to rank next above the Officers holding the like Commissions in the Militia.

That any part of the Militia in actual service, during the time of their actual service only, shall be subject to the Rules made by this Convention, for regulating and governing the Forces to be raised and employed in the service of this Province, and shall be entitled to the same pay and rations as the Regular Forces, and no more; but General and Inferior Court-Martials shall be composed of Militia Officers only, and the punishment of whipping shall not be adjudged against, or inflicted on, any man serving in the Militia.

Mr. Joseph Dashiell has leave of absence.

Convention adjourns till to-morrow morning, half after nine o'clock.

Tuesday, January 16, 1776.

Convention met. All Members present as on yesterday. The Proceedings of yesterday were read.

A Petition from a number of the Inhabitants of the City of Annapolis was read, and ordered to lie on the table.

On motion, Resolved, That where any person, or persons, chosen, or to be chosen, of the Committee of Observation for any County or District, shall refuse to act, if the number so refusing to act in any one County or District, shall not at one and the same time exceed one-fourth part of the whole number of the said Committee, any part of the residue of the same Committee, not less than two-third parts of the same residue, met together after notice, may elect one other of the most discreet freemen of the said County or District, to be of the Committee in the stead of each person so refusing to act; and the place of any person dying may be filled up in like manner; and the same rule shall also be observed, where any member of a Committee of Observation shall, in writing under his hand, decline to act, or shall be disqualified by the acceptance of a commission in the Regular Forces; but in case the vacancies shall, at one and the same lime, exceed the said one-fourth part, then a majority of those who remain of the same Committee, met together, may appoint, and give ten days' notice at least, by advertisements set up in the most publick places of the County or District, as the case may be, of the election of Committee-Men in the stead of those whose places shall be so vacant, and the election shall be made accordingly, by those who are qualified to vole for Committee-Men, in the presence of three, at least, of the same Committee.

Adjourned till three o'clock.

Post Meridiem.—Convention met.

On motion, Resolved, That two hundred and forty copies of the Association, ordered by the last Convention to be tendered to and subscribed by the freemen of this Province, be forthwith printed; and that forty of the said copies be sent to the Committee of Observation for Baltimore County, forty of the said copies to the Committee of Observation for the Upper District of Frederick County, and the residue of them in equal proportions to the Committees of the several Counties; and the Committees aforesaid, of Baltimore County and the Upper District of Frederick County, shall cause the said Association to be tendered, on or before the first day of April next, to every freeman in the Hundreds of their County and District, respectively, where the said Association hath not been already generally tendered to the said freemen, to be subscribed by them, according to the Resolutions of the late Convention; and every person who shalt not sign the said Association at the time of tendering the same to him, or within ten days thereafter, shall be in the same condition as if the same had been tendered to him according to the said former Resolutions, and he had refused or neglected to have subscribed the same; and the Committee of Observation for each County shall leave one or more of the Association Papers in the custody of some person, or persons, to be by them, respectively, appointed, at some house in their County town, and also at Georgetown and Hagerstoun, in Frederick County, and shall give publick notice thereof by advertisements, so that such of the freemen of this Province, who have not done so already, may subscribe the same. That every freeman within this Province who hath not already, nor before the eleventh day of April next, shall have subscribed the Association aforesaid, shall within five days after the said last mentioned day, deliver up to the Committee of Observation for his County, all his fire-arms, if he hath any, except pistols; and every person who shall neglect to do the same, may be disarmed by order of the Committee of Observation for his County, in like manner as those v/ho ought to enroll in the Militia and refuse to do so, and the arms of the non-Associators shall, and may be, disposed of in the same manner as the arms of those who refuse to enroll in the Militia; and, moreover, the Committee of Observation of each County in this Province, may, in their discretion, award and order any freeman of this Province, not associating as aforesaid, found within their County, whether such freeman be a resident of their County or not, to enter into bond with good and sufficient security, in such penalty as they may think fit, payable lo the President of the Convention, for the time being, by name, conditioned, that if such non-Associator shall behave himself peaceably and quietly in the present unhappy contest between Great Britain and the Colonies; that he shall not directly or indirectly betray or give intelligence to the enemy of any councils or preparations of the Congress, or any Convention or Assembly, or Council or Committee of Safely of this or any other Province or Colony; and that he shall not directly or indirectly correspond, by letter, message, or otherwise, during the said contest, with any British Minister, Secretary of State, Member of Parliament, or any person out of this Province, holding an office, civil, or military, immediately under the Crown, or with any other person in arms against these Colonies, knowing such person to be in arms, then the above obligation to be void. But if any such non-Associator shall choose to quit this Province and go beyond sea, then the Committee of Observation of the County to which he belongs, may, and is hereby empowered to grant him a passport to leave this country in peace, and go beyond the sea, carrying with him his property, or any part thereof; and any person refusing to sign the said Association, and to give bond as aforesaid, and continuing to reside within this Province, may be imprisoned by the Committee of Observation of the County in which such non-Associator resides or may be found, until the Convention then next after such imprisonment shall have taken order therein. And in case any non-Associator shall quit this country and leave an Estate in this Province, such Estate shall be burdened with a proportionate part of the expense incurred by this Province in defence of American liberty; but these Resolutions are not to extend to the household of His Excellency the Governour. All which Association Papers that shall be subscribed as aforesaid, as well as a list of the names of all those who shall refuse or neglect to subscribe the same, and all original bonds taken as aforesaid, shall be returned to the next Convention. Provided, That where any person hath not, nor shall actually refuse to subscribe the Association, but shall only have neglected to subscribe the same, if he doth afterwards sign the same before the Committee of Observation of his County, he shall not be disarmed for his neglect, nor compellable to give any such bond as before mentioned.

On motion, Resolved, That where there are any Companies of Militia in the several Counties, which are left out of their Battalions already formed, or where there may be any surplus Companies in the several Counties, after forming the Militia into Battalions, as directed by the last Convention, the Brigadier-General of the District may, at his discretion, form the said Companies into Corps, and return the same to the Council of Safety, who may appoint and commission such Field-Officers as may by them be judged proper and necessary to command such corps.

The following Report was taken into consideration: The Committee appointed to consider the truth of the facts set forth in a Memorial from the Justices of Baltimore County Court, and report their opinion thereon,

Do Report, That the uneasiness in the minds of many of the Inhabitants of Baltimore County, arises from the uncommon increase of Taxes therein, extraordinary assessments being made for the erecting publick Buildings and Bridges, clearing, straightening, opening, grubbing, and stoning Roads, and paying their proportion towards building a Prison, Court-House, &c., in Harford County.