clear and precise knowledge of what this Court has in their justice and compassion done for the relief and support of those sufferers.

In Council, November 3, 1775: Read and concurred.

Afternoon.

Upon a motion, Ordered, That the Secretary be directed to lay on the table the Report of the Committee on the Memorial concerning Falmouth.

Upon a motion, Resolved, That a Resolution of this House, of the 6th ultimo, directing Joseph Greenleaf, Esq., to make experiments with earth at Brookfield, be reconsidered: and

Resolved, That Joseph Greenleaf, Esq., with other persons, not exceeding two, as he may choose, be, and hereby are appointed, to repair to Brookfield, or other places, to make experiments with the earth there, said to be proper for producing Sulphur.

A Petition of Azor Orne and Elbridge Gerry, setting forth the exposed situation of the Town of Marblehead, and the indigence of many of its inhabitants, and praying payment of the wages and billeting Money due to the Soldiers posted in said Town, as well as other relief. Read, and committed to Mr. Johnson, Mr. Rice, Mr. Hall, Mr. Lovell, and Colonel Mackintosh.

The Committee appointed to consider the expediency of providing an Engineer for the Town of Plymouth reported. Read and accepted.

Resolved, That some suitable person for an Engineer, &c., be appointed, to repair immediately to Plymouth, there to make such works as are necessary for the defence of that Town, &c, against the ravages of the enemy; and that a carriage for a Field-Piece, which was some time past made by them, by order of the Committee of Supplies, and now in Watertown, be appropriated for the use of said Town, and delivered to the Hon. James Warren, Esq., and also that they be supplied with Cannon Ball for the purpose above mentioned, to the amount of one ton of Cannon and Swivel Shot; and that the Selectmen of said Town be, and hereby are empowered to procure and furnish the said quantity of Shot, and exhibit their account to this Court for payment; and that the Speaker, Colonel Sayer, and Captain Partridge, be a Committee to wait on his Excellency General Washington, and desire him to appoint some suitable person as an Engineer, to repair to Plymouth for the purposes above mentioned.

In Council, November 3, 1775: Read and concurred.

Benjamin Lincoln, Esq., brought down a Letter from Daniel Hobart, of Abington.

The Committee for proposing the most effectual method for encouraging the manufacturing of Fire-Arms reported again. Read and accepted, as follows:

Whereas it is of the utmost importance to the welfare and happiness of these Colonies, that the manufacturing of Fire-Arms and provision of Military Stores by effectually promoted and encouraged, agreeable to the recommendation of the honourable Continental Congress:

Therefore, Resolved, That for every effective and substantial Fire-Arm which shall be manufactured in this Colony, with a barrel of three feet and nine inches in length, that will carry an ounce ball, a good bayonet with a blade not less than eighteen inches in length, a steel ramrod with a spring to retain the same, two loops for gun strings, and the maker’s name stamped or engraved on the lock, and which shall be delivered at Watertown, to Richard Devens, Esq., Commissary, on or before the 1st day of June next, and resemble in construction, and, as nearly as may be, equal in goodness with the King’s new arms, there shall be allowed and paid out of the publick Treasury, to the owner thereof, the sum of three Pounds.

And for the accommodation and convenience of such manufacturers,