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Hitch, consulted Gustavus Scott, Esq., on the subject of the Association, and he strongly recommended him to sign it. Sworn before me, the subscriber, this 25th day of November, 1775. JOHN ADAMS. On the said 25th of November came Isaiah Banks before me, and deposed on the Holy Evangelists of Almighty God, that on Sunday, coming from Green-Hill Church, he heard the Rev. John Scott and Matthew Cannon discoursing on the subject of the said Cannon’s raising a Company; to which he, the said Banks paid particular attention; that he heard the said Mr. Scott tell Cannon he apprehended the steps Cannon then pursued threatened the loss of his land; on which the said Banks said, he thought it was the way to save his land; on which the said Scott said, innocent as he, the said Scott, found himself of any hand in their proceedings, as they were churchmen, he feared he might be, in future, censured for their conduct; that the said Cannon replied, there would be no danger of censure, as he never was made acquainted, nor in any shape consulted about their designs.
On the same 25th day of November came James Geoghegan, and made oath on the Holy Evangelists of Almighty God, that, at divers times, he conversed with the said Mr. Scott on the subject of politicks, and particularly the Association; and, from an intimacy with the said Mr. Scott, he expected his candid sentiments on the subject; that he always found the said Mr. Scott exceedingly tenacious of American freedom, and said that nothing should hinder him from signing the Association, but an opinion of his being comprehended amongst the Governour’s household;* and finding that his postponing to sign the Association was a check upon others, that he, notwithstanding his opinion of being of the Governour’s household, as an encouragement of those of divided opinions to unite in the common cause, signed it himself, within a very short time after it was introduced by the Committee, and verily believes that he has been as instrumental as any man in the County in procuring signatures to the Association.
On the said 25th of November came George Wails, and deposed, that, some time in September, riding in company with the Rev. Mr. Scott, from a sermon preached by the said Mr. Scott, he, the said Wails, asked the said Scott if he had heard that Matthew Cannon was raising a Company in opposition to the Continental Congress; that he answered in the negative; that, for his part, he believed it was false, and hoped Cannon had more sense than to undertake such an unjustifiable matter. That the said Wails said he also believed it was false, and requested that Mr. Scott would say no more about it.
The deposition of James Bounds, of full age, being sworn on the Holy Evangelists of Almighty God, deposeth and saith; That after the rising of the late Convention, in which the Association of the freemen of Maryland was formed, he did not approve of the said Association and Resolves, and that, for some time after, he did not sign the Association, or form of Enrollment, as directed by the Convention of Maryland; but upon application to the Rev. Mr. John Scott, for his advice relative to the Association and Resolves, he, the said Mr. Scott, advised this deponent to comply with the measures adopted by the said Convention. In consequence of which advice, he, this deponent, broke off from a Company which he was then exercising in, and signed the Association and form of Enrollment, agreeable to the direction of the said Convention of Maryland. And this deponent further saith, he never heard the said Mr. Scott advise any person to act or do any thing in opposition to the measures of the honourable Continental Congress or Provincial Convention; but that, in the conversation between this deponent and the said Mr. Scott, he, the said Mr. Scott, always appeared friendly to America in her present opposition,
At the time the above depositions were taken, Cannon was out of the Province, which prevented his deposition from being taken, and likewise inserted. JOHN HANCOCK TO WALTER LIVINGSTON. Philadelphia, November 17, 1775. SIR: The Congress having resolved that the prisoners taken at Chambly and St. John’s be sent to the Towns of Reading, Lancaster, and York, in the Colony of Pennsylvania; and having issued orders to the officer who has the charge of conducting them, to march them by the nearest road to the Town of Reading, in said Colony, and to apply to you for provisions for subsistence on their march: I am directed to order you to supply them, agreeably to the rations given to the Continental Army. I am further to direct you, if the prisoners agree to it, to send the women, children, and baggage, by water to Amboy, from thence to be sent across to Bordentown, and from thence by water to Philadelphia; from which last place they will be sent to join the garrison in the Towns allotted them; this being judged the safest, cheapest, and most commodious way of conveying them. Should the express not meet the party with the prisoners, please to take the letter and deliver it to the commanding officer on his arrival with the prisoners at Albany. I am, &c., JOHN HANC0CK, President. To Walter Livingston, Esq., Deputy Commissary. To the Officer commanding the Guard to the Prisoners taken at CHAMBLY and ST. JOHN’S: Philadelphia, November 17, 1775. SIR: The Congress having resolved that the prisoners taken at Chambly and St. John’s be sent to and kept in the Towns of Reading, Lancaster, and York, in the Colony of Pennsylvania, I am directed by the Congress to order you to march the prisoners under your command by the nearest way to Reading, in the Colony aforesaid; and for their subsistence, on their march, you are to apply to the Commissary-General.
To the Committee of Safety in TRENTON: Philadelphia, November 17, 1775. By order of Congress, I enclose you a; resolve passed this day, and desire you will get a copy thereof signed by the officers who are prisoners in your Town, as soon as possible, and transmit it when signed to the Congress. I am &c., JOHN HANCOCK, President. COSMOPOLITAN, NO. IV. To the Inhabitants of the AMERICAN Colonies.: Friends and Fellow-Citizens As our publick affairs are now situated, when almost every day opens new scenes, and every manoeuvre of our adversaries has an aspect cruelly hostile: when worse than death stares us full in the face: when horror sits brooding over America: when our capital is clad in the robes of affliction, and her bosom bathed in the tears of distress: when Town after Town is falling victims to the infuriating rage of merciless cutthroats: when the pious petitions of beggared families are ascending in sweet memorials to the throne of God: when the orphan’s cries and the inconsolable anguish of a weeping mother in silent eloquence demand our pity: when the manes of a Warren and our slaughtered heroes, when reason and common sense, the feelings of humanity, and the sacred laws of our violated Constitution, call for justice to an injured community: when not only our own welfare, but the very being of freedom, and the prosperity of future generations, seem to turn upon a critical period: when business of the last consequence demands our attention, and matters of the most interesting nature plead for consideration—to listen with credulity to the suggestions of fancy, and to be amused with the phantoms of fear, is trifling and unmanly—it is worse: it is folly and wretchedness, misery and destruction, slavery and death. What then shall we do to be saved, is an * Mr. Scott came into this Province under the protection of Governour Eden, and has an appointment as his Excellency’s Chaplain.
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